Kyle’s European Adventure

Well, I’m starting day three here in Berlin, and things are just starting to settle in. I’ve managed to line up some apartments to look at (two of them today), find a language school, and get a European SIM card. The neighborhood where Carsten lives is beautiful – we’ve been walking around a lot, checking out shops, and generally getting me acclimated to the area. I think I’m going to try and find a place nearby, as Marcos and Carsten (my two friends in this town), both live here.

The language school offers morning intensive classes, and I think that’s what I’m going to take. I have to go in today and take a “placement test”. Basically, they’re going to say “wow, you suck”, and put me in the beginner class. More than ever, I’m realizing that I’m going to need to work on my German – I want to be able to make at LEAST an attempt of getting around in the native language.

I’ve managed to upload all the photos of my family and I traveling in Europe, before the cruise. Check em out!

McCulloch European Adventure

I’m in fucking Berlin, BITCHES.

Well, the cruise is done. My family managed to get off the boat and make it to the airport in one piece. I put the rest of the crew on their flight to Boston, and now I have 5 hours to kill before I finally fly to Berlin! 

I loved being on the boat – it was so relaxing to hang out with my family, and the friends I made in the crew were really wonderful. I think I gained about 10 pounds ’cause all you do on that thing is eat. Hopefully I can get back in the swing of things (eating like a normal person) in Berlin.

My two friends are meeting me at the airport when I land in Berlin, and from there the German fun starts. My first order of business is finding a place to live. I’m REALLY hoping that finding a furnished apartment isn’t that much of a challenge. After that, I need to get a bike and sign up for some language classes.

Russia was a trip – you get a definite impression of a city based on its port, and the port in St. Petersburg was…. well, a dump. The city itself was amazing – so steeped in history. I got to spend a day in the Hermitage, which was a total dream come true. The collection and the museum itself are so overwhelming that you have no hope of seeing even a decent fraction of the collection. I did manage to see works by Michelangelo (sp?), Da Vinci, Rembrant, and a host of other amazing artists.

Other spots on our tours included the Church of the Spilled Blood (holy mosaics!), Peterhof Palace, a trip on the St. Petersburg subway, and a local folk dance performance with a military choir. Everything we saw was amazing, but there’s definitely a dour overtone to the entire city. Nobody smiles.

We had a whirlwind tour of Estonia’s capital city yesterday, where our ship pulled up next to the gay cruise at the dock. My sister was the one who pointed out “has anyone else noticed that there are no women getting off that boat?” Holla!

Today is Gdynia, Poland. I was up pretty late last night (crew disco!), and so I hope I’m not dragging too much on today’s tour. Tomorrow is our last day at sea, and I’m trying not to freak out. Traveling with my family has been SO easy, and I can’t believe that in just a couple more days, they’re going to leave, and I have to get the Berlin leg of this trip started. I just hope I can find a place to live when I get there.

Well, we’ve been on the cruise ship for 3 days now, and I think if I could stay here forever, I would. This is the most brainless form of travel ever invented – I just eat, sleep, drink, and occasionally show up for tours.  You don’t really get to see much of the cities you stop at – 10 hours in Stockholm, 9 in Helsinki – but hey, if you wanted an in-depth visit, you would be cruising, right?

Stockholm was pretty. I was excited to he in the home of ABBA. We went to the Vasa Museum (unreal), and then toured city hall and the Nobel Museum. Helsinki was beautiful – we did a bike tour around the perimeter of downtown, which didn’t really show us much of the city, but it was sunny and perfect, so we had a beautiful 10 mile bike ride.

Today we arrived in St. Petersburg, which crosses Russia off my list of countries I’ve visited. The port rules here are crazy strict – from what I’ve heard, the cruise company has had to work out very “special” deals with the local mobs to get all the passengers on and off the boat safely. Really, the only way to do the city is on one of their pre-arranged tours, so that’s what we’re doing. We’re going to the Hermitage Museum today, and I am SO excited. THis is something I’ve always wanted to see. The history of the Romanov family is amazing, and I can’t believe I’m going to see the Winter Palace.

I’ve also successfully befriended some of the crew. Our new friend Billy the Dancer has entertained us each night – giving us all the ship gossip, and providing us with all the best tips on which tours to take, and where to get the best ice cream. My little brother has somehow formed a “gang” of teenagers that he’s the ringleader of. They roam the hall of the ship until all hours, and he’s managed to stay out later than me every single night. I guess I’m getting old and loosing my touch.

Well, um, I seem to have entirely missed Copenhagen. Whoops.

Our last night in Prague, we had dinner close to our apartment because rain looked to be a sure bet. And, halfway through our last meal in the Czech Republic, it really started to pour. We all made the dash back home, but I still managed to get soaked.

We hung out at our apartment and decided to play boardgames. (My brother is a total Boggle shark.) Halfway through the first round, I started to feel….funny. I realized, rather suddenly that I was feeling feverish.

“No way. I am NOT getting sick.”

I quickly changed into my PJs and hit the hay. I figured I’d get a good night’s sleep and feel fine in the morning. Well, morning came, and I wasn’t feeling any better. In fact, I was damn sure I had a fever – my whole body ached and my throat was swollen. 

Well, we made it to the airport, and flew to Copenhagen. Once we were checked into our new hotel, I crawled into bed, and I’ve been here ever since. I’ve been in bed for two days with a 101 degree fever, which (thankfully) finally seems to have broken this morning.

My family got out and about and took lots of pictures of the city, including the Christus Statue, which I’m hoping to run over and see myself this morning. We’re off to board the cruise ship this afternoon, which is going to take us all over the Baltic for the next 10 days. Having been on this kind of cruise before, I’m pretty damn sure my sibs and I will be the only passengers on the boat under 50. This just means I’ll have to befriend the crew. :-p

Well, our Saturday tour was an out of town excursion – we hired a car and a guide to take us to Kunda Hora, home of the famous Bone Church. Our guide, Marek, was a charming and talkative local, who not long after our car left Prague, informed me that he had spent and entire summer working in Provincetown, MA.

Oh, really.

By the end of the tour, I had a phone number and a promise to show me a different side of Prague. 

That night, after dinner, I bid my family farewell and ventured our to find Marek and some of the nightlife in this city. I managed, all on my own, to find a small door on the other side of town with a sign labeled “21″ over it. I made my way into the building, and found Marek, Piera, and The American. Marek had assembled us – a small group of travelers to enjoy a night out together.

Piera was good looking, charming, from Italy by way of the UK. The American (who was also visiting from the UK), pretty quickly got on my bad side. He had clearly never been told that it’s rude to touch people who do not want you to touch them. I spent the rest of the evening removing his hands from my arms, back, side, etc. Marek was his usual charming self – regaling our group with stories of my family from that day.

He asked me “You MUST have found our agency and insisted your mother book with us, no?”

“No,” I replied. “Mom did everything on her own. She had a recommendation for your agency and booked it all herself.”

“Amazing.” Marek replied. “She must not have known that our agency is THE gay tour agency in Prague! We cater specifically to groups of gay men, often those who want to see the seedier side of the city. We were rather surprised that we had a whitebread American family to show around, but money is money!”

Leave it to MY mother to find the Gay Tourism Center on accident. 

After have a drink at 21 Bar, we made our way to a small dance club. I have NO idea what the name was, but it was packed with mostly local boys. (And yes, there were more than a few that looked like they could appear in an upcoming Bel Ami feature!) Piera, Marek and I danced our asses off, did shots, and watched the local boys all sing along to Mariah Carey with gusto. Piera proved especially popular, and had more than one local boy following him around with puppydog eyes.

After a couple of hours on the dance floor, I bid my new friends farewell, and managed to find a cab driver who spoke enough German to understand me. I got back to the apartment, snuck in without waking anyone, and hit the hay.

And now it’s our last day in Prague. We heard an amazing organ recital at one of the billions of churches in the city, and then had a lazy afternoon. We fly to Copenhagen tomorrow!

After a highly eventful second day in Hohenschwangau that involved mountain bikes, unchecked border crossings, horses, cows, slides, one castle, a monastary and a spectacular lightning storm – it was time to leave the land of the fairytale castles. The kids (everyone but my parents) decided to take an early morning dip in the alp lake, which was freezing but quite refreshing. From there, we caught the series of trains that would (after 12 hours of traveling), deliver us to Prague.

I realized, as we crossed the border into the Czech Republic, that from here on we were going to be dumb Americans. Because my brother in law is fluent in German, and i know enough to get by, we’ve been able to communicate with everyone we needed to. Now, we’re truly tourists, and I think it makes some of my family a little nervous. Hell, it makes me a little nervous. I’ve always had a bit of anxiety over not being able to communicate with the people around me, but it seems like everyone in Prague speaks english.

I’m excited to be here – there’s something about this city that I react to in the same way that I do with Berlin. There’s potential here – ancient history mixed with the modern world. Art, nightlife, and great beer. We’ll be here for the next four nights, and I’m thinking I may sneak away from the family for an evening to see what I can see.

Well, after our jeglagged day in Munich, we all got about 12 hours of sleep. Once we all felt human again, we made our way to the train station and caught the early train to Füssen, the mountain town at the base of the Alps. We were off to see the castles of the Bavarian kings, especially Neuschwannstein – the dream castle of Ludwig the Second.

On our friend Michael’s recomendation, we booked rooms at the Hotel Lisl, which sits right at the base of Castle Hoenschwangau. The town is picture perfect, with the lake, mountains and castles. Without missing a beat, my family dropped off our bags and toured both the castles. They are completely spectacular – Ludwig may have been nuts, but he knew how to make beautiful stuff.

Another family befriended ours – they’re an army family, stationed here in Germany. One of their boys, Tanner, inspired me. He spoke flawless German, which he’s only studied for two years. I figure if that kid can manage, then so can I. I think I’m going to sign up for intensive language classes in Berlin, which, just MAYBE will help me get conversational. We’ll see.