Markus and Brian's Excellent European Adventure

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In case it isn't obvious, this site exists now as an archive of the Europe trip, and won't be updated. Thanks again for your readership and all the great comments. 'Till the next trip!

(Edit: Yes, all of the photos in the archives are broken. I'll fix them sooner or later.)

(Edit: All the photos should now be fixed - woo!)

Top 5 European Warning Signs

One big difference between Europe and North America, besides the access to naked women on TV any time of day, is that in North America, public warning signs are generally dull and actionless:

This sign warns you that you're in a school zone with briefcase-toting children crossing when you'll least suspect it, so you'd better slow your car down. But who's going to notice that snooze-fest? Nothing motivates you to pay attention.

In Europe, however, signs come to life with action. If a danger is being brought to your attention, you'll know it, because the sign will clearly show what'll happen if you ignore it. For example, the boring, easily-ignored North American school crossing sign above would look like this in Europe:

There's no ignoring that! Looking at the sign, you know there are serious consequences if you don't pay attention. In some eastern European countries, there'd probably be a follow-up sign of the little silhouetted car behind bars for life.

Anyway, I ran across quite a few of these types of signs in Europe, and thought I'd share my five favourite. Actually, they're the only five I got around to taking pictures of, but whatever.

My Top 5 Crazy European Warning Signs

5)

This was above a fire exit at a museum in France. This is an excellent sign; it makes it unmistakably clear that when fire is licking at your heels, or the building is in the process of exploding, this is the door to sprint through. Isn't that much more clear than this?

4)

I came across this at a train station in Ireland. Besides being overly huge and unnecessary (the ground was concrete), the falling man looks like he was in the middle of an ancient tribal dance when he slipped and fell on a passing wave. That, and his body is also completely straight and rigid with fear as he falls. I love it.

3)

My train was about to leave, so I got a little excited and accidently blocked part of the picture, with no time for a retake. Anyway, it left little doubt in my mind that if I opened the electrical box on the wall, I'd be zapped into a very painful looking posture.

2)

From a small southern German town. The sign reads, literally, "Attention! Children shoot hadoken fireballs!"

And now, for number one...

1)

Similar to number 5, this sign hung over the door that handicapped people should escape from when flames are licking at their, uh, wheels. I'm not sure what's moving the wheelchair, actually -- the guy isn't pushing anything. Maybe the flames are pushing him. Or maybe it's a flaming rocket wheelchair. That'd be cool.

That's it. In closing, watch out; Europe's a dangerous place.

Busy With Exams

Hey guys, been busy with exams. Sorry for the whole 'no updates' thing. Exams end on the 17th. See you then.

Europe? Isn't that near Asia or something?

Hey there peoples,

In case you were wondering, I was abducted by aliens and subjected to some very uncomfortable "tests" before being whisked away to their home planet. It's not such a bad place, but you have no idea how hard it is to get a decent Internet connection from there.

Actually, I only wish I had an excuse this good for not posting to the website in so long. In reality I've been working at my co-op job in London (Ontario... ) and the first thing I decided to do at this new job of mine is promptly forget about the website ever existing. You would think that hearing Brian talk about updates on the weekends would have re-ignited my interest to check out the website, but if there's one thing I learned from Europe it's that igniting anything is not a good idea while Brian is giving me the Nth drink of the evening. Those of us who have seen us since our trip know that we've brought back some great European traditions with us (wine=France, Beer=Germany, Ouzo=... Let's just forget about Ouzo).

Seriously, though, there's not a whole lot I can contribute to this site except some ranting and raving and general disclosure of opinion. Brian has the real goods (aka: camera, pictures, fully stocked bar) whereas I can do little more than point at the pictures he posts and say, "Hey, I remember that! You promised you wouldn't show anyone that picture!" I guess I did promise to sum up my feelings for the trip, and since I'm not very creative I'll quote some famous dead guy by saying, "Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." That's exactly how I feel about this trip, and if reading this website has in any way sparked that adventurer within you, if reading these postings has left you wishing and wanting, then I have only these words for you. Do you have any idea how much a trip like this costs! No, no wait! I meant just throw caution to the wind and do it. Yeah, that's it.

In the end life is what we make and if you really want something then the time to do it is tomorrow, because right now you should be saving every spare dime you have. Yes the trip is costly, yes living out of a backpack gets annoying, yes you'll end up in some frustrating situations, but if you asked me whether I have any regrets whatsoever about this trip, then there's only one answer and by now I'm sure you all know what it is.

Markus

Where Legos Come From

Off-topic: Wonder how Legos are made? Check out this slick Flash applet, which makes the whole process look like a video game. (Remember to move the mouse over each number.)

The efficiency in the factory is amazing. Humans aren't needed in the working world anymore. I think I want to be a robot when I grow up.

Ike says: Let's get biz-zay!

Woo boy. Do I ever have egg on my face. After 2+ months, an update. Procrastination and school was the largest reason, but the site's updating scripts have also been disabled during most of that time and only fixed just now. Beyond my control, I swear. Still doesn't lessen my role as An Insensitive Jerk and A Bad Friend, though.

I saw a great card at Sobey's when I was buying a birthday card for my mom the other day. It was in the love-infested Relationships section. On the cover, in soothing cursive writing, was "Let's Get Over This Together". Inside: We've hit a bump in the road / Everything was so perfect / Now we face reality, etc etc.

I wanted to get the card for Heather, but really, I should have got it for you. There are so many people that I still need to reply to and get in touch with since I've been back. I haven't yet, and will fix that very soon. I'm seriously sorry, guys. Let's get over this together.

Along a similar line, I still have at least a hundred photos to put up; not just from the last few weeks, but others that I skipped over when I was only choosing a few to put up from the 'net cafes. Watch for 'em.

It's great to be back. Took me at least two weeks to sleep normally again. I got a very strange look from Markus when I picked him up at the airport (a day after I returned). You see, I was wearing jeans. The idea of jeans was a luxury only people with closets, double beds, and permanent addresses could afford.

Being back made me see everything in a new light -- at least, for the first few weeks. I wasn't taking anything for granted; I valued and treasured every little convenience. I'm still trying to cling to that feeling.

Anyway, look for more updates soon. No, really. And I'll figure out how to evolve this site, too. Cheers.

Rushed and ready to leave

Markus and I are packed and ready to head off to the airport to catch our flight out to Amsterdam at 8:30 tonight. I'm surprised at how heavy my backpack is considering how little I thought I put in there -- if I don't come back with muscles of steel, I'll be sorely disappointed.

Right now I'm incredibly excited and nervous at the same time. Maybe 'nervous' isn't quite right; more like edgy, the kind of feeling you get before a job interview, when you've got all your senses on high alert. Add a nice swift punch to the stomach and a general sense of dread that I've forgotten to hide all the bodies well enough, and that's where I am right now.

I didn't quite get everything done before we left like I had planned, like this website. In fact, the blogging software seems to have broken on me as I switched over to our new domain (think Bill & Ted's, by the way). I'll have to work on it from the Internet cafes in Europe when I'm not quite so rushed.

Gotta dash now. I'm already starting to realize how much I'm going to miss my friends and family, but I bet that'll pass once we find much better friends and families in Europe.

Wish us luck!