Standing on American Soil

After over four months away, I am back in the U.S. While it didn't feel like it, that was the longest I've ever been out of America at a time. My second summer spent in Lisbon was good. There was a lot of work, but I was happy with my productivity; there were a lot of visitors, but I was happy to share the city with them; there weren't nearly enough concerts, but I will remedy that soon.

From the 9th of September I was traveling around Europe and had an amazing time. Started off in Berlin where I had to be at a conference and really enjoyed the city. I was staying in East Berlin, and the neighborhoods all had a great feel there...lots to do, and very nice people, especially in Friedrichshain, which has a beautiful park. Next up was Prague, which is beautiful, but overly touristed, though I managed to get myself out to some less trafficked areas which were more pleasant. Vienna was not so much my cup of tea. The buildings there are truly impressive, but they become imposing. I felt a need to escape to the outskirts of the city, and wound up walking almost 20 kilometers all over the north side of the city. Next up was Bratislava, the illustrious capital of Slovakia. Literally three sights to see there, but there was extremely cheap beer and the highest concentration of extremely beautiful girls I have ever seen.

Then Krakow to meet up with my brother, which was a very nice city. Great buildings in the Old Town area, and surprisingly bumping nightlife. Poles ne fuckabout pas when it comes to dancing, and people were already getting in the clubs by 9:30 PM. I was also pleasantly surprised by the quality of the DJs. They were playing mainly top 40 stuff, but they were mixing and mashing it very skilfully. Warsaw was my favorite stop of the trip by far. The city is fascinating to me. It was almost completely destroyed during World War II, then rebuilt, but under a Communist regime, but today it is flourishing. There's a great art and music scene, tons of cool clubs in old factories and warehouses, and it's all damn cheap. Poland also has great food, such as the zapiekanka, a sort of ciabatta/half baguette smothered in cheese, whatever savory toppings you might want, and topped off with ketchup or garlic sauce. Delicious.

The zapiekanka was practically large enough to eat me.

The next Berlin for travellers. Finally I headed to Amsterdam to see a roommate from last summer in Lisbon. I managed to get used to biking in a city and was able to get to some parts of town I hadn't seen before, like Jordaan, which is an awesome neighborhood. We also went to a killer electro dance party at Studio 80. It was a gay friendly night, and there were some pretty amazing drag queens there. It's hard to be convincing as a woman when you're already 6'4" before putting heels on. Had a quick stop in Paris after to see my brother, and then back to Lisbon, and now back in Maine for a few days before I move back to New Haven for the fall.

It's always nice coming back to the States after some time away. Of course, whenever I'm here for too long, I start jonesing for some travel, but while I'm away, I begin to miss certain things (many of them food related...oh burritos, how I have longed for you!). I miss the Maine coast a lot when I am away, even if I'm in a place on the water like Lisbon. There's just something intangible about it that sits deep in my mind. I miss being able to discuss silly things, like lines from the latest American movies or American sports. I miss American beer a ton. While I still maintain that Belgian beer is the best in the world, American microbreweries produce more exciting beers, and there's a ton of variety. And the one that eats at me the most is that even though it is definitely easier to keep in touch with friends in the U.S. while abroad than it was in the past, but even with email, Facebook, and Skype, I still feel that I am in contact with people more when I'm home (though home is a bit in limbo, since New Haven began to feel more like home than Maine at times during college).

But now I am back and have a bit of time before I feel ready to leave America behind again. I'm looking forward to getting back to New Haven and also having easy access to NYC, so it should be a very fun autumn (and hopefully I'll get some work done too). In celebration of getting back to the US of A, here's a tune from a French band, Jupiter.

Jupiter - I Love America [divshare]

And here are a few more sweet tracks that have come my way recently (with apologies to artists who were sending me songs while I was extremely busy this summer and also while traveling; unfortunately I can't get to everything while still keeping my day job, but keep the music coming, as I will be blogging more regularly now).

Simian Mobile Disco - Audacity of Huge (Dada Life Guerrilla Fart #10) [divshare]
Cassius - Youth, Speed, Trouble, Cigarettes (Don Diablo remix) [divshare]
Pretty Good Dance Moves - Leave Me Alone (ft. Bjorn Yttling of Peter, Bjorn & John) [divshare]
Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire (Viking remix) [divshare]

And in a final celebration of America, how can I not include Dennis Madalone's classic 'America We Stand As One.'