Everyone reading this should congratulate us. We survived Italy. This was no small feat. You have no idea how many times I almost pushed Paul into the train tracks while waiting for the eight million trains that were super super late. Also, the room next to ours in Venice was robbed, and I got robbed in Pisa. Luckily, I intimidated the thieves into giving me back my wallet. You would have been impressed. So, another country is done, and the only robbery remains that of the sexist bathroom in Koln. (I had to pay 1.10, and if Paul had had to go, he would have only paid .90. Bullshit. I wanted to pee standing up.)
I think we don't update as much as we should because we want to write posts that will entertain and inform you. I don't have time for that right now, so in an attempt to appease our parents, this post will serve to let you know that we are still alive. And in France. But not in Avignon, as our itinerary might have suggested.
We decided to spend an extra night in the Cinque Terre. As we were sitting in the glorious sun, looking out at the glorious Mediterranean, drinking glorious coffee, we realized that we didn't have to go anywhere, and we didn't really want to. So we continued to sit for three days. It was incredible, and although I hate to use Rick Steves' stupid language... it was a great vacation from our vacation.
We tried to leave Riomaggiore this morning at 10:09, but Italy wouldn't let us. Finally, our train arrived, and two more trains later, we ended up in Marseilles. After dragging ourselves away from our sea-view terrace the other day, we tried to find a place to stay in Avignon. Turns out, there wasn't a place. The cheap hotels were closed for the season, and the hostels were hardly cheap and hardly convenient. So, we arbitrarily (in the five minutes before the internet cafe closed) decided to go to Marseilles. The hostel here only had beds for one night, so we're leaving tomorrow. We didn't get in until 9, and we're leaving early tomorrow afternoon, so I doubt I'll have much to say about the Provencal region... it'll have to be another trip later... during summer.
Tomorrow, we're off to Barcelona for three nights. Don't worry, we booked a cheap hostel, so now, Spain can only rip us off with their mandatory train reservations. After that, it's Madrid for four nights. Unfortunately, we'll be doing the 4.5 hour train ride on Thanksgiving, but hey, at least we'll be commemorating the Pilgrims' long journey...? Also, fyi, Paul made an astute observation today... the Religious Right's ancestors are the Pilgrims. Maybe we should stop teaching kids to revere them.
Only one minute of internet left... we're safe, we're finally done with Italy, we don't hate each other, and we're still having tons of fun!
23 November 2008
14 November 2008
Austria: Under 40 Need Not Apply
note: I wrote this in my journal on the train between Salzburg and Munich, 10 Nov. We're actually in Florence now, but I'm just having a chance to post.
We're just leaving Austria, after two nights in Vienna and two nights in Salzburg. The country definitely had its highlights, but I think 50 years of forced neutrality have affected the national character a bit. Around 1950 or so the occupying American and Soviet forces agreed to withdraw from Austria and let them do their own thing, on the condition that they could never join NATO or the Warsaw pact. Consequently, Austria has been left out of the last half-century of world history, and it's starting to show. Vienna was very elegant, by far the classiest place we've been so far, including London, but even the young people there seemed very stuffy and proper, and it seemed like everybody went to sleep by 10 p.m. Even their most venerated former ruler, Emperor Franz Joseph I, is remembered for his steadfastness, competence, and unwavering work ethic. When we visited the royal apartments at the Hofburg (the Hapsburgs' imperial palace), we were regaled with stories about how the Kaiser woke up every morning at 5 a.m., unless he had been out late at a state function the previous night, in which case he allowed himself to sleep until 6.
Of course, the architecture in Vienna was great and the coffee was excellent. So was the ballet, which we got to see at the beautiful Staatsoper (state opera house) for only 3 Euros. And I don't really even like ballet that much. On the whole, though, I think vienna was just too classy for me. It's really the only big city we've been to so far that I don't think I could live in. I just don't have enough nice clothes and I have a hard time going to sleep before it gets dark out.
Salzburg was different, but not much more energetic. It's basically a small city with two major claims to fame (Mozart and The Sound of Music), that it milks for all they're worth. We paid basically zero attention to either and we used the city mostly for resting and doing laundry. The area was really scenic and we had a great bike ride along the river, but there didn't seem to be much to do there after 8:00 either, so we used the evening to get acquainted with the local beer, called Stiegel. It was quite good, especially the wheat beer, interestingly, served with no citrus wedge.
One last non sequiter about Austria: The thing I think I found hardest to believe about it was that it's the birthplace of Red Bull. It's tough to imagine what Austrians need it for.
We're just leaving Austria, after two nights in Vienna and two nights in Salzburg. The country definitely had its highlights, but I think 50 years of forced neutrality have affected the national character a bit. Around 1950 or so the occupying American and Soviet forces agreed to withdraw from Austria and let them do their own thing, on the condition that they could never join NATO or the Warsaw pact. Consequently, Austria has been left out of the last half-century of world history, and it's starting to show. Vienna was very elegant, by far the classiest place we've been so far, including London, but even the young people there seemed very stuffy and proper, and it seemed like everybody went to sleep by 10 p.m. Even their most venerated former ruler, Emperor Franz Joseph I, is remembered for his steadfastness, competence, and unwavering work ethic. When we visited the royal apartments at the Hofburg (the Hapsburgs' imperial palace), we were regaled with stories about how the Kaiser woke up every morning at 5 a.m., unless he had been out late at a state function the previous night, in which case he allowed himself to sleep until 6.
Of course, the architecture in Vienna was great and the coffee was excellent. So was the ballet, which we got to see at the beautiful Staatsoper (state opera house) for only 3 Euros. And I don't really even like ballet that much. On the whole, though, I think vienna was just too classy for me. It's really the only big city we've been to so far that I don't think I could live in. I just don't have enough nice clothes and I have a hard time going to sleep before it gets dark out.
Salzburg was different, but not much more energetic. It's basically a small city with two major claims to fame (Mozart and The Sound of Music), that it milks for all they're worth. We paid basically zero attention to either and we used the city mostly for resting and doing laundry. The area was really scenic and we had a great bike ride along the river, but there didn't seem to be much to do there after 8:00 either, so we used the evening to get acquainted with the local beer, called Stiegel. It was quite good, especially the wheat beer, interestingly, served with no citrus wedge.
One last non sequiter about Austria: The thing I think I found hardest to believe about it was that it's the birthplace of Red Bull. It's tough to imagine what Austrians need it for.
06 November 2008
I apologize on behalf of Paul
This is a gender-neutral blog.
He is in search of the working person's beverage/drink/beer.
Love from Austria!
He is in search of the working person's beverage/drink/beer.
Love from Austria!
Beer in Eastern Europe
Greetings from Budapest, Hungary!
During the last 6 days we've been in Prague and Budapest and we've been drinking a lot of beer. There are a couple of reasons for that. 1. We both started to get really tired of awkwardly asking waiters for tap water at restaurants. 2. It's dirt cheap (especially in Prague, 30 czk, which is about $1.50, wasn't uncommon for 0.5 L, and that's in restaurants). 3. I really like beer. Especially Czech beer.
Apparently the Czechs love it too, because just about every other business on any given street had a Pilsner Urquell sign out in front of it. It got to the point where I was using them to spot restaurants when we were looking for places to eat. I think pretty soon they're going to change the name of the city to 'Prague brought to you by Pilsner Urquell.' I already knew that Pilsner Urquell was good, and of course its twice as good within 50 miles of the brewery, but it was just the best known of many great pilsners that are distinctive to the Czech republic. The best one was actually called Staropramen. Karen and I actually discovered this beer at a pizzaria in Prague recommended by Zach, Sarge, and Avi (also Lonely Planet). It renewed my faith in the potential for greatness in beer. It was the most crisp, refreshing, easy to drink malted beverage to ever pass my lips. I could have done nothing but drink it and eat roasted pork with dumplings all day. And it was less than $2 per half liter.
Even if you have the best beer in the world available to you at those kind of prices, any place where people like beer is bound to have a cheap alternative, and in my quest to explore the drink of the working man throughout the continent, I discovered Gambrinus in Prague as well. In some restaurants priced thiis around $1.25/0.5 liter. And it was no keystone.
Beer in Hungary has been good too, although not so dirt cheap. The cheap beer I tried was Soproni, which I drank throughout the election, and enjoyed thoroughly.
Anyway, we're heading out to explore the wonderful world of socialist realism, so thats enough about beer for this early in the morning.
During the last 6 days we've been in Prague and Budapest and we've been drinking a lot of beer. There are a couple of reasons for that. 1. We both started to get really tired of awkwardly asking waiters for tap water at restaurants. 2. It's dirt cheap (especially in Prague, 30 czk, which is about $1.50, wasn't uncommon for 0.5 L, and that's in restaurants). 3. I really like beer. Especially Czech beer.
Apparently the Czechs love it too, because just about every other business on any given street had a Pilsner Urquell sign out in front of it. It got to the point where I was using them to spot restaurants when we were looking for places to eat. I think pretty soon they're going to change the name of the city to 'Prague brought to you by Pilsner Urquell.' I already knew that Pilsner Urquell was good, and of course its twice as good within 50 miles of the brewery, but it was just the best known of many great pilsners that are distinctive to the Czech republic. The best one was actually called Staropramen. Karen and I actually discovered this beer at a pizzaria in Prague recommended by Zach, Sarge, and Avi (also Lonely Planet). It renewed my faith in the potential for greatness in beer. It was the most crisp, refreshing, easy to drink malted beverage to ever pass my lips. I could have done nothing but drink it and eat roasted pork with dumplings all day. And it was less than $2 per half liter.
Even if you have the best beer in the world available to you at those kind of prices, any place where people like beer is bound to have a cheap alternative, and in my quest to explore the drink of the working man throughout the continent, I discovered Gambrinus in Prague as well. In some restaurants priced thiis around $1.25/0.5 liter. And it was no keystone.
Beer in Hungary has been good too, although not so dirt cheap. The cheap beer I tried was Soproni, which I drank throughout the election, and enjoyed thoroughly.
Anyway, we're heading out to explore the wonderful world of socialist realism, so thats enough about beer for this early in the morning.
04 November 2008
My first Europost....
It's just after 8 pm in Budapest, and we're anxiously awaiting American election results. It's really weird to not be in the US during the election. I'm sure that if I were home, I would just be complaining about all of the media hype, but from over here, I feel so disconnected. Don't worry, I voted before I left. Now, I'm just anxious! I think I might be more curious about the demographics of who votes than about who actually wins...
The hostel we're staying at here is pretty small and definitely close-knit. There's an election party planned for tonight, so I expect that we'll stay up most of the night watching the results and drinking Staropramen (my favorite Czech beer -- we found it here too!). There are a lot of Americans staying here, and everyone seems pretty pumped to see who will win. Since there are (obviously) a fair number of non-Americans here, it should be a pretty international and definitely conversational election night. I'll let you know how it goes.
Also... I've decided to do semi-chronological thoughts on the trip thus far. They'll come soon; don't worry Tim. The internet in Budapest is free, and we've decided to have a relaxing few days -- our sight-seeing lately has been pretty intense.
Happy election!
PS -- I am obviously wearing my Hillary shirt today.
The hostel we're staying at here is pretty small and definitely close-knit. There's an election party planned for tonight, so I expect that we'll stay up most of the night watching the results and drinking Staropramen (my favorite Czech beer -- we found it here too!). There are a lot of Americans staying here, and everyone seems pretty pumped to see who will win. Since there are (obviously) a fair number of non-Americans here, it should be a pretty international and definitely conversational election night. I'll let you know how it goes.
Also... I've decided to do semi-chronological thoughts on the trip thus far. They'll come soon; don't worry Tim. The internet in Budapest is free, and we've decided to have a relaxing few days -- our sight-seeing lately has been pretty intense.
Happy election!
PS -- I am obviously wearing my Hillary shirt today.
01 November 2008
First Post -- 17 Days In...
So, I really will be posting on this blog. It's taken both of us quite a while to settle into our travelling lifestyle, so I finally have time an energy to write something. I'm standing up at a hostel iternet terminal, but it's free so I'll give you what I can.
We're in Prague now. So far we've spent 3 nights in London, 1 night in Cambridge (thanks Laura!), 1 night in Basel, 3 nights in Gimmelwald, Switzerland, 1 night in Interlaken, Switzerland, 2 nights in St. Goar, Germany, 3 nights in Berlin, and 1 night here in the Czech capital. I want to write about everything we've seen so far, but I have a feeling I might not be able to, and if I start back at the beginning I'll probably never catch up, so I'm going to start with my thoughts on Berlin and if I have extra time I'll try to go back to earlier. Sorry if that puts your reading out of order...
Anyway, there were two things that really impressed me about Berlin: how youthful and energetic the whole city seems, and how good a job Germany seems to be doing of coming clean about World War II and getting over it. Our first day in Berlin we started the day (around 11) by taking a free walking tour of the city, which was a lot better than I expected a free tour to be. It was really striking to see how many of the buildings in the city weren't even there 20 years ago. We walked along a lot of the former course of the Wall and almost all of it has been completely reintegrated into the city. They had marked the path of the wall with a line of bricks laid in the ground, sort of like the freedom trail, except much more recent and cooler. I thought it was a really good way to remind people of the fact that just 20 years ago you couldn't even walk from one side of the street to the other. That afternoon we visited the museum of German history, which was a staggeringly information-filled exhibit covering over 2000 years of the history of the German people.This was one of the places Karen and I were both struck by how well they treated the nation's own role in WWII. It was very straightforward and honest about the holocaust and the actions of the Third Reich and seemed to be making a sincere effort to come clean about the mistakes Germany has made in the past.
The next day we want to the frequently-termed-"controversial" Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. There was apparently a big fight in the German parliament about whether to build a memorial to just Jews. I don't feel qualified to comment on that controversy, but I thought the memorial itself was a little weird. It's like a whole city block filled with around 1000 regularly spaced rectangular pillars of varying heights. It was really cool to experience walking through it, but people kept saying that the architect intentionally avoided any symbolism in designing it and that bothered me a little bit. First, because I think it's kind of dumb to intentionally try to avoid symbolism, and second, because I think it's probably impossible to really do. Anyway, the memorial was a little strange, but the information center was really intense and moving. That night we went to the Jewish museum, which I thought was really a much cooler design. Also really informative and moving.
Our last morning we went to an outdoor exhibit called 'Topographies of Terror,' mostly about the Nazi secret police, which was really wordy, but well-done. Interestingly, the exhibit is only outside until they can find enough funding to build a museum for it, but it was along a preserved stretch of the Wall in the remains of a foundation of an old building belonging to the some Nazi secret police organization, which I really thought was cooler than inside. Then we went to check out what's called the East Side Gallery. It's a long preserved stretch of the Wall that's also the worlds longest outdoor art gallery. It's basically a lot of graffiti work on a mile-long stretch of the wall that I thought was really cool. Berlin seems to have a pretty strong relationship with street art, as I saw more tags all over the city than I have in any other urban setting. The gallery was really cool, unfortunately, Karen realized that it was 2:30 and it took about 5 hours to get to Prague on the train, so, since we didn't know what time the last train left, we had better get going. We made the last train at 4:45 with lots of time to spare, but I probably would have gotten myself stuck in Berlin if she hadn't realized that. Hopefully they don't tear down that part of the wall before I get a chance to get back and look at it in more detail.
Also, sometime while we were in Berlin we discovered what may be the best fast food ever. A 'Doner Kebab' is apparently small slices of meat cut off of a giant, slow-cooking roast, then put into a pita with tomatoes and cucumbers and yogurt or hot sauce and eaten like a sandwich. For some reason it's incredibly delicious. If anyone is looking for a new business venture in the US, you should open up a doner kebab stand. You'll be rich overnight.
The cheap, standard beer for most of Germany is Becks. It tastes somewhat better there than it does in the States. They also had Becks Gold and Becks Green Lemon (which I think means lime) that I was afraid to try. I'm going to try to keep up with the cheap beer status in each country we visit, so stay tuned if you're interested.
That's all for now. Probably more on Prague soon, hopefully more on England through the Rhineland if I get a chance.
Happy Halloween!
We're in Prague now. So far we've spent 3 nights in London, 1 night in Cambridge (thanks Laura!), 1 night in Basel, 3 nights in Gimmelwald, Switzerland, 1 night in Interlaken, Switzerland, 2 nights in St. Goar, Germany, 3 nights in Berlin, and 1 night here in the Czech capital. I want to write about everything we've seen so far, but I have a feeling I might not be able to, and if I start back at the beginning I'll probably never catch up, so I'm going to start with my thoughts on Berlin and if I have extra time I'll try to go back to earlier. Sorry if that puts your reading out of order...
Anyway, there were two things that really impressed me about Berlin: how youthful and energetic the whole city seems, and how good a job Germany seems to be doing of coming clean about World War II and getting over it. Our first day in Berlin we started the day (around 11) by taking a free walking tour of the city, which was a lot better than I expected a free tour to be. It was really striking to see how many of the buildings in the city weren't even there 20 years ago. We walked along a lot of the former course of the Wall and almost all of it has been completely reintegrated into the city. They had marked the path of the wall with a line of bricks laid in the ground, sort of like the freedom trail, except much more recent and cooler. I thought it was a really good way to remind people of the fact that just 20 years ago you couldn't even walk from one side of the street to the other. That afternoon we visited the museum of German history, which was a staggeringly information-filled exhibit covering over 2000 years of the history of the German people.This was one of the places Karen and I were both struck by how well they treated the nation's own role in WWII. It was very straightforward and honest about the holocaust and the actions of the Third Reich and seemed to be making a sincere effort to come clean about the mistakes Germany has made in the past.
The next day we want to the frequently-termed-"controversial" Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. There was apparently a big fight in the German parliament about whether to build a memorial to just Jews. I don't feel qualified to comment on that controversy, but I thought the memorial itself was a little weird. It's like a whole city block filled with around 1000 regularly spaced rectangular pillars of varying heights. It was really cool to experience walking through it, but people kept saying that the architect intentionally avoided any symbolism in designing it and that bothered me a little bit. First, because I think it's kind of dumb to intentionally try to avoid symbolism, and second, because I think it's probably impossible to really do. Anyway, the memorial was a little strange, but the information center was really intense and moving. That night we went to the Jewish museum, which I thought was really a much cooler design. Also really informative and moving.
Our last morning we went to an outdoor exhibit called 'Topographies of Terror,' mostly about the Nazi secret police, which was really wordy, but well-done. Interestingly, the exhibit is only outside until they can find enough funding to build a museum for it, but it was along a preserved stretch of the Wall in the remains of a foundation of an old building belonging to the some Nazi secret police organization, which I really thought was cooler than inside. Then we went to check out what's called the East Side Gallery. It's a long preserved stretch of the Wall that's also the worlds longest outdoor art gallery. It's basically a lot of graffiti work on a mile-long stretch of the wall that I thought was really cool. Berlin seems to have a pretty strong relationship with street art, as I saw more tags all over the city than I have in any other urban setting. The gallery was really cool, unfortunately, Karen realized that it was 2:30 and it took about 5 hours to get to Prague on the train, so, since we didn't know what time the last train left, we had better get going. We made the last train at 4:45 with lots of time to spare, but I probably would have gotten myself stuck in Berlin if she hadn't realized that. Hopefully they don't tear down that part of the wall before I get a chance to get back and look at it in more detail.
Also, sometime while we were in Berlin we discovered what may be the best fast food ever. A 'Doner Kebab' is apparently small slices of meat cut off of a giant, slow-cooking roast, then put into a pita with tomatoes and cucumbers and yogurt or hot sauce and eaten like a sandwich. For some reason it's incredibly delicious. If anyone is looking for a new business venture in the US, you should open up a doner kebab stand. You'll be rich overnight.
The cheap, standard beer for most of Germany is Becks. It tastes somewhat better there than it does in the States. They also had Becks Gold and Becks Green Lemon (which I think means lime) that I was afraid to try. I'm going to try to keep up with the cheap beer status in each country we visit, so stay tuned if you're interested.
That's all for now. Probably more on Prague soon, hopefully more on England through the Rhineland if I get a chance.
Happy Halloween!
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