Entries about beer

I got dressed quickly today because I had woken up late and it was already 0945. I needed to get to the train station as soon as possible because I new it would take a long time to get to france today. I hopped on the local bus to the trains and arrived in about 10 minutes. I had to wait in line for a ticket and the line was fairly short. The next train towards Milan was in 30 minutes and I needed to take another train from milan to Ventimiglia which is really close to the French border. The train ride to milan was on a bullet train and it was very fast. I arrived at milan and immediately noticed the local gypsies pestering new tourists for money. They asked me if I needed help but I just waved them off and they figured quickly I new how to get around already. I even helped some people that waved them off but still looked confused on where to go. The station in Milan was already screaming fashion from the designer stores inside the station to the locals and poeple walking around. I was do out of place but didn't mind because I wasn't getting off. The next train to Ventimiglia was really long and I had a cabin with 6 other seats. My neighbors comprised of an older italian lady who I presume was someone's planner because she was hectic in the way she received phone calls and jotted down new notes and names on her planner and she was always shaking her head as if disappointed. The other neighbor next to me was some punk older man with gauges in his ears and a KKK shirt. And lastly a small family of what may have been people from northern Africa. It was pretty warm inside the cabin and i didn't understand anything anyone said. Luckily I had music and had time to catch up on the blog. For 5 hours I wrote alot and ate a sandwich I made for the trip. Soon i finally made it to Ventimiglia and all the signs in the train station were half french and half italian. I had to catch a train to Les Arcs which would stop by Nice-ville. I made to Nice around 8pm and the soon was still present. The sun in europe doesn't set till 9 PM or later so it makes the days feel longer. I walked to the Hostel Meyerbeer and checked in. My room had 8 beds mixed dorm style with an en suite bathroom. My neighbors were inside and they all introduced them selves. A girl from Winnipeg Canada named Reva. 2 swedish guys named leenus and Ollie. Later on I met my other 3 roommates who were also from Calgary Canada and we're from Alberta which I soon found out was canada's version of texas. The swedish guys proposed we all go buy alcohol to start the night.  So we all left to the only open liquor store in nice and found that the prices were all slightly higher. I settled for a french beer and they had all bought lagers and cider. We took the drinks to the lounge and all drank and met other people staying in the hostel. Apparently all of Canada was on holidays because I met nothing but Canadians their. Montreal, torronto, Vancouver, Victoria, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and some others. The guys from Edmonton had to been a a bar the previous night called Wayne's world.  So we all started the trek towards it. It was already midnight and we made it to the bar 15 minutes later. When we entered the bar the atmostphere was fun and lively.  The local all talked and drank amongst themselves while everyone who could speak some form of English somehow made friends. I had been giving a nick name for the night and was dubbed Big Texas. It was all fun name especially when we all had a toast and somehow I had been called loudly by the fellows for Alberta to toast with them. I was drinking recommended drink called desperado. It was a corona with lime and tequila mixed and and was very sweet. It tasted like red Fanta so you can guess how easy it was to drink and finish. The bar was playing interesting 90's music and some new music. Even when the songs were in english the locals all new the words and sang along prefectly. The night was still revving up and the people got even frendlier. Finally the bar had made a final call and was about to shut the bar down. The Canadians decided they were going have the closing son for the night and all sang the Canadian anthem which I reordered from the corner of the bar and caught everything. The bartenders rang the bell again for closing time but the Canadian s sang even louder. Soon some of the local started to humm the song and it ended very nicely. I was the camera and all the Canadians wanted me to add them on Facebook to share the video. I even got a great group picture. The walk back was long and I we all got scolded for being too loud. The hostel had closed and the door had a code you needed to use to open the front door. We were all pretty drunk to understand which code to use and it took s good while before some one got it open. My roommates and it were really loud and nd didn't mean to but we were drunk. We had one roommate who didn't party or go out. She was from shanghai and was very quite. She was sleeping heavily and didn't notice us getting in. We all got ready for bed and went to bed. 5 minutes later we all heard a commotion inside the room and heard someone stumbling towards the bathroom. Leenus the swedish guy didn't make it to the bathroom but found the room trash can Instead. When he threw up well all woke up up and started to laugh at the situation. His accent then changed to a very western accent and kept on saying "alright". He walked into the bathroom with the trash can and didn't turn the lights in and we asked him if he needed needed the light on. He answered "I'm alright I got this" and closed the door behind him in the pitch black bathroom. I got up quickly and turned the bathroom light. For a while we all stayed up and talked a bit but fell asleep shortly after.

"Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey."-Fitzhugh Mullan

So this morning was bitter sweet. The group that i met the first day had to leave. It's lame but it happens alot you meet some one or a group and yall just click and then you k ow you're gonna have to part ways and you don't want to be the last person in the group in the hostel when everyone leaves....Unfortunately I was that guy but after learning to be more open and more approachable eating people is pretty easy. While wandering and taking some much needed pictures I wandered back into the main square next to the tower. Today the local farmers and some stores had brought their caravans full of fresh meat, cured hams, cheese, breads, fruits and waffles. I bought some supplies to make a sandwich and low and behold I meet up again with Espania. He was carrying his backpack and wandering around too. I tagged along to whatever he did that day cause I Ran out of ideas. We decided to try the strongest beer in bruges. Triple distilled and amazing with cheese. Apparently the limit was 3 per person but we came back 2 hours later and drank 4. From there we went to the belgian Frys snack stand. The fries are triple fried in Animal fat and then drenched with curry sauce, to motor sauce, mayonnaise and some other sauces. It sounds like a heart attack waiting to happen but it's the best thing after some strong belgian beers. We met some girls from spain who were also traveling but only had 10 days to travel and they were spending a lot of money on Hotels for 1 night in each place. I tried to explain that hostel are cheap and fun but they thought othewise....to each his own. We went back to Bauhaus and saw a girl looking really nervous and sad so we introduced ourselves. She in return explained she was italian and had graduated college and she was in bruges because of a pretty big international ultimate Frisbee league was playing a tournament and she had to play for 3 days. Her friends were all late to the hostel and she was nervous they wouldn't show. Her name was Claudia and she was a really sweet girl but had some difficulties with the language barrier. Soon her friends met up with her and I had to bid adieu to Espania. Coolest cat from Miami I know. Tommorow it's back to amsterdam to spend the night and catch a plane to rome the day after. The hostel I'm staying at next is called coco mama. The hostels looks pretty I treating and they have a hostel pet named joop.

The first pub we went to was called The Crash. A very metal genre pub with a dark mysticism about it. The bartender was once just a bar back and had just bought the bar from the owner that night. So tonight was a special night for him. He was preparing absinthe for the locals and made all the drinks discounted. The pun crawl chaperone looked rastafari and said he was from Jamaica. After a couple of drinks he came forward and told us its just an act and he was from phillie. Today was also a special day for him because it was his last ever pub crawl because his visa was expiring and he was going to go back to the states. Apparently he got the job when he was backpacking and he just kind of fell in love with the locale and stayed. The second bar we went to was pretty big and also had a hole in the wall feel. In the back there were 5 pool tables but we're full of people. Along the pub crawl I met a cat from spain and his name for the night was Espania. I also met a Malaysian guy and his friend who were around 19 years old just backpacking and drinking. Espania came over to the table that I was drinking and told me all the people that were back there were kids and they all drank and smoked. The hilarity of this suggestion made me curios so I had to investigate. I heard one of the very young girls who was drinking her beer speak Spanish and I told her I wasn't a creeper but I was curios how old the kids were she replied she was 16 and some others were 16-17. Apparently it was a school trip from spain and it was legal to drink for them. I learned soon enough that in bruge yoi can drink at a very early age and smoke but you cannot drink hard liquor until 18. After finding that out were crawled unto the next bar saw that the dance floor had a shower head on the ceiling. Somehow we got the bartender to turn in on and we danced the night away. Soon we all left and I had somehow been separated in bruges at night. The worst possible thing happen to me while drunk. Somehow I saw Espania also wandering around and we both found the hostel. I managed to climb into my bed and pass out. The next day I woke up extremely sore and just wanted to rest but ate breakfast with the group and had a great time just telling stories and future plans. One By One They all left to they're next destination and we all bid farwell. I made a friend from the UK who wanted to climb the tower that day. So I joined her and we talked a lot along the way and saw the sights. Climbing the tower was interesting because the stairs spiral at an extreme angle and everyone wants to go up and down at the same time. The top of the tower had the musical chime room that coordinated mechanically how the 36+ bells would ring and play a song(very steampunk). After spending about an hour up and down the tower we wandered back to the hostel and start and ate some go made sandwiches we all prepped in the bar. That evening we want back out to take some pictures during the night and I believe that bruges at night is way better for pictures. We called it a night early due to being hungover and I slept like a rock.

Also belgian beer is very strong I do not suggest you drink too many while pub crawling.

"There are no strangers in here, just friends you haven't met..."- Roald Dahl