Well my 1st Euro trip has come to an end. It is sad to see this group of kids go, we had a blast (only wish I hadn't gotten food poisoning the last 2 days after drinking a beer that I think mixed with the sewage lines). Here is what I learned from our outings:
1: Haley is some sort of sorcerer. She is the only person to lose both her passport and cell phone in 2 different countries and have them both returned. She MUST be dabbeling in the dark arts.
2: Pub crawls are hit or miss, depending on the city. Amsterdam pub crawl was amazing and ten kids had a blast...I think. Prague and Madrid pub crawls are creepy and kind of remind me of hanging out with circus folk.
3: Barcelona is sketchy as hell. Between the gangs, pickpockets, Indian dudes with mouth squeekers,and having Ricky lead us down Prostitute and Knife Wound Alley (we literally saw a blood trail) I would be hard pressed to go back again...oh wait I go back in 2 days. Damn it!
4: if you do get pick pocketed, check to see if you didn't put your wallet in your suitcase before you cancel your credit, debit cards.
5: The girlfriends on this trip are the bread winners of the relationship. After 1 pickpocteting and one fake pickpocketing, watching the boys have to ask their girlfriends for money on a daily basis was a lot of fun. Way to go Jen and Mad Dog, support your men.
6: A simple countdown from 5 can get you to do anything. "Jump out of this gondola", "Hell no!". "5, 4,3,2,1", and somehow I jumped. It also works on jumping off waterfalls.
7: Doing a "Texas, Fight!" yell can get you thrown out of the biggest beer haus in Munich. Eventhough I 100% refused to yell it, I still sat back and watched out sweet girls get the boot. Apparently Munic is full of Aggies. Gig 'em Munich.
8: In order to the a bicycle lisence in Amsterdam, you have to be a hot woman or a creepy dude. On the same note, in order to get a moped lisence in Amsterdam, you have to be a creepy dude, with another creepy dude riding tandem with you. I'm looking at you KellY and Marty
9: What in the hell is wrong with Europen guys fashion? I cannot begin to describe some of the outfits I saw. Jorts, skinny jeans, and capris are only the tip of the iceberg. Worst of all it doesn't stop there, the haircuts were nothing short of amazing. Mullets, fauxhawks, and most amazing of all, the Jedi Padawan front braid from Star Wars Episode II were everywhere. I'm pretty sure that where I'm from you'd get your ass kicked for dressing like that.
10: Regardless of where we are in the world, the top two most consumed foods by 18 year olds are pizza and late night McDonalds. I'm not going to lie, in Munich I did wake up next to a bag of shame (an empty 10 piece McNugget and a large fries), but I felt so guilty and ashamed of myself that I never went back. These kids crushed McDonalds on almost a nightly basis. It was amazing and awe-inspiring to witness.
All in all, the trip was amazing, but not without drama. Mixing guys and girls may not have been the best idea, but it did work out in the end (thanks Bones for coming back and making everything all better). Would I do it again, absolutely. Would I try and escort the girls home when curfew is up absolutely not (I think I am losing my hair due to stress). Would I go out with the guys to the pub, absolutely. Would I go out with the group to a club, absolutely not. Especially when random 40 year old spanards are punching Charlie in the face (mark that one off your bucket list). Well, I have a nice 3 day rest before my next group gets here. Time to catch up on some sleep, laundry, and detox.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Barcelona...the sketchiest place in Europe
Don't get me wrong, Barcelona is a great city. The bars are wonderful, the food is beyond great, and the beach is one of the most amazing ones I have ever been on. However, there are a lot of problems with this city:
1: What is the deal with Indian dudes and their squeaky advertisement toys. I am not sure what these things are but the most common thing I can compare them to is a high pitched turkey call. Indian dudes are every 30ft selling glowing rubber band fired spinning things (again the best name I could come up with) and squeaking these horrible sounds. I didn't want to buy your crappy helicopter in the first place, and squeaking in my face isn't helping your sale.
2: Graffiti. Why do punks feel the need to spray paint everything the see. Grow up and stop ruining everything you see.
3: The elderly. I thought Florida had a lot of old folks living there and reining in their twilight years, but Barcelona trumps them with old folks doing the same thing but being active. Do you have any idea hoe hard it is to pass a group of 90 year old women WALKING down the street? It's impossible! You can't be rude, but they can't hurry up. Don't they know that they are old and their life is coming to a close? Shouldn't they be moving with a bit more haste? I've seen younger people at the nickel slots in New Orleans.
4: Thugs rule the city. Screw Compton, CA in the early 90s, Barcelona is riddled with gangs. We saw 2 Americans getting beaten up by 8 Spanish dudes in a back alley. The Batman in me wanted to help them, but my lack of stab wound protection didn't let it happen. Walking away from this mugging was the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with in my life. I have never felt more helpless for my fellow man, and for my ability to defend him. It was very, very sad.
Here is what happened to our group, it is kind of like the first three days of the 12 days of Christmas, but with crime:
1: Night club face punching by some random Spaniard who was grabbing our girls. However, kind of like Buster Bluth, getting in the face was on his bucket list, so he isn't upset about it. Actually he made a few people on our trip jealous.
2: Vinyl clocks bought. Sorry dad but I bought you two badass vinyl clocks, one of the stones And on of the dead, but surprise surprise, the clocks stopped working and I left them in Barcelona.
3: People robbed. Well honestly it is one, but one kid had his wallet stolen while sleeping on the train. One thought his wallet was stolen at a night club, but found out the next day that he put it in his bag. The last, Charner, had some random chick try and steal her purse while walking back from breakfast. Luckily her karate stance scarred the chick off.
I am currently in Madrid which is an amazing city. This group has 2 days left and then it gets started again. I finally found a computer with a CD drive so I will try and post my pics from Interlaken tomorrow.
1: What is the deal with Indian dudes and their squeaky advertisement toys. I am not sure what these things are but the most common thing I can compare them to is a high pitched turkey call. Indian dudes are every 30ft selling glowing rubber band fired spinning things (again the best name I could come up with) and squeaking these horrible sounds. I didn't want to buy your crappy helicopter in the first place, and squeaking in my face isn't helping your sale.
2: Graffiti. Why do punks feel the need to spray paint everything the see. Grow up and stop ruining everything you see.
3: The elderly. I thought Florida had a lot of old folks living there and reining in their twilight years, but Barcelona trumps them with old folks doing the same thing but being active. Do you have any idea hoe hard it is to pass a group of 90 year old women WALKING down the street? It's impossible! You can't be rude, but they can't hurry up. Don't they know that they are old and their life is coming to a close? Shouldn't they be moving with a bit more haste? I've seen younger people at the nickel slots in New Orleans.
4: Thugs rule the city. Screw Compton, CA in the early 90s, Barcelona is riddled with gangs. We saw 2 Americans getting beaten up by 8 Spanish dudes in a back alley. The Batman in me wanted to help them, but my lack of stab wound protection didn't let it happen. Walking away from this mugging was the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with in my life. I have never felt more helpless for my fellow man, and for my ability to defend him. It was very, very sad.
Here is what happened to our group, it is kind of like the first three days of the 12 days of Christmas, but with crime:
1: Night club face punching by some random Spaniard who was grabbing our girls. However, kind of like Buster Bluth, getting in the face was on his bucket list, so he isn't upset about it. Actually he made a few people on our trip jealous.
2: Vinyl clocks bought. Sorry dad but I bought you two badass vinyl clocks, one of the stones And on of the dead, but surprise surprise, the clocks stopped working and I left them in Barcelona.
3: People robbed. Well honestly it is one, but one kid had his wallet stolen while sleeping on the train. One thought his wallet was stolen at a night club, but found out the next day that he put it in his bag. The last, Charner, had some random chick try and steal her purse while walking back from breakfast. Luckily her karate stance scarred the chick off.
I am currently in Madrid which is an amazing city. This group has 2 days left and then it gets started again. I finally found a computer with a CD drive so I will try and post my pics from Interlaken tomorrow.
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