Looking Back at Gustav Euro Tour 2017: Part 4 (of 5) The Future Leg

NOTE: If you are reading this on a desktop computer, hover over all pictures for additional anecdotes! There doesn’t appear to be a way to read the captions on mobile browsers that I have, though.

Other Parts of this Series: Part 1 - Why and How

Part 2 - The Concert Leg

Part 3 - The Beauty Leg

Part 5 - Ireland & the UK

Part of the reason I stayed in my AirBnB in Marseille my only night there was because I was still working on fixing my stomach issues (I had bought chicken and yogurt, among other things) but also because I still had not booked a place in Barcelona. Worse, nearly every hostel was either sold out or very expensive and there were little to no inexpensive AirBnB options that also could accommodate my arrival at about midnight. After getting declined by a few AirBnB hosts, I found a lady who's place was a little out of my price range, but would be able to take me in at midnight. She accepted my request and I was good to go.

My flight was delayed but I still made it to the person's place at midnight. She was incredibly friendly and helpful, even waking up a couple times when I needed help with a few things. Unfortunately I was still sick and often needed to use the restroom, but there were signs of progress.

The next morning I took the metro to the heart of Barcelona. I wore little else but a t-shirt, bathing suit and shoes, along with a little bag for my wallet and phone. I didn't even bring a phone charger as I expected the phone to last long enough for the whole day. I stopped by two big churches in Barcelona Cathedral and Basilica Santa Maria del Mar.

Although there were a lot of landmarks to hit, I decided to head to the beach right away as the Barcelonetta Beach as not too far away. Just a few blocks from the beach you could see a lot of pretty people walking by. I would see various sports teams and colleges during the walk, including a couple Cal hats and Raider hats.

I stopped by a restaurant on the street pictured above. I was pleasantly surprised that for the first time since I became ill I was able to eat with no instant stomach pains or fever. I wasn't completely out of the woods, but it was a great start. The only problem is, the bacon cheeseburger I got was really poor (I had never found quality bacon, like the one you'd find in America, the whole trip until I got to the UK), almost tasted like cardboard. Plus it was pretty expensive, like eating at a hipster cafe in San Francisco. Nonetheless I made it to the beach.

It was very crowded, but the water was gorgeous. I did not have protection for my phone so I couldn't go swimming but I waded in the water as much as I could. The views were stunning. Needless to say, like Constanta, there were lots of beautiful women, and a fair amount of them were... well lets just say modesty customs aren't the same in Europe as they are in America. I'd like to think I had a very good poker face during the day.

After walking nearly a mile on the beach, I noticed my phone was dying. I decided to find a new place to go. I noticed, not too far away from my AirBnB was Camp Nou. That's the football stadium for FC Barcelona. I was able to get a bus that took me all the way there, although it was a long ride. By the time I got there my phone was nearly dead, but I was still able to get a lot of good pictures. Since I lost both of the pens I originally packed by the time I got to Spain, I bought a new one at the team store that I still have. It would be the only souvenir I bought in Barcelona and Madrid.

All sorts of tourists were there, including a guy in a Texas shirt who did not appear to be happy to see my Cal gear... for some reason.

My phone did die before I got out of the stadium, so finding my way back on foot proved to be difficult. I tried to take the metro again but I forgot what route to take. Eventually I used memory and gut instincts to find the right station. After charging my phone and napping I decided to hit the local areas near my AirBnB to look for food. After finding nothing but a gated college, I took the metro again back downtown.

I hit up the famous Las Ramblas street, where there were lots of souvenirs to buy (I didn't get any), and restaurants to choose from. There were some fast food places, some halal places, and some fancier restaurants. It was very hard to choose, but one thing immediately caught my eye.

Once I saw that it became difficult not to have dinner there. I had a cocktail, a salad, and truffle fries (which were not very good). A Warriors/Cavs finals game (I believe Game 2 from 2015 in Oakland, which the Cavs won) played on loop and there was memorabilia from all 30 teams hanging around.

Unfortunately that would be it for my stay in Barcelona. I wanted more stuff to do, but since I had to leave my AirBnB early and it was a Spanish holiday and nothing was open anyway, I just went straight for Madrid in the early afternoon. My host gave me a very warm goodbye and wanted me to return someday, and I will in a little over a month!

The train from Barcelona to Madrid was incredible, albeit not very scenic. The train was very comfortable and I got to ride first class (though it wasn't cheap, around $35) and the food they had was spectacular (I also found some solid candy at one of the markets in the train station). None of it made me feel sick.

Once I settled in to my AirBnB in Madrid (which was refreshingly cheap and easy to find given my tough luck in Barcelona and Southern France) I decided to walk up to the central areas. On my way I found a mural of various paintings and a museum (believed to be the Tablacera) which had some interesting darkness-themed exhibitions.

Before I got to the central area I passed by what appeared to be a festival (It was Assumption of Mary day in Spain, and as such most places weren't open) and people playing sports in parks. (One person in the area was rocking a Warriors jersey) The festival had lots of good food but my stomach was still in bad shape so I had to pass.

Finally I made it to downtown. I stopped by the beautiful Almudena Cathedral, which allowed pictures so I took some shots of the beautiful surroundings before praying.

Then, I found the Royal Palace, but it was about to close, so I walked around the beautiful gardens and plazas before finding the main plaza, Plaza Mayor.

I went back to my AirBnB for the night, after finding a grocery store with stomach-friendly foods (plus some chorizo), cringed at the news (this was the day Trump said the Nazis in Charlottesville were "Very fine people") and caught up on more sleep.

I had a full day the following day, and it was a pretty big day in the city. Real Madrid and FC Barcelona were set to have a match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. I didn't get to Madrid in time to get a full tour the previous day (because of the holiday they closed pretty early) so I had to settle for an abridged tour on this day. (Because of the game, the locker rooms among others weren't included on the abridged tour) I considered going to the game but it was late at night (an 11pm start I believe) and tickets were looking like $150 or so.

Note that both tours in Barcelona and Madrid also took some professional photos of me with trophies and false-images of players, but in order to keep them I needed to pay roughly $40 (each) so I had to let them go.

After trying a Mexican restaurant near my AirBnB (It wasn't very good, although I got a free tequila shot from a nearby group of partiers) and taking a nap, I went back to the central area and checked out the Royal (Real) Palace.

I got tricked as I got in. You see, in the entrance is says admittance is free after 5pm, so that's when I went. But it turns out, only upon entering the box office, that this offer only applies to EU and Latin American citizens, so my American self still had to pay.

The place was amazing, one of the most beautiful castles I saw (most of the rooms forbid pictures). Overall I found Madrid to be the coolest city I visited and one I would consider moving to (using my Bolivian heritage to get citizenship).

After visiting a few gardens, my Madrid trip came to an end.

Although I had a long day 3 it wasn't logistically possible to walk around as I could not leave my bags at my AirBnB, so I went to the airport where I stayed for a lengthy amount of time. I pulled a power move as it would have cost $50 to check in my bags and I had liquids in my bags. So I just simply walked to my flight with all 3 bags (I did have to throw away some lotion) and tried to act cool and hope no one says anything, and it worked!

After getting to the Düsseldorf Airport, I received two messages from people. One asked me if I was still in Barcelona and the other seemed very distraught hoping I was okay. I told the first person I left Barcelona 3 days earlier, and the latter person usually is worried about me all the time so I paid it no mind. I found out that in Barcelona, on the Las Ramblas street I had dinner on less than 72 hours earlier, there was a terrorist attack that killed many people, including another Bay Area tourist. I was very shaken up on the news, and it was a somber walk around the first day of the German leg. I considered going home but decided to do the rest of my trip, as I wasn't really affected by the tragedy.

Originally I was going to take a train to Amsterdam and spent the night there, but I couldn't commit because there weren't many late night trains, so a plane delay would have been trouble. Plus, hostels were expensive in Amsterdam and AirBnBs were virtually non-existent (or sold out) so I decided to spent the night in the small German town and go early in the morning to Amsterdam. I did get to go by the beautiful Rhine River and Old Town.

I noticed there was a lot of Korean restaurants near my pension, and I tried one (Koreanisches Grill). It was incredible! And my stomach seemed to eat all of it okay, which was a big plus.

My pension (a hotel where I have my own private room and shower but have to share toilets and kitchens with others) had poor internet coverage so I was pretty much screwed for the night and morning... plus there was a guy on the sidewalk nearby shouting epithets at around 5am (Much like my apartment at home!) so sleep was tough. I decided to just check out and get out. The train station was a few minutes away and I took a (free with Eurail pass!) train ride to Amsterdam.

The canals were as wonderful as I've heard. There was lots of legal weed and shroom stores, and I did get a lite but mostly ineffective snack (gum). I also saw a kid wearing an A's hat, the first time I saw someone wearing A's gear the entire trip! There was also someone in Cal gear.

Amsterdam is also known for its red light district... and... unfortunately I wasn't doing so well physically or mentally. There was an arcade nearby and I took advantage of that.

After leaving the area... feeling a little down, ashamed, and out of cash for some reason... (Apparently I think you're all stupid) I went back to my hostel while also getting some salami and cheese from a grocery store and some new lotion.

Though I could have called it a day, I went to the Van Gogh Museum about a block away from the hostel. No pics were allowed, but I got a free professional pic at the entrance. It was very cool to learn about the artist.

I didn't do much else in Amsterdam in the morning, and returned to Germany to do a stop in Cologne. I wanted to do Frankfurt but it was too far and I sadly had to cut it. Cologne had some cool places, particularly the stunning church (Kölner Dom) and a lively pub scene. Some of the areas even reminded me a little of Berkeley.

I started to feel ill again once I got to my pension; Also I had trouble accessing the WiFi from my room, so I laid in bed and took a nap. Some of the nice restaurants nearby were not going to be in the cards for me. I went to a sauna and hot tub in the area to unwind. Culturally in Germany you typically only wear a towel (or nothing at all) in these spaces so it was a little awkward for me. It was therapeutic though. Once again I fed myself using cheap meals at a grocery store. It wasn't so bad though.

I walked across the Rhine River (the city's right next to Düsseldorf) and entered the church (no pictures were allowed inside).

Although it was Saturday I was not in good shape health wise, so I decided to go to bed without partying so I could be ready for my next stop.

The next morning I made my return to Munich. I wish I could have went some place new, but I didn't think it was fair to skip the city after doing so little there during the stop in July.

This time I booked a hostel much closer to the train station. This allowed me to check out more of what the town had to offer. I found a giant park, several churches, and a museum. The museum had an exhibit showing off some jarring new-age "free" jazz. It was a fun listen.

Finally, I went to the famous Hofbräuhaus where I had an interesting sausage meat loaf. It tasted like a big hot dog. In hindsight I should have gotten something else, but the atmosphere was phenomenal.

I returned to my hostel after looking at the pretty buildings at night. Most of the day I had my entire 4-bed room to myself but before I went to bed I discovered I had 3 beautiful roommates! They had French accents but were likely from Central Asia. I got to know them a tiny bit but of course, like all the stops on the German leg, I was only there for one night.

It was off to Leipzig. This stop didn't have me go very far as most of the places I wanted to see were within walking distance of the train station. First I checked into my hostel, where one very talkative roommate from Northern Germany decided he wanted to get to know me and a female roommate, who also happened to be from California (I believe San Diego) and was in the midst of her own lengthy European tour. I wound up having a beer with the two of them and learned a lot about German and European culture. So after a kind of quiet few weeks I got to socialize in Barcelona, Munich and now Leipzig! Pretty cool. I also watched the Lunar Eclipse that was going on at home using my laptop. It was one of the last things I did with the laptop.

I got to see the church that shares my name, the Nikolaikirche, and also the Thomaskirche, the final resting place for Bach. Afterwards I made my own dinner from a nearby grocery store, but got to have leftover pasta made by members of the band Cruxshadow, who were staying at the hostel after making a music video. Pretty cool. This was looking to be one of my favorite places of the tour and I only walked around a 8 block radius or so.

The next morning I went back to the Thomaskirche and visited the nearby Bach Museum where I learned a lot about the influential composer.

Afterwards I decided to leave Germany and make a quick visit to Prague. Like Amsterdam, I meant to do a longer visit but because I only had 3 weeks left on the trip had to squeeze a few places in. On the way to Prague the train passed Dresden, and the German Alps. It was an amazing ride.

While I tried to book places near my train station, I couldn't do so with Prague. So after I arrived I took a trolley about 30 minutes to my stay. Once I got into the hostel I started using my laptop when all of a sudden it stopped working! It died completely and I was unable to fix it on my own. It likely took a lot of beatings while I was constantly changing cities, and it did fall from my bed in Leipzig as well. This unfortunately made my stay a little somber.

Nonetheless I set out to see Prague. One of the gems of the tour, the bridges crossing the Danube River were ones to behold. There were also lots of pretty churches and synagogues, but I wasn't able to go inside most of them. I ate a seafood pasta at a mall (without getting sick!) and was finally starting to move on from my stomach issues. I found some pretty shops, buying more magnets and keychains for my friends, and then went to bed.

The next morning I set for Prague Castle. It was an elaborate town-within-a-town and inside there were gorgeous churches, small houses, and of course more royal areas. One of the residents of the small houses was Franz Kafka. There was also a long stairway to climb up, which was a theme of the tour (and I did it) and a museum of torture devices. Very interesting.

After getting some ice cream and climbing up a hill to a giant metronome, I went back to the train station. There was a colorful synagogue in the area but I ran out of time to go inside, settling for just outside shots. One day I'll get a better look at Prague. Like nearby Vienna my stay was too short.

Now it was time for the main event and crown jewel of the tour. Around 9PM I made it to Berlin. I had two full days to explore the city so for now I took a long commute to my AirBnB (who nearly cancelled on me while I was in Prague, but I convinced to let me stay). I went to bed and started mapping out my first day.

My first stop was the East Side Wall. I was impressed by all the murals that were painted all over the wall. There was room for people to write their own messages but I didn't bring my marker. So I decided to come back the next day. For now, I visited the Berlin Wall Museum nearby and learned about the unfortunate history of the wall.

For this visit I ventured towards the central area of the city. Among other things, I visited the Berliner Dom and climbed to the top of that tower, and said a prayer to Barcelona and some of my friends who lost loved ones while I was gone. After that I walked by Humboldt University and made my way to the famous Brandenburg Gate.

Nearby was a giant park with memorials dedicated to, among others, people killed by the Nazis for being Jewish, homosexual, or Romani. There were also a lot of gnats who enjoyed biting me. It was very painful, and I did not have bug spray. After that I found the Reichstag Building but could not go inside.

From there I found my way back to the more metropolitan part of the city, with huge malls and theaters. I wound up eating ribs at Tony Roma's (my stomach issues all but gone by now), an American chain that I've never seen before at home. I then went back to my AirBnB to rest up for Day 2.

For Day 2 I returned to the East Side Wall to write some messages, but this time I ventured over the bridge to a Berkeley-esque side of town. I couldn't find any college, but it still seemed like a very young college town. I had a "burrito" (it was more Greek than Mexican) and saw pizza and burger places with full lines.

After walking around the area, I went over to Checkpoint Charlie, and the Topography of Terror where I learned just how horrible the Nazi regime was. (It made me even more convinced of the parallels between then and today)

After finding another Berlin Wall memorial, I was finished with the German leg.

I went back to my AirBnB (I checked out but was allowed to leave my bags) to get my things and head to the airport. My next stop was Copenhagen.

When I arrived in Copenhagen it was an easy train ride to where my hostel was. It was pretty tough to find a cheap place to stay in Copenhagen. Like Amsterdam there weren't any AirBnBs downtown that were available and hostels were all expensive. In hindsight I should have tried to stay in Malmo which was right next door (and that way I got to see some of that city) but I did settle for a hostel in the heart of Copenhagen that was about $55 a night. Plus, it was right next to the train station so that was an added plus.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived was a very cool carnival ride. I did some research and found out there was a theme park right next to the train station, so I made plans to go (Even though I already planned to go to one in Stockholm).

I rented a bike for the first and only time of the trip and biked around the city. I saw a swimming event going on, a wedding, a rave, and of course, the fancy colored buildings and coastlines. I also found yet another Royal Palace and museum. So I went to that and learned about the history of Copenhagen. Of course, there were plenty of cool statues, paintings (including ones on the ceiling), and... horses! Oh yeah, and it wouldn't be a European city without a tower to climb.

I took one last look at the beautiful waterfronts and went back, entering a few churches (I'm posting way too many pics so you'll have to go to my Facebook for those) and rested at the hostel before going to the theme park.

Eventually it was time to head for the theme park, Tivoli Gardens. There were live music performances, carnival rides, and lots more! I rode a few of the rides (my first amusement park in years) and it was a lot of fun. At first I was scared to do those drop rides but once I actually did them they were very cool.

As the fireworks show went on I celebrated 10 nights left before I returned home to see all my friends and family.

It was a very magical night for sure... but imagine my surprise when I looked up the hours for the Stockholm theme park, Grana Lund, and discovered it was closed on my second day of the trip. That meant, if I wanted to see it, I had to do it the very next day after doing the Tivoli Gardens... and even then the park closed pretty early. So that is what I did. I flew to Stockholm, made my way to my hostel, got barely any rest before running back to the theme park, which wasn't that far away.

Despite only having around 3 hours to ride everything, I was able to get on all the cool roller coasters, visit a haunted house, and play in a fun zone or two.

After I left the theme park I stocked up on food at the grocery store near the hostel and got ready for Day 2.

For Day 2 I returned to the Slussen area (and walked by a man with an A's hat!) but this time I walked through the Old Town to the Royal Palace.

The palace was very nice and I learned about the former King Gustav and his successors. Of course there were a lot of ancient artwork, ceiling art, and military memorabilia. A marching band played traditional songs and some pop songs. Some nice timing with College Football having started that weekend!

Other museums included a series of possessions of King Gustav III, but I won't have room for pictures from that. A few others were closed since it was Monday. Then, I walked around a very San Francisco like area of the city. I walked around a park and found some suburban areas. Also while walking near a fort I walked by a dude wearing a MAGA hat... not cool.

Finally I did some hiking on some of Stockholm's biggest bridges while also looking for some beaches to chill.

Once again it is getting difficult to use this blog template, so I will have to make a Part 5 for Ireland, England, and Scotland.

NEXT - PART 5