Through the Open Door

The Art And History Of Toys

2010-04-30T14:33:00.000-07:00

The train ride was not overly exciting today. Most of the view was small towns with a few of
their own industrial plants or small villages without any industry--i.e. houses and a church.
Once at Nuremberg I faced a walk along the old city wall to the next U-bahn station (German
underground/metro) and across the bridge would be the hostel. The directions were fairly
accurate except there was construction on the street I was to turn down. I checked the next
road back to see if I could cut through, but I couldn't. I walked back around and sure enough
the construction didn't start until halfway down the street. The hostel was very quiet. I
think I might have been the only one there this morning besides the two people "working"; by
working I mean napping in the back room until the bell rings. I ended up being on the 4th
floor which was deserted. This meant I had the 8 bed room all to myself. Awesome! Hopefully
good sleeping tonight.
[Human Rights monument]
After a salad and yogurt lunch I plodded out to view some churches and a museum. First up on
the list was the toy museum or, in German, Sp... My Grampa used to work for the Marx Toy
Company as one of his jobs so I was eager to check out all the memorabilia inside. I have
been thinking about him quite a bit during my travels in Germany. To be honest, I'm really a
mutt when it comes to cultural/genetic heritage. The largest portion, however, is German on
my Dad's side. Hence my very German last name which, has been duly recognized as such when I
go to check in at the hostels here in the S of Germany. From what I have calculated with my
parents, I am about the 5th or 6th generation here in the US. Philip came over through Ellis
Island on a boat in 1850 from somewhere in Germany and settled in central PA. Oh how wonderful! Somehow while I was in the museum for 2 hours it started to rain.

Naturally I've been pondering family roots and what it is that makes people who they are.
What makes German people German (or insert any nationality)? What does it mean to be a
certain nationality? What claims are people making? Given German history in the 1900s, which
is really not so very long ago, I've always struggled internally with knowing that I was of
German heritage. If I say I am German, am I not claiming at least a partial relationship with
the terrors of the World Wars? How do I reconcile these pieces of myself? I hadn't given
much thought to my heritage until I took a week long trip to Ireland in the Summer of 2008.
Just over a year earlier I had made a randomly selected recipe for colcanon (potatoes, bacon,
cabbage, butter) and when I tasted it---some part of my being was awakened and I deeply
resonated with the fact that I was part Irish. Part of this journey was to explore my German
roots more and find out something more about what it means for me to be part German.

In a roundabout way, the toy museum was critical to this discovery path. Oh how wonderful the
museum was! Four floors of toys, history, memories and stories awaited me. It was as much
fanciful and playful for me as it was historical and informative. Sadly no pictures were
allowed, so you will have to imagine the toys in all their splendor. Apparently toy making is
deeply rooted in German culture. Back before trade and decent roads allowed for the exchange
of goods, local families would make their own toys. The most abundant resource at the time
for Germany was wood. When I was growing up wood toys were mostly blocks and abstract shapes. Here there were cases of carved wooden toys that mooed and could be milked or that could be dressed up for tea parties. My favorite display from the first floor was the ring cut toys. To speed up production, a ring of wood had the basic outline of an animal carved into it. Using a saw, the ring was then sliced into individual animals. One ring could produce 80 rough cut 1.5"x 1" cows!! They would then be sanded and painted to finish off the design. Makes it much easier to imagine how Noah's ark and farm toys could be created for the high demand of children.

One floor up was a series of rooms with dolls, building, tin and train toys. Did you know
there was a doll made of balsa wood that not only floated in water, but could mechanically
swim?? Adults who liked to build things produced metal strips with holes in them that could be built into all kinds of creations using nuts and bolts. These toys were touted to encourage young engineers from their early years. Tin was not just for soldiers. Cars, clowns, towns, monkeys climbing ropes can all be made from this malleable pressed metal. By far, the train room was the best. Some were about 1.5" wide and others were 6-8" wide! Where would anyone keep such monstrosities?? One was about the size of my lower leg--and that was just one box car. Another floor up displayed household toys. Kitchen sets that were not only child life-size, but used paraffin heating sources to cook food. Laundry sets, doll houses and altar sets. Yep you read it right. Kids could at one point play church with a full altar set. Some religious groups saw this as disrespectful, but most saw potential for it to spark an interest in young boys for further ministry training and work. For the girls, household toys were crucial in teaching them skills to mimic later in life. This floor also had outdoor toys with riding horses, pedal cars, jacks, marbles, and baby doll carriages.

The last floor covered toys in the post WWII era to today. The different decades were grouped
and labeled, but now that I've sent the map home to the US in a box I can't share with you
what the titles were. By this time the museum was closing so I had to leave quickly. On the
way back to the hostel I stopped at the organic grocery store I found on the way to the
museum. I found some Austrian chocolate along with other tasty foods that would comprise my
dinner.

On A Colt, The Foal Of A Donkey

2010-04-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

What to do with another day in Munchen? Outside the NW part of town is a huge botanical
garden a few tram stops past the former royalty's summer house. I wanted to go in the morning
to enjoy the weather and have enough time to spend there. In the blah city of Munchen there
is a jewel in the botanical garden. The place is brimming with flowers packed into the ground
and leafy greenness bursting all over. There were beds filled with tulips in every color
possible. Some appeared to be on fire with orange while others were the palest pink. A whole
portion of the garden was devoted to pine trees and another to rhododendrons. I came across a
stream where I sat for a while to enjoy the bubbling noise. There was a section of water or
swamp plants which was quite neat. They had them in small concrete pools raised about 3 feet
off the ground. Small faucets would drip or run water into the pools as necessary for the
kind of water movement for the plants growing there. Best of all were the 10 greenhouses
filled with cacti, tropical plants and plants from the Jurassic period (the ferns were
enormous!!). It was a delightful mix of greens, textures and colors. On my way out I
realized after a few minutes walking that the shirt I had with me was no longer on my bag.
After retracing my steps back about 200m I found it lying on the dusty ground where it had
slipped off the top of my bag. Glad I found it. No more losing things!!

Even in a beautiful place like the botanical gardens, one does grow tired. I took the tram
back into town and headed toward the Jewish Museum. Since I'm in Germany I felt that I should
spend some time on WWII information. After locating the museum I parked myself outside at a
small kids play area and ate my lunch in the sun. The museum focuses more on contemporary
Jewish life than what happened during the war years. They do have an area devoted to sharing
stories from local people who lived through the war. Alas these were all in German. The
piece with a floor map of the city and these 2ft. tall and rather heavy plastic stands was
cool. Placing the stand on the spot of the city where the story happened lit up a photo on
the wall from the story. These were in English so I got a taste of what some Jewish people
did 70 years ago in Munchen.

My last trip of the day was to the National Museum for some history. One part was filled with
carved wooden creations from the local area in SE Germany over the last 6-8 centuries. They
were nice and rather intricate, but didn't interest me overly. Just down the street was more
what I was looking for; a couple floors of artifacts in an interesting building. Part of the
building was an old church which had additions built on to connect it to other nearby
buildings. Just when you reached the end of one corridor and thought that was all the museum
had, a whole other room opened up with another portion of history and tons more artifacts to
observe. Rooms full of maps, suits of armor, paintings, sculpture, and furniture kept me
busy. By far though, my favorite piece in the museum was a carved, wooden donkey on wheels
with Jesus on top. I'm sure it had some holy use in a special religious parade, but you can't
beat walking around the corner and seeing a wooden Jesus on a donkey--with wheels! Even
better, the way some people here pronounce 'danke' (or German for "thank you") sounds like
donkey. I tried not to laugh too loud since I seemed to be the only one in the entire museum
except the guards.

The Real Confession

2010-04-28T14:05:00.000-07:00

Munchen is definitely not my favorite city. It does provide a good base for visiting Augsburg--or so sayeth the guidebook. I have to say though that when I arrived in Augsburg and started walking around I noticed a couple of hostels which would have been just fine. Once again the guidebook fails to guide me. The train ride gave me a lovely view of the countryside with small towns along the rail line and rolling green hills dotted with pines and white birch trees. Something you don't see much of in PA. The town itself feels similar to the ones I loved in Provence (Aix-en and Avignon). Modern parts mesh with areas preserved from long ago centuries filled with charm. There were two main places I wanted to visit in town for certain: St. Anna Church where Luther hung out and the Fuggerei a housing unit for poor Catholics.

Finding the tourist office was a bit of a challenge. Usually they put them near the train station so you don't have to look too far. This one was in the center of the old town. Good thing I did some map research online before coming! It's always easier to move around these towns (even the small ones) with a map. I started my explorations at the Catholic Dom just up the hill from the old part of town. But first I must tell you about the best thing I've bought since I've been here. On my way down the street I ran across a E1 shop which had a rack of socks displayed outside. They happened to be short sport socks and looked to be about my size. Since S France it's been rather warm here--often in the mid to upper 60sF. The socks looked just right. I opted for 2 pairs and continued down the street. When I reached the Dom plaza I stopped to eat lunch. I thought I'd try out my new socks to see if they fit since my knee high wool ones were making me rather toasty. Oh my gosh! It was like starting the day all over again. A new pair of fresh socks can turn your entire day around. To this I can attest. Now back to the church... Like most massive cathedrals it has all sorts of side chapels and stained glass. My favorite part about this one was a small quiet space half a floor down in what I assume was (still is?) probably the crypt. It's always a treat to find these quiet spaces when you stay in busy, noisy cities.

From here I headed to the Fuggerei which is a series of housing units built in the 1700s or 1800s for poor Catholics by philanthropist Jacob Fuggerei. Rent was either the equivalent of E.80 for a month or a year. Either way, still a deal. During WWII the units were badly damaged when Augsburg was bombed, but rebuilding went underway as soon as it was safe from war threats. In the old bomb shelter they have a display about how the war affected the local people and specifically the housing unit. I got some good background on the war which put a few more historical puzzle pieces together in my mind. The other cool part of this place was the model units they had on display. One is furnished to today's standards and one like it would have looked when first built. The units are equivalent to the space of a nice two bedroom apartment in the US. I wish I could afford a place that nice. Not that I want to become a poor German Catholic. Some of the original trademarks are still in use such as the unique door bell ringers for each place. By feeling each of the distinct handles you could find your way back to your house after dark. Now, of course, they have modern lighting. The most impressive fact about these housing units is that they are still being used today. What a gift for people in need of help to have the opportunity to stay in a decent place for an affordable rate to give you a chance to work toward a better living situation.

St. Anna Church was next on the list. The building was rather empty and unclear about where you could visit. Apparently it's common for Germans to keep doors closed and while it's perfectly fine for you to check them out, you must take the initiative to explore said rooms by trying the door handle to see if it's locked or not. I found a few locked doors and a few open ones. Like most European places there's scaffolding all over the towns. St. Anna had it inside where their famous chapel was being restored. I was more interested in the Luther display upstairs so I breezed through the main sanctuary and headed up a long flight of old wooden stairs. All of the information was in German, but I know the Luther story right? Hopefully there was no new info. The best part was the original bibles and books Luther and his cohort used. I think I even saw an authentic copy of the Augsburg Confessions. Some of them are enormous--like 10" high when closed. I have to say I was a bit disappointed that they didn't have a bit more to look at. Maybe if I could read German I'd have been satisfied by their posted boards. While walking around trying to decide what else to do in town, I spotted an ice cream cafe. Being so sunny I couldn't pass up a yummy, cool treat. I sampled coco-choconut and something fruity I can't remember now. I know it all tasted delicious and hit the spot. It even came with a gummy bear on top!

My map suggested St. Ulrich and Afra would also be an interesting place to visit. A short 500km down the road was a small Protestant church "glued" to a large Catholic church. A sign out front seemed to indicate both were closed and the Catholic one was under significant reconstruction. Since it was around 4pm I thought I would wander the shops a bit and scout out a good place for dinner before taking the train back to Munchen. Like many of the smaller towns I've visited so far, amidst the old part of town is a large pedestrian shopping area. Thanks to Italy the pedestrian sign is branded in my brain as Zona Pedonale no matter what language is on the sign. I walked through a few clothing stores (yes, I got my H&M fix just like almost every other town I've been in) and cased the main streets before deciding to head toward the area where one of the restaurants was from my guidebook. I expected it to be on more of a side street, but there were quite a few nice non-commercialized shops down there as well. The menu for the restaurant seemed to promise food I would like so I grabbed a seat outside. The waitresses wore more traditional style German clothing with the flowing skirted dresses and aprons. I felt bad for the younger girl who had on this blue gingham get up. It gave the "I feel like I'm wearing a clown costume" vibe, but she wore it happily and had enough spunk to pull off the outfit. It's hard to remember the exact name of the meal, but I think it was something like Rauschauerbraten. Visually translated this meant perfectly tender beef roast slices in brown gravy with a bread ball dumpling and red spiced sauerkraut. I sampled a brown lager which was quite good and complimented the beef nicely. The sauerkraut was by far the newest item. It literally was red cabbage sauerkraut with a hint of what I'll take a stab at saying was perhaps cloves and cinnamon. It gave a lightly sweet spiced cider flavor to the sauerkraut. I was sad to leave the lovely town of Augsburg.

Law And Order-ing Food

2010-04-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

Arriving in Munchen (Munich) was not as exciting as I'd expected. My guidebook says that no trip to Germany is complete without a trip to the fabled city of Munchen. Well I beg to differ. Similar to Frankfurt, Munchen is a rather modern town. There is little history to be found about the town which I would call fabled. Sure there are museums and city parks, but nothing that really gave me a history lesson about why Munchen has been so important.

I began my explorations with lunch in the Hofgarten park near the Residenz Palace. Outside the gate to the garden was a 5 piece band playing classical music and selling CDs titled something with the "4 piece band." Why then were there 5 playing?? The music was a great backdrop to my outdoor meal similar to what I had in Heidelberg (cheese, bread, hot dog balls, tomato, yogurt). I'm a fan of these tasty nutritious meals outdoors that are inexpensive.

From the garden I walked around the huge palace to the entrance. Inside were 90 some rooms waiting to be explored. Better yet the ticket price included an audio guide so I could actually get some history. The Munich Residenz served as the seat of government and residence of the Bavarian dukes, electors and kings from 1508 to 1918. It was also part of the Wittelsbach royalty and bears architectural features from the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo and neoclassical eras. It seems strange to me that part of Germany was still being ruled by kings in the early 1900s. I suppose I thought it was the country it is today ever since the US became an entity. The palace was a vast array of huge rooms filled with lovely furniture and many paintings, some framed and some on the ceilings. My favorite room had green fabric on the walls with stars and lines woven into it and a lime green fabric on the furniture. Everything was simple and elegant. I can't remember the guy's name who this room was designed for, but I do remember that the furniture was specifically chosen because he liked to keep things simple. The other striking decorations were the ceiling paintings which depicted essential things for knowing how to properly rule a nation: law, justice, war and peace. One series showed a ruler receiving tablets of law from heaven akin to Moses. In this time period law was seen as divine order and not to be trumped by human creations or inventions. Another depicted an old man robed with a mirror showing the past, present, future and a necklace with a golden heart. This was to show that wise counsel should be taken from someone older with knowledge of the past/present/future and who considers the heart as well as the facts in matters of importance. At the end of the tour was a long hall of the royal family line portraits. One I particularly liked showed that you certainly don't have to be pretty to be a princess.

After such a stimulating adventure I walked around the area to get a feel for the town and also to seek out a place to eat dinner. I wandered through the Viktualmarket where you could find just about any kind of food item in a market stand--fish, meats (raw, cooked, dried), veggies, fruits, sweets. I think there were even flowers and a pharmacy of sorts. It was an overwhelming mix of sights, sounds and smells. People swarmed all over in odd directions being drawn by the sight of one thing and the smell of another. Being a pedestrian area, there are usually restaurants galore. I found one with a menu that seemed to convey spatzle which I had been wanting to try. For dinner I enjoyed the spatzle with cheese, salad including potato salad/mustard dressing on greens/red cabbage coleslaw, and for dessert apple strudel with a warm vanilla custard soup over it. I sampled an unfiltered lager for my beverage which paired nicely with my meal, the smoothness of the beer matching the bite of the cheese on the spatzle. I managed to waddled my full stomached self back to the hostel and prepared for my day trip to Augsburg.

Disputing Heidelberg

2010-04-26T09:37:00.000-07:00

The train ride from Frankfurt to Heidelberg reminded me again that Germans like scalloped shingles, steeply pitched roofs and out in the country roofs typically have solar panels. I've seen a few windmills as well. Houses are more modern looking in Germany too. Similar to shapes and styles you'd see in the US with concrete walls instead of aluminum siding. Housing colors stick mostly to whites and creams unless made from stone/brick, which is rare.

I know little about Heidelberg except that Martin Luther spent time here in April 1518 known as the Heidelberg Disputations defending his theology including the bondage of the will.

Knowing that I was only spending one night in Heidelberg meant I had to be quick about seeing the sights in town. I started by taking the furnicular up the hill to the Schloss, a gargantuan castle perched high on a hill overlooking Heidelberg and the Neckar River. First I paused to eat lunch in the garden outside the castle. I feasted upon gouda cheese, leftover pretzel, hot dog balls with smiley pirate faces stamped into them, green grapes, a whole tomato and pineapple yogurt. The first part of the castle was finished in 1214 by Ludwig I and later expanded into 2 castles around 1294. In 1537 a lightning-bolt destroyed the upper castle. Through subsequent wars with the Swedes and later the French the castle sustained heavy damage. The French used mines in the thick walls to damage it as much as possible before they finally left around 1693. In 1764, another lightning-bolt destroyed a portion of the rebuilt tower and the people decided it was the divine will that the castle should not be repaired or used any longer. The tour I took was excellent, though I can't remember much of what was said. Names of rulers and dates just don't stick in my head like the funny stories about the added toilets on the 2nd floor that used the law of gravity to deliver their products onto the ground below. Or the vomit basin in the main dining hall for those who wished to continue eating even though they were already full. Plus it doesn't help that there were a long line of rulers in the Wittelsbach royal family. At any rate, the views of Heidelberg were gorgeous and walking through the renovated parts of the castle was entertaining. You really had to use your imagination as much of the castle, having been so badly damaged by fire/war over the years, had literally disappeared. One of the most surprising sights was the enormous barrel below the castle which could hold 49,000 gallons of wine. Yikes! It was so large the people only filled it three times before deciding it was simply too much wine to drink. Cleaning the barrel was no easy task and only small adults and children who could fit inside the tiny door were able to scrub it down. Now that's a qualifier for Dirty Jobs.

Heidelberg is one of those towns that I would love to spend more time in simply to enjoy the atmosphere, but would need a few more things to keep me busy. The university fills the town with young adults, but when you don't speak German, it's hard to talk with them. The town had a nice vibe and calm feel. Not to mention the gorgeous view of the town along the river surrounded by verdant hills of forest. Sigh. Beautiful.
[the big barrel]
I finished at the castle around 5pm and decided to take a walk along the Philosophenweg (Philosopher's Way) on the other side of the river. What I didn't know was that to get to the trail you had to walk up hill on a winding alley like stone path. It wasn't too bad, but it was challenging. The view of the town from the other side was quite nice. I could pick out the 1km path where I had walked from the hostel and the places I had visited already. Walking along the path you notice small fenced areas on the hillside that seem to be backyards or vacation spots people have permanently staked out below the public park on the hill above. After a half hour I decided to head back down to town and walk through the streets to enjoy the atmosphere while I scouted a place to eat for dinner. Like most smaller, quaint towns there is a large shopping area filled with modern clothing and shoe stores along with the typical pharmacy, salon and restaurants. Usually these are all in one pedestrian area.

I found a restaurant listed in my guidebook that seemed to have a good menu outside--meaning there were enough words I could understand in the German that it sounded like I could find good food to eat. Fortunately they had an English menu and I chose the Meatloaf with Fried Potatoes and a Maibock beer (lager style brewed in house). When you hear meatloaf you expect to eat beef right? Hence my surprise when a large slab of Spam looking meat arrived on the plate on top of a mound of potatoes. Turns out the meat was pork sausage based. It tasted quite good, but was still a surprise. After walking all day I made sure to take the bus back which was a nice treat.

Greenhouses

2010-04-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

First priority today was to visit the botanical gardens in the NW part of town. The walk through the quiet neighborhood on a Sunday morning was delightful. Parents walked with their kids in strollers or on bikes. Everything had a relaxed, sleepy feel to it. What a treat the gardens were! Throughout most of southern Europe the flowers have been in short supply. It's not just the season or weather either. These countries simply don't plant flowers in public places whether from lack of funding, laziness or interest. Apparently all the flowers are in Germany. Spread out before me was a vast array of greens, whites, pinks, reds, oranges--all the rainbow was present as I wound my way through the park. One of the best parts was the greenhouse area filled with pod shaped rooms of plants from various climates and parts of the world. Cacti filled the hot and dry room with types of succulents I've never seen before. By far my favorite rooms were the tropical, humid ones. Vines, orchids, pitcher plants and palm trees filled the room from floor to ceiling. Everything was so lush and green. Vibrantly colored blooms dotted the scenery. Fabulous!

After such a lovely morning I wasn't much in the mood for museums so I wandered through the town taking a long route toward the NE and winding down through to Romberg and the river. Packed into one sentence makes it seem short and sweet. In reality I probably walked a good 3 or 4km. I couldn't come up with much else to do so I sat by the river for a while and read I and II Peter (being Sunday and all). My guidebook suggested a restaurant a ways down from the river and I thought I'd give it a try. Near the hostel most places are Indian, Asian or doner kebab (looks to be gyro like food) restaurants. It was quite a bit further than it looked on the map, but it was well worth the trip. The neighborhood was nice to view and the food was excellent. I sampled the schnitzel (thin breaded pork), fried potatoes and side salad with a yummy mustard viniagrette dressing. Naturally I had the apfelwein to go with it since I wouldn't be able to enjoy it outside of Frankfurt. All in all, a relatively relaxed day.

Hot Dogs Anyone?

2010-04-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

[View of a small town along the Rhine River on the train ride.]
On first glance Frankfurt is not much of a quaint city. As soon as you step out from the Hauptbanhof (train station), all you can see are skyscrapers in a multitude of shapes and twisting designs with their shiny glass windows. [Frankfurt, home where all Euros are produced] Some of the ground level buildings are closer to more traditional German styles, but even they are rather modern looking. It's not until you venture closer to the heart of the city that you discover a tiny piece of what Frankfurt used to look like from before the bombings of WWII. Romberg, a thin strip of Frankfurt along the Rhine River, is all that remains pre-bombing. Focusing around a central square are 4-5 story buildings which survived the war along with about 4 churches nestled amongst them in the close surrounding area. The square is lined with small tourist shops and a few bars serving up a variety of beers, but the local brew is apfelwein--an apple cider wine. Surprisingly Frankfurt is not known for its wieners, but for its drink.

Wandering around the area took me into a Protestant church along the square. I've been in so many Catholic churches I'd almost forgotten there was a difference, especially when the buildings often look the same. This one was quite new and made of pink stone. I didn't spend too much time inside as a group of youth were practicing some kind of presentation. The design was simple and appealing to my taste in architecture. I traveled a short distance down the street to the Dom which was more of a maroon red stone and in a Gothic style with lots of scallops and statues all about the outside. I was surprised the inside was so new and simple looking when this was one of the few buildings that remained after the war. I expected it to be preserved differently. Evidently this is a busy church as noted by the recording paraphernalia inside and the church radio broadcasting van outside.

Having wandered through the sights of Romberg, I headed toward the river to enjoy a stroll. There are some great views of the surrounding city and the many bridges over the river. The popular thing to do is to grab a patch of grass down by the river and sit for hours drinking and eating with friends. I found a few more streets that had a bit of a charming look to them with plenty of restaurants, taverns, hotels and bars lining them. Anxious to try the apfelwein, I stopped back at Romberg square where I procured 250mL for E1.60. It's similar to a slightly bitter pinot grigio, but the color of pale apple cider. I can see why people enjoy it.

Dinner was easy tonight. The hostel offered a free pasta meal. Ziti with red sauce, cheese and fresh cracked black pepper. I had two helpings while chatting with Jim from CA who was traveling with his wife after visiting his sister in England. They were delayed for a while from flying back because of the volcano in Iceland. Hopefully the air will clear out soon as I look toward flying to England. [Yet another protest in the city where I happen to be. This was something about Romania.]

Eau D'Cologne

2010-04-23T14:29:00.000-07:00

Taking the metro to the train station was easy enough and there was plenty of space on the
train. It was easy to tell I was headed out of France as the scenery changed from relatively
flat or slight hills with grass and sparse deciduous (leafy) trees to more pronounced foothills and wooded areas with conifers (pines) amongst the deciduous. I slept for part of the trip and relaxed. The hostel was delightfully easy to find. Armed with a map and only one night to enjoy the town, I headed out walking toward the main part of town. I could have taken the metro, but this was my one chance to see the above ground area. Somehow at one of the major intersections I faded too far to the left when I should have turned right. Not unimaginable since the intersection comprised 3 main 4 lane roads and a plaza. Plazas are sure fire ways to get lost in Europe. Street names are never marked in plazas, only the name of the plaza. Since I thought I was heading the right direction, it wasn't until 20 minutes later I found a street name on the map and realized I had made a semi-circle instead of a straight line. I corrected the error and made my way through the very unorganized and winding streets.

The museum I was trying to locate was called Kolumba. I had it in mind that this was a place
showcasing artfully designed practical and functional pieces. Clearly I was wrong. This was
actually a museum built around an old church that the relative of a former priest (who had
served there) had excavated to preserve. Upstairs there were some modern art displays. Definitely not what I was expecting and it gave me a taste for German art displays. They prize minimalism here. Some rooms only had one piece in them.
[This was all of the front I could fit in the picture. It's huge!]
From here I headed to the Dom (cathedral) near the hauptbanhof (train station) for which is
what Cologne is famed. The massive church has been blackened from weather and looms over the
rest of the city. Since I would be walking all evening and tomorrow, I passed on climbing the
one spire. Plus I'm not a huge fan of city skylines. [This the the chest purported to hold the remains of the 3 magi.] The inside is enormous with stained glass all over the place. Much like Notre Dame, though a bit quieter and more respectful, the place was filled with groups and people swarming all over.
I left here and walked along the Rhine River passing through the older/touristy part of town. It was starting to get close to dinner time and I hadn't found a restaurant I particularly liked. The lady at the hostel suggested there were lots of places to eat by the hostel so I headed back. On the way there I came across an organic market and had to go inside. I knew the hostel had a big kitchen and I was in the mood to cook. I picked out some zucchini, potatoes, onion and 2 bratwurst thuringen. With a little bit of salt/pepper, garlic and olive oil it turned into a tasty meal. Even in limiting myself to how much food I bought (always a problem), I still had two large bowlfuls. No going hungry today!

Random Errands

2010-04-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

Everything I wanted to see and do was checked off on my list which made today a random errand
day. I spent the morning sleeping in and doing some blog work. Afterwards I secured my
ticket to Cologne, Germany at the Gare du Nord train station and decided to check in at the
Gare de Lyon station to see if my lost bag had been left there. It turns out it hadn't, but
at least I tried my best to get it back. I feel slightly better that I at least have A scarf
instead of none.

By the time I reached the hostel again it was time to eat. To keep things simple I stopped at
the grocery store and picked up a random smattering of foods: chocolate pudding, berry yogurt
and a carrot. I also polished off some bread I had left over with a bit of Nutella. It was
all quite yummy and served its purpose.

I've had some postcards from S France hanging around in my bag that needed mailed.
Fortunately the post office was nearby. Inside however, there were no instructions and the
lady I asked about what to do spoke only French and pointed across a busy room indicating
where I was to go. I guessed what she meant and hopped into a line with people who appeared
to have envelopes and such to mail. I pulled out the last stamps I had bought in France to
show the guy who was trying to help me. He looked at them like I found them on Mars, but
checked with his co-workers to see if they were in stock. He returned saying he was sorry
they didn't have them. When I said I needed to mail postcards to the US, he seemed to have a
solution for that. Eventually I got the stamps I needed. It's strange having the old lick
and stick stamps again. Like stepping back in time!

On the way to the post office I noticed another grocery store. Another errand I was
attempting to complete was to find some saucisson sausage to bring back home. This market was
much better than the first one I entered. They had a larger selection on most things. I
found a small chunk of saucisson and picked up some mint tea bags for future enjoyment. All
that was left was to eat dinner and to decide on evening entertainment. I was in the mood for
a movie and the hostel had advertised a theater that showed movies in the "version origional."
None of the English movies sounded good. There was, however, one playing in French which I'd
seen posters for all over France and figured I would have to watch it later on when I returned
to the US. I figured why not just see it now?? One for Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec please. The show was 1.5 hours away, so I found a restaurant just S of the hostel offering salads. [Notice the PA license plate on the wall!] I thought it was time for some veggies. I had a HUGE salad with shrimp, salmon and mayo on dried bread, tomatoes, egg and two dressings--one a mustard and one a ketchup base. It took longer than I thought to find the restaurant, so I had a brisk walk back to the theater. The theater was really nice with stadium seating and comfy chairs. Just like in the US they run pre-show entertainment music (sorry no trivia!) and commercials with the previews. Looks like some good shows are coming out in the future. The movie was really good. I thought it would be more of a kid movie as it was billed like a cross of Night At The Museum and The Mummy except with a female lead character. I was puzzled when only adults walked into the theater. Naturally the movie was classically French--i.e. brief nudity and a quizzically grotesque twist to the plot (think Edgar Allan Poe/Alfred Hitchcock rather than gorey). I still enjoyed the movie even without subtitles. It would be nice to have them though to enjoy the dialogue more. You could tell from the movie context that some jokes went by without my knowing the full reason for why they were funny. Great way to spend the evening.

Catacombes

2010-04-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

This morning I took it easy by sleeping in and spending the morning working on my blog.
Manuel and I planned to meet up this afternoon to tackle the Catacombes which promise to be
spooky, but interesting. A whopping 1.6km long series of tunnels underneath the S central
area of Paris has become the home and resting place for millions of human bones. Originally
formed though mines and quarrys to procure the much desired bedrock of stone for building, the
tunnels also played a very important role in the various wars as part of the resistance
movements. The displays in the Catacombes are a combination of lack of in ground graveyard
space, thousands of deaths due to multiple wars throughout the 17-18th centuries, a desire to
honor those who died and a great tourist exposition. First you must descend an untold number
of stairs to get down to the catacomb level. With a few boards of interesting history you
begin walking underground through narrow tunnels for quite a long time before finally coming
to the section where the bones are kept. Once you reach it there's nothing in the rooms but
bones. They are stacked about 4-4.5 feet high with varying patterns of leg/arm bones and
skulls. Every so often there are poetic quotes about death and plaques stating which war or
cemetery the bones came from and when they were moved to the Catacombes. You happen upon the
bones as quickly as you leave them. In one room and not the next.

Once back up top we walked over to Rue Moufftard again and picked up some tasty morsels for an
outdoor dinner in the Jardin du Luxembourg. We picked out 5 different French cheeses (strong
bleu/chevre/munster/2 I cant remember), herbed ham, saucisson (french salami), mousse de
canard (duck mousse), another sausage I don't know the name of, poppy seed and plain baguettes
and a half bottle of Cote du Rhone red wine. It was all so delicious!! The cheeses were so
varied from mild and fruity to pungent. The bread was fresh and the meats full of flavor.
This was yet another very French way to spend time in a park.

We took the metro to the Latin Quarter to scout out a jazz club. The area is not so much
latin as it is Greek. For a while I thought I was back in Athens with restaurants offering
moussaka and gyros. We were about an hour early for the jazz show, so we stopped into one of
the bars for drinks while we waited. This place was pricey! Tea for E4!! Usually it's
around 2 or 3 tops and that's for an entire tea pot of about 18oz. This was only about 12oz.
The alcoholic drinks were even more expensive: E7 for a pint. The only interesting part
about this place was they had the futbol game on of Lyon vs. a German team. An important game
for France to see if they could make it into the European World Cup. The club was right
across the street and we headed in around 10pm. The music didn't start until 10:30pm, so we
sat around for a bit and watched some more of the futbol game. A group of 3 teenagers were
interviewing the lead band member with some fancy video equipment. It seemed like a couple
times a day I would run into a group of teenagers filming something right where I was trying
to see something or walk.

The jazz club had an underground, metro/subway, old church design to it. It reminded me of
the place I would go swing dancing in grad school at the Wabasha Street Caves--literally a
series of subway like rooms built into the side of a rocky mountain/hill on the S St. Paul
side of the river. Downstairs there was what appeared to be a dance floor and some people
already dancing as the band did some skat warm ups. I wasn't expecting to dance and Manuel
informed me his dancing was like an epileptic crab. I will be cracking up over that for a
long time! The band was quite good. Most of the musicians were from the Provence area. We
heard Take the A Train, What A Wonderful World, and one other song I recognized, but couldn't
remember the name of. Before long it was about 11:45pm when I wondered what time the metro
stopped running. Manuel thought it was around 12:45am which is when we decided that with 1/2
hour rides for each of us, we'd hear one more song and head home. Shame we had to leave early
with such good music and dancing. At the metro we realized this would probably be the last
time to hang out since tomorrow was my last day and he had work. It was great having my own
personal tour guide for Paris. I think I got some of the inside scoop of what it's like to
live there and a taste of some classically French food and customs.

I Get The Impression That...

2010-04-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

The much anticipated Musee D'Orsay was on the docket today. I love impressionist paintings
and this was my chance to see them since the Louvre refused to have any on their walls. The
museum is housed in an old train station which has been restored quite nicely. The
unfortunate part was that a large portion of the museum was being renovated (I think
everything in Europe is being renovated right now) and I may have missed some of their
displays as they tried to cram an entire floor's worth of artwork into the main foyer. What I
was able to see was quite spectacular however. Works by Degas, Monet, Manet, Cezanne,
Cassatt, Van Gogh, Renoir, etc. Putting them together in one area helped you see the variety
of styles from very fuzzy impressions to stippled effects to pastel drawings and even
sculpture by the same artists. I was most content despite the hordes of people swarming
through the museum like bees darting back and forth.

Upstairs was a mixture of more paintings, sculpture and decorative arts (tables/chairs,
fabric, glass, etc.). After such a wonderful selection downstairs, they had to put the less
exciting pieces somewhere right? The paintings were 95% blah with a few exciting pieces here
and there. The decorative art pieces were very original. Some displays had bedroom or dining
room settings with intricate wood work or creative metal fixtures. There were more than a few
times where you'd look at a setting and think "What in the world would that have been used for
in this room? Oh wait...it's art--meant to look pretty and not necessarily be functional."
Finally I had walked through all the rooms and seen everything they had on display. I'd grown
quite hungry and decided to grab a sandwich at a cafe I saw on the way to the museum. I
chowed down on a huge tuna baguette that must have contained 1.5 cans of tuna on it. The only
down side was the lack of dressing on the sandwich like say mayo or mustard.

I opted to pass through the quaint shops Manuel had directed me to the other day where we ate
the strawberries. I found Rue Moufftard relatively easily, but decided I should continue on
to the Jardin des Plantes before it closed for the day. The trip there was also a nice walk
past a mosque and some wonderful architecture. I was preparing to see lots of plants--at
least more than I had found in Paris parks up to this point. Yet again I was disappointed by
French horticulture. Is it really too much to ask to add a few spots of color here and there? Even if you go all green, how about some leafy texture or shrubbery? There certainly was more colorful flowers in this park, but the overall design and shaping of the garden was once again wide paths with the classic white gravel dust and always flat spots of grass with the occasional grouping of blooming flowers. If you ever visit Paris, do yourself a favor and
don't waste your time at the gardens unless you prefer minimalist/reserved scenery.

Being so close to the train station where I first arrived, I thought I would stop in and see
if my bag had made its way to the lost luggage office. After some very typically French
confusing directions and maps, I managed to find the office which had closed some 20 minutes
earlier at 5pm. Worth a shot at checking.

Yesterday I had planned to visit the Eiffel Tower, but when my camera battery died I figured
there was no point in going if you couldn't take pictures. Today, armed with a fully charged
battery, I navigated the metro to the Trocadero stop. This leaves you off at a large building
you must walk around to even see the tower. When you come around the end and finally see it
perched in the distance, the sight is quite lovely. Nothings so clearly trademarks and says
"Paris" like the Eiffel Tower. From the NW corner of the building the tower was framed by the
green park grass around it and a slight haze of pollution--just enough to give a softened look
to the hard metal forming the tower. It truly does grow in majesty the closer you get and the
taller it becomes. By the time you walk up to it you feel like a dwarfed ant as you pass
underneath the monstrously large metal legs. I'm not one for city skylines where you can't
quite make out what you're actually looking at and thus didn't spend the E12 to take the ride
up to the 2nd floor. Photographs and staring at it from the park was satisfying enough for
me. Besides, I had already seen the skyline for free from the Sacre Cour cathedral.

Not wanting to walk far for dinner and trying not to buy any more metro tickets, I went a few
blocks away from the Eiffel Tower figuring there must be tons of places to eat nearby.
Surprisingly there were very few. Along the street I was taking toward the next metro stop I
would use to get back to the hostel, I found a decent looking place with a good menu outside.
I went with the meal plan where I could pick an appetizer, main dish and desert. I selected
Muscadet white wine, pate, rotisserie chicken, zucchini au gratin and a slice of peach tarte
for dessert. The only flaw in my plan was that I think the pate was also chicken. Nothing
like adding extra protein to your diet. All was very tasty and most filling. I looked
forward to the .5 hour long metro ride to settle my food a bit.

Getting Lost In The Louvre

2010-04-19T14:26:00.000-07:00

Finally the day has arrived. Time to venture to the Louvre and discover what exactly is in
there. Comprised of three buildings (Sully, Denon and Richelieu) filled with historic
artifacts and wonders from around the world, there are hours worth of entertainment inside.
At the suggestion of Jenna's friend who lives in Paris, I plotted out the big sights and made
sure to hit most of them before wandering freely. I saw the Winged Victory and Mona Lisa before I realized that there really weren't that many people inside. I started to wander through the painting gallery which was mostly Renaissance art and not to my taste. A few pieces were nice. I saw a huge rock head that looked just like the one from Night In The Museum (from Easter Island??).
I wandered into the Oceanic, African and Americas section which had some very neat pieces in carved wood and pottery. I came across Louis XV's crown at one point and then into a section with lots of furniture and medieval tapestries. Needless to say, I didn't spend much time there. I happened across a huge stairwell with some unique windows that looked like clocks but not really. It was some kind of artistic tribute to time. I took a break for lunch at the cafe and then headed back in to continue with the French sculptures where I found some very curious looking faces. This morphed into a section of what the French call "orientale" which really means Middle East. I saw pottery and bronze from as early as 1600 BC. One of my favorite items was the tiny decorated metal and ceramic pieces that looked like beads, but were used for rolling designs into (clay) or onto (paint/glaze) worked items. There were case after case of these. My other favorite was the tiny bronze figurines (now green from age) that were displayed like little green army men. Apparently every culture has their version of green army men. These things always get me thinking about what life meant for the people living in cultures long before and then along side, but other than the Jewish people. On top of that, what was life like before Jesus revolutionized how the world was oriented? How does God feel about the Ancient Egyptian culture? Were they loved too? Did they turn out like God expected?

Eventually I moved into the Egyptian section being greeted by all kinds of mummies and
circauphagi. I've seen loads of Egyptian artifacts, so I breezed through here a bit. The
interesting part was towards the end of this place where there were some plaques that
explained the similarities of the various cultures they had on display and how you could
notice the influences of Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. For those seminary fans reading, I
think I saw some Ugaritic pieces. Most of the writing was in French, so I could be wrong.

From here I moved into the Greek and Roman sculpture. Since I've spent time recently in both
countries, I couldn't help but slip through these sections. I'm kind of sculptured out. I
did make sure to stop and see the Venus de Milo with her missing arms. This wasn't hard as
she was the only piece at the end of a long hall being renovated. I had time to catch one
more photo of a very elegant statue of Artemis before my camera died. As this put an end to
my photography, I went up to the 2nd floor and viewed the mostly uninteresting (to me) art
from French, German, Spanish, Flemmish and I'm sure some other countires that were all very
dark, portraits and rather dull.

Feeling like I'd exhausted my ability to stay at the Louvre any longer, I went outside in
search of an H&M store to see if I could possibly replace my scarves. I had already looked up
the address, so it was just a matter of finding it on the street. In the entire 4 floor store
I saw only ONE scarf at all like the one I had recently bought. It happened to be on a
mannequin near the cash register. Fortunately I was able to persuade the guy at the checkout
to give it to me. At least I have a scarf now. Not quite sure what to do for dinner, I
thought a trip up to Montmarte would be a good place to find a restaurant; perhaps I'd visit
one suggested from the tour on Friday. While I was walking I remembered that I wanted to see
if I could get my portrait drawn by one of the famed artists in Place du Terte. I found a guy
who was in the middle of a portrait, but had a great impressionist style worth waiting for.
Soon enough I sat down and was chatting with the artist. We talked travel, science, art and
Paris. When I asked if he had a good restaurant suggestion, he said he could show me one
nearby that would be much cheaper than the touristy ones by the square. We stopped at a
couple on the street just down from the square--one was closed and the other was Turkish. We
finally stopped at an asian restaurant that had some delicious looking, but inexpensive food.
It's always fun to get a few good stories from the locals wherever you travel.

Versailles

2010-04-18T14:11:00.000-07:00

Woke up not feeling too great so I took it slow getting ready. I ended up being 30 minutes late to meet up with Manuel, but better that than not showing up at all. I had no way to
contact him, so he would have just been standing there for a long time wondering what was
going on. We boarded the train to Versailles and arrived 20 minutes later. About 500m
walking down the road and around the corner brought the splendid palace into view. My cousin
Val had been here on a trip to Paris through school, but she didn't tell me how huge the place
is or how gilded! The glamor soon faded as we saw the very long line we had to wait in to
get tickets. We then lamented each separately thinking of getting tickets ahead of time and
not doing it. Fortunately we only had to wait about 15-20 minutes. Not bad considering there
were about 100 people in front of us. After getting the tickets we had to wait in the
entrance line to go through a bag screening (which I'm not sure anyone was even monitoring)
that took about 20 minutes again.

Once inside we decided to head out to the Queen's Hamlet to make sure we didn't miss it by
spending too much time in the Chateaux. Unknowingly this took us into the garden which we
could have easily entered without passing through security. By going the way we did we
procured a map and had a shot at knowing where we were going. We wandered through the vast gardens which almost looked imaginary or movie like at the far end (3.5km away). French gardens really means a wide pathway with white powdery gravel and some trees or shrubs along the sides. There is rarely grass and when there is, it's forbidden to walk on it. Apparently France is much more dry and desert like than I realized. We had taken a slightly shorter route toward the Queen's area only to discover that a large gate and a moat blocked our way. Making our way back around the wall and off to the far corner of the estate brought us to the first of three places the Queen had built solely for her. I didn't enjoy the first very much. It was very late 17th/early 18th century fashion which was a bit too fru fru and pastel colored for me. Many of the rooms had lemon colored furniture or pastel green walls with lots of pastel pink stone making up the building. It was nice to see some furniture though.

The second place was much more relaxed and almost like a summer cottage. The rooms were
smaller and cozy with a natural color palate. By far the grander part of this whole area is
the garden outside the houses. This was much more like a real garden. Grass abounded, paths
were small, flowers were in bloom, trees grew naturally and not into trimmed shapes. The
first garden by the Chateaux felt very formal and harsh. The Queen's garden was much more relaxed and homey. We found our way back to the far end and suddenly a whole tiny village came into view. What was this? Not on the map. We checked it out and it turned out to be the third part of the Queen's area--a farm, servants' houses, stable. The Queen really had her own place to rule just like she asked. While it was all quite lovely, when this was being built most of France was starving and destitute. Hard to reconcile.

On our way back to the main garden we stopped at one of the cafes for lunch and ice cream.
Realizing we needed to move along to see more things, we moved through the other side of the
main garden and back to the Chateaux. Originally we chose this day to visit because they turn
the fountains on for Sunday. After the first few up by the main entrance, the rest were dry
as a bone or had still water. Around 4pm an announcement indicated that some of the
fountains were about to be turned on. It was most refreshing to see and feel them in action. Moving water naturally makes it cooler and that was nice on such a sunny day. At last we made it to the Chateaux and picked up our complimentary audio guides. In typical French fashion there was only one number to listen to for the first floor, though it was filled with paintings. We had to get to the second floor with all the official kingly apartments before any new numbers showed up. [Famous Hall of Mirrors] When we reached the end of this tour we had another very French moment. The organization of the tour routes was never listed and both routes end in the same place without warning. We naturally kept following the hall around the corner when we realized that the numbers had changed and the information was going backwards as the numbers were counting down. No great loss. We trudged ahead and made it all the way to the princesses' apartments and the Dauphin's (I think he was the 2nd in command and next in line for the throne??) apartments. This is when we noticed we were running out of time to make it to the Neptune Fountain show at 5:20pm.

At a quick pace we saw the beginning from the walkway and arrived in just enough time to catch
the last few minutes. It really wasn't a show so much as music playing while the large
fountain was running. The water pressure never varied and there were no lights. It was nice
to see the water flowing though after so many fountains were not working. Having seen all we
could see, we stopped at a cafe on the way to the train station to avoid the large crowd
heading that direction. This worked out well as the train back was not quite as full. We
were going past the area where Manuel lives and it was getting close to dinner time for me.
Manuel thought it would be a good idea to sample some sushi at a great place near his
apartment. The food was actually really good. A nice change from bread and sandwiches. I
sampled some salmon, tuna, and some kind of white fish sushi along with 4 grilled kebabs (2
chicken, 1 steak and 1 ground up meats shaped into balls). It was all delicious which made it
worth the 45 minute metro ride back to the hostel.

An American In Paris

2010-04-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

This morning I realized that I was missing a plastic bag of things. It finally dawned on me that I had left it on the upper rack in the train yesterday. My beloved blue scarf is gone along with a tin of cookies, some maps from the last few trips to Aix-en-Provence and Avignon, and another scarf I had just bought the day before. I am quite angry about this. [Still angry on the 21st as I write this.]

Today I met up with my friend Manuel who lives here in Paris. We met in Archaia Corinthos, Greece which seems like ages ago. I'm glad I have this blog or I wouldn't remember much of what I have seen and done. I wasn't sure how much time Manuel had to spend with me and thought we might just plan out an itinerary over coffee. He kindly served as my tour guide for the day as we walked around Central Paris. Our walk started on the E end crossing the River Seine and following it until we were at Notre Dame Cathedral. This globally recognized church was filled with people walking through the outer circuit of the interior (the area roped off for tourists to pass through). It was quite noisy despite the Silence signs as everyone talked in their own language to their people about what they were seeing. Amidst camera flashes and the clank of coins being dropped into the medallion machines (yes, you can purchase your own Notre Dame coin from vending machines throughout the church), the atmosphere--if there ever is one--was nonexistent. The Gothic style did nothing for me. The stained glass was not pretty. The walls/ceiling were composed of stone block which made the entire place look like the metro of Paris--i.e. tacky and dingy. Compared to Sacre Cour in Montmarte, Notre Dame is a hollow building for the commercialism of religious goods. I was not positively swayed or moved.

Further down the river we walked into the Louvre and grabbed some information on times and prices. There are three buildings of fun waiting for me to discover! We took a stroll through the Jardin des Tuileries next to the Louvre which is really more of a sandy, deserty like park with trees in it. Not overly pretty and very bright from the white dirt/rocks on the pathways. We walked past the Obelisque and crossed the river again and passed the Assemblee Nationale building (their legislative/political building). We wandered through the St. Germain area looking for a another church which we eventually found. It's very similar in architecture to Notre Dame with high arches and stained glass windows, but very quiet as no tourists really come here. We walked back W to the Hotel des Invalides which is now a military building. I wasn't too interested in seeing the military history museum through the revolution up to Napoleon so we took a bus to the Jardin du Luxumbourg where we strolled around though a park that at least had grass in it. Most of our walking had been relatively quiet for the international metropolis of Paris. Most Parisians seemed to be on vacation (similar to spring break) or in the parks as we noted in Jardin du Luxumbourg. The place was packed! we stopped for some coffee and then wandered through the Quartier Latin where there are some lovely traditional French shops and markets. A guy was playing a crankable music box cart with paper cut out music while singing. Cheese, fruit, fish and vegetable stores tempted us with their delicious looking foods. Manuel picked out a tub of strawberries that are presently in season and we feasted on them. My Mom would have been jealous for how fresh and sweet they were.
[Paris skyline at night from Sacre Cour--apparently I didn't understand the slow exposure time. Still a cool photo though.]
We hopped on the metro and went to meet up with one of Manuel's good friends as they were growing up and his wife. We had drinks and appetizers at Le Rhumerie. I had a tasty fruit juice drink of pineapple, orange, banana and coconut juices. We snacked on some fried fish balls, something similar to bruschetta and what I think was a blood sausage with spices. All quite yummy. From here we parted ways with Manuel's friends and found a traditional Bretangne restaurant (region of France) where we had egg, ham and tomato crepes with apple cider wine. I was incredibly stuffed by this point. No dessert for me or I would have exploded! We headed up to Montmarte by metro to see if we could find a jazz club, but everything seemed pretty quiet up there. I was wiped out from all the walking and eating, so we headed home for the night. We planned to meet up tomorrow to head to Versailles.

Amelie, Montmarte

2010-04-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

Much like my trip to Avignon, the train strike was still in effect which meant I only had to find a train going my direction and see if I had to pay once I got on. I met a girl while checking out of the hostel who was trying to get back to London, but her flight was canceled due to the ash from the volcano in Iceland. She was trying to take trains from Marseille to Paris to London, but didn't understand about the buying a ticket piece. We ended up walking to the train station together and sitting across from each other on the train. She didn't talk much and we both ended up napping on our way to Paris. Once I'm on the train I get in the mode to find my place and figure out transit.

Finding the metro at the Gare de Lyon station was quite confusing. The map of the station shows where it is, but the orientation of the map is not easy to understand. I finally found the connection for line 1, bought a ticket and dragged my bag up and down stairs to get to the platform. What no one tells you about the Paris metro is that the connections to different lines require quite a bit of walking. Sometimes this involves stairs. Fortunately I hadn't done much today, so I had the energy to move my things around. The change to line 5 was pretty easy and finding my stop was simple. Finding the turn for the street of the hostel was somewhat more difficult. It was either not marked or listed under a different name: both very common problems in Europe. When I spotted the next metro stop I knew I had gone too far. Fortunately there are maps of the metro at almost every stop so I was able to navigate my way back relatively easily and checked in. I noticed on the welcome map that there was a tour of Montmarte at 6pm. It sounded like an easy way to see some of the city and check off something on my list of things to see.

The tour was excellent. We started outside the Moulin Rouge (red windmill) and heard the stories of how this poor part of town bred artists as well as seedy characters in the red light district. We walked all over Montmarte [Martyr Hill--where Christians were taken to be executed in Catholic France during the revolutions] (which is quite lovely by evening stroll) and our guide Ann Marie from Ireland was chipper and made the stories quite interesting. I learned about Van Gogh's distraught and challenging life when we passed the place where he used to live. We saw the Au Lapin Agile where Picasso challenged the owner to feed him in return for artwork which later turned the owner into a millionaire. The buildings and apartments are quaint and places you can only dream of living unless you have say E500,000 you just want to toss at a small European apartment. Sacre Cour Cathedral was by far one of the best stops we made. The views of Paris are excellent (including the Eiffel Tower) and the church is gorgeous. Made out of travertine stone, the building is self-cleaning (like the free public toilets on the street :) ) when the rain naturally whitens the stone. We wound our way down the hill through Place du Terte where local artists vie for a lifelong seat in the square doing portraits. We also stopped at a few of the places where the movie Amelie was filmed including the cafe and the market. The director spent 18 months going each day to the cafe to ask the owner if he could close the cafe for 4 months in the high tourist season to film. He's glad he consented now! Business has never been better.

After such a busy day I opted to eat at the hostel where I had a large plate of lasagna bolognese style filled with beef, green/red peppers, cheese and onion. Tomorrow I meet up with my friend Manuel to discover more of Paris, so a good night's sleep is in order.

Beach Bum II

2010-04-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

Originally I made no plans for today. It seemed like a good day to sleep in and read up on Germany and Britain. While I was planning how many days to spend in each place, one of my roommates (Fernando from Scotland) I had met yesterday stopped by and asked if I wanted to join him on his trip to the beach. I'm not one to really go to the beach on my own; it's just not that appealing to me usually. When invited, however, it always sounds like the right thing to do. Better to enjoy the sunshine while I can than sit inside.

We walked down to the port and along the S side until we ran into Fort St. Nicolas. It seems like every fort I've come across in France is still being used in some capacity as a military establishment and therefore not open to the public. Fernando seemed curious, so we hiked up the steep incline to find a monument with a large plaque honoring those who died at sea, on land or in the air in service to their countrymen, for the honor of their country and in pursuit of a goal which they didn't get to enjoy. I got about 90% of that from the French--go me! The views of the city were really nice. To the left you could see Chateau D'If and toward the right, the rest of Marseille sprawling out along the coast.

Still not to the beach yet, we pressed onward. After crossing 5 lanes of traffic going in all sorts of directions coming out of the tunnel under the port (at least they put up signs reminding drivers that people walk here even though there really isn't much sidewalk there), we started wondering how far the beach was. I consulted my map and we found it should be fairly close. One beach finally appeared ahead of us with a sandy beach that must have been artificial as most of the coastline is rocky. There was plenty of space so we staked out a patch and kicked back. We waded into the sea at one point, but it was way too cold to do any more despite Fernando's eagerness to swim.

Somehow four hours passed whilst we were enjoying the sun and I had been reading up on future countries. I had eaten a late breakfast, but we had both skipped lunch making us quite famished by 5pm. We walked back to the port seeking a place to eat dinner where we came across a tapas place that looked good. Dinner wouldn't be served until 7pm. What to do with one hour? We settled on drinks and then shifting back over to the restaurant. What great food we had! For E21 we had a pitcher of sangria, bread, and 4 plates 1. Grilled chicken with grill seasoning 2. Mussels with tomatoes and basil, 3. Grilled shrimp with cumin and pepper, 4. Fried calamari. I was certainly stuffed after all of that. The walk back to the hostel helped settle the meal. It made for such a great, well balanced day.

The Best of The Best

2010-04-14T12:53:00.000-07:00

If Aix-en-Provence was charming and relaxing, Avignon was a close tie for history and depth of sights. What Avignon is most famed for is being the double see (or seat) of the papacy in the 1300-1400s. Conflict raged in the Roman Empire and the pope at the time (Clement something) decided to re-situate the papacy in Avignon where it was not only safer and calm, but also a very central location in the heart of Catholic France, Spain and Italy. Benedict XII began building an enormous palace which was later added to (doubled in size) by Clement # (some other number) creating the vast Palais des Papes.

Getting to Avignon is easiest by train. Busses are possible, but a bit more challenging. Since the train station is right outside the hostel, I checked it out first. Turns out no tickets are on sale during the strike. The protocol is to go to the train, get on, find the manager and buy a ticket on board. The train the woman at the desk suggested was one that headed to Paris (good news for future travel to know trains are still regularly going to Paris). I hopped on and there was no one around from whom I could purchase a ticket. Unlike Italy, they don't come through the train to check and punch your tickets. This was quite nice as it was about E20 one way to Avignon.

I began by following some of the walking trails around town to see the area and locate a place for lunch. My morning exercise used up enough energy to make me hungry, so I grabbed a pair of croissants. I branched off one of the roads to find a place my guidebook suggested and when I arrived at #4 Rue de Amphoroux all I found was what looked like someone's house. Sometimes this book is 50/50 on its suggestions. I thought I knew which road I was on, but the map I had named only the main roads. Turns out I was on a different street, but soon fixed my mistake. I saw some more of the city since the museum I wanted to see wasn't open until 12pm. I knew it would be a short trip through so I walked some more up in the N part of town. [Right outside the cafe] Hunger got the best of me so I opted to find my second lunch choice Numero 75, a cafe in the house where abysinth was discovered. On my way to one of the main streets near where I had been searching for the other lunch spot, I somehow missed the turn I needed. When I started to see the walled parts of the city again, I knew I had gone too far. Fortunately when I turned I was on the only road that would lead me through this university part of town. Finally I arrived at the cafe. It was definitely worth it! It's been hard to find veggies that aren't too expensive in restaurants or a place to clean/cook them at a hostel. My French is so vast that I thought I ordered some kind of fillet and asparagus with it--something off the menu of the day. It turns out I got grilled asparagus with a pea/onion souffle. I was actually pretty excited for all the veggies and it tasted so delicious. There was even a mustard green salad with sesame seeds and a sesame oil vinaigrette. The bread was really fresh and something of a 1/2 white 1/2 wheat combination.

The Musee Angladon was a small place in a former house filled with great furniture (from the 18-19th centuries??) and impressionist works by Cezanne, Monet, Degas and the only Van Gogh piece in Provence. It was nice to see some furnished rooms for a change. Most of the museums are rather drab and boring apart from the artwork. From here I wandered up the main streets to see the central part of town where I ran into an H&M. For those unfamiliar, I discovered this store in the Twin Cities with its European fashions. It's where I got my blue scarf with the flowery pastel design. They were having a sale and I picked out a button up plaid shirt to expand my travel wear a bit and a yellow scarf with pink and orange flowers on it for a whopping E15. Not bad.

When I realized it was getting late into the afternoon to see all that I had left on my list, I hopped on a bus to see the Tour Philippe-le-Bel and wander the small town of Villeneuve-les-Avignon just across the Rhone River. My map mentioned an abbey that had beautiful gardens, so I started there. Turns out it was gorgeous! There were only 4 other people inside and the peaceful walk was quite lovely. Views of Avignon were excellent. I walked the purple trail through the old part of town and came across a monastery that I was debating on whether to traverse. I'm glad I did because I was able to wander a Carthusian monastery in peace and discovered the various rooms along the way. The guide map is pretty straightforward, so when I found a few staircases without ropes I decided to venture up. There were rooms set up as the monks would have used them with their small bunk bed, writing table and prayer spot. Downstairs was an herb garden, kitchen, fireplace and wood chopping station. Definitely glad I stopped here instead of the other church in town.

It was close to 5pm and with the last entrance to the Palias des Papes at 6pm, I needed to hurry back or miss one of the great sights of the city. I arrived at 5:30pm and was able to fully enjoy the audio guided tour. Built out of huge, white blocks of stone, most of the rooms inside were painted extravagantly though it's no longer on the walls. From what I heard, the place was quite richly furnished and so were the popes. Their vestments were expensive and their treasuries were equally filled with gold, jewels and the like. Secret rooms below the floor served as vaults for their valuables. Both halves of the palace were 4 stories high including the ground floor. Some of the towers for cooking were even taller. The guide listed off the food at one of the pope's coronations and it went on for a good minute about the abundance of food needed to properly celebrate this event with the town. I don't remember exact figures, but I think 20,000 chickens is not out of the ballpark. This along with lambs, bread, eggs, vegetables, potatoes and more!

After a long day I needed to head home and train was the only quick option. With the strike, I wasn't sure if the usual schedule would apply, so it was a bit risky. A train was supposed to come through at 8pm so I took the bus back to the station and checked to see what was available. Apparently there was a train from Paris stopping here at 7:30pm. Same rules: get on the train, find the manager and buy a ticket. I thought I would at least ask about a ticket this time and see if they were going to sell them. When I asked the manager about getting a ticket, he said something in French that seemed to imply he would take care of it after the train started moving or that it wasn't important and to just grab a seat. I sat down upstairs and figured if he really wanted to charge me he could easily find me. He passed by a couple times and never said anything, so another free ride on the train.

By the time I got back a walk to a restaurant would have worn me out. I headed to the market and picked up some chicken, onion, bread, cheese, wine and yogurt. With my olive oil and garlic, the chicken was quite tasty. Some more olive oil and salt for the bread along with the herbed cheese was also good. Now the only question was what to do for tomorrow's itinerary?

Aix-iled

2010-04-13T02:58:00.000-07:00

Though the name of the town is spelled Aix-en-Provence, it's pronounced Ex. Just a 15 minute bus ride puts you in a quieter, less industrial and quaint town. Life seems slower here, though Marseille doesn't seem to be hurtling forward at the speed of light. From the height of Cezanne's studio on the N end of town you can see the rolling green hills spotted with small houses and sunlight. Puffy white clouds float through the sapphire blue sky. It's enough to make anyone wax eloquent about the artsy side of life. It's even easier to see why impressionism took root here.

Upon first look the town winds though small side streets and squares. I booked tickets at the first family home and Cezanne's studio before beginning with the Cezanne walk for a chance to see part of the city. Bronze plaques in the sidewalk and street mark the direction for your walk. I passed the school where Cezanne failed his basic tests in elementary school and had to retake them. I saw houses where his children, parents and friends lived. I passed buildings where old cafes used to be and still are that Cezanne and his friends frequented. When I started getting hungry I happened to be in a more commercial part of town and I saw a bagel shop. Yes, I wanted to eat French food, but the bagel consumed my tastebuds and once I knew how inexpensive they were I had to have one. In a short time I devoured a deliciously warm wheat bagel with cheddar and chutney (which Megan informs me is quite French). I almost went back for another when I decided I should sample some other foods in the town. Further down the Cezanne trail I discovered an organic foods store where I picked up some kind of pale colored food that looked like chopped up nuts in a yellow sauce with golden raisins and peas. It had a mustard sauce that after a few bites cleared out the sinuses. Plus it all came in a biodegrable container made of paper (lid and all) with a wooden spork. Around the corner I wandered into a local fruit and veggie market where I picked up an organically grown orange. The woman decided that for one orange it wasn't necessary to pay, so it was free. A bit further down I found some almonds and raisins (my version of travel trail mix). Such a delicious lunch! I enjoyed my treats sitting on a fountain watching the market and small kids playing in the water of the fountain.

Now filled I continued with the trail a bit more until I reached the large round about again. A little over a kilometer walk brought me to my first of two tours: the Jas de Bouffan house. Jas is the provencal word for shepherd hut which is what first stood on the property. The Bouffan family bought the land and kept the hut (which later degraded) building their rich house right next to it. The 4 rows of tiles under the eaves of the roof explain the very wealthy status of the family. Most provencal homes had 3 at the time. Eventually the family fell into financial troubles and Cezanne's father (first a shopkeeper turned banker with his fortunes) leant them money. Unable to make payments after some time, the house entered the Cezanne family. One of the upper windows was extended above the roofline to allow more natural light in where Cezanne painted. His first works were painted for his father in the side theater room on the first floor to prove he was good enough at painting. The works have since been removed and placed in museums. Around the property you can still see the landscape where Cezanne did 9 of his paintings. Modernized, it's a bit challenging to imagine just what it looked like, but the house, farm building, wall, pool, row of trees and garden shed are all still the same. All that's missing are the wide rolling green hills now filled with houses and businesses [the house used to be out in the country].

From here I walked back to town and then North of the town 800km. Why is it that the map never bothers to mention it's uphill?? I arrived at Cezanne's studio just before the tour started which happened to be in French. I caught a few words here and there. A large portion of his tools, props and personal effects (painting easel, smocks, letters, sketches, etc.) are still in the studio. I saw the famous green jug and rum bottle which appeared in many of his paintings. The most striking feature of the second floor room is the N wall covered in windows. It looked to be about 5m wide and 4m high or 15'x 12'.

I contemplated staying in Aix-en-Provence for dinner, but most places were pricey and I needed something a bit more filling than another bagel. I caught the bus back to town and finished off my chicken, veggies and rice. Gearing up for another day trip tomorrow.

Chateaus and Baskets

2010-04-12T02:40:00.000-07:00

[Large fish market at the port]
I actually slept in a bit today--and there was much rejoicing (yea!). Despite the creaky wood beds (they look nice, but I have discerned that all bunk beds squeak and shake no matter the material) and the two French speaking guys who woke up in the middle of the night to an alarm, left the room, came back a while later (I fell back asleep), and proceeded to talk for quite some time until I said something about trying to sleep I managed to sleep quite well. I was off and walking by 9:30am to tour the town and take in the few highlights.

My day began with a ferry to Chateau D'If which you will recognize from Alexandre Dumas' book The Count of Monte Cristo. A whopping 3.5km from the port, the island is a small rocky plateau off the shore. Just NW there are 2-3 more islands (Frioul is one). The views of the town were excellent and put the area into perspective. The dual forts guarding the port are visible amongst the few tall, modern office buildings to the N and the Basilique Notre Dame de la Garde high on a hill to the S. The island is covered with random grasses, clovers and small ground coverings amidst the smooth, pale white rock. The fort has three round towers and a central courtyard. It was strategically built in the early 1500s to protect the town from sieges after Charles V overran the town. Dubbed the "unsightly neighbor," the townspeople lamented the fort as an image of imperial power. Marseille retained rights to their own protection when they were annexed to France in 1481. Four floors of old cells and empty rooms comprise the Chateau. Some were no more than 4 walls and some were more like apartments with fireplaces and areas to cook. My info pamphlet said that some families would have their sons sent here by letters of state which bypassed a trial and committed them to the island until further notice. A few rented the apartments out and had reasonable stays. Others who were less fortunate prisoners (some were traitors, many were protestants and friars--thanks to Catholic France back in the day) ended up in spartan cells with miserable ends. It was a fun tour and entertaining owing to my love of the novel which made the Chateau truly famous.

[Seagull nest]
From here I spotted a place for lunch, but had an hour before they started serving the menu option I wanted. I hiked up the hill to the Basilique. It's quite a ways up! The board at the church noted it at an altitude of 147m though I didn't catch how high the actual town is. Inside the ceiling is gilded with beautiful, shiny mosaics depicting biblical stories and has a lovely glow to it. It might have helped the feeling of warmth that there were candles burning and I was inside out of the wind and rain.

Back at the restaurant I endeavored to order using as much French as possible. It's a bit easier when you read it right off the menu. I chose the Le Trio which was a starter (Le Turrine de Legumes Provencal), a main dish (Boulliabasse et Roche) and dessert (La Suggestion du Chef) for E17. I thought I had chosen a red wine, but it turned out to be white though I think that was a better choice in the end. In a short time the waiter said the starter I chose wasn't available so I opted for the Soupe du Poisson (fish soup) which a guy at the last hostel said I should definitely try. It turned out to be quite yummy. The dark broth had bits of spice and fish remnants (more like the dark brown bits between the meat and the skin) floating amongst it. What I didn't know was that the Boulliabasse was basically fish soup with fish and potatoes in it. So my second course was almost identical to the first. Oh well. The dessert, however, was fabulous. The waiter didn't remember that I chose the chef's choice, so I ended up selecting the chocolate cake. Wow was that delicious! In layers were yellow cake and chocolate truffle like substance. On top a bitter chocolate sauce and slivered almonds. It was a large slice too--probably 6" long and 4" high. I was definitely moving slow after this meal.

Two things were left on my to do list for the day: check out the Marseille history museum and wander the Le Panier Quarter again hoping the shops would be open. Turns out the history museum is closed for the next month or until the end of the month. Le Panier was somewhat of a bust as well. Apparently Sunday and Monday are days off for much of the town. I did manage to come across a biscuit shop that smelled heavenly where I picked up 200g (about 7.1 oz.) of biscuits for after dinner snacks. I found 3 of the other shops on my map, but they were all closed. By the time I had wandered for about an hour I was in great need of a bathroom and rather tired. Time for a nap at the hostel. The evening was relaxed with working on the blog, eating up my Asian chicken rice mix and chatting with friends. Excited for day trips to start tomorrow!

The Colors of Marseille

2010-04-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

Having worn out my time in Nice it was the day to head to Marseille. With the train strike going on, I wasn't sure how exactly I'd get to town. I knew there were busses, but couldn't find the company or where the bus would leave from. When I checked the listings online for trains it appeared that there were 2 leaving at 1:30 and 2:30pm. Check out was at 10am so I figured I could sit for a bit and read at the hostel and arrive at the train station around 12pm to procure a ticket. Louise had left earlier in the morning by train for Florence and Michelle decided to take a slow day and join me in my trip to the train station.

At the ticket counter the woman informed me that there was only one train at 1:30pm and it was an open ticket--no reserved seats. Since getting the ticket was so easy and there were no long lines, we walked next door to a cafe for a cappuccino and croissant. Around 1pm I boarded the train which was surprisingly empty. I was exceedingly glad I had a seat and plenty of room for my luggage for the 2.5 hour journey. The countryside was much the same as around Nice--rocky, yellowish tan dirt, and tall apartment buildings in French style with shudders and tiled roofs. I opted to spend my time working through my guide book for Marseille and Paris to do a bit of planning ahead.

At a stop a half hour from Marseille a woman came up to where me and the guy next to me were sitting and appeared to be indicating these where her seats. So much for no reservations. Being only 1/2 hour from getting off I didn't mind getting up to stretch and I needed to be poised to exit as the train was quite packed with many people filling the aisles now. Usually there's only about 5 minutes at each stop, so it pays to be ready. With the strike you don't want to miss your stop as there likely won't be another train heading in the opposite direction you can easily hop on to get back one stop. Fortunately I made it off the train easily. The directions to the hostel were pretty straight forward and worked nicely. I was even able to get the my two bookings for the same hostel at their two sites moved into the same building. Far more convenient.

With everything settled I headed out to see a few things and walk the town a bit to lessen the number of things to see tomorrow. Being Sunday most places were closed and I knew food would be a bit challenging to come by. The lady at the desk marked a market that would be open, but when I walked by that spot on the street (and even past it) I saw nothing even close to a market. The only things there were closed businesses and cafes among the few open. I happened across an Asian restaurant and grabbed a dish of pollet citronelle (chicken something with red/green peppers and onions in a yellow sauce) to go rice I had back at the hostel. The way down to the port was rather uneventful and noteworthy only of the large number of atypical-French looking immigrants and homeless people. A variety of Muslim, Jewish, people who looked to have come from Africa or the Middle East passed by on the street. Marseille truly is a port town with a wide variety of peoples, customs and traditions. I think I expected it to be a bit more romantic from my imaginings of it from The Count of Monte Cristo, but Marseille has a much more rough, harsh exterior to it. Imagine a gruff looking old fisherman who actually is friendly, but doesn't display this openly and you'll have the idea of Marseille. [This is a Sunday street market in Marseille just NE of the port.] The way of life in this town seems to produce a distance between what people show and how they feel. Perhaps this is just a difference between Greek/Italian expressiveness and a more reserved French nature. Thus far, all I can make of the French people is that they are distant. My speculations are that they are more vain and self-contained than the more southern Mediterranean countries. Most people in Nice seemed rather friendly, but here in Marseille they are short and to the point--exerting themselves only as much as need be. I think this is why many travelers find the French rather rude. They seem to find no need to accommodate foreigners and are quite content to uphold their own language. If you don't first earn their kindness by attempting to speak French, no matter how botched or broken, you are likely to have a tough time getting what you need.

From the port I took a brief walk through the area around Le Panier Quarter (better known as Marseille's Basket). The area used to be a major area for breads, but now is mostly residential with a variety of tiny shops. This neighborhood was much more plesant and cozy than the port area. Eventually I worked my way back to the hostel and prepared dinner. The chicken/veggie mix went well with my rice and made enough for a couple meals. This way I can eat French food for lunch out at restaurants and eat on the cheap in the hostel.

Film Festival Anyone?

2010-04-10T07:14:00.000-07:00

Running out of things to see in the Nice area, I planned to visit Cannes today just to say I was there. Along the way you can stop in Antibes, an old fishing village. Michelle decided to join me in my adventure and we set out for the bus terminal and the direction of Cannes. Our stop in Antibes was....well....low key and blah. We never made it to the old part of town. We also didn't have a map and the ones posted around the port area were rather less than helpful in their faded colors and excessive marking of parking garages. We did see an old fort from a distance, having not been able to locate the entrance, and some enormous yachts in port from places like London and Oslo. After wandering around the marina, we were quite hungry. Our attempt to make it to the center of town yielded pricey pubs, cafes and many eateries closed for the day. Eventually Michelle spotted a grocery store and we decided to grab some small treats and snack on our way to Cannes. I selected 2 coconut yogurts and Michelle found some bite size salamis, herbed cream cheese ovals the size of your thumb and a baguette.

On our way back toward the bus stop we spotted a park and decided to sit for our snack. This was a fortuitous move as Michelle spotted a 200 bus to Cannes which we could then follow along the street to find out if there was a closer bus stop. The bus had passed before we were able to cross the street, but based on our finely tuned intuition and knowledge of street signs (like the one way/do not enter symbol) we found the bus back in the main square where we had previously been looking for inexpensive cafes. The bus happened to stop just down the street from us and a large group of people were entering. We had just enough time to walk around the construction and make it to the door before it left.

A half hour later in Cannes we stepped out into a busy plaza right next to the port filled with semi-permanent tent shop booths and petanque playing areas. Petanque appears to be a sport similar to bocce, but where everyone plays with the same silver colored balls and the strategy seemed similar to curling. The playing fields are typically gravelly which adds to the difficulty factor. The men we saw playing had impeccable aim to lob a ball 10ft. away and hit their opponent's ball dead on knocking it out of play or to gently roll it right next to the target marker. Since we were unable to locate a restaurant with toilet facilities in Antibes, we were in need. Spotting a Mc Donald's on the corner, we played the 2 in 1 card by getting a bit more food and bathroom privileges. Michelle chose a flurry with caramel bits and I tried a L'Petit Moutarde (little mustard--small square bun with a burger patty, tomato slice and grainy spicy mustard) which turned out to be quite tasty.

Strolling along the waterfront, we headed for the Palais Festival where the Cannes Film Festival is held. Unfortunately there was some media conference going on and the building was closed to anyone without a badge. There was a makeshift red carpet outside which we were able to walk along and we did get to see a few of the hand prints in the sidewalk. I even posed for a photo as the Hans Solo cut out with Chewbacca. Our walk led us to the beach where we rested our feet on the sandy beach. Nice only has pebbly/rocky beaches which really are rather comfortable and you avoid the sand sticking to you.

By now it was 5:30pm and we faced a 2 hour bus ride back to Nice. When we reached the bus stop back by the main plaza, a line of about 40 people were waiting outside the bus. Thinking we wouldn't get seats and would have to stand the whole way back, we decided to wait for the next one and be near the front of the line. The French, much like the Italians, are very pushy when it comes to public transit. Most people crowd to the door and push forward as if that will assist the entrance process. There are usually a small contingent who argue about who should go in first based on old age, disability or just plain think they deserve to go first. We were witness to an old lady who was determined to be first on the bus and had a short tiff with a lady next to her. If you're old and want to go first, fine--just don't be rude about it and expect it as your personal right. We were also flanked by 4-5 people who came from in front of the bus and bypassed the line as well as 4 Brits who walked up on my left side between the line and the bus. Wouldn't you know that we all made it on the bus and we all got a seat? Shocking. The ride, however, was painful to say the least. About 30 minutes into our trip we hit ridiculously slow traffic and the bus turned into a sauna. None of the windows on the bus open (safety feature??) and with it packed full, things heated up quickly. Michelle and I were about to pass out from heatstroke. Kids were sweaty and crying to their parents that it was too hot. None of it seemed healthy and all of it was pushing the limits of sanity. About 45 minutes later we cleared the traffic and, finally moving a bit, the roof vents provided a bit of relief. We eagerly got off a few stops before the bus terminal to pick up the tram back to the hostel. Phew!

We needed a few minutes to recover before heading down to dinner. Tonight's selection was calamari with pasta salad. Not being a calamari fan, I planned to get a pizza. As I surveyed the main dish throughout the common room, I noticed the calamari was fried. No problem! The pasta was fantastic too--green beans, red/orange/yellow peppers, black olives, dill and olive oil. Most delicious meal. Michelle, Louise and I shared a bottle of red wine and 2 cookies for dessert. After such a long day, it was definitely bed time.

We All Live In A Yellow Submarine

2010-04-09T15:24:00.000-07:00

My morning started a bit earlier than usual at 7:30am to prepare for an exciting Mediterranean adventure. With another tasty breakfast of granola and milk, I left 15 minutes later than planned. Not only would I have to run to arrive on time, but I still had to stop and get money to pay for my excursion. I was hoping there would be an ATM in sight when I got off the tram. I got off at Place Garibaldi/The Port and much to my delight I walked right into an ATM. I whipped out my map and navigated my way to the east side of the port/marina. Supposedly the business had "Nice Diving" out front in large blue letters. Dodging cars and crossing streets, it finally appeared on my left. Inside I greeted the swarming helpers and handed over my voucher as I apologized for being late (fortunately it was only 5 minutes).

They sized me up for a wet suit and sent me out to the boat. Made it just in time to go scuba diving off the coast of Nice!

We sat on the boat for a good 20 minutes while the other 15 people prepared their gear for diving. I waited somewhat impatiently all geared up from running and anxious to start my adventure. One of the women who was leading the dives took me up front on the boat, helped me pick out fins and a mask, and gave me a quick run through on diving basics. She told me about the mask and two things I needed to remember for a successful dive: 1. Push in-between your eyes and blow air out your nose if you get water in your mask. 2. Pinch your nose and blow air out your ears to pop them as you descend. Seemed pretty straight forward.

When we reached the diving spot, everyone else on the boat suited up. After a few helpful tips on how to wear a wet suit, I took my time getting dressed. The lady had said something about being the last one on the boat so I gathered I wasn't going anywhere fast. It wasn't until the last two guys left the boat that one of the instructors informed me that I was to wait for Erik with the beard to return before I went back out. Thus began what I think was probably a 1/2 hour wait on a very rocky boat, in the hot sun and a black wet suit. I've never had trouble being on boats, but I hadn't anticipated such large waves for such a continuous time (about an hour since people started leaving the boat). I also didn't want to drink any more water because I already sort of had to go to the bathroom and it's a bit difficult to move around in a tight wet suit with fins on. My guess is a mixture of
heatstroke and seasickness set in and made me rather nauseous. I spent a good 15 minutes just lounging on the bench until Erik and the divers returned.
[mine is the yellow striped one]
Once I hit the cold water--aaaahhhh. All was better. Erik suited me up in a diving vest with a tank on it, tightened my mask and adjusted my air. Off to diving! What a view! Down below in the blue green water was rocky coral coastline with all sorts of ocean vegetation and life. We floated over grasses, seaweed looking plants in pinks, creams and greens, sea urchins, and schools of fish. I even got to hold an octopus that was about a foot long. It was surprisingly soft and fuzzy. The 20 minute dive was just the right amount of time to acclimatize, enjoy and get tired.

Back on the boat I had to peel the suit off of me and try to dry off as quick as I could. It was suddenly much colder in the breeze now that I'd been in such cold water. I was most grateful for the free beach towel from the hostel. We had a selection of juice and wine on the way back to the dock. What a wonderful time!

Quite calm and relaxed, I decided the best move was to grab some lunch and hit the beach for some sun and to make the most of my makeshift swimsuit. I wandered through Old Town where I found a chicken club baguette (lettuce, tomatoes and mayo) and a couple oranges. It's a rather long walk to the beach area, but it was pleasantly sunny. I plopped down on the rocky beach and settled in for a relaxing afternoon. A short hour later I was delightfully more tan and pleasantly full. Enough outdoor time for the day, so I headed to the hostel to get a shower and decrustify my hair from the salt water. Hot water never felt so good!

Dinner was another tasty meal with the ladies Louise and Michelle. Tonight's fare was barbecued pork ribs with potato salad and a green salad. The ribs too effort to eat as the meat was a bit tough, but sometimes you just need BBQ sauce.

Royalty, Racing and Cacti

2010-04-08T13:54:00.000-07:00

There's not a ton of sights to see directly in Nice. Thanks to inexpensive public transit, it's easy to see a wide variety of places. When in France, why not go to Monaco? If nothing else, a sighting of the casino is worth the E1 trip there. The bus ride was easy going though full with the train strike in effect. I arrived at the casino stop to lovely manicured lawns and a pleasant park. A short stroll down the hillside and bang! There's the casino in all its splendor. Fountains surrounded by tightly packed tulips in full bloom line the hillside along the path down to the main casino and gardens in-between of exotic flowers fill the open space. High end shops along the street remind you that you are in a lavish place in case you missed the darkly tinted car windows on the Rolls Royce or the Porsche you just passed. Everywhere you go in Monaco the streets and buildings feel light, clean and full of history. Even the underground walking tunnels are sleek stone and brightly lit.

I longed for a map of the province. My Lonely Planet guidebook is rather ungainly when you are trying to walk, see the sights and blend in a bit to not be the obvious tourist. I planned to head N from the casino and then to the W where there was a lovely Jardin Exotique. I made my way uphill where street signs were scarce and nothing matched with my book when I consulted it. After about a half hour of wandering, I finally located a street in my book. Somehow I had wandered out of Monaco and into Beausoleil--noticeably marked by the change in scenery and the more modest housing. I headed back downhill and followed a main road W until I happened upon the train station. A map of the local bus routes was out front which helped me navigate to the garden. Basically I followed the bus route until I saw signs for the garden. Check out their website: http://www.jardin-exotique.mc/

The views and the plants were well worth the trip. Inside are terraces filled with cacti and succulents--in the corner of France! The garden was started by Albert I in 1902 and later Prince Grace Kelly encouraged it's care. During building a cave was discovered at the bottom of the garden which Prince Albert insisted be opened to the public. In 1955, a Prehistoric Anthropology Museum was added which included some of the human and animal finds from the cave. The garden was delightfully peaceful and an excellent way to unwind after spending an hour wandering aimlessly and hiking uphill to the garden. Word to the wise...take the bus there. The cave was a nice aside at a sultry and humid 18.65C. I've seen many before, but none in France and none with a tour given in French.

Having spotted stairs heading toward the palace area on the way to the garden, I was one step ahead for my descent. I actually did one better by taking the elevator down a couple levels to the road I wanted to be on. Surprisingly I ended up in the middle of a park on the hillside. I walked back past the elevator and was in a parking garage. Fortuitously though below the parking floor listings was a stack of city maps! If only I had known to come here 3 hours ago! Navigating to the palace as a cake walk now. I easily made my way down 12 stories in the elevator to the road and another 3 sets of lengthy stairs to the palace.

Situated on a peninsula overlooking the Mediterranean and up a steep rampway winding back and forth is the Monaco Palace. The royal family of Albert II currently resides there who shares the space with about 250 some skilled caretakers divided into groups such as masonry, groundskeeping and cooking. Apparently a palace requires significant support. I circled the old walled fortress which has been modified repeatedly since its inception. What is visible today has not changed much since the 17th century. I paused at the Oceanographic Museum and Aquarium which catalogued a great deal of marine history from the 1800s during Albert I's reign. He was eager to learn about ocean life and commissioned trips by Dr. __ (I can't remember his name nor can I find it online) on the Princess Alice II to study, preserve and explore the seas. Later on he founded the present museum. I must say it's quite strange to see a squid or a fish preserved in a jar of chemicals from 1859. The displays of the tools and equipment they used was very informative. Much of their gear was designed by the exploration team to fit the exact needs they had. Weather indicators, harpoons, preservation processes, nets and the like were all finely tuned to the study. The Aquarium downstairs was equally impressive. Colorful and more bland species of fish floated and sped effortlessly through tanks of water. The only lighting on this level was blue lights which gave the feeling you were in a submarine.

A short walk down the road from the museum takes you right to the palace. I was eager to check out the tour to learn more about the royalty of Monaco. Turns out they give you an audio guide as part of the tour price (not usually the case) and you can see 14 rooms in the palace. My personal favorite was the last one where it says you are in the grand hall and the tour is over but the room is about 6'x6'. Now that's what I call "grand." There was a screen up, so it could have been larger. No, the best room was probably the Throne Room. I saw the actual throne for coronations and there are great portraits of the royal family many generations back. The best was the stunning one of Prince Ranier III with wife Grace Kelly and their two daughters Stephanie and Caroline and son Albert II. I was even greeted by the current Prince Albert II on the audio guide. Next door and included in the palace tour was the Napoleon Museum. Bits of random memorabilia from Napoleon's life. Like the cradle he gave to his adopted daughter or the booties and gown he wore as a kid. The best piece was a letter written by Louis XII in his own hand conceding the land of Monaco as its own principality.

After a busy day wandering the land of Monaco, a good rest at the hostel was in order. Dinner was two enormous slices of turkey with some kind of wine reduction brown sauce (tasted great), a side salad and rice with sun-dried tomatoes and herbs. Filling and a wide range of flavors.

Old Town

2010-04-07T13:35:00.000-07:00

This morning was moving day to a different hostel. This one promises to be far better than yesterday's as it was rated number one in 2009. It's nice to already know a bit about the city and the transit system. I called the toll free number for the hostel and got the low down on how to get there. All I had to do was take the E1 tram to the Comte de Falicon stop and the hostel shuttle would pick me up. Everything went as planned. I checked in, but the rooms hadn't been cleaned yet since it was before the 10am checkout. I put all my things in the storage room and enjoyed the free breakfast with 12 kinds of cereal--or muselix as they call it. Nothing like a bowl of granola and milk. I haven't had milk since the US!

So I wouldn't lose a day of discovery time, I went down to Old Town in the SE corner of Nice and sampled the flower and food market. What a wonderful array of sights, sounds, smells and colors. Bunches of fresh flowers and baskets of peppers filled tables. You could purchase flavored olives or bulk spices. It's ridiculous how great these markets are. I'm incredibly jealous of the fresh and local food people in Europe have. The rest of Old Town is filled with small shops, restaurants and touristy goods. The charm of the old buildings and sea views is quite lovely though. I made my way to the far E side and started to climb Chateau Hill to the large park on top. An old fort used to reside there. On my way up a huge cannon blast went off. Perhaps they do renactments?? After that sirens sounded ear piercingly at varying times for quite a while. The hill is terraced into different levels as the path winds up to the top. I happened across a huge waterfall first and then the lookout over top of it. There are no remains of the fort, but the quiet and the green space was excellent.

For the afternoon I decided to take a side trip to St. Paul de Vence. Just an hour bus ride to the NW of Nice is a tiny medieval walled village. Filled with the typical small shops and quiet side streets, I wandered around enjoying the sweeping views of the surrounding countryside. I was tempted to buy some deliciously scented soaps, but have been trying not to accrue more weighty souvenirs. I did find some lovely handmade paper cards with real flowers pressed into them. It was nice to be in a quiet town away from cars darting by you and motorcycles cutting in front of you on the sidewalk.

I'm excited that the hostel offers a cheap but filling and nutritious dinner each night. It's far enough from the restaurants in town that you have to make an effort to go out and that can get expensive quick. Tonight's meal was a fish fillet in cream sauce with shrimp and scallops with tagliatelli pasta and a side salad. Nothing like a good meal after a long day of sightseeing. I also met two ladies tonight who are friendly--Louise from Melbourne and Michelle from New Zealand (working in the UK). We had some lively conversation tonight and hopefully more to come in the time I'm here.

Grazie to Merci

2010-04-06T13:14:00.000-07:00

Today was a travel day from Riomaggiore, Italy to Nice, France. The long journey of 5 hours began around 9am and finished close to 4pm. Fortunately on my way out of town I ran into Mu and Hannah both of whom I met in Napoli and hiked Mt. Vesuio with. They had arrived yesterday, stayed in the same hostel as me, but in 3 different buildings our paths didn't cross. It was great to catch up with them before taking the train to Genova and then Ventimiglia: the last town before the Italy/France border. From there I would catch a more local train to Nice.

It was a smooth trip to Genova and I was able to get some quality reading done in my Jane Austen book. Pride and Prejudice down, Mansfield Park up next. I met another traveler from Minnesota about my age heading to Lake Como. Having a 45 minute wait for the next part of my journey I snagged a salami sandwich and chowed down on some olive crackers and these tasty wheat cookies I found in Riomaggiore. Made for a good lunch.

The trip to Ventimiglia was slow as this is one of the only trains that passes through many of hte smaller towns on the way toward France. We hit every stop and sometimes sat there for 20 minutes. You could tell when we were close to France. The architecture changed from the straight forward Italian to more embellished paintings around windows and cornices. Windows took a narrower and taller shape. House colors faded out a bit from the Italian brights.

It's strange transitioning from one country to another. Gearing up for a new language by learning new phrases and numbers starts to tax your brain. You gain a new perspective on the country you were just in by encountering a new culture. Italians are passionate and easily spurred to emotional responses from what I've witnessed. Their language flows together, but is easy to distinguish words. People speak relatively slow unless agitated or upset.

Sentences and syllables are drawn out for emphasis. Whenever public transit has arrived they move forward in a mob as if that will somehow help everyone getting on or improve their chance at getting a seat. There's usually one person (often elderly) who will stand right in front of the door to be first. Often there is a conversation with a nearby person about how they are somehow entitled to get in before anyone else.

The usual anxieties of making sure you detrain at the right stop accompanied my travel. All went well and I arrived in Nizza (Italian) or Nice (French). The hostel was literally down the street and around the corner from the train station. I was glad I didn't have to drag my bags around or try to figure out how to use the transit system just yet. With all my gear settled, I went out to find some dinner at a restaurant my guidebook suggested. La Table
Alziari in Old Town is a citrusy colorful place with really good food. I sampled the fried goat cheese salad (slice of goat cheese on a piece of thick bread grilled together) and a stew with carrots and mushrooms over pasta. I think the meat was lamb since the menu didn't mention boeuf (beef--learned this one from Julie and Julia). What a tasty meal! The stew was rich and meaty and the salad was light and pungent. It was a long walk to get here (about a half hour), but definitely worth it!

Beach Bum

2010-04-05T00:58:00.000-07:00

When I woke up this morning I still thought hiking was a good idea. There were some shorter treks I could enjoy between Manarola and Corniglia and up N in Monterosso. I also wanted to do some laundry as it was free. There were only 4 words on the washer indicating wool, cotton, mixed and delicates. Everything else was in pictures that weren't all that descriptive I thought. I put in the clothes and soap, selected a temperature and it started to work. The mystery was how long it was going to take. After a half hour it was still washing. At an hour it was still going. After an hour and a half I knew the clothes had to be clean and it had just finished rinsing and spinning for about the 4th time. I managed to get it to stop and unlock the door. The hostel cleaning person had left 3 bed covers on the line and I didn't see the clothespins out there. Not wanting to lose my clothes to the street below by having them blow away, I hung them in the room. By the time I gathered my things together for the day and took the train to Monterosso I realized the flaw in my plan: I was way to tired from yesterday's hike to even think about walking up any hill today. Since I didn't spend much time in Monterosso village yesterday, I decided to wander the two part town and get a feel for it.

Monterosso stretches eastward from the sea into the hills. Like most of the other villages it's full of shops selling all kinds of food, beach wear and souvenirs. I paused in a church to get out of the warm sun. It had an interesting nautical theme [notice the hanging boat at the top center]as you can tell from the picture. A bit further to the N and divided by the train station coming through the mountains is Fegina. This town clearly has a focus: the beach. A wide walkway above the beach along the shore guides you to the town. In this region of the Mediterranean, beach means small, smooth stones. This seemed like a great place to chill for a while and eat some lunch. Kids ran all over seeing how close they could get to the chilly waves before getting wet. In Europe when you go to the beach and it's still a bit cool to wear a swimsuit around, the solution is to leave your pants on the beach and go about in your underwear. Everyone lounges about soaking up the sun and chatting about this and that. This was a very easy way to spend a couple hours--and I'm not really a beach person!

I had hoped to be back to the hostel around 2pm to try and meet up with Hannah who was coming in to town. I ended up staying at the beach until about 3pm. When I got back I noticed there were clothespins which was fortunate as most things were still quite damp. Still looking for something else to fill my time and slightly refreshed from my relaxing beach time, I thought I would try to walk to a nature center out on the point of Riomaggiore. I wound my way down to the marina and around the coast to a small cove beach where people were stretched out on the rocks. This was when I realized that it was a nature point, not a center like the map implied. Not feeling the need to walk up and around for the view I walked down to the beach and sat in the sun. There was a little boy with his dad and grandpa wandering the shore nearby who was throwing and then writing on rocks. Very cute.

I made my way back to finish off the rest of my rice and pepper dinner and to pack up some things. Two Australian girls who had arrived last night were back from hiking the Blue Trail so we chatted for a while about the hike and where our journeys would lead us next. Fortunately all my clothes dried out in time and everything fit into my bags. Italy has been fun, but it's time to move on to a new country.

Blue Trail #2

2010-04-04T09:19:00.000-07:00

One of the most popular and well known trails in Cinque Terre Park is the Blue Trail which runs along the coastline and weaves through all 5 villages along the way. Total travel distance is 9km (not including exploration of the villages) and is supposed to take 5 hours. I planned to go to the 11am mass at the church just up the hill and around the corner from the hostel and then to start hiking. Mass was really nice for a small resort town. Their chapel is relatively simple though still in classic Italian style with white marble and paintings here and there. The altar was covered with calla lilly flowers among some pink and purple hyacinth looking ones. Everything was in Italian as expected, but I wasn't lucky enough to get one of the bulletins to be able to follow along. I did get half of Jesus in bread form though.

From here I made a quick internet stop, grabbed some lunch and then headed out to hike. I started in Riomaggiore around 1:30pm and on the smooth, paved path easily made it to Manarola in 15 minutes. So much for a half hour! Manarola looks much like Riomaggiore except it's smaller, so nothing really new to report. The next leg of the hike to Corniglia was listed at 30 mins. so I expected another 15 minute walk. This portion was much steeper with rougher rocky terrain and I ran into more slow people. With a few breaks in-between I think it took about 45 mins. When you reach Corniglia there is an unexpected 382 step climb up to the city where the blue trail continues. Oi. That took a while. I decided to wander the city since I didn't want to make the stairway climb again to come back. The town is a bit more stone than some of the others. It's quaint and cozy tucked up into the hillside. I was delighted to find a public bathroom and from there moved on to the third part toward Vernazza said to take 1.5 hours.

A sign at the beginning of the trail mentioned that this was the only path between these two cities up until 100 years ago. Mostly it existed for trade and care of crops in the area. Interesting how self-sufficient and independent towns can be for the most part. The path was mostly dirt and small rocks winding up and down through the ridges and valleys. By now my bag started to get rather heavy and needed shifting to opposite shoulders often. The views were excellent though. With a few breaks along the way and some snackage, I ended up in Vernazza in about an hour and 15 minutes. This part of the trail felt like the longest distance I had traveled. It could have just been how tired I felt at that point. Vernazza is located literally on the water. Half of the town is out on a small peninsula and the other half is back into the valley with the trail crossing in-between them. I pulled up a bench for a good 15 minutes and debated whether to grab a train and do the last portion tomorrow or to just finish it all today. After resting I felt better and decided it was still early enough that if I finished in the suggested 2 hours I would still be done by 6:30pm and have a chance to get back and rest before dinner.

The final part of the trip to Monterosso was actually quite pleasant. The initial part was lots of steps and steep inclines, but about halfway through this leveled out and became mostly downhill. The sun really started to shine brightly and I had to shed a layer and roll up my pant legs. By the time I was within easy view of the city it had cooled off considerably and gotten windy. The weather in Italy has been really manic--up and sunny one hour and down and rainy the next. Bizarre. By the time I reached Monterosso I had no energy to explore the town and so headed right for the train station. I even passed up a gelato shop!

Back at the hostel I ran into one of my roommates named Erik from WA. We chatted for a bit over dinner (more leftovers for me) and I got some good tips on Nice, France where I'm headed next. I headed back to the train station to pick up some internet for an evening chat with my parents which meant I had to sit outside since the tourist office was closed. I was glad for an awning to keep out the rain and a planter to sit on. A busy day, but well worth the hike.

The Five Villages

2010-04-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

I checked out of the hostel in Genova and decided to take the bus all the way to the Brignole Station instead of trying to navigate my way via bus to the Principe Station. Trains to Cinque Terre leave from both stations, so no problem there. The train was mostly empty until we got close to the 5 villages that are situated in Cinque Terre National Park. Even then, there was still plenty of space. Once I arrived in Riomaggiore (the last of the 5 villages counting from the N), I walked through a long tunnel decorated in mosaics with tile and rocks depicting scenes of Cinque Terre to get to the main part of town. From there it was a steep uphill climb to where the hostel was. It was taxing, but could have been worse. The room has 6 beds and isn't too bad. Kitchenette, bathroom, TV and free laundry are all part of this room. Kind of excited to wash some clothes.

The park was set up to preserve the fragile coastline in this part of Italy. I'm not sure why it was endangered or why it's so fragile. Any information I have come across in the town where I am staying has been in Italian. It is beautiful coastline. Jagged rocks with striated patterns stick out along the water where they are pounded by the teal blue sea water. The rocks have multi-colored bands running through them of yellows, greys and blacks. Everywhere you look along the coast are picture perfect views. Two men in thick sweaters and orange-yellow waders pick through their fishing net. Boats of every color line one of the streets down by the water's edge where a string of orange buoys marks the way out into the sea. The houses rise like brightly colored red, orange, yellow, green, peach and cream towers from the rocky hillsides terraced into various levels with staircases, elevators and ramped streets linking them together.

Being such a small town, though the largest of the 5 villages, there is a limited supply of food items available. Two small street shops supply most needs, but bread is hard to come by and I haven't seen any fresh meat--only luncheon meat [which I'm still not ready to eat after the Bologna dinner incident]. For dinner I wanted to make a concerted effort to use up my 500g box of rice that I've carried with me since Firenze as I have been without cooking facilities. The famed dish of the area is pasta and pesto. I thought "Why not try rice and pesto? I can call it Italian Rice when I open up my cafe someday." Having learned in Firenze that I need to limit how much I buy so I can actually eat it in the days allotted, I chose some pesto, a small red pepper and two tiny zucchinis to garnish my rice. With some olive oil and garlic it all turned out pretty good for not having spices and in about an hour. The only improvement I would make is to add a bit of salt and pepper. Surprisingly the pesto added a great flavor with the sweetness of the pepper.

Not wanting to spend the entire evening indoors, I went for a walk after dinner thinking I might get some gelato if the shop was still open. I discovered that a coop shop across the street was miraculously open. Both branches 1 and 2 were closed this afternoon. I wandered in hoping to find some bread for breakfast and walked out with raisin loaded focaccia, peach juice boxes and some crunchy, lightly sugared cookies. I walked to a nearby bench and opened the cookies right away. The cookies really hit the spot. Just enough sweetness and lots of crunch. Yum. I also located two churches I could check out tomorrow for Pascqua (Easter). Originally I think I had intended to be in a larger town to see the pageantry of Pascqua in Italy or France, but I think a small resort town celebration will be equally interesting.

Passing Through

2010-04-02T09:09:00.000-07:00

It's surprising how much you can grow to like a city in only 3 days. I'm saddened to leave Venezia, but I have heard much of the beauties of Cinque Terre that I must go see for myself. Now having become a water bus master, I easily boarded the boat with all my luggage and promptly arrived at the train station in 10 minutes. I secured a train ticket to Genova with a change in Milano for a total travel time of about 5 hours. I was guaranteed a seat on the first half of the trip, but not the second.

Not much to report. The train ride was uneventful for the first part. It was a Eurostar train, so nicer and newer cars with very few people on board. I read a good portion of Pride and Prejudice as the scenery was mostly towns and little else to see. We did pass a lovely portion near Densazen, I think that's what the train station sign said. It was hard to catch as we flew by it. The town was gorgeous. In the background were grey puffy clouds and strikingly cut jagged mountains with snow on top. Below all of this was rolling green ground and finally at the end the town with its bright buildings popping out of the ground in stark contrasts of red, peach and yellow surrounding some kind of water. It all looked like a puzzle box picture. Gone too quickly for me to dig out my camera.

All I saw of Milano was the train station which was extremely large with an occluded glass ceiling. I had 20 minutes before the next train left to Genova and I hoped to grab a seat and be one of the lucky ones to not have to give it up to a person with a reservation. I sat long enough to eat some granola and sure enough a lady came with a ticket for the seat I was in. Fortunately I was early enough to have plenty of room for all my luggage in one place. I ended up standing the whole 2 hours to Genova. I was glad I could stick near my bags and was able to lean up against a luggage rack enough to half sit on it so not all of my weight was on my feet.

From the Principe train station in Genova I had to take the lift and then bus 40 to the hostel. Turns out the lift is a box that rolls up the hillside and around the corner to a shaft where it rolls into a carrier that turns it into an elevator and takes you up through the mountainside. It was very cool. I've never seen anything like it. Right up there in the levels of odd excitement like the washing machine elevators that take you to the top of the St. Louis Arch. The bus 40 stop was conveniently right outside the lift exit--awesome! After a good 15 minute wait the bus did arrive and dropped me off right at the hostel as expected.

Genova doesn't have much to explore or write about from what I can tell. Still battling my cold for day 3 now, I decided to hang inside and do some investigating on the internet for the next portion of my trip. Dinner consisted of a boxed meal from the hostel of chicken, potatoes and marinara sauce. Surprisingly it was quite filling. The bed is much softer than the one in Venice so I'm hoping for a good night's sleep to fight this cold.

Fill Up My Senses

2010-04-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

Travel goal for the day: make it to at least 1-2 of the islands surrounding Venezia.
I got a much later start than planned, but still had plenty of time to hit a couple islands. My first stop was to the post office to send out postcards as this was on the way to the box stop for the water bus. When I finally found the street it was on and walked in, I realized I didn't have addresses for two of the cards. Rather than wait in line I opted to head for the island of Murano and deal with the postcards later.

Murano is the famed island where Venetian glass has its roots. All over Venice you can find shops in abundance with glass trinkets in their windows. Anything from glass bow-tie candy to ash trays to necklaces to abstract shapes to dinnerware can be found for purchase. I hoped taking a trip to Murano first before purchasing anything would enlighten me about the specialties of the glass and ensure I got authentic pieces. I started at the Glass Museum which was a bit anticlimactic. I had hoped for a bit more of a history lesson, but was only given old glass to look at. Some were exquisite and fascinating to see that glass existed in such intricate and delicate shapes well back into the BC era. The oldest piece I can remember seeing was from 1 AD. From here I started wandering the shops to see if there was anything that fit my taste. I grabbed an eggplant and meat (could have been ham or turkey) panini for lunch part way through my browsing. Most of the pieces for sale are quite large--even for necklaces the average size of the main piece was about 2-3" wide and usually 4-6 pieces total per necklace. Many were quite gaudy too. Nothing I could imagine anyone wearing except in a tourist resort. For example the lady wearing her 3" tall glass butterfly necklace. After walking back and forth about 7 times through the main sales area I finally stopped in to a place with earrings that were appealing thinking I could remove the ear piece and string the glass on a necklace. Eventually the shopkeeper came over and asked if I wanted to try anything on. I explained my predicament and she suggested I browse the loose glass beads and she would then put pendants on them for a necklace. Brilliant! Why didn't I think of that before?? I was able to find 4 artsy pieces that were simple and tasteful for E17. Most of the ugly necklaces I saw were around E20-25 and not even close to what I was looking for.

I only had time to visit one more island before needing to be back for Maundy Thursday mass. I decided to buzz over to Burano (a good 25 minute boat ride away) where venetian Lace has its roots. My interest in lace is nill, but the chance to see another interesting island sounded nice. Unfortunately it started to rain and became quite windy when I arrived. I managed to walk through town, locate the bathroom and discovered the lace museum was closed. Being so cold and icky I stopped in a cafe for a hot chocolate which is literally like drinking liquified chocolate. The frothy, thick, tasty chocolate is like no other I have tried. After I warmed up a bit I went directly back to the water bus stop and headed back to Venezia mainland.
[Old building in the middle of the water on the way back in the rain]
I had about an hour to rest and head over to the church. After a quasi nap I booked a room for my one night stay in Genova before heading to Cinque Terre. I'm glad I got this taken care of, but it also put me behind for walking time to the service. I turned what I thought would be a 20 minute walk into a 10 minute one out of necessity. I arrived just before 7pm. What a neat service. This must have been a bit more traditional parish. They processed in the cross and bible, rang bells at certain times in the service and had a choir of men sing parts of the liturgy in Latin. It's surprising how beautiful sung Latin is when done in a stone/marble building. I also better understand the purpose of vestments--heat. These churches are flippin cold even in moderately temperate weather. It was probably in the high 40s outside and I could see my breath during the service. Bbbrrrr!!! We used a book with the liturgy in it, so I could follow along and participate in Italian. The one downside was that there was actually a sermon and it was all in Italian. I caught a few words, but not enough to understand the main theme.

Quite hungry by now I headed to a new restaurant. I arrived where my guide book said the place should be, but a differently named place was there and it was a bit too pricey for me to want to try. Since my meal my first night in Venezia was so good, I went back. The lady asked if I had a reservation to which I said no (who makes reservations anymore??--not in the US). With an exasperated sigh, she finished serving up a few drinks at the bar and then decided she could find a place for me to eat. It was so worth it! I sampled the grain sausage in balsamic vinegar which apparently comes with a large side of polenta. Had I known this ahead of time I probably wouldn't have ordered the tagliatelli with amaretti biscuits and smoked mozzarella. I'm glad I did though. I was stuffed to the max, but every bite was amazing! That has to be one of the best restaurants ever. There's nothing you can do after a meal like that except plop and sleep.

Packing It In

2010-03-31T12:38:00.001-07:00

Most sights in Europe seem to choose at least one day a week where they close up. In Venezia Wednesday happened to be the day when most things I wanted to see were closed. Instead of perusing the buildings I had hoped to see, I spent the day hopping through churches and some museums I hadn't put too high on my list.

First was the Gallery of Modern and Oriental Art. The modern side I felt was lacking a bit, but there were a few pieces that caught my eye. Most of the art in this section was paintings that were from the 17-19th centuries. Only one room had what most people think of when they hear the words "modern art." Upstairs was a huge collection of Asian spears, clothing, battle gear, instruments, tea pots, chess sets, daily pottery and furniture. A relative of one of the doges' family had taken a 2 year trip to Asia from Venezia and collected vast amounts of stuff which changed hands to an antiquer upon his death and was now put on display at this museum.

My first church was Santa Maria de Visitaz on the far S coast of Venezia. This church had been built as a tiny chapel in the 10th century I think and was later rebuilt in the 13 or 14th century to its present size with about 6-8 side chapels and one large main sanctuary that could probably seat about 50-75 people tops. Like most church buildings in Italy everything is built out of marble. The second church was just down the coast about 150m named San Sebastiano. This one had been designed with the main entrance facing a bridge so as to be somewhat exclusive of who would enter the church. An attached convent (unviewable) indicated this was a pretty active church at one point. The choir box alone was completely carevd out of wood or finished with inlaid wood and seated about 40 I think. Huge sweeping spaces without pews or chairs and 2 smaller chapels on the left/right of the main one up front made for a vast building. There weren't side chapels per se, but multiple monuments to famous political leaders and local saints can be found all around the inside. From here I took the water bus back through the Grand Canal to San Stae.

Church #3 was San Stae which is situated right along the Grand Canal. Like all the churches along the water the facade is intricate, huge and white marble. The inside was very plain made of white marble and lacked any real character. Church #4 was by far my favorite--San Giacomo dell'Orio. Situated in a large piazza named after the church, the building was made out of brick with a mix of square and round rooms. I think it dated from somewhere in the 10-12 centuries. Inside was a cozy, open floor plan sanctuary spreading out in all directions. The roof was wood rafters. The main worship space was straight ahead with pews to seat about 75 people and plenty of space to add chairs. Off to the right were some side chapels. To the right side of the main altar was the eucharist altar with lush red fabric lining the walls. To the left of the main altar was a rather plain side chapel with one of many versions I've seen of a crucifix. To the left side of the main worship space was a sacristy filled with paintings on the ceiling and upper walls. Next door to the sacristy was a small room now being used as a chapel. It was plain brick with a cross on one wall and some candles and I think there was a font in there. I lit a couple candles before moving on. On my way out I noticed they had services listed for the rest of holy week. This would definitely be my Maundy Thursday destination.

Church #5 was San Polo, just SW of where my B&B was. Situated in a larger piazza than the last one, the church was much smaller and also made of brick. Inside was a fair amount of marble though it did have a wood roof. Quite a bit of water damage was visible around the roof edges and down the walls. In the back of the main sanctuary was the chapel of the crucifix where paintings of the stations of the cross could be seen. There were some lovely built arches in the church. It could seat about 200 people. Church #6 was Santa Maria del Frari. Another huge cathedral like church, the facade and campanile rose high above the surrounding buildings. The main sanctuary sprawled out in front of me which could easily seat close to 350 people in pews and chairs. I don't know that they ever see a crowd that big however. Off to the far right was a tiny side room which could have been a chapel or any number of things. This was the only part my church pass was necessary and it certainly wasn't worth paying E3 to see. The few paintings in the room were not that exciting and the bits of statues were nice, but nothing to write home about. I'm glad I had the pass and didn't waste a ton of cash to see this one;eventhough the main part was decent.

I took a break from churches here and stopped in at Piazza San Marco to take in the Correr Museum before it was too late and closed. The building is actually a compilation of 3 different museums housed together. Inadvertently I ended up seeing the Correr and National Archeological Museums and the Monumental Halls of Marciana National Library. My pass got me into all 3, I just hadn't planned on seeing all 3. All very interesting though. I'm not sure what the rooms in this building were used for originally, but it made for a nice museum.

Finally to the last 2 churches!! Church #7 was Santa Maria del Giglio. I don't actually remember what this one looked like after having seen so many. My map tells me it was very small. Church #8 was Santo Stefano. Also situated on a large piazza named for the church, I don't remember much from this one either. I know I saw another 2-3 free churches without my pass as well and after a while they all start to blend together. I started making notes on my map to help me remember, but apparently neglected that for these last two churches. In the end, it was a busy day.

Dinner was at La Zucca (Italian for pumpkin) where I arrived to a completely full restaurant. The head guy said unless I wanted to share a table with a couple, I'd have to wait until 9pm to get a seat. I'm all for sharing a table if it means I get to eat an hour before the place clears out so that I'm not starving or searching the evening streets of Venice for another place to eat. A couple who spoke French kindly allowed me to have the window seat at their table. I enjoyed some tagliatelli with gorgonzola cream sauce and pistaccios. Fabulous! The cheese was a bit strong to eat a whole plateful of without any other flavors, but all in all quite good.

Streets of Water

2010-03-30T09:50:00.001-07:00

Not wanting to fool around with the 1km walk to the bus 25 stop, I opted for the bus 68 stop in front of the campground. I'm glad I switched to bus 25 which dropped me off right at the train station. I've been so tired lately that I'm trying to take it easy. The train ride was easy and straight forward as usual. I was a bit surpised how many people were on it though. This is the first time I've had people all around me in each of the other 3 seats. I would talk about the scenery, but I trance/slept through most of the trip. What I did notice was the rain just outside of Venezia. It's been so sunny lately I guess it had to rain sometime.

My next goal was to decide about which Venice Card to get. Include the transportation or not? For E66 and a 3 day pass I decided to go for everything: museum pass, church pass, public toilet pass and transportation pass. It was a bit hefty, but one trip on the water bus (vaporetto) is E6.50 and unless you want to walk an extra mile to cross one of the handful of bridges on the Grand Canal, you need to take the vaporetto. It's a fun ride too. Reminds me of all the fun times my family spent on our boat in the summers on Lake Erie. These drivers know just how to whip around the boat to dock without jostling the passengers. The directions to the B&B where I'm staying were pretty straight forward. Take line 1 to Rialto Mercato and walk about 150m. This has to be the easiest place I've booked so far in the last month! Plus it's really nice like a B&B should be. I feel so posh staying here.

Since I got in around 3:30pm I figured I should make use of my 3 day pass and start seeing things in the city. I didn't realize how much I would enjoy Venezia. I would have gladly left Bologna a day early had I known this. It's easy to see why people like it here. Everything is so picturesque. The streets are narrow with tall buildings on either side and occasionally a slice of sky at the very top. Some streets are completely built over and are more like tunnels. Everywhere you look there's another great view that's picture worthy. It's easy to get lost in the winding maze-like streets and easier to be so caught up in the sights you miss your turn. During winter hours (usually until April 1) most places close up between 4-5pm. It was a bit of a rush to fit in anything other than walking around the city. I had hoped to get to St. Mark's Basilica and maybe a museum. The basilica line was huge so I headed for the Palazzo Ducale next door. This was the seat of political life and justice for Venezia as far back as the 9th century. The doge's (head political figure of the Republic) house was also part of this building. I never realized Venezia was such an independent place. They deliberately chose St. Mark as their patron saint to avoid connections with Rome and the Holy See as well as to create a strong appearance through St. Mark's connected animal image of the lion. Most of the Republic's political positions were filled by the aristocracy; something which was carefully documented and watched by requiring proof of noble baptism and marriage certificates on file in the Coffer Room of the Palazzo Ducale. I walked through the former senate and council rooms where legislature and voting took place as well as the criminal and local court rooms and prison in the basement. The court rooms and prison were connected by the Bridge of Sighs where prisoners would catch a last glimpse of the lagoon and freedom before being placed in a cell. I also stood and sat in the voting room where new doges were elected--the largest room in Europe measuring 25m x 53m. En total, a very interesting and informative place to visit in understanding Venezia.

Now that daylight savings is underway here in Europe, it's light out until about 7pm. I wandered the streets and located a gelato shop where I sampled Alice (made with Mascarpone cheese) and Specialite de Riva Reno (it was honey brown in color with large candied nuts in it--no overwhelming flavor however). After moving about all day and missing lunch I thought a tasty treat was in order. I found a restaurant listed in my book for dinner, but they weren't serving meals until 7:30pm. Since it was highly touted I decided to search out a church for Thursday night while I waited. I came across two along with an ATM, street sellers of all kinds of things and a woman whose tiny dog was running ahead of her and over the bridge where I was standing. Instead of chasing after the dog (which she could easily have caught up to), she continued to talk on her cell phone and call out after the dog while being distressed at its running away. A very strange episode in deed, but something I believe is classically Italian.

The Antica Adelaide has been in operation under various owners and names since the 18th century. The menu in the window looked fantastic. I certainly wasn't disappointed! I enjoyed--perhaps relished or had a near ecstatic experience is more accurate--a mixed salad, the gnocci with guinea fowl in an orange ragu and a cinnamon/raisin tart all with a glass of the house pinot grigio. Everything in the restaurant is made from scratch the evening you order it. The lettuce tasted like it was just picked from the garden. The gnocci was so smooth and melted in your mouth from freshness. The tart tasted like it had cream cheese in it (though I don't think it did) and was a perfect finish to the rest of the meal. I didn't want to stop eating! I may have to go back tomorrow night for more tastiness.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

2010-03-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

A brief sleep in was in order after a long day of walking yesterday. Roused by the sunlight I spent the morning making travel arrangements and booking places to stay. Breakfast finally happened around 11am once things were settled online. Before leaving my bungalow I managed to use tweezers to restitch part of the sleeve on my t-shirt. Now that's what I call resourceful! I picked up a train ticket to Venezia (Venice) in town and headed to the post office to mail home various souveniers and papers I've collected thus far. The woman who helped me didn't speak much English, but I was able to buy a box that fit everything and fill out all the custom forms. One and a half hours and E35 later and both packages were in the mail. Yea! Three kilos (6.6 lbx.) less weight to lug around!!

I stopped at an open air cafe near the post office for a tasty lunch of tortelloni stuffed with cheese and green bits (basil or spinach??) in a light cream sauce with proscuitto and asparagus. Holy goodness! I paired it with a locally made white wine named Albana. Great combination. The wine smelled fruity, but had a clean, crisp flavor with just a hint of a buttery/chardonnay flavor in the background. Everything went down easy.

Most places worth visiting in Bologna are closed on Monday; hence the busy day yesterday. With really nothing to do or see today I decided to revisit Basilica di San Petronio to make sure I saw Giovanni da Modena's bizarre I'Inferno fresco. Bizarre it was. There were demon creatures eating people and strange horned creatures roaming about. The basilica is the 5th largest in the world even with it's incomplete facade. The bottom half is varying shades of white, green and red marble blocks and the top half is dark brown-black scalloped cement looking material. Gives two-toned a new meaning.

Having nothing better to do and really spending time in Bologna for the food, I stopped at a cafe for a cappuccino and pastry in the hopes that I could waste some time to stick around long enough for dinner. The pastry was surprisingly filled with vanilla custard and topped with almonds in a sugary glaze. A few sudoku puzzles later I decided to search out a place for dinner. I found the jazz club I had hoped to enjoy, but it didn't open until 8pm. Seemed a bit late to be in town when I still had to catch up on my blog, shower and pack up to leave tomorrow. Across the street was a movie theater with the show Remember Me starting in about 10 mins., but it was showing in Italian. No point in not understanding a great movie for E8. I gave up on eating in town and opted to eat later at the campground cafe. The evening's meal sampling was tagliatelli--1/4" wide pasta noodles with a beef bolognese sauce. Very tasty, but a bit too greasy for my liking.

Hosanna From The Salty Pork

2010-03-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

Originally I planned to be at the bus 25 stop around 7am, in town around 7:30am and then have a half hour to try and catch a service at 8am. Still too tired from not sleeping in Firenze (slamming doors, noisy streets and children yelling in the street at 6:30am) and getting lost with luggage yesterday, I opted to get up at 7am and go from there. It's Roman Catholic land, so there must be 10 masses on Palm Sunday right?

My calculations were correct. Arriving in town around 9am I walked to one of the main cathedrals on my map and walked right into a service at 9:30am. Perfectly timed. They even had leaflets that outlined the mass in Italian so I was able to follow along and read the Italian to participate. It's close enough to Spanish and has enough Latin roots that you can piece together most (60-70%) of what you read. Also being well versed in Catholic services I could track with what was going on and even partially sing. Plus I got half of JC in bread form again. All in all, a good start to the day. I've always been intrigued by the translation of Hosanna--oh save now--which makes Palm Sunday and more meaningful celebration for me. Here in Bologna, as I guess most of Italy, they use olive branches instead of palms. I'm glad they're using local flora rather than importing palms.

I wandered through the Archeological Museum viewing old pots, arrowheads, vases and bones. As I soon discovered, every church in town (which is usually a fair portion of what you visit in Europe as that's where lots of history is) was offering Palm Sunday services. I decided to sit through mass again for a 2nd helping of JC to view a famous painting afterwards. I think I saw it, but I'm not sure as it wasn't labeled the same as my guidebook and an usher was shooing people out to close up the church.

Most of my day was spent wandering about catching a sight here and there. I stopped at a piazza to enjoy the sun, located a cafe for dinner, climbed 500 steps up a tower (much taller than the Leaning Tower as noted by a wall plaque), ate lunch, visited the Modern Art Museum, ate dinner, grabbed some gelato (chocolate and pistachio) on the way to the bus stop and plopped down in the hostel room. Dinner was not quite what I'd hoped to eat. I wanted something meaty and was looking forward to some pasta. I inadvertently ended up with what can only be described as a meat salad. Slices of cured pork meat (kind of looked like prosciutto but no fat) were topped with cooked spinach and a circle of tomato halves. Imagine eating a lunch meat sandwich in pieces. The meat was so salty I don't think I'll have a lunch meat sandwich the rest of the week. The wine was good however--frangalina (I think) white wine. A strong wine with just the right amount of fruitiness.

It was a long day of walking. Strangely I think I saw everything there is to see in Bologna. Mostly though I came here to eat good food. A good chance to sleep in and take the day slowly tomorrow.

Repent--Doing a 180

2010-03-27T13:54:00.000-07:00

After doing some research into the next hostel I planned to book, I discovered I had to make a reservation 1 week in advance. Oops. I could still travel there and if they had rooms the day I showed up, I could stay. To travel 2.5 hours to Genova and another 2.5 hours to Cinque Terre and discover I had no where to stay did not sound very appealing. In true Lenten fashion I "repented" and did a 180 heading east instead of west. My new destination would be Bologna; a city known for great food having created lasagna, bolognese sauce/ragu, mortadella (i.e. bologna luncheon meat) and tortelloni.

I still had a ticket to the Giardino di Boboli including the Medici Silver and Porcelain Museums. After an early start (about 7:00am) with packing, breakfast and putting my luggage in storage at the hostel, I meandered to the park. That morning I noticed on the ticket that I had bought it on Tuesday and it was supposed to be good for 3 days. Fortunately the workers at the entrance didn't bother reading the ticket. The gardens were quite large and well groomed. No flowers or colors around, but the texture in the various greens, bushes, trees and paths provided nice scenery. One of the more strange features were very large, oval marble rocks. Two were laying flat on the ground like large, round seats and one was standing oblong titled "Secret of the Sky." I'm not sure what the artist meant to convey, but the stone was smooth, soft to the touch and nearly pure white. It looked like a large mint with a dimple/round indent on the one side. On the way out I breezed through the Silver Museum which had very little silver in it. It was more a collection of the Medici treasures and jewels.

I'm glad I walked through as this gave me a brief look at how sumptuous the Medici life was without paying another E10 to see the lavish apartments upstairs in the Palzzo Pitti. Necklaces, pins, crowns, bibles, paintings, fountains in each room and large highbacked, leather covered wooden chairs gave the impressions you were in the presence of a very rich family.

After picking up my luggage and waiting a good 20 mins. for the bus to arrive, I made it to the train station. I didn't see Bologna listed on the departures and I'm glad I checked with the information desk. I would never have figured out which lines to take to get to Bologna with my regional (slow/local line and cheap) ticket. With a quick 5 minute change of trains in Prato (just NW of Firenze I think), I was headed direct to Bologna in 1.5 hours. So began the trial of arriving at the hostel.

From the train station there are two options of getting to the hostel: bus 68 goes direct to the hostel, but only runs every 2 hours, or bus 25 runs every 10-15 minutes, but stops 1km from the hostel. Since I arrived at 3pm and wouldn't make bus 68 until 5pm, I planned on waiting near/at the bus stop until 5pm. I should have stuck to my plan. Instead I opted for bus 25 to get there closer to my suggested arrival time of 4pm at the hostel. The guy at the bus info station told me to turn right and walk about 500m. The bus stop is in near a crossing of an interstate and some random business which on a Saturday were all closed. Down the road is a bit of small town civilization and a hotel. I didn't see how I could "turn right and go 500m" so I asked a few people on the street if they knew of the street the hostel was on and they all looked incredibly confused. It's common for hostels to be on tiny side streets no one has ever heard of. I stopped at the hotel and the lady directed me to the road I needed. The only problem was that it was about 30-40ft long and had no numbers near 12 which is what the hostel is at. The next closest thing along the road (about 100m) is a huge sports complex. I asked a few people and an older man on a bike said the name of the hostel like he knew it well, whistled and pointed off to the left behind me. I headed that way and ended up at the interstate (probably another 500m). Suddenly the older man on the bike appeared from behind me and started asking me in Italian what seemed to be something like "What are you doing here? Didn't you see the road back there?" After a few minutes of telling him I didn't see a road and no sign only the sports complex--in my best broken Italian of which I maybe know about 30 words--he seemed to offer to ride along and show me the road that was plainly in view (to him). We ended up just down the sidewalk from the sports complex and he directed me onto a path with metal poles to prevent cars driving on it which became a road with cars. Suddenly there were brown signs for the hostel. Apparently if you come to the bus stop from the other direction there are signs all over the place. Mind you I'm still dragging all my luggage with me and now still have about 1km to walk.

I wandered down the road quite a ways following the signs when a car behind me slowed down. The man inside rolled down the window and asked where I was headed. After I indicated I spoke no Italian he said something about "you want to pass." I thought perhaps he said I had passed it. He had a clipboard so then I thought he worked at the hostel and knew where I was headed and was offering to drive me the rest of the way. Then he started to drive away. Huh?? I checked the buzzers at the house in case I had passed it. Definitely not it. By then he had driven back and in better English said the hostel was another 500m and would I like a ride (must have been broken English for "you want to passenger?"). I accepted and we drove to the sign for the hostel which he indicated was camping and not a hostel. We figured out his name was Tom and he was reading meters in the area and had just been at the hostel and campground.

He had traveled alone for 10 years when he was 25-35 so he understood the troubles of finding places on your own. After a few streets away we had cleared up that I was not heading to San Sistro hostel like he thought, but actually to the campground which online claimed they had bungalows and rooms to rent. We headed back with a few turn arounds, since one of the streets had become a one way, and stopped at the campground. He offered to wait in case it wasn't the right place. Turns out it was! I thanked Tom and he drove off back to work. That's what I call grace. Undeserved gift, but very much needed. I think this suffices for my Lenten Journey.

Turns out the place is quite nice. It's all very strange though. It is a campground. There are sites for RV's and tents as well as 4 rows of these pink/red brick buildings that look like military housing. They're pretty nice inside. It's like a tile floored cabin with two beds in the "living room/kitchen" and two behind a sliding wood door. Tonight I plan out my discovery of Bologna and hopefully find a way to locate a church with a Palm Sunday service.

Leaning South

2010-03-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

A short 1/2 hour train ride to the west of Firenze lands you in Pisa. A 25 minute walk from the train station gets you into the old part of town. Pisa was a long ago booming metropolis. Then a port town on the Mediterranean, it flourished with art, science and culture. The diversity of people included Africa, France, along with areas of western Asia. Galileo Galilei prospered here among many other brilliant people. After pummelings from various neighboring powers, Pisa declined and fell more toward the strong Medici influence of Firenze. Most notably we recognize the town for its famous campanile that is leaning south at a precarious angle. Upon reaching the Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles), my first reaction was "I thought the tower would be taller." In pictures the tower looks to be 7-8 stories high. Standing there in person it seemed more like 5 stories.

My first goal was to secure a ticket for climbing the leaning tower just in case it turned out to be a busy day and the time slots were all filled. I managed to get the last spot for the 12:40pm climb. Apparently there was plenty of space, but I'm glad I started with the tower and then had the rest of the time slowly view the other areas. The climb to the top is 300 steps (though I only counted 295) spiraling around the inside to about the 6th floor and then spiraling in a smaller staircase on the north side up to the very top floor. The marble steps are deeply worn at varying angles as you feel the angle of the tower in the circular climb.

It looked to be about a good 1/2" depression in the stone. How long and how many people has it taken to make that kind of dent in marble?? When you finally reach the top, the view is fantastic and much higher than it looks from the ground. The height of the people on the ground looked to be about the size of my thumb.

Next door to the leaning tower is the duomo (cathedral) with the typical decorative ceiling, massive paintings in side chapels and ornate main altar. The raised pulpit was designed by Nicola Pisano and was it every large. The platform was roughly 6ft. in diameter. Imagine delivering a sermon from there! Behind the duomo is the baptistry. This circular building was designed after the one in Jerusalem. The most interesting feature is the acoustics.

Every half hour a woman sings a demonstration of the sound quality. By singing in a normal voice from the center, her voice filled the entire room (floor to ceiling) as she created beautiful chords with minimal effort. To the side of the baptistry is the Camposanto. This was probably the least interesting building as it is a cemetery filled with local Pisan civic, cultural and spiritual leaders. The frescoes were nice, but they really aren't my flavor of art. The initial sketches done in a red earthen mixture prior to the fresh (fresco) plaster layer were discovered when the frescoes peeled off from decay. These sketches are now preserved in a museum near the duomo. It was really stunning to see the plans laid out by these master artists and how they occasionally shifted a pose. My last stop was a more general museum housing various bits of art and history from the duomo, campanile and Camposanto.

Another quick 30 minute train ride brought me back to Firenze. Dinner was left overs again as I needed to finish off my food before moving on to my next stop. I'm planning on heading to Cinque Terre--a national park area with 5 resort villages along the western Mediterranean cost of Italy known as the Ligurian Sea or the Gulf of Genova.

Slow Down...Feeling Groovy

2010-03-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

San Gimignano is a tiny town in the Tuscan countryside that thrives off of tourism. Its sleepy nature and history is attractive to all kinds of tourists--groups of students, couples, spring breakers, those tired of the city. The old part of town, like so many other cities, is a walled in section filled with stone walls, houses and tightly packed, winding streets. Grid work is not to be found in these places, but neither is fast paced, hurried living. The streets are meant to be strolled at an easy pace. Which is exactly what I did. No map is needed to enjoy the shops of trashy souvenirs or the quaint ones with pastries, local pottery and original watercolors.

After getting the lay of the land, I stopped at Enoteca Gustavo's (founded in 1946) for a salami and pecorino panini while sampling two of the local wines. The white was vernaccia--a medium dry wine with fruity undertones-- and the red was a chianti--dry, bold and pungent. The sandwich was excellent and paired reasonably well with my wine choices. From Gustavo's I wandered the outer edges of the walled city where there were great views and paths around the wall. Everything looks just like you would expect Tuscany to look: rolling green hills, small houses and farms, grapevines and olive groves, mountains in the distance.

In keeping with the town's lazy feel, I avoided the museums and duomo and sampled some sweets: nocini (a sugary dough ball dipped in chocolate with walnut wings), triangulino (pastry bottom with raisins sandwiched by a hazelnut crisp on top--this was my favorite), a chocolate hazelnut cookie mound and a dried fruit/dense cookie mound. The nocini was the only one I didn't like. Having finished my time in the town, I happened to hit the bus stop right on time to head to Ponggibonsi where I would again change for Firenze. The roads were just as rotten as yesterday, but the bus was a different style and took the rough road better. Dinner was left overs again and dessert was my afternoon sweets revisited.

Broken Glass Can Shine Brightly

2010-03-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

Today's adventure was a day trip to Siena which is roughly halfway between Firenze and Roma. The boast of the town is the old walled in city with three notable churches, a main square and a few museums. I started out at Il Campo which is more of a semi-circle than a square. It was so built to continually play with the shifts in light and shadow. The center piece is the huge campanile at the semi-circle's center. According to my book, the one free church would be closed from 12-3pm so I headed out to enjoy the holy space. Once again my book is off a bit and the church didn't close up while I was there after 12pm. It was easy to hang around as this church had some of the most beautiful stained glass I think I've ever seen. It literally brought tears to my eyes. And not just one window, but one gargantuan one and a huge circular one. I wish I had pictures, but this was a no photo zone.

Fortunately I found some online. I sat and stared at the two pieces for a good 15 minutes straight. It was hard to leave here too much like trying not to stare at Michelangelo's David. While I sat there, I was reminded of the lyrics from a song sung by Tara Ward (music architect at Church of the Beloved while I interned in Lynnwood, WA).
Praise, praise to you Lord
for I never realized
broken glass could shine so brightly.
I was inspired to light a candle here before I left.
[Enjoy the rest of the lyrics and music at the album's web page.]

Following my inspiration, I stopped in at a nearby gelato shop to sample one of the waffle-gelato combinations Hannah (met her in Napoli) suggested I must try. It was quite tasty, but my waffle had large chunks of what I think was sugar. The gelato was superb. I opted for the fruit version so I had mandarin, strawberry, banana and blackberry/raspberry. With renewed energy I headed to the San Francesco church. Apparently this has been converted to a school. Teens and young adults were swarming about and signs posted mentioned language classes. It used to be a duomo and convent complex originally. I moved on to the duomo where for a E10 pass I could visit the duomo, baptistry, crypt, museum and see the panoramic view from high atop the tallest part of the duomo. The two most interesting parts were the baptistry for it's neat fresco on baptism and the climb to the view up top. The first level is at 61 steps up a tiny one person wide spiral staircase. If that wasn't enough, the second level is up another 71 spiral steps for a total of 132. The views were amazing and I met a young couple from Oregon with their little girl about 6-8 months. Thanks to them for taking this lovely picture of me.

Having felt like I had seen and done all there was to see and do in Siena, I purchased my bus ticket back to Firenze from underneath the piazza. It seemed strange at first going down to get my ticket, but it does provide one less ugly building up top.

As we bounced and crashed (the road was atrociously rough) our way back to Firenze, I noticed a sign for Volterra. Permit me a moment of insanity. For those of you who've read the second book in the Twilight Saga--New Moon--you will recognize this name as the city in Italy where the main characters converge to confront the ruling vampire family. I thought the name and the location in the movie were random. Oh no! It's a real city. I had heard a guy and girl in Roma talking about going there to satisfy her addiction to see it. I never planned on going, but when I saw the sign and realized it was not but 35km away...well I had to reconsider. Later that night I looked up transit to the city to discover it would have been very tricky to get there with the busses available--i.e. I would have had to get up really early and make a major effort to go. Seeing as I was not wedded to this idea, my moment of insanity began to abate and fade. Phew. That was a close one.

It's A Long, Long Road

2010-03-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

Mistakenly I didn't set an alarm and woke up at 9:30am--a half hour before lock out time for cleaning. After a quick rush to get ready I decided to keep things simple and get familiar with the town. Firenze (Florence) is quite a nice town. It's big enough to have plenty of sights and interesting people doing their thing, but not so big that you are constantly breathing exhaust or having motorcycles blast by you every second. The old part of town is quite charming. Most of it is limited access to vehicles so you don't get run over while you're staring up at the large bell tower or gawking at a fountain.

I started out at the Palazzo Pitti where I booked tickets for later in the day to see David and the Uffizi Gallery along with a ticket to some local gardens. With a half hour before my slot to see David, I took my time working toward the Galleria dell' Accademia by passing through the Piazza della Signoria. This is the place where Florence's political life took shape. On the south end of the piazza is the Loggia della Signoria where David originally stood until 1873 when he was moved to the museum. A marble copy is now in his place where you can take photos (unlike the real one). A long street of prime shopping leads to the Galleria dell' Accademia. You can find anything here displayed in the windows from underwear to ties to scarves to purses to...well, you name it! Italy is definitely the perfect place to window shop where the displays are intriguing and invite you to take your time walking by.

Most of the Accademia is filled with paintings depicting the various scenes of Jesus' and other saints' lives. I did happen upon a music room where I viewed a Stradivarius collection and noted that all the instruments had animal based strings unlike today's metal ones. I guess I never realized strings weren't always metal (and I played the violin too!). It all happens so quickly as you are padding along through rooms of paintings when suddenly you turn the corner and POW! There's David standing high on a pedestal at the end of the hallway glowing from the skylight above. I stopped in my tracks and lost my breath. It's absolutely stunning. There really aren't words to describe how breathtaking it is to see a statue of this magnitude and perfection finished back in 1504 when Michelangelo was just 29. That means he started long before that. I can't imagine doing a work of art like that at my age now. The hair on David's head alone is so intricately carved let alone the veins in the arms. Photos don't even begin to do justice to seeing the statue in person. It was near impossible to pull myself away and finish the rest of the museum, but to make my 12:30 time slot at the Uffizi, such was necessary.

I passed some time around the Duomo (main church in the old city) and on to the Uffizi Gallery. This place and collection of art was started by the Medici family and given to the city in 1743 with the condition that the collection never leave the city. I was expecting to see a mix of paintings and antique items such as furniture or family treasures. All I got was art and I really only liked about 25% of it. Some of the highlights included Albrect Durer, Lukas Kranach (painted Martin and Katie Luther--the originals which I got to see), Vecchio, Carpaccio, Van Cleve, Rembrandt's The Rabbi, Pannini's Pool of Bethsaida, Caravaggio's Medussa and then the true highlights of my trip to the Uffizi: Michelangelo's Holy Family with St. John (the light and shading on this made it the brightest piece in the entire gallery!), Leonardo Da Vinci's Annunciation and Adoration of Mary and Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera. I can remember doing a special project on Primavera in school. Still really love that painting. It was great to see the original in it's hugeness (probably 10'x15' or so). What I learned from this visit is that I really am not a huge fan of 13th-16th century painting. I truly enjoy impressionist and abstract works far more. I appreciated these works for their intricacy, age and hard work, but in the end they just didn't inspire me much. The comedy relief came in the Niobe room where a series of about 20 statues placed around the room all had various stretching and reaching poses. It was hilarious. As if somone had frozen them in the middle of their workout routine. On my way out I noticed that amongst the carefully painted scenes on the ceiling where a series of words including: poetry, academia, music, history, mathematics, theology, medicine, politics, eloquence, philosophy and love of country. Clearly the Medici were patrons of the arts. Thank goodness they were or much of these works would have been destroyed--probably in the name of Christianity.

Post Uffizi I located an excellent gelato shop which was in great need after such hard work. I sampled Rich Chocolate, Banana and Straccitelli (cream flavor with chocolate bits). I stopped at the Duomo and toured the inside. It's quite immaculate. There are inlayed marble floors throughout the church. Laying tile is hard enough let alone sizing and fitting pieces into a picture of people, etc. The last stop of the day was the Medici Chapel, but it was closed. Worked out okay since I was pretty tired by then. Before heading back to the hostel I decided to pass through the Piazzale Michelangelo for some sweeping views of Firenze. Good choice. I found the bronze version of David up there and got some good video of the area. On the way up I discovered the stations of the cross lining the stairway and I also learned that there is a protected feline colony along the stairs. Strange I know, but I kid you not.

After a nice rest I cooked up some strange concoction of steak strips, garlic, onion, zucchini, canellini beans, and some left over red pepper. It turned out quite good. Dessert was some peach yogurt which I haven't had in close to a month. Strange how you crave things like that. My only other discovery today was that one of the guys in my room has sleep apnea. Makes for a hard time sleeping.

Stating The Obvious

2010-03-22T14:52:00.000-07:00

Another slow travel day through the countryside from Roma to Firenze (Florence). Today's scenery brought more sheep, goats, grapevines and farms. The change in scenery from Lazio (province where Roma is) to Tuscany was marked by an increase in hills turning to mountains and more houses built out of rocks from the fields. The majority of houses were still the classic Italian stucco or concrete sided multi-story houses, but I don't recall seeing many if any stone houses in southern Italy. Up in the hills you could see remains of stone towers and the old walled parts of cities. The green tones ranged from bright yellow-greens to deep verdant teals. More farms had freshly tilled dirt. It must be getting closer to planting time. There are far more deciduous (leafy) trees here in the hills. Down south it was definitely more conifers (pines).

Transit was relatively smooth today. The train ride was the usual--a few bumps and lots of pressure changes as the altitude shifted as well as when trains passed by us at high speeds. I ended up at the main train station, which is always helpful, and worked on finding the bus toward the hostel. I had to ask a very helpful Asian woman for directions as the place I ended up using the ticket counter guy's directions was not right. She had this fantastic, magical map of all the bus lines and exactly where they go. I wish I had maps like this for all the places I go and need a bus. I'm terrible with bus schedules and where they go. It's my public transit weak spot. In the end I found the right bus and made it to the stop I wanted.

The hostel is quite unique. It's a former convent from the 15th century. Walking around inside is like going through a maze or like being in the movie Labyrinth where David Bowie is walking upside down and such. There's no set 1st, 2nd floors and the like. A staircase can go up here, but to no other part of the building. To get to my room you take the added steps from the lobby through a door, up another flight that turns right, around the corner, up 1 step and down 2. The added bonus for this week is the opera being performed each night in the former church next to the hostel. Each night for a few hours I am serenaded with lovely music and very high notes.

I wandered around the local area to see if I could get tickets in advance to see Michelangelo's David and for the Uffizi Gallery. Everything was closed up tight. I did find a grocery store and picked up some staples for the week. Tonight I made a pouch of pasta e fagioli which turned out like soup because I had no way to measure 750mL of water. The kicker was that I started out with a leaky pot and it went downhill from there. It still tasted relatively well. Oh, and when I returned from my walk about I discovered that there is literally a grocery store right next door to the hostel. Good for future notice.

Il Papa and The Opera

2010-03-21T15:00:00.000-07:00

Today I had three goals.
1. Get to St. Peter's Square by 12pm to witness the Pope bless the crowd.
2. Relax.
3. Attend the opera Mefistofele.
I left the hostel around 10:30am to head to St. Peter's and read for a bit while the crowds were assembling. Before I got too far I decided to check out the grocery store for some fruit which turned into a pear, mandarin oranges, a box of cereal, Nutella and a sunscreen stick (I think it might be chapstick, but it's hard to tell since I don't read Italian very well). Rather than carry around the weight I dropped off my goods and headed for the square. I arrived at just the right time. There was still plenty of space to move about and find a good spot--key for short people--plus I had a chance to read some of Romans while still in Roma. About 10 minutes to 12pm a deep maroon banner with the Pope's seal in gold rolled down from the 3rd story window of the building just to the right of the square to signify from where Il Papa would be speaking. Groups scattered throughout the crowd had banners and scarves/fabric/flags in bright colors to wave for the Pope's attention. Right on cue at 12pm Il Papa emerged and greeted his cheering public. He spoke in Italian briefly and then led a responsive prayer in Latin. He officially blessed all gathered wishing us a blessed Sunday and week. He continued on by making the same brief comments from before in French, English, Spanish, German, Polish and I think one or two other languages I didn't recognize. Each time he changed languages he recognized any groups present he was aware of and they would cheer, jump and generally be excited. All in all, it was very cool and a great way to wind down my time in Roma.

After most of the crowds cleared out I munched my lunch on the steps of the square until it got breezy. Having some time to burn before I could return to the hostel (closed for cleaning), I wandered the mostly closed up streets for a cafe where I could sit and read. I finally found one about 4 blocks from the hostel named Piccolo Diavolo (Little Devil--fitting for a Sunday afternoon post Pope blessing). Nothing like some Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice along with a cappuccino.

A quick drop in at the hostel for a change into my "dressy" clothes which meant my black crinkle skirt (I think I got this one in high school??) and my colorful stained glass looking shirt from Lisa. With my red trekking shoes, it was quite a stylish outfit. I arrived at the Teatro dell'Opera at just the right time to get my seat and have the show begin. Four hours of excellent music, costumes, scenery and atmosphere made for a lovely evening. I'm no opera guru so I'm sure what I call great another would critique. For being quite literally in the last row at the top of the theater (probably 4 or 5 stories up) I thought is was tons of fun and a great way to spend the evening. I felt cultured and like a local for the night. For those of you not acquainted with Mefistofele, check out Wikipedia's short article. This gave me the background I needed to understand what was going on since there were no subtitles :) The Faustian themed Mefistofele is the only completed opera by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito.

I was finally able to dig into my second dessert--the chocolate mystery! Turns out it was two 1/2" layers of light chocolate cake with a spiced, orange/yellow jelly and a layer of sweet red jelly in-between. The entire treat was covered with a black colored dark chocolate coating. Definitely worth waiting for!!

Waiting For Godot

2010-03-20T15:33:00.000-07:00

Close to fully recovered I headed out this morning for a day trip to Tivoli and the Villa d'Este. The estate was originally owned by a cardinal who had over ambitious plans for a ridiculous amount of fountains in his garden. The result? A gorgeous backyard that ended up being finished by those who owned the property after him. Much was done in his time, but originally planned fountains appeared after his death.

Transit was going well until I arrived at the Villa Adriana where I was informed I needed to take a bus to get into downtown Tivoli for the other villa. After an hour's wait I found out the bus stop I needed was 300m down the road, while two separate people had informed me the bus would come right to the villa. In the process I met two nice French people headed the same way and an Italian woman who made sure we all got off at the right place.

I wish I could say the grounds were up to par, but with about 40% of the fountains not even working and the rest on what appeared to be water conservation level, it was a bit of a downer. The gardens were lush and green for March. With my love of water, however, it would have been great to see the fountains in full array. Nevertheless I cannot knock the peace, quiet and relatively clean air I enjoyed for a couple hours. That made it worth the hassle of getting there.

Dinner was a rerun of my previous pasta dish, but it tasted ever so good after only eating sugared biscuits, bread and fruit for an entire day. Dessert was one of my two pastries acquired a few days ago--a fried dough with a creamy goo inside (perhaps with coconut?). All delicious and exciting my taste buds for my second mystery dessert.

Blah.

2010-03-19T13:41:00.001-07:00

Something I ate yesterday at lunch seems to have turned my insides unhappy. I've spent the day hanging out in bed, sleeping and eating fruit with these light-weight cookies with vanilla sugar on them. I think I'm starting to feel better now. Lack of sleep the last few nights hasn't helped. Hopefully tomorrow will be a good start to a new day.

Feet Don't Fail Me Now

2010-03-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

A slow morning was in order after two people joined our room in the middle of the night. I woke up multiple times from the girl flopping and rolling around above me. She hasn't been back all evening, so I'm sure I'm in for another fun night. After breakfast I blogged a bit to try and wake up more. Eventually I got bored which led to my walking. I stopped at a shop near the Vatican that sells the cheapest postcards I have found and then mailed them at the Vatican post office. I meandered along the Tiber River toward the Colosseum and Roman Forum. It took an hour to walk there which wasn't bad considering I had a nice stroll. I was rather tired when I reached the ruins and only had walking ahead of me.
[Temple of Saturn]
The map I had for the Roman Forum and Palatine was hard to read. It was more of a sketch and difficult to follow where the paths led to the interesting sites. After much circling about I had seen most of the sites, a few of which were closed (much to my disappointment) speeding along my visit. [Stadium] The Paltine area was pleasant. Agustus' house was there and the height of the area provided some excellent 360 views of Roma. The Colosseum, however, was quite a sight. Towering high into the sky its imposing form stops you in your tracks upon first sight. Even from a distance you will catch yourself looking twice before moving along. After so much walking I was in the mood for a snack and a place to sit to rest my feet. On the way through town I noticed a small cafe that was filled with sweet treats--right up my alley! If I had turned the way I had planned, I would have missed this shop and the Jewish ghetto I walked through where there were also delicious treats and cozy restaurants. I managed to find the shop--Bar Amore--again on the way back. I picked out a small confection that appeared to be a cookie dipped in chocolate and a cream filled pastry of sorts. The chocolate will remain a mystery until I dig into it tomorrow.

For dinner I cooked up a second batch of my chicken, basil pasta with the addition of a red pepper--most delicious! I think tomorrow will be a lazy day lounging around St. Peter's Square and perhaps a cafe unless I feel so inclined to a day trip to Tivoli for some gorgeous fountain action.

Tour De Roma

2010-03-17T12:43:00.000-07:00

My day began with a short 7 min. walk to the Piazza del Popolo and the Chiesa di Santa Maria del Popolo. The church is lined with tiny chaplets along both walls each with a different theme--Jesus, the entombed body of a saint or major public official, work of art from a biblical story. They had started mass shortly after I arrived, so I sat in to see what kind of service it was. Turns out it was a communion one and I got half of Jesus in bread form. Better than no Jesus at all. From here I wandered through a lovely park area called Villa Borghese and lounged on a tree stump. The grass was quite green though a bit damp and there were no flowers to be seen. They seem to only reside at flower shops in town.

The Spanish Steps were next which were apparently named for the Spanish See (papal seat). Without the trademark red flowers they felt a bit bare, but it is still a lively spot for rowdy teenagers and lazy tourists. The sinking ship fountain was very cool. And so began my tour of the fountains of Roma. First stop was the Fontana del Tritone in Piazza Barberini. I checked out the four corners fountain which is literally a fountain on each corner of the intersection. Fontana di Trevi was quite exquisite and large. One could spend a good hour here and not notice time had passed.

After the Trevi fountain I came across some lovely watercolor work by a man named Dumo (Doomo). He was born in France and has spent the last 15 years in Italy. For a small piece--roughly 2"x3"--it takes two days to complete. I'll have to find a way to keep them from getting bent or wet from no until June. A teacher from the US happened to stop at his corner the same time I was there and we had some lively discussion about how the Euro hasn't been very good for the Italian people. With the Lira you could buy enough food for two weeks for about 100,000 Lira. Now with E50 you're lucky to afford a couple meals, a coffee (sort of a requirement in Italian cuisine/culture) and an afternoon snack. I learned something new today about the global economy.

I passed by Adriano's Temple, St. Ignatius Church, Palazzo Venezia, Chiesa del Gesu, Area Sacra ruins, Campo de Fiori with the statue of a monk who was burned at the stake for heresy in that very piazza, Piazza Navona with the Four Rivers fountain and finally the Pantheon. Talk about a gargantuan building. The dome is an amazing architectural feat. If built out of concrete, it would have collapsed ages ago. It's design with the occulus at the top distributes the force of the walls evenly throughout the ceiling while providing light and fresh air. Like most things in Greece and Italy they are being reconstructed during the low tourist season.

To finish my long walking tour I planned to hit a gelateria around the corner from the Pantheon. It was E2.50 for a cup 1.5" in diameter so I opted to hoof it to the Old Bridge gelateria where I could get 4x as much for E2 or less. It was a long walk, but essentially on my way back to the hostel. Definitely worth the effort! I sampled Amaretto, Pineapple and Dark Chocolate. To die for!! I don't know what makes gelato so different from ice cream, but it's wonderful and something I need to investigate for future creation. Much contented I plopped on my bed with some Mika music and relaxed. Dinner was leftovers from yesterday though still quite tasty. I went for a walk in the neighborhood because I was craving some kind of dessert. Most things were closed by 8pm, but I managed to find some cookies and a pastry. Tomorrow will probably be a trip to the Roman Forum to see the ancient ruins.

Vatican City, The Vatican

2010-03-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

It seemed only fitting to start my exploration of Roma with the Vatican. I set out around 10am and after walking 2 blocks to the W I found a fruit and veggie market. This must be the one the hostel guy was trying to show me on the map--so much for his directions. Inside I found a rainbow of deliciously fresh foods. The hardest part was choosing what to get without buying more than I could eat in 6 days. I picked up a pound of pasta, onion, zucchini, apples, bananas, red pepper, bread, 6 eggs, and basil. I dumped my goods back at the hostel and headed back out for the Vatican.

Take two took me to St. Peter's Basilica. Just walking around the corner and seeing this monstrous building is awe inspiring. There's a line to get into the basilica so they can scan your bags on the way in. Someone nearby said it was 2 hours. I had nothing better to do, so I jumped in line. Whilst enjoying the sun, I decided to catch up on my bible reading so as to maximize my time. I made it about halfway through II Corinthians when I reached the bag scanner and only in 45 mins. Good thing I committed to the line! There's so much to see inside. Small chapels line the sides each with their own massive frescoes and altars. Everywhere you look there's exquisite marble statues, designed flooring and hordes of people floating around with their touring groups. Since it's spring break there are noisy student groups all over. After winding your way to the main sanctuary you are greeted by a huge, carved wooden canopy that stands above the front altar. Behind that is the second altar with a gorgeous sunburst stained glass on the back wall. Everything is giant sized and dwarfs your existence.

I stopped for a brief while to listen to a mass taking place in one of the side chapels. After a few more pictures I stepped into the chapel reserved exclusively for prayer--no pictures as the guards continually remind you on the way in. Through the velvet gray curtain is a quiet chapel filled with incense and a classically ornate Catholic altar (gold, icons, cabinets for communion, the works). Something about being in Roma and at one of the most well known churches in the world in a small chapel away from the zooming mopeds, police sirens and chatty Italians brings comfort, peace and movements of the Spirit. All I can say is I'm grateful for a quiet, healing moment. From here I caught the Pieta carving (Mary holding JC after the cross) and meandered to the Vatican Post Office. You can't be here and not send at least one piece of mail from the Vatican. It's just plain cool.

Since it was only 12:30pm I decided to check out the Vatican Museum. My reward would be the suggested gelateria just outside that gives large portions. For E15 you can sample the wonders of the Vatican archives. I say sample because the majority of the treasures are hidden away inside the restricted areas of the city. Nevertheless what's visible is quite stunning. Bits of history from 2000BC in Egypt to the early church to the Medieval era to present day modern art pack the rooms leading you up to the Sistene Chapel. You can only walk in one direction and there's no backtracking, so I opted to take my time and savor the walk. Four hours later I reached the Sistene Chapel. I have to say, on first impression, I wasn't all that impressed. Certainly the amount of work, talent and history that went into its creation is stunning and deserving respect and awe. Overall I'd classify the chapel as ADHD. There are so many scenes and pictures going on that it's hard to focus on any one area. Inside there was a sea of people muttering with constant attention from the guards to be quiet and not take pictures--no small feat for multiple groups of 40 teenagers scattered about the room. [This is my one shot of the chapel from the outside stairwell.] The chapel is empty except for the altar against the wall at one end and the organ at the far opposite end. I did find it interesting that the one scene probably most known from the chapel (the divine touch I think they call it where the two hands are about to touch fingers) is on the ceiling about 1/3 of the way out from the altar. Amongst the entire chapel filled with biblical stories and images of biblical characters, this one small (perhaps a section about 6'x 10'--best guess that far away) image is chosen. Lest you think this is the end of the museum, once you leave the chapel you have a long way to walk before you can exit. Most of these things aren't quite as interesting as the rest, though the ceiling paintings are quite nice.

After many hours and lots of miles trod, my gelato delight awaited me. At Old Bridge gelateria you can get 3 huge scoops for E2. I sampled Blood Orange, Caramel and Cream with Pine Nuts. Wow, wow and WOW. All 3 were amazing. I can't wait to go back!!

On the way back to the hostel I stopped in to the grocery store I couldn't find yesterday and picked up some garlic, smoked mozzarella, olive oil and wine. For dinner I whipped up some chicken, basil, zucchini, garlic, onion and olive oil over pasta. Talk about tasty! Along with a glass of a local red wine, I was quite content. I even met two young people from Melbourne, Australia.

All Roads Lead to Rome

2010-03-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

Today was a travel day from Napoli to Roma. I wished Hannah safe travels when she left at 5am to head to the train station and then took the rest of the morning slowly. After packing and then polishing off left overs from last nights' dinner, I headed out to Stazione Centrale to buy my ticket to Roma. Apart from the long walk to the metro, things went smoothly. Before I knew it I was on the train and watching the countryside fly by.

Moving toward more central Italy brought a few shifts in scenery. Most of the land where the train runs is farmland. I saw open fields in varying shades of green, herds of sheep lolling and grazing about, brown/black cows sitting in mud, vacant barns/houses, red tiled roofs and mountains hazy with pollution. It was easy to tell when we were close to Roma as the density of housing dramatically increased.

Once at the train station, a quick trip on the metro dropped me off about 400m from the hostel. I was ever so close to the building, but couldn't read the building numbers that were above my head. I stopped in to ask at a building that I thought might be it. Turns out it was across the street in a pink building. Might you add to your directions--"We're on the 5th floor on the NORTH side of the street in a PINK building." to help people find it?? I would. At least this place has an elevator. For that, I cannot complain. It's a bit noisy here, but other than that it's not too bad. I think I was a bit spoiled by the family like atmosphere at 6 Small Rooms in Napoli.

For dinner I wandered E to locate Gusto which supposedly had E8 pizzas. I found it relatively easily after a pleasant walk along the Tiber River. Turns out they have happy hour from 6-9pm and with a E9-12 drink you can eat as much as you like from the buffet of goodies. With a lovely Syrah wine I enjoyed some cheese patties, beef rolled around salad greens with cheese/pine nuts/balsamic vinegar, pizza with basil/meat/cheese, barley salad with carrots/corn/celery/tomatoes/olives, chicken salad with dressing, pastry dough with marinara sauce (the best one I tried!), chunky tomato paste on bread, bread strips with chili oil, and rosemary potatoes. I think that was all of it. The food was delicious and I was stuffed.

My trip back led me through the Piazza del Popolo with its stunning obelisk and back along the Tiber River. After a hot shower, a good night's sleep is definitely in my future.

Mt. Vesuvio

2010-03-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

My original thoughts for the day were to wander the city and see a few sights in more depth that I didn't get to on Friday--a few churches and some main piazzas. I skipped the morning shower knowing it would be ice cold like yesterday and planned to get one later in the morning. When I got out to the common room, Hannah mentioned she and Mu were going to hike Mount Vesuvio and probably be back by 5pm so Mu could work his shift at the hostel. If I wanted, I could join in the fun. After a very breif hesitation, because who really wants to pass up hiking their second volcano in life??, I decided to join them and knew I'd be seeing more churches throughout my trip.

We walked the 20 minutes to Stazione Centrale to pick up the same train heading to Pompei. The plan was, according to Mu's website, to get off at Ercolano Scavi (Ercolano excavations), walk to the base of the volcano and then hike up to the top. It seemed a bit lofty, but if we would be spending most of our time hiking up, then it should work out fine. After a few detours and turn arounds in the city trying to get to the volcano, we stopped at a gas station and asked for confirmation directions. Just as we were walking away, the next guy who pulled into the station asked the attendant what we were walking to see in town. Upon hearing that we were hiking to Mt. Vesuvius, he beckoned us back and offered to drive us nearer to the base as it was another good 10-15km away still and all uphill.

Grateful for the speedy assistance, Alessandro drove us to a fork in the road which gave us another 1700m to reach the top. He owns a restaurant in town called My House. From here we walked along the road until we found a path leading up the side. Most of the ground was covered in large, porous, volcanic rock with moss on them. Around them were small pine trees with needles easily a foot and a half long. We got up to the point where the rock became gravel and decided to head for a ridge where we saw some stairs/trail that looked safer. From here we made it up to the top and enjoyed the stunning views as we walked around the rim of the volcano.

On the way down we realized that the path ended at a parking lot with a ticket booth. When we checked into the busses that stopped there, we discovered that you had to buy a round trip ticket from wherever you originally got on the bus. Mu talked to the driver when the bus finally showed up (apparently it was 45 mins. late) and after a while he agreed to let the 3 of us on for a ride back to Pompei (no busses were returning to Ercolano). What should have cost each of us E17 ended up being free. Not too shabby. We also discovered the mysterious, disappearing station for Pompei Scavi--the one Rick Steves' was apparently trying to direct us to in the book. We had taken the green line yesterday and directed by the train station staff and Rick wanted us to take the blue line. Who knew?

After such a long walk, Hannah and I felt we deserved some gelato. We were hoping to hit one of the most famous shops in Napoli--Polar Nor. After a bit of searching, we found it all closed up for Sunday. Not to give up on our craving for gelato, we walked toward the hostel and happened across 3 stores still open. We ended up at the one we went to yesterday since it still had the largest selection of flavors. I chose banana (full flavor with a tinge of lemon), cookies (literally cookies with a vanilla flavor) and a very sweet white fluffy stuff with almonds. All 3 were extremely delicious. After this we crashed at the hostel. I got a much desired shower after 2 days and eventually started to prepare dinner.

We did a twist on last night's version by adding roasted red pepper (fresh from the hostel oven!) and eggplant. What a great day this turned out to be.

Frozen In Time

2010-03-13T13:57:00.000-08:00

Today's excursion was south of Napoli to the infamous Pompei. Using our CampaniaArteCards, Hannah and I took the Metro to the main station and got on the Circumvesuviana train to Pompei. She has a Rick Steves' book that directed us to get off the train, take a right and then the first left. Seemed easy enough. We got off at Pompei, turned right, crossed the train tracks and saw more city--no ruins. Convinced that Rick Steves had led us astray, we returned to the train station where one of the staff told us to walk out straight, turn right and in about 5 mins. we would see the ruins. Sure enough, if you walk to the city center and turn right you come right to old Pompei.

Armed with our maps and information books which told us the historical significance of what we saw, we headed into Pompei and the adventure of the day. The ruins are absolutely fabulous. Every corner you turn leads to a new row of interesting rooms and buildings. The old streets are all still in tact. You can see ruts in the rock road where carts moved each day carrying goods. Stands where people stopped for snacks stood intact with the clay pots sitting in the stone counter top. Stairs to second floors led to nowhere. Imagine the technology they had to be able to build a second floor without it collapsing or to create a city where every inside wall is painted and floors are delicately built with square tiles the size of your pinky. For the people of Pompei life was an art form. Every part of their daily lives was carefully designed to be beautiful as well as functional. Even a storage room had a well tiled floor and painted walls. Why don't we do this more today? Why are we so quick to mass produce things that are the same for everyone? Where has the art of life gone?

One of the most interesting parts was seeing the plaster casts of the people caught in the volcano explosion. Some of them had looks of terror and others were seeking cover. There was even a dog plaster cast. We wandered around the city for 4 hours taking in the sights and photographing all we could. My battery died out about a half hour or so before we left, so I missed the gladiator arena. I'll have to get those shots from Hannah. After our return from Pompei we headed out to the market to grab some fresh veggies for dinner.

Hannah and I made the most delicious pasta tonight! Compliments of a Rachel Ray show Hannah saw a year ago, we combined fresh tomatoes with lots of garlic and fresh basil in a simmer on the stove. Mixing together the remains of the free pasta left from others, we had huge rings (the size of half dollars), rotini and penne. We also sliced up a green pepper (the sweetest one I've ever tasted) and some mozzarella cheese. Mu (one of the guys who works here at the hostel) cooked up some fraginelli (a local green to Napoli that's the leaves of a broccoli like plant) which looks like spinach, but has a peppery, spicy taste to it. As fortune would have it, the owner Jenny bought 8 pizzas in celebration of something good that happened in her day. I also had a quarter of a margarita pizza. As usual there was vino to go around for all, as much as you wished.

We took an evening walk to the corner near the hostel to grab some gelato which was well worth it. I tried the coconut (which had real flakes of it mixed in) and the hazelnut (it tasted just like the nutella I've been eating for breakfast).

No set plans for tomorrow, so we'll see what the day holds!

The Streets of Napoli

2010-03-12T12:14:00.000-08:00

Last night I met Hannah from TN. She graduated from nursing school in December and is taking 6 months to travel and enjoy life before starting her 2 year fellowship at a hospital near DC. She has been working her way through northern Italy where it has been cold, rainy and snowy at times. Until she showed up at the hostel in Napoli, it had been 11 days since she was able to speak English to anyone who could understand her. Needless to say she was eager for some company. We decided to spend today walking around the city and seeing some of the major sights.

Our wanderings took us down south to the shore and the ports along the bay. We followed the harbor for a while until we turned north to head back into the city. When we found a main street we also found a rally of some kind. People were playing loud music from a van and walking behind it with tons of red flags. As we went further along the road we caught up with the gathering point where a man was shouting Italian at a podium. What is it with me and finding rallies and demonstrations wherever I go??

We worked our way west toward Vomero, a small town on top of a large hill in the NW corner of Napoli. There are two funiculars that take you up the slope where there is a castle and two museums amidst the town. We happened across some lovely views of the city and bay along with a park in the middle of town. Navigating up there was really challenging. Our handy map from the hostel didn't detail that there was even a city on top until we arrived. Fortunately there were street side area maps that gave us a clue about where we were. For the trip down we opted to take the Via Pedamentina, a walkway back down to the rest of Napoli. I'm glad we didn't walk up this way because all the steps are slanted downhill and the steps are about 2 feet long making for a very awkward time walking. Most of it was littered with broken glass thrown off from the top of Vomero. There were some really cool doorways, a bed and breakfast and some small shops amidst the local housing. We had excellent views down into Napoli.

For lunch, we stopped at Da Michele, one of the most famous pizza restaurants in Napoli. I ate the whole thing!!

Most of the day had been sunny until about halfway through our venture in Vomero when it started to get very cold and hail upon us. Back down in Napoli it was still sunny, but cool. As the sun dropped the rain started up again. To try and get out of the cold we headed for the National Archeological Museum in the north part of the city. Sadly the building is quite drafty and while we were out of the wind, there was no heat to speak of in the building. Strangely parts of the 2nd floor were much colder than the first. Inside we were treated to ancient pottery, bronze work, gladiator memorabilia, treasures and paintings from Pompeii and statues galore. Probably the coolest part we saw was the sundial room upstairs. In the far SW corner is a tiny hole in the ceiling that shines a beam of light at noon onto a marble zodiac calendar on the floor.

From the museum we made our way back to the hostel and chilled out after a long day of walking. Once again people were cooking in the kitchen for a group. They invited Hannah and I to chow down if we were interested. The evening's meal included salad, fried anchovies (fresh, whole and bones in), boiled artichokes with vinaigrette sauce and pasta with veal, tomatoes and garlic. All of it was most delicious and stuffed us silly. I'm grateful for some free, fresh cooked food. I slept great last night and look forward to another night of good sleep.

What Day Is It?

2010-03-11T12:05:00.000-08:00

My day began by trying to take a shower on a moving ferry. If you've ever tried doing this, you realize how challenging it can be. We didn't get into the Bari, Italy port until 11:30am (about 2 hours later than scheduled). The ride was relatively smooth. Some metal bars in the cabin kept squealing loudly on and off throughout the night, so sleep was not the best. Once in the port I had the challenge of figuring out how to get into town and find the magic bus to Napoli. There's only one, so I didn't want to miss it.

To get to town from the port you have to take a taxi that costs E20 to get to the train station. Talk about a rip off! I would have never made it there by walking though. The information people outside the train station said the bus for Napoli would be leaving at 12:15pm (that's what I heard anyway) from the other side of the train station. When I got to the other side there was no ticket office to be seen and a string of empty busses. On the way back down the sidewalk I noticed a guy in one of the busses. Though he spoke no English, he seemed very kind and happy to try and help me figure out which bus I needed. He asked around to some people on the street for where the bus left and where to get a ticket. He offered to let me lock my roller bag in the bus while we went to get the ticket. Once I had everything taken care of I noticed the bus didn't leave until 12:50pm which gave me a chance to get some lunch before the 3.5 hour ride. My new friend pointed me to a very close and delicious cafe near the bus stop. I never got his name, but there's no way I would have made it to Napoli without his help.

I think lack of sleep on the ferry caught up to me because I had a terrible time staying awake on the bus ride to Napoli. I did get to see some lovely Italian countryside with rolling green hills dotted with olive trees and grape vines. There were stone and plastered houses in various stages of progress and disrepair. A few lone barns stood empty amidst the farmed land. Later on we passed through the mountains where signs warning of snow flashed at us. Some of the higher hills were covered in a light snow, but not much. Mostly we saw rain. On the other side it was sunny and looked more welcoming.

[The bridge is blurry, but the architecture is awesome!]
I noticed early on the stark contrast between Greece and Italy. Most of the landscape in Greece was of the cooler color palate with gray or tan stone and a little greenery here and there. Though the people were welcoming and hospitable, the land was dull, imposing and stoic like rocks. The history of the land exuded wisdom, but did not make you feel overly welcomed. In Italy the color palate is much warmer. Browns, vibrant greens and cream tones richly invite you to relax and wander about. Most of the people here keep to themselves and tend not to speak as much English as in Greece. Perhaps since they have the Latin alphabet instead of Greek letters, they feel less of a need to be accommodating to other nationalities. Those I have asked for help have readily assisted me, but there's always someone who is having a bad day no matter where you travel or reside.

Once in Napoli at the main transit station, I procured my CampaniaArteCard which gives me 3 days worth of free access to most transit in Napoli and 2 free entrances to historical/cultural sites. I boarded the metro and got off at the 2nd stop as planned. Unfortunately the roads here go in random directions and change names every 1 block for the small ones and every 4 blocks for the large ones. Navigating is a real challenge. None of the streets I was looking for appeared and I ended up walking into a theater to ask for help. They spoke no English, but they saw the telephone number and called. The hostel is Aussie owned so fluent English is no problem. I wrote down the directions and headed out. Apparently I was a good 300m NW of where I needed to be to even start using the directions they gave me. When I finally did make it to the hostel I had 102 steps (give or take 5) waiting for me to get to the 3rd floor. It was worth it though for a comfy bed, free internet and helpful people.

There was apparently no need to go out for dinner as someone was cooking and made enough for everyone here (about 7 people) to be filled up. We had salad and calamari in squid ink cooked pasta. I'd seen it on the Food Network, so knew it was safe to try. Surprisingly it was very mild and quite tasty! And we all had black mouths which made for fun conversation.

Bon Voyage

2010-03-10T10:26:00.000-08:00

This morning I decided to skip the additional trip down to Sparta and Mystras and to forge ahead to Italy. Greece has been nice, but I think I'm ready to move on to something different now. Sparta is also challenging to get to and there are no easy connections to Patra where I will take a ferry to Italy. The more I looked at the very few things to see in Sparta and Mystras, it felt like I could use my time and energy better in another place.

I checked with the owners where I was staying who informed me the bus would pick me up at the end of the street and take me back to Korinthos where I could then head to Loutraki and pick up another bus to Patra. Since I had already been though Korinthos, I had an idea of what to expect and how to get my ticket to the next place. Getting to Loutraki was relatively easy and the bus station was right next to the drop off point. When I went inside and asked for a ticket to Patra, the lady told me I was in the wrong place and had to be at the Corinth Canal to get that bus. A guy, who I soon found out was the next bus driver, said he could tell me where to get off.

Once at the Corinth Canal bus station I got a ticket at 1pm to Patra which would give me plenty of time to find a ferry company and some food before leaving Patra. My travel book mentioned an easy to find tourist office near the docks which turned out to be one of my best choices yet. They offered me easy directions to the correct ferry company, where to find food and best of all free internet! I headed down the street to get my ferry ticket and just a few blocks away found a restaurant to eat a large meal before the boat ride. I happened across a grocery store where I picked up some bread and apples for a snack on the ship tonight.

The room I booked for my overnight ferry ride is really cozy. It's a 4 bed cabin, but only one other woman about my age was in there. This has to be the most comfortable bed I've slept in yet! I ventured outside to see what it was like on deck--talk about massive wind! I was almost blown across the slippery, wet deck. The view was foggy and cloudy, but I could make out the lights along the coast of Greece. Here's to a peaceful night's sleep!

The Crossroads of Anceint Greece

2010-03-09T09:58:00.000-08:00

The big event for the day was to visit Ancient (Arkaia) Korinthos and its museum. Since this was the only thing on my list to do today, I took a nice, slow stroll through the site. I actually read some of the signs instead of just taking pictures and moving on. Most of the city has collapsed on the ground due to earthquakes, erosion, time passing and new civilizations coming to power. Like most historical sites I've seen, each time the area changes hands, a new city layout is created and new buildings are put on top of or in addition to the old. Many of the sites show at least two or three different layers of cities on the same plot of ground. Most begin around 500BC, a second around 400-200BC and then another at roughly 100-300AD.

While meandering through the old city, I actually stood where St. Paul would have spoken to the Corinthians about 1,960 years ago. I walked where ancient civilizations shopped for food. I heard the natural spring (still rushing with water) where these people used to gather water. I traversed part of an ancient road lined with shops and temples. What all of this means, I have no idea. It's certainly mind stretching to think that you are plodding across ground where millions of people have walked. What did they see and hear? What inspirations and lessons did they take from this place? How where they different for having passed through this area?

Right next door to the ancient city is a restaurant owned by Nikos. He's a talkative guy who has been living and working in the town for 30 years. I stopped in to chat with him and he served me up an orange grown from his backyard (yeah, there's orange and lemon trees everywhere in Greece) saying that I needed to get my "veetamins to stay strong while traveling." It was deliciously juicy and ripe.

Knowing my room would be chilly at this time of day, I wandered about in the warm sunshine and read the rest of Acts and a good chunk of I Corinthians. Eventually the sun disappeared, so I headed for the room and some TV. Did you know they broadcast MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge) in Greece? I had no idea, but what a delightful and hilarious release while traveling.

I ate dinner at Nikos' restaurant where I enjoyed the Greek delicacy of elliptical shaped meatballs in a red (really it was more orange and greasy than red) sauce with french fries (i.e. potatoes), a greek salad and some of Nikos' homemade wine. It was all quite delicious and very filling. As a treat, Nikos offered me some apple with honey (also made by him from his bee keeping hobby) and cinnamon.

After such a filling meal, another young traveler stopped over to invite me for a walk around the town to settle dinner. Manuel is from Paris, France and interested in seeing the ancient sites related to Greek Mythology. Turns out we have very similar temperaments (we both like lots of variety, enjoy traveling, love to cook and don't like to be in one place for too long). We must have walked for about 2 hours when we decided to grab some tea and warm up. Knowing that I would be in Paris in the near future and fortunately just before he heads to Texas (yes, a friend of his wants to go to Texas of all places in the US to see tornadoes--really.), he offered to meet up with me in Paris or to simply send me some e-mails about what is good to see and where to go in Paris. I was most thankful as France is probably the country that holds the least amount of interest for me and Paris seems like a daunting metropolis to live in for even a few days. Hopefully our paths will cross!

When I returned to the room tonight, the temp was up to 68F! Woo hoo! That will send me off to a comfortable sleep I hope.

Confusing Corinth

2010-03-08T09:55:00.000-08:00

I took the morning slowly drying out the last dampness from my clothes on the radiator and making my way to breakfast. I asked as the desk what the best way was to get to Korinthos. He suggested a bus since the trains often change schedules every few weeks. Armed with directions to the bus station and all my luggage, I headed out.

All in all, getting to the bus station wasn't too bad. I bought a ticket to Korinthos and the bus was leaving in a short 20 minutes. Nice to not have to wait around too long. A quick 2 hours later and I was in Korinthos. The only problem left to solve was how to get to Ancient Korinthos. The last stop left me in what seemed like central downtown Korinthos. No bus stations in sight. I dragged my luggage around the square and inquired at a shop how to get to the bus station. The directed me back to the stop where I had gotten off insisting that you could get many busses from there. I stopped a taxi to see how much it would cost to get the 4km to the town where I wanted to be--a whopping E10!! I recognized one of the hotel names from my online searches a couple nights before. I figured they would be able to give me clearer directions. Sure enough all you do is go to the bus stop on the corner and use the machine to get your ticket.

There were tons of teenagers waiting. I think they were taking the busses home from school. They all filled up the first bus to Ancient Korinthos, so I was hoping there would be another since there were still about 20 of them left. Fortunately there was and I got off near the place where I was looking to stay for the night. Success!! The hotel is nice, but really cold during the day and early evening. When I asked the owners, the lady (I think) tried to convey that it would warm up again soon and to let her know if it didn't get better. My guess is it must only heat at night and in the morning. I put three blankets on the bed anyway because it only ever got up to 63F--a vast improvement from the 59F while I was sitting there in the afternoon. Since it's still winter hours, most sites are closed at 3pm--just about the time I rolled into town. Since the ruins of Corinth are all that I'm here to see, it won't be a problem to wait until tomorrow morning.

Not Quite Gilligan's Island

2010-03-07T09:52:00.000-08:00

Far from sunny but not quite rotten, it rained all day which only compounded the travel issues of the day. I knew ahead of time there would be construction on the metro a few stops from Piraeus (the port city W of Athens where most ferries, boats and trains depart) and that I would need to take a bus to a spot further down the metro line. Frances, who I met at the hostel a few days earlier, had informed me of all this when she made the trip to Hydra with her Dad. The only thing I didn't know was that the X13 bus that kept circling past the spot where I was waiting for the bus went to where I needed to go. I ended up waiting a good 20 minutes for a bus I knew was headed in the right direction. Unfortunately I got off at the next metro stop only to find that there was still construction going on. Assuming I'd need to wait another 20 minutes for a bus, I learned from the next X13 bus driver that he was heading to Piraeus.

I finally made it to the metro stop where I was supposed to be to go one more stop into the town. Once in Piraeus I had to ask around for where the Hellenic Seaways Co. was so I could pick up my tickets. A guy directed me to a large building at Gate 7 with their name on it, but it was closed--being Sunday and all. I asked at a nearby ferry company where I should go and they said there would be a kiosk at Gate 8 on the docks. With tickets procured and a good 45 minutes before the boat left, I walked across the street for a cappuccino.
The ferry ride to Aegina Island was nice and smooth. When I got off the rain was just barely falling, but warranted an umbrella. I walked down to the nearby sight of a temple to Apollo and a very old city which had been built over multiple times throughout history. I was debating whether or not to take the bus across the island to see the Temple of Aphaia or to just wander around town for the next 3 hours in the drizzle and cold. I grabbed some lunch from a cafe which was delightfully warm and tasty. It was a pastry dough shell with ham, cheese and a thin spread of spaghetti sauce inside. When I returned to the bus kiosk, no one was there. I opted to just wander town and see some of the streets and shops. Most things were closed, but the architecture was nice. I'm sure in summer this is a sunny, bustling island. I dropped into a church and enjoyed the fresco icons painted all over the walls and ceilings. It was warm, smoke free and quiet inside.

Along the waterfront are numerous stands with pistachios for sale. Aegina Island is considered to have the best pistachios in Greece. Having had enough of the rain, I boarded my ferry back to Piraeus at 5:30pm. It was on this return trip that I discovered I had been using the men's bathroom both times on the boat. The pictures are so small and very hard to see on a moving boat. At least now I know why the guy was staring at me when I walked in on the boat ride over.

I meandered back to the metro, got my ticket and headed toward the metro car. People were making quite a commotion in Greek and it seemed like there wasn't going to be any metro from this station. Rather disappointed I inquired at the ticket booth how else I could get back to Athens. A bus runs from Piraeus to Syntagma Square in Athens, but the stop was about 10 minutes from the docks. The lady informed me which bus to take to get to the right stop to transfer back to Athens.

I missed the bus just as I was about to cross the street. After about 20 minutes another one failed to show up. I started walking and passed two of the three stops to the transfer point. Somehow after this I got horribly lost. None of the street names matched anything in my book (which I thankfully remembered to take!) but I did recognize that I was by the small marina. I happened across a street listed in my book and discovered I was a good 10-15 blocks from where I needed to be. Fortunately I found the bus stop I needed and in another half hour I was back in Athens only a short walk from the hostel.

What a long day! I still had to do laundry, pack up and figure out how to get to Korinthos the next day after checking out. Laundry went fairly smooth and I was able to wash just about everything with me for a pricey E5. I opted to skip the E2 dryer and hang things up in my room. Hopefully tomorrow's travels will be smoother.

Ask The Oracle

2010-03-06T09:21:00.000-08:00

Instead of trying to find my own way to Delphi and spending the night, I opted to take the day trip from the hostel. For the price it would have cost to stay one night in Delphi, I had transportation arranged, entrance to the historical site, a guide, lunch and people to travel with. Can't beat a deal like that!

It took about 2.5 hours to drive to the site where we spent about 3 hours seeing the ancient city and walking the museum. Delphi is known for the woman oracle who sat near the Temple of Apollo inhaling fumes emitting from a chasm in the Earth. In her state of trance/ecstasy, she made prophecies for those who stopped in to ask her a question. Her advice was taken seriously for day to day business, impending wars and personal matters. I was too slow to make it to Athena's temple a 15 minute walk down the road. I did, however, get some great photos of the surrounding valley and the mountainous villages on either side of Delphi.

We stopped for coffee in the less touristy village and took in the gorgeous sight of the sun shining on the Corinthian Sea. After the long ride back I enjoyed a delicious dinner of stuffed eggplant including zucchini, red pepper, onion, mushrooms, feta cheese and topped with some shredded mozzarella. Back at the hostel I researched ferries to Aegina Island and purchased tickets for Sunday. When you're here, you feel like your visit just isn't complete without a trip to an island. Hopefully the weather will continue to be good as it has been up to now.

Around Town Again

2010-03-05T13:14:00.000-08:00

Today was supposed to be an early start so I could once again cover a series of sites around Athens. After another tasty breakfast of toast, jelly/cheese, tomatoes and a hard boiled egg, I headed off to the Temple of Zeus and the Olympic Stadium--more large expanses filled with mostly randomly strewn large marble stones. I attempted to make my way from the Olympic Stadium to the Archeological Museum, but like most of my time here, the hostel map does not actually reflect reality. Heading down the road I thought was on the map led me to Lykavittos Hill which was in the far NE of the city when I needed to be beyond far N. To boot, like its name implies, the hill is quite a ways up in altitude and used up quite a bit of energy trying to figure out how to get around it. Up top though there was a large
cropping of what appeared to be Agave cacti--that's right, the plants used to make tequila. After an hour I did finally arrive at the museum to discover that it was closing in one hour due to another 24 hour transit strike. Good thing I moved my day trip to Hydra to Sunday. Hopefully there won't be another strike until after Monday.

Greece has a 12% debt with the EU and they've been called out on it. To remedy the problem the greek government had decided to make job/salary cuts and to raise taxes. Hence the last minute notice 24 hour transit strikes. Today I witnessed the protests in action. Roughly 12,000 Greeks marched from near Syntagma Square along one of the main roads in Athens carrying banners, flags and mega phones as they chanted. Last night a scuffle with the police ending in pepper spray and tear gas was reported. I was only near the marching long enough to collect a 30 second video before I navigated away.

The Archeological Museum was really nice. Among the many statues, bronze works, coins and pottery I was able to see two of the statues Rick Steves showcased on his 1/2 hour show on Athens (Running Horse and Greek god Throwing a Spear). The afternoon and evening held little to amuse me as the historical sites here close at 3pm in winter. I wandered around to the fruit and veggie market, picked up gyros at a local restaurant and hit the hostel sports bar for a Castleburg beer while I read a few chapters of Sense and Sensibility. I know my calves and ankles were thanking me for taking it easy on them tonight. Tomorrow's excursion to Delphi will be challenging.

Well Worn Paths

2010-03-04T13:00:00.000-08:00

I attempted to get an early start in hopes of covering as many of the 6 major historical sites in the area (Acropolis, Ancient Agora, Roman Agora, Kerameikos/Cemetery, Temple of Zeus and Olympic Stadium). Breakfast took a bit longer as I sat with Frances and a new friend Stephen. It was hard to leave good conversation. Roughly around 10am I made it to the Acropolis to begin my day's discoveries.

It's hard to describe the expansive views and vast marble creations as you walk around on the highest hill in the area. The packed in city below sprawls all around dotted with ancient ruins and very modern glass buildings. What didn't make sense on the map a few days ago was much clearer now. I'm glad I went to the museum yesterday to give some perspective to what I was seeing today. From here I worked my way to the Ancient Agora to discover that this was where I had ended up a few days earlier when I was "lost." This time I knew exactly where to go. The Agora is HUGE. I must have spent a good 1.5 hours there trying to get around to everything. Towards the end my camera battery started to flash at me. I wasn't sure how much more time I'd have so I tried to cover things quickly so I could still make it to the Roman Agora and the cemetery. To come back to one or two of these would make for a long walk and "wasted" time.

Fortunately the Roman Agora is quite small in comparison and was easy to breeze through. What I didn't realize was how long it would take to walk from there (NE corner of the Acropolis) to the cemetery. I think it took close to 20 minutes. When I arrived I had 20 minutes to cover the entire town/cemetery. I was close to sprinting through the rocky, winding pathways up and down hills. I managed to get shots of the overall areas and what I think might be all of the explanatory plaques--all with a low camera battery. Now that's what I call impressive!

After a much deserved rest, I hit a local crepe restaurant for dinner. For E10 I had a Sprite, Tiramisu and a crepe with chicken, tomatoes, green peppers and mayo. Needless to say, I was quite full. I spent the rest of the evening researching trains, planes and ferries to figure out my next step on the journey. Hopefully this will include a day trip to Piraeus and Hydra on Sunday and moving on to Corinth on Monday.

Human Time Warp

2010-03-03T07:30:00.000-08:00

I slept in a bit and tried to take it easy to rest my sore legs/ankle. Unfortunately I ended up walking much farther than planned. The 2.5 hour walking tour I wanted to do was canceled as I was the only one interested and she needed 4 people minimum. In wandering around on my own I got "lost" because the hostel map has about 1/10 of the street names in the area. Unable to navigate well meant I ended up on the far NW side of the city before I could find a street name on the map. I opted to sit for a couple hours and eat lunch once I found the hostel again. I did a bit of planning for the next few days before heading out to the brand new Acropolis Museum. It's quite amazing.

The layout is a series of rectangles piled on top of each other at skewed angles comprising 3 floors of marble pieces from the Parthenon on the Acropolis. The building is almost entirely glass. Even large sections of the floor are glass to reveal the excavated sites of the areas along the slopes of the Acropolis. That was probably the coolest feature.

Looking down at the older cities below was fascinating. Made me think about all the
different civilizations and ages of history that existed before I walked across it at that moment. Seeing history displayed in this way made me ponder in a very new way what it means to be human and to exist over time. How generations and eras follow one after another and each group of people makes their own way in life and leaves their own marks upon the Earth that others will uncover and marvel at. How does it fit into the framework of life to consider that some of these people lived around 600 BC? Now place that along with the belief that God is in existence throughout this entire span. Let your brain simmer and ache over that for a while!

No photography is allowed in the museum. To commemorate my time there I picked up a pack of postcards that sort of tell the story of what I saw inside. They really don't do justice to it, but it's the best they offer. From the museum I walked through the National Gardens. They weren't as lush as I'm used to, but it is winter here still. All over there were orange trees and 3 large fountains. It was right around 5pm and the daylight was just right for enjoying and photographing the gardens. My favorite part was this long trellis covered walkway that opened into a walkway of palm trees.

From the gardens I meandered the streets for a bit before dinner. I wandered by a shop where the owner stepped out and asked why I walked along so quietly and slowly. After chatting I learned that he had spent time in Minneapolis with friends and recently met them here in Greece. He was able to suggest a good restaurant to me and naturally showed me around the shop. Inside were exquisite looking, colorful glass pieces that were most tempting to buy. I will definitely be returning to potentially purchase something that hopefully won't break in my luggage.

This hostel has a sister building with apartments and an attached sports bar. I checked out the bar where they were televising a futbol game at 8pm (if only I'd known they meant 8pm London time from where the game was being broadcast). It was just about 7:30pm so I grabbed a Mythos beer and chilled for a bit. Shortly after a young woman joined me. We had a great time chatting. Frances is 19 from a small town outside York, UK. She gave me some great tips on things to see and places to stop once I reach the UK. She is taking 2 months to travel around Greece, Italy, Portugal among other places before enrolling in university (what Americans call college) to get her degree in classical studies. This year is time to relax a bit, get some perspective and travel. Very similar to me. All in all, a great way to end the evening.

The Long Way Around

2010-03-02T07:24:00.000-08:00

What a windy day in the city! I'm not talking a light breeze or even a gust. It must have been about 50mph wind today. Metal not secured on peoples' rooves were flapping about and dust was forming into swirling tornadoes all over the place. I believe I've acquired a layer of dirt all over me.

After securing my train ticket to Athens, I wandered around to find a grocery store for some snacks later on which would suffice for dinner on the train. In all my walking of Kalampaka, I couldn't find any take away food or sandwiches. They must be somewhere, but nowhere I could find them. I decided not to lug the food around all day, as I needed to check out of the hotel at 11:30am, and I wanted to see a few more of the sites in town.

After a long stroll, I finally found the Holy Maria church in the far NE corner of town on the highest and steepest hill possible. I was still quite sore from yesterday's hiking around Meteora.

In the afternoon I had hoped to make my way along a foot path to the last two monasteries on spires. At the start the path was pretty easy to follow. It wound just at the edge of the city between the last few houses and the base of the spires. Most of the time it felt like I was in someone's backyard and at one point crossed an area with cables running up the spires for reception to the homes below. This is where the trail dumped back into a street in town. I hadn't expected this at all. I backtracked thinking I must have missed an obvious turn. There were no signs along the path and when I tried another version, it quickly ended into the mountainside. Already feeling pretty whooped from yesterday and not feeling like I had enough time to get there and back, I gave up and headed to a cafe near the hotel. I figured that if I'd seen 3 monasteries, I'd probably seen enough to suffice for all 5 of the 6 that were open.

Cooled down from an icy Coke, I walked a quick 10 minutes to another site the hotel had suggested not missing and then headed down into town to grab some food for dinner. I picked out some fresh wheat bread for 1E, some tzatsiki, cheese and tahini (ground sesame seeds--like thin, oily peanut butter).

The train ride was excessively late--about 1.5 hours. To exit the station I had to go down 25 some stairs and then back up 25 stairs. To get to the Metro I had to go up probably another 50 stairs, around the corner of the building and then up 5 stairs and down another 40. Mind you, none of these stairs had elevators or escalators. Fortunately the next tram came in 3 minutes. After this, finding my stop and the hostel was easy. This station had escalators all the way out to the street level and the hostel was literally right around the corner. At about 11:30pm I was checked in and then made a small wracket trying to dump my self into the bed. What a tiring day!

A Taste of Kalampaka

2010-03-01T07:14:00.000-08:00

Breakfast awaited downstairs of freshly hard boiled eggs, bread, cheese, cherry jam, juice and coffee. I packed my skirt, the required dress for women when visiting these monasteries. Filled with good things, I headed off toward the rocky spires of Meteora.

Somehow it failed to dawn on me that choosing to walk to the various monasteries would mean walking up steep hills all day. I didn't realize this until I was half way through Kastraki, the nearby town 1km from Kalampaka. Nevertheless, it was a sunny day with a lovely breeze to keep me mostly cool on my strenuous walk.

Roussanou, the first monastery, was a quiet place to begin with a few nuns inside minding the ticket booth and the souvenir shop filled with handmade beeswax candles, golden icons and books about the spiritual history of Meteora. Past 5 short doors (just tall enough for me to walk through without bending down) to what I guessed were living quarters was the finely decorated and preserved chapel. From floor to ceiling, every bit of plaster was covered with iconic paintings of biblical characters and Greek martyrs.

The second stop was Varlaam, quite a bit larger than Roussanou. Quite a bit of construction was going on here with jackhammering and scaffolding. Originally there were 20 some spires with monasteries. Today there are only 6. Much like the first, Varlaam was filled with iconic paintings, old wooden tables/chairs and relics from as early as the 14th century.

My last stop was to the highest and largest monastery Megalou Meteora. Though all signs indicated these were working monasteries, this one was filled with an extensive amount of Greek war memorabilia. Some were even listed as martyrs who died for their country as confessing Christians. I found it odd that these two should be mixed so intrinsically. The old refectory had long wooden tables set up for a typical monks' meal and the center of the room was filled with 4'x6' paintings of Greek war heroes. Far down in the basement of the monastery was the Ecclesiastical Museum where old icons from the 14, 16 and 18th centuries were kept with various scrolls, bibles, music books and vestments. Strangely, the older pieces were in far better condition than the more recent ones.

Finally the time came to return from the high places and think about getting some food. About 1/3 of the way down my feet started to ache and 3/4 of the way they were throbbing.

This still left the 2km walk back to the hotel. I had planned to stop for dinner in
Kastraki, but every place I checked was closed up tight at 5pm. Perhaps it was too early for dinner. I stopped in to the hotel to rest my feet for a half hour and then headed to downtown Kalampaka to find food. The suggested place to dine by the hotel staff eluded me, so I stopped in at a bakery to grab dessert for later. I'm not sure what it's called, but it appears to be made of alternating layers of thin chocolate cake and cream filling topped with white frosting and a layer of orange/yellow goo that created a tangy, fruity flavor on top. I stopped at an expensive looking restaurant where it turns out for E10.25 I could explode myself on beef in red sauce (with that same strange hint of sweet/spice as the lamb), lemon baked potatoes and rice with a glass of white wine. Absolutely delicious! So was the dessert by the way.

Portraits of Town

2010-02-28T15:03:00.000-08:00

Sunday was a slow day. For my morning walk, I ventured to the NW corner of Thessaloniki to snap some shots of the old wall winding through the city. I caught a few glimpses, but quickly lost track of the wall as the streets I was wandering were not on my map. I saw some lovely views of neighborhood life on a Sunday morning: hunched over, white haired ladies leaving church, kids slowly padding alongside their parents and pastry and mini-markets the only shops open. With lunch secured, I headed back to the hotel to eat and pack up.

In my time here I've noticed how most Greek people seem kind and helpful--at least out here in the smaller cities and towns. Anyone who owns or works in a shop cleans it often. Most times when I entered a store someone was cleaning a window or the floor. All in comparison to the rather dusty streets and scent of cigarette smoke wherever you went. Greece is not a country which bans smoking. It seems to be something of a national pastime. As a whole, Greek people are rather expressive. As quickly as they flare up in anger or argument, so to do they return to calm and quiet.

After reading some Jane Austen and grabbing dinner for the train ride, I bought my ticket to Kalampaka and waited a couple more hours over some coffee and futbol. Overall, the ride was comfortable. Somehow the station created and issue as there were about 10-15 people standing in the car where I was and a lady and two men where loudly complaining. As best I can piece their expressions together, I think some of them were 1st class passengers without their prime seats and certainly not even a 2nd class spot to be had. After about 45 minutes waiting a large group of passengers moved out and walked behind my car. I didn't see them again, so I suspect another car was added. The 3 vocal people stayed in my car and stood until seats appeared as others got off the train. The only tense part was towards the end when many people began to exit and I couldn't tell if we had arrived yet or not. A woman across the aisle spoke enough English to let me know that Kalampaka would be after her stop at Karditses. I think I must have been one of about 5 people to leave the train at the last stop. I asked at the train office where the bus station was. He informed me it was closed by this hour (10:15pm), but he showed me how to get to the hotel. Little did I know that 2/3 of the walk would be uphill hauling all my luggage on rough sidewalks/roads. Much to my delight I found the hotel in the far NW corner of town with a desk clerk waiting to check me in and who kindly carried my bag up to the 2nd floor.

Sights and Sounds of Thessaloniki

2010-02-27T14:54:00.000-08:00

While locating internet yesterday, I heard a moped accident in the street next to me. I'm not sure if a car hit the rider or if a flat tire caused it to flip backwards, but the guy ended up underneath the bike as bits of plastic cracked and flew into the street. They crunched and screeched under car/bus tires. He appeared to be okay and about 10-15 minutes later the police and an ambulance showed up.

Friday night is the time to par-tay in Thessaloniki. All night I heard music, loud voices, cars honking and zooming by and parties roaming down the street. All in stark contrast to the absolute quiet of the morning (which might be what woke me up).

A brief rain shower this afternoon sent me back to the hotel for my umbrella which I didn't use the rest of the sunny evening. I spent the day walking around town collecting fresh fruit from the market, photographing churches I found along the way and seeing a few of the sights along the waterfront. Amidst the Grecian styled high rise housing and corporate buildings are nestled ancient ruins and exquisite Byzantine stone churches.
The only breaks between buildings are where streets cut through the landscape. The 5-6 story height of architecture makes it hard to read signs along the streets and easy to miss the spot you're trying to locate. Cafes dot most corners though, unlike most of commercialized US, these are classy, unique places with their own flare and locally made food. Advertising takes place along corrugated metal sheets posted around construction sites, by throwing fliers along the sidewalk and pasting posters to wall billboards along the street.

My first stop was the Modiano Market where I picked up some citrus, an apple and a pear for E1.90--all ripe to the touch. There was a light breeze out and the market owner brushed my arm asking if I was cold. Quite the contrary, it was in the 60Fs and sunny. I meandered my way to the White Tower by the water. It's not so much white as tan-grey, but it is a very large tower. Unfortunately the tower closed at 3pm and it was 4. Mind you, my guide book said it would be open until 7pm. I headed toward the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art--also closed.

Instead I found restaurant Zythos and had Lamb Souflaki with a corn pita, sour cream, roasted tomato and onions along with an Alpha lager. There was something not quite like cinnamon or nutmeg to add the slightest hint of sweet/spicy flavoring to the lamb. All very tasty. On my sunset walk along the waterfront I had a cone of chocolate and pistachio gelato. Most delicious when paired with the orange blaze dropping below the distant mountains across the Thessaloniki Bay.

It's All Greek to Me

2010-02-26T04:18:00.000-08:00

I attempted to rouse myself at 3am in London to get ready and checked in for my 7am flight to Thessaloniki, Greece. Talk about an early morning. Or was it a late night? I'm not sure which timezone I'm in right now. I made it to the departures counter on time to get my boarding pass, traverse through security and then wait for 1.5 hours until the gate number was listed on the monitors. At the London Gatwick Airport, gate numbers aren't assigned until 1/2 hour before the flight leaves. This only served to make me nervous that I might not be able to get to the gate in time if say it happened to be 95 and at the far end of the terminal. Easyjet doesn't wait for you to show up if you are late. All part of the no frills, inexpensive policy. Lest the suspense stress you out, I did make it to the gate on time though only half awake.

I slept most of the way through the flight though some guy a row back talked non-stop all the way there. Customs went well and I managed to find the bus ticket booth. The one slip in the plan was I took the wrong bus into town. On the bright side, I discovered there is an IKEA in Thessaloniki. Yea for international symbols! Didn't think I'd see one of those here. Once the bus circled back to the airport, I got on the right bus and headed toward town. The only trouble was that the stops called out on the bus didn't match anything in the map in my book. I kept looking for landmarks, but nothing looked familiar. Eventually I got off and wandered into a motorbike shop. One of the guys spoke enough english to help me figure out that I was about 10 minutes from where I wanted to be. All in all, not too bad for not being able to read what the signs said fast enough. One moment in life when I can say "Thankgoodness for Greek class." I can't speak much, but at least I can read it. I wandered around the area where the hostel was supposed to be, but no luck in finding it. There were about 10-12 other hotels along the street, just not the one I wanted. I did manage to find one that was close to my price range. The lady who checked me in was very helpful. She gave me a more detailed local map and told me about a nearby internet spot.

Since breakfast at 3am, I hadn't eaten and was a bit low on blood sugar and water. Once I got up to my room (no elevator and two flights of about 10 stairs each) I downed some water from the sink and remembered I had some chocolate covered cookies in my bag. Now that my brain had some energy to work off of, I decided to walk to the train station to find out which train would be my ticket out of town. I ate some mousaka, beans in a red sauce and salad at Sofi's House restaurant. I'm not sure exactly where the internet place was the hotel lady was trying to direct me to, but there's a Starbucks across the street with 2 hours of internet with a purchase.

And so the adventure goes on to explore the other sights of Thessaloniki and beyond.

One Night in London

2010-02-25T13:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's travel plans were certainly up for interpretation. I left PA at 6:30am to arrive an hour later in Detroit, MI. Unbeknownst to me Atlanta was being stormed upon. All flights in and out were apparently delayed 3 hours. I shifted to standby for an earlier flight into Atlanta which fortunately got me in on time to catch my still on time flight to London. Atlanta? Yeah, it was sunny when I got there. What storm!?!

So now I'm relaxing in my 8x8 train cabin style hotel room at the airport. It's actually quite cozy. Hats off to the Europeans for combining functionality in a tiny space. Hopefully I'll get enough rest to carry me through an early morning (4am check out) and a busy day settling into Greece.

A New Door

2010-02-23T12:02:00.000-08:00

After about a year of planning, working and waiting, I'm off for another traveling adventure. This time I am focusing on Western Europe. After a brief 20 hour stop over in London, my journey begins in Thessaloniki, Greece. I'll work my way north through various towns until I reach Ireland. Along the way I will be stopping in Italy, France, Germany, England, Scotland and Wales.

My traveling companions will be the complete works of Jane Austen and anyone I get to chat with via Skype. Not sure when I'll be online, but if you download Skype we can chat, voice and video call all for free. You'll find me at Skype name jkuntz27. Of course you can also leave comments on the blog--even without a blogger username.

Life has been tense and crazy with trying to pull everything together for the trip. Phone calls to companies, setting up finances, buying the last few items and trying to pack it all into my carry-on size roller bag and my shoulder bag. All in all, stressful. With assignment halfway completed (Region 8, synod __?__) and only a short time post moving back to PA, I've been thinking how it would just be easier to stay put. Certainly more comfortable and right now, comfortable would be delightful. Well, back to packing. Hopefully once I get there the adventure will set in again.

Back to Home Base

2009-07-25T14:01:00.000-07:00

Adrian, Stefan, Jackie and I ventured back to the boats this morning hoping to try out the leg rowing style in a traditional boat. The workers at the dock commandeered three women passing by to take us out in their boats. We ended up sitting in the boat while they rowed. It was a nice way to pass the time, but I really did want to try my leg at rowing. Perhaps the next time I canoe… Stefan tried rowing, but never mastered the standing part and headed back to shore. Adrian was able to stand and after a few imbalanced attempts at rowing, he promptly dove into the water cloudy and dark with dirt seen to have chicken feathers and food waste floating in it.

A few of us wandered through the market across the street from the hotel where we picked up some mangoes and then headed back to board the bus toward Heho for our flight back to Yangon. Truly I will miss the mountains.