Not So Native: August 2012

Bonjour madame! Je ne sais pas. Je suis Tyler.

...and that's about it for my French. I'm too busy at the moment learning German and Thai. Oh, and "de rien" -- that's the last French word I know. Oui oui!

Paris was basically the grand finale of our short but sweet European tour. Here's how it broke down:

Day 1 - Milano
Day 2 - Milano
Day 3 - Lake Como
Day 4 - Venice
Day 5 - Padova
Day 6 - Florence
Day 7 - Florence
Day 8 - Paris
Day 9 - Back to Berlin
Day 10 - Back in Berlin

That's how we roll!

Departing early -- too early -- from Berlin Schönefeld airport, we arrived to a cold, rainy Milano morning and bussed our way to the city center.

As most may know, Milano is truly the heart of the Italian fashion world. You'll find the headquarters of Armani, Gucci, Prada and about a dozen other major brands. And in the heart of it all is Milano's fine Duomo, as seen here.

Castello Sforzesco.

The beautiful and charming Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

At the end of our second day, I asked some of the local police for directions to the river. We soon began chatting and sharing stories about our travels: his cross-country Harley Davidson adventures in America and my stories of Thailand and Germany. At the end it was, "Ciao bello," "Ehhh, come stai!"

I must give credit to the fine sightseeing acumen of my good friend Eric Rennie for taking the time and showing us the major city sights. Eric had been in Milano for a few months and so the timing worked out perfectly for us to meet up with him.

Next up it was Lake Como, just an 1 1/2 hour train ride from Milano.

We hiked around the lake and did some of the all-too-typical tourist things like eat gilatto and sip espresso!

Our view from a cafe in the town of Como.

More lovely shots from around the lake.

After Como came the world-renowned Venezia! (Venice)

A little bit of Venetian trivia imparted to us by a local: Venice has roughly 40,000 residents, while the city takes in an average of 50,000 tourists a day! What?! Talk about a tourist invasion! But after a long day there, we could see why its just so darn popular.

Part of the Venice experience is getting "lost". Yes, you can travel the canals by boat, gondola, whatever. But the real fun is walking through the small streets and alleys and stumbling upon churches, lovely canals and some generally very impressive photographic material.

We truly could not have wished for a more perfect day

This is just one of my attempts at Italian and German whilst taking a short break after walking for hours.

We had Venice wrapped up in a day. If you visit Venice to just see the sites and explore around, all you really need is a full day. We got there in the morning and were highly content and satisfied by 7pm.

That night we stayed in Padova and were out by early morning on our way to Florence. Padova prides itself in having one of the oldest universities in Europe, the very one where astronomer Galileo taught.

And so...Firenze -- Florence!

We arrived on a Friday, just before a long Italian holiday (I'm not sure which one). And Florence, being Florence, was -- simply put -- mobbed with not only foreigners but also Italians. Florence was a bit of a last-minute choice for us so we had no hostel or hotel booked before we arrived. Very unwise. That won't ever happen again.

We did find a decent deal though and actually got the LAST room available at the Sheraton Florence (not cheap either!).

After a good solid 5 or so hours of travel, then actually looking for the hotel, it was late at night. Because the hotel was not in the city center, we found it very difficult to find a respectably priced place to eat that late at night. But alas, do as the tourists do: ASK! We stumbled upon a very polite Italian couple who recommended a small pizzeria down the road.

Let me tell you, all forms of pizza I have eaten in my lifetime have been utter garbage compared to what we devoured that night. (Sorry Round Table Pizza.)

How deliciously scrumptious. Words cannot describe the level this pizza was at. If heaven exists, someone's up there making this stuff.

We tried to see all the major sights of Florence. Museums were nearly impossible to get into because of the sheer size of the lines. Here are some of the best shots.

Enjoying some fantastic espresso.

A begging "peasant" dog: this was a first for me.

After Florence we headed back to Milano where we caught an evening flight to Paris. We had a Couchsurfing host arranged for 2 nights who lived right in the heart of the city. Lucky you say? I think so. He worked for a film festival company so we chatted endlessly about our favorite movies and actors -- and of course French films too!

With Pierre, our host.

As of this moment in my life, I declare Paris to be the most beautiful city I've ever been to. This may change as I see more of the world, but this is my official stance right now. I was IMPRESSED.

We walked the whole day from Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tower -- and everything in between (well, maybe not everything).

The Eiffel Tower was probably my favorite.

From the middle of the tower.

The following day we visited Pere Lachaise Cemetery where there are just thousands and thousands of graves and burial sites. It is a popular tourist sight because it has the graves of some very famous people like James Morrison and Edith Piaf. It was actually quite beautiful.

Uuuaahh!

Well, that about does it. I hope you've enjoyed.

Since Berlin, both Lui and I have actually returned to Bangkok and are now living here. Lui is studying hotel management at an international university and I am managing an international kindergarten in downtown while also teaching English to some Thai businesses. It's been quite an adventure these last few months.

I intend to give a full blog post on this whole transition back here to Thailand. Where we're living and what we're doing are very different from last year so it deserves it's own post.

And so in wrapping up this 2-part post on a fantastic European trip, I say "Ciao Bella," "Au'revoir" and "Auf Wiedersehen!"

Eureka Europa! 26 years after my birth I finally made it to Europe. Hallelujah.

Lui and I spent a few weeks in Thailand as tourists and then made our way to her hometown of Berlin, Germany. But this was only the beginning of a European extravaganza that left me edified and impressed with the history and beauty of Western civilization.

We spent 9 weeks in Europe altogether. Much of this was in Berlin; the other time consisted of traveling to various cities in northern Italy and a trip to Paris, France. All told, thousands of miles (or kilometers) traveled by plane, bus, train and automobile. No mode of transport missed in this Eurotrip!

First up were the sights of historic Berlin: museums, tours and some fine German hospitality. I met nearly all of Lui's family: parents, sister, uncles, cousins and, of course, Oma -- Lui's beloved grandma. Berlin is a highly organized, practical and surprisingly quiet city. The area of Berlin comprises 350 square kilometers while it's population is only 3.5 million.

I had the real privilege of getting an "insider's" tour of the beautiful city Lui grew up in and knew so well. And with some helpful tips and recommendations from her mom, I saw and experienced the best of what Berlin had to offer.

A delicious bratwurst in Alexanderplatz, the center of East Berlin.

Playing in Dem Tiergarten.

Brandenburger Tor, a very iconic spot in the heart of Berlin.

Some shots of "Museum Island", a very famous area where many of Berlin's 170 museums are located.

In one area there were pillars riddled with World War II bullet holes.

The Schloss Charlottenburg, only 5 minutes from Lui's house! It was April so the weather was still quite cold, especially coming from Thailand!

Hanging out with the iconic Berlin Bear. He's EVERYWHERE!

One part of Berlin I absolutely loved, a side I don't think I would have otherwise seen without Lui, was the impressive graffiti art. We checked out an abandoned train station and an old factory in East Berlin.

Somewhere in the middle of our stay we visited Lui's sister, Lydia, in a small college town called Halle, about 2 hours from Berlin. We spent some time hanging out with her and her friends. I was so impressed at how well German students speak English. They would go about their conversations in German until I started talking, then all of a sudden everyone would just seamlessly switch to near-perfect English. Not bad!

Me and Lui's sister.

Drinking Mexican Corona's in a German restaurant...what?!!!

My favorite German word.

Me and Lui being a little expressive at a cute, little coffee shop on a cold German day.

Back in Berlin, nearing the end of our European trip (Italy and France will be covered in Part 2), Lui's parents invited us on a day trip to Potsdam to see a little of Germany's royal history. Potsdam was the residence of Prussian Kings and German Kaisers until 1918. One particular residence, the castle of Sanssouci, is the largest World Heritage Site in Germany. And that was the very first castle we visited.