Europe '09
Sat Feb 07, 2009 14:53 EST (UTC -5)A few months ago, my friend Mark mentioned that he wanted to go backpacking through Europe over the summer. Then he bought a plane ticket. The implication was that I was invited to come along. The more, the merrier, Mark said. Our friend Andy decided he would go along, and Dan did too. How could I resist?
Okay, I had to think about it a bit. It is a big decision to spend a lot of money traveling on another continent for two months. But it's the chance of a lifetime. Who knows how many people I'll meet and how many things I'll see and do? And when's the next time I'll be able to travel across Europe with friends?
So I made it official. Yesterday, I bought a plane ticket to London on the same flight as Mark and Dan. We're leaving May 26 and coming back July 31. Yep. Over two months.
Interestingly (I'm reminded of a professor I had last semester would stress the third syllable of that word), Mark, Andy, Dan, and I, are the officers of the Esperanto Club here at the University of Florida. We plan to do at least some traveling within the Passport Service, a hospitality network for Esperanto speakers. It'll be a great way to meet people, practice the language, and save money. We also plan on going to the International Youth Congress of Esperanto in Liberec, Czech Republic. As it happens, our club's faculty advisor teaches Czech and will be in the country then, so maybe she'll come along.
While I happen to be on the continent, I'd really like to visit my distant cousins in Croatia and see the beautiful town that my ancestors emigrated from. Also, if my friend Kevin happens to be with his family in Spain over the summer, I'd like to drop by and say hola. And if any of you want to put up four guys for a few nights, it would be much appreciated.
So, people who live in or have been to Europe: what should I see? I'll have two whole months, and I'd like to do as much as possible. What do you recommend? Do you have any tips? Also, I'll be celebrating my 20th birthday during the trip, so if you have any ideas for that, I'd like to hear them.
If you know me, you probably have a lot of questions: "What about this? What about that? What a horrible idea!" Obviously, I don't have all my arrangements made yet, but I am thinking about them. I think I want a travel-sized guitar because I obviously can't go without playing the guitar for two months. I might also bring my laptop, even though I nearly broke it last year when I took it to the dining hall down the street. If I don't bring my computer, I'll at least try to blog as often as possible. I'd also like to take hundreds if not thousands of pictures, so I'll pick up a larger memory card for my camera.
Wow. I can't wait. It'll be the experience of a lifetime.
Rejected titles for this post include:
- Go east, young man
- Eurotrip
- The World of Stuff goes to Europe
- The World of Stuff Live! In Europe
- The World of Stuff's European Vacation
Barack Obama wrote some books, and that means there are audiobook versions of his books. Here's your chance to hear the President utter some questionable quotations like "Sure you can have my number, baby!" and things you can't say on TV. (Via waxy.org)
In case you doubted it: the Top 10 Signs of Evolution in Modern Man. Pretty fascinating stuff. (Via The Presurfer)
Wikipedia has a long list of shibboleths. (There's also an article explaining what a shibboleth is.)
. 
22 comments
#1 by Kirsten: Sat Feb 07, 2009 15:39 EST (UTC -5)
I went to Europe for the first time in 1996, visiting a friend in Sweden, then Paris and London. I spent a month there altogether, then returned to London a year later, and again to the UK the following year. I obviously love the UK, but I'd go back in a heartbeat to see any country in Europe if I had the chance.
You can read the usual guidebooks, but for more off the beaten path sort of stuff, look up Rick Steves. He has a website and a book called "Europe Through the Back Door" that I found helpful when planning my trips. Also check out Virtual Tourist - their forums are very helpful, and my page there (link is on my site under "Me on the Internet") has some helpful links, if they still work. It's been forever since I've been on there.
#2 by Keith: Sat Feb 07, 2009 16:22 EST (UTC -5)
Well, when in England, remember to stay off the moors at night under the full moon. LOL, I could go on making esoteric references to "An American Werewolf in London," but I won't.
I can think of few things I'd like to do less than backpack across Europe personally, but to each his own.
#3 by Jordon Kalilich: Sat Feb 07, 2009 16:32 EST (UTC -5)
Thanks for the tips on guidebooks, Kirsten. I'll definitely be sticking my nose in more than a few over the coming months. And Keith, you can go on making obscure references with the satisfaction of knowing that I won't get them.
I really would like to spend some time in the UK, though Mark wants to make a run for Paris as soon as we land; he wants to make it to Southern Europe before most of the tourists get there. But we won't have much time in the UK on the way back because we'll be flying home less than a week after the Esperanto convention in the Czech Republic ends.
#4 by kevin: Sat Feb 07, 2009 17:25 EST (UTC -5)
i just wrote you a 3-wallpost-long response to this entry lol.
#5 by kristen: Sat Feb 07, 2009 19:55 EST (UTC -5)
wow.
#6 by Luke: Sat Feb 07, 2009 20:30 EST (UTC -5)
Now the acting and dressing less like an American tourist article comes in handy! Ireland is a beautiful place. If you're going to be in Paris, why not check out a cathedral?
#7 by Jordon Kalilich: Sat Feb 07, 2009 23:17 EST (UTC -5)
I'm not sure about Ireland, but think I'd go if I got the chance. Cathedrals are a must, though. Notre Dame (which apparently isn't in Paris) is really a marvel of human engineering, and I'm sure there are lots of others that are equally impressive and less well known.
#8 by kevin: Sat Feb 07, 2009 23:32 EST (UTC -5)
Unless they recently move it, the Cathedral of Notre Dame is definitely in Paris. In the L'Ile de la Cite in the middle of the Seine actually.
#9 by Jordon Kalilich: Sat Feb 07, 2009 23:35 EST (UTC -5)
Oh yeah, I thought Notre-Dame de Reims was the only famous one, but dang if they don't look similar.
#10 by Andy: Sun Feb 08, 2009 03:46 EST (UTC -5)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shibboleths#Place_name_pronunciations
Check out the second and third entries under "In the United States"
#11 by Jordon Kalilich: Sun Feb 08, 2009 11:04 EST (UTC -5)
Hey, how about that. We're in Alachua, and you're from Albany.
#12 by Fabiola: Sun Feb 08, 2009 14:09 EST (UTC -5)
Dude! My flight leaves May 20th to London. Then a connection to Brussels; I'll be there till July 10th. You should visitttt. Check out the EU. Maybe crash at my apartment. You're going to love Europe and never want to leave.
#13 by Jordon Kalilich: Sun Feb 08, 2009 14:12 EST (UTC -5)
You've got a place in Belgium? Heck yeah I'd like to visit. Can you put up 2-4 people for a few nights?
#14 by Luke: Sun Feb 08, 2009 15:14 EST (UTC -5)
I would love to go back to Ireland. It would be important for me. For you, maybe not. I like the idea of visiting Croatia. It's beautiful, and you have roots there. You can learn a lot about a place when you are there, but I would recommend reading up on the places you will visit before you go.
#15 by Jordon Kalilich: Sun Feb 08, 2009 15:16 EST (UTC -5)
Oh yeah, it'll be spontaneous, but not that spontaneous.
#16 by Luke: Sun Feb 08, 2009 20:29 EST (UTC -5)
By all means be spontaneous. I'm talking about something else entirely: I would have appreciated my travels more if I had known anything about the places we visited before I went there instead of after.
#17 by Fabiola: Mon Feb 09, 2009 03:45 EST (UTC -5)
I'm studying abroad there so I get a student apartment. Theoretically, I could receive up to three people and I'd crash on the sofa. Btw, how much was your plane ticket?
#18 by Jordon Kalilich: Mon Feb 09, 2009 17:38 EST (UTC -5)
It came out to $936 with insurance, taxes, and fees. The price actually dropped the next day. Go figure.
#19 by Fabiola: Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:19 EST (UTC -5)
Just found $741 w/ American Airlines. Miami - London - Brussels.
#20 by Jordon Kalilich: Tue Feb 10, 2009 17:32 EST (UTC -5)
Not a bad deal.
#21 by Keith: Fri Feb 13, 2009 10:42 EST (UTC -5)
I'd hardly call "An American Werewolf in London" obscure (it's a classic), but OK.
#22 by Jordon Kalilich: Fri Feb 13, 2009 17:33 EST (UTC -5)
I've hardly seen any movies that other people would regard as classics. But if I saw all the movies people said I should see because they're classics, I'd have no time for anything else.