Tools, tips, and tricks for the road. There are things that you really need to be on the road to learn and things that the average person or guide book may omit because they have limited space. Well, if you want the official useful info then buy a guide book. What I am including here are things you may never find in a book and your traveling friends will forget to tell you (or do it intentionally just for a laugh).
The first hostel I stayed at I was on the second floor. Not bad I thought I would take the stairs with my full pack and everything. So three floors later I was there. Odd yes, this struck a chord someplace in the back of my head but did not really impact me until Luxemburg. Here I had a room on the third floor, this was four flights up with a full pack. Are you seeing a pattern here? Turns out the buildings I have been to all start with “ground zero” and no, I am not talking about an explosion. The floors are numbered with 0 on the ground floor. One flight up is the first floor and so on and so forth. Note self in Europe second floor = American third floor.
I had heard stories about Americans being easily identified by the color of their socks. What I heard is only Americans wear white socks; most of the Europeans wear black socks. In England I found this to be very true and in fact I could pick an American out in a crowd by the color of their socks. The story changed a bit as I got onto the continent of Europe. Yes if you are wondering I actually took time out of my thoughts to look as peoples socks, and no I do not have a sock fetish; I am just interested in the culture. On the mainland I noticed most of the people dressed similar to me i.e. travelers, wore no socks at all. I have tried this on several occasions but I believe it requires feet less prone to the expulsion of noxious gasses to be successful. Much to the unknown pleasure of my fellow travels I have remained fairly American in wearing my white socks. If you can get away with it then FYI… no socks is good travelin’.
I had also heard stories about bicycling in Europe and other countries and how it was more acceptable than in the US. I must say the stories are true, believe them. On a more detailed note, while I was traversing the US on bicycle I had done some research on bicycling in Europe, one interesting tidbit of info was the difficulty in procuring tires in the size 700c or 27 inches. These are the skinny road bike tires you see in the US. That size is so prolific in my own cycling experience I found it difficult to believe. Now as I have actually seen the biking community here in Europe I understand more clearly the reasoning behind that. In the US for the most part cycling is a sport not necessarily a common means of transportation. Thus the speedy road bike tires as a sport are wide spread in their use. From what I have seen in Europe bicycles are designed more for utilitarian purposes not for sport. The smaller tire size of 26 inches is more suited for this purpose. Over here I see people out for a ride in Suits and ties, in jeans and t-shirts, women in MINI skirts (thanks for that one), and in general in ordinary street clothes. The age range out here is from preschool up to geriatric with all groups in between. It is wonderful for me to see these things happening I the real world and not just in stories. I have seen even bikes for rent, which in itself is not very impressive. It is the means of rental that is super cool. Have you ever been to an airport (yes this is related to bikes) and seen those carts for rent at the automated stiles? That is what I have seen for bikes. They are magnetically sealed to a post. You plop a couple of Euros into the machine and one of the bikes releases. There is a bike lock attached for when you get to a place you would like a reprieve. Then at the end of the day you just return the bike to the post where you found it. The magnet seals it up and you are good to go. No fuss, no muss, and no attendant. I love it!
This one is very important and one I had not been told or read or anything. I actually feel like a spoiled little American even mentioning it. For you others reading this I am assuming most of you are spoiled little American too, so this will be pertinent information. The hostels I am staying at have lists online of their amenities, like internet available, bicycle rental in-house, air conditioning, etc. I found out that AC really means the lobby of the location has AC running only during the hottest time of the day. No other rooms in any of the building I have been to or stayed at have had AC. Now, I am not speaking of the physical presence of an AC unit, I have seen similar things to this. I am talking about windows closed and cold air blowing into the room. It just has not happened. Instead you leave the wondow wide open and let the hot air circulate around your hot room. I must admit this does encourage me to spend less time indoors and more time in the city. If I am going to sweat like a sun-beaten rock in Yorkshire, I may as well be seeing the city while I do it. This does however present a slight issue while I sleep. I have thus far adopted a sleeping pattern that I find helpful. I have no shirt on, belt off, and button undone. My blanket is curled up under my pillow to provide extra lift. My shoes and socks are off; my pants are rolled up to the knees. I lie supine with my arms and legs spread. Finally, I just learn to accept the feeling of friendly little muti-peds traversing the surface of my face moving inexorably downward with the pull of gravity; or in other words, the sweat dripping slowly down the sides of my face while I sleep. At some point in the middle of the night it does cool off and I actually get some quality deep sleep.
Two words to know in England and never use incorrectly unless your goal is a good laugh. Have you ever had a bad day or just had something happen to you, which is just not right? Nothing serious, mind you, but just the little things are all I am talking about here. You might describe this situation as somewhat of a “bummer”, and this would be aptly named of course. Well not in the UK. Seems that when using the term “bummer” it refers to something done to the “bum” or butt just as jumper is a person who is doing the jumping. To bring it all home if you have not yet arrived at the obvious conclusion here, a bummer is an act only performed in an intimate setting and should be done with full informed consent of both parties involved. I hope you get it (the meaning that is), and I hope you use it in the correct context in England.
The second word one might want to be aware of is in a similar region. In America we occasionally speak of those bags that go around the waist as “hip packs” or “fanny packs”. This is great because in America the word fanny is a socially acceptable way of referring to a person’s bottom or butt, this is of course what the “pack’ rests on. Well not in the UK my friends. Across the pond, the fanny is a nether region that belongs solely to the people of the feminine persuasion. Try and put the two together now with the British meaning, what would a “fanny pack” be? Let’s just say “hot dog in a hallway” and leave it at that. Again, don’t be afraid of using these terms, just know what they mean before you say it.
I almost went running with the bulls in Pamplona, and I would have had I not been alone. I was here during the right time, but I really needed someone to call home if I did not make out ok. I met up with a couple who had run and they both came out uninjured and wiser for the experience. Thankfully, they were form British Columbia (That’s Canada) and they spoke English. This means I got the full skinny on the 411 for the bull running. Here it is in a nutshell. Don’t plan on sleeping there, everything is booked 12 months beforehand. Train in early and train out in the afternoon. Be prepared for an olfactory insult greater than you may have ever experienced. Seems the thing to do is get very drunk and pass out in the street. In some places with a large open square it is impossible to traverse the area because the bodies are so thick with drunken revelers. Get a spot on the long straight road early on. The police will most likely physically pull you of the course. Do not fight them, just get off and run like a mad man with everyone else to the other end of the course to get back on and work your way back to where you started. Up until the point when the bulls are physically there in the street the police will be puling people off the street. If you are in a large group of people you are less likely to be singled out as a tourist and yanked out. If you are pulled as I said just get back on someplace else. The white bulls are like passive guide dogs they are pretty mundane, watch out for the black ones they can be a real bummer, and I mean that in both senses of the word. There are three rockets. One to announce the release of the bulls, two to announce some have entered the stadium and three to announce all the bulls are in and those lucky enough to have made it into the stadium are now locked in with the last of the bulls. Now some useful stuff. Don’t get caught between the bulls and the wall. Run in front of the bulls, you can keep up and if you can’t just fall down and cover up. The bulls will jump over you and go around you; it is the people who will trample you a bit. The three most dangerous parts are the 90 degree dead man’s corner (make it around the corner without stopping), the bottle neck into the stadium, and inside the stadium when the doors are locked. Try to make it into the stadium. The only people allowed in are the people in the seats who paid to be there and the idiots in the ring who ran in through the doors.
Once you are in the stadium, a whole new level of fun begins. Here all the midsized bulls are gathered up and taken away. Yippee cheer and be happy you made it there alive, but beware there is more to come. At this point, they release a young and very pissed off bull into the ring full of people. The walls out are three people thick. You don’t want to be the one next to the wall because the people will trample you. You don’t want to be the one closest to the bull either because well, you are closest to the bull. You don’t want to be the one in the middle because then you have no options. Get my point here, there really is no “good” place to be except one of the ticketholders watching the fools below. The raging bull in the middle will tire of skewering people and the circle will close on him. Try to touch him it might be fun. If you grab the tail good on you but it really pisses off the bull and the police will get pissed too so beware of that. This process repeats until the meanest, most pissed off bull is released. Then there are some shows of trained people playing with the bulls and stuff. Finally the show is done. Book it out of there, gather your loved ones and get on a train. Another option is to stay for the next day and just sleep in the street with everyone else. This goes on for 5 days straight. Day one sucks too many people day two three and four are ok. Day five sucks because all the chickens afraid of days one to four have worked up the courage to go now. Better plan on day two and three they are the best times to do it.
Another fun thing to do in Spain is the tomato festival. I hear they import a bunch of tomatoes and you must grab one, squish it in your hands then throw it at people. The tomatoes in the street get to be 1 – 2 feet thick in places. Be prepared to get hosed off and help clean up the mess afterwards. Sadly I will be gone at that time, missed it by two days, oh well.
These same two Canadians told me stories of having their passports taken by train officials in Berlin and being forced to bribe their way out of several situations. It was based on their personal recent accounts of affairs in that region that I changed my mind away from Austria and Poland and decided on Paris instead. If you have been waiting for that bit of information on why I am in Paris and not in Warsaw, then there you have it.
Final tidbit here, then on to the next story in the next post. How to find out where the people are. First get to the city center, this is normally close to the hostel or close to where you arrived. You can always ask how to get there and most people know how. Then watch where people are walking. You will notice one or two directions have more people walking to and from there. Because you are in the city center this means you will want to walk along this direction because the fun is not far from there. As you walk look around for areas that have more people along the path. Eventually you will arrive to a place that a lot of people occupy, congratulations you just found the good hangout place. Be warned though this may not be the only happening place. As I found out in Frankfurt it is also useful to ask a local, they can point you in the right direction for the right kind of fun.
That’s it for tips and tricks, I think one or two more posts to go then you will be done reading.
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