August 16

We woke up from our corner in the airport and proceeded to get the day under way. Our first order of business was to try and find the famous fjords of Norway. When we went to the information booth, we learned that the most popular one was about six hours away. There is a fjord near Oslo, although not as grandeur, so we decided to head to that one. We got on a train to head toward where we understood the fjord to be. We arrived in a small town called Drammen without any knowledge of what to expect. We didn’t find any fjords, but we did get a nice view of the river that ran through the town. We went to the main bridge to take a few pictures of the scenery and the artwork that was for sale throughout the area. We only stayed in Drammen for about an hour and then we headed back to Oslo to regroup. Back in Oslo, we decided to give up on the fjord idea to try to find our next destination, the public spas of Oslo. We were told that they were open to the public, so we were excited to get there to relax a while. We had to carry our packs for about a half hour to get to the spa, and when we got there, we found out that it cost almost 15.00 USD just to get in. We turned around and came back to the train station. We ended up deciding to head to the Swedish city of Gðteborg. Unfortunately, we had a four hour wait before the first train to Gðteborg departed. We went back to our corner spot in the mall where we got kicked out the night before. There, we goofed around on the internet and napped until it was time to go. Online, we discovered that there was an airport in Gðteborg, so we decided to try to get there to sleep again.

The train ride into Sweden was once again a pleasant one. We took many pictures from the train, this time with sunny skies. However, once we got to Gðteborg, it was raining once again. We tried to get to the airport to sleep for the night, but there were no trains that went there and the bus service cost too much money, so we began looking for alternative plans. We found a train that departed for Malmð, which is the border city between Sweden and Denmark. This train didn’t leave until 2:30 am and it was only 10:00 pm. We went to a corner of the train station to find a spot to take a nap. We had been lying down for about two hours before we were awoken by a pair of security guards informing us that we were not allowed to sleep on the floor. We were forced to move to a bench if we wanted to lay down. We did so, but an hour later, I felt another tap on my shoulder. It was the same two guards telling us that, this time, the train station was closing. It was about 1:00 am, so we had to wait the remaining hour and a half outside on the platform. It was fairly cold out and a bit blustery. We curled up in our blankets against a wall until we were able to board the train. Our choices for seats were slim, but we eventually ended up finding two adjacent seats. We both wriggled around to get comfortable until we fell asleep.

August 17

We were forced to wake up around 7:00 am despite only a few hours of uncomfortable sleep in our train seats. We had arrived in Malmð. Next we decided to head straight to Hamburg. We went to the information desk to find out if there were any trains to Hamburg that didn’t require a reservation. He informed us that there was one leaving in four minutes, so we ran from the information booth to platform just in time to catch the train. We were making exceptional time. Unfortunately, the train was packed and it looked like we were going to be sitting on the floor until Ben found a family room booth with seats available. We scooted in there and ended up meeting a couple from Stuttgart, which is the same area that Sarah and Lena are from. When our train went back onto the ferry, we went up to the deck and I decided to finally try a Carlsberg beer since I had a few Danish Kroners to blow. Carlsberg, brewed right in Copenhagen, is supposedly the best beer in the world (and it says so right on the can), but I can say from experience that it is not.

After our arrival in Hamburg, we then set out for the tiny town of Stelle that we had found the Penny Markt in during our last stay in Hamburg. I had 15.00 Euros that was supposed to last me the entire last week of our trip, so I stocked up on groceries. I should now have enough to last most of the week if not the entire thing. It is just a matter of finding a way to carry all this food. My pack was already full from the souvenirs I had been collecting over the past couple weeks, so I had to do a major adjustment. I didn’t want to be carrying around the brown paper bag that I paid 0.15 Euro for in Wittenburg any longer. I had already been carrying it for a week from the last trip to the Penny Markt, and it now had a gaping hole in it and had to be thrown out. But this wouldn’t take place until much later in the day.

After returning to the Hamburg main station, we saw that we had about a half hour wait until a train toward Amsterdam left. We were going to shoot for Amsterdam airport to find a place to sleep, but would probably have to go to the main station first. After our first transfer, however, we found that the train we were on was terminating at the airport which means we would save about an hour of travel time. The Dutch scenery from the train was another unique view. There were forests of birch trees, swamps, and wetlands just outside of Amsterdam. Besides that, everybody seemed to be pretty nice and all the signs are in English, so the Dutch are quickly rising to the top of our list.

When we arrived in the airport, we immediately began to look for a corner to sleep in. It was quite a bit busier than in the Oslo airport, but we just kept going up escalators until there was hardly anybody. We ended up finding a perfect spot in a secluded corner right next to a bathroom. We sprawled all our stuff out and went to take a “sink shower” as we have began to call them. I also did a little “sink laundry” as well. It wasn’t five minutes after I had just got done soaking my socks, though, when a security guard came up to tell us that the area was closing and we needed to leave. So we quickly packed up our stuff and began looking for another place. We ended finding a spot that was quite similar to our other spot with just a little more foot traffic and a father distance to the bathroom. As long as we are not in a spot that we don’t belong in, I’m sure it will make for a comfortable night.

August 18

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MATT AND KENDYL!!!

We were awoken by security guards around 7:00 am telling us that it was time to wake up. I’m not sure if this was some sort of rule or if they were just sick of us being there, but we began to pack up none the less. We walked to the train station and rode to Amsterdam’s central station. We walked around looking for lockers to put our bags in for a while, but all we found were lockers that required a credit card, something neither one of us were willing to give. We were then forced to carry our bags around for the day.

Amsterdam is a city with many interesting sites, sounds, and especially smells. The red light district is only a few blocks away from the main train station, and things start to get shady about two blocks from the station. We weren’t in the city more than five minutes before we smelled our first whiff of marijuana. It was only about 9:30 am and already a girl was walking down the street smoking a joint. We went to the national monument and a few other important buildings before finally making our way through the red light district at around 11:00 am. What we saw may have been the only thing we have witnessed so far that was not embellished at all by its stereotype. The moral ineptitude of the area was so ridiculously disgusting that you really can’t put it into words. The smell of pot dominated your senses while every other building was some sort of sex shop. We didn’t stay long.

After our morning walkabout, we decided to head to a small section on the outskirts of town that seemed to have a large park based on the picture on the map. We had to walk about a half mile from the train station to get there just to find that it was nothing more than a gated village surrounded by swamp. We found a bench and sat down and ate lunch. We sat there and relaxed for a couple hours until neither one of us could resist the urge to nap any longer. We had come to the “park” to find a place to sleep in the first place. We both remembered an area underneath an underpass that had some nice shaded pavement in the median. We went there and set up camp for our nap. It was a little loud being sandwiched between two lanes of traffic and underneath a train bridge, but we both managed to fall asleep relatively quickly. Every once in a while we would wake up when certain people thought it was funny to startle the bums with a honk of their horn, but for the most part, I slept well for an hour. Then Ben decided it was too loud and wanted to move. I had become quite comfortable and wasn’t happy with being woken up because he couldn’t sleep, so I told him I was staying right where I was. After I didn’t budge for two or three more demands to move, I no longer heard him and knew that he had left to go find somewhere else to sleep. I rolled over and went back to sleep. After about another hour, I finally woke up and saw that Ben was no where in sight. As the next couple hours went by, I began to wonder if he had disappeared all together leaving me to finish our trips separately. I had read about fifty pages of my book before he returned with some plans on what to do for the rest of the day.

It was about 5:30 pm by the time I got packed up and we started heading back to the train station. It was well after 6:00 pm before we got off the train in downtown Amsterdam again. We began walking toward Anne Frank’s house to see what that was all about. It was quite a haul to get there just to find out that it cost 8.50 Euros to get in and the line had about a two hour wait. We took a couple pictures and then left for the next item on the agenda. We were going to go to a coffee café for Ben to get some coffee while we connected to their internet. We went into a café which said “internet inside” and asked what network was theirs for us to connect to. The server said that they didn’t actually have a network, but that they just steal it from an unsecured network somewhere on the street. Again, I wondered how many lawsuits would get filed if this were to occur in the States, but we left in search of a real wireless network. I ended up finding one outside on a bench. I had to update my mother of our status quickly, but the main reason I searched so hard for internet was to find out how our softball team did in the state tournament. I was elated to find out we had come in second place, but was disappointed that we had lost both games in the double elimination championship. Either way, it was an impressive feat, one that I hope we can top next year. Although I’m sure to find a number of fines coming my way when I get back for not being there, I should remind them that I did kiss the Blarney Stone while wearing my Munger Softball t-shirt. I also had it on during the entire weekend of the tournament. Hopefully that superstitious nonsense counts for something.

After we had finished using the internet, we continued to sit on the bench and just watch people pass by. We never went more than ten minutes without seeing something I had never seen before. First there was the fact that every other person walking by was ingesting marijuana in some form. Then there was the guy that rolled a doobie right next to us on our bench. Then there was the guy walking by that had a head full of dreadlocks wrapped up around his head as a girl might wear a towel fresh out of the shower. Then we saw a cop up in the window of the apartment building across the street. We saw him go into every room of the six story building to pull the shades up in each window. Then he set up a computer in the corner of one of the rooms. I couldn’t help but think that we were in the middle of some sort of sting operation. What happened next only strengthened this idea. Some guy casually walked by and, without slowing or completely looking at us, offered us some crack cocaine. It was soon after this that we decided our people watching stint had gone on long enough. Even though it wasn’t even dark yet, we felt that the red light district was a little too much for us. We then went back to the train station and caught the first train to the airport.

We decided that we were going to find a different spot to sleep for the night that wasn’t in a restricted area. We ended up finding a corner that was perfect for our situation. There seemed to be no purpose of this corner except to house people looking for a place to sleep before their flight, and if the security guard asks, our flight left the following morning. One of the problems with sleeping in an air port is that the lights are on twenty-four hours a day, but luckily for us, we had found a spot under a shade tree growing in a giant pot. We took our time setting up. I ate some dinner from my bag and went to the bathroom to do some “sink laundry” and take a “sink shower” before bed. I stayed up as long as I could expecting to sleep in late the following morning, but I didn’t even make it until 11:00 pm before I was out for the night.

August 19

At 5:00 am we were promptly awaken by two security guards informing us that we were not allowed to lay down after 5:00 am. If we wanted to continue sleeping we would have to sleep sitting up. Who ever heard of such an absurd rule for an airport? After the security guards left, I propped myself up uncomfortably against my bag and Ben just rolled over and went back to sleep. About five minutes later the guards came back and told us we should probably just go find a seat somewhere. It looked as though our day would be starting prematurely.

We packed up and made our way to the train station to see when the first train to Brussels, Belgium departed. As it turned out, there was a train leaving three minutes later from the platform we were basically standing on. This would have been quite lucky if we had been in a hurry in the first place. As it was, however, we basically had little planned beyond going to Brussels for the day and spending the night in the Brussels airport. As our train was approaching the first stop in Brussels, Ben noticed girls dancing naked in the window of a building on the street side. This told the tale of our opinion of the city. Basically, everything was a dump except the main square in town. It is regarded as the most beautiful square in all of Europe, but it was nothing but a bunch of old buildings and a restaurant. It was a nice sight, but nothing more special than anything else we have seen. The next order of business was to go the Manneken Pis, which is a small fountain on the corner of two small streets. It is world renowned for the unusual location of the fountain. The statue of a young boy is actually spouting water from his penis. What surprised me was that the statue was actually only a little more than a foot tall and the area around the fountain was extremely small. It was a neat little thing to see though. Finally, before we went to find a park to nap in, we had to find a Belgian waffle to try. This wasn’t hard since the cheapest place we found was right next to the Manneken Pis. For 1.50 Euros, I ate the best waffle I have ever had by far. I had bought the waffle before Ben even knew what I was up to, but when he saw my expression after my first bite, he knew that he had to try one as well. My exact words not two seconds after I chomped down into my first bite were “Oh my!” I know this because Ben kept reminding me for a couple hours of how funny my expression was. All I can say is that I will never be able to fully appreciate a waffle again and nobody should ever call their waffles “Belgian” waffles.

After savoring every last bite of my waffle, we went to a small grassy area near the train station to finish the sleep that we had been deprived of by the security guards. Ben was ready to go around noon, but it took me a while to get fully awake to get ready to go. Finally, we got up and went to the train station to head to our next destination. We arrived in Luxembourg about three hours later. We expected more than what we saw in Luxembourg City, but we did take a few nice pictures of the Viaduct and its surrounding area. We basically walked from the train station to the main center, took a few pictures, and walked back to the train station. We did have time to head to a local store, but I was the only one that bought anything; a few sleeves of cookies for the flight and a gift for my dad. I was down to my last 0.81 Euro that I had taken out a few weeks ago. If I can make my groceries last until our flight on Sunday, then I will have successfully strung out 24.00 Euros over the course of nearly three weeks.

Our next and final destination for the day was the Frankfurt airport. This is where we plan on spending the next two nights. During the three hours that we spent on the train, our spirits grew as we realized two things: one-we were headed back to Germany, our favorite country thus far and two-we were only three full days from our flight out of here. It also helped that the train ride through western Germany was one of the most scenic yet. I never caught the name of the river that our train followed through the hillside, but I do know that it met the River Rhine in the oldest German town named Koblenz. During the ride through the hills, we saw many small villages down by the river and at least a dozen castles nestled up on the top of the hills. Maybe this is why we have begun to look forward to riding trains through Germany.

Once at the Frankfurt airport, we immediately began to search for a place to call bed. We found a couple prospective areas right away and then realized that the airport was way to big to inspect every corner. We found a couple benches in the upper level where it seemed no one ever passed through. We sat there for nearly an hour before we sprawled our stuff out to get ready for bed. Ben went to go find a bathroom as I began pecking away at the keyboard and came back to report that he had found a free public shower. He grabbed his towel and left again. Now I am surrounded by three guys, one of which is a three-hundred-pounder with his shirt off and fly undone, despite our belief that no one ever came up to this part of the airport. We may move now when Ben gets back and realizes what has become of his sacred sleeping area.

Well we ended up moving when Ben got back party because he had found another decent spot and partly because the other guy was planning on sleeping nice and cozily with Ben. We moved to another spot and Ben showed me where the shower was. He said that you were supposed to pay to use it but he just waited until the other guy came out and grabbed the door. Then he used the deadbolt to leave it propped open for me to use. It was my first shower in exactly a week since our first day at the Schluckebier’s. When I got back, I hadn’t even sat down in our new spot when a worker from the airport approached us. I thought for sure we were getting kicked out again, but he turned out to be an extremely nice old man who just wanted to take some photos of us in action. He is retiring in a few days after thirty years of service and just wanted to capture some of the memories of the airport with his camera. After he took a couple photos and asked us where we were from, we were happy to hear that he recognized Saginaw as the hometown of Stevie Wonder. We were even more shocked to find out that he was a close friend of Stevie Wonder and actually had stayed with his then fiancé (now deceased wife) during his first time traveling to Michigan. He said he was eighteen at the time and came to the US with only ninety dollars in his pocket. He got in his first car accident in Detroit when his friends hosting him thought it would be fun to let him drive even though he couldn’t even legally drive in Germany yet. After rattling off a few more stories about Michigan, the US, and a few other European cities, he went on his way snapping off a few more photos. We were relieved that his answer to my inquiry about the frequency of people sleeping as we were was that there are people who do this all the time. This should mean that we should be able to sleep as long as we want here tonight. That would be a relief and a luxury.