Since I didn't bring a laptop with me, my internet access has been spotty at best because I am trying to maximize the vacation time instead of updating the blog. Since I only have a few days left, I'm thinking that when I return on Monday that I'll crank out blog entries and photos for all to see from this trip. It's just easier. However, I will throw the group one bone. Here it goes ...
I did see the Toronto Maple Leafs-Buffalo Sabres hockey game tonight. A 4-1 Sabres victory and the first time in the three games I've seen that the home team lost. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that I wore a t-shirt I've had since attending a New Jersey Devils-Maple Leafs playoff game in New Jersey in 2000 (when the Devils went on to win the Stanley Cup that year). I saw Game 6 of that second-round series and it was the clincher for the Devils. I've had the shirt ever since. To be honest, I've never been a Leafs fan, but this team this year is so lousy, they really don't need me to jinx them.
Also, the other real setback for seeing this Leafs team in the Air Canada Centre is that this is the WRONG building for them to be playing in. The old Maple Leaf Gardens, the organization's home for 75 years or so, was vacated by the team in favor of the ACC, which is located near the CN Tower and Rogers Centre (the old Skydome) where the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team plays and the Buffalo Bills played an NFL game vs. Miami Dolphins in December.
To be honest, it was weird seeing the Leafs' history -- banners of retired greats, the 13 Stanley Cup banners (two as the St. Pats) and a ton of great old-time hockey photos -- blasted all over an arena that also hosts the NBA's Toronto Raptors. Think about that for a moment. The Leafs fans still show up in droves, but many are ticket scalpers outside the arena. I went by the old Maple Leaf Gardens on Tuesday night and it nearly broke my heart to see the place so deserted and aged. Makes me want to buy the place (I reckon it's not going anywhere because of its historical nature) and turn it back into something the city can be proud of rather than something that looks like an eyesore. If the Hockey Hall of Fame were to ever want to move out of its existing beautiful building, I'd love to see the HHOF take over the Maple Leaf Gardens facility.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
First flight (actually second one scheduled) ...
Aboard a plane -- my first flight ever on Air Canada -- was refreshing. Four seats across each row (two to a side) makes everything much more comfortable for a 6-foot-4, 265-pound person such as myself. Sat next to a guy who, for the next three-plus hours only blurted a word once to let me know he needed to get past me to go to the bathroom. Sleep was the order of this flight, but the small screen in front of me prevented that from happening. Air Canada, for those unaware, offers a bevy of entertainment options to let the time pass. You can watch a movie (current stuff like in a hotel), listen to music, TV, etc. all from the comfort of your seat.
The comfort of this flight, however, couldn't stop my worry about the past 24 hours. Here it was, 24 hours AFTER my original flight was supposed to be a non-stop jet from L.A. to Vancouver where I'd spend Christmas Day. Snowy weather in Vancouver, the host of the 2010 Winter Olympics, forced tons of cancellations and postponed flights across the board. My flight, a 7 a.m. gig, was cancelled only hours before I was to be at LAX. Upset with this predicament, I contacted Orbitz.com, who I had booked my flight with and they were able to help me immensely. They rebooked me for a flight on Dec. 26 and were able to refund me money for the lost hotel night. The rebooked flight, however, was curious. I'd fly LAX to Calgary and then to Vancouver. The worry I felt, though, was that the weather would open up enough for me to make the connecting flight, get to the hotel quickly and then make it to the Vancouver Canucks arena in time for the Canucks-Edmonton Oilers game, the first of five games to see on this trip.
The flight from LAX to Calgary was smooth. We arrived at 12:45 p.m. (mountain time) with what would still be plenty of downtime before going on to Vancouver for a 4:15 p.m. flight that would get me into the city at 4:45 (Pacific time) for a 7 p.m. game.
All reports, though, out of Vancouver weren't looking too good. I had been told by a friend of mine that he was apologizing days before I was to leave that the city doesn't do too well when snow falls on its city. Again, this is the host city for a Winter Olympics? I realize the bulk of the snow-related events will be in Whistler, but should snow fall in Vancouver in February 2010, will the town shut down?
Anyway, I chose to grab lunch at Chili's in the Calgary airport to wait out my layover. I did so with a bacon burger and Rickards Red beer (made by Molson) which was delicious. I was served by Jaime, a 20-something bartender/waitress who was really cool and really Canadian with her thick accent. She also had her left arm in a sling, earned through a snowboarding accident days prior. "I've got to work. I can't afford to take time off," she said with a great smile. Her injury, however, did make it a bit hard to prevent spilling some brew. At one point, she knocked over a bit of beer that splashed onto my burger and caused her to apologize three or four times to me, even though it was all right. No harm, no foul. Perhaps I should have asked for a free beer? Then again, after the Rickards, there weren't any other good choices to tap into to be honest.
It was also here that another young person, Sashi, sat down next to me and ordered a Coors light and "clam juice." When he combined the crappy beer with the V-8 knockoff, I called it a Bloody Coors Light. He laughed when I told him that Coors Light isn't a great beer at all and that I could completely understand why he wanted to do SOMETHING to make it taste better, even if it was a V-8.
We struck up a conversation and he was pretty entertaining. He asked about my travels, showed me pictures of his family and told me I should go to Montreal for New Year's instead of being in Toronto. "Montreal never closes, it's like that Las Vegas of yours." We'll see about that, though in the last few days, I did read about professional parties that occur in Montreal each New Year's Eve and how great and wild they are to take in. Trouble is, I'm still in Toronto through Jan. 2 with a hockey game to attend on Jan. 1, so no go. Perhaps I'll assess the aftermath of a Montreal NYE by seeing how many people are at the airport when I fly in on the 2nd.
After this conversation reached a conclusion, we exchanged cards and parted ways. He did get on a flight to Toronto I'm certain while my flight to Vancouver was subsequently postponed three times while at the airport. When it got to be a 6 p.m. flight out of Calgary to Vancouver is when I chose NOT to take the flight. I went searching for my baggage in hopes that it wouldn't go to Vancouver without me. I did get the bag and that flight, I think, wound up not leaving until 9:30 that night. It would have been pointless for me to board the flight because I'd already missed the Canucks game -- a 3-2 Edmonton victory by the way -- and since I was already scheduled to come back to Calgary the very next day, I felt I should just stay in Calgary and not risk being stuck in Vancouver on Dec. 27 which might then also prevent me from seeing the Calgary Flames-Ottawa Senators game. So I stayed in Calgary and it proved to be the right choice.
The comfort of this flight, however, couldn't stop my worry about the past 24 hours. Here it was, 24 hours AFTER my original flight was supposed to be a non-stop jet from L.A. to Vancouver where I'd spend Christmas Day. Snowy weather in Vancouver, the host of the 2010 Winter Olympics, forced tons of cancellations and postponed flights across the board. My flight, a 7 a.m. gig, was cancelled only hours before I was to be at LAX. Upset with this predicament, I contacted Orbitz.com, who I had booked my flight with and they were able to help me immensely. They rebooked me for a flight on Dec. 26 and were able to refund me money for the lost hotel night. The rebooked flight, however, was curious. I'd fly LAX to Calgary and then to Vancouver. The worry I felt, though, was that the weather would open up enough for me to make the connecting flight, get to the hotel quickly and then make it to the Vancouver Canucks arena in time for the Canucks-Edmonton Oilers game, the first of five games to see on this trip.
The flight from LAX to Calgary was smooth. We arrived at 12:45 p.m. (mountain time) with what would still be plenty of downtime before going on to Vancouver for a 4:15 p.m. flight that would get me into the city at 4:45 (Pacific time) for a 7 p.m. game.
All reports, though, out of Vancouver weren't looking too good. I had been told by a friend of mine that he was apologizing days before I was to leave that the city doesn't do too well when snow falls on its city. Again, this is the host city for a Winter Olympics? I realize the bulk of the snow-related events will be in Whistler, but should snow fall in Vancouver in February 2010, will the town shut down?
Anyway, I chose to grab lunch at Chili's in the Calgary airport to wait out my layover. I did so with a bacon burger and Rickards Red beer (made by Molson) which was delicious. I was served by Jaime, a 20-something bartender/waitress who was really cool and really Canadian with her thick accent. She also had her left arm in a sling, earned through a snowboarding accident days prior. "I've got to work. I can't afford to take time off," she said with a great smile. Her injury, however, did make it a bit hard to prevent spilling some brew. At one point, she knocked over a bit of beer that splashed onto my burger and caused her to apologize three or four times to me, even though it was all right. No harm, no foul. Perhaps I should have asked for a free beer? Then again, after the Rickards, there weren't any other good choices to tap into to be honest.
It was also here that another young person, Sashi, sat down next to me and ordered a Coors light and "clam juice." When he combined the crappy beer with the V-8 knockoff, I called it a Bloody Coors Light. He laughed when I told him that Coors Light isn't a great beer at all and that I could completely understand why he wanted to do SOMETHING to make it taste better, even if it was a V-8.
We struck up a conversation and he was pretty entertaining. He asked about my travels, showed me pictures of his family and told me I should go to Montreal for New Year's instead of being in Toronto. "Montreal never closes, it's like that Las Vegas of yours." We'll see about that, though in the last few days, I did read about professional parties that occur in Montreal each New Year's Eve and how great and wild they are to take in. Trouble is, I'm still in Toronto through Jan. 2 with a hockey game to attend on Jan. 1, so no go. Perhaps I'll assess the aftermath of a Montreal NYE by seeing how many people are at the airport when I fly in on the 2nd.
After this conversation reached a conclusion, we exchanged cards and parted ways. He did get on a flight to Toronto I'm certain while my flight to Vancouver was subsequently postponed three times while at the airport. When it got to be a 6 p.m. flight out of Calgary to Vancouver is when I chose NOT to take the flight. I went searching for my baggage in hopes that it wouldn't go to Vancouver without me. I did get the bag and that flight, I think, wound up not leaving until 9:30 that night. It would have been pointless for me to board the flight because I'd already missed the Canucks game -- a 3-2 Edmonton victory by the way -- and since I was already scheduled to come back to Calgary the very next day, I felt I should just stay in Calgary and not risk being stuck in Vancouver on Dec. 27 which might then also prevent me from seeing the Calgary Flames-Ottawa Senators game. So I stayed in Calgary and it proved to be the right choice.
And so it begins ...
A little after 8 a.m. on the day after Christmas, one day later than originally scheduled, flight Air Canada 569's wheels finally left the ground at Los Angeles International Airport and the trip, one that I've wanted to do for years, had commenced.
Hockey, for the uninformed, is one of my truest passions in life. I attended my first hockey game in 1975 with family at the Forum in Inglewood. Kings vs. Minnesota North Stars (now Dallas Stars). That's age 6 if you're counting at home. It was the initial spark, but the fire and passion for the game really took off after our family moved to Colorado in December 1977. At the time, the Denver Broncos were the talk of the town. They were embarking on a playoff run that would have them playing in the Super Bowl in January 1978 against Dallas -- the only one the Broncos played and long before John Elway arrived on the scene.
I was, however, drawn to hockey, much moreso than any other sport in the winter time. Denver's team was the NHL's Colorado Rockies (now the New Jersey Devils, for whom I still root for religiously). The Rockies, who had actually moved west from Kansas City where, as the Scouts, lasted only two seasons before heading to Denver in 1976. The Rockies, despite my attendance loyalty, lasted only six seasons before being sold and moved to New Jersey after the season ended in 1982.
Nonetheless, my hockey passion thrived for a team that was considered a laughing stock of sorts. Perennial losers, they did make one playoff appearance but with 16 out of 21 teams qualifying, even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while. It's not to say the team didn't have some talented players during its Denver run, but unless you follow hockey closely, names like Merlin Malinowski, Gary Croteau, Mike McEwen, Randy Pierce, Ron Delorme and Glenn "Chico" Resch are going to draw a blank.
For me, I grew up with the Rockies. I attended so many home games at the now-defunct McNichols Arena that perhaps I should have been given complimentary season ticket when the Colorado Avalanche (the former Quebec Nordiques) arrived in the mid-1990s. They promptly won the Stanley Cup in their first year, thus firmly planting their status as a team to support and follow and not discard like the Rockies were when I lived in Colorado from 1977-1985. Then again, while I was attending games, I got to see the last Montreal Canadiens dynasty of the late 70s play. I got to see the mighty New York Islanders teams that won 4 Cups in a row and I also got to see Wayne Gretzky and his powerhouse Edmonton Oiler teams in their NHL infancy and before they won their first Cup.
Just as fun was the time I spent following the Rockies away from game nights. The team's practice facility was only minutes away in Littleton and a lot of my weekends (at least one day when they were in town) were spent watching their practices, getting autographs and pucks and sticks from the players. Opposing teams also occasionally used South Suburban Ice Arena for a morning skate when in town to face the Rockies. Saw many top NHL stars that way and still, to this day, will never forgive then Toronto Maple Leafs player Rick Vaive, who was NEVER a star player, for his stupidity.
It certainly also didn't hurt that Gary Croteau, who was the captain of the Rockies at one point, lived on our cul-de-sac. Nice guy, decent NHL forward who played for the Rockies during my initial interest. He's also the first athlete I ever interviewed. I was 11 when my class project involved interviewing someone. Funny thing about this is that when I did the interview, the moment was also mentioned in an article about Croteau for GOAL Magazine, the NHL's publication which, at the time, served as the official game program at Rockies games. I still have a copy of the article where the writer mentions me and the interview. Pretty cool, huh?
Hockey, for the uninformed, is one of my truest passions in life. I attended my first hockey game in 1975 with family at the Forum in Inglewood. Kings vs. Minnesota North Stars (now Dallas Stars). That's age 6 if you're counting at home. It was the initial spark, but the fire and passion for the game really took off after our family moved to Colorado in December 1977. At the time, the Denver Broncos were the talk of the town. They were embarking on a playoff run that would have them playing in the Super Bowl in January 1978 against Dallas -- the only one the Broncos played and long before John Elway arrived on the scene.
I was, however, drawn to hockey, much moreso than any other sport in the winter time. Denver's team was the NHL's Colorado Rockies (now the New Jersey Devils, for whom I still root for religiously). The Rockies, who had actually moved west from Kansas City where, as the Scouts, lasted only two seasons before heading to Denver in 1976. The Rockies, despite my attendance loyalty, lasted only six seasons before being sold and moved to New Jersey after the season ended in 1982.
Nonetheless, my hockey passion thrived for a team that was considered a laughing stock of sorts. Perennial losers, they did make one playoff appearance but with 16 out of 21 teams qualifying, even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while. It's not to say the team didn't have some talented players during its Denver run, but unless you follow hockey closely, names like Merlin Malinowski, Gary Croteau, Mike McEwen, Randy Pierce, Ron Delorme and Glenn "Chico" Resch are going to draw a blank.
For me, I grew up with the Rockies. I attended so many home games at the now-defunct McNichols Arena that perhaps I should have been given complimentary season ticket when the Colorado Avalanche (the former Quebec Nordiques) arrived in the mid-1990s. They promptly won the Stanley Cup in their first year, thus firmly planting their status as a team to support and follow and not discard like the Rockies were when I lived in Colorado from 1977-1985. Then again, while I was attending games, I got to see the last Montreal Canadiens dynasty of the late 70s play. I got to see the mighty New York Islanders teams that won 4 Cups in a row and I also got to see Wayne Gretzky and his powerhouse Edmonton Oiler teams in their NHL infancy and before they won their first Cup.
Just as fun was the time I spent following the Rockies away from game nights. The team's practice facility was only minutes away in Littleton and a lot of my weekends (at least one day when they were in town) were spent watching their practices, getting autographs and pucks and sticks from the players. Opposing teams also occasionally used South Suburban Ice Arena for a morning skate when in town to face the Rockies. Saw many top NHL stars that way and still, to this day, will never forgive then Toronto Maple Leafs player Rick Vaive, who was NEVER a star player, for his stupidity.
It certainly also didn't hurt that Gary Croteau, who was the captain of the Rockies at one point, lived on our cul-de-sac. Nice guy, decent NHL forward who played for the Rockies during my initial interest. He's also the first athlete I ever interviewed. I was 11 when my class project involved interviewing someone. Funny thing about this is that when I did the interview, the moment was also mentioned in an article about Croteau for GOAL Magazine, the NHL's publication which, at the time, served as the official game program at Rockies games. I still have a copy of the article where the writer mentions me and the interview. Pretty cool, huh?
Monday, December 15, 2008
A new post, eh?
Yes, it's true. The World of Wonder Tour is revving up for a new adventure, only this time it's staying within the friendly confines of North America. Canada, a place that has given me such wonderful contributions as Rush (the band, not the conservative talker) and, of course, hockey, will explored by yours truly. Can't wait to venture to so many new places I've never been before -- Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal. There's also a possibility of a one-day excursion to Ottawa in between the Toronto and Montreal portion of my 11-day trip. I'm leaving on Christmas Day and will see three of the five NHL games in a four-day span.
The new year will be rung in while in Toronto and my first order of business on Jan. 1, 2009 will be seeing the Maple Leafs oppose the Buffalo Sabres. No college football bowl games for me, though, to be honest, I'm curious about that USC-Penn State Rose Bowl.
Nevertheless, I look forward to having my loyal readers -- and maybe even a few newbies? -- join me for my trip to, as Homer Simpson affectionately calls it, "America Junior."
So, as I prepare for my trip, I leave you with a mildly funny joke.
How do you spell Canada?
C eh, N eh, D eh ...
Monday, April 10, 2006
Check it out ...
OK, so I said I had written my final blog about my trip last month. I'm actually not lying about that.
Instead, what I am writing about is a website I'd like to recommend to you if you are at all interested in seeing some of the places I was fortunate to see (and even some I didn't make the time to do on what was my first trip to Italy and Europe).
If you are curious, check out www.spiritofplaces.com
This is a newly updated site for the business run by Alvaro Pisoni, a friend of my family who we knew when we lived in Colorado way back when. Alvaro's role in helping me with my trip was monumental and I can sum it up in one word: GIUSI!
Alvaro connected me with her prior to my flight to Turin (Torino) and he also gave me some good information on Italy before I left which came in quite handy during my stay.
As for Alvaro's business, this is a venture he's been doing for years. He had told me that he was in the process of updating the website, going to Italy to update his many places that his group travel business can use to accomodate those interested in a trip there and more.
I trust Alvaro to be a smart businessman as well as someone who, if you are going to Italy for the first time or the 10th time, he'd likely be able to make it quite memorable.
So there you have it -- I recommend you check out his website (be sure to login, it's free to do it) and if travelling to Italy for pleasure, be sure to check out what his business can do to help you plan something memorable.
Ciao!
RTB
Instead, what I am writing about is a website I'd like to recommend to you if you are at all interested in seeing some of the places I was fortunate to see (and even some I didn't make the time to do on what was my first trip to Italy and Europe).
If you are curious, check out www.spiritofplaces.com
This is a newly updated site for the business run by Alvaro Pisoni, a friend of my family who we knew when we lived in Colorado way back when. Alvaro's role in helping me with my trip was monumental and I can sum it up in one word: GIUSI!
Alvaro connected me with her prior to my flight to Turin (Torino) and he also gave me some good information on Italy before I left which came in quite handy during my stay.
As for Alvaro's business, this is a venture he's been doing for years. He had told me that he was in the process of updating the website, going to Italy to update his many places that his group travel business can use to accomodate those interested in a trip there and more.
I trust Alvaro to be a smart businessman as well as someone who, if you are going to Italy for the first time or the 10th time, he'd likely be able to make it quite memorable.
So there you have it -- I recommend you check out his website (be sure to login, it's free to do it) and if travelling to Italy for pleasure, be sure to check out what his business can do to help you plan something memorable.
Ciao!
RTB
Friday, March 24, 2006
Random observations ...
Quick-hit items I found out during my trip:
Dogs mind their owners very well everywhere I went and because I was in places with different languages being spoken, dogs must be fluent in a lot of languages!
No matter how many times people are told to not feed the pigeons inside the train stations, people still do it.
Considering I was in Europe in February and March and the weather was cold, I saw no bugs. I did finally see a rat scurry into a hole in front of me while I walked in an area of restaurants and places to live close to the beach while in Nice, France. He was too fast to know if he was a big rat, but I don't think he was as big as the one I saw some years back in a New York subway terminal.
I did get a little claustrophobic at times because of:
1. Crowded trains (where 6 people sit in one small area).
2. Too many people walking too slow.
3. Anytime you would choose to slow down, that's when someone else would be RIGHT behind you.
4. In Europe, especially London, if you don't keep up, you'll be run over by other people. It is a fast-paced city, especially when you are talking about the tube (London Underground).
It was amazing how quickly I adapted to each new city's train system. A good tip for those who travel to Europe and stay like I did, get the three, four or five-day pass for transportation. In some places it covers everything (Paris was this way), you don't need to dig up enough change for tickets and some of these places (Berlin) also give you discounts to various attractions in the city. In Berlin, ask for the Welcome Card.
Even though you should get the multi-day passes for transportation, you should always carry plenty of change for all kinds of things. Points being:
1. Toilets are all pay toilets and the price varies within the city or country (for instance, it was 5 Czech crown to use the bathroom which is miniscule amount, but Switzerland it was 1 franc for the urinal and 2 franc for the sit-down toilet.)
2. When you give retailers a 10 Euro bill for something less than 5 Euro, they'll often times ask if you have anything smaller because the 1 Euro and the 2 Euro are coins only.
3. Self-service ticket machines for trains and buses and snack machines only take coins, not bills.
I had to get used to breakfast NOT being the important meal of the day. In Italy, breakfast is considered a coffee or cappuccino and a simple roll or pastry. London came strong with breakfast, as did Prague.
Prices in Paris and London sucked. Paris, especially, wasn't worth what they'd seek in Euros. The U.S. dollar really takes a POUNDing in London.
Prague's the real deal: I knew it was an inexpensive place, but it was still surprising for some things. My hockey ticket was 140 Czech crowns for my front-row seat. Sounds like a lot but that's about $6-7 in U.S. dollars. I bought my hat for HC Sparta Prague for 300 Czech crowns.
I paid 7 Euro to enter the Checkpoint Charlie museum (25 percent discount with my Welcome Berlin card which included public transportation for three days) and the concentration camp museum I attended was free (I wanted to leave a donation, but the front office was closed by the time I was finished with my visit), but the chance to see both places for me was priceless in terms of what I learned at each venue.
Dogs mind their owners very well everywhere I went and because I was in places with different languages being spoken, dogs must be fluent in a lot of languages!
No matter how many times people are told to not feed the pigeons inside the train stations, people still do it.
Considering I was in Europe in February and March and the weather was cold, I saw no bugs. I did finally see a rat scurry into a hole in front of me while I walked in an area of restaurants and places to live close to the beach while in Nice, France. He was too fast to know if he was a big rat, but I don't think he was as big as the one I saw some years back in a New York subway terminal.
I did get a little claustrophobic at times because of:
1. Crowded trains (where 6 people sit in one small area).
2. Too many people walking too slow.
3. Anytime you would choose to slow down, that's when someone else would be RIGHT behind you.
4. In Europe, especially London, if you don't keep up, you'll be run over by other people. It is a fast-paced city, especially when you are talking about the tube (London Underground).
It was amazing how quickly I adapted to each new city's train system. A good tip for those who travel to Europe and stay like I did, get the three, four or five-day pass for transportation. In some places it covers everything (Paris was this way), you don't need to dig up enough change for tickets and some of these places (Berlin) also give you discounts to various attractions in the city. In Berlin, ask for the Welcome Card.
Even though you should get the multi-day passes for transportation, you should always carry plenty of change for all kinds of things. Points being:
1. Toilets are all pay toilets and the price varies within the city or country (for instance, it was 5 Czech crown to use the bathroom which is miniscule amount, but Switzerland it was 1 franc for the urinal and 2 franc for the sit-down toilet.)
2. When you give retailers a 10 Euro bill for something less than 5 Euro, they'll often times ask if you have anything smaller because the 1 Euro and the 2 Euro are coins only.
3. Self-service ticket machines for trains and buses and snack machines only take coins, not bills.
I had to get used to breakfast NOT being the important meal of the day. In Italy, breakfast is considered a coffee or cappuccino and a simple roll or pastry. London came strong with breakfast, as did Prague.
Prices in Paris and London sucked. Paris, especially, wasn't worth what they'd seek in Euros. The U.S. dollar really takes a POUNDing in London.
Prague's the real deal: I knew it was an inexpensive place, but it was still surprising for some things. My hockey ticket was 140 Czech crowns for my front-row seat. Sounds like a lot but that's about $6-7 in U.S. dollars. I bought my hat for HC Sparta Prague for 300 Czech crowns.
I paid 7 Euro to enter the Checkpoint Charlie museum (25 percent discount with my Welcome Berlin card which included public transportation for three days) and the concentration camp museum I attended was free (I wanted to leave a donation, but the front office was closed by the time I was finished with my visit), but the chance to see both places for me was priceless in terms of what I learned at each venue.
Best (and worst) parts of the journey ...
I slept for about 10 hours and feel OK on what is actually a very nice, warm day in Bakersfield -- I guess they'd actually been having cooler weather while I was gone and now that I'm back ... OK, I won't take credit for it, but after almost two months of a mix of snow days, always cold days and even a few days when I felt I should have packed at least one California-type outfit, I find it to be good to be back in a state where the sunshine is the norm (and remember, that's no offense to Giusi and her fellow Italians. I know the good weather will be in Italy before too long).
OK, what I want to do with this post is provide to you a list of best and worst things about the trip so people who have never left the U.S. might want to know (or can even add with their comments about their own experiences overseas).
Without further ado, I present to you questions I don't think I'll need to answer IF you read this list:
Best city on the train portion of my trip: Berlin or London. I'd say Berlin because, if you read my post (We're only humans) it will tell you that I think I might have gained the most from my experiences in the two days I had there. I'll let you read the post again (or for the first time so you see what I mean). With Berlin, much like the many other cities I visited, I could have easily stayed here a week or two to really sink my teeth into it. Then again, with what I did see and do in the limited amount of time I did have, I gained a lot. London would be second on the list, mainly because not only did I see a lot, but I spent the most time outside Italy here and did get a good sense of what it would be like to stay for awhile.
Worst city on the train portion of my trip: Innsbruck and not because it wasn't a bad city. I just really had no time to see the two-time host of the Winter Olympics (1964 and 1976). In fact, one of the big draws to the city wound up being the postcard I sent myself (I did that for every city I was in). An honorable mention would be Brussels because of the circumstances that I put myself in there.
City I should have seen on the trip: Dublin in Ireland and Ljubljana in Slovenia. Dublin is obvious. I had tried to do it because I would have been there for St. Patrick's Day, but then that's the other reason why I didn't make it. Too many people there on St. Patrick's Day meant everything cost way too much for the little time I would have had to enjoy it. As for Slovenia's capital city, much like Prague, it is a city that has a lot of fans (read hype) and I wish now I'd been able to slip in a day for it at least.
City I wish I'd have spent more time in: Zurich, Innsbruck or Brussels. Switzerland was a good way to start my trip and Zurich seemed to have a lot going for it too. Innsbruck (see above as for why) and Brussels wasn't best when it is 3 a.m. and you are literally walking around just to pass the time until the 6:30 a.m. train leaves.
Favorite attraction: Museum for Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin. The stories of people trying to find ways to get around the Berlin Wall -- the successes and the failures -- were equally moving and interesting. It is a MUST that you see it if you ever go to Berlin. Honorable mention to the Mole Antonelliana in Torino, Trevi Fountain in Rome and London Eye in, you guessed it, London.
Least favorite attraction: Hard to find one since I saw so many great cities, all of which had a lot of beautiful attractions to see, but perhaps most disappointing in some ways was the Louvre Museum in Paris. Read my post and you'll know why. Or, if not, two words: Mona Lisa.
Favorite food: Either my mexican food in Zurich or eating anything Italian while in Italy. The Italian food, every time Giusi took me somewhere locally or to a favorite place of hers in Torino or when I was with her and her friends for eating in the mountains was a guaranteed great meal as well as the chance to taste some TRUE Italian food. The mexican food in Zurich is likely here because it was an unexpected delight. I wasn't sure what I'd find until I walked inside and found everything at Tres Kilos to be just as good as anything I'd find in California -- and that says a lot.
Least favorite food: McDonalds. I did not go to Europe with the intent of eating here. I did on two occasions, the first while in Torino because I wanted to try it and see the menu to see any differences between American and Italian McDonalds. It wasn't any better. The second time I had it wasn't because I wanted it. When the train stopped in tiny Luxemborg for a two-hour layover before I headed to Brussels, it was a Sunday evening and there wasn't much of anything open except McDonalds. Even when I was in Paris and easily could have had McDonalds -- there are two of them along the Champs Elysees road -- I wanted nothing to do with a Royal with Cheese.
Best drink: If I couldn't be in Dublin for St. Patrick's Day, the least I could do on March 17, as I waited for my flight from London's Luton airport to take me to Paris, was drink one of the best pints of Guinness I've ever had. So smooth. So delicious. Honorable mention goes to my "coffee" of choice, cappuccino and Torino's own drink, the bicerin.
Worst drink: Adnams bitter beer, served to me at the blues club in Soho in London. I was told by a certain London bitter beer expert (her initials are B.C.) that I HAD to have a bitter beer. I did, it was NOTHING special. She emailed me after I told her this info and she proceeded to rattle off the names of three or four other bitter beers she had there. Perhaps I could find one or two of them here in California so I can do my own taste test! Honorable mention goes to Grappa, the drink you have after an Italian meal to help with digestion. All it was for me was a chance to burn my mouth because of its potency.
Most interesting person: Ashley, a soon-to-be 21-year-old student, I met on the train I transferred to en route to Prague. She was the one person who not only had done a lot in her young life and been to many foreign places, but talking to her made the last two hours of the train ride go by effortlessly. Honorable mention goes to the guy I met for all of 45 minutes in a hotel bar in Brussels, Frankie. He not only bought one of the two unique beers I had there, but he was a hoot to listen to as he discussed beer in Belgium and how 360 different beers are from Belgium. All of this information, provided to me by a guy downing Jim Beam and Coke at a record pace.
Best hotel: Berlin's NH Hotel Heinrich-Heine. Was hard to find at first because someone had the wise idea to have two streets with nearly the same name within two blocks of each other. Once that was solved, I found that the hotel was solid because of the bed, the shower and the kitchenette, complete with all utensils and everything I needed to cook for myself because the grocery store was just to the left of the hotel. In all, a great place. Kind of pricey (89 Euro a night) but well worth it.
Worst hotel: Paris Best Western Derby Alma. It was expensive because of the location (one block from Eiffel Tower, 1-2 miles from Champs Elysees, two minutes to the metro train stop). A shower that was an adventure and wanting to charge me 10 Euro for 15 minutes of Internet time. If you go to Paris, go elsewhere.
Best decision: Seeing six Olympic events: Two-man luge in Cesana Pariol; Canada's men's hockey team in action against Germany as I honored a late, great friend of mine; U.S. women's hockey winning bronze against Finland; seeing Italy's Enrico Fabris win the 1500-meter speedskating event and see a nation cheer for him (while back in America, the media overshadowing the victory with the Chad Hedrick-Shani Davis "feud"); Watching curling for the first time, in Pinerolo, and seeing the U.S. men win the country's first-ever Olympic curling medal with a victory over Britian; Czech Republic downed Russia in the men's hockey bronze medal game. Honorable mentions to seeing a hockey game IN the Czech Republic, drinking good, different and interesting beer each time and ordering a sorbetto limone for the first time at Il Sarceno. Or was the best decision perhaps going back and getting it a second time?
Worst decision: It could have been the Friday I spent at the Vatican and the mistake I made by not seeing the St. Peter Cathedral the right way, but I made up for it with the return visit the next morning. Instead, I will say the tour of Brussels from 1 to 5 a.m.
Wish I'd not packed: The shoes I wound up wearing too often on the trip. I had these low-cut hiking shoes that were waterproof, but also gave me foot blisters that still haven't completely healed. By the way, I wore my other boots home and left those other shoes, as well as some other winter clothes, to Giusi so she can donate it all to a worthy charity case.
Wish I'd have packed: Less for this trip. Sure, it was 51 days long, but I could have taken less than I did. At least my saving grace was, of course, Giusi. She let me store my stuff when I left for trips to Rome and then the train tour at her house so all I had was one small, easy to maintain bag to carry.
Best city for transportation: Torino did have its act together for buses, trains and more during the Olympics, but Prague, for me, was the easiest place to navigate by train and just shows me that Los Angeles really still needs to work on getting a subway (not the Metrolink) up and running. If Prague can do it, so can L.A.!
Worst city for transportation: Berlin is a fine place and yes, the trains run on time, but please tell me why I needed THREE different trains from the station to get to where I was staying? Would it really be too much to ask for a way to have one train do it all?
Best guide a first-time European visitor could ever have: Giusi was recommended to me by a friend, Alvaro, in Colorado. Giusi, a native Italian who speaks English well, was more than just a guide. She joined me for dinners, took me on trips to the mountains, introduced me to her friends (who soon became my friends), introduced me to great new food (or, at least, how Italy does Italian food) and best of all, I get to return the favor when she and eight of her friends fly to the U.S. in August. Giusi, thanks again for everything you did to make this trip unforgettable.
Great people: Anyone who followed the blog and left comments on it or even just emailed me. I appreciated the company and the responses to everything I did. Thank you everyone.
RTB
OK, what I want to do with this post is provide to you a list of best and worst things about the trip so people who have never left the U.S. might want to know (or can even add with their comments about their own experiences overseas).
Without further ado, I present to you questions I don't think I'll need to answer IF you read this list:
Best city on the train portion of my trip: Berlin or London. I'd say Berlin because, if you read my post (We're only humans) it will tell you that I think I might have gained the most from my experiences in the two days I had there. I'll let you read the post again (or for the first time so you see what I mean). With Berlin, much like the many other cities I visited, I could have easily stayed here a week or two to really sink my teeth into it. Then again, with what I did see and do in the limited amount of time I did have, I gained a lot. London would be second on the list, mainly because not only did I see a lot, but I spent the most time outside Italy here and did get a good sense of what it would be like to stay for awhile.
Worst city on the train portion of my trip: Innsbruck and not because it wasn't a bad city. I just really had no time to see the two-time host of the Winter Olympics (1964 and 1976). In fact, one of the big draws to the city wound up being the postcard I sent myself (I did that for every city I was in). An honorable mention would be Brussels because of the circumstances that I put myself in there.
City I should have seen on the trip: Dublin in Ireland and Ljubljana in Slovenia. Dublin is obvious. I had tried to do it because I would have been there for St. Patrick's Day, but then that's the other reason why I didn't make it. Too many people there on St. Patrick's Day meant everything cost way too much for the little time I would have had to enjoy it. As for Slovenia's capital city, much like Prague, it is a city that has a lot of fans (read hype) and I wish now I'd been able to slip in a day for it at least.
City I wish I'd have spent more time in: Zurich, Innsbruck or Brussels. Switzerland was a good way to start my trip and Zurich seemed to have a lot going for it too. Innsbruck (see above as for why) and Brussels wasn't best when it is 3 a.m. and you are literally walking around just to pass the time until the 6:30 a.m. train leaves.
Favorite attraction: Museum for Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin. The stories of people trying to find ways to get around the Berlin Wall -- the successes and the failures -- were equally moving and interesting. It is a MUST that you see it if you ever go to Berlin. Honorable mention to the Mole Antonelliana in Torino, Trevi Fountain in Rome and London Eye in, you guessed it, London.
Least favorite attraction: Hard to find one since I saw so many great cities, all of which had a lot of beautiful attractions to see, but perhaps most disappointing in some ways was the Louvre Museum in Paris. Read my post and you'll know why. Or, if not, two words: Mona Lisa.
Favorite food: Either my mexican food in Zurich or eating anything Italian while in Italy. The Italian food, every time Giusi took me somewhere locally or to a favorite place of hers in Torino or when I was with her and her friends for eating in the mountains was a guaranteed great meal as well as the chance to taste some TRUE Italian food. The mexican food in Zurich is likely here because it was an unexpected delight. I wasn't sure what I'd find until I walked inside and found everything at Tres Kilos to be just as good as anything I'd find in California -- and that says a lot.
Least favorite food: McDonalds. I did not go to Europe with the intent of eating here. I did on two occasions, the first while in Torino because I wanted to try it and see the menu to see any differences between American and Italian McDonalds. It wasn't any better. The second time I had it wasn't because I wanted it. When the train stopped in tiny Luxemborg for a two-hour layover before I headed to Brussels, it was a Sunday evening and there wasn't much of anything open except McDonalds. Even when I was in Paris and easily could have had McDonalds -- there are two of them along the Champs Elysees road -- I wanted nothing to do with a Royal with Cheese.
Best drink: If I couldn't be in Dublin for St. Patrick's Day, the least I could do on March 17, as I waited for my flight from London's Luton airport to take me to Paris, was drink one of the best pints of Guinness I've ever had. So smooth. So delicious. Honorable mention goes to my "coffee" of choice, cappuccino and Torino's own drink, the bicerin.
Worst drink: Adnams bitter beer, served to me at the blues club in Soho in London. I was told by a certain London bitter beer expert (her initials are B.C.) that I HAD to have a bitter beer. I did, it was NOTHING special. She emailed me after I told her this info and she proceeded to rattle off the names of three or four other bitter beers she had there. Perhaps I could find one or two of them here in California so I can do my own taste test! Honorable mention goes to Grappa, the drink you have after an Italian meal to help with digestion. All it was for me was a chance to burn my mouth because of its potency.
Most interesting person: Ashley, a soon-to-be 21-year-old student, I met on the train I transferred to en route to Prague. She was the one person who not only had done a lot in her young life and been to many foreign places, but talking to her made the last two hours of the train ride go by effortlessly. Honorable mention goes to the guy I met for all of 45 minutes in a hotel bar in Brussels, Frankie. He not only bought one of the two unique beers I had there, but he was a hoot to listen to as he discussed beer in Belgium and how 360 different beers are from Belgium. All of this information, provided to me by a guy downing Jim Beam and Coke at a record pace.
Best hotel: Berlin's NH Hotel Heinrich-Heine. Was hard to find at first because someone had the wise idea to have two streets with nearly the same name within two blocks of each other. Once that was solved, I found that the hotel was solid because of the bed, the shower and the kitchenette, complete with all utensils and everything I needed to cook for myself because the grocery store was just to the left of the hotel. In all, a great place. Kind of pricey (89 Euro a night) but well worth it.
Worst hotel: Paris Best Western Derby Alma. It was expensive because of the location (one block from Eiffel Tower, 1-2 miles from Champs Elysees, two minutes to the metro train stop). A shower that was an adventure and wanting to charge me 10 Euro for 15 minutes of Internet time. If you go to Paris, go elsewhere.
Best decision: Seeing six Olympic events: Two-man luge in Cesana Pariol; Canada's men's hockey team in action against Germany as I honored a late, great friend of mine; U.S. women's hockey winning bronze against Finland; seeing Italy's Enrico Fabris win the 1500-meter speedskating event and see a nation cheer for him (while back in America, the media overshadowing the victory with the Chad Hedrick-Shani Davis "feud"); Watching curling for the first time, in Pinerolo, and seeing the U.S. men win the country's first-ever Olympic curling medal with a victory over Britian; Czech Republic downed Russia in the men's hockey bronze medal game. Honorable mentions to seeing a hockey game IN the Czech Republic, drinking good, different and interesting beer each time and ordering a sorbetto limone for the first time at Il Sarceno. Or was the best decision perhaps going back and getting it a second time?
Worst decision: It could have been the Friday I spent at the Vatican and the mistake I made by not seeing the St. Peter Cathedral the right way, but I made up for it with the return visit the next morning. Instead, I will say the tour of Brussels from 1 to 5 a.m.
Wish I'd not packed: The shoes I wound up wearing too often on the trip. I had these low-cut hiking shoes that were waterproof, but also gave me foot blisters that still haven't completely healed. By the way, I wore my other boots home and left those other shoes, as well as some other winter clothes, to Giusi so she can donate it all to a worthy charity case.
Wish I'd have packed: Less for this trip. Sure, it was 51 days long, but I could have taken less than I did. At least my saving grace was, of course, Giusi. She let me store my stuff when I left for trips to Rome and then the train tour at her house so all I had was one small, easy to maintain bag to carry.
Best city for transportation: Torino did have its act together for buses, trains and more during the Olympics, but Prague, for me, was the easiest place to navigate by train and just shows me that Los Angeles really still needs to work on getting a subway (not the Metrolink) up and running. If Prague can do it, so can L.A.!
Worst city for transportation: Berlin is a fine place and yes, the trains run on time, but please tell me why I needed THREE different trains from the station to get to where I was staying? Would it really be too much to ask for a way to have one train do it all?
Best guide a first-time European visitor could ever have: Giusi was recommended to me by a friend, Alvaro, in Colorado. Giusi, a native Italian who speaks English well, was more than just a guide. She joined me for dinners, took me on trips to the mountains, introduced me to her friends (who soon became my friends), introduced me to great new food (or, at least, how Italy does Italian food) and best of all, I get to return the favor when she and eight of her friends fly to the U.S. in August. Giusi, thanks again for everything you did to make this trip unforgettable.
Great people: Anyone who followed the blog and left comments on it or even just emailed me. I appreciated the company and the responses to everything I did. Thank you everyone.
RTB
Thursday, March 23, 2006
I'm back in Cali, yeah, I think so ...
I just wanted everyone who reads this blog to know that Ryan T. has landed and is back in the U.S.A. and much wiser for the chance to see Europe and learn about an entirely new world -- you should too if you've never been outside the 50 states.
It is nearly 10 p.m. as I write this (California time) and I am ready to sleep off the rust. I didn't sleep the entire 13-hour flight from Paris to LAX because I sat next to two people who are from Pomona and San Bernardino who were annoying, whiny and ALWAYS had to get up and out of their window and middle seat when yours truly, residing in his aisle seat, was ready to zzzz ....
I did watch "Walk the Line" on the Air France flight. Not bad. Good performances by both lead actors.
But, aside from that, the flight home was otherwise a nonstory. I just wanted everyone to know I am back and that my luggage was not searched upon arrival. I guess this Bakersfield boy doesn't look like a bad guy to them. And I even wore my HC Sparta Praha hat to make'em guess a little bit. Ha Ha.
I hope everyone got all of their postcards, I sent my last four out on Wednesday (but all of those were getting their first one of the trip!)
I will actually file a best of my trip post sometime much later in the day on Friday. Right now? I'm going to sleep!
Ciao (from Bakersfield)
It is nearly 10 p.m. as I write this (California time) and I am ready to sleep off the rust. I didn't sleep the entire 13-hour flight from Paris to LAX because I sat next to two people who are from Pomona and San Bernardino who were annoying, whiny and ALWAYS had to get up and out of their window and middle seat when yours truly, residing in his aisle seat, was ready to zzzz ....
I did watch "Walk the Line" on the Air France flight. Not bad. Good performances by both lead actors.
But, aside from that, the flight home was otherwise a nonstory. I just wanted everyone to know I am back and that my luggage was not searched upon arrival. I guess this Bakersfield boy doesn't look like a bad guy to them. And I even wore my HC Sparta Praha hat to make'em guess a little bit. Ha Ha.
I hope everyone got all of their postcards, I sent my last four out on Wednesday (but all of those were getting their first one of the trip!)
I will actually file a best of my trip post sometime much later in the day on Friday. Right now? I'm going to sleep!
Ciao (from Bakersfield)
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Packing up ...
I am trying to fit everything in my suitcase, backpack and even the laptop bag that I can with souvenirs of this trip of a lifetime.
I sure hope I can fit it all in somehow. One thing I have already done is to give Giusi some of my winter clothes that can be donated to a local charity here because for people wearing my size, it sure is not easy to find that size.
It should be funny when I arrive in Los Angeles tomorrow afternoon wearing boots and a few extra things just so I can fit everything I want to in the suitcase.
In between packing, I had a great final dinner with Giusi and her mother. We had a salad, a frittata, some pork and chicken and two helpings of pasta, one with a pesto sauce and the other with a sauce using tomatoes from their garden. I also had a lot of water and some barbera wine. And, of course, some breadsticks and other bread.
I also got to see highlights from Giusi's volunteering at the Paralympics, also held in Torino, from March 10-19. She had a blast helping out athletes who really should get more attention than they do. I did see some highlights on Amsterdam TV and part of the opening ceremony while in Berlin, but other than that, the coverage was minimal. Why, I will never know. I think these athletes are the true inspirations for sports and Olympics. It certainly shows the rest of us what sports and competition should be about --- not about the big money contract or the fame and the endorsements.
OK, gotta get packing again. I hope to talk to some of you this weekend or early next week.
Take care all. Next time we talk it will be in California.
Ciao!
I sure hope I can fit it all in somehow. One thing I have already done is to give Giusi some of my winter clothes that can be donated to a local charity here because for people wearing my size, it sure is not easy to find that size.
It should be funny when I arrive in Los Angeles tomorrow afternoon wearing boots and a few extra things just so I can fit everything I want to in the suitcase.
In between packing, I had a great final dinner with Giusi and her mother. We had a salad, a frittata, some pork and chicken and two helpings of pasta, one with a pesto sauce and the other with a sauce using tomatoes from their garden. I also had a lot of water and some barbera wine. And, of course, some breadsticks and other bread.
I also got to see highlights from Giusi's volunteering at the Paralympics, also held in Torino, from March 10-19. She had a blast helping out athletes who really should get more attention than they do. I did see some highlights on Amsterdam TV and part of the opening ceremony while in Berlin, but other than that, the coverage was minimal. Why, I will never know. I think these athletes are the true inspirations for sports and Olympics. It certainly shows the rest of us what sports and competition should be about --- not about the big money contract or the fame and the endorsements.
OK, gotta get packing again. I hope to talk to some of you this weekend or early next week.
Take care all. Next time we talk it will be in California.
Ciao!
Nice time in Nice ...
It was only 30 hours of my travel time, but I felt good to have the small slice of life I experienced in Nice, France, the place that is home (at least in the summer) to such things as great beach weather, beautiful views of the hillside and even more interesting people to meet and discover.
I did plenty of this in my short time here. Teddy, Rashid, Georgyna and a couple of women from Redmond, Washington whose names escape me at this moment all played a role.
Teddy was the first person I met, the owner of Hotel Felix, right in the heart of the Zone Pietrone and about a block from the sea. A budget hotel it was, but Teddy always had a welcoming smile on his face and he gave me two glasses of orange juice upon my early morning arrival (remember, I arrived in Nice on a night train that got me into the city at 8:30 a.m. on Monday). We talked a bit before he went back to helping the other customers. It was while sitting on the couch that I met the two women from Washington. They appeared to be sisters and the one who spoke to me, man I wish I remembered her name, was very, very sweet. She and I conversed about our respective trips. I told her about me winding down my long trip and she told me that the two of them were doing a Italy-France-Spain journey. They were heading for Spain next.
She and I wished each other well on our journeys and I headed for the room Teddy had arranged for me to occupy for the night.
I showered and then came back down the stairs. Teddy gave me the information on how to find the bus to the Henri Matisse Museum and I was on my way.
I walked to the bus stop and got on board for 1.30 euro. Not too bad a price. I was on the bus for about 10 minutes until being dropped off right in front of the park gardens which also houses the Matisse Museum and a nearby amphitheatre.
The museum was a three-story building filled with sculptures, paintings and drawing of the artist who lived in Nice and is buried in the city, too. Interesting exhibit, especially for only a 4 Euro admission price which includes a look at a temporary exhibition by other artists as well as Matisse's permanent collection and a small, 60-seat amphitheatre which runs a film program on Matisse's life as an artist.
I then left, originally thinking I would take the bus back to the Hotel Felix, but instead, I got inspired and chose to walk (I swear, I've walked a few marathons when I think of how much my feet have walked on the pavement and cobblestone streets of Europe). It was a good decision because I really got to soak up the scene as has been the case in several cities.
I returned and was soon out the door again and on my way to find a local restaurant/bar that Teddy had told me about called Wayne's (www.waynes.fr). It was a Monday night so the crowd was very minimal. Georgyna, a waitress from Australia with the thick accent, however, more than made up for the slow crowd.
We chatted awhile, she's only 21, we compared our trips -- she came to Nice because she likes the beaches, reminding her of home, so she is staying for six months before going back home to continue her studying at university.
I then ordered some chili which sounded good, surrounded by tortilla chips, guacamole, sour cream and a veggie garnish. It was good. I was also in the mood for something on the side, so I had a jacket potato with cheese, bacon and sour cream (the jacket potatoes are really just your standard baked potato) and I had two pints of Kilkenny (not sure if it is modeled after South Park, but the Guinness folks make this smooth, amber ale that was absolutely delicious).
I chatted up Georgyna again, but left before the live music band Breathe, playing cover songs, came on. I wasn't much in the mood to hear bad music (believe me people, I've heard enough bad American music to be the Encore champion for years to come --- for those of you who know the game I speak of).
Good night.
My Tuesday day was quite short since I had a train to catch at 2 p.m. and I had to get a reservation so that means standing in line at least a half hour or so before it leaves.
I had lunch with Rashid, a man who is a friend of our family. He and Teddy, they are friends too, and I sat down at a restaurant next door to Hotel Felix and I had what has become my pizza staples -- ham and mushrooms. It was served as a large half pizza (not a calzone). I washed it down with a Penforth Brune (dark beer, they also have a blonde beer) which hit the spot.
We talked about a lot of things and I had a great time. I then ordered a bowl of ice cream, one scoop vanilla, one coffee and enjoyed every bite.
We then had to go as Rashid dropped me off at the train station and I wished Teddy and those girls from Washington well. I also hope Georgyna has a good time in Nice and that her homeland is OK after that cyclone hit it the other day.
Ciao!
I did plenty of this in my short time here. Teddy, Rashid, Georgyna and a couple of women from Redmond, Washington whose names escape me at this moment all played a role.
Teddy was the first person I met, the owner of Hotel Felix, right in the heart of the Zone Pietrone and about a block from the sea. A budget hotel it was, but Teddy always had a welcoming smile on his face and he gave me two glasses of orange juice upon my early morning arrival (remember, I arrived in Nice on a night train that got me into the city at 8:30 a.m. on Monday). We talked a bit before he went back to helping the other customers. It was while sitting on the couch that I met the two women from Washington. They appeared to be sisters and the one who spoke to me, man I wish I remembered her name, was very, very sweet. She and I conversed about our respective trips. I told her about me winding down my long trip and she told me that the two of them were doing a Italy-France-Spain journey. They were heading for Spain next.
She and I wished each other well on our journeys and I headed for the room Teddy had arranged for me to occupy for the night.
I showered and then came back down the stairs. Teddy gave me the information on how to find the bus to the Henri Matisse Museum and I was on my way.
I walked to the bus stop and got on board for 1.30 euro. Not too bad a price. I was on the bus for about 10 minutes until being dropped off right in front of the park gardens which also houses the Matisse Museum and a nearby amphitheatre.
The museum was a three-story building filled with sculptures, paintings and drawing of the artist who lived in Nice and is buried in the city, too. Interesting exhibit, especially for only a 4 Euro admission price which includes a look at a temporary exhibition by other artists as well as Matisse's permanent collection and a small, 60-seat amphitheatre which runs a film program on Matisse's life as an artist.
I then left, originally thinking I would take the bus back to the Hotel Felix, but instead, I got inspired and chose to walk (I swear, I've walked a few marathons when I think of how much my feet have walked on the pavement and cobblestone streets of Europe). It was a good decision because I really got to soak up the scene as has been the case in several cities.
I returned and was soon out the door again and on my way to find a local restaurant/bar that Teddy had told me about called Wayne's (www.waynes.fr). It was a Monday night so the crowd was very minimal. Georgyna, a waitress from Australia with the thick accent, however, more than made up for the slow crowd.
We chatted awhile, she's only 21, we compared our trips -- she came to Nice because she likes the beaches, reminding her of home, so she is staying for six months before going back home to continue her studying at university.
I then ordered some chili which sounded good, surrounded by tortilla chips, guacamole, sour cream and a veggie garnish. It was good. I was also in the mood for something on the side, so I had a jacket potato with cheese, bacon and sour cream (the jacket potatoes are really just your standard baked potato) and I had two pints of Kilkenny (not sure if it is modeled after South Park, but the Guinness folks make this smooth, amber ale that was absolutely delicious).
I chatted up Georgyna again, but left before the live music band Breathe, playing cover songs, came on. I wasn't much in the mood to hear bad music (believe me people, I've heard enough bad American music to be the Encore champion for years to come --- for those of you who know the game I speak of).
Good night.
My Tuesday day was quite short since I had a train to catch at 2 p.m. and I had to get a reservation so that means standing in line at least a half hour or so before it leaves.
I had lunch with Rashid, a man who is a friend of our family. He and Teddy, they are friends too, and I sat down at a restaurant next door to Hotel Felix and I had what has become my pizza staples -- ham and mushrooms. It was served as a large half pizza (not a calzone). I washed it down with a Penforth Brune (dark beer, they also have a blonde beer) which hit the spot.
We talked about a lot of things and I had a great time. I then ordered a bowl of ice cream, one scoop vanilla, one coffee and enjoyed every bite.
We then had to go as Rashid dropped me off at the train station and I wished Teddy and those girls from Washington well. I also hope Georgyna has a good time in Nice and that her homeland is OK after that cyclone hit it the other day.
Ciao!
Back to Torino ...
I am back in Italy, blog fans. Back to a city where this whole world of wonder journey began. Back in time to see the city in a whole different light.
Light, as in, starting to move forward following a heavy load --- that is what happens when the spotlight is on your city for the better part of two months.
The Torino I return to is a place that now has workers taking down all of the places that once were filled with visitors from all over the world, many of whom were likely getting their first glimpses at Torino. The Mole Antonelliana, the Piedmont wines and food, the chocolate (yum!) and most importantly, seeing a city going through a change it has never seen until now.
I arrived into Torino late last night and Giusi was unavailable to pick me up from the train station, so she was able to secure a bed and breakfast place for me in the city. It turned out to be just the kind of soft landing I needed.
My thanks to Mrs. Corogiu for her hospitality, the bed that actually fit me, the breakfast I enjoyed and the shower, which was also big enough for me.
Today is my last full day of the trip and I am spending it getting one long, lasting look around the town. I have a few more postcards to pick up, mail off to those who will be getting their first one of the trip.
I will then pick up a few other things and hope and pray that it all fits in the suitcase. My packing skills are going to be tested tonight when I try to get away with only having to check in one bag while carrying the laptop and a backpack on board.
OK, gotta go now. I will post one more thing -- about Nice -- and then I will resume my activities in Torino.
But before I go, I would just like to congratulate Dave and Tricia on the birth of their baby boy, Miles. I got a picture from Dave by email today. I did not see the statistics on Miles, and I believe he was born either Monday or Tuesday, but I am sure that Tricia and baby are doing quite well. Congrats you two (and baby makes three!).
Take care everyone and I'll be home soon!
RTB
Light, as in, starting to move forward following a heavy load --- that is what happens when the spotlight is on your city for the better part of two months.
The Torino I return to is a place that now has workers taking down all of the places that once were filled with visitors from all over the world, many of whom were likely getting their first glimpses at Torino. The Mole Antonelliana, the Piedmont wines and food, the chocolate (yum!) and most importantly, seeing a city going through a change it has never seen until now.
I arrived into Torino late last night and Giusi was unavailable to pick me up from the train station, so she was able to secure a bed and breakfast place for me in the city. It turned out to be just the kind of soft landing I needed.
My thanks to Mrs. Corogiu for her hospitality, the bed that actually fit me, the breakfast I enjoyed and the shower, which was also big enough for me.
Today is my last full day of the trip and I am spending it getting one long, lasting look around the town. I have a few more postcards to pick up, mail off to those who will be getting their first one of the trip.
I will then pick up a few other things and hope and pray that it all fits in the suitcase. My packing skills are going to be tested tonight when I try to get away with only having to check in one bag while carrying the laptop and a backpack on board.
OK, gotta go now. I will post one more thing -- about Nice -- and then I will resume my activities in Torino.
But before I go, I would just like to congratulate Dave and Tricia on the birth of their baby boy, Miles. I got a picture from Dave by email today. I did not see the statistics on Miles, and I believe he was born either Monday or Tuesday, but I am sure that Tricia and baby are doing quite well. Congrats you two (and baby makes three!).
Take care everyone and I'll be home soon!
RTB
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