Location: Train from Berlin to Hamburg
Listening to: Antoine Dufour - 30 Minutes in London
Well, I think the title sums it up pretty well. I’m off on my own for a few days - I decided last night to head for Hamburg, checked the train, and made it happen. Now I just hope I can find my hostel when I get there before that 11:00 tour happens.
This is my first experience doing this whole EurRail thing and it’s a little intimidating. For example, today I accidentally hopped onto the first class coach. The attendant didn’t find this quite as funny as I did. In hindsight, I should have guessed that the first car on the train with all the men in suits and the tables between the chairs would only naturally be first class. She was nice enough to say “You will move now” and let me stay on the train. The second attendant (in second class, now) was much easier - I’m not sure he actually read anything on the ticket.
I have to say a note to any of the seniors who may read this in the near future - I’m really going to miss you guys. This goes for all of you at Valpo (and especially SigEp), but right now I’m really thinking about the Chorale seniors. I won’t say I’ll never forget any of the memories we’ve made - I’m sure I already have. I will say that you’ve made a lasting impression on each of our lives and that you’ve helped to build a legacy that I hope will outlast any of us. A few particulars (feel free to skip these if you don’t know these people):
Abby - All the best in NE! Let me know if I can help out with anything - I’m sure my family would be happy to host you if you just need to get out of Seward for a bit. I’m looking forward to seeing you in August!
Andrew - You’ve definitely helped to inspire the ambitions I have for furthering my education in music. I’m not committed to it yet (over law school), but this year you exemplified someone who takes music and its relationship to your future seriously. I really enjoyed singing for you this year and you’re going to do great work in the future.
Chris - #1: I think we all love Laura, and therefore we’re glad you’ve been around. Next Fall might be a little louder. Seriously, though, it’s been a joy getting to know each of you both individually and as the couple you’ve become. #2: Good luck in med school. If I do go into law, medical malpractice defense could definitely be in my future - I pray you’ll never need me, but I’d love to hear from you in 10 years either way.
Dan - You are one silly man. It was fun getting to know you a little bit more on this tour - all the best on whatever happens in the next couple of years.
(Those were in bus order, these are random)
Kelly - You’ve been a fantastic role model for a lot of people in the chorale and I love our highly sarcastic conversations. Do you speak Spanish? We could Skype this summer! :P
Evan - You’re such an old man but we love it - say hello to Henry for me. Try and have a little fun at the wedding and I look forward to seeing what you can do in Bloomington.
Bradford - Best of luck at grad school, I’d love to hear where your counter-tenor studies take you.
Ryan - I can’t believe you aren’t going to be around next year. I know you probably feel like I ditched you this semester, and to be honest that was probably the hardest part about it. You’ve really been a mentor to me in ways you probably never saw (and a great roommate), and I relished the chance to spend time with you again on tour. Let me know how med school’s treating you once in a while!
Leigh - Thanks for doing most of the work this semester :) Really though, I enjoyed working with you to plan out our activities this semester whether we were at passtimes or not. You’re going to be a fantastic teacher and it’ll be cool to watch your students all become conductors and opera stars someday. Let’s grab another Greyhound some time!
Michael - It was good getting to know you a bit more over this tour. I don’t know which career path will pan out in the long run, but I know you’ll work your ass off and be great no matter where you end up.
Amy - Thanks for all the Spanish help, I’m sure I’ll be writing you some frantic email sin the near future so hasta luego.
Rudy - It’s been fun making music with you in all our different ensembles. You’re an incredible musician and I’m really looking forward to seeing you at a professional level.
Joanna - Good luck over the next few weeks - let me know how things are going.
John - I was so happy when I found out you joined chorale this year! I hope you enjoyed it as much as the rest of us enjoyed adding you to the group - I never realized you good your voice really was. You’ve obviously been very important to my development as a person through the last 3 years, and I want to give you a heartfelt thank-you for being a great role model. Have fun in Iowa!
Sorry I didn’t get to some of you, my train is pulling into the station! Have a safe flight home and I had better see all of you again someday!
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Location: A & O Hostel
Listening to: The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
“I was born in Liverpool, but I grew up in Hamburg” - John Lennon
So now that I’ve checked in to my hostel and had some fun tonight, I’ll fill you in on the rest of today. I made it in time for the free 11:00 New Europe tour. I had a good first experience with them - if I can take one in Munich I think I will. This city has a lot more interesting history and fun stuff to see than I’d imagined. My tour guide did a decent job, especially considering he’s a 19-year old and it was his first tour in Hamburg. We left from the Rathaus and walked for 3 hours with a 15-minute break, but unfortunately I didn’t make it to my hostel beforehand. I was definitely relieved to put down my 20+ pound backpack (plus my man-purse) when I finally made it here. I won’t elaborate on a lot of their history, but it was pretty cool to hear about all the stuff with the Beatles here while taking the tour with a guy from the Liverpool area. Harry, if you’re reading this, it was good to meet you and all the best finishing up your internship. Find me on facebook or something if you like.
My hostel’s in - an interesting part of town. I didn’t know what kind of an area it was when I booked it from Berlin. There were already strip shows going on in every adjacent building by the time I checked in at 15:30 (3:30 pm). I decided I’d hop on the rail to do the little bit of shopping I needed to do and headed over to Altuna. It was a nice, open area and I really enjoyed myself. Two lessons learned: #1 - You really have to hunt for shoe sizes. The shower sandals I bought cut off circulation after about 20 minutes (found that out while doing laundry). #2 - Evidently “boxers” is sort of a relative term - they’re briefs with what I’d call very short sleeves for your legs, significantly shorter and...more supportive than our boxer-briefs. They’re like the muscle shirt of underwear. These also don’t have that convenient little flap on the front, which can cause some serious panic when you’ve been holding it for 30 minutes to get to the free bathroom in your hostel. All that aside, they’re very comfortable.
After my shopping trip, I spent about an hour walking around on a wild goose chase (carrying everything I have again) I was sent on my the lady at the hostel desk to find a laundromat. She drew the wrong location on my map, twice, then finally showed me on google maps and realized I was she was a solid kilometer off. I met a couple of pretty interesting guys there, one of which was a 55ish year-old man with a mostly gray ponytail and perfect English. He was baffled as to why someone so young would be writing a postcard home, as he discovered the magic of email just last week. I think the other one was dealing something, as he could pretty clearly say he had taken business trips through the US to a bunch of South American countries but then his English suddenly dropped off. 20 minutes later he told me he worked in a restaurant. Who knows...
I took a nap after laundry, but I didn’t wake up till 23:00 (11 pm). It being a Monday night, there aren’t many “normal” bars open. As mentioned before, I wasn’t too interested in sticking around here, so I headed for Altuna again and I couldn’t believe it - it was like a ghost town. I walked around for an hour, and couldn’t find an open bar without a cover, strip show, or very creepy old people at the bar. I was pretty surprised at how persuasive those strip club owners try to be. I decided I’d try the Beatles-Platz and came back to the red light district, and found the same situation except for a little karaoke bar at the end. I was struggling to find anyone willing to talk to a lone American, but I figured if I could sing for them I’d make a few friends. Unfortunately I would have had to wait about 90 minutes to get on stage and the tiny 0.2 liter Heinekens were the best value at 4 euro apiece, so I couldn’t afford to wait that long. I think I’d have a lot more fun with 1 or 2 friends to hop around with - I can handle myself pretty well but even I felt pretty uncomfortable a few times tonight.
Well I just hit the reprise of the title track - I think it’s time for bed again. Auf wedersehen!
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