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| Austin |
When I landed in Austin on October 30th, it certainly was a surreal moment. I think it would be that way for most people, at least somewhat. After all to be away in Europe for most of a year and then come back to The US, to Texas would make you feel that way. It was like I was a visitor or tourist in my own city. Several weeks later, I’m more or less back into the swing of things, as far as work and getting back into the grind. And also a year away, in the scheme of things isn’t that long. It certainly was profound and an exhilarating experience, and, at times, daunting.
I think no matter what we do, the external threads of the meaning of life weave their way through our lives. I have written before about being completely enraptured with my adventure to feeling despondent. At times I’ve asked myself what’s this existence really about, whether I reflect on the things of my own life or against what has been going on in the world. Am I just consuming things; consuming pastries, consuming art, consuming history? Is that all I’m doing? Am I just exploring? What does it mean to explore? I feel the desire to run around the world and not settle down anywhere, to become an international vagabond. Is this some kind of way of denying the harsh realities we all must face. As long as I keep moving, the grim reaper can't get me. Can’t it just be that I want to see the world? Yes. But I also think a lot of things can be true at once. Anyway, I think a lot, and all kinds of thoughts enter my mind. But I did have an absolutely wonderful time. Right now I may not be aware of all the ways this experience has influenced me. More shall be revealed. I am reminded of a quote from Travel guru Rick Steve, “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. Wait. That's not right. That's Casey Kasem from American Top 40. Steves' quote is, “Travel is rich with learning opportunities, and the ultimate souvenir is a broader perspective.” Though you can't argue with Kasem’s quote.
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| The White Cliffs of Dover |
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| Calais |
Of course I’ve had all kinds of experiences on this trip. Sometimes things were difficult or unpleasant. Many times things were exuberant, sometimes ordinary. My experience on getting to Hamburg, the last city I visited, was certainly fun and vexing. I didn't know a week before I had left London for Hamburg that I was going to Hamburg, which is kind of cool. That was one aspect of this adventure I wanted, the spontaneity. How would I get there? Plane trips within Europe can be cheap, with air carriers like Ryan Air and Easy Jet. But unless you’re traveling with just a small back pack, you have to pay extra for a big ass suitcase like I have. Plus the aggravation of dealing with TSA, etc. I decided on the Flix bus, which was cheap. I’m always about saving money. The first part of the trip was particularly nice. We left Victoria bus station early in the morning. The bus was less than half full. We rode a few hours to Dover where the bus boarded a ferry that crosses the English Channel to Calais in France in an hour and a half. I love being on the open sea and the weather was magnificent. We rode a few hours after that and stopped in Brussels, which is such a beautiful city. I really was enamored with what I saw from the bus and vowed to come back and visit. I would be getting off at Düsseldorf to transfer to another Flix bus to Hamburg. Now I knew when I booked the ticket I was going to have a 3-hour layover there and that the rest of the journey would be overnight. I figured I’d get some food and hang out at the Düsseldorf bus station with my laptop and maybe work on my photos. The problem was that Düsseldorf doesn’t have a bus station. It does have a bus stop that is outside. I ended up walking 15 minutes to the train station with my heavy, bulky-ass luggage. My large suitcase, which I’ve had for many years, was on its last legs or more accurately, last wheels.The train station did not have any seats at all and I couldn’t find a waiting area. I’m not sure why this was the case. Perhaps they didn’t want homeless people in there. I got some food at Frittenwerk(fries heaven) in the station and hung out there as long as I could. Eventually I made my way back down to the bus stop. As I got there there was a situation. A bus was trying to leave and a few people were holding the bus door open preventing it from leaving. It turns out these people were part of a family with children and for some reason the bus driver was not letting them board. Eventually some young people, maybe teenagers, maybe early twenties, came by and started advocating for the family. I thought for a moment it could get ugly. There was a lot of commotion and yelling. Eventually two police officers arrived, a man and a woman, who were tall and attractive. They were both really very striking. After what seemed to be a long while, they helped diffuse the situation and eventually the entire family were allowed on the bus. I didn’t know exactly what the situation was, since I don’t understand German or French, which is what the family was speaking, but I believe it had to do with the youngest child, a baby really, not having proper papers. So they left and now I still had to wait at least another half hour for my bus. My bus did arrive, though 20 minutes late. When I booked my ticket I paid like €2 extra to book the top front seat looking out of the window, it was a double decker bus. That didn’t really make sense since it was night time and I would be sleeping or at least trying anyway. The problem was I was above the bus driver. And every time he veered to the shoulder, a little alarm would sound. And the alarm would sound frequently. I kept thinking, is this bus driver tired? Is he going to fall asleep and kill us all? There would be no sleeping in that seat. Later on, after a scheduled stop, I moved to the middle of the bus where there were some empty seats and plopped down there. At least I couldn’t hear the alarm anymore. I managed to get a few hours of sleep. We arrived around 7am in Hamburg. I couldn’t check into my hotel until at least 1pm. The bus station, Hamburg had a proper bus station, was a few blocks from the train station so I headed that way. I was totally disorientated due to lack of sleep and the hustle and bustle in the streets. Seriously it seemed like everyone was rushing to where they were going. Was this a typical morning rush hour at Hamburg central? Not to mention that I did not know the language. Eventually I figured out the train I needed to take, bought a pass and found a coffee shop at the station. I got a coffee, of the large ass variety and sat down in the corner. Nothing buoys my spirits better than going to a coffee shop and just relaxing. I stayed there a long time. I munched on some of my McVitie's Digestives I had in my bag. Do you know of these? I think I’ve mentioned them before. They are biscuits with milk chocolate on one side that I’ve had practically every day of my trip. I believe they are mandatory consumption in the whole UK. Who knows the exact amount of McVitie's Digestives I ate in the last 11 months but I’m sure the count is high. I made it to my hotel in the Harburg area of Hamburg, which was very charming, no key cards, actual keys. It definitely was old school which I liked. That experience of getting to Hamburg, however frustrating at times, was all part of the adventure. There were many experiences similar to this on my adventure. And what’s more, Hamburg, along with Glasgow, was one of my favorite cities. I felt a vibrancy there and energy there.. There were so many areas there full of murals and graffiti. I really liked the way it all came together. Also, as a Beatle fan I got to see the places they played on Große Freiheit in the Reeperbahn, the red light district of Hamburg.
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| Nimbu of Hamburg-One of the cats I watched in Hamburg |
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| Noodle of Hamburg-The other cat I watched in Hamburg |
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| I had these almost everyday |
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| The Indra Club-The 1st place The Beatles played in Hamburg in 1960 |
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| St. Nikolai Church |
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| Sternschanze by the subway station-St Pauli, Hamburg |
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| Hamburger Rathaus |
When I started this in November 2024, I said I would at least do a year(it turned out to be actually 11.5 months). I only booked a flight back to Austin a week before, more spontaneity. I had looked into going to Berlin or Brussels. I also wanted to venture into Poland because that's where my mother’s side of the family is from. I don’t know now the exact places but I have the names of a few towns mentioned in assorted documents I got from Ancestry.com. So I have to come back. Plus there’s so many other places. Bratislava, Zagreb and Vienna. I want to go to Italy and Spain. I want to see the Matterhorn and Scandinavia. I want to see Thailand, Japan, Chile and Australia. I believe I’ll be in Austin for at least the next 3-5 months but who knows. I will definitely be traveling somewhere.
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