After getting soaked in Stockholm yesterday I got on the train for Narvik, Norway at 1700. (Well, technically it was the train for Kiruna, Sweden, as the line for international trip reservations didn't open until 10 and I was there at 730and didn't want to wait). Was hoping to have some room to stretch out in after being completely drenched, but was put in a semi-cabin with six others. This was the first trip that I didn't get a window seat since a bus ride in Greece, which was disappointing.
Read for awhile, finishing up an amusing book I bought in Amsterdam at a friend's recommendation. Had bought another book that I planned on reading, but after I finished my book I noticed that the guy next to me was reading Douglas Adams. In German. But still, it was Douglas Adams. He spoke a little English, and we talked about Adams and Pratchett's work with his friend... they're both traveling north to visit one of Sweden's national parks. Around 2130 we started playing cards, and just played on and on until around 130. They taught me a game, I'd teach them one, etc.
Saw the sunlight at midnight - not the actual sun due to clouds, but it was still light enough to read by at 2400.
Woke up this morning to hear that the train tracks were washed out due to tons of rain, and we'll have to take a five hour bus ride instead. I wasn't looking forward to it, but it was a blessing in disguise - we got to slowly make our way through some of the most beatiful land on the planet. Started out in Lappland, moved to Nordland. Unfortunately my batteries in the camera were dead, so you'll just have to take my word for it. But the snow covered mountains, countless lakes and streams, waterfalls trickling down cliffsides, small, thin trees and bushes dotting the landscape as green as any tree I've seen... and then, as soon as we crossed into Norway (near the top of the mountains) little houses appeared everywhere, on every flat spot, small vacation homes for hikers and skiiers to get away from it all.
Now I have two or three days in Norvik, Norway, which is about 220 km inside the arctic circle. To give you an idea of how far north I am, look at Iceland - I've above that. Now look at mainland Canada - I'm slightly above the coastline of the mainland territories. Climate is wonderful here, though - feels like a warm fall day, due to the gulfstream.
Now I'm off to explore the city. There's a zoo nearby that features tame arctic wildlife that you can interact with... maybe they have a polar bear. Well, maybe not.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
well, had my first kinda major loss sometime in the last two days. while traveling from Amsterdam through Copenhagen to Malmo, Sweden, I seem to have completely lost my notebook. It's not a trip-threatening loss, but I have lost my maps, my phone cards, my spare ID pictures, my Eurail Insurance card, my USB key, and, most importantly, my notebook/journal and rail time table.
I'm not sure how or when I lost it - definitely had it at the hostel Sunday night - or if I'll ever get it back. It's strange, 'cause I'm so careful with what I have and this notebook isn't exactly something that I use often... I keep it securely in the laptop part of my backpack, and keep that locked.
Oh well. Should be able to get a timetable at a Eurail office, which might be in Stockholm (heading there tonight) and a notebook/pen/map I can get anywhere. It's just the panic from losing it that is hard to handle.
I'm not sure how or when I lost it - definitely had it at the hostel Sunday night - or if I'll ever get it back. It's strange, 'cause I'm so careful with what I have and this notebook isn't exactly something that I use often... I keep it securely in the laptop part of my backpack, and keep that locked.
Oh well. Should be able to get a timetable at a Eurail office, which might be in Stockholm (heading there tonight) and a notebook/pen/map I can get anywhere. It's just the panic from losing it that is hard to handle.
Monday, June 25, 2007
I like A'dam. Fun, relaxing city - lot of museums to go to. Yesterday I visited the zoo and the historical museum, and spent a fair bit of time in an English language bookshop. Had a tranditional Dutch dinner - Indonesian chicken. Dutch cooking is horrible enough that they have to import all of their specialties.
Today was the beautiful botanical gardens, the wonderfully creative and playful science museum (spent way too much time and had way too much fun here) and the dull and boring wait at the train station to reserve my ticket to Copenhagen. Now it's raining very very hard, and i'm very wet and wearing my rain jacket for the first time this trip.
Will never get used to how many bikes are in this city. They have seperate paths for them, but are always about to hit pedestrians. Lots to look out for when walking - trams, cars, other people, buses, bikes, etc.
Finding that I pick up way too many books in my travels - carrying around 5 or 6 books, most of them fairly thick (600 page paperbacks) that I didn't start with. They make my bag big and heavier, but I don't want to just lose them. Only thing I've lost so far was my alarm clock, which was stolen in Milan, and I had to replace it with a larger one.
Tonight is my first night train. I expect to take them every night for the next week while I travel through Norway and Sweden - so much space to cover, so much to see. I'll probably pick up another book or two on the way, but it'll be nice and relaxing. Looking forward to completely the quest for seeing the sun at midnight.
Today was the beautiful botanical gardens, the wonderfully creative and playful science museum (spent way too much time and had way too much fun here) and the dull and boring wait at the train station to reserve my ticket to Copenhagen. Now it's raining very very hard, and i'm very wet and wearing my rain jacket for the first time this trip.
Will never get used to how many bikes are in this city. They have seperate paths for them, but are always about to hit pedestrians. Lots to look out for when walking - trams, cars, other people, buses, bikes, etc.
Finding that I pick up way too many books in my travels - carrying around 5 or 6 books, most of them fairly thick (600 page paperbacks) that I didn't start with. They make my bag big and heavier, but I don't want to just lose them. Only thing I've lost so far was my alarm clock, which was stolen in Milan, and I had to replace it with a larger one.
Tonight is my first night train. I expect to take them every night for the next week while I travel through Norway and Sweden - so much space to cover, so much to see. I'll probably pick up another book or two on the way, but it'll be nice and relaxing. Looking forward to completely the quest for seeing the sun at midnight.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Kilkenny with John and Steve was nice. Arrived midday, had a good lunch - hadn't had fried chicken in a month. Kilkenny was a nice, old town... very small, very comfortable and relaxing. Walked to several cathedrals, all of which were over 700 years old. One of them we climbed up the round tower (very descriptive names here... 'Tall Cross', for example) and got a few of the entire town. Then we visited Kilkenny Castle, which was also good. Tour was a bit boring, but still fun. Rain made the day a little boring. All cooked pasta for dinner, then played more cards. Walked around to try and find a pub playing Irish music, but as John put it "it's easier to find Irish music in Boston than it is in Ireland". I was disappointed that I didn't hear any music outside of street performers, but I'll make do.
I'm now in Amsterdam, after a long day of travel.
11:05 bus from Kilkenny to Dublin, delayed, arrived at 2:15
2:17 bus to Dublin Airport, arrived around 3:00
5:20 flight to Amsterdam, delayed 30 minutes
With the time zone switch I arrived in A'dam at 8:30
train from airport to Amsterdam Centraal
tram from train station to hostel
got in around 10:00 tonight.
going to spend a few days here - visit the zoo, the NEMO science museum, the Van Gogh gallery, the city museum, etc.
I like the city so far, architectually it feels very much like home. Many of the streets would look normal in Albany, which is to be expected given it's dutch history. While all the other cities, even Dublin, have felt slightly foreign the other problem with A'dam has been my complete lack of knowledge of the Dutch language.
Copenhagen & Stockholm soon. Read about a really cool museum in Stockholm which focuses on the Nobel Peace prize, and has an exhibit about everyone who ever won, and what they did. I'm looking forward to it.
I'm now in Amsterdam, after a long day of travel.
11:05 bus from Kilkenny to Dublin, delayed, arrived at 2:15
2:17 bus to Dublin Airport, arrived around 3:00
5:20 flight to Amsterdam, delayed 30 minutes
With the time zone switch I arrived in A'dam at 8:30
train from airport to Amsterdam Centraal
tram from train station to hostel
got in around 10:00 tonight.
going to spend a few days here - visit the zoo, the NEMO science museum, the Van Gogh gallery, the city museum, etc.
I like the city so far, architectually it feels very much like home. Many of the streets would look normal in Albany, which is to be expected given it's dutch history. While all the other cities, even Dublin, have felt slightly foreign the other problem with A'dam has been my complete lack of knowledge of the Dutch language.
Copenhagen & Stockholm soon. Read about a really cool museum in Stockholm which focuses on the Nobel Peace prize, and has an exhibit about everyone who ever won, and what they did. I'm looking forward to it.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Dublinia
Been in Dublin three days now, and love the city. While the weather has been slightly depressing with constantly light rain, it's still been great to walk around and see the town. It is not a large tourist spot, with fairly few attractions, but most of the ones that are here are free to get into. Visited the Historical Museum, the Archeological Museum, the famous gaol whose name I forget (site of the execution of the leaders of the Easter Revolution) & the Natural History Museum over the last few days. The last one was a lot of fun, tons of stuffed animals and skeletons of most every animal imaginable. Strangely enough the catherdrals - St Patrick's & Christ Church - cost a fair bit to even get into, so we didn't go see them.
Spent a lot of time walking around O'Connelly Street, Grafton Street & Lord Edwards St. Due to the rain always picking up around 3 or 4 we've ended up playing a fair bit of card games, and watched a few movies either at the cinema or the hostel.
I don't think I'll ever get used to traffic on the wrong side of the road. It makes the streets slightly dangerous to cross, as I'm always looking the wrong way.
Music is good. Still haven't made it to a pub yet to hear some good traditional stuff, though. Were going to last night, but the one next to my hostel didn't have it like the advertised. Going to Kilkenny for tomorrow before coming back and flying to Amsterdam on Saturday - should be able to find some good music there.
Dublin's also expensive. Spent more here than I would like, but that's too be expected. In a few days I've going to start heading north (way up north...) so I can see the midnight sun. I should be hitting Kiruna (possibly farther), in Sweden, by the 26th or 27th after a 20 hour rail trip from Stockholm. After another few days of travel through Norway I'll begin my quick tour through Germany, with the possibility of a visit to poland and a concentration camp or two.
Spent a lot of time walking around O'Connelly Street, Grafton Street & Lord Edwards St. Due to the rain always picking up around 3 or 4 we've ended up playing a fair bit of card games, and watched a few movies either at the cinema or the hostel.
I don't think I'll ever get used to traffic on the wrong side of the road. It makes the streets slightly dangerous to cross, as I'm always looking the wrong way.
Music is good. Still haven't made it to a pub yet to hear some good traditional stuff, though. Were going to last night, but the one next to my hostel didn't have it like the advertised. Going to Kilkenny for tomorrow before coming back and flying to Amsterdam on Saturday - should be able to find some good music there.
Dublin's also expensive. Spent more here than I would like, but that's too be expected. In a few days I've going to start heading north (way up north...) so I can see the midnight sun. I should be hitting Kiruna (possibly farther), in Sweden, by the 26th or 27th after a 20 hour rail trip from Stockholm. After another few days of travel through Norway I'll begin my quick tour through Germany, with the possibility of a visit to poland and a concentration camp or two.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Appearences can be deceiving.
Yesterday, while in Melpensa Airport outside of Milan, I was sitting in terminal 1A01 and had just sat down after ordering some dinner. It was crowded, and a Muslim man and his wife asked if they could sit down. He was dressed in full religious garb, and she had a veil covering everything but her eyes - not exactly the most comfortable position ever.
The man asked what I was reading, and when I said it was a science fiction novel his eyes lighted up and asked if I had ever read Dune. I have - it's one of my favorites. We had both read all 10 books in the series at least once, and spent a good 15 minutes talking about it and other science fiction.
When he asked where I was from I said New York, and both he and his wife sincerely apologized for what happened on 9/11. Then, as the man was asked over to help three people solve a dispute - they only spoke Urdu, French and Italian each, and he spoke all three - his wife and I started talking about our travels.
Turns out the were in Europe because she is one of the leading doctors in Pakistan, and there was a EU medical conference in Barcalona she had been specially invited to attend. Her husband, a high ranking official in the Pakistani government, was merely tagging alone for the ride to sightsee.
The whole conversation left me rather stunned, and reminded me to never trust first impressions.
Safely in Dublin, although we were slightly delayed so I didn't get in until 01:00.
Yesterday, while in Melpensa Airport outside of Milan, I was sitting in terminal 1A01 and had just sat down after ordering some dinner. It was crowded, and a Muslim man and his wife asked if they could sit down. He was dressed in full religious garb, and she had a veil covering everything but her eyes - not exactly the most comfortable position ever.
The man asked what I was reading, and when I said it was a science fiction novel his eyes lighted up and asked if I had ever read Dune. I have - it's one of my favorites. We had both read all 10 books in the series at least once, and spent a good 15 minutes talking about it and other science fiction.
When he asked where I was from I said New York, and both he and his wife sincerely apologized for what happened on 9/11. Then, as the man was asked over to help three people solve a dispute - they only spoke Urdu, French and Italian each, and he spoke all three - his wife and I started talking about our travels.
Turns out the were in Europe because she is one of the leading doctors in Pakistan, and there was a EU medical conference in Barcalona she had been specially invited to attend. Her husband, a high ranking official in the Pakistani government, was merely tagging alone for the ride to sightsee.
The whole conversation left me rather stunned, and reminded me to never trust first impressions.
Safely in Dublin, although we were slightly delayed so I didn't get in until 01:00.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Milano
The space key onthis keyboard is broken, I'll likely have some problems with words sticking together.
Was in Venice the last two days, first one alone and the second with Liz Kays and her friends. First day I made the mistake of walking around at 2:30... hottest time of the day. spent a few hours walking around, then found my hotel back on the mainland in Mestre. Met Liz the next morning at breakfast, then we were going to go to church in St.Marks, but they wouldn't let me in with my bag. So, I waited around outside and practiced speed-shooting pictures with my camera. It's remarkably hard to take a zoomed picture of a pidgeon in midair, you have to find one that's flying, zoom in and track it at the same time. I got a few good ones.
Then had lunch at an old seafoodplace, had shrimp scampi and calamari. Quite good. Spent a few hours walking around the city talking and eating gelato together, saw a sting of street vendors. This time they were caught and the police got all of their stuff. Then I left, three hour train ride to Milan. Arrived around 21:30, got to my hostel about 22:30. Hostel is in a planned community, which is kinda cool. Designed for about 5000 inhabitants, it's meant to provide a relaxing, enviromentally sound place to live. Lots of green, but what fascinating me was that every street, besides a few main ones, was a dead end. The goal is to cut down on traffic, and encourage walkways for pedestrians. It worked... great place to be.
Played Munchkin Impossible with some Asian travelers, which proved very difficult as none of them spoke English, two only spoke Japanese and one spoke Korean. We had to use a sheet of paper to right everything down in numbers to do all the events. Great fun, though.
Monday wasthe wrongday to come to Milan - everything closes down, museum wise. Also, it's raining. Fortunately a really cool museum was still open - Museo d'Arte e Scienza. It showcased a lot of Da Vinci's creations and artwork, as well as different types of art from around the world. Wasn't big, unfortunately, but had a really cool focus on showing you how do determine true antiques from fakes. I got to play with fire when one hands-on activitiy let me use a blowtorch to heat a screwdriver tip to be red hot and poke it into two identical objects, one made of ivory and the other of plastic. The ivory just left a small black mark while the plastic gave way and let off a bad smell. They also talked about identifying originals of everything from paintings to books to rugs to watches to guns to glass. Never really seen much of this stuff before, and it was a lot of fun to learn about.
Love Milan. Great city - wide open streets, lots of green areas to walk, smart, polite, professional citizens. Milan is the business & economical capital of Italy, and it shows. The upscale shops are incredible, some display nothing in their windows and won't let you in unless you've been invited to shop there.
Now I'm in an internet cafe spending way more than usual per hour, which seems typical for everything in Milan. American radio is playing, and I need to figure out how to burn the 6 hours in a rainy city between now and my flight to Dublin. I should get another book,I think.
Can't wait to be in an English speaking country...
Was in Venice the last two days, first one alone and the second with Liz Kays and her friends. First day I made the mistake of walking around at 2:30... hottest time of the day. spent a few hours walking around, then found my hotel back on the mainland in Mestre. Met Liz the next morning at breakfast, then we were going to go to church in St.Marks, but they wouldn't let me in with my bag. So, I waited around outside and practiced speed-shooting pictures with my camera. It's remarkably hard to take a zoomed picture of a pidgeon in midair, you have to find one that's flying, zoom in and track it at the same time. I got a few good ones.
Then had lunch at an old seafoodplace, had shrimp scampi and calamari. Quite good. Spent a few hours walking around the city talking and eating gelato together, saw a sting of street vendors. This time they were caught and the police got all of their stuff. Then I left, three hour train ride to Milan. Arrived around 21:30, got to my hostel about 22:30. Hostel is in a planned community, which is kinda cool. Designed for about 5000 inhabitants, it's meant to provide a relaxing, enviromentally sound place to live. Lots of green, but what fascinating me was that every street, besides a few main ones, was a dead end. The goal is to cut down on traffic, and encourage walkways for pedestrians. It worked... great place to be.
Played Munchkin Impossible with some Asian travelers, which proved very difficult as none of them spoke English, two only spoke Japanese and one spoke Korean. We had to use a sheet of paper to right everything down in numbers to do all the events. Great fun, though.
Monday wasthe wrongday to come to Milan - everything closes down, museum wise. Also, it's raining. Fortunately a really cool museum was still open - Museo d'Arte e Scienza. It showcased a lot of Da Vinci's creations and artwork, as well as different types of art from around the world. Wasn't big, unfortunately, but had a really cool focus on showing you how do determine true antiques from fakes. I got to play with fire when one hands-on activitiy let me use a blowtorch to heat a screwdriver tip to be red hot and poke it into two identical objects, one made of ivory and the other of plastic. The ivory just left a small black mark while the plastic gave way and let off a bad smell. They also talked about identifying originals of everything from paintings to books to rugs to watches to guns to glass. Never really seen much of this stuff before, and it was a lot of fun to learn about.
Love Milan. Great city - wide open streets, lots of green areas to walk, smart, polite, professional citizens. Milan is the business & economical capital of Italy, and it shows. The upscale shops are incredible, some display nothing in their windows and won't let you in unless you've been invited to shop there.
Now I'm in an internet cafe spending way more than usual per hour, which seems typical for everything in Milan. American radio is playing, and I need to figure out how to burn the 6 hours in a rainy city between now and my flight to Dublin. I should get another book,I think.
Can't wait to be in an English speaking country...
Friday, June 15, 2007
off to venice
as wonderful as rimini has been, I have to leave it eventually. tomorrow morning i'll hop on the train to venice, where i'll spend saturday and sunday. i think i'll tour the island where they make glass saturday; sunday i'll be with elizabeth kays and her relatives. after than I head to milan, and then fly to dublin.
sorry for the total lack of proper english here, but italian keyboards are different from ours outside of the qwerty key setup, and i haven't gotten used to them yet.
rimini has been great. so relaxing. spent all my time doing nothing, either walking the beach, sitting reading or walking to the mall to see how they do things there. the italian equivalent of walmart was fun to see - their employees get about on rollerskates. also interesting was the store layout, which is designed like a maze to trap people in and make them walk past everything in order to get out. people in america don't stand for that, except in casinos.
as for how the city looks, think the italian version of Florida. foreignors haven't discovered the city yet, and it's wonderfully nice, beautiful, clean, modern, etc... mostly everything rome and naples weren't. while i loved rome, it was dirty, crowded, busy, and stressful. i could definitely come back here anytime, preferably with a group of people to enjoy it with. amazing vacation spot.
rimini has also been cheap, although the heat has caused a drastic increase in gelato consumption which cuts into saves. also spent way more than i planned on for my night in venice tomorrow, as every single room in the city under 80 euros is taken. so much for spending two nights there... cities in italy are too close together to sleep through the night and its cities are far too dangerous to sleep anywhere else, so i got a decent room at a nice hotel. i won't mind a real shower bed...
will probably update again in dublin, when i'll have some more pictures and videos up, i hope
sorry for the total lack of proper english here, but italian keyboards are different from ours outside of the qwerty key setup, and i haven't gotten used to them yet.
rimini has been great. so relaxing. spent all my time doing nothing, either walking the beach, sitting reading or walking to the mall to see how they do things there. the italian equivalent of walmart was fun to see - their employees get about on rollerskates. also interesting was the store layout, which is designed like a maze to trap people in and make them walk past everything in order to get out. people in america don't stand for that, except in casinos.
as for how the city looks, think the italian version of Florida. foreignors haven't discovered the city yet, and it's wonderfully nice, beautiful, clean, modern, etc... mostly everything rome and naples weren't. while i loved rome, it was dirty, crowded, busy, and stressful. i could definitely come back here anytime, preferably with a group of people to enjoy it with. amazing vacation spot.
rimini has also been cheap, although the heat has caused a drastic increase in gelato consumption which cuts into saves. also spent way more than i planned on for my night in venice tomorrow, as every single room in the city under 80 euros is taken. so much for spending two nights there... cities in italy are too close together to sleep through the night and its cities are far too dangerous to sleep anywhere else, so i got a decent room at a nice hotel. i won't mind a real shower bed...
will probably update again in dublin, when i'll have some more pictures and videos up, i hope
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
got tired of history and crowds and catholic artifacts... so i decided to leave rome. i visited pisa and firenze just to see their most famous sites (Piazza Duomo & David, respectively). then i got on a train and headed out to the beach town of Rimini, on the adriatic sea. not many americans know of the place, but picture what florida or los vegas is to us and it's that to italians - their hot vacation spot.
best part is is that it's cheaper than rome, it's not that crowded now and my hostel is less than 200m from the beach. i think i'll stay until saturday afternoon, when i'll head to venice.
best part is is that it's cheaper than rome, it's not that crowded now and my hostel is less than 200m from the beach. i think i'll stay until saturday afternoon, when i'll head to venice.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Italia
I've been in Italy for three days now - a wonderful country. From Patra I had a 16 hour ferry ride, which I slept for most of. I arrived in Bari and took the train to Naples, where I stayed the night and all the next day. Visited Pompei, and then took the train to Rome where I slept last night. Toured the city today, and will likely stay until late afternoon Wednesday - try to hit Firenze (Florence) in time to find a hostel.
Impressions:
at first the landscape looks pretty boring... between Bari and the stop in Taranto the landscape was very flat, and although pretty it was dull to look at. The train was down past Taranto so we all got on a bus for Naples. There were about 12 of us who took the same trip from Athens to Naples, so we had some fun with that. Still, 31 travel hours wasn't fun. Forunately on the bus ride the terrain got more interesting, with mountains everywhere. The Italians and the Greeks take opposite approaches - Greeks love to build in valleys, while the Italians appear to love building hours in the most inaccessable spots imaginable. I've seen houses build into cliff walls that I wouldn't want to climb, much less live at. Entire villages are found on the tops of large hills. They also delight in their bridges and tunnels - all are named, with their length and important information prominently displayed.
Naples I didn't like too much - it would be a great spot to get away from everything, but there isn't much in the way of sightseeing. A pretty, romantic town, it was also nosiy, crowded and running down in places. Still, I saw a horse show, walked along the coastal plaza and spent 5 hours trying to find my hostel - that place was impossible to find. It's also a dangerous city, as pickpockets are everywhere. Even the dogs are always stealing from each other...
Next day I walked back to the train station, and went to Pompei. No idea the ruins would be so big, and I enjoyed it. Saddest part was definitely the people buried alive - some rolling in agony, others curled up crying. Tried to get lunch in the city center, but everything was closed down due to the Genoa-Naples football match. Fortunately I stopped to watch the game at one of the local places, and the owner said he'd call his wife over to cook for me. Naples won - everyone was in a very, very good mood. Watching the game with the crowd was the most intense I've seen sports fans, and from me that's something.
Rome has been good so far. Amazing how much there is to see... I've hit the main sites outside of the Vatican, which I'll go to tomorrow, and the university museums, which I'll do Wednesday. Most interesting so far was the Time Elevator, a new place that takes you on an hour tour of the history of the city. You sit in motion similators, have a curved screen in front of you and sit back and enjoy the ride. Very immersive, to the point that you fly over an ancient sailing ship in a storm and the sprinklers turn on and fans start blowing really hard. Great time, and fairly cheap, too. Definitely go if you have time. I expected it to be a little childish, but it wasn't at all. Almost scary at times, such as the wolves with Romus and Remus or the death of Caeser.
on a fun note, in the ancient temple of Vestius a group has established a cat sanctuary where they take stray cats and give them food. It's in a small piazza, and there must have been at least 50 cats lying around sleeping, playing and looking up expectantly at people for food. completely unexpected, but a lot of fun.
now it's quite hot, and I decided to break from walking to type this all up. supposed to be hot for several more hours and break in the evening, so i might go see Ocean's 13 at the cinema in Republica Square.
will update again, probably in florence.
mom - i've emailed you a few times, but it says your address no longer exists at that name. the $500 is fine.
Impressions:
at first the landscape looks pretty boring... between Bari and the stop in Taranto the landscape was very flat, and although pretty it was dull to look at. The train was down past Taranto so we all got on a bus for Naples. There were about 12 of us who took the same trip from Athens to Naples, so we had some fun with that. Still, 31 travel hours wasn't fun. Forunately on the bus ride the terrain got more interesting, with mountains everywhere. The Italians and the Greeks take opposite approaches - Greeks love to build in valleys, while the Italians appear to love building hours in the most inaccessable spots imaginable. I've seen houses build into cliff walls that I wouldn't want to climb, much less live at. Entire villages are found on the tops of large hills. They also delight in their bridges and tunnels - all are named, with their length and important information prominently displayed.
Naples I didn't like too much - it would be a great spot to get away from everything, but there isn't much in the way of sightseeing. A pretty, romantic town, it was also nosiy, crowded and running down in places. Still, I saw a horse show, walked along the coastal plaza and spent 5 hours trying to find my hostel - that place was impossible to find. It's also a dangerous city, as pickpockets are everywhere. Even the dogs are always stealing from each other...
Next day I walked back to the train station, and went to Pompei. No idea the ruins would be so big, and I enjoyed it. Saddest part was definitely the people buried alive - some rolling in agony, others curled up crying. Tried to get lunch in the city center, but everything was closed down due to the Genoa-Naples football match. Fortunately I stopped to watch the game at one of the local places, and the owner said he'd call his wife over to cook for me. Naples won - everyone was in a very, very good mood. Watching the game with the crowd was the most intense I've seen sports fans, and from me that's something.
Rome has been good so far. Amazing how much there is to see... I've hit the main sites outside of the Vatican, which I'll go to tomorrow, and the university museums, which I'll do Wednesday. Most interesting so far was the Time Elevator, a new place that takes you on an hour tour of the history of the city. You sit in motion similators, have a curved screen in front of you and sit back and enjoy the ride. Very immersive, to the point that you fly over an ancient sailing ship in a storm and the sprinklers turn on and fans start blowing really hard. Great time, and fairly cheap, too. Definitely go if you have time. I expected it to be a little childish, but it wasn't at all. Almost scary at times, such as the wolves with Romus and Remus or the death of Caeser.
on a fun note, in the ancient temple of Vestius a group has established a cat sanctuary where they take stray cats and give them food. It's in a small piazza, and there must have been at least 50 cats lying around sleeping, playing and looking up expectantly at people for food. completely unexpected, but a lot of fun.
now it's quite hot, and I decided to break from walking to type this all up. supposed to be hot for several more hours and break in the evening, so i might go see Ocean's 13 at the cinema in Republica Square.
will update again, probably in florence.
mom - i've emailed you a few times, but it says your address no longer exists at that name. the $500 is fine.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Patra, Greece
Well, I'm now on my own. Siena left this morning at 8:00, leaving me behind to do whatever I felt like doing. I checked out of the hotel, got on the metro to the train station and got on a train for the first time in many years - but certainly not the last time. After an hour ride from Athens to Korinthos (Corinth) I switched trains to arrive here in Patra (Patras) two hours later. I have a 17 hour ferry ride from here to Italy, and by this time tomorrow will likely be on another train on my way to Naples. While there I'll visit the famous Amalfi coast, the ruins of ancient Pompeii and possible take an afternoon trip over to Capri.
The past few days have been fairly slow paced for me. As I had little shopping to do and with only one group trip planned I relaxed and rested up mentally and phyiscally for the trip ahead.
It's kind of a shame that now that I'm quite comfortable with Greek culture I'm up and leaving for a completely new country. I've found myself adapting to Greek customs more and more lately - rather that nodding my head for yes, I've caught myself doing the half-slanted head bow customary here. I've picked up enough greek to order a meal without using English, which the owner at the local cafe noticed and complimented me on. I can simply order souvlaki, rather than pointing and hoping he understands - he gave me a euro off in celebration.
The train ride out showed me again how pretty the countryside here is. You may not know it, but Greece is the most mountainous country in Europe, with over 75% of the surface covered with them. I'm not surprised - there was never a time when I couldn't see a mountain. Sometimes the train tracks took me along the very edge of the mountain, right next to the sea, and on the other side I could see more mountains. Where there are no mountains everything is in use. Villages are everywhere, as are their four major produce plants - olive trees, pistachio trees, grape vines and little sour oranges that they use to throw at politicans (or so I've been told).
Only eight weeks left in Europe...
The past few days have been fairly slow paced for me. As I had little shopping to do and with only one group trip planned I relaxed and rested up mentally and phyiscally for the trip ahead.
It's kind of a shame that now that I'm quite comfortable with Greek culture I'm up and leaving for a completely new country. I've found myself adapting to Greek customs more and more lately - rather that nodding my head for yes, I've caught myself doing the half-slanted head bow customary here. I've picked up enough greek to order a meal without using English, which the owner at the local cafe noticed and complimented me on. I can simply order souvlaki, rather than pointing and hoping he understands - he gave me a euro off in celebration.
The train ride out showed me again how pretty the countryside here is. You may not know it, but Greece is the most mountainous country in Europe, with over 75% of the surface covered with them. I'm not surprised - there was never a time when I couldn't see a mountain. Sometimes the train tracks took me along the very edge of the mountain, right next to the sea, and on the other side I could see more mountains. Where there are no mountains everything is in use. Villages are everywhere, as are their four major produce plants - olive trees, pistachio trees, grape vines and little sour oranges that they use to throw at politicans (or so I've been told).
Only eight weeks left in Europe...
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
More Pictures!
Yesterday it rained in Heraklion, which is rare enough - supposedly it was the first June rain in decades. Even rarer, though, was that the city was covered with a dusting of sand from the Sahara desert, brought north over the sea by windstorms and caught in the rainfall. Every surface has a coating of sand that looked similar to pollen, and I can still it on the streets.
Today we visit a winery owned by Yanni, and then get back on the overnight ferry to Athens. In two days I'll be on my own.
The jail Socrates was held in before his execution:
Sunset from the highest point in the city:
Famous Venetian fort wall, watching over the harbor and guarding a harbor wall well over a kilometer long (don't know exactly) - took over an hour to walk both ways:
Heraklion, by the old Venetian City Wall:
The ancient Minoan palace of Knossos, one of the largest, oldest buildings in the world
The 2004 Olympic grounds:
Lunch in Monastiraki, downtown Athens:
Another country village on the way to Delphi:
Today we visit a winery owned by Yanni, and then get back on the overnight ferry to Athens. In two days I'll be on my own.
The jail Socrates was held in before his execution:
Sunset from the highest point in the city:
Famous Venetian fort wall, watching over the harbor and guarding a harbor wall well over a kilometer long (don't know exactly) - took over an hour to walk both ways:
Heraklion, by the old Venetian City Wall:
The ancient Minoan palace of Knossos, one of the largest, oldest buildings in the world
The 2004 Olympic grounds:
Lunch in Monastiraki, downtown Athens:
Another country village on the way to Delphi:
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
/edit - added some pictures
I've been in Heraklion the past few days, capital of the island of Crete. Crete is part of Greece - it contains four states of the 52 that make up the country. The states are much smaller that our states... as Greece itself is about the size of Albama, each Greecian state is more comparable to a county of ours.
Heraklion is a nice city, although nothing special compared to Athens. It's very green, with lots of trees along the major roads and town squares. It's impossible to walk down the streets without running into low-lying bushes or trees, unless you're in the true downtown district. The other interesting part of the city is the Venetian Wall that surrounds the old town - 4 km in each side forms a triangle around the old town. I spent yesterday morning walking this, and also walked out along the sea wall that protects the harbor. After getting back to the hotel I slept for the afternoon, then we had dinner and a discussion with Yanni, the owner of the hotel and one of the hottest stars in the Greek business & political world. At only 32 he's already on the Heraklion state congress, and is running for national congress and will almost surely win next year. Highly successful, if he wants to he could be president of Greece within 20 years. Talking to him about the hotel industry and the Greek business world was great.
Today has been a slow day, as I haven't felt like doing too much. I walked down to the city center for lunch - Cretan food is a strange mix of Greek and Italian food, due to tastes left over from the Venetian occupation. I had a Cretan Lasanga-like dish, which didn't taste nearly as good as the picture looked. Still looking for a true American hamburger... Yanni says that the one at his hotel is good, as his wife, who is American, wanted at least one true hamburger to have. Might have one tonight.
Here's the first half of the pictures I plan on uploading... couldn't get the others online before the laptop's battery died. I'll put the others up soon.
Downtown Athens, you can see the mixture of the old and new in the crowded city:
The rock where Peter preached to the Athenians, talking about their statue to the unknown God:
City guard in front of the parliment building:
Greek country village, on the road to Delphi
The view from Delphi:
View of Athens from the Monestary of St George, highest point in the city
Night view of the Acropolis & Parthenon from the rooftop of our hotel
Cats and dogs are everywhere in athens:
Heraklion city street:
I've been in Heraklion the past few days, capital of the island of Crete. Crete is part of Greece - it contains four states of the 52 that make up the country. The states are much smaller that our states... as Greece itself is about the size of Albama, each Greecian state is more comparable to a county of ours.
Heraklion is a nice city, although nothing special compared to Athens. It's very green, with lots of trees along the major roads and town squares. It's impossible to walk down the streets without running into low-lying bushes or trees, unless you're in the true downtown district. The other interesting part of the city is the Venetian Wall that surrounds the old town - 4 km in each side forms a triangle around the old town. I spent yesterday morning walking this, and also walked out along the sea wall that protects the harbor. After getting back to the hotel I slept for the afternoon, then we had dinner and a discussion with Yanni, the owner of the hotel and one of the hottest stars in the Greek business & political world. At only 32 he's already on the Heraklion state congress, and is running for national congress and will almost surely win next year. Highly successful, if he wants to he could be president of Greece within 20 years. Talking to him about the hotel industry and the Greek business world was great.
Today has been a slow day, as I haven't felt like doing too much. I walked down to the city center for lunch - Cretan food is a strange mix of Greek and Italian food, due to tastes left over from the Venetian occupation. I had a Cretan Lasanga-like dish, which didn't taste nearly as good as the picture looked. Still looking for a true American hamburger... Yanni says that the one at his hotel is good, as his wife, who is American, wanted at least one true hamburger to have. Might have one tonight.
Here's the first half of the pictures I plan on uploading... couldn't get the others online before the laptop's battery died. I'll put the others up soon.
Downtown Athens, you can see the mixture of the old and new in the crowded city:
The rock where Peter preached to the Athenians, talking about their statue to the unknown God:
City guard in front of the parliment building:
Greek country village, on the road to Delphi
The view from Delphi:
View of Athens from the Monestary of St George, highest point in the city
Night view of the Acropolis & Parthenon from the rooftop of our hotel
Cats and dogs are everywhere in athens:
Heraklion city street:
Friday, June 1, 2007
Went to the most beautiful beach I've ever seen today - an inlet off of the Agean sea. I forget the name, but it's where the Greeks sailed from in the Trojan war.
Tomorrow we visit Mycence, Epicarus and leave for Crete for five days. Not sure if I'll be able to update much between now and when we come back, but at least you'll know where I am.
Tomorrow we visit Mycence, Epicarus and leave for Crete for five days. Not sure if I'll be able to update much between now and when we come back, but at least you'll know where I am.
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