Showing posts with label Luxembourg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Luxembourg. Show all posts
Friday, August 28, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Johnny the Jerko and the Hostel
So it’s day two of my 126 day European Epic-ness. Our flights and connections were all an hour ahead so we ended up in Luxembourg earlier then we expected. In a mere ten hours here in Luxembourg we scaled the town castle, walked the Centre, we enjoyed a panini and the local beer Diekirch accompanied to live music at the heart of the city. We ended the day at the Britannia Pub, and going to bed a little early after being up for over 24 hours. On the second day here we got all day access to bus slash train accommodations throughout Luxembourg. Capitalizing on this opportunity we visited the neighboring cities of Diekirch (where the local beer is brewed) and Vianden where we saw the Chateau de Vianden heralded as one of the most beautiful castles in Europe. Fun fact, this I a place Victor Hugo (Les Mesriables) liked to visit in his travels to the Rhine. We ended the day relaxing and trying to adjust to the time difference by sitting down by a riverbank and enjoying a bottle of wine.
Overall, Luxembourg has really surprised me. It is one of the wealthiest countries in Europe per capita and although very small and quaint it has proven to be very surprising as Bobcatt, Phil, and I roam the streets aimlessly just looking to see what’s around the next corner.
Now it’s time for story time with Vincent Patin:
So as many of you know I came here to Europe hoping to revel in my experiences and meet interesting people to have great stories to tell. Needless to say in the first 10 hours of my time here I was not disappointed. As I previously stated us travelers (Bobcatt and Phil) had been up for over 24 hours and decided to turn in early. All of us passed out the second we lied down. Now, here in Luxembourg we are staying in a youth hostel. None of us have ever stayed in a hostel and the only real knowledge any of us have about hostels is the movie Hostel. So we were all were interested and had some preconceived notions of what hostel life would be like; particularly that it would be dirty and we wouldn’t want to use their bedding. We were happy to find that this hostel was surprisingly clean and to my own amusement one of our hostel-mates was Australian, thus reinforcing the stereotype that every hostel had an Australian, but I digress. So we all went to bed and passed out. I myself literally did not move at all. However, the final hostel-mate, we’ll call him Johnny…Johnny the Jerko, came in fairly late while we were all asleep. Although, Johnny tried to be silent as he entered I woke up. I gave him a nod and Johnny gave a friendly nod back, climbed up to the bed above me and I tried to fall back to sleep. However, I was unsuccessful in this attempt as to the fact I kept on hearing an unsettling noise. At first I thought it was some one scratching themselves, but I began to become aware of the oddly rhythmic pattern of the noise. It was clear it was the sound of skin on skin, bare flesh upon bare flesh, but I couldn’t quite grasp (or rather didn’t want to grasp what the noise actually was). Now let me back step a little bit. Our hostel has three bunked beds and a desk with two chairs. There are restrooms just down the hall, but we are fortunate to have our own sink and mirror in our room. My bed is directly across from said mirror on the bottom tier. Now as I was lying there and the noise grew to faster pace my eyes slowly caught glimpse of peculiar actions in my peripheral vision via this reflective glass know as a mirror. My eye was greeted by the horror and the shock of my bunkmate in an upright position with his partially seen forearm moving in a rapid thrust towards the heavens and back down to the realm of the living. It was clear that Johnny was doing only one thing. I knew not what to do. He knew I was awake and another hostel-mate had awoken from the noise and was looking around confused. Yet, he continued at his task literally at hand until he had slain the dragon, or as one can only assume.
At last the room grew quite. Yet, I kept thinking of the millions of lives lost moments ago. To make matters worse Johnny the Jerko was an avid snorer. He snored as if it was his job. He snored so ferociously and with so much vigor that he even awoke himself (along with every other hostel-mate). Needless to say I couldn’t sleep much after that…and was glad to find that Mr. Jerko had fled the premises the next morning.
Anyways…I asked for memorable stories and experiences, so I guess I got what I asked for…Akwardface. Well hopefully I’ll have some more, but you know….a little less creppy….
Tomorrow it’s off to Zurich, Switzerland for four days then finally to Bonn where my Film Program will start.
A Lámite!
Overall, Luxembourg has really surprised me. It is one of the wealthiest countries in Europe per capita and although very small and quaint it has proven to be very surprising as Bobcatt, Phil, and I roam the streets aimlessly just looking to see what’s around the next corner.
Now it’s time for story time with Vincent Patin:
So as many of you know I came here to Europe hoping to revel in my experiences and meet interesting people to have great stories to tell. Needless to say in the first 10 hours of my time here I was not disappointed. As I previously stated us travelers (Bobcatt and Phil) had been up for over 24 hours and decided to turn in early. All of us passed out the second we lied down. Now, here in Luxembourg we are staying in a youth hostel. None of us have ever stayed in a hostel and the only real knowledge any of us have about hostels is the movie Hostel. So we were all were interested and had some preconceived notions of what hostel life would be like; particularly that it would be dirty and we wouldn’t want to use their bedding. We were happy to find that this hostel was surprisingly clean and to my own amusement one of our hostel-mates was Australian, thus reinforcing the stereotype that every hostel had an Australian, but I digress. So we all went to bed and passed out. I myself literally did not move at all. However, the final hostel-mate, we’ll call him Johnny…Johnny the Jerko, came in fairly late while we were all asleep. Although, Johnny tried to be silent as he entered I woke up. I gave him a nod and Johnny gave a friendly nod back, climbed up to the bed above me and I tried to fall back to sleep. However, I was unsuccessful in this attempt as to the fact I kept on hearing an unsettling noise. At first I thought it was some one scratching themselves, but I began to become aware of the oddly rhythmic pattern of the noise. It was clear it was the sound of skin on skin, bare flesh upon bare flesh, but I couldn’t quite grasp (or rather didn’t want to grasp what the noise actually was). Now let me back step a little bit. Our hostel has three bunked beds and a desk with two chairs. There are restrooms just down the hall, but we are fortunate to have our own sink and mirror in our room. My bed is directly across from said mirror on the bottom tier. Now as I was lying there and the noise grew to faster pace my eyes slowly caught glimpse of peculiar actions in my peripheral vision via this reflective glass know as a mirror. My eye was greeted by the horror and the shock of my bunkmate in an upright position with his partially seen forearm moving in a rapid thrust towards the heavens and back down to the realm of the living. It was clear that Johnny was doing only one thing. I knew not what to do. He knew I was awake and another hostel-mate had awoken from the noise and was looking around confused. Yet, he continued at his task literally at hand until he had slain the dragon, or as one can only assume.
At last the room grew quite. Yet, I kept thinking of the millions of lives lost moments ago. To make matters worse Johnny the Jerko was an avid snorer. He snored as if it was his job. He snored so ferociously and with so much vigor that he even awoke himself (along with every other hostel-mate). Needless to say I couldn’t sleep much after that…and was glad to find that Mr. Jerko had fled the premises the next morning.
Anyways…I asked for memorable stories and experiences, so I guess I got what I asked for…Akwardface. Well hopefully I’ll have some more, but you know….a little less creppy….
Tomorrow it’s off to Zurich, Switzerland for four days then finally to Bonn where my Film Program will start.
A Lámite!
Monday, August 3, 2009
...and so the Countdown Begins...
So the flight has been booked, and plans have been made. My friends Phil and Robert (Bobcatt) are all arriving a week early before our actual program begins. We will be landing in Luxembourg spending two days here, then head up to Bonn to drop off our baggage then hop onto a plane to Zurich!
It seems like this all is actually happening now...
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