I am saddened to report that this will be my final posting from Europe. I am in a small internet cafe near our hotel at Rue De Charrone, Paris. It is very noisy outside with lots of people and cars going by, people speaking French next to me. This keyboards layout is stranger than anything I have encountered so far on the trip so these words are a bit more taxing than normal. I purchased an hour of usage time so I can hopefully convey everything that has happened in the past few days. It would make sense to start off where I left off; Our arrival in Cologne, Germany.
Our train trip from Munich to Cologne was very easy and fast, we took one of the high speed bullet trains. The German countryside was very nice to soak in, small towns and villages sporadically accenting the green rolling farmland and forests, all going by in a blur. Since we have been in major cities for most of this trip, our only chances at seeing countryside have come from our train journeys. From the sparkling blue southeastern coast of Spain, the Tuscan region of Italy, the "ass of Hungary", to the green landscape of Germany, it has all been quite beautiful and fun. I am probably going to be upset with myself later for not staying awake for most of the trips.
We decided to visit Cologne because it was a nice mid point to break up our trip from Munich to Paris, and it resident to a very impressive gothic cathedral. Our hostel was situated very close to the train station and center of the historic center of the city. Like Munich, Cologne was also bombed heavily in WWII. Fortunately some of the major historic landmarks were spared, like the cathedral. And an impressive cathedral it is, by far the most intimidating and awe inspiring cathedral we have seen on this trip. The 2 massive towers shoot incredibly high into the sky, overshadowing an intricate and complicated architecture of the main structure. All of the lines and points of this cathedral are incredibly sharp, the color of the stone nearly black, all giving it a very sinister and gothic look. The inside contained lots of beautiful stained glass and very old tombs. Overall, the scale and "wow" factor of this cathedral was the greatest of the trip.
We walked around most of the main areas of Cologne, and went across one of the main bridges. The Rhine river divides the historic district from from the main commercial areas. Along one of the bridges that we crossed, there were hundreds and thousands of different padlocks attached in random places to the fence that divided the sidewalk from the railway. All of the locks had names and dates on them like "M & S, 1987", I suppose to commemorate a marriage or relationship. We walked across the bridge, took some pictures, walked around the historic district some more called it a day. That night, we went to the bar and pub area of the historic district and I actually got carded by the bartender. This is a country where the drinking age is 18! It must be because I finally shaved...
My final impressions of Germany were quite good. From what I saw, it is a very clean and friendly country. The 2 cities we visited were very modern and nice, and the culture was very much alive in the people. The food is very good as well, but didn't seem to vary much. Lots of sausage and potatoes. I would recommened Munich or Cologne to anyone visiting Europe and passing through Germany. Each place only offers sights to fill up 2-3 days each at most though, a little less to do than some of the other places we visited.
After our brief stint in Cologne, we hopped on the train for Paris the next morning. This trip took us through Belgium and the northwest section of France. Everything was very mountainous and hilly, with almost all the villages and towns rising and falling up and down constantly. We arrived in Paris late in the day around 5 oclock. Paris is by far the biggest, busiest and most frantic city we have been to. The cab ride from the train station to our hostel was like a stop and go rollercoaster with lots of curse words and beeping horns. Our hotel is situated in the eastern central area of the city, several blocks north of the river Seine. On our first night we walked down to the river and saw the Notre Dame cathedral from the outside, and also visited a little tourist area. We had some food at a rather touristy restaurant, and it wasn't very good and was also overpriced. Afterwards we walked back to the hotel and made plans for the next day, filling it with lots of walking and sight seeing.
The next morning, our first stop was the Arc de Triophe. It took us about an hour of walking to get there first, we passed through several different areas of the city and definitely got a feel for the vibe of the city and its residents. I think overall, Paris is somewhat of a dirty city. There is lots of smog and smoke, trash everywhere. This doesn't mean the sights were not amazing however. The Arc was very impressive, much larger than I thought it would be. After seeing the Arc, we made a straight line for the Eiffel tower. While waiting in line to buy our tickets to go to the top of the tower, a flash rainstorm came through and soaked us both, followed by gusty cold wind. It was miserable, but we were determined to wait in line and get to the top of this damn tower. The elevator up was definitely a little scary, the tower becomes thinner the higher up you go, and by the top you are very high up and can hear the wind gusting and buffeting the elevator car. The view was entirely worth it, a spectacular picture of the enormous city.
After the Eiffel, we walked around the city a little more and eventually made it back to our hostel for a nap. That night, we had dinner at a street corner cafe, and this time it definitely did not disappoint. I had Onglet de boeuf, jus a romarin, gratin pommes de terra. Translation: Steak with sauce and au gratin potatoes. I will forever compare any au gratin potatoes I have to the ones I had that night, totally fantastic. The atmosphere of the restaurant was also very nice, low but abundant conversation, the tables very close together, excellent service.
Our next day, we decided to go check out Notre Dame during the day and see some different areas of the city. Notre Dame is a much less sinister looking cathedral than the one in Cologne, but is equally important and impressive. The inside was totally beautiful and again commanded reverance and awe from me. I really love cathedrals and this was no exception. That night, we met up with our friend Mohsin, who we met on a tour bus in Barcelona. He lives and works in Paris and was nice enough to show us around for some sights and nightlife. We tried to get into some fancy clubs but unfortunately the bouncers werent too keen on letting in a party of 4 guys, 1 wearing running shoes (guess who...). We ended up bouncing around to some bars and other areas and getting a cool perspective from actual residents of the city. I want to thank Mohsin and Alex for showing us a good time and I wish them the best of luck!
I only have a couple minutes left so I am wrapping this up now. I will add more to this post later, probably when I get back to the states. Goodbye, Europe. It has been quite an adventure.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Days 18-19 Munich, Germany
Munich is a very clean, very modern and well-kept city whose residents as a whole obviously have alot of wealth. Everything looks so new here compared to most of the cities we have been so far because, well, it is. Munich and alot of other major cities in Germany were basically destroyed by bombs during WWII and most of the historic landmarks were lost. This didn´t stop the massive rebuilding efforts that took place, and the 2009 city of Munich is actually very impressive and nice. Our hostel was situated in a very central location near the main train station that made it easy to just hop outside and start sight seeing.
On our first day we stabbed straight into the heart of the historic district of the city. The city layout makes it very easy to get around. Unlike the maze-like narrow streets of Madrid and Valencia, Munich is very organized and the streets are much wider. We saw the world famous Glockenspiel (Named the 2nd most overrated tourist attraction in the world). At 3 specific times during the day, this massive gothic looking tower at the city center plays a couple purposefully out of tune songs, then some figurines move and dance around and eventually the whole thing climaxes in the shrill cuckoo of this golden bird thing. It is actually pretty silly.
The historic district of Munich is very nice and has some cool sights. It is a little disappointing to know that most everything was rebuilt after the war and is thus not as authentic as most other centuries old European sights. After our first excursion into the city we came back to the hostel and rested for a bit before partaking in what the city of Munich is really all about, Beer!
Munich claims to be the world capital of beer. There are several "Bier Gartens" sprinkled throughout the city, literally meaning Beer Garden. A Bier Garten is basically a fenced off park that serves 2 purposes: beer and food, and social gathering on a massive scale. We asked the guy at the desk in the hostel which one was the best to go. He informed us of Augustiner Bier Garten. So off we went, starving and thirsty to the international Mecca of beer.
It did not disappoint. The garden has rows and rows of cafeteria style bench seating. There are self service restaurants where you go and order a la carte and walk back with your food and beer to an open table, and there are also tables reserved for full services. We chose the full service section. First on our objectives was a massive mug of Augustiner pale ale, then we ordered our food. I had a plate of various types of sausage sitting on a huge mound of saurkraut with 2 types of mustard on the side and a huge potatoe dumpling with gravy. It was everything I expected and more. The Germans really know how to do it right! This was definitely one of the best meals of the whole trip. The beer was very fresh and excellent as well. It was not quite as fizzy as your typical American beer, and not as light either, but had awesome flavor.
After the Bier Garten, we did a small trek around the historic district at night. The place was very alive with pedestrians and street performers. There was actually a 4 piece band playing, on the street, with a piano, 2 cellos and a clarinet. A street performing classical quartet! Check that off the list of things I´ve never seen...
The next day included the most walking we have done on this entire trip. We saw different sections of the main city including the site of this years Oktoberfest (which we missed only by a couple weeks), the cathedral and other historic sites. This cathedral was not as impressive as some that I have seen so far, the detail of the architecture and the interior were very spartan and understated. After walking around the city center for a good while, we took the metro to the Olympic park, site of the 1972 olympic games. We saw the soccer stadium where Munich plays, all of the olympic facilities, and even went to the top of the olympic tower. This afforded an incredibly panoramic view of the entire city and surrounding countryside. Near the park is the BMW headquarters as well as a BMW plant. On a side note, I have never seen so many BMWs, Audis, and Mercedes vehicles. All of the taxis in the city were E-class Mercedes or higher! After walking around the entire park, we took the metro back to the city center and saw the rest of the sites that we missed until then. We saw the parliament building, some more city squares and some cool statues. On the way back to the hostel we saw another classical quartet playing on the street, this time all strings and wind instruments. They did a very impressive William Tell Overture rendition, and I gave them some money. This was the second street music act that I have given money to on this trip, the other was an accordion player in Toledo, Spain.
The computers at this hostel will not allow us to plug in any external devices so I have to promise again to get pictures up as soon as I can for Budapest and Munich. Today we spend 1 day in Cologne before making our journey to our last stop, Paris. I am saddened and in disbelief that this trip is coming to a close...
On our first day we stabbed straight into the heart of the historic district of the city. The city layout makes it very easy to get around. Unlike the maze-like narrow streets of Madrid and Valencia, Munich is very organized and the streets are much wider. We saw the world famous Glockenspiel (Named the 2nd most overrated tourist attraction in the world). At 3 specific times during the day, this massive gothic looking tower at the city center plays a couple purposefully out of tune songs, then some figurines move and dance around and eventually the whole thing climaxes in the shrill cuckoo of this golden bird thing. It is actually pretty silly.
The historic district of Munich is very nice and has some cool sights. It is a little disappointing to know that most everything was rebuilt after the war and is thus not as authentic as most other centuries old European sights. After our first excursion into the city we came back to the hostel and rested for a bit before partaking in what the city of Munich is really all about, Beer!
Munich claims to be the world capital of beer. There are several "Bier Gartens" sprinkled throughout the city, literally meaning Beer Garden. A Bier Garten is basically a fenced off park that serves 2 purposes: beer and food, and social gathering on a massive scale. We asked the guy at the desk in the hostel which one was the best to go. He informed us of Augustiner Bier Garten. So off we went, starving and thirsty to the international Mecca of beer.
It did not disappoint. The garden has rows and rows of cafeteria style bench seating. There are self service restaurants where you go and order a la carte and walk back with your food and beer to an open table, and there are also tables reserved for full services. We chose the full service section. First on our objectives was a massive mug of Augustiner pale ale, then we ordered our food. I had a plate of various types of sausage sitting on a huge mound of saurkraut with 2 types of mustard on the side and a huge potatoe dumpling with gravy. It was everything I expected and more. The Germans really know how to do it right! This was definitely one of the best meals of the whole trip. The beer was very fresh and excellent as well. It was not quite as fizzy as your typical American beer, and not as light either, but had awesome flavor.
After the Bier Garten, we did a small trek around the historic district at night. The place was very alive with pedestrians and street performers. There was actually a 4 piece band playing, on the street, with a piano, 2 cellos and a clarinet. A street performing classical quartet! Check that off the list of things I´ve never seen...
The next day included the most walking we have done on this entire trip. We saw different sections of the main city including the site of this years Oktoberfest (which we missed only by a couple weeks), the cathedral and other historic sites. This cathedral was not as impressive as some that I have seen so far, the detail of the architecture and the interior were very spartan and understated. After walking around the city center for a good while, we took the metro to the Olympic park, site of the 1972 olympic games. We saw the soccer stadium where Munich plays, all of the olympic facilities, and even went to the top of the olympic tower. This afforded an incredibly panoramic view of the entire city and surrounding countryside. Near the park is the BMW headquarters as well as a BMW plant. On a side note, I have never seen so many BMWs, Audis, and Mercedes vehicles. All of the taxis in the city were E-class Mercedes or higher! After walking around the entire park, we took the metro back to the city center and saw the rest of the sites that we missed until then. We saw the parliament building, some more city squares and some cool statues. On the way back to the hostel we saw another classical quartet playing on the street, this time all strings and wind instruments. They did a very impressive William Tell Overture rendition, and I gave them some money. This was the second street music act that I have given money to on this trip, the other was an accordion player in Toledo, Spain.
The computers at this hostel will not allow us to plug in any external devices so I have to promise again to get pictures up as soon as I can for Budapest and Munich. Today we spend 1 day in Cologne before making our journey to our last stop, Paris. I am saddened and in disbelief that this trip is coming to a close...
Monday, August 31, 2009
Day 15-17 Budapest, Hungary
We just arrived in Munchen, Deustchland after a 7 hour train ride straight from Budapest. This train rocked. It was clean, fast, and made few stops. A good travel experience, Completely opposite from our train trip from Llubljana to Budapest. Let me begin there.
Our trip from Llubljana to Budapest can best be summed up thusly: We got on a train. We got off the train. We got on a bus. We got off the bus. We got on a train. We got off the train. We got on another train. We got off the train. We got on a bus. We got off the bus. We got on another train. We arrived in Budapest. 4 trains and 2 buses later we actually made it to our destination. I was incredibly dumb and didnt bring any food or water for the entire day, thinking that our trains would be like all the other ones we went on that had cafe cars. Little did I know we would be traveling on the 3rd world express through the "ass of Hungary" with no food or water for 9 hours.
So, after our lovely trip to Budapest we arrived at the station near where we needed to be and we began our walk making our way to Blazes grandmothers house (recall that Blaze is Hungarian). Since we were near starvation we stopped at a crepe place along the way and I allowed Blaze to order for me. I ended up with what could best be described as a large snot ball on a plate, which would have probably been repulsing had I not been in the condition I was. I inhaled it.
Soon we finally made it to Blazes grandmothers. This is where things started to get better. His grandmother is a wonderfully coherent little old lady who was very nice and was a pleasure to meet. Even though I didnt understand a word of the conversation I felt that I absorbed some of this womans positive energy after we left, and was already in a better mood. She gave us the keys to the 1 bedroom flat that would be our resting place for the next 3 days, as well as a bag
containing everything needed for several salami sandwiches. We found the place we were staying , made some sandwiches and just kind of sat on the couch dazed for a couple minutes before making our plans for the evening. The flat was perfect for us, 2 beds, a kitchen, a balcony, full clean bathroom and shower, plus it was free for me. Thank you Khoor family.
This is the point in the trip where I began to be dipped, or drowned, in Hungarian culture and language. Blazes friend Adam came over to pick us up and I was soon inundated with constant flurries of Hungarian. Their language is very different than anything I have heard on this trip so far, and it is hard to compare to any other language that I know of. It sounds kind of nice and flows pretty well, but trying to read it is like looking at pure gibberish. Anyways, Adam is a really nice dude. On Friday night, us 3 walked around the castle district, went to a club called Rumkat, and crossed the bridge over to Pest and we to another club called Gda, meaning "The Pit" or something like that. It was all very overwhelmingly spectacular. On the ramparts of the castle you can get an amazing view of the city at nightime. Budapest is actually 2 sections, Buda and Pest, separated by the Danube river and as a whole surrounded by mountains. I got a very clear picture of this while looking out from the castle. Adam then pointed to some spot in the distance and said "this is where we go tonight". So, off went went to check out the Hungarian nightlife on a Friday night. It didnt disappoint. I dont know how to describe it, but the vibe there is just different. Everyone is definitely more friendly than in the USA, as usual, but you get the feeling that you arent in the far West anymore. The club Rumkat was outside and they served big bottles of beer and played some crazy type of house music. We had a great time that night and ended crashing around 4 am, totally and thoroughly exhausted.
The next day was spent seeing alot of the sights around Budapest. We saw the parliament building, the basilica in the middle of the city, and the commercial district in Pest. This was also the first day that we didnt have to worry about becoming disgustingly sweaty after walking for 6 minutes outside. It was blustery and cool with a nice cloud cover that allowed us to have a much better walking endurance thus cover alot of ground. All of the sites were very impressive, of course we climbed the basilica and got some great views of the whole city. Pictures will have to wait however since this computer runs Linux and the camera wont connect properly...
That night, Adam took us to a house party of some of his friends in the area. It was a very international bunch of people, some Germans, Americans, locals. Alot of people speak English to some degree around here so I was able to communicate pretty good. I met an American who plays football for the Budapest Cowboys. He played for a DIII school in college in the states, got a job as a lineman in Tokyo, Japan, played in Germany for a short while, then took a temporary assignment in Hungary that was supposed to last only a few months, until he met a girl and now he has been in Budapest for 2 years and plans on getting married. Go Budapest Cowboys! After hanging out at the house party for a couple hours, a group of us headed over to a place called club A38. It is actually a boat on the Danube river, however. There was a line out the door and they werent letting people in, but someone with us knew someone important and we got in. At this point nothing could surprise me. I am on a boat in Hungary, hanging out with football players, locals, and friends from home, drinking Lowenbrau and dancing to European techno. Fun times.
Day 3 in Budapest started out with a nice lunch cooked by Adams mom. We went to their place on the outskirts of the city, in the mountainous area. The porch had an amazing view and the food was great. After that, Adam showed us some cool places near where his parents house was. One was an airfield where glider planes flew and landed. After that, Adam left us and Blaze and I saw pretty much the rest of the city. We visited the park area that is on a hill overlooking the city. More spectacular pictures to come as usual. That night, we just kind of took it easy. We did have an awesome dinner at a restaurant right next to the Danube river. I had gulyaslevesz, the essential Hungarian soup dish. They really love to use paprika in everything here, by the way. The food was really awesome and it was good to hang out with Adam one last time before we left. After the dinner, we drove up to some mountainous area that was pretty far removed from the city. We went out to some ledge that overlooked the entire valley containing Budapest, the Danube and everything. On such a clear night the view was so awesome and you could get a sense of scale for the massive city. It was easy to pick out the main landmarks, even though they looked like tiny dots. One thing that was cool was that all the lights and objects in the city in the distance seemed to be shimmering and flickering. This was not because the lights were actually moving or flickering, but it was actually the visual distortion effect that the rising heat from the city had on a massive scale. Pretty cool.
We caught our train to Munich this morning at 7 am and now here we are. Last load of laundry is being washed right now for the rest of the trip. I will have to get pictures up when we reach Cologne, or I find a different computer around here. More later!
Our trip from Llubljana to Budapest can best be summed up thusly: We got on a train. We got off the train. We got on a bus. We got off the bus. We got on a train. We got off the train. We got on another train. We got off the train. We got on a bus. We got off the bus. We got on another train. We arrived in Budapest. 4 trains and 2 buses later we actually made it to our destination. I was incredibly dumb and didnt bring any food or water for the entire day, thinking that our trains would be like all the other ones we went on that had cafe cars. Little did I know we would be traveling on the 3rd world express through the "ass of Hungary" with no food or water for 9 hours.
So, after our lovely trip to Budapest we arrived at the station near where we needed to be and we began our walk making our way to Blazes grandmothers house (recall that Blaze is Hungarian). Since we were near starvation we stopped at a crepe place along the way and I allowed Blaze to order for me. I ended up with what could best be described as a large snot ball on a plate, which would have probably been repulsing had I not been in the condition I was. I inhaled it.
Soon we finally made it to Blazes grandmothers. This is where things started to get better. His grandmother is a wonderfully coherent little old lady who was very nice and was a pleasure to meet. Even though I didnt understand a word of the conversation I felt that I absorbed some of this womans positive energy after we left, and was already in a better mood. She gave us the keys to the 1 bedroom flat that would be our resting place for the next 3 days, as well as a bag
containing everything needed for several salami sandwiches. We found the place we were staying , made some sandwiches and just kind of sat on the couch dazed for a couple minutes before making our plans for the evening. The flat was perfect for us, 2 beds, a kitchen, a balcony, full clean bathroom and shower, plus it was free for me. Thank you Khoor family.
This is the point in the trip where I began to be dipped, or drowned, in Hungarian culture and language. Blazes friend Adam came over to pick us up and I was soon inundated with constant flurries of Hungarian. Their language is very different than anything I have heard on this trip so far, and it is hard to compare to any other language that I know of. It sounds kind of nice and flows pretty well, but trying to read it is like looking at pure gibberish. Anyways, Adam is a really nice dude. On Friday night, us 3 walked around the castle district, went to a club called Rumkat, and crossed the bridge over to Pest and we to another club called Gda, meaning "The Pit" or something like that. It was all very overwhelmingly spectacular. On the ramparts of the castle you can get an amazing view of the city at nightime. Budapest is actually 2 sections, Buda and Pest, separated by the Danube river and as a whole surrounded by mountains. I got a very clear picture of this while looking out from the castle. Adam then pointed to some spot in the distance and said "this is where we go tonight". So, off went went to check out the Hungarian nightlife on a Friday night. It didnt disappoint. I dont know how to describe it, but the vibe there is just different. Everyone is definitely more friendly than in the USA, as usual, but you get the feeling that you arent in the far West anymore. The club Rumkat was outside and they served big bottles of beer and played some crazy type of house music. We had a great time that night and ended crashing around 4 am, totally and thoroughly exhausted.
The next day was spent seeing alot of the sights around Budapest. We saw the parliament building, the basilica in the middle of the city, and the commercial district in Pest. This was also the first day that we didnt have to worry about becoming disgustingly sweaty after walking for 6 minutes outside. It was blustery and cool with a nice cloud cover that allowed us to have a much better walking endurance thus cover alot of ground. All of the sites were very impressive, of course we climbed the basilica and got some great views of the whole city. Pictures will have to wait however since this computer runs Linux and the camera wont connect properly...
That night, Adam took us to a house party of some of his friends in the area. It was a very international bunch of people, some Germans, Americans, locals. Alot of people speak English to some degree around here so I was able to communicate pretty good. I met an American who plays football for the Budapest Cowboys. He played for a DIII school in college in the states, got a job as a lineman in Tokyo, Japan, played in Germany for a short while, then took a temporary assignment in Hungary that was supposed to last only a few months, until he met a girl and now he has been in Budapest for 2 years and plans on getting married. Go Budapest Cowboys! After hanging out at the house party for a couple hours, a group of us headed over to a place called club A38. It is actually a boat on the Danube river, however. There was a line out the door and they werent letting people in, but someone with us knew someone important and we got in. At this point nothing could surprise me. I am on a boat in Hungary, hanging out with football players, locals, and friends from home, drinking Lowenbrau and dancing to European techno. Fun times.
Day 3 in Budapest started out with a nice lunch cooked by Adams mom. We went to their place on the outskirts of the city, in the mountainous area. The porch had an amazing view and the food was great. After that, Adam showed us some cool places near where his parents house was. One was an airfield where glider planes flew and landed. After that, Adam left us and Blaze and I saw pretty much the rest of the city. We visited the park area that is on a hill overlooking the city. More spectacular pictures to come as usual. That night, we just kind of took it easy. We did have an awesome dinner at a restaurant right next to the Danube river. I had gulyaslevesz, the essential Hungarian soup dish. They really love to use paprika in everything here, by the way. The food was really awesome and it was good to hang out with Adam one last time before we left. After the dinner, we drove up to some mountainous area that was pretty far removed from the city. We went out to some ledge that overlooked the entire valley containing Budapest, the Danube and everything. On such a clear night the view was so awesome and you could get a sense of scale for the massive city. It was easy to pick out the main landmarks, even though they looked like tiny dots. One thing that was cool was that all the lights and objects in the city in the distance seemed to be shimmering and flickering. This was not because the lights were actually moving or flickering, but it was actually the visual distortion effect that the rising heat from the city had on a massive scale. Pretty cool.
We caught our train to Munich this morning at 7 am and now here we are. Last load of laundry is being washed right now for the rest of the trip. I will have to get pictures up when we reach Cologne, or I find a different computer around here. More later!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Day 11-14 Florence, Venice, Llubljana
View from the top of the tower of the castle in Llubljana
View from the tower of the castle in Llubljana
View from the top of the castle on Llubljana
View from the church on the island at Lake Bled
The island with the church at Lake Bled
Me rowing the silly dingy boat on Lake Bled. Check out the beard haha.
The castle on top of a hill in Lake Bled
Blaze looking cheerful on the dock at Lake Bled
Lake Bled, on the island in the middle of the lake.
Venice
Venice
Bridge in Venice
The fresco painting inside Il Duomo
A very old hostpital in Siena.
Piazza del Campo
It has been a whirlwind of a few days. Yesterday, we were in Florence when we woke up, Venice in the afternoon, and Llubljana (pronounced something like "loobyahna", Slovenia at about 1am this morning via train. Our last couple days in Florence were really great. I am definitely leaving a piece of myself in that city. I even started learning some basic Italian and was able to ask basic questions and order food etc after 4 days of being there. We ate again at Nuti our last night and it was once again awesome. On our last day we actually climbed Il Duomo and saw some of the other must-see sights of the city. We basically took it easy our last couple nights thought, just kind of soaking it all in and mentally preparing for the travel-by-train assault that was about to come.
Yesterday, like I mentioned, was very fast paced. We left Florence by train at around 9am and arrived in Venice around 12:30. When I first stepped foot off the train station into the city, I thought I was in some sort of Italian disneyland. There is no way that this place can be considered a practical city. More like a tourist play-land with a few good sites and definitely some good vistas fitted into it. It was incredibly hot as we started out on our usual trek/grind throughout the city.
We ate at a funny restaurant right along one of the canals. There was a little chihuahua dog that was basically the sentinel watch for the entrance to the interior of the restaurant. Almost every woman that walked by would ooo and ahh and pet the dog. Once, a fellow that knew the employees of the restaurant was walking past and he yelled hello to everyone inside and kept on walking. The dog started yipping and growling furiously, and the waiter said "le ofeso! le ofeso!" meaning "you offend him, you offend him!" The walking man then had to acknowledge the dog with an offering of hand to nose and after that he walked off and the little sensitive dog was silent and satisfied. Pretty funny.
We then walked along the grand canal, saw some cool churches and went to the main plaza of the city. It was all quite scenic, but you can notice the extra wear that all the moisture and other complications that arrive from being practically right on the sea have on all the buildings and statues. Venice is a very pretty town and a cool place, but I'm glad we didnt spend more than 8 hours there. Its all you need.
Around 8pm we returned, stinky and stickier than ever, to the train station to catch our 9pm night train to Llubjlana. We rode in some really old rickety cars, sat next to an old man and another young backpacker, and arrived in Llubljana around 1am. Luckily the hostel was very close to the train station and we were able to cash in around 1:30.
Today was amazing! Slovenia has a totally different feel to it than any of the other places we have been to so far. It has a much more alpine feel, the air is cooler and cleaner, the smell of the mountains. This morning we took a bus to Lake Bled. What a beautiful place. I feel totally refreshed from visiting such a clean, crisp, green and blue place after being in bustling cities for so long. There was actually buoyed race course for rowing regattas on the lake! How I would love to row in that kind of a lake... We did end up renting a small row boat and took it out to the island with church in the middle of the lake. We performed the obligatory ring of the church bell, I made a wish =).
After we arrived back in Llubljana, we visited Llubljanski Grad (Llubljana castle). We have pretty much climbed everything we could in every place we have been so far, and this was no exception. The tower on top of the castle provided the most exceptional vista so far on this trip, in my opinion. After getting the view from up there, you can get an idea of the geographical situation that Llubljana is in. It is basically situated in a very large valley with mountains on all sides. The alps are to the north. I am pretty sure you would have to calculate curvature of the earth in determing the amount of distance we were able to see in all directions from the top of that tower...It was incredible.
Well we just showered up after a long day and are planning to meet up with my sister's friend and former teamate, Ana. She is from and lives in Llubljana and is going to take us out for dinner and drinks and will show us around tonight. Its nice knowing people in different places of the world =). Tomorrow, its off to Budapest. Each day, I continute to break the record for the furthest east I have ever been. After Budapest, we essentially turn around and start heading back, but there is much more to do and see awaiting us, of course.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Day 10 - Florence
Ciao folks! Yes, it is a greeting also. I really love Florence. I feel like I have seen so much in a 24 hour period that I simply had to write about it soon or else I would forget some of it. First of all, the town is very small and much more compact that anything we have seen so far. It sits nice and snug in a valley-like area with beautiful green mountains visible on two sides. I have to say, Italy is eerily similar to what I expected it to be. The people are very animated, the food (at least what we have tried thus far) is fantastic, the setting is very intimate, the scenery is beautiful. Anyone who climbs to the top of one of the old towers, or a relatively high roof for that matter, is afforded an absolutely amazing view of the entire city in all directions. Luckily, the hostel we are staying in has roof access and even has a little bar and lounge on the top of the roof. Last night, we drank a beer up there around 8 pm just as the sun was setting. I have some spectacular long-exposure pictures of the sunset and the city. Il Duomo seemed to reflect more light than the surrounding cityscape and emitted a deep gold glow that stood out fantastically in the skyline.
We started our trek into the city around 9pm. The hostel is situated in the nortwest corner of the city, easily within walking distance of the city center and all the main sights. On the way to the Ponte Vecchio bridge, we passed all sorts of great restaurants and outdoor cafes. We ended up eating pizza at Piazza de Signoria, one of the most famous plazas in all of Italy. There is a replica "David" statute in the square as well as other impressive buildings. The pizza was delicioso! I ordered pizza with Iberian sausage and peppers, Blaze ordered proscuitto pizza and we each had a half of each. It was alllll good.
We did end up finding the Lion's Fountain Irish Pub, the place Amanda recommended to me. It was quite an experience and we met a few new people also. It is a bar to the east of the city center near one of the bridges that crosses the river. Lots of good beers on tap and it was true that the crowd was mainly tourists, with some Italian locals sprinkled in there. I amazed myself by actually getting up the courage to go and talk to a group of Italian girls. I thought they were American from a distance but when I went up and said hello I figured out that they were all actually Italian... Only one spoke good english but after a pint or two of Guinness the language barrier becomes less of an obstacle. They told me some good things to see and actually added to the todo list that Amanda gave me. We also met some guys that were on tour with the Cambridge University Choir. They were performing in Florence and Siena and told us the time and date for tomorrow and we hope to go since it will be a free show. We also met two Australian girls who have moved to Florence permanently to start a study abroad coordination business. Its so cool, the people you meet.
In alot of these cities we have seen street vendors that sell knock off goods. They lay out all their goods which are typically purses or sunglasses on a large white blanket that has handles on the end, and are usually Africans. It is illegal to sell knock off goods so these guys are always very hyper alert. It turns out that what they do when police come by is in one swoop they pick up their blanket and all the goods inside, sling it over their shoulder, and run like hell. We saw it happen last night as we were walking through Florence, all the sudden about 8 or 9 guys with big white sacks over their shoulders came thundering down a side street making weird warning sounds, I presume for other vendors in the area. Anything to make a buck, right?
Yesterday we did alot of hiking around the city. We saw all the major sites including Il Duomo, Ponte Vecchio bridge, Piazza de Signoria, and we also went across the river and up the hill that overlooks the city. Up top there we bought a small bottle of wine and sat on some stairs that overlook the city and drank our wine. Beats working! We went back down into the city and ate at a restaurant called "Nuti". It. Was. Amazing. We ordered brushcetta antipasti and I had tortellini alla medici for my main course. I am definitely experienced in matters culinary and have tried all sorts of food but I was immediately impressed and in love after the first bite. I have never tasted anything like that before.
Today we took a day trip to Siena. The town reminded me much of Toledo, Spain. It was very small and compact, but full of history and cool sights. We saw Piazza del Campo, site of the famous horse race that occurs every year. We also saw the 4th tallest cathedral in the world. Lots of good picks to come.
Tomorrow we plan on doing the actual touristy type stuff, to climb Il Duomo and see the Uffizi. The day after tomorrow, we take a train to Venice. I may not be able to post for a couple days after this so sit tight! Ciao!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Day 9 - Barcelona to Florence
I am going to keep this one short. We just arrived at our hostel in Florence, Italy. After spending 3 nights in a row in 3 different yet somehow the worst hostels ever in Barcelona, the hostel here is like a paradise. We desperately needed to do laundry and there are laundry facilities on site, as well as a restaurant and a pool, plus the rooms have air conditioning! (Giant sigh of relief...)
Our last couple days in Barcie were really fun however. Our last hostel was right off of Las Ramblas, the main artery of the downtown city area. We visited some more with our friends from Florida and had some good food and drinks in the downtown area. My final impressions of Barcelona were quite good. The city is clean, beautiful, the layout makes it easy to get around plus all the public transportation services are very good. It is a very international city compared to Valencia and Madrid, which felt much more like a Spanish culture majority. The language in Barcelona is Catalan, a mixture of French and Spanish that can make it somewhat hard to get around. We unfortunately didn't make any new friends on this leg of the trip, but it was very nice to hang out with some old ones that we hadn' seen for a while. I wish all the best of luck to Rachel, Anne, and Whitney as they pursue their English teaching certification and enjoy the Barcelona city lifestyle!
I will put up some pictures later, hopefully after tomorrow when we get some good shots of Florence. My friend Amanda, who lived in Florence for 13 weeks during a study abroad program, prepared a list of "must see" items for me. Tonight, we seek the Lions Fountain which is supposedly a cool bar area where alot of students and Americans hang out. More later!
Our last couple days in Barcie were really fun however. Our last hostel was right off of Las Ramblas, the main artery of the downtown city area. We visited some more with our friends from Florida and had some good food and drinks in the downtown area. My final impressions of Barcelona were quite good. The city is clean, beautiful, the layout makes it easy to get around plus all the public transportation services are very good. It is a very international city compared to Valencia and Madrid, which felt much more like a Spanish culture majority. The language in Barcelona is Catalan, a mixture of French and Spanish that can make it somewhat hard to get around. We unfortunately didn't make any new friends on this leg of the trip, but it was very nice to hang out with some old ones that we hadn' seen for a while. I wish all the best of luck to Rachel, Anne, and Whitney as they pursue their English teaching certification and enjoy the Barcelona city lifestyle!
I will put up some pictures later, hopefully after tomorrow when we get some good shots of Florence. My friend Amanda, who lived in Florence for 13 weeks during a study abroad program, prepared a list of "must see" items for me. Tonight, we seek the Lions Fountain which is supposedly a cool bar area where alot of students and Americans hang out. More later!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Day 7 - Barcelona
View from Gondola
Montjuic with Barcelona in background, including the last three remaining columns from medieval wall
Gondola with Barcelona in background
Castle on top of Montjuic
Looking down at the port from Montjuic
Panorama of Barcelona from Montuic 
View from atop the cafe from below
VSee the cafe at the top of the park...we went up there
Port of Barcelona
Port of Barcelona
Me in front of Sagrada Familia, represeting with my FSU shirt
Sagrada familia
Las Ramblas
ValenciaJust woke up to the sound of dueling saxophones. The rough pattern of the sheets imprinted on my skin. Today was our second day in Barcelona and it turned out to be a beautiful one for pictures and sight-seeing. We rambled down Las Ramblas street all the way to the port, climbed up to the top of Montjuic park, rode the gondola back down. Sorry for not posting for the past 3 days, we have not had alot of down time.
Our last day in Valencia was very nice. We visited the beach, walked barefoot along the mediterraen for a few minutes and ate some paella near the water. On our last night there we went out for a couple beers and ended up getting lost in the again maze-like streets. We tried to find our way back but only succeeded in getting further lost. Eventually we just decided to take a taxi back to our street and it turned out we were almost halfway across the city in a bad section of town, haha. Valencia was a very gorgeous city, but the vibe there was just different. We think it is more of a vacation town, and the people seemed a little less friendly than they did in Madrid. It was also a Monday and Tuesday night, so not as much was going on. Our hostel was also very loud at night and we didn´t get much sleep. It was really cool to see and I got some good pictures but I was glad to get out of there.
The train to Barcelona went past some really nice sights. It basically follows the coast all the way to Barcelona, and we got some great views of the Mediterranean and of some nice Spanish villas and houses along the way. We arrived in Barcelona yesterday morning around 11, checked into out hostel and began our trek. The first stop was the Sagrada Familia Temple, partially designed by the famous architect Gaudi. Do they ever love Gaudi around here. The name manages to pop up everywhere you go. The temple kind of looks like a giant drooping mud castle from a distance, but once you get up close, you see the intricate detail of all the carved figures and you start to understand the geometry and design behind it, it is very surreal and hard to describe. Its too bad it was still under contruction and there were cranes and blocked off areas and materials all over the place, marring the image.
I also realized something - I haven´t talked about food much yet! Last night we had a feast of epic proportions. We met up with our friend Rachel and her roomates last night. They are from our hometown of Jacksonville, FL, and recently moved to Barcelona to get a certification to teach English in Spain. They are living in the main center of the city and are taking classes and teaching English at the same time. We met them in the Catalunya plaza near the city center and went to eat at a nice hole in the wall place off one of the side roads. Around here, ¨tapas¨are popular. They are basically small portions of one thing, meant to be ordered in groups to form your whole meal, or to enjoy with a drink on the side. For our meal, each one of us ordered a single tapa and we also ordered a double dose of seafood paella for all to share. First came the tapas: steamed mussels, grilled spinach, grilled shrimp con allioli, sauteed wild mushrooms, and something else amazing that I forgot. After the tapas comes a giant pot of paella. It all tasted delicious and by the time it was all gone we were all quite satisfied. We walked around a little bit longer with Rachel and her friends and finally cashed in around 1:30 to a sauna-like hostel with no air conditioning or fan.
This morning we moved our stuff to a new hostel and soon thereafter began our next trek. Check out the pictures of the view from Montjuic! Wow! Excellent panorama views of the sea, the city, and everything from up there. We also had a ¨cafe con leche¨from a cafe up near the top of the park, an excellent view of the entire city.
Well, like I said earlier, I just woke up from a nice nap after walking about 20 miles, again. Time to shower up and get ready to go out tonight for some more tapas and drinks and sights! Last day in Barcelona tomorrow before we fly to Florence, Italy.
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