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.
Friday, March 24, 2006
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
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
March 21 ....
It is a special day today. Forty-two years ago, my parents married on this date. I wish to send them all the best on their special day, all the way from Nice, France.
Happy anniversary and I wish you all the best today and every day.
Love,
Your son,
Ryan T.
Happy anniversary and I wish you all the best today and every day.
Love,
Your son,
Ryan T.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Night train ...
I have been on many train rides on this trip -- short ones, long ones and LONGer ones -- but I was able to take my first train ride to include a chance to sleep as the conductor motored us from Paris to the southern France city of Nice.
The trip went better than I expected and proved to be just the thing as I wind down this long journey.
Things actually got off to a slow start as my reservation for a private room with the sleeper was right next door to a very noisy, whiny little boy who was likely 3 or 4 years old and would not behave. His mother and grandmother sure had their hands full. He screamed and ran around outside the train for what seemed like hours (actually 20 minutes).
The train left Paris at 9:17 p.m., scheduled to arrive in Nice at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, and by 10 p.m. I was sleeping. Not a bad sleep for a person my size. It was a room built for two people (I had the bottom bunk, the other one was stored away since I was alone in the room) and it had a sink, hangers, a shade for the window, which is cranked open and closed.
I did wake up once or twice during the night, finally waking up to the screams and the playful joy of the young boy who really needs to give his mother and grandmother a break ;-)
I have arrived in Nice, staying one block from the water, not far from Cannes and not far from Monaco and even very close to Italy border.
I plan to visit the Matisse Museum today, return for dinner, a get good night's sleep and I take a train back to Torino on Tuesday afternoon. I will spend Wednesday in town and then I fly out early Thursday.
I will have a few more posts to do before I head home, but my last official post from this trip will likely be written from Bakersfield.
Hope everyone is doing well, especially some very special people I know in Colorado. Good luck!
RTB
The trip went better than I expected and proved to be just the thing as I wind down this long journey.
Things actually got off to a slow start as my reservation for a private room with the sleeper was right next door to a very noisy, whiny little boy who was likely 3 or 4 years old and would not behave. His mother and grandmother sure had their hands full. He screamed and ran around outside the train for what seemed like hours (actually 20 minutes).
The train left Paris at 9:17 p.m., scheduled to arrive in Nice at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, and by 10 p.m. I was sleeping. Not a bad sleep for a person my size. It was a room built for two people (I had the bottom bunk, the other one was stored away since I was alone in the room) and it had a sink, hangers, a shade for the window, which is cranked open and closed.
I did wake up once or twice during the night, finally waking up to the screams and the playful joy of the young boy who really needs to give his mother and grandmother a break ;-)
I have arrived in Nice, staying one block from the water, not far from Cannes and not far from Monaco and even very close to Italy border.
I plan to visit the Matisse Museum today, return for dinner, a get good night's sleep and I take a train back to Torino on Tuesday afternoon. I will spend Wednesday in town and then I fly out early Thursday.
I will have a few more posts to do before I head home, but my last official post from this trip will likely be written from Bakersfield.
Hope everyone is doing well, especially some very special people I know in Colorado. Good luck!
RTB
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Will there ever be a way to say "The End"?
Have you heard the song "Advertising Space" by Robbie Williams? The first time I heard it ... or better yet saw the video on Italian MTV during my three weeks in a Torino apartment, I thought to myself, how clever. He's writing a song trying to understand what kind of person Elvis Presley was, why he remains such an iconic figure so long after his passing in the 1970s (I remember being at family camp in Central California when the news broke that Elvis died) and what has become of his legend in light of the way his life ended. It is a sharp commentary on Elvis' legacy in today's society. All that is left of Elvis, a person who certainly made his mark on the music business, is what you see if you take a trip to Graceland (I have never been and won't ever want to) or go to Las Vegas (been there too many times and will keep going).
"Advertising Space" seems to reflect on the way that people treat their old heroes and how many cheap imitators exist out there. Too many cover songs. Too many movies made that are just a remake of an older, better movie or worse, too many TV shows (and bad ones at that) finding their way to the big screen. Hello? Anyone look up the word ORIGINAL lately? How about trying to create your OWN image instead of feeding off someone else's REAL claim to fame. At least Williams was known by many before this song made the surface.
Reason I bring this post to light is that I spent about an hour on Saturday in a place that still today is considered one of the most visited cemetaries in the world, in Pere Lachaise. It's free to go inside and look around, but it might as well charge admission for a look at perhaps it's most famous resident: Jim Morrison, the lead singer of the Doors.
Just like Elvis, Jim is dead too. Trouble is, no one wants to let go.
At Pere Lachaise, Jim Morrison's gravesite doesn't stand out; far from it actually. It is a cemetery that features crypt after crypt that are more like their own monuments. Inside some of these amazing final resting spots is an entire family's remains, complete with colorful and exotic designs and unique shapes and heights. It is a sight to see in the daytime and one would likely not want to visit it in the middle of the night for fear of strange things happening to them.
Or worse, you might run into a Jim Morrison fan hoping to conjure up his spirit courtesy of some reefer or too much alcohol.
Oscar Wilde and Gertrude Stein are among the other luminaries buried here. So too are the Collets, Mirabels, Chambauds, Brunels, Delpouve-Robin, Thorels and Gondouin family members. Wilde and Stern you've likely heard of. But the others? "Who are these people?" you may ask yourself. Why are they here? To me, these are the unfortunate ones who happen to have their tombs and final remains surrounding James Douglas Morrison's rather simple looking gravesite. People who were born 250 years ago and perhaps contributed something just as important in their life and to those they lived with as Morrison did with his singing, poetry and wild antics that earned him a lifetime of fame, but most of it he never got to see since he only lived from 1943-71 and was 27 when he died. I was 2 years old when he died.
Morrison's gravesite, as one might expect, is littered with fresh flowers, cards and other mementos from his days with the Doors. His legend has certainly outlived him, much like Elvis Presley's and how countless others, especially those who die at a young age, can only live on as a young person. Rare is the famous artist now who is rewarded with the long, fulfilling life. It's almost like these people are akin to die young just to preserve themselves with the only downside being unable to live to see it. How sad.
The Doors, mind you, were a good band. I do like some the band's music. Some of it is dark, but it is also potent. Shaken AND stirred at times.
But what I cannot believe is how some of his fans just cannot move forward with their own life. I saw too many people Saturday who weren't even born until likely the eqrly 80's hanging out and trying to completely soak up the scene. Morrison's grave has been vandalized in the past. There's actually a large temple directly in front of the grave to block some of the access as well as an unmarked grave to the left and a gate that helps keep fans at a distance so they cannot touch it.
Furthermore, I also arrived just before there was a "changing of the guard" near Morrison's gravesite. I slowly walked over to the guard and wanted to ask the guard a question or two. He responded with the equivalent of a "No comment" by saying "I don't speak English" in perfect English. He's likely been asked a few other times about this grave, his job, a story or two about the types of people who show up or even about the vandalism. I walked away from him and truthfully, it didn't matter that he had nothing to say -- those hanging around the gated area provided plenty of material.
People clicked their cameras. Two guys from the Midwest flashed their smiles for a picture, only to have the cameraperson stop for a second to answer her cell phone. Nice! At least four people had headphones blaring Doors music as they stood and looked at the grave, perhaps thinking Morrison would rise up and perform for them. More than a few male fans were decked out in some kind of outfit that Morrison might have worn in his day. One of these guys, likely not older than 26 or 27, told an even younger fan, likely no more than 16, that Jim Morrison "IS a god, a music god" and that "he still had a lot left in him." BEFORE he died, he forgot to mention. This same fellow was spouting off so much stuff about his admiration for Morrison that you might have thought you stumbled upon some tour guide group. His information was absorbed like a sponge for another teen boy who, in addition to seeing the gravesite, said "Wow! I'm really getting an education here!"
The "tour guide" guy then jokes that "all I want to know is who has got the weed? We could all smoke a big one here and listen to the Doors!"
Call me uptight or out of touch, but when Jim Morrison sings the lyrics on "The End", saying "This is the end, my only friend the end" he is talking about death. It is the only thing that is certain in life. We all die. Apparently, Jim is dead, but he's STILL not alone. He's got plenty of "friends" visiting him on a daily basis in Pere Lachaise.
Ryan
"Advertising Space" seems to reflect on the way that people treat their old heroes and how many cheap imitators exist out there. Too many cover songs. Too many movies made that are just a remake of an older, better movie or worse, too many TV shows (and bad ones at that) finding their way to the big screen. Hello? Anyone look up the word ORIGINAL lately? How about trying to create your OWN image instead of feeding off someone else's REAL claim to fame. At least Williams was known by many before this song made the surface.
Reason I bring this post to light is that I spent about an hour on Saturday in a place that still today is considered one of the most visited cemetaries in the world, in Pere Lachaise. It's free to go inside and look around, but it might as well charge admission for a look at perhaps it's most famous resident: Jim Morrison, the lead singer of the Doors.
Just like Elvis, Jim is dead too. Trouble is, no one wants to let go.
At Pere Lachaise, Jim Morrison's gravesite doesn't stand out; far from it actually. It is a cemetery that features crypt after crypt that are more like their own monuments. Inside some of these amazing final resting spots is an entire family's remains, complete with colorful and exotic designs and unique shapes and heights. It is a sight to see in the daytime and one would likely not want to visit it in the middle of the night for fear of strange things happening to them.
Or worse, you might run into a Jim Morrison fan hoping to conjure up his spirit courtesy of some reefer or too much alcohol.
Oscar Wilde and Gertrude Stein are among the other luminaries buried here. So too are the Collets, Mirabels, Chambauds, Brunels, Delpouve-Robin, Thorels and Gondouin family members. Wilde and Stern you've likely heard of. But the others? "Who are these people?" you may ask yourself. Why are they here? To me, these are the unfortunate ones who happen to have their tombs and final remains surrounding James Douglas Morrison's rather simple looking gravesite. People who were born 250 years ago and perhaps contributed something just as important in their life and to those they lived with as Morrison did with his singing, poetry and wild antics that earned him a lifetime of fame, but most of it he never got to see since he only lived from 1943-71 and was 27 when he died. I was 2 years old when he died.
Morrison's gravesite, as one might expect, is littered with fresh flowers, cards and other mementos from his days with the Doors. His legend has certainly outlived him, much like Elvis Presley's and how countless others, especially those who die at a young age, can only live on as a young person. Rare is the famous artist now who is rewarded with the long, fulfilling life. It's almost like these people are akin to die young just to preserve themselves with the only downside being unable to live to see it. How sad.
The Doors, mind you, were a good band. I do like some the band's music. Some of it is dark, but it is also potent. Shaken AND stirred at times.
But what I cannot believe is how some of his fans just cannot move forward with their own life. I saw too many people Saturday who weren't even born until likely the eqrly 80's hanging out and trying to completely soak up the scene. Morrison's grave has been vandalized in the past. There's actually a large temple directly in front of the grave to block some of the access as well as an unmarked grave to the left and a gate that helps keep fans at a distance so they cannot touch it.
Furthermore, I also arrived just before there was a "changing of the guard" near Morrison's gravesite. I slowly walked over to the guard and wanted to ask the guard a question or two. He responded with the equivalent of a "No comment" by saying "I don't speak English" in perfect English. He's likely been asked a few other times about this grave, his job, a story or two about the types of people who show up or even about the vandalism. I walked away from him and truthfully, it didn't matter that he had nothing to say -- those hanging around the gated area provided plenty of material.
People clicked their cameras. Two guys from the Midwest flashed their smiles for a picture, only to have the cameraperson stop for a second to answer her cell phone. Nice! At least four people had headphones blaring Doors music as they stood and looked at the grave, perhaps thinking Morrison would rise up and perform for them. More than a few male fans were decked out in some kind of outfit that Morrison might have worn in his day. One of these guys, likely not older than 26 or 27, told an even younger fan, likely no more than 16, that Jim Morrison "IS a god, a music god" and that "he still had a lot left in him." BEFORE he died, he forgot to mention. This same fellow was spouting off so much stuff about his admiration for Morrison that you might have thought you stumbled upon some tour guide group. His information was absorbed like a sponge for another teen boy who, in addition to seeing the gravesite, said "Wow! I'm really getting an education here!"
The "tour guide" guy then jokes that "all I want to know is who has got the weed? We could all smoke a big one here and listen to the Doors!"
Call me uptight or out of touch, but when Jim Morrison sings the lyrics on "The End", saying "This is the end, my only friend the end" he is talking about death. It is the only thing that is certain in life. We all die. Apparently, Jim is dead, but he's STILL not alone. He's got plenty of "friends" visiting him on a daily basis in Pere Lachaise.
Ryan
Paris ... burnout?
I do not want to be a downer on Paris. Please know that everything I have seen here is wonderful to look at, gaze longingly at and, best of all, is an experience to be around a culture that is something else.
Now please understand me when I say this to you, the blog reader, that I have loved every second of this adventure since I arrived on Feb. 2. I believe the only problem is that I have become way too accustomed to seeing the best of every place I have been on this part of the trip.
Rome has a lot to digest. London does, Berlin does and Prague too. Those were all big-time cities that needed their own 2-3 weeks, not days, to fully appreciate.
Now that I have said that, you might understand why my time in Paris could come off as a bit of a letdown. Actually, letdown is a poor word choice. More like I had seen it and done it already. Maybe burnout is a better word.
Eiffel Tower (my hotel was a block away) was impressive yes, but I have seen the Roman Coliseum and the Mole Antonelliana and London Eye before it.
The Louvre? Awesome. But Mona Lisa was a REAL letdown. Too small and VERY overrated for me. I should have given myself more time in Amsterdam to see more Rembrandt. Van Gogh Museum and the Vatican Museum left more of an impression on me than Mona Lisa did. And why ALL the hype for the Mona Lisa; there are a lot of much more impressive works of art in the Louvre than the Mona Lisa.
Champs Elysees and the L'Arc? The Arc was a wonderul sight to see, but the Champs? Even Lance Armstrong must be tired of that tourist trap scene.
Again, do not get me wrong. If I see all of these things first, I am likely writing this kind of post about another city. I'd like to come back again sometime and see Paris again, but next time with others in tow to make it even more enjoyable.
RTB
P.S. That was NOT me lighting a car on fire or throwing things at the riot police in Paris to protest labor laws that affect the younger workers if you saw any of the footage on TV. That is if you watch BBC news or read the foreign papers.
Now please understand me when I say this to you, the blog reader, that I have loved every second of this adventure since I arrived on Feb. 2. I believe the only problem is that I have become way too accustomed to seeing the best of every place I have been on this part of the trip.
Rome has a lot to digest. London does, Berlin does and Prague too. Those were all big-time cities that needed their own 2-3 weeks, not days, to fully appreciate.
Now that I have said that, you might understand why my time in Paris could come off as a bit of a letdown. Actually, letdown is a poor word choice. More like I had seen it and done it already. Maybe burnout is a better word.
Eiffel Tower (my hotel was a block away) was impressive yes, but I have seen the Roman Coliseum and the Mole Antonelliana and London Eye before it.
The Louvre? Awesome. But Mona Lisa was a REAL letdown. Too small and VERY overrated for me. I should have given myself more time in Amsterdam to see more Rembrandt. Van Gogh Museum and the Vatican Museum left more of an impression on me than Mona Lisa did. And why ALL the hype for the Mona Lisa; there are a lot of much more impressive works of art in the Louvre than the Mona Lisa.
Champs Elysees and the L'Arc? The Arc was a wonderul sight to see, but the Champs? Even Lance Armstrong must be tired of that tourist trap scene.
Again, do not get me wrong. If I see all of these things first, I am likely writing this kind of post about another city. I'd like to come back again sometime and see Paris again, but next time with others in tow to make it even more enjoyable.
RTB
P.S. That was NOT me lighting a car on fire or throwing things at the riot police in Paris to protest labor laws that affect the younger workers if you saw any of the footage on TV. That is if you watch BBC news or read the foreign papers.
Friday, March 17, 2006
London's not falling, I'm just falling down to France ..
Cheers from London, at least for a few more hours as I write this to you. I just finished eating the biggest breakfast I've had in 2006. Eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, a half mushroom, half tomato, baked beans and hash browns and juice. A cappuccino too. Farmhouse breakfast at the Willow Walk. Not much can beat it. Especially when the company at the place includes a guy who says he lives in Notting Hill, has a heavy South African accent, has lived in Boston as well as in Germany, Scotland and France and goes by the name of Brett. Was cool to chat with (or listen to since he kept talking to me, even when I was trying to eat).
Anyway, places in London are, of course, ready to celebrate St. Patrick's Day today. Irish make up Britian's largest minority group so it should be a good time here. Too bad when the party gets going, I'll be landing in Paris.
I decided to fly easyjet again, instead of train travel (Eurail doesn't work in Britian and the flight was cheaper and faster than the train so that's two good reasons right there). Hey Barbra, I know you won't be able to read this until Monday but I just wanted to let you know I'll see what easyjet folks do. Maybe they speak French as soon as we get into their country.
London was a nice time for me, even if the weather really got nasty at times. Winds got stronger as the day went on, especially yesterday. My trip here included visits to St. Paul's Cathedral (didn't go inside, just lounged around and saw the people go by), went on the London Eye (very cool thing to do. I recommend it, especially for those with children), Westminster Abbey, saw Buckingham Palace from afar (can't go in), Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge.
I also took a sporting trip to Wimbledon. I caught the final tour of the day with Paul, a professional tour guide who has a history degree and wants to put it to good use. Nice older fellow. The tour group consisted of myself and a woman from New Zealand. We had a good time. Not much to the tour, especially on a day when the weather was getting worse by the minute. But a tour of the All-England Club was cool. Saw Centre Court, Court No. 1 and there was a lot of construction because the club has a Wimbledon museum opening up near Easter. This place will also have a sliding roof over Centre Court in time for the 2009 tournament (according to Paul) so that means at least a few more tournaments with the threat of rain becoming reality.
In all, a nice, relaxing time in London. Do I need to get on the soapbox about the blues music again? Ain't Nothin But ... was a definite highlight. I even bought a shirt from the place and I have not done that anywhere else on the trip (XL is the largest size in Europe, guess all of those people who eat McDonalds haven't ordered the SUPER SIZE meals enough to enforce the issuing of XXL gear yet!)
Beers and food in London as well as everything else, is expensive, but if you are in London, do visit the Willow Walk where I had breakfast (very, very close to Victoria Station) for that meal or any other time of the day. They understand that prices are expensive here. My breakfast? Under 5 pounds for the entire thing, what a deal!
OK, now I am off to Paris (actually the airport). Going to France means this trip is entering the home stretch as I now have less than a week before I return with a fresh perspective on how the rest of the world lives. I will post again this weekend.
Everyone out there have a fun, safe St. Patrick's Day. I will have a Guinness where I am. I hope you will too.
Cheers!
Anyway, places in London are, of course, ready to celebrate St. Patrick's Day today. Irish make up Britian's largest minority group so it should be a good time here. Too bad when the party gets going, I'll be landing in Paris.
I decided to fly easyjet again, instead of train travel (Eurail doesn't work in Britian and the flight was cheaper and faster than the train so that's two good reasons right there). Hey Barbra, I know you won't be able to read this until Monday but I just wanted to let you know I'll see what easyjet folks do. Maybe they speak French as soon as we get into their country.
London was a nice time for me, even if the weather really got nasty at times. Winds got stronger as the day went on, especially yesterday. My trip here included visits to St. Paul's Cathedral (didn't go inside, just lounged around and saw the people go by), went on the London Eye (very cool thing to do. I recommend it, especially for those with children), Westminster Abbey, saw Buckingham Palace from afar (can't go in), Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge.
I also took a sporting trip to Wimbledon. I caught the final tour of the day with Paul, a professional tour guide who has a history degree and wants to put it to good use. Nice older fellow. The tour group consisted of myself and a woman from New Zealand. We had a good time. Not much to the tour, especially on a day when the weather was getting worse by the minute. But a tour of the All-England Club was cool. Saw Centre Court, Court No. 1 and there was a lot of construction because the club has a Wimbledon museum opening up near Easter. This place will also have a sliding roof over Centre Court in time for the 2009 tournament (according to Paul) so that means at least a few more tournaments with the threat of rain becoming reality.
In all, a nice, relaxing time in London. Do I need to get on the soapbox about the blues music again? Ain't Nothin But ... was a definite highlight. I even bought a shirt from the place and I have not done that anywhere else on the trip (XL is the largest size in Europe, guess all of those people who eat McDonalds haven't ordered the SUPER SIZE meals enough to enforce the issuing of XXL gear yet!)
Beers and food in London as well as everything else, is expensive, but if you are in London, do visit the Willow Walk where I had breakfast (very, very close to Victoria Station) for that meal or any other time of the day. They understand that prices are expensive here. My breakfast? Under 5 pounds for the entire thing, what a deal!
OK, now I am off to Paris (actually the airport). Going to France means this trip is entering the home stretch as I now have less than a week before I return with a fresh perspective on how the rest of the world lives. I will post again this weekend.
Everyone out there have a fun, safe St. Patrick's Day. I will have a Guinness where I am. I hope you will too.
Cheers!
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Talk about the Blues in London ...
This just isn't right. London? A place where the Beatles began their magic? Where techobabble has street cred here? Pet Shop Boys talking about West End Girls? Rock bands like the Who are firmly established as Brits who can make good music. But answer me this: Why is blues music in London almost non-existent?
Well, thanks to the Internet and search engines that reach the depths that need to be discovered, I was able to find one blues source for Londoners (and foreigners to this city) that hopefully keeps on keepin' on!
It's Ain't Nothin' But ... the Blues. It is located at 20 Kingly in Soho. Closest "tube" exit is Oxford Circus on the Victoria line (I begin all of my London Underground points from here). Next time anyone comes to London and wants to experience a great SMALL venue, packed with great people, even better spirits (Aaron -- Murphy's Stout on tap as well as English bitters and an Oyster stout that was superb among other beers on tap) and very wonderful help behind the bar.
I got there at 7:30 p.m. and never got past the first several feet once I was inside the place. I did temporarily have a seat at the bar so I could eat a bowl of penne pasta in a rich tomato and spicy sauce with meatballs which was accompanied by two slices of thick, buttered bread. It was one of about 4-5 choices (there's always a special of the day) on a very limited menu because the food isn't what you come for, it's the music! It's about preserving a kind of music that reflects a generation long since past for kids of today, but much like the many historic sites everywhere I've turned on my travels in Europe, blues music is in that category.
I picked up a recent copy of Rolling Stone (Mariah Carey is on the cover) during one of my train trips and in it was a wonderful spread on one of my all-time favorites, Buddy Guy. The man is a legend. He was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton look up to him. He has been a Chicago staple with his guitar playing, his links to the greats like Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon and the Chess Records label. Guy currently has a bar on the South Side of Chicago, Buddy Guy's Legends, that MUST be a stop when you are in Chicago (I am going there again next month shortly after I return from Europe). I met Guy when I was last in Chicago. Went by his place to see who was playing on a mid-weekday night and had lunch. In walked Guy and was as nice as could be. We chatted for about 5-10 minutes and I came away with even MORE respect for the man and what his contributions to blues music mean to an art form that needs more like him. BB King is great too (I've seen him twice in concert) and a close friend of Guy's, but for my money, I'd see Buddy Guy any day of the week (every night he's in Chicago, chances are you WILL see him and every January, you CAN see him play for most of the month at his Chicago club, a tradition for him at Legends).
OK, I've gotten off track a bit. The reason I'm posting today is to remind you that Ain't Nothin' But ... the Blues is a must see on your next visit to London. Tell Kevin, who runs the club that opened in 1993, that you know me. I gave him my business card. If he keeps it (Kevin you said you'd read this and now I am hoping the card sticks with you because once I say something, I follow through on it) you should always have a spot inside the great venue to enjoy something to drink and, of course, like it was last night when the Zach Parrish Blues Band, based out of Austin, Texas, played a very upbeat, entertaining few sets. A blues band from Canada is playing tonight and when special acts aren't there, Kevin said the British Blues players are the norm at his club.
I wish I could have seen that to make sure I know that the blues IS alive and well in London. On my Internet searching, the many jazz clubs in London have a blues night or occasional act, but Ain't Nothin' But ... gives its customers the real deal, touring acts, local acts and even blues jam nights.
Said Kevin: "This is the only place in London, and in most of Europe, where you can see blues music every night of the week."
While that's highly commendable, I wish I could say the same for the rest of this city.
RTB
If you want to check the website, you can do so here (I've also linked it) : www.aintnothinbut.co.uk
Well, thanks to the Internet and search engines that reach the depths that need to be discovered, I was able to find one blues source for Londoners (and foreigners to this city) that hopefully keeps on keepin' on!
It's Ain't Nothin' But ... the Blues. It is located at 20 Kingly in Soho. Closest "tube" exit is Oxford Circus on the Victoria line (I begin all of my London Underground points from here). Next time anyone comes to London and wants to experience a great SMALL venue, packed with great people, even better spirits (Aaron -- Murphy's Stout on tap as well as English bitters and an Oyster stout that was superb among other beers on tap) and very wonderful help behind the bar.
I got there at 7:30 p.m. and never got past the first several feet once I was inside the place. I did temporarily have a seat at the bar so I could eat a bowl of penne pasta in a rich tomato and spicy sauce with meatballs which was accompanied by two slices of thick, buttered bread. It was one of about 4-5 choices (there's always a special of the day) on a very limited menu because the food isn't what you come for, it's the music! It's about preserving a kind of music that reflects a generation long since past for kids of today, but much like the many historic sites everywhere I've turned on my travels in Europe, blues music is in that category.
I picked up a recent copy of Rolling Stone (Mariah Carey is on the cover) during one of my train trips and in it was a wonderful spread on one of my all-time favorites, Buddy Guy. The man is a legend. He was recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton look up to him. He has been a Chicago staple with his guitar playing, his links to the greats like Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon and the Chess Records label. Guy currently has a bar on the South Side of Chicago, Buddy Guy's Legends, that MUST be a stop when you are in Chicago (I am going there again next month shortly after I return from Europe). I met Guy when I was last in Chicago. Went by his place to see who was playing on a mid-weekday night and had lunch. In walked Guy and was as nice as could be. We chatted for about 5-10 minutes and I came away with even MORE respect for the man and what his contributions to blues music mean to an art form that needs more like him. BB King is great too (I've seen him twice in concert) and a close friend of Guy's, but for my money, I'd see Buddy Guy any day of the week (every night he's in Chicago, chances are you WILL see him and every January, you CAN see him play for most of the month at his Chicago club, a tradition for him at Legends).
OK, I've gotten off track a bit. The reason I'm posting today is to remind you that Ain't Nothin' But ... the Blues is a must see on your next visit to London. Tell Kevin, who runs the club that opened in 1993, that you know me. I gave him my business card. If he keeps it (Kevin you said you'd read this and now I am hoping the card sticks with you because once I say something, I follow through on it) you should always have a spot inside the great venue to enjoy something to drink and, of course, like it was last night when the Zach Parrish Blues Band, based out of Austin, Texas, played a very upbeat, entertaining few sets. A blues band from Canada is playing tonight and when special acts aren't there, Kevin said the British Blues players are the norm at his club.
I wish I could have seen that to make sure I know that the blues IS alive and well in London. On my Internet searching, the many jazz clubs in London have a blues night or occasional act, but Ain't Nothin' But ... gives its customers the real deal, touring acts, local acts and even blues jam nights.
Said Kevin: "This is the only place in London, and in most of Europe, where you can see blues music every night of the week."
While that's highly commendable, I wish I could say the same for the rest of this city.
RTB
If you want to check the website, you can do so here (I've also linked it) : www.aintnothinbut.co.uk
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Final postcard alert ...
I'm taking a break from my London sightseeing to send out this message to anyone wishing to have a postcard from me during my trip.
I've sent a lot of postcards to people I thought would like one (or more). There are several others who I think might like one now before I head back just about one week from now. If you are one of those people, please let me know (email me).
I will be here in London until Friday afternoon and then in Paris for the weekend. I will also be in Nice, France and Monaco before I go back to Torino (for only a day at the most).
Let me know, send me your address (i didn't take my list I normally take with me so send it to me!) and I will be sure to mail it before I leave Europe.
Take care,
RTB
I've sent a lot of postcards to people I thought would like one (or more). There are several others who I think might like one now before I head back just about one week from now. If you are one of those people, please let me know (email me).
I will be here in London until Friday afternoon and then in Paris for the weekend. I will also be in Nice, France and Monaco before I go back to Torino (for only a day at the most).
Let me know, send me your address (i didn't take my list I normally take with me so send it to me!) and I will be sure to mail it before I leave Europe.
Take care,
RTB
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
London calling ...
I have arrived in London, thanks to easyjet.com (a free and almost as cheap as the flight, plug!). Amsterdam was actually a very quiet experience for me on Monday night and that's because IT WAS QUIET!
One thing about the trip I am taking, going to Europe in February and March is that right now isn't the HIGH season (OK, in Amsterdam, it is always HIGH season), but since I don't smoke and never will, Amsterdam wasn't exactly the kind of place that kept my interest --- for a Monday anyway. Perhaps it would in one of the peak months.
Nevertheless, London is where I am now and the flight was so quick (less than an hour). I am also now only eight hours ahead of the California readers out there (Aaron and Dave R. you guys rock!).
London day 1, however, has been a full day OFF from the travels and whatnot. It's not like it is a slow place to be, but my feet have SO needed a day off. In two words, blisters suck. The walking around other places was good to do, but I really should have taken more transit routes than the walking routes, but you know, when you walk around instead of zoom by on a bus or train, it's like NOT being in the city. Exercise is also a good thing.
But, London, with all of its places to see, should help me immensely as Barbra (thanks for the detailed email!) has tried to map out the best use of my time and I think I might follow some of it, but leave enough time for me to do some searching around to find something to write about other than just the touristy things I have gravitated to during this post-Olympic part of the trip.
For those who didn't read or those who are getting postcards saying "Dublin is coming up" just know that I won't be in Dublin after all. Too much to pay for so little time. If I drink Guinness, I want to be able to enjoy it, you know what I am saying? (I know Dave from Colorado and Aaron can fully appreciate that comment).
As for the rest of the trip. I will be in London through Friday day when I will take the ride (as Barbra also suggested) to Paris so I have a weekend there. I will then go to Nice, France before returning to Italy to pack up and bid farewell to the new friends I've made there and return (perhaps with gifts if anyone has anything they need ... hint, hint) to the U.S., which doesn't have easyjet.com, does it?
RTB
One thing about the trip I am taking, going to Europe in February and March is that right now isn't the HIGH season (OK, in Amsterdam, it is always HIGH season), but since I don't smoke and never will, Amsterdam wasn't exactly the kind of place that kept my interest --- for a Monday anyway. Perhaps it would in one of the peak months.
Nevertheless, London is where I am now and the flight was so quick (less than an hour). I am also now only eight hours ahead of the California readers out there (Aaron and Dave R. you guys rock!).
London day 1, however, has been a full day OFF from the travels and whatnot. It's not like it is a slow place to be, but my feet have SO needed a day off. In two words, blisters suck. The walking around other places was good to do, but I really should have taken more transit routes than the walking routes, but you know, when you walk around instead of zoom by on a bus or train, it's like NOT being in the city. Exercise is also a good thing.
But, London, with all of its places to see, should help me immensely as Barbra (thanks for the detailed email!) has tried to map out the best use of my time and I think I might follow some of it, but leave enough time for me to do some searching around to find something to write about other than just the touristy things I have gravitated to during this post-Olympic part of the trip.
For those who didn't read or those who are getting postcards saying "Dublin is coming up" just know that I won't be in Dublin after all. Too much to pay for so little time. If I drink Guinness, I want to be able to enjoy it, you know what I am saying? (I know Dave from Colorado and Aaron can fully appreciate that comment).
As for the rest of the trip. I will be in London through Friday day when I will take the ride (as Barbra also suggested) to Paris so I have a weekend there. I will then go to Nice, France before returning to Italy to pack up and bid farewell to the new friends I've made there and return (perhaps with gifts if anyone has anything they need ... hint, hint) to the U.S., which doesn't have easyjet.com, does it?
RTB
Monday, March 13, 2006
What a LONG, strange trip it has been ...
Hello from Amsterdam. Home to the Anne Frank House, Rembrandt and Vincent Van Gogh museums and the Red Light district.
I must say it was great to finally arrive at my room I have which is about 1.5 miles from the central train station. The reason? Although I nodded off a few times in the last 24 hours or so, Sunday was ONLY a travel day for me. I checked out of my hotel room in Berlin Sunday morning and I went to the train stop. It takes THREE trains to get me back to the train station (more on this in a later post rant!) and after getting off the first train, the second one is broken down on Sunday morning and I am an hour away from getting on the train for Cologne, Germany, the first stop on my no-hotel-room-booked day. After walking and finally arriving at the third train for the final part, I arrived in time to take it to the train station. As I ran up the steps to where my train was supposed to be, it was. Only it was heading off and there was no way to get aboard. So, cranky old me checked the schedule and saw another train left one hour later so I chilled out, ate a fresh donut and the LARGEST medium sized cappuccino I've ever seen and hopped on the 9:37 a.m. train. Cologne (Koln in German) was a four and a half hour ride. I then did what I normally do on the trains. I read and study the next place I'll be via the Lonely Planet guidebook that was recommended to me by Jay. Since I would only have SEVEN minutes when I arrived in Cologne before catching up to the first train I'd missed, I only glanced at the small offering about Cologne. I'm sure it is a place to see with more time, but seven minutes isn't going to give me enough time to see if they have Dr. Pepper for me to take on the next train. I arrived with actually three minutes to spare. Luckily, the connecting train was a couple minutes late (a rarity for a Germany train, or so I've read). Got aboard and headed for Luxembourg, a very small European country, which, unlike Czech Republic, does like Eurail passengers! It was a nice, 4 hour ride and I arrived around 5:45 p.m. Instead of having to rush to the next train, I actually had two hours to kill. Problem was, it was Sunday and not much of anything was open anywhere ... except McDonalds and a deli place inside the train station. Sorry folks, but McDonalds won after I checked out the deli stock, slim selection and the knowledge that it would be cheaper to eat cheap at McDonalds. Sorry. that's twice now on this trip I have had food from the Golden Arches. One thing I'll say about the McD's menu overseas, it sure is different. Big Mac is the only burger with the same name as in the U.S. Filet-o-Fish is the same, too, and Chicken McNuggets, but they also have Royal Burger (not the Royal with cheese Pulp Fiction fans), a McTexas burger and even a Mexico Burger. Anyway, after that food, I did find an internet place to set up a reservation for a few places I have left on this trip.
First, the good news (Barbra): I will be in London for at least 2 days.
Now for the bad news: Dublin isn't going to happen. I know March 17 is important, but I refuse to overpay for something I can likely even do in London (drink to St. Patrick, salute Guinness and see O'Connell Street since I never knew Kathy lived somewhere else other than Irvine while she grew up. LOL.) To supplement the bad news, I am thinking about stretching my trip in other ways. I had gone back and forth about 1 or 2 days in Dublin. Now, if I want, I can make London three days, Paris three days and then finish with the trip to Nice. I have also thought about slipping over to Barcelona for a day or even to visit Scotland after I see London.
OK, back to the road trip report from Sunday. I then boarded an 8:24 p.m. train from Luxembourg to Brussels. It arrived at 11:45 p.m. I was the ONLY person in the cart I was travelling because Eurail passengers go in the first-class cabin no matter what and I was the only person on the train (filled with college students coming back from a weekend out of town who obviously had the second-class tickets). But on this train, I did get to rest a bit and it was sorely needed because ... without a place to crash, in a cold place (not snowy, mind you, but bitterly cold) and an unfamiliar one at that, it wasn't ideal to hang out in the train station, awaiting a 6:45 a.m. train. You never know who is there.
Best part of my Sunday adventure (in Brussels): Meeting Frankie and John at the first pub I saw when I walked outside the train station. It killed the first 45 minutes of my night in Brussels. Frankie was a, ahem, regular. He was washing down Jim Beam and Coke pretty fast. Talking to John, the bartender, about everything. When it was my turn to order, I asked John for his suggestion. Frankie chimed in that I should try a beer (I had wanted something darkish) and it was a long name, but all I'll remember is that it had a picture of Adam and "Evil", as Frankie put it, on the bottle and it had 8.5 percent alcohol content. And it was good. Frankie then recommend I have a dark beer so John poured me a glass of Leffe beer, its darkest of the four kinds the bar had. It wasn't Guinness, but it sure was good. OK, two glasses of beer in me, listening to Frankie (who was holding his liquor quite well) tell me about his life and about Belgium's 360 different beers. I soon parted ways with them (Frankie might still be there). Frankie bought one of my beers (the Leffe) so I didn't spend much money in Brussels (and unfortunately for anyone hoping for it, no chocolate because no stores were open in Brussels the entire 11:45 p.m. to 6:45 a.m. time span I was there. But I will look for Leffe when I return to the States.
I proceeded to see what I could find in Brussels -- and prolong my time not spent in the train station and hopefully, stay out of harms way. Here's what I did find. Close to the train station was a huge medieval castle that was so cool, but sucked that only one of three photos I took of it came out worthwhile. I also saw the Hotel de Ville, another ancient structure that looked straight out of something in Gotham City. It was lit up quite well and was amazing because I only saw the top of it from one street over and then when I turned the corner ... bam! it was there staring back at me.. Oh yeah, did I mention it was 2:30 a.m.? I proceeded along and even got lost a bit before seeing a bus map that told me the train station was about five or six blocks the other way.
I mainly just stayed bundled up, kept my mouth shut and occasionally sat down at a bus stop bench (shielded from the slight cold winds) to rest my tired feet (buses and subways don't operate after midnight here). I finally thought that if I went back to the train station at 4:30 a.m. I would be fine. The station opened at 4 a.m. and if I was hungry enough, I could get a snack out of the vending machine. I sat down and began to read a little more on Amsterdam. I nodded off a few minutes here and there, but everything worked out just fine. It's something I felt at some point I'd need to do, but I think I'll get the room from now on. It winds up wiping you out for whatever else you are doing later that day.
Speaking of that, I am in Amsterdam. I did see the Van Gogh museum and wanted to see the Rembrandt house, but I did get tired and instead went to check in, get a shower and even a little sleep. I am off now to go find some dinner ... in a restaurant.
I leave for London in the morning and have a place lined up to stay. Sounds good to me!
RTB
I must say it was great to finally arrive at my room I have which is about 1.5 miles from the central train station. The reason? Although I nodded off a few times in the last 24 hours or so, Sunday was ONLY a travel day for me. I checked out of my hotel room in Berlin Sunday morning and I went to the train stop. It takes THREE trains to get me back to the train station (more on this in a later post rant!) and after getting off the first train, the second one is broken down on Sunday morning and I am an hour away from getting on the train for Cologne, Germany, the first stop on my no-hotel-room-booked day. After walking and finally arriving at the third train for the final part, I arrived in time to take it to the train station. As I ran up the steps to where my train was supposed to be, it was. Only it was heading off and there was no way to get aboard. So, cranky old me checked the schedule and saw another train left one hour later so I chilled out, ate a fresh donut and the LARGEST medium sized cappuccino I've ever seen and hopped on the 9:37 a.m. train. Cologne (Koln in German) was a four and a half hour ride. I then did what I normally do on the trains. I read and study the next place I'll be via the Lonely Planet guidebook that was recommended to me by Jay. Since I would only have SEVEN minutes when I arrived in Cologne before catching up to the first train I'd missed, I only glanced at the small offering about Cologne. I'm sure it is a place to see with more time, but seven minutes isn't going to give me enough time to see if they have Dr. Pepper for me to take on the next train. I arrived with actually three minutes to spare. Luckily, the connecting train was a couple minutes late (a rarity for a Germany train, or so I've read). Got aboard and headed for Luxembourg, a very small European country, which, unlike Czech Republic, does like Eurail passengers! It was a nice, 4 hour ride and I arrived around 5:45 p.m. Instead of having to rush to the next train, I actually had two hours to kill. Problem was, it was Sunday and not much of anything was open anywhere ... except McDonalds and a deli place inside the train station. Sorry folks, but McDonalds won after I checked out the deli stock, slim selection and the knowledge that it would be cheaper to eat cheap at McDonalds. Sorry. that's twice now on this trip I have had food from the Golden Arches. One thing I'll say about the McD's menu overseas, it sure is different. Big Mac is the only burger with the same name as in the U.S. Filet-o-Fish is the same, too, and Chicken McNuggets, but they also have Royal Burger (not the Royal with cheese Pulp Fiction fans), a McTexas burger and even a Mexico Burger. Anyway, after that food, I did find an internet place to set up a reservation for a few places I have left on this trip.
First, the good news (Barbra): I will be in London for at least 2 days.
Now for the bad news: Dublin isn't going to happen. I know March 17 is important, but I refuse to overpay for something I can likely even do in London (drink to St. Patrick, salute Guinness and see O'Connell Street since I never knew Kathy lived somewhere else other than Irvine while she grew up. LOL.) To supplement the bad news, I am thinking about stretching my trip in other ways. I had gone back and forth about 1 or 2 days in Dublin. Now, if I want, I can make London three days, Paris three days and then finish with the trip to Nice. I have also thought about slipping over to Barcelona for a day or even to visit Scotland after I see London.
OK, back to the road trip report from Sunday. I then boarded an 8:24 p.m. train from Luxembourg to Brussels. It arrived at 11:45 p.m. I was the ONLY person in the cart I was travelling because Eurail passengers go in the first-class cabin no matter what and I was the only person on the train (filled with college students coming back from a weekend out of town who obviously had the second-class tickets). But on this train, I did get to rest a bit and it was sorely needed because ... without a place to crash, in a cold place (not snowy, mind you, but bitterly cold) and an unfamiliar one at that, it wasn't ideal to hang out in the train station, awaiting a 6:45 a.m. train. You never know who is there.
Best part of my Sunday adventure (in Brussels): Meeting Frankie and John at the first pub I saw when I walked outside the train station. It killed the first 45 minutes of my night in Brussels. Frankie was a, ahem, regular. He was washing down Jim Beam and Coke pretty fast. Talking to John, the bartender, about everything. When it was my turn to order, I asked John for his suggestion. Frankie chimed in that I should try a beer (I had wanted something darkish) and it was a long name, but all I'll remember is that it had a picture of Adam and "Evil", as Frankie put it, on the bottle and it had 8.5 percent alcohol content. And it was good. Frankie then recommend I have a dark beer so John poured me a glass of Leffe beer, its darkest of the four kinds the bar had. It wasn't Guinness, but it sure was good. OK, two glasses of beer in me, listening to Frankie (who was holding his liquor quite well) tell me about his life and about Belgium's 360 different beers. I soon parted ways with them (Frankie might still be there). Frankie bought one of my beers (the Leffe) so I didn't spend much money in Brussels (and unfortunately for anyone hoping for it, no chocolate because no stores were open in Brussels the entire 11:45 p.m. to 6:45 a.m. time span I was there. But I will look for Leffe when I return to the States.
I proceeded to see what I could find in Brussels -- and prolong my time not spent in the train station and hopefully, stay out of harms way. Here's what I did find. Close to the train station was a huge medieval castle that was so cool, but sucked that only one of three photos I took of it came out worthwhile. I also saw the Hotel de Ville, another ancient structure that looked straight out of something in Gotham City. It was lit up quite well and was amazing because I only saw the top of it from one street over and then when I turned the corner ... bam! it was there staring back at me.. Oh yeah, did I mention it was 2:30 a.m.? I proceeded along and even got lost a bit before seeing a bus map that told me the train station was about five or six blocks the other way.
I mainly just stayed bundled up, kept my mouth shut and occasionally sat down at a bus stop bench (shielded from the slight cold winds) to rest my tired feet (buses and subways don't operate after midnight here). I finally thought that if I went back to the train station at 4:30 a.m. I would be fine. The station opened at 4 a.m. and if I was hungry enough, I could get a snack out of the vending machine. I sat down and began to read a little more on Amsterdam. I nodded off a few minutes here and there, but everything worked out just fine. It's something I felt at some point I'd need to do, but I think I'll get the room from now on. It winds up wiping you out for whatever else you are doing later that day.
Speaking of that, I am in Amsterdam. I did see the Van Gogh museum and wanted to see the Rembrandt house, but I did get tired and instead went to check in, get a shower and even a little sleep. I am off now to go find some dinner ... in a restaurant.
I leave for London in the morning and have a place lined up to stay. Sounds good to me!
RTB
Saturday, March 11, 2006
We´re only humans ...
Rainer Hildebrandt. Reinhard Furrer. Josef Capek. Three names that just appear on the screen. Before Saturday, that´s likely all they would have ever been to me. But, because I am here in Berlin, these are names of people who I now know a little better -- even if I didn´t meet them in person on Saturday.
Rainer Hildebrandt, before his death two years ago, ran the Haus Am Checkpoint Charlie Museum. It still stands and still operates quite well, very close to the Checkpoint Charlie station that doesn´t have to guard against people trying to climb over, under and through a barrier that once stood between West and East Berlin, also known as the Berlin Wall. The museum Hildebrandt ran provides some of the most fascinating information about the Berlin Wall, tales of those who tried to get to the other side, those who failed, those who participated in keeping people from crossing and even those who did and went on to do other great things in life.
The museum, which cost 9.50 Euro (I got a Welcome Card for Berlin for 22 Euro which gives me free public transportation for 3 days and a discount book for various sites and events, of which a 25 percent discount to this great museum), provided such stories as those who hid in cable drums, stole another person´s papers so his girlfriend could be with him, mothers who would hide their children in a small suitcase to get to the other side, people who would lay down in uniquely crafted spaces in cars, one person hiding in a plastic cow that was going for an exhibition to those who just tried to take their car and drive as fast as they could to break through. All of them strange, but all of them seeking only one thing: freedom to go where they wanted. Some died trying, some were seriously injured and some got away without a scratch. But all of them just didn´t want to have someone tell them where they could and could not go.
Alexandra Hildebrandt´s introduction for Rainer´s book "Tragic Prelude to the Division of Germany and the Wall" quoted Rainer answering the question of why he established the museum:
"The contemporaries deserve a long look. I lost my best friends, Albrecht Haushofer and Horst Heilmann, during the reign of the Nazis and was imprisoned myself for 17 months. I have learned to fight against injustice. My great joy about Hitler´s end was soon followed by great worry about the fate of occupied and divided Germany. I founded the Task Force against Inhumanity in 1948 and this museum after construction of the Wall. It all started in a 2 1/2 bedroom apartment and now the exhibition space is 2,000 m²."
The next person I learned about was Reinhard Furrer. I know more than just his name now. He is linked to the Berlin Wall as one of the Tunnel 57 group. He was one of many Germans, including many students at the time, who began working on digging out a tunnel from an old, unused bakery in BernauerStrabe. The group took turns digging and, 10 months after starting this project, on Oct. 2, 1964, 28 people escaped to freedom by reaching the other side. The next night, Oct. 3, 29 more people successfully made it. The entrance was in a toilet cubicle in a backyard. Once guards found out about the tunnel, it was immediately put to a stop as a means of escape. The Checkpoint Charlie museum dedicates an entire room to the Tunnel 57 folks. Some are still alive, some have died.
Although I never saw if Reinhard Furrer is dead or alive, I do know that he went from one incredible feat like being in the Tunnel 57 group to being a member of another exclusive group --- he was an astronaut on the first German Spacelab Mission from Oct. 30-Nov. 6, 1985.
There is an entire room dedicated just for Furrer, right after the Tunnel 57 room at the Checkpoint Charlie museum, detailing everything from pictures with the crew, his space outfit, a running interview on a TV screen, newspaper clippings and a few interesting quotes.
On his being a part of Tunnel 57: "... doing something to fight the injustice of the Wall was a matter of character. People did not want to sit by while that kind of injustice went on. We wanted people to realize that in doing what we did we were embodying the conscience of West Germans. We were defending moral values. It was very much an act of humanity. I would do the same again today. I expect that from every German."
Said later, reflecting on his space mission: "I would have liked to be asked, when I arrived back, what it had felt like to be out there, how I had felt in the midst of all that glittery blackness orbiting the Earth like a star."
Another person whose contributions were many, and presented a vision of what it was like to be opposite the Nazis during Hitler´s reign of terror but from a much-too-close view was Jozef Cepak. Born in Hronov, Czechoslovakia in 1887, he was an author, an artist (painter and drawings) and poet. Unfortunately, he was also arrested by the Germans as a "scourge" in September, 1942, and was deported to the Dachen concentration camp before being transferred to Buchenwald, another concentration camp. In 1942 he was transferred to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He died from typhus sometime between April 4 and 25 , 1945 shortly after he was moved to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
I learned about Cepak, whose brother Karl was a famous Czech playwright and writer, because on Saturday there was a display in one part of the Sachsenhausen Museum, which provides visitors with a free view of concentration camps, a national memorial, places where prisoners were kept, the ungodly surroundings, the inhumane conditions and more. I didn´t get to see the entire museum, spread out over a large plot of land in Oranigeburg, but I saw enough to know that any reporter doing a project on Hitler, Nazis or anything else related to this era needs to come here and take it all in. It is a depressing tale for sure, but actually, it is a necessary evil that all Germans need to remember. As painful as it is for those who are Jewish to have to see this display, I feel that as a human being it is something everyone needs to see. It is such an important part of history that needs to be preserved so that generation after generation learns from it --- and that history NEVER repeats itself this way.
Cepak´s story, among the several artistic pieces, included drawings of a pair of "dictator boots" -- his ideal portrait of Hitler and Nazi Germany -- in various scenes of the unyielding power he and his followers had against people who tried to rise up and speak out against him. Cepak also wrote poetry and drawings that he hoped one day would find their way out into the mainstream so people would know what was really going on in the minds of the prisoners.
One of his poems, written shortly before he was moved to Bergen-Belsen, goes like this:
Times of cruelty, times of sadness
No way out -- a harsh fate
Dark, ultimate days
Hope is not very great
A return to life, or in death´s maw
Where will the journey end?
Is happiness to receive you, or the pit?
Thousands go -- you are not alone.
The great day of departure is today
So long have you stood at the gate
Onto the harvest of life or of death?
Homeward! Heralded by Heaven´s choir.
--- by Jozef Cepak
As I said at the start of this post. People with a name. You don´t know much about a person when you only see their name. It´s about finding out more about that person that makes their name mean so much more. After I spent my Saturday in Berlin, I know their names won´t soon be forgotten by this writer.
RTB
Rainer Hildebrandt, before his death two years ago, ran the Haus Am Checkpoint Charlie Museum. It still stands and still operates quite well, very close to the Checkpoint Charlie station that doesn´t have to guard against people trying to climb over, under and through a barrier that once stood between West and East Berlin, also known as the Berlin Wall. The museum Hildebrandt ran provides some of the most fascinating information about the Berlin Wall, tales of those who tried to get to the other side, those who failed, those who participated in keeping people from crossing and even those who did and went on to do other great things in life.
The museum, which cost 9.50 Euro (I got a Welcome Card for Berlin for 22 Euro which gives me free public transportation for 3 days and a discount book for various sites and events, of which a 25 percent discount to this great museum), provided such stories as those who hid in cable drums, stole another person´s papers so his girlfriend could be with him, mothers who would hide their children in a small suitcase to get to the other side, people who would lay down in uniquely crafted spaces in cars, one person hiding in a plastic cow that was going for an exhibition to those who just tried to take their car and drive as fast as they could to break through. All of them strange, but all of them seeking only one thing: freedom to go where they wanted. Some died trying, some were seriously injured and some got away without a scratch. But all of them just didn´t want to have someone tell them where they could and could not go.
Alexandra Hildebrandt´s introduction for Rainer´s book "Tragic Prelude to the Division of Germany and the Wall" quoted Rainer answering the question of why he established the museum:
"The contemporaries deserve a long look. I lost my best friends, Albrecht Haushofer and Horst Heilmann, during the reign of the Nazis and was imprisoned myself for 17 months. I have learned to fight against injustice. My great joy about Hitler´s end was soon followed by great worry about the fate of occupied and divided Germany. I founded the Task Force against Inhumanity in 1948 and this museum after construction of the Wall. It all started in a 2 1/2 bedroom apartment and now the exhibition space is 2,000 m²."
The next person I learned about was Reinhard Furrer. I know more than just his name now. He is linked to the Berlin Wall as one of the Tunnel 57 group. He was one of many Germans, including many students at the time, who began working on digging out a tunnel from an old, unused bakery in BernauerStrabe. The group took turns digging and, 10 months after starting this project, on Oct. 2, 1964, 28 people escaped to freedom by reaching the other side. The next night, Oct. 3, 29 more people successfully made it. The entrance was in a toilet cubicle in a backyard. Once guards found out about the tunnel, it was immediately put to a stop as a means of escape. The Checkpoint Charlie museum dedicates an entire room to the Tunnel 57 folks. Some are still alive, some have died.
Although I never saw if Reinhard Furrer is dead or alive, I do know that he went from one incredible feat like being in the Tunnel 57 group to being a member of another exclusive group --- he was an astronaut on the first German Spacelab Mission from Oct. 30-Nov. 6, 1985.
There is an entire room dedicated just for Furrer, right after the Tunnel 57 room at the Checkpoint Charlie museum, detailing everything from pictures with the crew, his space outfit, a running interview on a TV screen, newspaper clippings and a few interesting quotes.
On his being a part of Tunnel 57: "... doing something to fight the injustice of the Wall was a matter of character. People did not want to sit by while that kind of injustice went on. We wanted people to realize that in doing what we did we were embodying the conscience of West Germans. We were defending moral values. It was very much an act of humanity. I would do the same again today. I expect that from every German."
Said later, reflecting on his space mission: "I would have liked to be asked, when I arrived back, what it had felt like to be out there, how I had felt in the midst of all that glittery blackness orbiting the Earth like a star."
Another person whose contributions were many, and presented a vision of what it was like to be opposite the Nazis during Hitler´s reign of terror but from a much-too-close view was Jozef Cepak. Born in Hronov, Czechoslovakia in 1887, he was an author, an artist (painter and drawings) and poet. Unfortunately, he was also arrested by the Germans as a "scourge" in September, 1942, and was deported to the Dachen concentration camp before being transferred to Buchenwald, another concentration camp. In 1942 he was transferred to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He died from typhus sometime between April 4 and 25 , 1945 shortly after he was moved to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
I learned about Cepak, whose brother Karl was a famous Czech playwright and writer, because on Saturday there was a display in one part of the Sachsenhausen Museum, which provides visitors with a free view of concentration camps, a national memorial, places where prisoners were kept, the ungodly surroundings, the inhumane conditions and more. I didn´t get to see the entire museum, spread out over a large plot of land in Oranigeburg, but I saw enough to know that any reporter doing a project on Hitler, Nazis or anything else related to this era needs to come here and take it all in. It is a depressing tale for sure, but actually, it is a necessary evil that all Germans need to remember. As painful as it is for those who are Jewish to have to see this display, I feel that as a human being it is something everyone needs to see. It is such an important part of history that needs to be preserved so that generation after generation learns from it --- and that history NEVER repeats itself this way.
Cepak´s story, among the several artistic pieces, included drawings of a pair of "dictator boots" -- his ideal portrait of Hitler and Nazi Germany -- in various scenes of the unyielding power he and his followers had against people who tried to rise up and speak out against him. Cepak also wrote poetry and drawings that he hoped one day would find their way out into the mainstream so people would know what was really going on in the minds of the prisoners.
One of his poems, written shortly before he was moved to Bergen-Belsen, goes like this:
Times of cruelty, times of sadness
No way out -- a harsh fate
Dark, ultimate days
Hope is not very great
A return to life, or in death´s maw
Where will the journey end?
Is happiness to receive you, or the pit?
Thousands go -- you are not alone.
The great day of departure is today
So long have you stood at the gate
Onto the harvest of life or of death?
Homeward! Heralded by Heaven´s choir.
--- by Jozef Cepak
As I said at the start of this post. People with a name. You don´t know much about a person when you only see their name. It´s about finding out more about that person that makes their name mean so much more. After I spent my Saturday in Berlin, I know their names won´t soon be forgotten by this writer.
RTB
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Prague has its ups and downs ...
I am writing from the train station in Prague, about 45 minutes before I leave to go to Berlin.
I am happy in some ways to leave Prague and in other ways, I should have done so much more to leave with a much higher opinion of this city.
Great: To see a hockey game in a country that, like Canada, really enjoys it with a passion. HC Sparta won the game I saw 6:1 -- that´s how scores look here -- and it sure looked like HC Slavia took the night off. Both teams qualified for the playoffs already but it was the two Prague hockey teams meeting and Sparta took it much more seriously. Slavia fans, to their credit, did cheer to the end and were rewarded for their cheers with a goal with 1:45 left in the game.
Good: The money system here. It is weird to use an ATM and withdraw 1,000 of anything, knowing it is really closer to 30 or 40 dollars. I am keeping some coins from each place I go that is not a Euro since I will need it for most of my trip destinations.
Bad: The hotel I stayed at. Not that the room was not comfortable, it was the most spacious I had and it was only 45 dollars U.S. a night, but it is just that quiet was NOT part of the equation.
It was a massive hotel catering to conventions, a bowling alley, a casino, numerous restaurants and WAY TOO MANY TEENAGERS running around making so much unnecessary noise. I know I sound like I am just too old and don´t get it, but you would have probably called the front desk to complain. I did not. They were here on some kind of trip I think and I just tried to do whatever to make the best of it. Best things about the room, though, was the bed, the shower and the bus that stops right in front and made it very easy to connect to the subway to get me out there. One other thing about the hotel, the concierge was not only very attractive, but also helpful to my request to get the hockey ticket. I rewarded her efforts this morning by presenting her with a puck I got at the game last night. I got to the arena early and took a few photos. I went to one area and nearly tripped over the puck on the ground. No one else was around so I just picked it up. Great souvenir, but I later bought a Sparta hat so I am set there. The puck put a great smile on the face of the concierge when she came in for work this morning. Worth it for me!
Bad: Budweiser is a terrible beer in America, and the name came because it wanted to be associated with good beer. Czech Republic is also home to Budweisen and it means Budweiser. Tried it here and it was OK. But having any association with Budweiser is bad in my book.
Good beer: Aaron, Pilsner Urquell is another local beer. I have had it in the U.S., too, but it was a good choice here.
Attractions: I spent the day at the Prague Castle. Nice churches, fascinating gothic and baroque structures and the views of Prague were great. It snowed a bit, but I was very impressed. Bought a ticket that got me inside a few interesting places including a crypt below the Vitus Cathedral. All in all, very interesting. Since hockey game started at 5:30 p.m. I left the castle about 4 p.m. ... Since I did not see as much of Prague as I might have liked, I bought a few cards and mailed them already so others will see as much as I do.
OK, gotta head for the train. Talk again from Berlin.
I am happy in some ways to leave Prague and in other ways, I should have done so much more to leave with a much higher opinion of this city.
Great: To see a hockey game in a country that, like Canada, really enjoys it with a passion. HC Sparta won the game I saw 6:1 -- that´s how scores look here -- and it sure looked like HC Slavia took the night off. Both teams qualified for the playoffs already but it was the two Prague hockey teams meeting and Sparta took it much more seriously. Slavia fans, to their credit, did cheer to the end and were rewarded for their cheers with a goal with 1:45 left in the game.
Good: The money system here. It is weird to use an ATM and withdraw 1,000 of anything, knowing it is really closer to 30 or 40 dollars. I am keeping some coins from each place I go that is not a Euro since I will need it for most of my trip destinations.
Bad: The hotel I stayed at. Not that the room was not comfortable, it was the most spacious I had and it was only 45 dollars U.S. a night, but it is just that quiet was NOT part of the equation.
It was a massive hotel catering to conventions, a bowling alley, a casino, numerous restaurants and WAY TOO MANY TEENAGERS running around making so much unnecessary noise. I know I sound like I am just too old and don´t get it, but you would have probably called the front desk to complain. I did not. They were here on some kind of trip I think and I just tried to do whatever to make the best of it. Best things about the room, though, was the bed, the shower and the bus that stops right in front and made it very easy to connect to the subway to get me out there. One other thing about the hotel, the concierge was not only very attractive, but also helpful to my request to get the hockey ticket. I rewarded her efforts this morning by presenting her with a puck I got at the game last night. I got to the arena early and took a few photos. I went to one area and nearly tripped over the puck on the ground. No one else was around so I just picked it up. Great souvenir, but I later bought a Sparta hat so I am set there. The puck put a great smile on the face of the concierge when she came in for work this morning. Worth it for me!
Bad: Budweiser is a terrible beer in America, and the name came because it wanted to be associated with good beer. Czech Republic is also home to Budweisen and it means Budweiser. Tried it here and it was OK. But having any association with Budweiser is bad in my book.
Good beer: Aaron, Pilsner Urquell is another local beer. I have had it in the U.S., too, but it was a good choice here.
Attractions: I spent the day at the Prague Castle. Nice churches, fascinating gothic and baroque structures and the views of Prague were great. It snowed a bit, but I was very impressed. Bought a ticket that got me inside a few interesting places including a crypt below the Vitus Cathedral. All in all, very interesting. Since hockey game started at 5:30 p.m. I left the castle about 4 p.m. ... Since I did not see as much of Prague as I might have liked, I bought a few cards and mailed them already so others will see as much as I do.
OK, gotta head for the train. Talk again from Berlin.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
The way to Prague was worth the effort ...
I was about 2 minutes from posting a great recap of my travels on the train from Innsbruck to Prague (where I am now, writing inside the Top Hotel Praha) when the computer froze and I lost everything. Sucks.
Perhaps my blogs are beginning to bog down the memory on it. Anyway, let me just say it was a great travelling experience on Wednesday.
From having to buy a supplement ticket in Linz, Austria because Czech Republic doesn't count among the countries where you can use your eurail pass, to meeting Ashley, a 20-year-old college student who is studying abroad in Geneva, Switzerland, as the train went the final 2 1/2 hours and we had a fascinating conversation about each others' travel experiences and it was all done in perfect English. She is also about a month from her big 21st birthday so let me say right now to her ... Happy Birthday!
Ashley and I stayed together after we arrived at the train station. We helped the other as we tried to find our respective hotels and be sure each would be able to get there safely. We both bought public transportation passes --- i bought three one-day passes for 80 Czech crowns each and then bought a phone card to call the hotel and find out where to go. Ashley had better directions to her hotel so we then walked down to our respective trains and went our separate ways. We did exchange email addresses and she has my business card and I have the memory of meeting a great person on my first trip to Europe and Prague, too.
Ashley, if you are reading this blog, thank you and safe travels to you when you go to Munich, Germany on Saturday and then back to Switzerland to return to school. I hope those extra francs I had can at least buy you a glass of wine on your birthday!
Perhaps my blogs are beginning to bog down the memory on it. Anyway, let me just say it was a great travelling experience on Wednesday.
From having to buy a supplement ticket in Linz, Austria because Czech Republic doesn't count among the countries where you can use your eurail pass, to meeting Ashley, a 20-year-old college student who is studying abroad in Geneva, Switzerland, as the train went the final 2 1/2 hours and we had a fascinating conversation about each others' travel experiences and it was all done in perfect English. She is also about a month from her big 21st birthday so let me say right now to her ... Happy Birthday!
Ashley and I stayed together after we arrived at the train station. We helped the other as we tried to find our respective hotels and be sure each would be able to get there safely. We both bought public transportation passes --- i bought three one-day passes for 80 Czech crowns each and then bought a phone card to call the hotel and find out where to go. Ashley had better directions to her hotel so we then walked down to our respective trains and went our separate ways. We did exchange email addresses and she has my business card and I have the memory of meeting a great person on my first trip to Europe and Prague, too.
Ashley, if you are reading this blog, thank you and safe travels to you when you go to Munich, Germany on Saturday and then back to Switzerland to return to school. I hope those extra francs I had can at least buy you a glass of wine on your birthday!
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Not enough time ...
I am in the hotel lobby of the place I stayed here in Innsbruck. It has to suffice for the fact that I didn´t get nearly enough time to at least see parts of the town. I spent too much time checking out stuff for Prague which is where I will be tonight and Thursday night. They have a golden dome which is the highlight of the town´s main center and the guidebook said one of the best things to do in Innsbruck (which is mainly just a hub for those going skiing or snowboarding) is to just walk around the town and see it for what it is. Oh well, at least the place I am staying in Innsbruck has been a place for me to recommend to anyone who does come this way. Staff is very friendly, room was comfortable, even for someone my size, the shower was ... actually I am surprised I got out of it because not only was it large, but it was one of those that just soaks away all of your cares (OK, I am on vacation and I don´t have any worries ... except to be sure Prague is worth all the hype I´ve heard). I arrived at the hotel around 8 p.m. and by that time, I was ready to have a few beers at the bar here (they also serve pizzas, but I had eaten on the train so I just had two beers and chatted up the blonde bartender. Adambrau and Zillertal were the two choices on tap and I had one of each. The bartender, however, had to get home ... to her husband. :( Getting back to the other good things about this place, the breakfast is wonderful and the nice waitress even let the hotel´s dog Cindy in for a few minutes (enough time for me to pet her) before she went back outside. Nice place, called Binders Hotel. Find it in the Lonely Planet guidebook for budget trips to Europe. It is worth the splurge! Ba Ba!
RTB´s in Innsbruck ...
After a wonderful visit to Zurich, I am now in Innsbruck, Austria. I think we even went through Lichtenstein, one of the smallest countries besides the Vatican (it´s its own country) and Luxembourg, which will be a stop on my tour too in a few days.
I am in Innsbruck, though I guess I could have gone on to at least Salzberg, former stomping grounds for Mozart, but I chose to come to a city that has hosted two previous Winter Olympics (1964 and 1976) and with this trip being partly because of Torino hosting the Olympics, I figured I should see what a town looks like that has been there before. It is much smaller than Torino (population only about 120,000 compared to Torino´s close to a million, which by the way, makes Torino the largest city to ever have hosted the WINTER Olympics).
I am off to the hotel I am staying in for the night -- it is listed in my Lonely Planet guide "Europe on a shoestring (budget) as I wanted to find some different places to stay along this route I´ve hammered out for myself.
I am actually also looking ahead to my time in Prague, Czech Republic which will be tomorrow night and then the full day on Thursday before I head to Berlin, Germany for a few days. When I am in Prague, I am hoping, hoping, hoping I can secure a ticket to see a hockey game there. Czech hockey is some of the best in the world that isn´t the NHL guys. If this works out, this will give me a chance to see some guys who maybe could be in the NHL down the road or, at least Long Beach Ice Dogs players.
We´ll see, but for now, I go see Innsbruck.
Ba Ba!
I am in Innsbruck, though I guess I could have gone on to at least Salzberg, former stomping grounds for Mozart, but I chose to come to a city that has hosted two previous Winter Olympics (1964 and 1976) and with this trip being partly because of Torino hosting the Olympics, I figured I should see what a town looks like that has been there before. It is much smaller than Torino (population only about 120,000 compared to Torino´s close to a million, which by the way, makes Torino the largest city to ever have hosted the WINTER Olympics).
I am off to the hotel I am staying in for the night -- it is listed in my Lonely Planet guide "Europe on a shoestring (budget) as I wanted to find some different places to stay along this route I´ve hammered out for myself.
I am actually also looking ahead to my time in Prague, Czech Republic which will be tomorrow night and then the full day on Thursday before I head to Berlin, Germany for a few days. When I am in Prague, I am hoping, hoping, hoping I can secure a ticket to see a hockey game there. Czech hockey is some of the best in the world that isn´t the NHL guys. If this works out, this will give me a chance to see some guys who maybe could be in the NHL down the road or, at least Long Beach Ice Dogs players.
We´ll see, but for now, I go see Innsbruck.
Ba Ba!
Monday, March 06, 2006
Quite FRANC-ly I love it here ...
Swiss Cheese? Swiss army knives? Swiss watches?
All I have to say about my arrival and short time here so far in ZeeCity (Zurich) is ... WOW.
I took a morning train from Volpiano, Italy to one of the main train stations in Torino and then took a train to Milan where I had a little time to at least walk around outside the train station. Wish I could have seen the Duomo that is supposed to be impressive. A postcard will have to do because I was soon whisked away on another train, lasting 4 1/2 hours and all it was, at least after we crossed into Switzerland, was absolutely breathtaking.
Snow on the mountains, lakes, snow covering the ground, some areas even a bit green. It was so beautiful to see from the speedy train that served as my transportation. Smooth train ride in first class (eurail pass holders know what I am talking about, right?). If every train ride, connection and just generally nice people aboard continues, I may just miss my flight back to California...
When I arrived in Zurich I was immediately in need of a few things ... a map to know where I was, a feel for the bus system and francs. This will be the only place I use Swiss money so it was great to use it on the meal I returned from a short time ago. Get this ... it was one of the best MEXICAN meals I have ever had. Yup, you heard me, a mexican meal in Switzerland. I found it in the city guide. Tres Kilos it is called (www.treskilos.ch) and the combo meal I ordered (a taste of their chicken burrito, quesadilla, rices, black beans, corn on the cob, some marinated beef and chili con carne was all fabulous. I washed it down with a Dos Equis Amber beer. That was after the homemade tortilla chips and the two salsas which were just as great. I could have had more of the homemade tortillas too, but maybe it just means my next trip to Zurich will be including a trip to Tres Kilos. Also, before anyone complains that I should try the local cuisine, let me tell you I did have it at the Swiss house for the Olympics in Torino and I wasn't thrilled by it.
As for where I am staying tonight, those who know my musical taste (stop laughing ... ) know that I am a sucker for classic rock. Well, Brady, I found the place you'd want to stay if you were along for this trip. Zic Zac Rock Hotel is where I am tonight ... in the Jimi Hendrix Room. Every room is themed to various rock and roll artists. When I asked for my room, my choices were Janis Joplin, Roxy Music, Bon Jovi and then Hendrix was available and I took it. It's a two star hotel and there isn't a bathroom in the room, but it will suit my budget just fine.
Oh, yeah, for those interested, there's a U2 room, Police, Doors, Beatles, Elvis and even such things as a Bryan Adams room and a Manfred Mann room. What, no A-Ha or Kanjagoogoo?
I leave for Innsbruck at 1:40 p.m. my time on Tuesday so I will write again after I arrive.
Danke for reading the blog.
All I have to say about my arrival and short time here so far in ZeeCity (Zurich) is ... WOW.
I took a morning train from Volpiano, Italy to one of the main train stations in Torino and then took a train to Milan where I had a little time to at least walk around outside the train station. Wish I could have seen the Duomo that is supposed to be impressive. A postcard will have to do because I was soon whisked away on another train, lasting 4 1/2 hours and all it was, at least after we crossed into Switzerland, was absolutely breathtaking.
Snow on the mountains, lakes, snow covering the ground, some areas even a bit green. It was so beautiful to see from the speedy train that served as my transportation. Smooth train ride in first class (eurail pass holders know what I am talking about, right?). If every train ride, connection and just generally nice people aboard continues, I may just miss my flight back to California...
When I arrived in Zurich I was immediately in need of a few things ... a map to know where I was, a feel for the bus system and francs. This will be the only place I use Swiss money so it was great to use it on the meal I returned from a short time ago. Get this ... it was one of the best MEXICAN meals I have ever had. Yup, you heard me, a mexican meal in Switzerland. I found it in the city guide. Tres Kilos it is called (www.treskilos.ch) and the combo meal I ordered (a taste of their chicken burrito, quesadilla, rices, black beans, corn on the cob, some marinated beef and chili con carne was all fabulous. I washed it down with a Dos Equis Amber beer. That was after the homemade tortilla chips and the two salsas which were just as great. I could have had more of the homemade tortillas too, but maybe it just means my next trip to Zurich will be including a trip to Tres Kilos. Also, before anyone complains that I should try the local cuisine, let me tell you I did have it at the Swiss house for the Olympics in Torino and I wasn't thrilled by it.
As for where I am staying tonight, those who know my musical taste (stop laughing ... ) know that I am a sucker for classic rock. Well, Brady, I found the place you'd want to stay if you were along for this trip. Zic Zac Rock Hotel is where I am tonight ... in the Jimi Hendrix Room. Every room is themed to various rock and roll artists. When I asked for my room, my choices were Janis Joplin, Roxy Music, Bon Jovi and then Hendrix was available and I took it. It's a two star hotel and there isn't a bathroom in the room, but it will suit my budget just fine.
Oh, yeah, for those interested, there's a U2 room, Police, Doors, Beatles, Elvis and even such things as a Bryan Adams room and a Manfred Mann room. What, no A-Ha or Kanjagoogoo?
I leave for Innsbruck at 1:40 p.m. my time on Tuesday so I will write again after I arrive.
Danke for reading the blog.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Postcard update ...
Got an email from Barbra saying she got her postcard I sent from Torino. Amazingly fast. I think I sent it out on Feb. 27. Anyone else who asked for one get theirs yet? If you didn't send me your mailing address, you don't have one coming. I forgot my usual list I bring any time I take a trip. If you want one, I'll have plenty of time to write you one as I go on these train trips. It won't be from Italy (or for some lucky folks, the Vatican) but it might be from a different cool place you never thought you'd get something from like Prague, Berlin, Luxembourg (if things go as I have outlined for my trip, Luxembourg could be the place you want me to write from because I am planning to arrive there at night and NOT sleep until I get back on the next train early in the morning on, I believe March 13).
OK, I've got to get back to packing my stuff for tomorrow. To those watching the Oscars tonight, good luck in your Oscar pools. It's corny to me (like fantasy sports leagues) but I know a lot of people do it. I will be sleeping while the show takes place and won't really care who wins what this year ... or perhaps I should be more interested in which foreign film wins so I can see it here!
OK, gotta go. I'll hope to post something from Zurich or Innsbruck.
Ciao!
OK, I've got to get back to packing my stuff for tomorrow. To those watching the Oscars tonight, good luck in your Oscar pools. It's corny to me (like fantasy sports leagues) but I know a lot of people do it. I will be sleeping while the show takes place and won't really care who wins what this year ... or perhaps I should be more interested in which foreign film wins so I can see it here!
OK, gotta go. I'll hope to post something from Zurich or Innsbruck.
Ciao!
Ready to roam other places than Rome ...
My time in Rome is rapidly dwindling as I write this post. In a little less than two hours, I will be on the train, heading back to Torino. Giusi will pick me up at the train station and I'll be back in Volpiano to pack and prepare for Monday's big start to the last major part of the trip.
Monday's train will take me from Torino to Milano and then from Milano to Zurich, Switzerland!
I may or may not post on Monday for the blog folks out there, but we'll just have to wait and see what it's like in Zurich.
By the way, on Tuesday, I will be heading from Zurich to Innsbruck, Austria.
This trip I am taking, if everything works out, will enable me to visit 10 different countries (11 if you include my return to Italy). I will return to Torino on March 21 late or March 22 early. either way, I am looking forward to seeing the views from trains and my very limited time in each destination I have won't give me the impact I've received in Torino, Volpiano and in Rome, but I do have some places where I will get at one full day to take in what I can (Berlin, Prague, London and Paris) while others will unfortunately only get the night and a bit of time in the morning before I head off to the next place.
Nonetheless, this should be fun and actually relaxing because it's not like I will be driving or walking the whole time. I'll be on a train. I will travel light and I will read a book or two, write a few postcards (I will pick some up in each place the train does stop) and provide my blog readers with some stories from the road (actually rails). I am planning to take three flights along my trip, too, which can help me catch up a bit on time in the cities where I can benefit the most.
For those who are interested, one place will be Ireland so I can have a beer or two on St. Patrick's Day (which, if you didn't know, is celebrated more than just the one day in Ireland!).
OK, time for me to finish this post. I need to eat a little something and shop for a few snacks before I get on the train.
Take care out there and be sure to follow me (in spirit and with comments and emails) as we continue along this world of wonder!
Ciao!
Monday's train will take me from Torino to Milano and then from Milano to Zurich, Switzerland!
I may or may not post on Monday for the blog folks out there, but we'll just have to wait and see what it's like in Zurich.
By the way, on Tuesday, I will be heading from Zurich to Innsbruck, Austria.
This trip I am taking, if everything works out, will enable me to visit 10 different countries (11 if you include my return to Italy). I will return to Torino on March 21 late or March 22 early. either way, I am looking forward to seeing the views from trains and my very limited time in each destination I have won't give me the impact I've received in Torino, Volpiano and in Rome, but I do have some places where I will get at one full day to take in what I can (Berlin, Prague, London and Paris) while others will unfortunately only get the night and a bit of time in the morning before I head off to the next place.
Nonetheless, this should be fun and actually relaxing because it's not like I will be driving or walking the whole time. I'll be on a train. I will travel light and I will read a book or two, write a few postcards (I will pick some up in each place the train does stop) and provide my blog readers with some stories from the road (actually rails). I am planning to take three flights along my trip, too, which can help me catch up a bit on time in the cities where I can benefit the most.
For those who are interested, one place will be Ireland so I can have a beer or two on St. Patrick's Day (which, if you didn't know, is celebrated more than just the one day in Ireland!).
OK, time for me to finish this post. I need to eat a little something and shop for a few snacks before I get on the train.
Take care out there and be sure to follow me (in spirit and with comments and emails) as we continue along this world of wonder!
Ciao!
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Dream job? Maybe not, but ...
VATICAN CITY --- The one thing I am constantly amazed by as I travel through Italy, see the people go day to day, is how people can possibly live on whatever money they make. Consider it one of the real eye-openers I've gained in what, in addition to the fun of being here for the Olympics, is really the other big reason for my trip.
Education at school is one thing. Seeing it in action every day is quite another.
Meeting a person such as Ricardo, a 23-year-old man who works in the refreshment area located on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica, was definitely worth the 15 minutes or so I spent chatting with him and peppering him with questions about his life, his job and what he thinks of America and about Pope Benedict, who in a little more than a month will have completed his first year in this next capacity. Pope John Paul II died on April 2, 2005.
Ricardo actually started the conversation when I walked in and bought a cappuccino (1 Euro, very good cappuccino). He had just opened the refreshment area and I was the only customer. He asked where I was from.
"California," I replied.
Ricardo, like most Italians who hear that word, was instantly interested in keeping the conversation going. He is a native of Rome, but does speak passable English so it wasn't too difficult for us to converse.
He's been in this job for a little more than two years. Asked if he likes his job, he passed on that, but did say he knows it is at least fun "because (St. Peter's Basilica) is one of the most famous, most beautiful places in the world. I pass through the church every day. I was very excited when I first got the job because of where I'd be working."
He said he taught primary level (elementary) school before this job, where he serves drinks and snacks to hungry tourists from all over the world and has even served the likes of French President Jacques Chirac, has seen Tony Blair (Great Britian) and has also seen the late Pope John Paul II.
He also said he likes Pope Benedict. "I think he is the right person for now, for me. He might be a transitional pope because he is much older than when Pope John Paul II became pope. I hope (Benedict) is Pope for at least 10 more years."
But Ricardo is most happy to have a job that enables him to live life well enough-- he does still live with his parents -- but consider that the unemployment rate in Italy is quite high and it is easy to see why Ricardo is doing better than others.
Ricardo has also travelled pretty well for someone who is only 23 years old.
He rates Prague in the Czech Republic as his favorite European city not named Rome, but also likes London as well as places in Scotland, Ireland, Spain and France. There are a few cities he is not fond of, mainly because of their workaholic ways (here is a hint, one is north of Rome and the other is in Spain). He is also not a fan of another Italian city, located in the southern part of the country, saying it is "the most dangerous city."
Ricardo does like the United States. He also wonders if maybe someday a Pope with American roots can take up residence in Vatican City. While I think Italians here might balk at such a thing, consider this --- anything can happen.
Kind of like having a job that entails working in one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
---30---
Education at school is one thing. Seeing it in action every day is quite another.
Meeting a person such as Ricardo, a 23-year-old man who works in the refreshment area located on the roof of St. Peter's Basilica, was definitely worth the 15 minutes or so I spent chatting with him and peppering him with questions about his life, his job and what he thinks of America and about Pope Benedict, who in a little more than a month will have completed his first year in this next capacity. Pope John Paul II died on April 2, 2005.
Ricardo actually started the conversation when I walked in and bought a cappuccino (1 Euro, very good cappuccino). He had just opened the refreshment area and I was the only customer. He asked where I was from.
"California," I replied.
Ricardo, like most Italians who hear that word, was instantly interested in keeping the conversation going. He is a native of Rome, but does speak passable English so it wasn't too difficult for us to converse.
He's been in this job for a little more than two years. Asked if he likes his job, he passed on that, but did say he knows it is at least fun "because (St. Peter's Basilica) is one of the most famous, most beautiful places in the world. I pass through the church every day. I was very excited when I first got the job because of where I'd be working."
He said he taught primary level (elementary) school before this job, where he serves drinks and snacks to hungry tourists from all over the world and has even served the likes of French President Jacques Chirac, has seen Tony Blair (Great Britian) and has also seen the late Pope John Paul II.
He also said he likes Pope Benedict. "I think he is the right person for now, for me. He might be a transitional pope because he is much older than when Pope John Paul II became pope. I hope (Benedict) is Pope for at least 10 more years."
But Ricardo is most happy to have a job that enables him to live life well enough-- he does still live with his parents -- but consider that the unemployment rate in Italy is quite high and it is easy to see why Ricardo is doing better than others.
Ricardo has also travelled pretty well for someone who is only 23 years old.
He rates Prague in the Czech Republic as his favorite European city not named Rome, but also likes London as well as places in Scotland, Ireland, Spain and France. There are a few cities he is not fond of, mainly because of their workaholic ways (here is a hint, one is north of Rome and the other is in Spain). He is also not a fan of another Italian city, located in the southern part of the country, saying it is "the most dangerous city."
Ricardo does like the United States. He also wonders if maybe someday a Pope with American roots can take up residence in Vatican City. While I think Italians here might balk at such a thing, consider this --- anything can happen.
Kind of like having a job that entails working in one of the most beautiful places on Earth.
---30---
Finishing what I started ...
I went back to the Vatican after my last post and, seeing the long line, thought it would be better to return on Saturday. So I did. What a great decision on my part (not a sarcastic statement, by the way).
I woke up at 6:15 a.m., showered and was out the door by 7. I walked to the Rome Terminal Station, caught the Metro and got to St. Peter's Square by 7:40 a.m.
Best part? Very few people (translation, no tourists ... except for me).
Even better? Being first in line to take a lift (elevator) up three floors inside St. Peter's Basilica Dome. Weird part, having 323 steps still to walk up the dome. The first part is cool because you can stand above St. Peter's Tomb and the altar that surrounds it. You can also look up and see the Dome from much closer. Better still? I still had steps to climb up to see the breathtaking view from the top of the Dome (OK, it's very, very close to the top). Great views of the Square, the Vatican Museum and all of Rome. It was foggy for 8 a.m., but the main points I was looking for were clear enough to see. The Pope's Apartment. Parts of the Vatican Gardens were visible. It was awe inspiring.
And then, 30 minutes later, I went down some of the stairs to another area to see --- basically the roof of St. Peter's Basilica. Complete with a small place to get a cappuccino, a croissant and a good conversation with a 23-year-old employee Ricardo (separate post for blog readers).
I then went next door to the souvenir stand and a few more lucky people on my postcard list are getting one from the Vatican, which supposedly has a much better mail system so we'll see if this one comes first. (if you want a postcard from me, you'll have to email me your address separately from this blog because I forgot to bring my address list). If you don't get one from me from the Vatican, no worries. The way I am planning my next journey, the whistle-stop tour of 10 countries in only 16 days, I've got plenty of time to write postcards on the train and mail them at the next train station.
Anyway, back to completing my Vatican experience. I left the Dome and immediately went to the crypts of the popes, including the one for Pope John Paul II. There were fresh flowers on a very simple, yet very nice setting for the Pope most connected to the blog readers here.
I then mailed the last postcards (10 in all) and headed off at about 10:30, knowing that I had made the right choice to go back Saturday and go back early enough to beat the massive crowds which had finally reached the Vatican city as I returned to an empty train station to take me to the National Museum of Rome.
It's a nice museum inside, though, because it is near the Terminal Station (train station) it is easily forgotten to tourists. There were maybe 15-20 people scattered inside the museum, which is comprised of several floors of Roman figure sculptures and amazing art from a time when something this beautiful could happen. Imagine modern times and know that it would never get done because there'd be coffee breaks, vacations, smoke breaks and the cell phone would constantly interrupt anything from getting done. Oh, wait, that's modern-day Rome in a nutshell!
By the way, next time I see anyone interested in a trip to Rome, ask me about the ticket I bought that enabled me to get access to nine sites for the price of three. I won't get to them all before I go, but the pass is good for one week's time and I feel I saw enough to justify the 22 Euro price (my guidebook said it was 20 Euro, so I know my book is likely a year behind on the info.)
OK, I'll write my sidebar story on Ricardo, who was very nice and gave me some interesting tips on places I'll likely end up at on my next big trip.
Note to Barbra and anyone else who cares: Barcelona, and Spain for that matter, likely won't be able to happen. It would only be a very short visit to Barcelona if I went and I think that a Spain-Portugal trip in the future might be something I am interested in doing.
Ciao!
I woke up at 6:15 a.m., showered and was out the door by 7. I walked to the Rome Terminal Station, caught the Metro and got to St. Peter's Square by 7:40 a.m.
Best part? Very few people (translation, no tourists ... except for me).
Even better? Being first in line to take a lift (elevator) up three floors inside St. Peter's Basilica Dome. Weird part, having 323 steps still to walk up the dome. The first part is cool because you can stand above St. Peter's Tomb and the altar that surrounds it. You can also look up and see the Dome from much closer. Better still? I still had steps to climb up to see the breathtaking view from the top of the Dome (OK, it's very, very close to the top). Great views of the Square, the Vatican Museum and all of Rome. It was foggy for 8 a.m., but the main points I was looking for were clear enough to see. The Pope's Apartment. Parts of the Vatican Gardens were visible. It was awe inspiring.
And then, 30 minutes later, I went down some of the stairs to another area to see --- basically the roof of St. Peter's Basilica. Complete with a small place to get a cappuccino, a croissant and a good conversation with a 23-year-old employee Ricardo (separate post for blog readers).
I then went next door to the souvenir stand and a few more lucky people on my postcard list are getting one from the Vatican, which supposedly has a much better mail system so we'll see if this one comes first. (if you want a postcard from me, you'll have to email me your address separately from this blog because I forgot to bring my address list). If you don't get one from me from the Vatican, no worries. The way I am planning my next journey, the whistle-stop tour of 10 countries in only 16 days, I've got plenty of time to write postcards on the train and mail them at the next train station.
Anyway, back to completing my Vatican experience. I left the Dome and immediately went to the crypts of the popes, including the one for Pope John Paul II. There were fresh flowers on a very simple, yet very nice setting for the Pope most connected to the blog readers here.
I then mailed the last postcards (10 in all) and headed off at about 10:30, knowing that I had made the right choice to go back Saturday and go back early enough to beat the massive crowds which had finally reached the Vatican city as I returned to an empty train station to take me to the National Museum of Rome.
It's a nice museum inside, though, because it is near the Terminal Station (train station) it is easily forgotten to tourists. There were maybe 15-20 people scattered inside the museum, which is comprised of several floors of Roman figure sculptures and amazing art from a time when something this beautiful could happen. Imagine modern times and know that it would never get done because there'd be coffee breaks, vacations, smoke breaks and the cell phone would constantly interrupt anything from getting done. Oh, wait, that's modern-day Rome in a nutshell!
By the way, next time I see anyone interested in a trip to Rome, ask me about the ticket I bought that enabled me to get access to nine sites for the price of three. I won't get to them all before I go, but the pass is good for one week's time and I feel I saw enough to justify the 22 Euro price (my guidebook said it was 20 Euro, so I know my book is likely a year behind on the info.)
OK, I'll write my sidebar story on Ricardo, who was very nice and gave me some interesting tips on places I'll likely end up at on my next big trip.
Note to Barbra and anyone else who cares: Barcelona, and Spain for that matter, likely won't be able to happen. It would only be a very short visit to Barcelona if I went and I think that a Spain-Portugal trip in the future might be something I am interested in doing.
Ciao!
Friday, March 03, 2006
Vatican visit ...
The Vatican trip is just about over. Yes, I am taking a break at a nearby internet cafe. I got here via the crowded Metro A at a bit after 8:30 a.m. before the crowds, but being the tourist I am, I got in the wrong line first. Not that walking the inside of St. Peter's Basilica is a wrong thing to do. It's just not the right thing to do FIRST. I should have veered off to my right and gone to see the Dome and the crypts for the popes (including PJP II) because when I got out, went to the small post office to mail individual post cards for my mother, father, brother, my sister-in-law and nephews as well as two for myself (one blank on the back, one with a message), I didn't realize I should have done the other one first.
The long line and wait --- the guidebook I have says to allow an hour to get up to the Dome and and hour to get down -- means I need to take a break here (it's just after 2 p.m.) and see if I can't get a second chance at it today. No worries, really, though because I've got enough extra time on Saturday (albeit much more crowded) to do it if I want ... after all, I'm on vacation.
As for what I did see inside the church, it was quite immaculate. Michelangelo's Pieta is to the right after you walk in the church. It's priceless. As you make your way through the church, I stopped to take some holy water which was surrounded by an impressive display. I walked slowly along, taking a moment at each to ponder the artists' works (it wasn't crowded when I was doing this so I wasn't in anyone's way). I then took care of the request from my friend Marie to rub the foot of Peter. (Side note to Marie: If you're supposed to rub his foot to be forgiven, what does it mean if you touch both feet and do it many times if a person is trying to have a picture taken? I saw A LOT of people touch both feet and then have to stand there and touch it a lot more just to be sure the camera got it!).
I walked around some more, tried to take a picture of St. Peter's Tomb and elegant main altar, but the photo again came out too fuzzy and too blurry to use. I walked around some more and then headed for the exit.
After I messed up what I should have done in terms of St. Peter's Basilica, I instead walked and chose to get in the even longer line for the Vatican Museum. The line actually moved very fast. I was pleased with that, even if the word "line" doesn't really exist.
Anyway, I got my ticket (12 Euro) and headed off to see many of the sites before finishing with the Sistine Chapel. It was a very moving experience seeing all of the sculptures that, if you look closely at the detail in their faces, makes you think they'll actually come to life. There were impressive, but many just pieces, of humans as well as a room dedicated just to the animals. I wandered on and found the way to the Sistine Chapel. And it kept going, and going, and going, and going, and going, and going, and going, and going, and going. And then it kept going a bit more --- not that the Chapel is THAT long, but with guides every step of the way, someone stopping to take a photo and, of course, since we are in modern times, cell phones going off and people stopping to answer and chat (who invented cell phones again?). Don't get me wrong, I have one and I am even using a secondhand one while I am here in Italy, but I don't use it when I am visiting one of the most famous places on EARTH! .... OK, sorry, a little tourist rage there.
When I finally reach the end room, with the famous paintings that do take your breath away, all people were allowed to do was to be there and be quiet (LIKE THE SIGN SAID!). Not that a few people didn't still use their cell phones and others still took photos (no flash). I was finally able to carve out a spot where I could set my guidebook down and take everything in. It was wonderful. Almost as wonderful as following some of the guidebook's advice ... take the exit marked only for tour guides and you escape the mass exodus back to the main entrance (unless you did purchase the set of of audio headphones then you have to go with the herd) and you, instead, return right to St. Peter's Basilica. that part was great. I went back inside and tried to shoot some more good pictures, but alas, ones that I really wanted came out blurry or not great light at all. I might have to buy some extra postcards just for photo purposes!
Ok, that's it. I'm going to go back and see if the line for the Dome and the crypts isn't too long so I can do everything in one trip after all.
Hope everyone is doing well. Also, a note to Susan, a friend of mine from Oxnard, I have found a thimble for you. It is from the Trevi Fountain in Rome and I hope you like it as much as I liked seeing the fountain on Thursday.
Ciao!
The long line and wait --- the guidebook I have says to allow an hour to get up to the Dome and and hour to get down -- means I need to take a break here (it's just after 2 p.m.) and see if I can't get a second chance at it today. No worries, really, though because I've got enough extra time on Saturday (albeit much more crowded) to do it if I want ... after all, I'm on vacation.
As for what I did see inside the church, it was quite immaculate. Michelangelo's Pieta is to the right after you walk in the church. It's priceless. As you make your way through the church, I stopped to take some holy water which was surrounded by an impressive display. I walked slowly along, taking a moment at each to ponder the artists' works (it wasn't crowded when I was doing this so I wasn't in anyone's way). I then took care of the request from my friend Marie to rub the foot of Peter. (Side note to Marie: If you're supposed to rub his foot to be forgiven, what does it mean if you touch both feet and do it many times if a person is trying to have a picture taken? I saw A LOT of people touch both feet and then have to stand there and touch it a lot more just to be sure the camera got it!).
I walked around some more, tried to take a picture of St. Peter's Tomb and elegant main altar, but the photo again came out too fuzzy and too blurry to use. I walked around some more and then headed for the exit.
After I messed up what I should have done in terms of St. Peter's Basilica, I instead walked and chose to get in the even longer line for the Vatican Museum. The line actually moved very fast. I was pleased with that, even if the word "line" doesn't really exist.
Anyway, I got my ticket (12 Euro) and headed off to see many of the sites before finishing with the Sistine Chapel. It was a very moving experience seeing all of the sculptures that, if you look closely at the detail in their faces, makes you think they'll actually come to life. There were impressive, but many just pieces, of humans as well as a room dedicated just to the animals. I wandered on and found the way to the Sistine Chapel. And it kept going, and going, and going, and going, and going, and going, and going, and going, and going. And then it kept going a bit more --- not that the Chapel is THAT long, but with guides every step of the way, someone stopping to take a photo and, of course, since we are in modern times, cell phones going off and people stopping to answer and chat (who invented cell phones again?). Don't get me wrong, I have one and I am even using a secondhand one while I am here in Italy, but I don't use it when I am visiting one of the most famous places on EARTH! .... OK, sorry, a little tourist rage there.
When I finally reach the end room, with the famous paintings that do take your breath away, all people were allowed to do was to be there and be quiet (LIKE THE SIGN SAID!). Not that a few people didn't still use their cell phones and others still took photos (no flash). I was finally able to carve out a spot where I could set my guidebook down and take everything in. It was wonderful. Almost as wonderful as following some of the guidebook's advice ... take the exit marked only for tour guides and you escape the mass exodus back to the main entrance (unless you did purchase the set of of audio headphones then you have to go with the herd) and you, instead, return right to St. Peter's Basilica. that part was great. I went back inside and tried to shoot some more good pictures, but alas, ones that I really wanted came out blurry or not great light at all. I might have to buy some extra postcards just for photo purposes!
Ok, that's it. I'm going to go back and see if the line for the Dome and the crypts isn't too long so I can do everything in one trip after all.
Hope everyone is doing well. Also, a note to Susan, a friend of mine from Oxnard, I have found a thimble for you. It is from the Trevi Fountain in Rome and I hope you like it as much as I liked seeing the fountain on Thursday.
Ciao!
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Full Day 1 of Rome ...
My hotel is JUST around the corner from places I've only seen in history books (and some things that should be). The Colosseum. Julius Caesar. the Roman Forum. The Trevi Fountain. The Spanish Steps. The Pantheon. Capitol Hill and the gigantic Victor Emmanuel Monument which also has the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the eternal flame. That was just Thursday!
As I walked among the ruins, shortly after hitting the Colosseum first, I was stopped by two Americans who seemed desperate to be able to speak to someone who knew English. I said yes, although I will say that since being in Rome I've tried to actually keep more to myself because that's just how I am when I am in a big city I am unfamiliar with (ask Kathy, that's how I was the first visit to NYC). I begin to relax the more I see things and the more I find my way around and get comfortable. Anyway, these people, a husband and wife, were from Denver. They were relieved when I told them I was from California but that I lived in Colorado for eight years. Their stress level went way down. Appears they had flown to Rome only two days ago and were completely confused. I won't rip on them because they were just the typical American tourists who, like me, just need to get comfortable. This was their first trip to Italy too, but one thing that made me laugh (to myself, not to these people) was getting to play the role that Giusi has had since the first day I arrived in Italy -- I passed along some key knowledge they'd need if they wanted to get better acquainted with where they are right now.
1. Always start a conversation with an Italian by asking politely if they speak English? Usually, the answer is "a little" but even if they don't the next thing to do is keep it simple when trying to talk. If you need a stamp for a postcard, just say "stamp?" No slang, no verbs. Also, don't talk fast. It's hard enough for them to understand if you continue to speak English but going fast (and Italians talk fast too) won't help your cause.
2. These people said they were tired already (likely just jet lag) and that they've even been to Rome's Hard Rock Cafe (talk about not getting it when it comes to being in Italy), you must TRY to adjust to the culture you're now immersed in. Sure, there's also McDonalds here in Italy (and to break a few hearts, I DID eat ONE meal at McDonalds while I was in Torino just to know that their food IS NOT better in Italy). Learn simple things in Italian to say like hello, good day, good afternoon, good evening, thank you and you will be on your way.
3. I also explained to them where to buy tickets for the bus (every tobacco shop here has them) and I pointed them in the direction of the Colosseum.
Just before we parted ways, they still seemed like Rome wouldn't be their place to be for much longer. Said they were going to the Vatican later Thursday and then head to Switzerland on Friday. Oh well, guess some people aren't much for soaking up the rich history that is here.
Even if they are tourists, and yes, there's too many of them here in Rome -- even in what seems like a slow time of year to be here --- I hope they choose to just relax a bit and focus on understanding they are in a place I'm sure all of my blog readers would happily trade places to be right now :-)
OK, I'm off to find a good trattoria for dinner and then get to sleep earlier than normal to prep for the Vatican, which is its own "country," on Friday. I am planning to get there by 9 a.m. and spend the day seeing the museums, St. Peter's Square, the Sistene Chapel. The works. And I plan to savor every moment.
Ciao!
As I walked among the ruins, shortly after hitting the Colosseum first, I was stopped by two Americans who seemed desperate to be able to speak to someone who knew English. I said yes, although I will say that since being in Rome I've tried to actually keep more to myself because that's just how I am when I am in a big city I am unfamiliar with (ask Kathy, that's how I was the first visit to NYC). I begin to relax the more I see things and the more I find my way around and get comfortable. Anyway, these people, a husband and wife, were from Denver. They were relieved when I told them I was from California but that I lived in Colorado for eight years. Their stress level went way down. Appears they had flown to Rome only two days ago and were completely confused. I won't rip on them because they were just the typical American tourists who, like me, just need to get comfortable. This was their first trip to Italy too, but one thing that made me laugh (to myself, not to these people) was getting to play the role that Giusi has had since the first day I arrived in Italy -- I passed along some key knowledge they'd need if they wanted to get better acquainted with where they are right now.
1. Always start a conversation with an Italian by asking politely if they speak English? Usually, the answer is "a little" but even if they don't the next thing to do is keep it simple when trying to talk. If you need a stamp for a postcard, just say "stamp?" No slang, no verbs. Also, don't talk fast. It's hard enough for them to understand if you continue to speak English but going fast (and Italians talk fast too) won't help your cause.
2. These people said they were tired already (likely just jet lag) and that they've even been to Rome's Hard Rock Cafe (talk about not getting it when it comes to being in Italy), you must TRY to adjust to the culture you're now immersed in. Sure, there's also McDonalds here in Italy (and to break a few hearts, I DID eat ONE meal at McDonalds while I was in Torino just to know that their food IS NOT better in Italy). Learn simple things in Italian to say like hello, good day, good afternoon, good evening, thank you and you will be on your way.
3. I also explained to them where to buy tickets for the bus (every tobacco shop here has them) and I pointed them in the direction of the Colosseum.
Just before we parted ways, they still seemed like Rome wouldn't be their place to be for much longer. Said they were going to the Vatican later Thursday and then head to Switzerland on Friday. Oh well, guess some people aren't much for soaking up the rich history that is here.
Even if they are tourists, and yes, there's too many of them here in Rome -- even in what seems like a slow time of year to be here --- I hope they choose to just relax a bit and focus on understanding they are in a place I'm sure all of my blog readers would happily trade places to be right now :-)
OK, I'm off to find a good trattoria for dinner and then get to sleep earlier than normal to prep for the Vatican, which is its own "country," on Friday. I am planning to get there by 9 a.m. and spend the day seeing the museums, St. Peter's Square, the Sistene Chapel. The works. And I plan to savor every moment.
Ciao!
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
When in Rome ...
Since I am not getting a scooter, I won't do what a lot of Romans do. I won't get one just so I can ignore red lights completely as I was warned of in my travel guide.
I got into Rome about an hour ago and checked into my hotel for the next four nights. Giusi originally had a friend happy to put me up for my time here, but his mother is ill in the hospital. No problem. I like where I am staying and it is close to connections I'll need to the various places I want to hit ... early in the day.
Each day will have me start early and finish by dark so I can maximize my time here.
As for email questions, Dave, I will mail myself a postcard from the Vatican. Jerre, no I do not have anyone lined up wanting my copy for my post-Olympics trip (unless blog readers want to chip in!) And Marie, I will be rubbing the foot of St. Peter, likely on Friday.
I hope all is well for my blog readers and now I am off to have some dinner.
Ciao!
I got into Rome about an hour ago and checked into my hotel for the next four nights. Giusi originally had a friend happy to put me up for my time here, but his mother is ill in the hospital. No problem. I like where I am staying and it is close to connections I'll need to the various places I want to hit ... early in the day.
Each day will have me start early and finish by dark so I can maximize my time here.
As for email questions, Dave, I will mail myself a postcard from the Vatican. Jerre, no I do not have anyone lined up wanting my copy for my post-Olympics trip (unless blog readers want to chip in!) And Marie, I will be rubbing the foot of St. Peter, likely on Friday.
I hope all is well for my blog readers and now I am off to have some dinner.
Ciao!
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