Barcelona’s view on male-female relationships

I wrapped up my two-week adventure with a trip to Southern Europe, for the first time. I was joined by my co-worker/friend Jen for some relaxing and sight-seeing in Barcelona. We met up at our apartment, perfectly situated in Old Town Barcelona, dusted off our 20-phrase repertoire of Spanish and headed out with the simple goal of experiencing the Barcelona way of life.

Sight-seeing in Barcelona from Keely Johnson on Vimeo. 

On Friday, we set out on a bike tour, with our (according to Jen) super cute tour guide, JJ and his side kick fresh off the boat (ok, plane) from… Austin! We saw all the main sights that way, and got to hear all of JJ’s random stories about Barcelona. 

 
Barcelona Bike Tour from Keely Johnson on Vimeo.

We ended the tour at Barceloneta, a man-made beach, hanging with ridiculous amounts of British stag parties, and I learned I am a better bicyclist with lots of sangria in me!
 

Jen and Keely hanging with the woolly mammoth near Barcelona Zoo

Friday night we met up with an acquaintance of Jen’s friend Kayne, Stephan, who lived in Barcelona for some time, before recently moving back to the States. We ate at the best restaurant I visited my entire trip and then went out for mojitos and G&Ts (for Jen), meeting up with his co-worker/friend along the way, and having as much fun as one can in Barcelona (which I found out quickly, is A LOT).

Barcelona Nights from Keely Johnson on Vimeo. 

On Saturday, we explored more of Barcelona, including the Picasso museum, at the end of which Jen concluded, “that Picasso was crazy, huh!”. We ended the evening (after a nice siesta) at Park Güell, a Gaudi creation, where we saw killer pigeons and a marriage.

Saturday night, we attempted to go to a Cuban restaurant, but ended up eating Mexican food. The Spanish may speak the same language as the Mexicans, but they do not know how to properly make Mexican food, although the restaurant was super cute, and the Spanish seemed to love it (and they had Micheladas).

The next day, we ventured to Jen’s hotel, since I was leaving in the evening for Frankfurt (to head home), and when we went to grab a late lunch, I discovered the hard way that “quatros quesos” in Spanish means Campbell’s cheese sauce.

All in all, I loved Barcelona, the always-enjoying-themselves environment and all the beautiful and eclectic sights and people. So what did we learn the Barcelona way of life is?

Something called pinchos, wine that is cheaper than water, there are way too few siestas and way too many street beers, the coolest “mini-bars” and people living to the fullest.

A smattering of my German colleagues, nice outfits, guys!

So this post will be short, since the majority of my time in Munich was spent hanging out in the Waggener Edstrom office and getting to know my German colleagues better. The train ride from Rožnov to Munich was a painful 11+ hours, which included an unexpected layover in Nuremberg when one of the trains left without me. Along the way, I met Alex, a really cool Vancouverite who has been spending the past month or so touring around Europe solo, exploring cities via bike.

The weather in Munich was relatively miserable, although I continued to dress in sandals, thinking my will would sway the weather to change (for some reason that power does not seem to be one I possess).

My last night in Munich I hung out with Mandy, one of my German colleagues, and we ate pizza and drank lots of good white wine. It is fun to get to know co-workers in an informal setting and realize how similar your life can be to someone who lives 4,000+ miles away.

 
A non-tour of Munich from Keely Johnson on Vimeo.

Last stop, Barcelona!

Keely, Silvie and Lucy at a traditional Czech restaurant in the Wallachian open-air museum

Saturday morning, I took the 3h30m train ride from Prague to Rožnov pod Radhoštěm (just called Rožnov there), a small town (18.000 people) in the far east of the Czech Republic (near the Slovak border). I was met by Silvie, my penpal since I was in 6th grade (we figured out that we have known each other for more than half of our lives!). Although we have known each other for so long, we had never actually met in person (or spoke on the phone for that matter). It was so great to finally meet this person that I had grown up knowing, but never got a chance to spend time with.

In Rožnov, her parents came over for lunch and then took us up the Beskydy mountains in her region to see the tallest mountain, Radhošt (hence the town’s full name). Silvie and her parents are very lovely people, it is kind of like family you have always known, but live too far away to ever see. Her parents do not speak much English, but her mom was very willing and spoke well, and her dad worked very hard stringing sentences together (he showed me that he is on lesson four in his English practice book).

After that we met with Silvie’s friend Lucka (aka Lucy), who hung out with us most of the time. We went for pizza and played pool with a very drunk man (his football/soccer team had won that day) and then met up with some more of her friends, and tried to go to the discotheque. There are two in the town and no one ever knows which one everyone else will be at. When we went out it ended up that neither was the answer, so we just ended up going home.

Visiting Roznov pod Radhostem from Keely Johnson on Vimeo.

The next day we toured the Wallachian open air museum, which is basically a re-creation of buildings from the old days (17-18th century) from the region. I ate traditional Czech food of potato pancakes and sausage, but refused to eat the sour soup made of sauerkraut.

Overall, my trip to Rožnov was relaxing and it was so wonderful to meet Silvie, her family and friends, and begin to understand what day to day life in the Czech Republic is like (seeing true way of life, not just sights and museums is my favorite part of traveling).

Now, I just have to convince Silvie to come and visit me, and try some authentic Mexican food (since when she asked me if hamburgers were the traditional food we ate in Texas, and I said no, it is Mexican food).

Self-shot on the Charles Bridge in Prague

My train from Berlin to Prague was delayed and did not get in until 2 pm, and once I got ready to go out and explore, it decided to start pouring rain, so I spent most of the first day relaxing in my cool apartment. Check out the video of me giving the grand tour.

My apartment in Prague from Keely Johnson on Vimeo.

So that meant I packed as much of Prague as I could into one day. Luckily, Prague is mostly sightseeing, not museums like Stockholm, so it was manageable. My hostel is quite near the old town, where most of the sights are, so it worked out nicely. My general thoughts on Prague are that it is very beautiful and kept up nicely, but definitely tourism centered. It made me think of an eastern version of Paris, with its grand boulevard, markets and parks throughout the city (but less like Paris with its incessant souvenir shops and casinos). I think since I was exploring on a Friday, it was extra packed by tourists, because they were there — and in droves.

Then I walked the Charles Bridge and up a nicely sized hill to the Prague Castle. When I first got there I saw a huge line of people and started panicking thinking it was the line to get into the castle. Well, I quickly found out that it was actually people waiting for, yes of course, the changing of the guard.

Prague Tour from Keely Johnson on Vimeo.

After all the sightseeing and one of the best Paninis I have had in my entire life, I went back to the hostel to check some email and generally hang out (it had started raining as soon as I was done walking the city, perfect timing!). There I started speaking with Steven, a fellow blogger and student from Georgia who was in Prague for a music competition (he is a clarinetist). He mentioned he was going to the Prague State Opera to see La Traviata, and asked if I wanted to join. Being one to never turn down an opera, especially in Prague, I was game, and we went to see if I could get a ticket. Long story short, I talked an older gentleman who was trying to sell his two tickets to me for 2,400 koruny  (~150 USD) to give both to me for 400 kr (~25 USD). So Steven and I went from sitting in the third balcony to the third row!

A Visit to the Prague State Opera from Keely Johnson on Vimeo.

The opera was average as they go (although the set was very cool). They had decided to take some creative liberties with the scenes, so one that was supposed to be a party at a lady’s house was turned into an S&M party with full frontal (female) nudity. I have to say that is a first (and hopefully last) for me to see at an opera. And the best part was everyone around us were 60+ aged people from states like Idaho and Utah in the US, so I bet they were even more shocked than Steven and I were (at least the ones that did not sleep through it)!  

Yikes!

My last day in Stockholm was a typical Swedish day — rainy and grey. I was able to fully explore the Royal Palace, including seeing the ridiculously spectacular changing of the guard. Check out the video to get a general gist of this daily occurrence. 

 

Stockholm: Changing of the Guard from Keely Johnson on Vimeo.
  

After walking over a mile in the pouring rain, I arrived at the Nordiska Museet, which covers Swedish culture and life from beginning times to present. It was pretty fascinating, minus the creepy fake people that were everywhere and the weird section on funerals in Sweden.

My attempt at a rainy self-shot at the Nordiska Museet

Other than that, I did a lot of walking around and getting to know the beautiful city. I have to say for the country that gave me three of my most favorite things (IKEA, H&M and most importantly the Shout Out Louds), I have walked away wanting more, and will definitely be back soon!

After, Stockholm I headed to Berlin for a night pit stop before taking a train to Prague. The hostel I stayed in, The Circus, was very nice, clean and extremely cool. And since I have basically resigned myself to my hot dog fate, I was not surprised to find out the hostel offered a special at the New Hot Dog World restaurant next door. I took a pic to add to my “hot dogs around the world” collection.

Unfortunately, it was closed when I was in Berlin

Amazing Swedish delicacy

I have compiled a menagerie (if you will) of highlights from Stockholm to give a nice sense of the sights. Enjoy!

The Best of… Stockholm from Keely Johnson on Vimeo.

Here is a brief video with my take on the city and a side note on the Royal Palace’s Museum of Antiquities.

 

My View of Stockholm from Keely Johnson on Vimeo.
 

The Swedish hipster prototype

If hipsters had a Mecca, Stockholm would be it. Forget Gangsta’s Paradise, this is Hipster’s Paradise. I attribute it to the fact that you combine a group of depressed people (the guy at the music store told me all Swedes are depressed, hence their music), a love of simple aesthetics, and the prevalence of H&Ms (no kidding, in the one shopping district they have four separate stores all in one each corner of the street, and that is only a smattering of the more than 30 stores they have in the city), and you have the perfect hipster world.

 
Sweden: Hipster Heaven from Keely Johnson on Vimeo.

Well, my Swedish experience is half way through, and has been pretty great so far. I took the cheap flight route, which meant waking up at 4 am in Frankfurt, taking a 2 hour bus ride to the Hahn airport, then flying Ryanair to Skavsta, which is a 1h40m bus ride from Stockholm. But a flight for 30 dollars total is hard to beat!

After arriving in Stockholm, I checked into my hostel, City Backpackers, which is about a ten minute walk from the center of town. The hostel is average as they go, I am sharing a room with two Taiwanese girls, and a Dutch boy who are all here together. Also good to note, the hostel should be called Stadtwanderer since it is overrun by German visitors. 

The hostel held a mini-walking tour in which our enthusiastic tour guide (a staffer of the hostel) showed us all things cool in our neighborhood and shared her passion for Astrid Lindgren (who all Swedes seem mildly obsessed with). Videos of the tour are coming (video takes a lot longer to get up than I originally thought). Video added below!

Mini-Tour of Stockholm from Keely Johnson on Vimeo. 

In general, I have learned what all Swedes know, that everything good in this world was really a Swedish creation. Take my note in the Frankfurt post about how American hot dogs come from Frankfurt. That, I have learned, is so wrong, as hot dogs are from Sweden. Who would have thunk?? Katie asked me what my theme for this trip is, and sadly hot dogs seem to be reoccurring, ironic since I don’t even like them that much. I will try to change that to ice cream as soon as possible.

I had two things I wanted to do while in Stockholm, to do a tour of the archipelago and to visit the Royal Palace. Well, the archipelago ferry captains went on strike yesterday, and the main parts of the Royal Palace are closed due to a state visit from the Greek prime minister. Sigh. Regardless, I have done a lot of walking around the city and Stockholm is much what I expected, which is great because I had very high expectations. I have met several really cool people at the hostel, as well as in day to day interactions, and had some very interesting conversations. More on all that later.

My perfectly German meal

Well, my trip has officially commenced. I landed in Frankfurt with no problems, except that I am still getting used to the whole “swing the 30 lb. backpack over your shoulders” thing. I am hoping to come back with super strong arms, but more likely will come back with a really sore back.

On the flight over, I met a really cool girl who is the epitome of a cultural ambassador. She is originally from Austin, but is going to grad school in Edinburgh. She is studying archeology, and told me about how she was visiting a site in Cyprus when she got bit by a viper! She went to the ER there, and said they were really nice, even though there was a huge language barrier. It is exciting to see how the randomest things can help us get to know the people around us better.

As for me, I kept it tame today, I walked around a couple different parts of Frankfurt (since the weather could not be any more perfect), starting in the Römer square, where I had the sweet meal seen above of Frankfurter Würstchen (from which we get American hot dogs) a Brötchen and a glass of Radler, which is beer + lemonade. Later, I hit up the Fressgass, a huge café area, the Zeil, the shopping district (where they were having an awesome Spanish festival, with authentic food and wine) and of course, my favorite, the scenic stroll through the sex shop area right next to my hotel.

Not a lot of interactions today, since I used today to mostly relax and prepare for my trip to Sweden. Check out my attempt to shoot video of Frankfurt, and try not to throw up from the shakiness! 

Day 1: Frankfurt from Keely Johnson on Vimeo.

More tomorrow!

Of the many trips I have made to Europe, I had always done two things, 1. been with someone else and (likely because of that) 2. never met a lot of new people. This time things are different, I am taking a two week semi-backpacking trip all over Europe and my goal is to make a mark on the continent as it has made a mark on me over the years.

My mission is simple, be a “cultural ambassador”, and document my experiences via this blog, mainly visually through video and pictures. I want to experience new and different things, meet new and different people, and through that learn more about where I am visiting, and help them learn more about where I come from.

With this mission, came a side project, the so-called branding of my Web site, in order to make it easier for others globally to access my cultural interactions. My goal with keelyanne.com is to be fun, interesting and entertaining, a tall order for sure! I am looking for suggestions and feedback as the journey progresses. Please email me any thoughts you might have.

Lastly, it cannot be a trip to Europe without lots of scars… like the time I sledded into a tree going way too fast, or fell down a flight of stairs the same day I slipped on an ice puddle. Or when I went to grab my suitcase on the carousel and could not pull it off, so instead rode along with it. Now those moments will be captured and shared with all, a daunting prospect!