Because I was hospitalized while Bob and Dave where here (see chapter 2), I had to fall back to plan B: Marc and I would go to Paris on our own (since he wanted to visit also but wasn't able to earlier because of exams). I still had the hostel guide and, of course, Bob and Dave's experience and tips from when they went. So, with this we started the pre-planning stage about a month in advance. As it turned out, Marc wasn't able to go with me, so I was somewhat intimidated about going by myself considering I don't speak a WORD of French.

Of course, then I started thinking about the chances of me coming back to Europe any time soon, so those feelings of anxiety faded rather quickly.

If you want to skip the email, you can go straight to the Tips and Gallery section.

What my Friends Heard

Approximate message date: June 22, 1994

yo yo yo!!! It's me!! I'm alive!!! sorry it has taken me long to reply!!

The two weeks following the camping trip were actually pretty chilling in Aachen because of the weather.. to make things short, I'm really starting to think Aachen is German for it rains cats and dogs just like Renesse is Dutch for dances with water... no wonder this city is designated umbrella testing site!

So needless to say, we basically stayed home a lot.. watched a lot of TV, played a lot of video games, studied.. (ahem) a lot, etc... guys.. the weather was damn bad.. it was depressing... yeah, it might be hot in Florida, it might rain every afternoon, it might be 80% humidity, but it doesn't freaking rain NON STOP FOR TWO WEEKS WITH 40 DEGREE WINDY WEATHER IN THE MIDDLE OF JUNE!!! this was pretty bad quality...

Finally, after doing the sunshine dance for a few days, the clouds were gone, the rain had stopped, the sun was out, and we hit the town... on Saturday there was a big computer flea world here in Aachen... it was basically a big expo where they sold things cheap (or so they said).. Marc, Imann, and I checked it out and it was ok, but no CeBit...

During this week some bad news came about: turns out Marc has to have a root canal done, along with a bridge and who knows what else.. needless to say, the dentist basically built the CHUNNEL in his mouth... I can't believe how much damage he had done... so the point to this was: Ed, I can't afford to go to NIN with you.

oooook... damn, damn... so, I cranked for a few hours to see what I could do.. well, NIN is not half as popular here as it is in the US.. as a matter of factly, I knew of TWO (2) people who knew of NIN, and one had only heard head like a hole.. ok... this is not good quality at all... I decided to go by myself and went and bought my ticket, and checked out prices for the train to Düsseldorf and back.. of course, I would also have to find a hostel, hotel, or bridge to sleep in (under) that night, as well as a way to get around in the city.. well, things didn't look too good, but I was going to see NIN dead or alive..

I bought my ticket two weeks before the concert.. I called Pia (she was the one who had heard of h.l.a.h) to ask her if she would go.. well, she was in Denmark, and wouldn't come back for a week.. hey.. things were looking good, eh? NOT!

anyways... a week passed by and Thursday I finally got a hold of her (the concert would be the following Wednesday).. and you're not going to believe this.. she says: hey, sure, I'll go. We can take my car (ch-ching).. we can go there.. and I have friends there, so we can stay with them (ch-ching!).. and after the concert we can hit the town with my friends and return the next day (ch-CHIING!!)...

ok.. that sounds good (that sounded freaking awesome is what I was thinking, but I didn't want to seem desperate).. I'll even give you some money for gas.. I figured the train tix was 40DM.. and there was no way it would cost that much to get there.. then she says: oh.. don't worry about it.. my dad pays for my gas.

CCCCCHHHHHHHHHHH .. ... CCCCCCCHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNGGGG!!!!!!!!!!

Dude.. did this girl fall out of heaven or what?!?! I couldn't believe my luck... so .. we set things up.. she got her ticket (it was a club concert)... and we would hop to bang our heads in Düsseldorf in less than a week..

So with that resolved, I calmed down, and enjoyed the weekend... it was your average weekend.. the architect students downstairs threw a big party and we went there, but as every German party that I've gone to, the music sucked... you get the point by now.. this was going on to celebrate the end of classes.. here it's kinda weird... classes last a couple of months, and then you have like a month of nothing.. and then you have like 2 months of finals.. I don't know if I could survive through this system...

Monday, Sascha came back from home and brought a friend who wanted to check out the school.. Marc and I met them at some park just outside of Aachen where a bunch of engineering people were having a grill party.. it was actually pretty cool, except these Germans insist on grilling when it rains!!! I guess there's not much they can do (see above)... it was pretty cool.. a lot of people.. and there was actually a decent 54/6 guy to girl RATIO!!!!! man.. I miss Gainesville...

So we grilled, we got wet, we met Sascha's friend (1 of the 6 girls - hey, weren't we the lucky ones?), and then planned on going out to show her the local club scene (like there's a good one anyways).. That night we hit the B-9.. it wasn't techno night, so.. yep.. you got it: the music sucked... we were there for about an hour and decided to go to Sascha's and hang out... well, this was actually pretty cool! Marc and I began the official introduction of American DRINKING games in Germany!! you likee??!?! we played binky, up & down the river, buzz, and I got pretty happy that night, so I don't remember what else we played... but, hey.. we're bringing them slowly but surely!!!

Wednesday was here!! (insert John Williams' orchestration).. I got out of class, ate, went home, got ready.. Pia came to pick me up, and we hit Düsseldorf... her friends lived in a dorm of the architecture and design university.. it was actually pretty cool place.. we met another of her friends in a cafe, hung out...grabbed a brewski... and headed to see Trent.. well.. we were looking for this place called TOR 3, which means gate 3.. it was a club.. hey.. cool.. that's better.. less people.. more Trent... so we park the car.. it was exactly 8:00 pm,... it was supposed to start then, but they hadn't let anyone in... so we're standing there, freezing our butts off... and then the most unexpected thing happened.. you won't believe this:

Another friend of Pia's from Aachen was supposed to go, but he decided to drive by himself, and we were just going to meet him a the entrance... so we're looking around... and looking around... and the following is the actual no-exaggeration sequence of events that occurred from that time on:

• Pia: I wonder where he could be.. it's already 8:20
• me: maybe he couldn't come.. I dunno.. I don't see him anywhere.. did you agree to meet somewhere?
• no.. I never got a hold of him before we left.. so we didn't set a time or place
• well.. in that case it is not very likely that we're going to run into him in this crowd of people.. specially if he's wearing black
• yeah.. we'll probably have better luck looking for other americans
• some guy (standing behind us): excuse me .. are you from America?
• me: ?!?!?.. uh... yeah.. I'm from Florida
• stranger: hey, man.. I'm Jeff.. I'm from California..
• no way... geez.. we were just NOW talking about how unlikely it would be to run into an Americ..
• stranger #2 - another guy, NOT with Jeff: Hi, I'm Andy.. I'm from Chicago!
• us: whaaaaat?!?!??!?!??!?!?!!!!

I couldn't believe this!!! turns out Jeff was in the middle of touring Germany when he heard about the concert and it coincided with him being in Düsseldorf.. so he was there by himself. And Andi was there with his girlfriend (Co - yeah.. that's how you spell it.. it's a German name.. but you pronounce not like Brown, Simon & Co, but more spanish like in CO-mo se llama)... so they had just arrived 2 days BEFORE and had gotten their tickets the next DAY!!! (Trent is not very popular in Germany, I tell you)...

well.. we ended up hanging out with them throughout the whole concert.. it was pretty cool... Pia and I bought the first round of beer, and from then on we kept trading rounds... and this was hilarious: I bring their beer... give one to Andi, and one to Co... Pia had Jeff's... so this was what is known as the beer you get at a club in Düsseldorf if you just say ein Bier, bitte.. this stuff was DARK!!! like night dark.. like black bears in a black forest in the dark at midnight during an eclipse. I was scared as hell to taste this stuff... but I tried it, and it was actually damn good... so, I turned to Andi and said hey.. this stuff is awesome... and I looked down and he's holding his beer and the EMPTY glass formerly known as CO'S BEER!!!! she had CHUGGED the thing while I was sippin' mine!!! dude... what a drinking beast this girl was!! geez!!

So a band called Die Krupps opened.. they were actually damn good!!! their style is very much like Trent's, but still very heavy in the synth bass lines and repetitious melodies.. Ed's rating: 2 gator thumbs up!

and then (drum roll) Trent came on... extreme GOOD QWALITY!!!! Trent kicked ass!!! the selection of songs was superb!!! all 3 albums were covered as well as b-sides like get down, make love... you likee!!!

And no wonder the damn keyboards keep getting caught on fire: he keeps throwing OPENED water bottles everywhere: to the drummer, the keyboardists, the guitarists, us!!! in the middle of closer the guy had to stop playing because all this water got spilled all over the keyboard!!! I was like: uhh, Trent, I could use some extra keyboards if you don't mind...

After the concert, we headed downtown and met Pia's friends and hit some local bars... well, all in all, I had an awesome time.. the next day, they made us breakfast.. we hung out for a while and headed back...

Of course, my head, and my back, and everything else hurt for like a week afterwards.. oh well..

A week later, we checked out the Atlantis, which is a local bar-THEATER!!.. yes, this is like a 2 screen theater with an actual Purple Porpoise instead of your everyday popcorn stand.. (good quality!).. so, YOU LIKEEE!!! for 17 DM ($10) you could attend the Alien marathon.. SWEEET!!! of course it was in German, but hey.. I would have gone if it would have been in swahili.... The thing is that it started at 10:00 PM!!!! ok.... Marc only lasted through the first one and went home, but me - no way .. I was determined... so picture this:

currently it doesn't get dark until 10:20 (is that crazy or what?).. so I walked in in daylight.. Alien was over at 12:00... Aliens (which, by the way they did a HORRIBLE job dubbing.. Vazques sounded NOTHING like the badass she is in the english version.. bad quality... plus the translation sucked!!! I can quote film backwards!!! and some things sounded so STUPID!!).. [Aliens] ended at 2:45.. and Alien ³ ended at 5:00!!!! the sun was out AGAIN!!!! nice, eh? it was worth every minute, tho.. we need to do something like that back home..

Saturday was the Dritte Welt Fest (Third World Fest), and my friend Serge from class invited me to go because his uncle would be playing african music there.. so I went.. it was really cool.. they had all this booths from all these countries with books, food, drinks (you likee the cuban Mojito, and the Ron Rebelde), cakes, music... pretty cool... Serge said that they were going to Alsdorf (a small city about 10 minutes from here) to play at another music festival that was going on.. we ran into Gernot, one of our teachers from class, and he asked if I would go with him to Alsdorf... so there we went.. this was also cool.. it was just music, tho.. groups would play and dance to their country's traditional music: Indians, Egyptians, Germans, a group from Spain did the flamenco, and Serge, his uncle and two other guys that form the group The Lion of Africa played and sang their stuff: you likee the rhythm.. sweet stuff...

That night Serge, me and some other people decided to meet at a local hispanic bar, nevertheless... turns out they listen to merengue and salsa down in Senegal and other places of Africa... wow... there's a surprise!! I had no clue! so we met at La Movida and they kept buying drink after drink after drink.. dude.. I felt like a fish... I had 2 bacardi colas, 2 beers, 2 tequila shots, and another beer.. AAALLLLRIGHTY then!!!!

Then we went to the Westbahnhof (west train station - a club called that) where they had merengue & salsa night.. AWWWW YEAHHH!!!! guys.. this was where it's at!!! .. good music.. good women... good drinks.. you likee... I likee... they likee... of course, it's been 7 years since I've danced to this stuff, so my ass was not agreeing with me at first, but I forgot how cool these things are... so I met a bunch of Venezuelans (yes.. there's a bunch here!) and a couple of girls helped me with my merengue... I had a blast...

ok... so this weekend was big in many ways.. it would be the 57th CHIO festival, which is that horse competition where they do all the jumping, and walking, and all that stuff you see on tv.. so Aachen was party town... but for Ed, it would be party the French way.. yes... it was Paris-Time!!!

Of course, Marc's teeth had put a big bite in the plans.. he couldn't afford it either.. mmhmm ok.. I wrote to my Godfather who lives in Paris at the beginning of June... it was Wednesday (2 days before the departure date) when I got a response.. he sent me his phone number.. so I called that night.. and he said he would meet me at the train station... from there we would see...

Departing time: Friday, 9:09am.. arriving 1:29 pm in Paris-North... I hadn't seen him in about 11 years (how do you like that?), so I was supposed to wear my NIN shirt so he could find me.. of course, he doesn't know who Trent is (or that he IS God), so I said: look for a black t-shirt with white splatters all over it..

so he found me... guys: this was SWEET!!!! he had bought me metro tickets... he paid for part of my lunch.. he said I could stay at his place.. we could make dinner there... he had maps, brochures, books, metro diagrams, bus schedules... man.. I was ALL BUSINESS!!

We decided to start touring right then because he lived on the other side of town.. so we took the bus to the Opéra Garnier, and from there we walked down to the national palace, and then the Louvre - that thing is HUGE!!!! of course, I didn't go in!!! (yet)... it is the most insane thing you'd ever see in your life!!!

so we kept going.. walked down to the Arc de Triumph... there was a big ceremony going on.. every week (I think) veterans come and do a big ceremony and leave flowers for the unknown soldier... so by know, it was about 7:00, and I was getting tired of carrying my backpack and looking like a fool with my umbrella (it had rained that morning, and it is a 25 minute walk to the train station).

oh yeah: the weather was SWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!! GOOOD QWALITY!!!!

So we went to his place.. got dinner ready.. and relaxed to the inauguration of the world cup... yep... us South Americans are big in soccer unlike you northies... to tell you the truth I wasn't impressed at all with the ceremony. And many people here (actually most people) were not either... so, while watching the game we chatted, talked about my family, etc... and then caught the second game (which is starting to kill us here since they get broadcasted at 1:30 AM!!!! everyone is just so dead in class from all the late games that end around 3:30...).. then I hit the sack... I would have the BIG day on Saturday.. I had bought a day Metro pass, telephone card, and film, and I would hit the town alone.. aww yeah!!

So, Saturday morning: Luis lives right in front of Radio France, which is a huge awesome looking building.. it is right next to the Seine.. I walked over on the bridge where the small replica of the statue of liberty stands... sweet... and to the left.. ho ho ho hooohhhhhh.. you likee... 4 blocks away: Le Tour Eiffel... dudes.. what a view... so I hit it first.. I get there... and there are two lines at each of the four legs of the tower.. one for buying your ticket and one for the elevator up.. of course it takes me 20 minutes to get my ticket and the other line is at least twice as long.. so I'm putting the change away when all of the sudden this guard comes out of nowhere and directs ME (and everyone behind ME) from the ticket booth RIGHT to the entrance to the room where the elevator is.. WHAT?!?!? I felt like a stud.. they just cut me (and everyone behind ME) in front of all these other people who had been waiting who knows how long.. geez.. my luck was reaching heights where no luck has been before!

So you can buy 3 different types of tickets, depending on how high you want to go... I, of course, wanted to go all the way up.. and climb out of it to the tip of the highest antennae and put a UF flag up there and scream GO GATORS!. so I got the 53 f ticket.. and from there, the only way was up... guys.. this thing is SWWEEEEEET!!!! you likeeee 150%!!!!!!! you can see everything from up there.. what a view!!! aww yeah!!! so I got down after about half an hour and walked east to take a picture from the side of the tower... then I walked (all this stuff was pretty close.. that's why I kept walking) to Les Invalides, which is where Napoleon's remains are.. there's also some museums there with weapons, and other stuff from previous centuries and kings... sweet... student discount (they take UF id!): 24 f...

Now I took the metro... destination: Notre Dame... YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSS!! so I get there.. and turns out they are cleaning the front so they have all this boards in front of the cathedral and so I couldn't get a good picture of the front... NNOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! but inside this baby is a beauty!!! aww man, totally impressive... so by now I'm getting hungry. I find a nearby McD's.. yeah, I know.. but I was in a rush. Guys, they are packed tight!!!! I had to SHARE my table with an oriental family!!! aalllrighty then!!!

Next, I wanted to see Jim's grave.. I met two American girls on the Metro who were heading there too.. so we joined together. We bought a map of Père Lachaise that showed where all the important people are.... Chopin, Oscar Wilde, and of course, Jim... guys: there has to be 3 cops constantly there to keep the people moving!!! nice!!! so the grave is pretty small.. in a pretty tight place.. but people are all over that...

Next, Meghan and Dawn (the babes) where headed to the tower, so we split up and I headed to La Place de la Bastille, and to la Défense, which is the modern part of Paris.. and it is sweet... it's all office buildings in cool shapes.. awesome stuff... I visited a few more interesting things, and headed back to Luis'... We made dinner again, and that night I wanted to check out the Tower and the Arc by night.. and whatever else... so I got together with Meghan & Dawn (THE babes!) and we checked it all out... good qwality.... beautiful... then we went for a drink.. the bad thing was that there is no metro or bus after 12:45 on a sat night!! NICE!!! so neither one of us wanted to do much more walking so we headed home...

Sunday I dedicated the whole day to the Musée du Louvre - that's how big the place is.. and good quality: Sunday - 1/2 price (20 f)... so I saw a lot of it, and caught some of the most important things (Mona Lisa, Venus De Milo, etc).. there are some six or seven halls with all kinds of artwork: Roman sculptures, Egyptian pieces, all sorts of paintings.. you definitely need at least two days to see everything here in detail.. the place is just incredible!..

That afternoon I called my parents from the Louvre.. afterwards I did a little shopping, and headed back to pick up my stuff and find my way to the train station for my return trip to Aachen....

Funny thing that happened: I got asked for directions TWICE!!! what the hell? I have a JANSPORT backpack, a Paris map wide open, a Knicks' hat, and a camera and, TWICE, French people came up and threw all this french in my face.. of course all I understood was s'il vous-plait ..monevu ..vefu ..le metro.. s'il fenevu.. metro.. I was like yeah dude, it's right over there.

nice..

So guys.. that's all that's been going on... I have about 22 days left before EEEA comes to an end... Marc is doing pretty good.. he says hi... we've been glued to the tv for the world cup... so far most of my teams haven't won: Bolivia, Mexico, COLOMBIA!!!!, and of course the US tied... are you guys into it at all? I can't imagine it.. And BAD QWALITY about the Canucks!!! dude.. I was all pumped for them..

and, what's all this business about OJ Simpson? who got killed? what the heck is going on? (I think Tonya Harding did it, whatever it was)...

have fun

Tips

• Definitely take advantage of any concerts that you might attend while in Europe. I saw the NIN show at the Orlando Arena in February of 1995, and compared to the Europe show, it was LAME! Sure, the setup was a lot more elaborate because it was in the Arena, while at Düsseldorf it was in a club, but unless you get floor tickets and manage to sneak in a couple of german beers, it'll be nothing like it! I guess I could have gone and seen the show at the Edge, but hey, the Edge isn't in Düsseldorf.
• Do some research about the city before heading to Paris. Plan where you want to stay - the hostels are full almost constantly, so make reservations ahead of time.
• About getting around: If you rented a car, get ready for stunt-car-driving action: people drive crazy in Paris. Expect your car to get hit, but don't expect the other person lose time over it. If you want to get around fast, use the Metro. One-day passes are your best bet. Keep in mind that route schedules will change depending on the day of the week and how late it is. Service stops around 12:45am on weekends (I think).
• If you are a student, take advantage of the Louvre's Sunday student discount. If you plan your trip to include at least a weekend, just save it for Sunday. You will need to devote the whole day if you want to check out most of the place - like I said, it is HUGE!
• Visit Le Tour Eiffel early in the morning to avoid all the late-risers.

Photo Gallery

• Serge and Gernot at the Dritte Welt Fest in Alsdorf.
• In Paris, I spot Radio France pretty close to where I was staying.
• Walking to Le Tour Eiffel over the Seine. (if you have good eyes, you might see the replica of the Statue of Liberty in the middle).
• Up on the tower you can see most of the city.
• Some friendly Americans took this picture of me by the tower.
• Les Invalides - where Napoleon rests.
• Crossing in front of the Arc de Triumph.
• Cover of the map to Père Lachaise.
• La Place de la Bastille.
  
• Notre Dame being renovated.
• In the modern section of the city there are some cool looking buildings.
• Interesting elevator.
• The outside entrance to the Louvre.
• Down below the entrance.
• A nice shot from inside the Musée du Louvre.
• One of the halls inside the Louvre in the Roman Sculpture section.
• More Roman sculptures.
• One of the pieces from the Egyptian collection.
• The Venus De Milo.