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Burn out

October 28, 2006

Somewhere between walking the streets of Vienna and taking the most awful night train ever, I decided I am suffering from temporary travel burn out. I can’t take the monotony anymore…wake up, walk around cities, take pictures, drink, sleep, repeat. Sure, Europe is beautiful but how many days in a row can one just walk and take pictures? After a few months, it really gets to you. I long for the beaches and jungles of Asia. It was decided- I needed a break from my vacation. So I went to Amsterdam for 5 days. There there would be no sightseeing, no walking, no same old, same old….just 5 days to relax, visit a “coffeeshop” or seven, and lounge.

And Amsterdam has been great break and has given me time to relax and get me time. (I’ve been meaning to update this blog for 2 days but because I got high, I forgot. Somewhere Afroman is smilingly proudly.) True to my word, I haven’t done much sightseeing. I did walk around to a few museums, the Anne Frank house, around the Red Light district but overall, I sat around the hostel or coffeeshops.

Amsterdam is a beautiful city though. The city is stunning and the people here interesting characters who liven up the already busy streets. I wish I could stay longer. The five days I’ve been here are flown by. Today is my last day here and while I’ll be more productive today than in the previous ones, I still feel as though this day will be over before I like. If I didn’t have commitments for Spain, I think I’d stay here for another week.

Amsterdam has become one of my favorite stops on my trip so far despite the fact the hostel I’m staying in isn’t that great. Since The Flying Pig was booked solid, I took the advice of a few people I meet in Rome and stayed at The Meeting Point. The only thing you really meet here are a few clouds of smoke because it is a complete stoner den. Everyone just sits around and smokes weed, which while cool, impedes your ability to get people going somewhere. The ratio here is awful too. All guys and like less than a handful of stoner chicks. I guess all the girls stay at the Flying Pig. However, this place is cheap and it is very close to the train station. If I had to stay here again, it wouldn’t be too bad.

With one last relaxing day in the Dam, I am going to try to get a haircut. I’m a little shaggy on top. Maybe I’ll walk around more. Chances are though, I’ll find a coffeeshop. Amsterdam sure has some of the best coffee around!

As for my time in Vienna, don’t let anyone fool you into believing it is better than Prague. Prague is way better. (However, Vienna has a better theater scene.) Also word to the wise, if you ever take a night train in Europe, spend the extra 20 euros for a bed. Unless you can sleep anywhere and in any position, you’ll never fall asleep in one of those chairs. They are too uncomfortable.

Matt

Posted by NomadicMatt | Filed Under First RTW | 6 Comments

Lost in Venice

October 19, 2006

Before I talk about Venice, I think you should all enjoy this little video from Florence. It’s this little band that plays in the Piazza de Republicca. They play every night so if you are ever there, check them out. They are pretty cool as is the fact I can take video in black and white. Enjoy:

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“Does this bus go to Camping Serrisimo?” I asked the bus driver. “Yes.” I get on the bus and ask the driver to let me know when the stop was. Sure he replies. It was 10pm in Venice and after a short flight but long bus ride to the city I had to take another bus to the place I was staying at. I had no idea where to go but was confident in the driver’s help. After what seemed to be forever, I asked the driver when the stop was and was told that it was two stops ago!! Thanks Mr. Bus driver for the help. He let me off and I walked over to the otherside of the street only to find I had to wait 40 minutes for the next bus. Well, I knew the place was on the street so why not walk it! It wasn’t a bad walk but the fact that Venice is cold made seem forever. I’ve been down south where the weather is warm so coming up to Venice and finding that it is cold was a bummer, especially considering I only have t-shirts. If Venice is cold, I can only imagine how cold Vienna and Amsterdam will be.

That wasn’t the last time I’d be a little lost in Venice. Whenever, I go to a new city, I like to get lost in a city. Not all who wander are lost and while my wandering my seem like I am lost, I am not. I like to wander around a city and try to get as lost as I can so I can know the city, find the sidestreets with only locals, learn my way around, and avoid the tourist groups. I’ve heard that Castello is a great section of Venice to get lost in because of its small streets and it’s away from the tourists. After arriving in San Marco square, I set out to get lost in Castello. I wandered around streets, hit dead ends, meandered over the bridges, made turns that ended me up in courtyards not streets. I was doing good. I had no idea where on the map I was and there were only locals in sight. I was riding high and loving it. I came across a local market, stopped for a bit, and kept walking when it happened: a tour group, then another, and another. Continuing walking I realized I had found my way back to the main center. I was no longer lost but found. If I was accepting Jesus, that would be fine but no, I wanted to be lost. I hadn’t gone as far as I thought and had doubled back. Not letting it phase me, I tried again. I set out in a different direction in search of the beautiful churches I had heard about. Yet the more I got lost, the more I seemed to always end up somewhere I knew. I got lost trying to get lost.

I realized it was impossible to get lost in Venice for a long period of time. Venice it turned out was not as big as the maps make it out to be. I always seemed to be somewhere a lot sooner than I thought or would end up somewhere I had been before I knew it. For all its size in the guidebooks, you can walk Venice in a relatively short period of time.

Overall, Venice left a lukewarm impression in my heart. It’s not a bad city but it hasn’t been one of my favorites. I found there is not much to do once the sun goes down when you are on a budget. Maybe if I had more money, I could go out for long dinners and to the many wine bars I’ve come across but I don’t. I found that Venice seems better geared towards the older set than youthful people, much like Sedona or Sante Fe. I doub’t I would come back to Venice again if I wasn’t with someone. I’ve seen it. The coolest part of Venice was wandering the streets and crossing the little canals. The provided some great little views and were the real beauty of the city. I enjoyed coming up on them and staring out over the bridges seeing what secrets the canals held but the “streets” were nothing special. You see a hundred windy streets, you begin to see them all. Venice was nice to see but nothing pulls at me to come back again. There are other places that pull me. I would tell all of you to go see Venice but unless you really just want to lounge eating the good seafood, a couple of days is all that you need. Then again, I know people who LOVE Venice, so what do I know except that you should go and decide for yourself. Watch out for the pigeons though! (They are everywhere!!!!!)

There were some great things I saw in Venice: The making of a Bollywood film and this opera singer. I got the name of the Bollywood film so I can watch it when it comes out and I got a video of this opera singer. Venice is known for its theater. I wish I could have gone to see something but nothing was playing. This was a free show though. Enjoy the double music treat:

Opera in Venice

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Ciao for now! I’m off to eat then rest for my 6 am train to Vienna!

Matt

Posted by NomadicMatt | Filed Under First RTW | 7 Comments

When in Rome…

October 16, 2006

I’m still in Rome. After a week here, I finally leave tommorrow and I still don’t feel like I did the city justice. I could easily go back to the ruins and spend more time wandering around, go explore the Jewish quarter and Trastevere more, take a guided tour, or just hang out. Rome wasn’t built in a day and you certainly can’t see it in one. I have new respect for the old adage that you it would take a lifetime to see Rome.

Rome is a chaotic city. It’s a huge place that is as busy as any New York or London. Everywhere you go cars, buses, motorbikes, and pedestrians are zooming past you on the city’s tiny streets. Throw in the tourists and you have a recipe for mass movement all the time. There is always something going on here and even at 3 am, there are masses of people on the streets. Yet at the same time, it doesn’t have a metropolis look. Here you won’t find any skyscrapers, giant buildings, or anything with a modern feel. In Rome, all the buildings are low, the sky is always visible, and there is no real concrete jungle. In Rome, the buildings are all old, the streets small, windy, and narrow allowing you to get lost in time. In Rome, everywhere is littered with open spaces full of buildings or ruins dating back thousands of years. Rome is an ancient city with a modern pace, an interesting dicotomy that makes it a very exciting city.

Rome is pretty exciting for a number of reasons. First, you see tourists of all types. On the same street, you’ll find backpackers, couples on vacation, regular vacationers, tour groups, religious groups (nuns, church groups, etc), people from cruise ships- all mixed in with locals! It makes for interesting people watching around the city.

Secondly, the Vatican is here. I may be Jewish but the Vatican was pretty awesome to see. St. Peter’s Basilica was really amazing and very ornately decorated. I saw all the tombs of the popes, including the recently departed Pope John Paul. His tomb had a bunch of people mourning and praying there. You also get to see the tomb of St. Peter himself. That tomb is by far the nicest and most ornate of all the pope’s as most just have a stone slab or sarcophogus. You can’t go anywhere near the actual tomb but it looked awesome through the glass. I didn’t take the walk to the top to the coppola. The line was long, it costs money, and you just as good a view of the city from the Piazza del Popolo. Maybe next time when I come back to Rome. You are also probably wondering if I saw the Sistine Chapel. No, I didn’t. The que was 3 hours long and frankly, it was midday when I went so I wasn’t queing for three hours to have it probably be closed by the time I get up front. I’ll go next time and I will get there before it even opens! I might have to come back to Rome anyways so I’ll do it then.

Thirdly, all the Roman ruins. The forum, the Pantheon, the Colossuem, Palatine hill, and the random ruins you see EVERYWHERE around the city are all amazing. I wasn’t impressed with the Colossuem at first but the more I walked around it and the more times I saw it, the more impressed I got. I’ve been to that area three times already and everytime, I become more and more amazed. The forum is really amazing and filled with more ruins than you can shake a stick at and Palatine hill is a good place to see some old Roman houses.

However, I regret not taking the guided tour. It was more money but it would have been worth it. The Colossuem has a lot of signs about it but there is nothing in Palatine hill so to be able to learn its history and the context of everything would have made the trip there more rewarding. It’s a common regret I’ve heard from many travelers so if you are in Rome and take the guided tours so you can learn the history of everything. Otherwise they are just old ruins and can get boring after a few hours.

Before this post gets too long as I’ve done a lot this week, I’ll wrap up with just a few more thoughts on Rome: Trevi fountain is amazing and a great thing to see a few times, especially at night when it becomes lit up so try to go around sunset. Don’t forget to throw the two coins too! The Spanish steps are really overrated. I was not impressed They are just some steps that people sit on. They are just a good place to go to eat on the way to the much more exciting Piazza del Popolo. Here are some great twin churches, ruins, and an amazing park that gives you wonderful view of the city. Go there and stroll through the park. It’s quite wonderful. I really liked the parked a lot. I wish I spent more time there. Trastevere is an amazing section of the city. (Probably my favorite.) I loved going out there at night and they have amazing restuarants. If you’re in Rome, go to the Pizzeria Levo for amazingly priced food and good cheap wine. After a good meal, hit up some the bars nearby. On the weekend, the area is packed with people!

While in Rome, I stayed at Backpackers. If you want a quite, clean place, nice kitchen, or water pressure, this place is not the place to stay. It’s also overpriced. However, despite all those faults, if you want to go to a place where you meet a lot of other travelers, friendly staff, and party really hard and be really loud, this is a decent place. I probably wouldn’t stay here again because there are similiar party atmosphere hostels in Rome at a cheaper price. They were just all booked up at the time. Next time in Rome, I’m trying out The Yellow which I hear good things about.

Ok, enough rambling. All in all Rome is an amazing place with a lot to do. If I do have to swing back here, I’ll spend a few days. If you come to Rome, stay awhile- you won’t regret it.

Ciao,

Matt

Posted by NomadicMatt | Filed Under First RTW | 8 Comments

Toscana

October 12, 2006

I’m a little short on time right now because I need to catch a bus to my hostel before I get stuck far, far away from it. As I said I loved Florence. It was great. I highly recommend going there to anyone. Beautiful city filled with beautiful people. O and I saw the David. Wow! That was amazing. So worth it that I went twice with two different people and didn’t mind paying all that money. David is a lot bigger and more detailed than you would think. You don’t think you will be blown away but then you come up upon him and are blown away. If you see only one thing in Florence, make sure it is David!

After Florence, I hopped on a train and went to Siena. Ask anyone whose been there about Siena and there response is usually “Siena? I looooooove Siena!” and I can see why. It’s a beautiful city- better than Florence and it’s a little smaller and a lot less crowded. The city takes about a day to walk around. It’s a very visually rewarding walk as you wander through small alleyway streets, through tunnels, and under arches connecting buildings. The only dissapointment I had while I was there was that unlike every other Duomo in Italy, they charged you €8 to get in! What the hell? I’m not paying that to get in- you’ve seen 10 free churches, you’ve seen enough. There is no reason to pay. I also went to where they “supposedly” had the head of St. Catherine, the first female saint, but that was a dissapointment. I wandered the whole church complex and couldn’t find the head! Curse you Lonely Planet!!! You finally let me down.

Siena is a great place to spend a few days but if you are traveling by yourself, it can get slightly boring as there is not much to do there. Also be aware that it’s super expensive there and if you want to eat and drink well, it will cost you more than it would in other places.

While in Toscana, I also went to Lucca and that is another beautiful place. Not much to say about it except it is worth a day trip from Florence. It has the small streets, big stone walls, little shops, and great gelato. Only thing that really disturbed me about the town was all the communist graffiti and all the swastikas. Little wierd to see in a small Tuscan town. Lots of anti-immigrant stuff there too. Maybe Lucca is the redneck area of Italy?

The leaning tower of Pisa was good too. There isn’t much to see in Pisa except the tower and all in all it takes about an hour to see. Everyone there takes a picture of them “holding up” the leaning tower. (Yes, Sophie I copied you!) It’s quite amusing see like 20 different people in the same picture pose. I was impressed with the tower. I thought it was be less exciting than it was but seeing it was actually pretty cool.

All in all I loved Toscana. The food was amazing and the wine cheaper than water. I ate and drink really well. I was a little sad I didn’t do any wine tours or trips. I thought I could just show up in Tuscany, rent a bike, and bike out of these towns and POOF there are the wineries. That’s not the case- you either have to rent a car or go on a tour. Since I have the funds for neither, I cut my trip to Tuscany short and headed off to Rome to meet some friends. Next time I come to Tuscany, it will be all about wine.

Speaking of wine, I meet woman who runs a wine website and was doing a wine photo tour around Europe. Learned a lot about wine from here. (You meet all sorts of cool people in hostels!) Interesting fact: Corks serve a duel purpose- 1. The wood helps to continue to ferment and age the wine while in the bottle and 2. The small holes allow for micro-oxegenation helping to bring out the aromas and flavors in the wine.

I’m in Rome and it’s an interesting city. More on it later but now I have to run. When free internet roles around, I’ll post some interesting pictures.

Ciao Bellas!

Matt

Posted by NomadicMatt | Filed Under First RTW | 7 Comments

Random Musings of a Traveler

October 9, 2006

Here are some random thoughts that have been on my mind lately:

I love Italy. I especially love Florence. The food, the wine, the weather. It’s great. Florence is a busy and very touristy city but its quite awesome.

I’ve resigned myself to the fact Italy is going to cost me a lot more money than I thought it would because of all the great food and wine. I’ve always wanted to come to Italy and live la dolce vita. How can I can I come to my dream place and just eat panini’s and drink water? I can’t so I’m living it up with tons of wine, great food, and lots of partying. I’ll just work more later in life! lol

Speaking of partying, Florence has been a blast. I meet all these people from Valencia and we had a wild Friday night. Saturday was a rough day but Friday night was sure fun. I’m meeting them all in Rome in a few days to continue the fun, which I’ll then continue onto the rest of the weekend. The hostel I’m staying at is known for been a party place and philosophy is “check out is at noon because you’ll probably be hungover!” Fun times.

Time gets all warped when you travel. I’ve been in Italy for around a week and a half but it feels like forever. I can’t believe it was like only 3 weeks ago I got to Europe. It seems way longer when your days are so busy and you are always meeting new people. Time slows down a lot on the backpacker’s road.

I’ve decided I’ll probably stay in Europe longer. Since getting around is so cheap and I’m doing good with making my way through Italy, I’m going to visit a friend in Vienna, then go to Berlin, then go to Amsterdam, then go to Spain for like 3 weeks before coming back into Naples to finish Italy and go to Greece. I may go to Israel for a few weeks too. I’m glad I can change my flight to Bangkok. Looks like I won’t get there until December now but still in time for New Year’s.

I hate these Italian keyboards but I love hostels that provide a good free breakfast. I’m talking eggs, toasts, hashbrown- the works!

I’m picking up Italian. I can say a few things now. Basic things but enough to get me by.

I’m off to Siena now to relax for a few days with some great Tuscan food and wine.

Ciao.

Matt

Posted by NomadicMatt | Filed Under First RTW | 15 Comments

How far is heaven? 12 km.

October 6, 2006

The Cinque Terre is one of those places that you see from the train and know you are instantly going to love. There’s something about the villages, perched on cliffs and rising of over the ocean, when they appear to you on your train that casts a spell on you. All visitors fall victim to it and I especially. Seeing the Cinque Terre from my train was amazing. I knew before I even stepped off into the villages I would stay longer and once I started exploring the town I was staying in, I immediately changed my hostel reservation from 3 nights to 5. I could stay even longer but there is too much to see in Italy to only stay here. I have only just left and already know I will come back, this time when the weather is warmer and the water a little nicer to swim in. (Sadly, that is the one thing I did not really get to do!) I mean how can you not fall in love with places that look like this:

I stayed in the town of Manorola. It’s town number 4 on the route. I especially loved this town. It was one of the quieter ones with a great little cove at the end of it to sit and swim and, most importantly, watch the sunset. It was less hectic than Riamaggorrie or Monterossa (the towns on the end) and it was a nice place to just chill out. Plus, they had cheap food and the areas only hostel. (The hostel is run a little weirdly though but they do offer some seriously delicious, cheap, and organic food.) There was just something about this town that appealed to me more than others- maybe it was the food, or the layout, or the buildings but whatever it was I quite enjoyed staying here.

Vernazza was my favorite of all five towns. This town is pretty chaotic during the day because it is right in the middle of all 5, has a beach, and most of the restaurants. So during the day, there is lots of tourists but that didn’t change my mind that this place has the best pizza in Italy I’ve had so far (Yes, I’m sure Naples is better!) and was by far the coolest looking town of the 5. It had a little tower, a cool beach, cool little side streets…just pretty amazing, as you can see from these pictures:

I don’t think any thing else I could say would do this area justice so I will just post a ton of pictures of the Cinque Terre and let each picture speak for me:

As you can see, it,s quite beautiful. Most of the other backpackers spent an additional night here and though I spent two additional nights, I could spend even more time. There are tons of hikes around, the coolest being the ones up into the vineyards, with the easiest being the 12 km walk through all 5 towns. I did the 12 km and some hikes into the vineyard and by far the best one is the one through the vineyards. Next time I come, I’m going to make sure it will be during beach time…

Finally, here’s the funny photo of the trip:

I’ve used these toilets before but I never though I’d find them in Europe. Take a guess at what the key thing in using this. I’ll mail you a cookie.

Ciao.

Matt

Posted by NomadicMatt | Filed Under First RTW | 14 Comments

Milano

October 2, 2006

No, not the girl I went to high school with, I mean the city commonly referred to as Milan! If you have never been to Milan, you really are not missing much. I spent a day there and that was a bout half a day too much. Milan is just another city. There really is not anything special about it. Unless you are going to do some serious shopping, it’s not worth more than one day. The city is a little grimmy and ever Milanese I meet was pretty rude. At first I thought it was just me but after talking to some other travelers, I found out that they had experienced the same thing. The city center is the only part worth seeing and, while the historic stuff is beautiful, the run down modern buildings give it a dirty, grimmy feel instead of an old historic feel. The Duomo is beautiful and walking around the piazza was fun. The area just west of the Duomo was what I thought the only really beautiful part of Milan. There the buildings were all old and you wandered through a maze of tiny streets and terraced houses. Wandering around I stumbled upon an outdoor festival where I got amazing panini. The food in Italy is soooooooo good. I keep spending money on food! (and cheap wine!) Milan also has a great historic fort and a beautiful park right beside it. Other than that, nothing is worth seeing and you can do the whole city in a day. A lot of people do come to see The Last Supper or visit museums but why spend all my euro at museums in Milan when there are way better ones along the way?!

While Milan ranks higher on my list than Atlanta, now that I have seen it, I really have no plans to ever return. And oddly enough, that is the feeling of everyone I talked to that ever went to Milan!

But enough shitty on Milan, the real reason I’m posting so quickly again is that I found an internet cafe that will let me upload photos and video. Now, I’m spending an arm and maybe a leg uploading video since it takes so long so until I get to Asia, unless I see something really surreal, expect just photos. So without further ado, here is a video and some pictures:

Here’s a video of the changing of the guard at the King’s palace in Norway:

Now this process took forever! We waited like 15 minutes for them to do something, left, came back and they were still standing there. Finally, they moved and switched off. After this, they sit for a little bit, filed into the barracks, and then go around to every guard post and change them off. The whole process must take like 2 hours to do. I think must of it is show for the tourists!

Next up enjoy some pictures from Oslo and Prague:

Oslo Palace

Ancient Viking Church

This was at the naughty park. Anyone want to guess what this represents?

Fridays. The hippest, hottest night spot in Oslo.

A fjord on a cloudy day.

Downtown Oslo.

Prague Castle.

Crazy baroque church in Praha.

Prague.

Praha.

Tyn Church

Some other cool church and one of my fav Praha pictures.

More Praha

Old Jewish Cemetary. There’s a lot of old bones here.

So that should whet you appetite for a bit. I would upload all the Oslo and Prague pictures but that’s not how I want to spend my day. I’m going to upload all my pictures on Thursday before I leave Cinque Terra so expect about 300 to go up that day. (PS- Isn’t Prague amazing?)

Well, I’m off to go love the Cinque Terra more!

Ciao Bellas!

Matt

Posted by NomadicMatt | Filed Under First RTW | 11 Comments

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Burn out

Lost in Venice

When in Rome…

Toscana

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How far is heaven? 12 km.

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