My European Days Galleries

Krampus Fest 2006 : This was the Grand High Hypertrekking Counsil's 2006 trip to Berchtesgaden, Germany for Krampus fest, which is a big drunk Bavarian party where their sick and twisted idea of St. Nick is this guy who looks more like the pope, and he leads a large pack of scary looking demons (who are actually drunk Bavarian neanderthals in disguise, and I'm not sure what's scarier) into town. Something new this year was that we were there early in the day and saw Knecht Ruprecht... he apparently doesn't show for the nighttime festivities, only the mid-day opening ceremony. He's a friend of St. Nick, to whom he apparently owed a favor, and so every year he lends the crazy Bavarian Santa his Krampus demons. They carry really painful whips made of tree switches and proceed to beat the sins out of anybody they catch, men, women, children, even poodles, so that they are good enough for St. Nick to bless them on Christmas day. It is a savage, brutal festival, and it is some of the most fun I've ever had in my life. It would never fly in the States, because Americans are whiny sue-happy milquetoasts when it comes to real fun. For my blow by blow account of this year's shenanigans, Go Here

Krampus Fest 2006

This was the Grand High Hypertrekking Counsil's 2006 trip to Berchtesg ...

Updated: Dec 07, 2006 11:40am PST

Rome, Italy : Rome is probably the most crowded city I've ever been to, tourist-wise. Every site was packed like a chicken truck with those damn tourists. It made trying to take photos not only difficult, but rather depressing as for every photo I wanted to take, there were 10 guys who just finished taking the exact same shot from the exact same angle, and 50 more lined up waiting for me to get out of the way. Kind of killed the whole thing where you take yourself too seriously when it comes to trying to get that one of a kind photo... Otherwise Rome was a pretty neat city. Very beautiful, very dirty, very crowded, and ultimately you feel very worn out but that it was worth it. For a fuller description of my trip to Rome, go here.

Rome, Italy

Rome is probably the most crowded city I've ever been to, tourist-wise ...

Updated: Dec 07, 2006 12:35pm PST

Budapest, Hungary : Budapest, the city that named itself for it's opinion of the Buddah. No eastern philosophy to be found here, no sir. Right. Well, it's a dumb joke. I don't have a whole lot to say about Budapest, that's why I had to do it. But it's a nice city, really. I was only there for three days and I walked. Alot. Budapest has alot of the following three things: Statues, Antique Book Shops, and Chinese Buffets. I didn't buy any antique Hungarian books, but I ate a tuk-tuk load of Chinese buffet and took a crapload of pictures of statues. I can't share the Chinese buffet with you, but here are the pictures.

Budapest, Hungary

Budapest, the city that named itself for it's opinion of the Buddah. N ...

Updated: Nov 30, 2006 4:50am PST

Istanbul, Turkey : So Istanbul is a pretty cool city. It's fairly large and there's a lot to see. For an overall description of my trip to Turkey, please feel free to go here

Istanbul, Turkey

So Istanbul is a pretty cool city. It's fairly large and there's a lot ...

Updated: Nov 29, 2006 11:35am PST

Transylvania, Romania : Transylvania... the land where the decendants of the children led off by the Pied Piper of Hamelin settled, climbing down out of a cave with no knowledge of their history. And also where that other guy, Gary Oldman, comes from. Anyway, these are shots from my 3 day jaunt there from Bucharest... There are no pictures from Bucharest, though, because it's not an interesting city. At all. Brasov was really dull too. But the castle at Sinaia, the castle at Bran, and the city of Sighisoara (ssiggy-sow-are-ah) made great camera fodder. For a brief description of my time here, read this.

Transylvania, Romania

Transylvania... the land where the decendants of the children led off ...

Updated: Mar 29, 2006 1:28am PST

Mont St. Michel, France : Way back, when I first went to Germany and bought my first car there (around February of '98, maybe...) I bought a European road atlas, because I had all these big plans to drive all over the place. I did pretty good, actually; I went on several roadtrips. But anyway, on the cover of the Atlas was this picture of this awesome lookng place, which I knew I had to see... but the Atlas didn't say where the picture was from! I asked a number of people if they knew what the picture was, but nobody could tell me, which is actually sort of pathetic, because as it turns out it's a famous place in Europe, a Unesco World Heritage site. But I got discouraged after awhile, and just carried the Atlas around in my car for 3 years (3 different cars, actually) hoping someone would comment on it eventually... no one ever did and I put it out of my mind... so much so that it's a good possibility that a few years later I may have inadvertently heard what it actually was, and it didn't register in my tiny little brain! I say that because, when I saw a picture of it in the lobby of the hotel I stayed at during my 2nd visit to Paris, I instantly knew that it was, in fact, in France... Northern France, in Normandy; Mont St. Michel. Ahhhh.

Mont St. Michel, France

Way back, when I first went to Germany and bought my first car there ( ...

Updated: Nov 19, 2005 6:20am PST

Paris, France : Hey. It's Paris. I bet you've never seen photos of any of THIS stuff before.... anyway, I've just completed my 2nd trip there and added a few new photos.

Paris, France

Hey. It's Paris. I bet you've never seen photos of any of THIS stuff b ...

Updated: Nov 17, 2005 6:57pm PST

St. Petersberg, Russia : I had 2 extra days to kill, so I hopped a night train to St. Petersberg. Once again, I took way too many shots of the local big onion dome church... I didn't have a guide and I couldn't even find the proper name online, actually I found several different names, so until I get the correct name, it shall be known as the copycat church, because the one in Moscow is cooler. And again, I took way too many photos of it. Sorry 'bout that. Anyway, St. Petersberg was a cool city... everybody says how pretty it is, but it was cold windy and wet most of the time I was there, so perhaps I didn't get the most out of it. At any rate, I got to practice more black and white photography.

St. Petersberg, Russia

I had 2 extra days to kill, so I hopped a night train to St. Petersber ...

Updated: Nov 13, 2005 5:19am PST

Moscow, Russia : So after being in a Communist Rally, and flying to the edge of the Earth in a Mig-25, regular 'ol Moscow pictures just aren't as exciting... But Moscow was really neat to walk around... actually I didn't stray too far from the center of town; Most of the city is very ugly. But the Red Square area is amazing, and you'll notice that I took way way way too many shots of St. Basil's Cathedral. It's one of those buildings that demands it... you can't ever get enough angles on it. I also started doing Black & White shots alot here... for some reason, Russia looks pretty good in B&W.

Moscow, Russia

So after being in a Communist Rally, and flying to the edge of the Ear ...

Updated: Nov 19, 2005 7:54am PST

To The Edge of the Earth from Zhukovsky Air Force Base, Russia : On November 9th, 2005, I got my Space Adventure. IT WAS WORTH EVERY PENNY AND I'D DO IT AGAIN!! Wow. WOW. I got to fly in a Mig-25 to 25,000 meters, about 82,000 feet high, (25 kilometers, or about 15 miles high... woohoo!) at the top speed of about Mach 2.8 (2,131.4 miles per hour, 3,430.1 kilometers per hour... yeehaw!) ... In the gallery, you'll notice that I took a picture of the Altimeter and Speedometer every so often, But at the peak of speed and hight I did not, because that was the purest moment of Euphoria I've ever experienced... I was weightless for several seconds, I have no idea how long, really, which was caused by the arc of the Mig-25 going over it's peak, which also caused me to have a slight buzz...Looking down at the Earth and up at the Black. I was in Jerusalem five days before, but this was, BY FAR, a much Holier experience. I also flew in a second Plane, the L-39, which is a subsonic acrobatic training plane. When I say I flew it, I mean that literally! After we got to about the hight you see me in in the third picture on page 5, he gave me control of the stick. Then we did some acrobatic flips and dives and stuff. I wasn't allowed to bring my camera on the L-39, due to all the acrobatics, but there are a few pictures of me in it and the Pilot at the end of the gallery. AWESOME!!!!!! UDATE! So I got the photos taken by the Space Adventures photographer, Dimo Korotayev, and I've mixed them in this gallery with my own... pretty much any picture with me in it, he took. Most of the others are mine. I have recieved the video! I look retarded in all that get-up. I won't be handing out Michael the Space-tard videos to anyone, sorry. 2nd UPDATE! I, being technologically challeneged, just figured out how to capture frames of video as a JPEG file, and I've loaded a few such pictures from the video taken by the camera in the cockpit of the MIG-25 and the video from Space Adventures and interspersed them throughout the gallery.

To The Edge of the Earth from Zhukovsky Air Force Base, Russia

On November 9th, 2005, I got my Space Adventure. IT WAS WORTH EVERY PE ...

Updated: Jun 28, 2006 12:59am PST

November 7th, 2005 in Moscow, Russia : I arrived in Moscow on the evening of November 6th, and pretty much crashed right away. The 7th was my first day in Russia... and a Communist Rally broke out! Capital City, National Holiday, Communist Rally. MAD POINTS!!! I can't begin to express how much fun I had... I had no idea what anybody was shouting, or what exactly the point of the whole thing was, but I was in something that looked like it came right out of Stalinist Russia. I stayed for 3 hours and took alot of photos. Anyway, as it turns out, November 7th is a double bill holiday. In 1917, it was the day Lenin and his baddie buddies took power, and in 1941 it was the day the secret rally took place during which the decision was made for Russia to enter World War II. And in 2005, President Putin Declared that November 7th no longer existed as a holiday, and that it would be replaced by the People's Unity Day on November 4th. Only, nobody seemed to buy it, and everybody showed up on the 7th in front of Karl Marx's statue just outside of Red Square to march and protest and rally and call shame on Putin! So it was apparently the funnest November 7th ever for the Communists. For me too, definately.

November 7th, 2005 in Moscow, Russia

I arrived in Moscow on the evening of November 6th, and pretty much cr ...

Updated: Nov 19, 2005 3:38pm PST

Star City, Russia : My guided tour of Star City, where Yuri Gagarin and all other Russian Cosmonauts train. All Cosmonauts headed to the International Space Station also come here to train... There were 2 Americans training in a Soyuz while I was there, not to mention the 4th Space Adventures ISS candidate, Daisuke Enomoto, or Dice-K as he calls himself. The difference between an Astronaut and a Cosmonaut is that A Cosmonaut spends an extended time in Space... I don't know if there is an official amount of time at which an Astronaut ranks up, but I think that they're thinking of weeks, rather than days. The Apollo mission guys were Astronauts... the guys that spend weeks on the ISS are Cosmonauts.

Star City, Russia

My guided tour of Star City, where Yuri Gagarin and all other Russian ...

Updated: Nov 08, 2005 3:28pm PST

Switzerland : I'd been to Switzerland before, but only for a day and a bank card was eaten stranding me and a friend there with 10 dollars. That sucked. I wrote this whole disaster email about it, but that was like 6 years ago. At any rate, it was very cool being there with money this time.

Switzerland

I'd been to Switzerland before, but only for a day and a bank card was ...

Updated: Mar 25, 2005 4:25pm PST

Nimmer's Great Northern Europe Tour 2003 : The Nimmertour 2003! Cappucino points! Capital city points! Border hopping points! Concert points! ... You'd think that a trip where so many points are involved would be from some sort of stupid new MTV reality show or something, but you'd be wrong. Nimmer did it first, Nimmer did it worst. This trip rocked. For more details on these pictures, go here: Nimmer's Great Northern Europe Tour 2003.

Nimmer's Great Northern Europe Tour 2003

The Nimmertour 2003! Cappucino points! Capital city points! Border hop ...

Updated: Mar 09, 2005 9:45am PST

Bled, Slovenija : Nice little lake town. Has alot in common with Chiemsee, actually. Big lake, castle (or big church) on an island on the lake, resort town...

Bled, Slovenija

Nice little lake town. Has alot in common with Chiemsee, actually. Big ...

Updated: Sep 02, 2004 8:13pm PST

Ljubljana, Slovenija : Very neat city. Totally laid back. Cool Dragons. Wished you were there.

Ljubljana, Slovenija

Very neat city. Totally laid back. Cool Dragons. Wished you were there ...

Updated: Sep 02, 2004 7:36pm PST

Croatia : I can't remember the name of the town we're in, here. Croatia is another one of those places where everything is in some sort of funny moon-man language. The beaches were either rocks or concrete, but the water was beautful and the scuba diving was awesome! -P.S. I looked it up. This was on the island of Krk in a town called Punat. See? Moonman language!

Croatia

I can't remember the name of the town we're in, here. Croatia is anoth ...

Updated: Sep 04, 2004 1:56pm PST

Liechtenstein : Smaller than Rhode Island, bigger than a potato chip, yes, it's its very own Country!

Liechtenstein

Smaller than Rhode Island, bigger than a potato chip, yes, it's its ve ...

Updated: Sep 04, 2004 9:13pm PST

Salzburg, Austria : Salzburg is a really beautiful city which is really fun to go to three or four times, but is too small to sustain much excitement after that. Unless you're into some weird stuff like, you know, classical music and art and junk.

Salzburg, Austria

Salzburg is a really beautiful city which is really fun to go to three ...

Updated: Jul 11, 2006 12:10am PST

Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic : Cesky Krumlov is the Czech Republic's favourite little hide-away. Neat Meideval town, not too well known and therefore not very touristy at all. There are some serious zoning laws here ensuring that it will never be overrun by billboards or mass retail. Great food and relaxing atmosphere abounds here. (Abounds?! Sheesh.)

Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic

Cesky Krumlov is the Czech Republic's favourite little hide-away. Neat ...

Updated: May 24, 2004 2:34pm PST

Prague, Czech Republic : Prague is so much fun. If you ever go, and take huggy's pub crawl tour from the Traveller's Youth Hostel, ask him about the time his buddy met Liv Tyler. Hee Hee! Man that's a funny story.

Prague, Czech Republic

Prague is so much fun. If you ever go, and take huggy's pub crawl tour ...

Updated: Jul 11, 2006 9:41am PST

Venice, Italy : I've been to Venice on several occasions, I think maybe about seven times throughout my six years in Europe., so this is rather a mishmash of photos. I really love this city.

Venice, Italy

I've been to Venice on several occasions, I think maybe about seven ti ...

Updated: Jul 10, 2006 2:07am PST

Berlin, Germany : Berlin. Beerlin. Beer. What was I talking about? Ich bin ein Beerliner.

Berlin, Germany

Berlin. Beerlin. Beer. What was I talking about? Ich bin ein Beerliner ...

Updated: Apr 25, 2005 8:24am PST

German Towns Galore : So here are alot of pictures that I took during hypertreks to the smaller variety of German towns and cities. Some good stuff here, but perhaps mostly only interesting to the random Deutchephile out there. Hi Jeff!

German Towns Galore

So here are alot of pictures that I took during hypertreks to the smal ...

Updated: Apr 24, 2005 11:44am PST

Krampus Festival, Berchtesgaden, Germany : This is a big drunk Bavarian party where their sick and twisted idea of St. Nick is this guy who looks more like the pope, and he leads a large pack of scary looking demons (who are actually drunk Bavarian neanderthals in disguise, and I'm not sure what's scarier) into town. They carry really painful whips made of tree switches and proceed to beat the sins out of anybody they catch, men, women, children, even poodles, so that they are good enough for St. Nick to bless them on Christmas day. It is a savage, brutal festival, and it is some of the most fun I've ever had in my life. It would never fly in the States, because Americans are whiny sue-happy milquetoasts when it comes to real fun.

Krampus Festival, Berchtesgaden, Germany

This is a big drunk Bavarian party where their sick and twisted idea o ...

Updated: Sep 06, 2004 8:13am PST

King Ludwig's Castles, Germany : Mad King Ludwig had some money, e-i-e-i-oh! And with this cash he built some castles, e-i-e-i-oh! With a quack quack here and a bankrupt Bayern there, There's a lake, push him in But now the State rakes in the dough, Mad King Ludwig had no honies, e-i-e-i-oh! (Okay, so I'm not a poet. Beat me and drown me in a lake already.)

King Ludwig's Castles, Germany

Mad King Ludwig had some money, e-i-e-i-oh! And with this cash he bu ...

Updated: Jul 09, 2006 11:56pm PST

Hamburg, Germany : Hamburg is so so cool. Yes, I went to the infamous Reeperbahn, but only for the articles, I swear. And because it's a famous stop on the Beatlemania trail.

Hamburg, Germany

Hamburg is so so cool. Yes, I went to the infamous Reeperbahn, but onl ...

Updated: Sep 04, 2004 11:51pm PST

Munich, Germany : I have been to Munich countless times over a period of six years and had so many good times there that I feel stupid for not having at least a thousand pictures. But here's what I got. This city is awesome!

Munich, Germany

I have been to Munich countless times over a period of six years and h ...

Updated: Jul 09, 2006 10:00pm PST

Chiemsee, Germany : I miss Chiemsee so much. I had what I'm sure I'll always think of as many of the best days of my life here.

Chiemsee, Germany

I miss Chiemsee so much. I had what I'm sure I'll always think of as m ...

Updated: Jul 09, 2006 10:57pm PST

Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany : I lived here for 3 and a half years. I really miss it. I would love to live here again.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

I lived here for 3 and a half years. I really miss it. I would love to ...

Updated: Sep 11, 2006 11:40pm PST

Edinburgh, Scotland : I actually had more pictures than this, but it was in the very early days of my European travels, (the first few, actually) and I'm not sure what's happened to them. There are also no survivors from my London or Amsterdam trips, which makes me sad.

Edinburgh, Scotland

I actually had more pictures than this, but it was in the very early d ...

Updated: Jul 08, 2006 10:50pm PST

messiestobjects' messy photographs

"Where you come from, is gone. Where you thought you were goin' to, weren't never there, and where you are ain't no good unless you can get away from it." - Jesus Built My Hotrod