Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Back in the States

This is just a quick post saying I arrived safely back in New York City yesterday afternoon. I plan on posting some final thoughts and photos sometime in the next day or two. So stay tuned for a just a bit longer.

Posted by: Jordan
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Monday, August 24, 2009

Farewell Europe

Sitting at my last hostel, early in the morning due to lack of the ability to sleep, this is going to be a long day. But I'm super excited to going home, which might explain the lacking of sleep.

Let recap the past few days.

After Amsterdam I made my way over to Brussels in Belgium. I wasn't expecting much from the city as, honestly, I went there more so to catch my train back to London than to sight see. But instead I became cativated once more by an interesting mix of ecclectic architecture, a tourist culture, delicious waffles, beer, and chocolate. I made sure that while I was in Belgium to have the cliché waffel (it was tasty), get some good chocolate, and amply sample thier amazing beer. I'm a bit sad that I won't be able to get good Belgium beer for the price I did there, as they had plenty of amazing options. Oh well.

The city was fun to walk around, I feel as though a good bit of the city wasn't much to see, but occasionally I'd just stumble upon a a gem. In my wonderings I managed to stumble upon an large outdoor concert, a mini carnival, and an outdoor rave/dance party that filled a small park. It's always amazing just how many things go on at any one point in time across big cities.

I made a bit of time, the day of my departure to London, to swing by the Magritte museum. It was a cool museum filled with just his work. A lot of his artwork doesn't exactly make sense to me, but then again who knows what was going on in that mans head.

Anyways, coming back to London was almost like returning to a home I left long ago. I got into the city, was briefly outraged at the 4 pound fare for a single metro ride, and felt a sense of familiarity. It was good to be back in city that I had some previous knowledge of, as much as I do enjoy exploring new cities.

I had my 'buffer day' yesterday, I put it in there in case something went wrong with transportaion from Belgium the day before. It was spent meandering through familiar sights and sounds in London. As well as seeing a few new things. I briefly popped into the national gallery, and even though I had visited it before, it was like seeing a whole new museum. Partly because I had forgotten everything that was in it (not that I could ever remember) and partly because I now have a much better sense of what periods and people that I like.

I also managed to catch some odd performances in one of the sqaures. Ok, well one of them was odd, as I was an art performance with bizzare concepts, paper people, and a small shed that had a huge face behind it's doors (and a giant inflatable arm). Yep, no idea what was going on. The other act was a lot more fun as it was a mix between Austin powers, British comedy, and a magic act. I use the term magic act loosely, as there weren't any actual illusions performed. Entertaining none the less.

Well, it's now offto breakfast, then off to the airport. Next update from stateside! As well as a good photo post, seeing as how I've not been able to do one of those lately.

Europe out.

Posted by: Jordan
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Thursday, August 20, 2009

Revenge of the Bicycles

Currently I'm relaxing in a huge library located in Amsterdam. After several days of walking around the city, it is so nice to sit down in AC for a while. Especially since it is a hot day today (so much for it getting cooler as I went North). Funny thing is that this library probably has one of the best overlooking views of the city (and free Internet usage).

Anyways, onto the city itself.

One of the first things I noticed upon stepping off the train, almost being run down by a tram, several (hundred) bicycles, and hundreds of tourists, was that it was filled with canals. Now I knew there were canals in Amsterdam, I just wasn't expecting so many. The whole city has a northern version of Venice feeling. Except whereas in Venice all you needed to look out for were bipeds, now I have to deal with bipeds, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trams, and buses. Let me walk you through the process of crossing a street in Amsterdam.

First you walk across the most treacherous part, the bicycle lane. If anyone was the least willing to stop for you, it is the cyclists, they will run you down in cold blood. After deftly maneuvering through the bike lane, its onto the first lane of traffic. This is the easy part, as cars will stop for you and are generally good at following traffic laws. Next you have to cross two tracks of tram lines, since there are no lights indicating if they are lurking around the corner or not, you have to scoot across as fast as possible and hope one does not pop out of nowhere. But not only do you have to worry about trams, all of the public transit (buses and taxis) also use the tram line lanes. After narrowly avoiding death for the second time it's the easy process of crossing normal traffic. But alas, what is on the other side of the traffic but . . . a bike lane. Maybe I should explain that bike lanes are for all kinds of bikes (it seems), you have you standard issue two-pedal-machine-of-death, then (as if that wasn't deadly enough) there is the motorized version. Yep, it appears that mopeds and motorcycles are also allowed to use the bike lane, and they feel free to hop between that and the regular traffic lane. So thus, after narrowly avoiding death 3 times (regular traffic is mild compared to the other two) a street in Amsterdam has been crossed.

Ok, maybe it's not that bad, but I wouldn't want to tango with the cyclists. Amsterdam does have more bicycles than residents, 80,000 of which are stolen each year, and 25,000 of which are dragged out of the canals each year. Yep, a true biking city, filled to the brim with deadly bike lanes. The scene outside of the train station truly is amazing, just in the pure number of bikes that are locked up outside of it.

The second thing I noticed upon my arrival to Amsterdam, was that many of the buildings took about as laid back approach to being buildings as the city of Amsterdam has to a lot of things. Yep, the buildings sag a little here and there and many of them have decided to leisurely lean on their next door neighbor. Some are a little more brave and lean out into the street, away from the support of their nearby friends. Now some of the buildings where intentionally built to lean out over the street a bit (to assist with lifting valuables and stores up to the non flood worthy floors), but it's evident when you see one doing it's own thing. It's fun to take note as I have walked along the streets, and have found plenty of them to keep me entertained.

While here, I've only really seen two museums, the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum. Both of them excellent museums. The Van Gogh museum held an impressive number of his paintings, including(of course) several of his masterpieces. Unfortunately of the three floors of the museum, his stuff only took up the first. But it was well worth it anyways. The Rijksmuseum was impressive, just for the fact that only a small section of their collection was available due to construction, but they managed to cram a ton of worthwhile artwork onto one floor. This time I got to see Rembrandt's work change as he aged, always nice to see the chronicling of an artists work.

I also went on a free tour here in Amsterdam. I feel as though I should receive some medal from the company that puts it on. I went to every one that it offered in Europe besides Hamburg (a city I had originally planned on visiting). Still, while not all the cities, I'm pretty darn-tooting close. Anyways, as per usual the tour was entertaining and pretty good (not as good as the last two though).

I've spent my evenings quietly though, as I'm just exhausted. No matter how much sleep I get, I'm just exhausted at the end of the day now. I believe it's a sign that I'm good to go home (only 3 days till I fly), traveling for 3 months has been a blast, and I've seen so many things. I think I just need to get back to some stability (and a good bed), sort it all out, and let my body rest.

So I grabbed a good old supermarket dinner last night, and just sat by the canal side. Probably one of the better nights in a while, as the people watching was superb. While sitting, eating my dinner and sampling random beers (labels were in a different language), I saw a lot of things. I counted several boats with grills going on them, one of the best ideas ever. I would love to spend an evening with family and friends, slowly drifting through canals, with fresh steaks (or hamburgers) grilling. There were many dinner-boats (touristy), many tourists with rental pedal boats. It was always fun watching them nearly get run over by the locals, since many didn't exactly adhere to the traffic rules of boats. There were many party boats, with blasting music and locals getting their groove on. I saw several boats that, by all means, should not still be floating. But I guess that if I lived here, I would take whatever I had that could float, out on the water. I even saw an inflatable dingy.

All in all, it was an excellent night of people watching, and I intend to do it again tonight.

So Amsterdam has been nice, casual and laid back. I'm off to Brussels tomorrow, and from there, London the day after.

Posted by: Jordan
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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Berlin

Berlin, while not filled with tons of old buildings (due to 70% of it being destroyed in WWII), has a sense of history that is just as strong as any city filled with old architecture. It feel more pressing and relevant than other cities. This might have something to do with the amount of history that has happened in recent history. The signs of it's recently turbulent history is readily evident. From the little green man telling you to cross at cross walks, to the east gallery consisting of artwork on 1.4km of the Berlin wall, to the patchwork of new cement to fill in bullet holes on the surviving structures.

It is a new city, and construction is evident everywhere. There has been a building boom in recent history, so the center is very modern. This is set against the grungy, graffiti filled buildings of the east. All very neat to walk around. And walk around a lot I did.

I got into Berlin late afternoon, too late to see any museums, so I set out from my hostel (consisting of a bar downstairs with dorms above) to see what I could find. Immediately I stumbled upon the giant TV tower, a sight that I realized could be seen from just about any point in the city. This was convenient since my hostel was only a few blocks away from it, this I could lose myself and all I would need to do is head towards the giant TV tower. From there I headed down the main drag, checking out any building that piqued my interest. Finally I stumbled upon a concert, of all things. There was a festival in one of the main plazas celebrating Berlins hosting of the 2009 IAAS athletic competitions. I was excited because it looked like a band with a small orchestra, always a good deal. I was not prepared for the lighthearted affair that followed. It was truly tacky, if you can even use that word to describe music. Maybe it's something about Europeans, they loved it, I could only stand one song and I was out. Then again it makes sense with the Germans love for David Hasselhof (which I learned he sang swinging from a crane when the Berlin wall came down). Overall not a bad introduction to the city.

I filled my second day with museum visiting, as there was a cluster of museums connected in the Kultureforum. Only one was really worth visiting, from the ones I visited. After getting my fill of Dutch 14-18th art, and Rembrandt. I went off to climb the glass globe that crowned the German parliament. Along the way I stumbled back upon the square with he concerts. I watched a bit of an American performer and then a group from a country in Africa (I wish I could remember the name). The concerts were being sponsored by different counties, so there were a variety of acts over the course of the week. I caught a group of Shaolin Monks showing off their moves. Funny thing was that only two of the ten or so performers looked to be of Asian descent, the rest could have been all American as far as I could tell. But they put on a good performance demonstrating various fighting styles, including the drunken style (always entertaining).

But yes, the parliament. What a building. While the outside facades where original, the whole place had been gutted and a new modern interior installed. On the roof they had added a glass dome that gave a both a look into the main debate rooms, but also a panoramic view of the city. The best part was that it was free. I'm always a fan of viewpoints that are free. And it had a good audio guide that talked about a bit of the history of the building and some of the scenery that could be seen. And while it took almost an hour to get into the building, I was entertained by a group of American students with their eccentric teacher. Burnt red bald head, with a huge white beard, he was truly a character. I also got an excellent front row seat to one of his students doing an excellent Michael Jackson impression. It's good when those around you are entertaining, when stuck in a long line.

Yesterday I went on another excellent free tour. I got a good bit of history about Berlin, and some fun facts. A good at to fill the first half of my day. Although it was sad to see how some points of interest had been touristified to the extreme, leaving little desire in me to see the point of interest. It's always sad to see something of importance in history filled with tourist traps on all side. At the same time it was interesting to see just how the Berlin treated it's own history. While there is a $27 million memorial to the Jews killed, they have chosen to bury other parts of their history. Like the bunker of Hitler, where he killed himself. It is now sealed off, located 15 meters below an in use dirt parking lot. Only a small sign tells of what is located in that area. It makes sense in the fact that a sight like that is to grave to become touristy and all significance lost (like many of the other touristy sights). So better to make it completely inaccessible.

Berlin is full of interesting history, and the way it is presented (or not) is very interesting as well.

Anyway, after the tour I went to the long gallery along a section of the Berlin wall. I was expecting amazing works of graffiti and wall paintings, by alas most pieces where rather disappointing. I know thy the point was an expression by an international art crowd of the fall of the wall and reunification of Germany, but looking at it from an artistic perspective a lot of the artwork wasn't that great. Oh well, it gave me a nice stroll.

I spent my dinner (a chicken burrito from a chic food joint) at a park people watching. And what an entertaining bunch. I had a huge group of goth and punk teens around me, a set of kids break dancing and stepping (showing off for the girls), little kids running through the fountains timing it just right to not get wet, and several dogs playing catch in the fountain. It was good for a few hours of entertainment.

Well less than a week left till I fly back. Today is my last Tuesday in Europe, and I'm on way to my last big city before I go to London to fly out, Amsterdam. It's exciting and weird to be getting to the end of traveling. What seemed like a long time at the beginning has gone by rather fast (looking back). I've been away from home for 3 months, a quarter of a year. But I'm looking forward to seeing family and friends. As great as it is meeting people along the way, I'm a bit tired of the one or two day friends of traveling, and look forward to seeing people that will be around for a while.

Well, that's all for now.

Posted by: Jordan
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Saturday, August 15, 2009

Prague mash up

I just finished three nights in Prague. What a great city. It was just about everything that I expected. Just not quite as cheap as people were saying. I think that has a bit to do with the economy and the touristy sections growing outward. It was harder to find the good deals (they were there, but few and far between. But none the less, still one of the cheapest cities I've been to (Granada and Naples were some others).

But oh, where to start, the architecture or the beer.

I'll start with the architecture. I spent most of my time in the city just walking around exploring the many side streets, and buildings spread throughout the various quarters (old city, new city, little city, and the Jewish quarter). Almost all the buildings were decorated lavishly in one style or another. Next to a baroque building you could have an Gothic exterior, and next to that one an art nouveau exterior. It truly was a mash up of epic proportions. This each building on the street was distinguished from another by the style and decoration in which it was adorned. In fact I spent most of my time walking around looking up at. And while Vienna had been a clean, white, spic and span, I like to say that Prague had a layer of dirt and dust on everything. Of course not a bad thing, and only a generalization, as it only added to the charm of the city.

A lot of the city is quite old, considering that most of it was untouched by the wars. One of the few evidences of the war was a park in the main square where a building stood previously, only it's bell tower and elaborate clock remained. There seems to be a trend going with large clocks that have animatronics, puppets that move and spin on the hour. Munich had one of these, and much like that city, people would gather on the hour when the "event" was to occur, watch a really cheesy performance (we are talking about wooden sculptures that just spin in a circle for the most part), and for some odd reason would applaud afterwards. The applause is the part that always got me. I almost wanted to get on a mid and thank them for coming, then letting them know that these tireless performers would be back to do just the same the next hour. If they wished for an encore they could come back then.

I do have to admit, I did do the touristy thing and watch these events. But I did not clap for the wooden puppets.

My visit to Prague was overwhelmed by concert fliers, as, it seems at any point in time at least a million where going on across the city in every church and space available. You choices included a limited we of options of Mozart's requiem, The four seasons, and other standard fare. I fought through the assault of fliers and emerged unscathed. As, while some of the concerts were tempting, they were overpriced for what they offered. I only the symphony orchestra was playing, then I could get the quality I wanted at a price that works. But alas, it seems that the orchestra and opera take breaks in July and August. Oh well.

I spent yesterday exploring Prague castle. Which was a bit of a disappointment, and a rip off. The ticket I bought, which I though offered more, gave me admission to a one room hall (which did have a really near ceiling), a one room renaissance church, an isle of buildings that just contained tourist shops, and a "vineyard" that was apparently already free to see. Yep, that ticket could have bought an amazing dinner. Oh well. It was all saved by the cathedral (which was free), St. Vitus. And what a cathedral it was, I think one of the most beautiful ones I've been in, in a long time. That might have had a lot to do with the first impression that I got of the interior. Re sun was shining directly through the rose window at the entrance of the church, washing the floor and columns in a glowing mass of color. It was perfect.

The cathedral also contained an art nouveau window by Mucha, whose museum I went to on the previous day. You may not know who he is, but if you run an image search on the Internet for his name, you should recognize his work. He is considered one of the fathers of that art movement. The museum was fun, although a bit small, only filling two rooms with prints and sketches. But it was great none the less.

One of the main attractions, and centerpieces of the Jewish district was their graveyard. A mess of built up uneven earth, and tombstones placed one in front of another. They had only a small plot of land to bury their dead, so everything was piled on top of another, and as it's all settled over time, the ground has grown uneven and the stones have shifted in all directions. It's quite a staggering scene to see. I have to admit that didn't buy a ticket to see it (yes they charge you for seeing a graveyard, by it does include a few other buildings and memorials). While walled off, there were enough viewpoints to get a good look at it all.

Other than that, I went on an excellent tour of the city. Probably one of the best tours I've been on so far. That and I found an awesome lunch deal during my break, with a 1lt soda and three open faced sandwiches for only 69ck (about $3.80). I found some other awesome deals as well, stumbling upon a little hold in the wall bar/restaurant that had a dinner menu consisting of soup, goulash with dumplings, and apple strudel dessert. When I added beer (only 29ck, $1.80 for a pint) and coffee, the whole thing came to less than $11. Pretty awesome for a full meal, with amazing beer. It's true, the beer in Prague is very good and more potent than others (10-12%). Whereas in Italy my goal was to have a different gelato everyday, a different chocolate bar in Switzerland, in Prague it was to try a different beer. And try I did. It's almost sad leaving that I won't find beer that good for that price anytime soon.

So hearty food, good beer, a relatively cheap budget, and amazing architecture pretty much sum up Prague for me. I'm thinking I will need to do an eastern Europe trip in the future, and Prague will have to be visited again.

Posted by: Jordan
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Vienna

What a difference a few months make. I just passed a field of sunflowers (on the train) and gone was the bright yellow color of the fields that I saw earlier on my trip. The bright flowers are now heavy and bent over, hiding thier brilliant yellow hue. Well, if they aren't nice to look at, at least they will be good to eat. Mmmm.

Well now to recap Vienna.

What a beautiful city. It's packed with more white and off buildings, palaces and museums, shopping and eateries than I've seen in a while. Once you enter the old city area it's just one building after another filled with architectural delights, from baroque to art noveau to pop art, it's all there in one form or another. And while the color scheme of the buildings arn't teribly exciting (I would generalize it as vanilla), the architecture makes up for it. This is so different from the towns in Italy, filled with square plain buildings but decorated in brightly constrasting colors. This white gives the city a very clean appearance throughout the old city. I spent a good chunk of time just wondering the stone streets, and I've done a lot more walking as of late beacuse I decided to walk everywhere if possible instead of taking the transit. I figured it would give me more of a chance to really see the cities. This is very different from London when I started (and took the metro to get everywhere).

Vienna is packed full of musuems and palaces. It would take months to see it all I feel. As is, I only got around to 4 musuems in the 3 nights I was there. On the day I arrived I visited a museum with one of the largests collections in be world (it had something like 50,000 pieces, all of the masters, etc.). The problem is that they only have a small space available for showing the artwork, so you only see a very small chunk of it (they switch it up every few months). And thus I only saw a small chunk of what they had (a little dissapointing if you ask me). The next two museums where excellent. Day two I visited one of the palaces, which housed a large art collection, including two rooms of Klimt's artwork (the big draw for me). This museum was much more of what I was looking for, and took up a good chunk of the day. And yesterday I visited the Kunsthistoricas (I think that's how it's spelled), which blew me away. It had two and a half rooms of Rubens, a room of Rembrants, tons of other masters, and most importantly several works by Caravagio. It was almost overwheming, and I think I spent at least 4 hours there. It was one of the best art museums that I've been to so far. In seeing these three art museums, I just barely scratched the surface. They have a whole museum district with a bevy of museums in one little area. There were museums in each of the palaces spread across the city. And of course on top of all the art spread throughout the city, there is music events going on all over the place, all the time. I kind of wished I had arrived a day earlier as I could have caught the Vienna boys choir. But alas, I guess I will just have to come back as there is just so much to see.

I also visited a music museum, which sounded kind of cool in the guides. The problem was that most the equipment in there, to learn about and play with sound, was several years (5-10) out of date. Or at least that's what it felt like. It was aimed at a younger age group as well, but did have an informative composer section. Oh well, you hit some good, some not so great, and some middle of the line museums.

Other than hitting those museums, it was the usual business of wondering aimlessly about and running into churches and interesting buildings. The main catherdral was quite interesting, and there were many more packed within the city center, so it was hard not to run into them. I managed to catch a few organ rehearsals, which helped me to stop, sit, relax and listen for a while. The streets where filled with plenty of musical acts, and I caught the big screen version of Carmina Burana. Thus my visit to Vienna was aptly filled with music and art.

There were also were very large shopping streets, one of which I walked down every day to get to the old town. I did notice something that I haven't in other cities, the number of supermarkets seems to actually be proportional to the number of people living in the city. I'm always surprised by how few there seem to be. Often I'll have to walk a good distance from my hostel to find a real supermarket, not a corner store.

Out from the moutain range, the land is now empty and flat as I head towards Prague, another city I've been excited to see (ok I'm excited to see every city, just more so for this one). I've gone and done what I tried not to do when I started, which is book all the rest of my hostels ahead of time. But I only have a limited amount of time left, less than two weeks in fact, and thus I have some set dates where I need to be in places. It is a good feeling to know where I'll be sleeping when I arrive in a city, but it takes away some of the fun of just arriving and seeing what happens.

Well that all to now, next update from Prague.

Posted by: Jordan
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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Quick

I'm watching a drunk Aussie talk to some girl right now, and I know he's speaking English, but I'm not quite sure of that fact as I can't understand a word out of his mouth.

Which brings me to an odd realization that I've had. I've kind of gotten used to the fact that I can't understand peoples conversations around me, so it's going to be wierd to be able to 'listen in' when I get back to the states. I'll feel like I'm easedropping into every conversation around me. It is odd to walk down the street and realize that I can understand someone (those tourists). Also, i'm always a little nervious calling the next hostel to book, as I'm never sure how great thier English is. So I'm about to book my London hostel, and I had the same feeling . . . then I remembered that they speak English as their first language as well. It has been a while.

Anyways, onto Vienna. Where else can you walk around the Hofburg Palace estate and hear Carmina Burana blasting loin and clear in the distance. And as you move closer to the source of the sound you see a whole summer film festival carnival going on, with a films of operas and concerts playing on a large screen for all to see. Yep, that is how I ended my night out in Vienna tonight. I'm now back at the hostel, planning for tomorrow (and updating this blog)

Actually, I'll leave you with that little tidbit of Vienna, and I'll write about my experience tomorrow while on the train to Prague.

Posted by: Jordan
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Saturday, August 8, 2009

Singing in Salzburg

The sky is a perfect silver blue as the sun hangs precariously above the horizon. The moutains and hills are cast in a hazy blue light and they slowly drift by my train window. The edge of a cloud is cast in brilliant splendor, as the sun just catches it. The rolling hills, peaceful.

This is why I travel.

Not the only reason of course, but there is just so much to see in the world, how could I just sit around and not get out there. This trip, while my first big one outside of the States, will by no means be my last. I have several destinations in mind for my next travel episode.

I went to Salzburg today. Yes, where Mozart grew up and where the Sound of Music is set. How could one go wrong with such a musical, beautiful place? And a musical place it is. In my random wonderings through the old town I stumbled upon a strig orchestra rehearsal in a cathedral, which was so amazing to hear in a space like that, and I also found a free outdoor concert band performance. As if that wasn't enough, as I was wondering through the hills that run through and around town, I could hear music being rehearsed by a orchestra in the distance. How about that, the hills were alive with the sound of music. It's not everyday that you get a live orchestra to walk sound the hills to.

The town was a georgious mix of stone streets, angular pastel colored buildings, open spaces, and more cathedrals and churches that I thought possible to fit in an area that size. This set right below a towering wall of stone, that is the side of the surrounding hill (the one which I was walking along). I had no real agenda for the day other than to explore the sights and sounds of the city. And I only had today, as accomidations were booked full in the city. I'm on my way back to Munich to stay one more night before I head off to Vienna.

Although with the Salzburg festival, filled with musical acts on a daily basis. I could have stayed in the city much longer than a day. Oh well, I'll come back when I do my eastern European tour sometime.

Yesterday was a light day, the only big thing I did was go to the BMW museum. I had seen some of the cool exhibits they put inside, and figured it was worth a look. Well, talk about design overload. It's amazing how well put together certain companies are. It might have something to do with the money they are bringing in, but the whole museum was top notch in terms of information presentation and intuitive interaction. I'm not quite sure how to describe the museum besides an apple store for a car company. I saw a lot of near things, and got some great ideas from just wondering through.

I also saw lots of motocycles, which I really want to get a small one now. After seeing so many people with them riding around, I've kind of become a little partial.

So through all this I think I've come up with a few resonable goals (maybe). I want to start draing again and throwing clay on the wheel, I want to buy and learn to ride a motocycle, I want continue to travel and see the world, and I want to learn how to fly. I've got lots of time, so no rush on a few of those.

Well, I'm going to enjoy my sunset now.

*Interesting sidenote: It now takes me longer to dry my beard than my hair. Odd.

Posted by: Jordan
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Thursday, August 6, 2009

Bavarian beer bellies

I'm in Munich, capital of Bavaria and also of beer. Doesn't sound like too bad of a place to stop over for a couple of days. How can you go wrong with delicious beer (yes, I know to some this is a contradiction) and lederhosen. And yes I've seen plenty of people (who weren't tourist) wear them. In fact just last night at a beer garden, the guy running sound for the band onstage was in full garb. Just amazing.

But alas I didn't come to Munich just to see awsome garb and drink a delecious brew. I was interested to see a fully rebuilt city that had been pretty much destroyed by the second world war. Not only rebuilt, but rebuilt the way it was. It has been interesting to walk around, surrounded by what appear to be rather old buildings, but in all honesty are only 50 or so years old. It's an interesting mix of old architecture with a rather new, unscathed by time, petine.

After traveling all day from Switzerland, which took a cable car, bus, and 4 seperate trains, I decided to head out without a map and explore the cloudy city of Munich. Low and behold the street that I happen to stumble upon is the main shopping strip, and what a strip it is. It's a good two miles long, and filled to the brim with every loud, screaming, in your face store that they could find. It was a bit dissapointing. But then out of the corner something caught my eye. The double steeples of a nearby cathedral. I stopped on by, found it open, and was awashed with the sound of voice and organ. I had stumbled upon a rehearsal for the next evenings concert. This was a little more like it. I stayed until the building closed. I then proceeded to stumble upon the ritziest and expensive street in Munich, the street sides lined with pricy sports cars. And finally I ran into the famous Hofbrauhaus, the biggest tourist attraction for those seeking out beer houses. Not too shabby for randomly walking around.

Yesterday was filled with a free tour, museum visit, and an obligitory visit to the Hofbrauhaus. The free tour was a bit disjointed as my guide was battleing a cold, and every cough got her a bit off track, but still a decent overview all together. Afterwards I found a marketplace filled with delicious looking food, and got myself a 'mystery meat' sandwhich. I only say mystery meat because it was labeled in German. It was good and I'm still alive.

After a lot of walking and a visit to one of the many art museums I meandered over to the beer hall, hungry for a hearty meal and a food brew. Both of which I got. And while sitting down at my bench, I met a semi-local German (from an hour north), here For one night. While his English was a bit disjointed, it was much better than my German, and he ended up being a fun character to talk to for a while. Again, I'm always amazed at how many people speak English. I feel as though every German I've met speaks a good bit of English.

Afterwards I spent way too long last night trying to find and book hostels for the next few places (Salburg, Vienna). After little luck, my credit card not working, and places literally booking up as I was searching, I just gave up and went to bed not sure of the next nights accomidations. Just generally I have been frustrated with the whole online booking process, as hostels charge a booking fee (that adds up after 30-40 of them) so I try to call, but they make you go through extra work to find thier phone number. In the end some hostels don't even book over the phone, and sometimes Skype just doesn't work. While when I started I worried little about finding a place, but it's still the height of the tourist season and places fill up. Anyways, I have my qualms, but I awoke this morning first to a but of panic but then determined that everything would work out.

And it did. I found a random hostel in town and decided to stay two more nights (my current hostel was books full, my original plan), and on my way to the random hostel I stumbled upon a pretty well know franchise of hostels (with a good reputation). Pretty sure that they had no space, I decided to give it a try anyways. Sure enough, space doe two nights. Not I only did I find a place and was able to stay two more days in Munich, I also have been able to book a place in Vienna through them (and can get a place in Berlin as well). Eveything worked out better than I could have imagined. Now I just have to see about Salbueg for one night, but I'm not worried.

So after solidifying a sleeping spot, I went back into Munich to see more of it. I spent most of the day at museums. One in particular, which was a technology museum. I spent amost 5 hours there, and didn't see a good third of it. It has to have been the most comprehensive museum of it's kind. It traced the engine from wind turbine to steam to combustion to jets and rockets. All in more detail than I've seen out fourth anywhere else. But that was only one subject. There was aviation, space travel, bridges (and all the different kinds of construction), optics, physics, chemistry, building materials, glass, photography and film, printing, paper, and on and on. I'm glad they didn't chose I translate half of it into English, because I would have seen even less. One thing I did walk away with was a renewed desire to learn out to fly an aircraft (which I've always had).

After a long day of wondering an museuming, I decided to treat myself to another hearty Bavarian meal, which consisted of meat anda potato dunpling in a mushroom gravy. Mmmmm. This time I visited another, smaller beer house, with even better beer. It has been a good day.

Posted by: Jordan
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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Thoughts

The secret to the Swiss and their neutrality? Community gardens and randomly placed benches out in the middle of nowhere with amazing vistas.

I've seen more community gardens in Switzerland than anywhere else in Europe. In fact I havnt seen them any where else in Europe. It's an interesting thing to pass by on the train. Each person has thier little 30x30' plot of land, a little garden shed with an overhanging roof, and several chairs to sit and enjoy. They and quaint and cute. While we have a cimminty garden near my home, it's nowhere as elaborate. The Swiss know how to do it up.

As for the benches, they are everywhere, and often in some pretty remote spots. It's as if a group of people where each asked to carry a wooden bench around and plant it in a spot that thy deemed worthy of a bench. No matter how remote or odd the spot. I saw a hill, in what looked like the middle of farmland, and sure enough not only did the top have a conviently placed tree with a bench underneath, but it got the grand treatment of cement stairs going up to it. Yes, out in the middle of what appeared to be nowhere. Surely this is the next advancemt in the world of extreme benching.

On a more srerioud note. It really is amazing how many different, strong cultural influences are combined in Switzerland. They could never go to war, each country around them seems to have it's own piece of the pie (without actually owning anything). With 4 national languages, and 4 distinct cultures, the Swiss are much like thier famous knives, very versitable. In fact after meeting an elderly lady in her 80's who spoke beautiful English, I didn't worry about anyone understanding me. Everyone spoke at least 3 languages it seemed. That and they were very kind and helpful.

Of course another secret of the Swiss is their chocolate. How could anyone argue with a country that produces top notch chocolate? I have a feeling most international arguments are solved with a simple shipment of chocolate. At least in my world that's how it would work. It would have to be dark though.

I did managed to keep up my goal of 1 chocolate bar a day. Maybe not the best for ones health, but wonderful for ones soul. There were so many different varieties, it was hard picking out just which lucky bar would meet it's timely demise in mouth. Each day I attempted to go for a bar that would one-up the previous days. And yes, I made sure to have chocolate fondue while in Switzerland (goal accomplished).

Switzerland is more than just chocolate, knives, and huts full of cheese (I was in a few of those, walls filled with wheels of cheese). The landscape is nothing short of breathtaking. I saw a cloud 'jumping' off the top of a small peak along the shore of a large glacier lake this morning. In fact, dispute it being rainy and cloudy the past two days, I've seen some really cool clouds. Sometimes the hill/cliffsides would be dotted with ctiny clouds, creating an interesting texture of what looked like cotton candy and the sharp shapes of the trees peaking through. And occasional overhead, much further above your head then you think anything should be, a pale white peak and a little blue sky would peek through the high blanket of clouds. These glimpses were almost more overwhelming than seeing the whole mountain all at once since, once they were covered, you forgot just how imposing and high they actually were. Though little could beat seeing a whole range of the alps outside of the dorm room window at the hostel I stayed at in Gimmelwald.

I now am entering the final three weeks of travel. I have about 7 cities I want to see, and I want to be in London a few days early, just to make sure that if there are any transportation issues with getting to my flight, I have a buffer day or two. This gives a pretty tight schedule of 2-3 nights in a city.

How my pace has changed since I first started out. I was determined to packed every moment in, take overnight trains for long trips, and just move fast. It took a month to get burned out with that style of travel. I have enjoyed taking things at a slower pace, staying an average of three nigths in a place (adding or taking away a day where I thought I needed to)., and just traveling when I need to instead of waiting for overnigt trains. Because of this, I've been able to take almost all regional trains or non reservation trains, so my eurorail pass has been working out much better for me. I feel as though I can hop on and off trains to get to all the places I need, and I don't need to wait in line for a stupid reservation.

I think Switzerland has slowed me down even more. Seeing how there was much less to do (museums, sights, monuments) and just more to see and experience. Most days were spent going on a hike, and then relaxing in town by the lake or back at the hostel. It's been good to have a good bunch of downtime.

Well I'm in Germany now (as of writing). Got asked for my passport by customs for the first time since entering France from Spain. It's been a good long while. Although I'm kind of sad my passport won't be filled with stamps, as they don't stamp them internally (at least traveling by train through Europe). Oh well.

Next update will be on Munich.

Posted by: Jordan
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Monday, August 3, 2009

Foggy mountains

So, as per usual, my itinerary changed. Originally I was going to go to Bern and Zurich, but instead I find myself in Gimmelwald for a few nights. And as I write this, I realize that it is a few nights too short. But I have three weeks left, and I've already cut a bunch of cities I'd like to see. That's what traveling is all about though, seeing, staying, and enjoying where you're at. I'm not too worried about all the places I'm not going to get too. But at this point I must trek on, or else I may just get stuck here in Switzerland. It's amazing, and I'll be back.

To pick up where I left off, the rest if Swiss day was good fun. The parade was fun to watch, filled with cows, horses, traditional dress, and local customs. I managed to keep enough sunblock on me to not burn in the bright hot sun during it all. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing in the 'relaxation room' at the hostel (a room filled with hammocks). The hostel had a huge party, and the owner even stopped by to say hi, and a group photo was taken. So next season you can find my face on 'Balmer's Herberge' brouchures (it'll be small and pixelated).

The day finished off with a grand set of fireworks. I thought I would have missed my big fireworks show opportunites, which I normally catch back home, but alas I got my big production show. After which they light a huge bonfire, whose flames reach 30+ feet. Good times all around.

Of course since I added an extra day, I was moved to a 32 bed dorm for that night. It wasn't a very large room, so bunks took up the wall, stacked 3 high, and each section contained two beds. So I got to sleep next to mystery person 'x', as I went to bed long before they arrived. I was awoken by them in the middle of the night, as the man next to me turned and swung his arm in my direction. Nothing like being beat up when sleeping by the unconcious person next to you. Dorm experiences always are interesting.

I have to say it'll be nice to have a room to myself when I finally get back. As well as being in a place where bathrooms arn't unisex.

Anyway, I took a lazy morning to rest up some more and headed over to Grimmelwald. It was cloudy and a little rainy at points. But the walk in the valley to the cable car, that would take me up to the village, was georgious. The misty, cloudy background created an excellent background for the steely peaks in the distance.

Grimmelwald has been nice, and while I could see the alps out my bedroom window all yesterday, they have failed to peek through the fog and cloud that has hung around all day. It's cool to walk along the street and only see cloud on one side, almost like being in some sort of 'cloud city'. So it's been another lazy day, well, after hiking for 4 hours this morning up to one of the glaciers and back. I'm enjoying these lazy days though, and could stand a few more. But yet again I need to keep moving to my next destination.

Posted by: Jordan
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Saturday, August 1, 2009

Relax?

I seem to have a problem with this whole concept of relaxing. I've notice this before, and I don't think it's a problem that willbe solved any time soon.

Yesterday was supposed to be my day to relax. Spend the day either in the hammocks provided at the hostel, or go down to the lake for a day at the beach and a cruise. Well that didn't quite happen. Since I knew I'd have time to relax today, I decided to go for a little hike to a bunch of waterfalls that I saw yesterday.

This small hike ended up being something to the effect of a 34km hike (well it was mostly flat so I'll call if a walk). Hmm. Not quite the day or relaxing I had oriinally planned. Funny how that happens. I just could sit still yesterday and needed to do something. I didn't feel like paying foe the train, so I decided to walk a few towns over where t would have left me off. Plus I figured I could enjoy the amazing scenery while I was at it, which I did. For the most part the hike followed one of the glacier water rivers, and I was able to see at least one or two of the snow capped peaks while I was walking. So it wasn't like I had a boring hike by any means. It was a much nicer day than the one before, with only a few clouds here and there, but much clearer.

My final destination of the falls turned out to be a dissapointment. There was an entrance fee (boo), and I saw a lift, so I figured it wild take us up to the bottom of the huge falls, 500 or is meters up. Nope. I only took us up a little ways where the water fr the three larger falls emptied out into a cavern. Sure it was really cool to see. Especially to watch the way in which the water had carved out the 'cave' I was in. I just would have rather seen the really awesome huge waterfalls that I had seen from the other side of the canyon.

Oh well.

It was a good walk anyways. On my way back I stopped into one of the local towns and picked up some of the local cheese and bread. I muched on those as I made my way back to Interlaken. This hike was followed by a quiet few hours laying in a hammock finishing up a book. The day was finished up with a dinner, wine, and chocolate with a fellow traveler. Not a bad day at all.

Today is Swiss day.

I spent the first half of the day at one of the surrounding lakes with a friend from the hostel. We hit the lake, and hit it hard. I finally got around to just doing nothing (and catching up in journaling), as well as jumping into the cold cold glacier water. It was so refreshing. The weather could not be better, with nary a cloud in the sky, the vistas are amazing, especially with the ever present snow covered peaks in the background. I might just end up staying here for the next three weeks (not really though).

After swimming, I went into town to check out the local parade, which was a lot of fun to see. Lots of traditional dress, brass bands, horses, saint bernards, and drums. It was fun, quirky, and a fun look at some of the Swiss traditions. Tonight there are fireworks (yahoo), so it should be a pretty awesome day all in all.

Posted by: Jordan
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Thursday, July 30, 2009

Alp adventures

I took the train from Luzern to Interlaken yesterday. It had to be the most scenic train ride I've taken so far. The whole ride was filled with large pearlescent blue lakes that lay between mountains. The sky was crystal clear and a perfect blue color. I was almost tempted to ride the train back to Luzern (and then back to Interlaken).

I'm now staying in Interlaken, the high thrills, adventure seeking, mountain climbing jump off point. My hostel, which has almost everything a hosteller could want, has it's own booking counter for things such as white water rafting, bungee jumping, paragliding, hang gliding, and of course sky diving. Very temping, but just all too expensive for me right now. But trail hiking up the mountains is the good, fair price of free. So that is what I have been doing.

I spent the rest of yesterday wondering around Interlaken, getting a feeling for the town, and looking for a good view point to see everything (including the Swiss alps, ever present in the background). I found one point just on the outskirts I town. A good 120m above the city, and I had found a relatively decent view. Of course all of the fun and excitement of hiking up switchbacks came rushing back to mind. After staying and enjoying the view for a while, I headed back to the hostel, where I sent the rest of the night hanging out.

Today was a bit more involved. I decided I would take a train to a nearby town and hike up to a town called Murren. Instead of gaining an altitude of 120m this was slightly more at nearly 900m. It was supposed to be a 2.5 hour hike, but I just could wait around taking that long getting up. I actually ended up arriving at the top, drenched in sweat, in an hour and a half. It was a steep ascent, and of course I didn't exactly pack proper hiking gear (yay for sandles), but I was pretty proud of myself for blowing thier normal hiking time out of the water. It was good that I arrived when I did for a got thr only glimps of the alp range that I would get for several hours.

When setting out I figured it might get overcast, but I was really hoping it wouldn't. Sure enough, as soon as I walked into town, the clouds came and covered up the snow topped peaks. I trucked onwards though heading to my final destination of Grimmelwald. A small one road village of 150 people with a view of the mountains to die for. And just as I was wondering around town the clouds cleared up enough to see all the peaks. It was breathtaking, and as I sat on a bench with the best view in the world, I couldn't think of anywhere else that I wanted to be at that moment. It was well worth the strenuous hike.

It was also interesting to see the town go on about it's normal life. Everyone was out on the steep hills (30-45 degree inclines) cutting, raking, and harvesting hay. It was amazing to see how they could work on such a harsh steep land. It was probably more amazing to see they driving trucks up these inclines, fill them up, and drive back down the hills side. It looked labor intensive, and walking up and down hills all day does not sound quite like my cup of tea.

Another funny occursnce happened while I was in the one street village of Grimmelwald. I ran into a friend from my earlier travels.

How things like this happen, I will never know. Of all places to be, and of all times to be there, we both happened to be there at the same time. I have to say, after having several of these run-ins while in Europe, the world really is a small place.

Well I'm relaxing now, and plan to spend tomorrow recouperating from today adventures.

A thought.

I've come to realize that the Internation Youth Hostels (IYH) hostels are so institutionalized and have such an expected outcome, that they are all pretty boring. Since they are so predictable (they have to meet certain standards), they have become a haven for families and school groups. The individual adventurer will be hard pressed to find people to hang out and talk with at one. There is no character at one of these hostels, unlike the quirks and admenities of the independent hostels (which I've mostly stayed at). The one that I stayed at in Luzern, much like the others was behind the times in offering wifi and didn't have an open kitchen to use. 2 important things for backpackers amongst many others.

Ok, off to chill.

Posted by: Jordan
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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Mountains and valleys

I'm finally in Switzerland, after changing plans a month ago and going south instead. But first let.me recap my last day in Italy.

I planned to be here a day earlier than I actually arrived, but that would be due to meeting a fellow traveler at the camping grounds in Venice who had plans to go to Murano. I wasn't sure exactly where I was going to stay in Luzern, so I decided to stay an extra day at the camp and go to Murano with them. For those who don't know, Murano is a small island near Venice well know for it's glass.

So the next day involved a nice 1 hour boat ride around Venice and out to Murano, which luckily helped justify the outragious 6.50 euro ticket each way for the "bus". Of course I feel only turists use them (or pay those prices). But it was a clear sunny day, with clouds bursting over the mountains in the distance. The salty, questionable, water splashed up on the boat occasionally, cooling off my arm and legs.

The island itself was great. It had all of the charm of Venice with it's colorful decaying buildings, bright open sidewalks, and quaint bridges, but without the crowd. There was no crowd to be seen, the most people congregated in one place was at the bus stops. It was great. Many of the streets were completely empty. We spent the day wondering all the small, offbeat paths that we could find, as well as enjoying the great many shops filled with glass art. It was a day well spent, and a fitting end to my time in Italy. For the next day I was off to Switzerland!

My day began unhurriedly, as my train left at 11am. I took my time gettin up and moving for the day. Like many times I've moved from place to place, I didn't have a hostel booked and didn't know when all my connecting trains would leave. But that didn't bother me, I knew I'd get there. Get there I did. After arrivin in Milan, there was one train leaving for Zurich, one which needed a reservation. I only had 10 min, not enough time to wait in the hour long line. I was ready to just give up and wait for another one, when I decided to just go to the zurich train and give it a try. I asked the conductor (who didn't speak any English) and he just waved me on! Alright! Taking initiative works. Every other train from that time was ready and waiting at connections (I had two more). To top it all off, there was plenty of space at the hostel. It was a smooth day of traveling. And a georgious day as well. In Italy the train followed alongside the mountians, but when we started heading north and going into Switzerland, we went into them. It's really as you would picture it, with talls mountains, green valleys, glacier blue water running down the side in waterfalls and rivers, and quaint towns and houses pearched along the sides. I lost count of the number of waterfalls and small churches perched at the edge of towering cliffsides. It was almost 4 hours of visual bliss.

Then I get to Luzern. A town perched on the egde of a lake which laps at the foot of mountains on the distant shore. I think I could grow old here. There's a lovely prominade that winds alongside the lake shore, filled with benches and million dollar views. My days here have been spent less doing than seeing things. I've just been wondering through the old town, along the shore, and on top of the old city walls. As well as taking my time and relaxing. It's been nice.

Although I had my first sticker shock moment. I've grown so used to the euro that when I heard the amount for three nightsy jaw almost hit the floor. Then I remembered it was in Swiss Francs, almost equal with the dollar ( and it's about $1.4 to the euro). So, funny enough I've been converting everything back to euros, because that is what I've become used to. And since everything in Switzerland is about one third more (a mcdonald meal starts at 9CHF), it makes everything seem a bit more reasonable. I found it odd jus how used to euros I had gotten. But I guess it makes sense since I've been using them for the past two months.

Luzern has been great. Also since my hostel doesn't have wifi, it's pretty awesome that they have blanketed thier downtown area in free wifi. If only every city was that awesome.

Well I have one last night here, been trying to catch the sunset every night, as it lights up the nearby mountain range beautifully, so I'm off to do that. Tomorrow I head to Interlaken.

Posted by: Jordan
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Saturday, July 25, 2009

Two Thirds

A little more than two months are behind me, and a little less than a month lies in front of me. Through this time I've traveld through the counties of England, Scotland, Ireland, Fance, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. I began my slow trek back north a week ago, after leaving Napoli (the southern most city in my journey), and now I've at Venice on my way to Switzerland.

I'm excited to start these new countries, as I work my way east and north. Of course it means new languages to get around in, but if I've learned one thing while traveling it's that there are a lot of English speakers in Europe. In fact there are whole countries that grow up with American english palyeing on thier radios, dancing across the tv screen, and taught in thier schools. Specifically, the Scandinavian region is filled with several countries that all speak excellent English, on top of thier native languages. Knowing two languages seems to be a minimum in most European countris, and if you work at a hostel it seems as though you must know at least 3 or 4 languages.I don't know how people can so easily switch between the various languages they know.

Within Europe, I've found that most of the landscape can be equated to the vaious landscapes that I've seen back in the States. In fact northern Italy, between Bologna and Venice, looks a lot like the Midwest. It's flat, open, and filled with farms. One big key distinguishing factor is the cyprus tress and ancient churches and cathedrals that dot the landscape. This is much different from southern Italy, which had much more of a Colorado feel to it, with big mountains and a lush green landscape. Obviously they are not the same , but it's fun to see and campare the landscape here with what I've seen back in the states.

Traveling solo has it's advantages in the fact that you can pick when you want to be social and hang out with other travelers, and when you want to spend a day or two by yourself. I've found that a healthy balace between the two is a good thing. Although I think I've learned that I enjoy being with and around people much more than being alone (which I thought I prefered at most times). Traveling and meeting tons of new people has given me a new found strenght in doing just that. While I was very timid at first about talking to people, and just plopping down to talk to a random stranger, I now have little problem going over, sitting down, and getting to know someone new. I never know who I might meet, like a skinny white kid with a british accent from South Africa, who had been studying in England, and is on holiday for a month. Hopefully I will keep this confidence gained from traveling, and will be able to put it to good use back home.

I have noticed that traveling in a pair is probably one of the more common things I see. Usually it is a guy/girl couple or a pair of friends, and they tend to make up about 40% of the people that I meet traveling. Another 40% is solo travelers, like myself, and the last section is made up of larger groups traveling. Usually these large groups will be one of the several bus tours offered across Europe, or a very large group of school kids. It's an interesting mix, but there is never a lacking of people around at hostels to talk to and meet. I do think that if I travel Europe again, I'd like to do it with someone.

I've seen and learned that I only need to be at my trains minutes before they leave, as many are just passing through and only arrive a minute or two before they depart again. But I still prefer to get there 10-15 minutes earlier, just to feel safe. Of course I've had a harder time meeting and talking to people on trains since leaving the english speaking countries, as I'm never sure exactly what language (or languages) they speak.While it's easy to assume that everyone on the train speaks that countries native language, I have to remember that there are other travelers like myself, and anyone could be speaking any assortment of languages. I usually cheat and look at the language of the book that they are reading, or if they are from Canada, they are really easy to pick out with their Canadian flag on thier backpacks.

As far as politics, Obama has had a huge impact on the way that Americans are percieved here in Europe. Almost instantly, we've been cast in a more favorable light. In fact, a girl that I met from Finland mentioned that within the past half year a lot of her friends have started travelng to the States again. There seems to be a general consensus that not everyone is sure exactly what Obama will do while in office, but he is seen as a very favorable move for both the US and for the world as a whole. Luckily, if there are any political conversations that I'm pulled into, they revolve around Europeans approval of Obama.

As for Europeans themselves, I've noticed that the waistline has grown across Europe. It's evident in some countries more than in others, And with how many McDonalds I've seen everywhere, I'd have to say that American might have a little something to do with it all. But that's just a generalization. Though you can see the effects of the cheap fast food. It's almost sad to see McDonalds packed in Italy of all places. I do have to admit that I've used them for thier cheap coffee and excellently placed free seating (usually near big plazas and sights), but I won't consume thier food while I'm abroad. At least the craving for a big mac has not hit me just yet. Although I do miss BBQ's terribly, and chicken wings. But BBQ's more so for the atmosphere and friends (and finger licking good food),

Well, these are just a few thoughts. It has been a fun experience so far, and there are many more adventures to come.

Posted by: Jordan
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Friday, July 24, 2009

Viva la Venice

So, I'm in Venice. As I said in my last post, it seemed a bit intimidating, but how I was wrong. Part of the stress that was on me was making sure that I had a place to stay. I was pretty sure I would be set, as the camping grounds that I had been looking at, had not booked up any night yet. Lo and behold I arrive to find plenty of space, and a tent all my own. Not a bad tent at all, mind you. This one is made for two, tall enough to stand in, and holds two cots. So, I get the comfort of sleeping on a cot, and extra space and privacy to myself.

It's not a bad camping ground either. Outfitted with a pool, jacuzzi's, a restaurant, bar, and internet cafe, it has pretty much everything I need. Besides free wireless, a bit annoying I might add, but I can deal without it for a few days. I've figured out that I'm only charged for the time that I'm online in the internet cafe, but I can use the computer all I want. So, this blog post is being brought you courtesy of WordPad (I won't waste my 'online time' typing a blog). And while I'm typing this I'm remedying a slight problem with the tents, in that there is no power in them, so I'm also charging all my electronics. Ah, it's been a while since I've multitasked.

Anyway, back to Venice. What a georgious city. Unfortunately my first impression was of amazement, a minute whereafter I had to head straight to the bus stop to pick up my ride to the camping grouds, leaveing Venice. Due to an odd break in the bus schedule (which runs every hour), I was forced to wait another 2 hours before I was able to get back into Venice, and actually get to see the city. When I did return, I set right off to loosing myself in it. With only a poor copy of a map, with no names on it, I figured it would be best to just go. Plus, it's an island and not a very big one at that, how could I get lost. I have to admit, there are signs everywhere pointing to Saint Mark's Square and to the Train Station, so there really is no way of getting lost. It would just be difficult to find other things in the city.

The first thing that hit me, was the fact that Venice was not smelly at all, unlike what I've been told by several sources. I'm not quite sure what they were smelling, but I didn't smell anything. Maybe my nose just isn't quite up to their level of odor sophistication. I was free to enjoy the sights and sounds of Venice smell free. And enjoy them I did. Like I've mentioned many times by now, I'm a big fan of the sort of beautiful decay that many European cities find themselves in. Venice is no exception to this. Paint is peeling, plaster and brick are showing, the wood is sun bleached, grass grows in small cracks, and it's all just so lovely. The vibrant colors of the buildings, reds and oranges, yellows and pinks, all add to the auroa of the city. Plus, how can you forget the water. While I would not want to set foot in it, the lovely green murky hue adds to the color pallete as well as reflecting the light and color of it's surroundings. The endless bridges that cross it are ever different, each one a little unique in it's own way. Some residences even have thier own private bridge.

Ah, but Saint Marks Square, what a captivating space. It's filled at any point in time with hundreds of tourists, at least double that in birds, amazing architecture from the surrouding office buildings, and from St. Marks itself, and restaurants with deuling orchestras. Yep, for the cheap price of 5-7 euros for an expresso (plus 6 euro orchestra fee) you too can sit in the square at a table, enjoy your extreamly overpriced coffee, watch it as one of the four different small orchestras (6-8 piece) try to outdo each other, and probably have the best people watching experience ever. I decided to go for the even cheaper option of free, and just wondered around the square, stopping to enjoy the music, and people watch.

St. Marks was amazing. I had forgotten about the interior of the church since I studied it in college, but wow, it all came back as soon as I stepped inside. It's five domes, and many of the walls are filled to the edge with golden mosaics. It is instantly overwhelming when first entering the cathedral. As exciting and interesting as the ceiling was, the floor was also a sight to see. As the foundation was laid on the outside, the ground below the floor was free to undulate as it felt. It almost looks like the floor became fluid for a moment, and then froze into a set of waves.

Other than those two main sights, I spent my two full days in the city wondering the streets, stopping into cathedrals and checking out the artwork inside, and seeing what I could find. It was fun, because it was like stumbling upon treasure every so often with these various churches. Also randomly placed throughout the city were art exhibitions, as Venice holds a city-wide art exhibition every odd year in the summer. These were little gems to find, both for the interesting artwork, and also for the water closets. I am proud of the fact that I did not have to pay the exhorberant price of euro 1.50, to use the public bathrooms spread throughout the city. There are always plenty that are free, you just need to know where to look. Plus, I don't think it really costs the city 1.50 in maintainence and staff, every time someone uses one. Kind of rediculous.

Before I end, one interesting tidbit. I met a fellow traveler in Ferrara, whom we had mutually convinced me to stay for the concert, and I left a day earlier than her to go to Venice (also her next destination). As I was wondering through Venice yesterday, I thought it would be rather ironic if I ran into her. Venice is small, but there are tons of small streets, and actually running into a person in Venice could be quite hard. Well, odds be thrown out the window, on a small street we just so happened to bump into each other. A pleasant surprise, as the company was greatly appreciated for the rest of the evening, where we stumbled upon a small bar/cafe with a live band. Of the course the best part of the band, was the fact that they were all Italian, but where singing all american songs. It's really interesting to note how accents really dissapear when a person starts to sing.

Ok, well enough rambling. Since I am 2/3rds of the way done, and have one month left now, I plan to have a post up soon looking back. But as for now, I'm done.

Posted by: Jordan
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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Ferrara

This is what happens when you don't have everything planned out to the last detail. You end up in a place like Ferrara for three days, a quaint, georgious, bike city. I didn't know this place existed, and now I would reccomend if anyone is traveling through Italy to stop by at least for a day.

How I ended up here is a good question. Basically, I set out from Napoli without a real destination in mind for the night. I was on my way to Venice, and however far I got on the trains that day, I would stop for the night. Unfortunatly, the regional train I was going to take to get to Rome didn't run on a Sunday, so I had to reserve a seat on a Eurostar train. Eurostar is the speed train of Italy, although I have to say I was a little dissapointed by it's final speed (as fast as it was going through the country side). Looking on the map, Bologna was the closest large city to Venice, so I figered I would stop there for the night. But, Bologna only has on hostel, which is 6km out of the city and not very good at all (and it was booked up that night). So I had to venture onward to the next city, Ferrara, where I found a nice hostel to stay in. Before I knew it, I had booked three nights.

Ferrara is a bike city. It's almost as though they took all of the motorcycles and turned them into Bicycles. So I spent my first full day here biking around town, and quite literally I biked around it. At least the old walls of the city. It took about an hour, but it was a nice peaceful, relaxing bike. I also biked to all of the main highlights of the city, again with everything being so close, it was easy to see it all in one go.

Yesterday was filled to the brim with things to do. I took a day trip into Bologna, since what I had seen of it in 2 hours a few days ago was nice, so I figured it would be good to see the rest. I spent the day leisurely walking through the city streets, visiting the many cathedrals, and popping into the odd museum here and there. It filled the day nicely.

The night was filled with a concert, as Ferrara was having a concert series here. I never thought I would see Animal Planet and TV on the Radio in Italy, lest in a small city, and in a castle courtyard. It was a good concert, which I needed as I havn't been to one in a good while. But alas, my time in Ferrara is up, and I head now to Venice (a city that intimidates me a bit at the moment).

I'm officially two thirds of the way through my travels today. I'll do a post on it later.

Posted by: Jordan
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