myself and another middle left austria on the same day. he was going to check out another team in salsburg and i wasn't, but salsburg being north of klagenfurt seemed like a start in the right direction if i was to get back to brussels and see those i missed most in diego as soon as possible. the night before i left i saw a 50 euro flight from klagenfurt to munich and thought that was a good call considering my travel home was going to be self funded and not assisted by the agencey. they did a good job lodging me deep into europe with one way tickets. i would have been forced to stay had i not had any money to get home. good strategy for an agent who makes money on players. so the ticket was cheap the day before, but the next day when i had decided to leave(actually just after midnight that same day) it had jumped to around 199.99 euro. in english that's 300 bucks. still more expensive that a car rental and speeding ticket. not really worth it after several hours of calculation and graph papering. so train it was. 35 euro to salsburg. it was going to be an expensive journey home no matter what. since it was nazi country i tried to watch inglorious bastards subtitled in greek on the way there, but greek is just another language in that movie that i don't speak. i'll try and finish later. speaking of nazi's there was a funny thing that happened with the grand daughter of a nazi and myself that the avis car rental in munich. me and a canadian were talking about death camps and a wager came up that auschwitz wasn't in germany, but poland. having never been there i knew it wasn't in germany so we tried to get the nazi to tell us where it used to be. at first she didn't understand what we were talking about, but then just started laughing. i told her that by laughing she was showing that we knew she was talking about death camps. she confirmed that the camp was in poland, but then denied there was ever a holocaust.
so in salsburg i sat and had multiple beers with the czech republican. interestingly enough we had a mutual czech friend from prague and plenty to talk about. my 16 hour train to brussels didn't leave until 7 that night and it was only about 3 when we got to salsburg. he spoke of gypsies in a serious tone. i thought it was a great to hear how threatening they are to some eastern europeans. i always put gypsies into my fairy tale knights-dragons-wizards category, but apparently they are dirty and threatening. hmmm. so we got pretty buzzed and i almost stayed in salsburg when extended the invitation to crash on the couch and czech out the night life. i declined, used the internet for the last time and boarded the train for munich. not much happened on that trian, but it did suck. i got to munich around midnight bought some things and boarded for an overnighter to koln. i had a bed and was surprised at how nice the room i got on the train was. it was like a tiny hotel room with a shower desk and some chairs. i unpacked some things and was then kicked out for being in the wrong car. i walked to cars to my real room which gave me huge anxiety. it was a closet with 2 triple bunk bed and people sleeping already. i almost threw up cause it was so miserable. at least i had the bottom bunk, but still a slave ship accommodation for a 6 foot slave; and me a 6 and a half foot slave. nobody threw up or shit on me like in roots, but i still didn't sleep well. i was woken in koln at about 530. still dark and the train station was filled with people who had been out clubbing all night. i paid a euro to piss and decided to shit too even though i didn't need to since i spent so much. it was nice to be somewhere warm, but all good things come to an end. i asked myself if there was anything i might need to use the bathroom for before i walked back out the one way turnstyle. was i really done with the bathroom? am i leaving too soon? i knew i couldn't go back once i left but after some mental inventory finally made it out. my train was at 830 so i waited and got colder while my ipod slowly died. i had been enjoying some carrolla podcasts and confirming that i was in the right city and waiting for the right train. oh the anxiety of discovering how public transit works abroad.
made it to brussels at about 1030. i had messed up the first time i was in brussels and knew exactly where i was and what train to take when i got there. the bru intl express. it was about to leave and i considered not getting the 3 euro ticket to save time and money knowing it was only a 15 minute ride. i used judgment and walked down to by a ticket and got on the next train at 1050. i felt good when i was asked to see my ticket and i had one, so i wasn't regretting anything yet. i got to the airport and made my way to the united desk to change flight to san diego at around 1120. at the united counter we spent exactly 3 minutes finding my previous reservation. i told her i wanted the next flight possible. she told me that the last flight closed bording at 1115 the clock read exactly 1123 with its analogue arms. then she said the next flight doesn't leave till tomorrow at noon. over 24 hours away. i did what i could to convince her to let me board, but nothing. i told her i have no money and nowhere to go, but all she could do was give me a carton of orange juice and some oatmeal chewies. it was a full liter of orange juice and the chewies were tasty and i had been given 3 so i remember feeling slightly assuaged then at about 1145 completely fucked. i wandered the 2 levels till the sun went down. i checked out all the rental car desks and thought if i could get something around 20 to 30 euro i might consider seeing some sights and sleeping in the car. no cars available though. then internet. it cost 5 euro for the hour or 30 euro for the day. neither seemed fair so i went and bought some groceries. some chips, two microwave hamburgers a water and a 22 ounce 12% malted beverage. it was terrible, but it matched my condition perfectly. it hit the spot. a very very low spot.
i got pretty buzzed and made some eyes at some attractive people in arrivals for about an hour while i started to wonder if i could finish my drink. it was gross. i went to the only place with outlets on the entire 3rd floor. it was cafe with fixed chairs and tables. i plugged in my computer and played bomberman on my genesis emulator for the next 6 hours till i was sober enough to figure out what a piece of shit i was, but then i thought about my options and started playing college football national championship. i figured i had enough time for a season and picked sdsu with marshal faulk. my quarterback was pretty nimble and i easily gained yards and went 4 and 0. the bathroom was free, but i had to repack every time i used it. at around 530am i went upstairs, sat down with my bag in my lap and passed out by the check in. woke up a few times cheek deep in my own spit, but didn't care who was watching, by then i had tenure and pretty much felt comfortable doing whatever i wanted at bru. eventually my 24 sentence was over and i felt pretty institutionalized by the time i finally boarded. for my troubles i was given a seat with extra leg room. i was too depressed to even take percoset. i was already numb enough. then it was washington, then chicago, then home. gaining steam on every stop. in washington i had a terrible burrito and remembered that san diego makes good burritos cause we have good tortillas. no me gusta store bought tortillas. and that's a wrap.
