Greetings from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It's been 18 days since I first arrived in Australia and I've covered a lot of ground. I just got done watching an amazing fireworks display at Darling Harbour and now it's time to go home. First, an update on my whereabouts and journeys.
Originally, I was supposed to fly from Christchurch to Cairns; however, Cyclone Yasi had other ideas. As it turned out, this was quite fortuitous, because Yasi made landfall just south of Cairns as a category 5 cyclone, by far the strongest landfalling cyclone is Australian history, with a measured wind speed of 290 k/mph (175 mph)! Needless to say, the damage was extensive and severe. Incomprehensibly crazy weather is an Australian staple!
Since I couldn't get to Cairns, I had to stay in Brisbane. This was like winning the lottery. I just assumed since the delay was weather related, the airline wouldn't be responsible for my accommodations. Boy was I wrong. Virgin Blue put me up in the Ibis (a lower end Marriott is a good comparison) in downtown Brisbane for two nights, with cab vouchers for transportation to and from the airport, an AUD$50 food credit, and allowed me to just cancel my round trip flight to/from Cairns for an AUD$250 credit. Not bad at all. Brisbane was OK but not terribly exciting for a city of 2 million people.
In Brisbane, an attractive Sheila (what they call women in Queensland) convinced me to go south to Byron Bay for 3 days. I hadn't planned this portion of my trip, but I'm glad I went to Byron, because it was a great time. Byron is a hipster/party/beach town just south of the Gold Coast area. I met some Canadians from Vancouver Island my first night there and ended up hanging out with them the next few days. We hit up the pubs, the beach, the weekly Byron hippy market (awesome place), the old train station, and made a hike to the Byron lighthouse; the most easterly point of mainland Australia. The hike was especially fun as I always find lighthouses fascinating and I got to see dolphins and stingrays (RIP Steve Irwin) in the water below. I also watched the first half of the Super Bowl in Byron before I had to board a greyhound bus bound for Bellingen.
I ended up in Bellingen basically the same way I ended up in Byron; a pretty Sheila at the hostel told me to go there. I read NOTHING about Bellingen before going, so I had absolutely no clue what I was in for. Bellingen, population 2,811, turned out to be a great stop. Located in the middle of the Dorringo rainforest, it was the ultimate hippy location and full of interesting things to do; albeit not interesting by city slicker standards. My first day, I hiked into the rainforest in an attempt to get lost yet not lost at the same time to get a panoramic view of the town. As you probably realize, I didn't get lost and the views were nice. I visited an old butter factory which had interesting machinery and boutique shops in it. I also made a trip to Bellingen Island to see the famous flying foxes. Flying foxes are a type of bat that gets hyperactive at dusk and puts on a great show for anyone daring enough to brave bat guano for the chance to see them squeal at each other and "fly" through the trees. Awesome experience and one that I will not soon forget. On day two, I signed up for a rainforest tour. The tour was cool and we got to see two waterfalls, but I'm pretty waterfalled out after Iceland and New Zealand. We did get to take a dip in the river though and that was fun.
After Bellingen, I made my way to Sydney for a few days. My first experience in Sydney a few years ago was a good one, but I really felt like the city lacked the same charm that Melbourne had. This time around, Sydney exceeded all my expectations; admittedly they weren't that high. I stayed in a suburb called Glebe which is about a 45 minute walk from the CBD. On my first day when I was making the journey downtown, I stumbled upon the Sydney Fish Markets. This was a life changing experience. The market is the actual offload point for fished fishies in the Sydney area. The place was full (more like overrun) by Asians. The food was out of this world good! BBQ octopus seriously was one of the best things I've ever had. The fish market was so great that I went back three times in two days. The rest of my time in Sydney involved lots of walking. I walked across the Harbour Bridge, one of the most famous bridges in the world, took a picture from every conceivable angle of the Sydney Opera House (I'm slightly obsessed with this Danish icon), walked to Circular Quay (pronounced "key"), walked through Hyde Park where it appears they have removed the world's most famous chess board, did some shopping on George Street, went to Darling Harbour, went to the Bay Street mall and found Austin an awesome birthday present, visited the Asian markets at Paddy's Market, and ate some amazing Thai food in Glebe. All in chronological order! All of these places are famous Sydney stops which should be a part of any trip to the city.
I left Sydney on Saturday the 12th of February for Launceston, Tasmania. Tasmania as it turns out jumped in Doc Brown's DeLorean and rather then go back in time or visit the future, decided to perpetually stay stuck in 1985. Launceston is pretty boring without much to do, but there are two things I loved about it. First was Festivale which is held in the city park each year and hosts live bands, food, and wine. It's an in interesting cultural event since people pour into this town of 100,000 from all over Tasmania. It was an interesting mix of characters. The second highlight was Cataract Gorge. This place was amazing and I'd put it just behind Cinque Terra as far as favorite hikes I've done. The Gorge runs for miles and the hiking trail takes you about 3 km's into it through an old hydroelectric power station. I loved it because it was completely wild and "the trail" wasn't so much a trail as it was following the sound of water and hoping not to get lost. I saw my first wild wallaby while wandering around in the bush (think of the bush as anything non-urban in Australia). The old power station was completely unrestored and had old equipment laying around; most visually impressive were the turbines and penstocks. The trails on either side of the Gorge are combined by a rickety suspension bridge which was pretty cool. It was quite impressive and definitely worth the 5 hours of exploration.
I spent 2 full days in Launceston and upon leaving, I took a bus to Hobart, the capital of Tasmania. Hobart is a town of around 200,000 and felt like a bustling metropolis compared to Launceston. Hobart sits on a sheltered bay in southern Tasmania and was the world's epicenter for whaling for a brief period of time (the oil capital of the world prior to Tulsa claiming the title). One of my favorite locals interactions happened here on my first day. The conversation went something like this:
Cute girl: Do you mind helping me with a survey?
Me: Sure (this question at home draws an automatic no but she was cute and I'm not a local so I was hoping for something funny).
Girl: How often do you go bushwalking?
Me: Um...never been.
Girl: Never?
Me: Never. I'm not from these parts.
Girl: Well what about at home?
Me: We don't have "bush" at home.
Girl: Seriously?
Me: Yes.
Girl: Oh...well then this might not be the survey for you.
What amused me about this interaction more than anything was her "seriously" shocked response. I just assumed that Australian's knew they live in a place that nowhere on earth (aside from a few places in Africa) knows of such isolation. Apparently not. Anyway, on day two in Hobart I boarded a cruise bound for Port Arthur, a famous convict settlement which now lays in ruins. Port Arthur was interesting from a historical perspective, but I wasn't really enamored with the site or the ruins. I think my perspective has been skewed by Pompeii and the Roman Forum. The cruise itself was incredible though. A pod of dolphins swam several miles with the boat which is something I've never experienced. The coastline is ruggedly beautiful too. Day 3 was spent in the botanical gardens (excellent) and walking along the coastline of Hobart's bay. For day 4, I booked a tour before heading back to Launceston to catch my plane back to Sydney. We started by going to a wild animal park. Apparently it was the same one Oprah went to on her Australia trip, because it was jam packed with old white women acting a fool. I've done the kangaroo feeding thing before so that wasn't terribly interesting, but the Tasmanian devils were crazy. They snarl, snare, and snap (alliteration for the win) at the littlest things. It's not so much a provocation as it is a territorial defense mechanism. Anyway, it was the highlight of the park. Next stop was the largest chocolate factory in the southern hemisphere operated by Cadburry. The "factory" tour was actually just a presentation, but the Cadburry store made up for it with cheap chocolate bars. The final stop was Mount Wellington, located just 20 kilometers west of Hobart. Unfortunately, nothing could be seen from the top due to cloud cover. The tour was kind of a dud, but our tour guide saved the day when he noticed that I looked like a very famous footballer (Australian Rules) named Matthew Knights. I have still not seen a picture of this good looking fellow, but apparently the resemblance is uncanny. Anyway, our guide started introducing me to people at our stops as "Knighty" and my fake Aussie accent was good enough to sign a few autographs, pose or a few pictures, and I may have even kissed a baby at one point. Definitely one of the more interesting highlights of my travels. Too bad the show must end in Australia as nobody watches or plays the sport outside its borders.
It's been a grand time traveling. In total, I've been gone 129 days, been to 17 countries, and seen 59 different cities. I wish I could continue, but I feel like now is a good time to go home. It's good to know when to walk away from a good thing and I'd rather error on the Seinfeld side then the Favre side when it comes to ending my travels (and use of my camera phone...)
Cheers!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
2/2/2011 Update
Greetings from Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia! It's been an amazing journey in the South Pacific so far and I'm due for an update.
FIJI
Fiji is an island chain made up of over 2,000 islands in the South Pacific with roughly 900,000 residents. It is one of the most isolated places on Earth as well as one of the most friendly. It was impressive how nice people were, and my "pinch me, peel me, eat me" shirt got a lot of praise from the locals. Nadi, the location of the island's international airport, is roughly a 10 hour flight from LAX. If you ever plan a trip to New Zealand or Australia and have the opportunity to fly Air Pacific with a stopover in Fiji, do it.
In Fiji I stayed at a place called Denarau Island. Denarau is the location of 7 resorts and a world class golf course. There is a Hilton here, so I used my points to get a room at the Fiji Resort & Spa which is managed by Hilton. I had a beachside room with a great view of Nadi Bay. Interestingly enough, they let me check in at 6 am and checkout at 1 pm the following day to accommodate my flight schedule. I am grateful for that, because I really just wanted to relax after my plane landed. I spent most of my time on Denarau hanging out on the beach or by the pool. The weather was gorgeous at 85 degrees and the sun was intense (I have a sunburn to prove it). The only negative was the wind which blew about 20 mph the entire time I was there (which led to choppy seas and no kayaking).
All in all, Fiji was excellent and I'd like to return one day to explore some of the other islands.
NEW ZEALAND
Where to start? New Zealand is unlike any place I've ever been. It's a lush, green, rugged, glacial, volcanic wonderland.
I started my journey on the North Island in Auckland. Auckland was nice, but pretty boring for a city of 2 million people. The highlights were Mission Bay and the Auckland Museum (which was excellent). I met a couple of guys there that I ended up renting a car with and from Auckland we drove north to the Bay of Islands, Cape Reigna, and down 90 mile beach to Ahipara. 90 mile beach was a trip! I can honestly say I've never considered how fun it would be to drive 125 kph (roughly 78 mph) on the sand. The Bay of Islands and Cape Reigna were amazingly beautiful. After leaving northern North Island, I made stops in a tiny little town called Te Aroha, a tourist trap called Rotorua, and the capital Wellington. Te Aroha was fun even though there was nothing to do: the highlight being the liquor store where you filled your own 2 liter bottle with your preferred beer. Rotorua is famous for it's geysers, but I'd been there, done that in Iceland (for free mind you while they wanted $45 to see it at Rotorua) so it was kind of a letdown (I snuck in and saw it anyway). Wellington was awesome. It's not a big place, but it's got an amazing harbor with some spectacular views from the surrounding hills.
After Wellington, I flew to Christchurch to start my tour of the South Island. Christchurch was pretty lame, but the Buskers (street performers) festival was in town so that was pretty awesome/comical. After Christchurch, I made my way to Queenstown which reminded me a lot of Interlaken, Switzerland. In Queenstown, it's all about the extreme sports and the extreme parties. I enjoyed it, but two days there was plenty for me. My final South Island stop was a tiny little town called Te Anau; the gateway for the Milford and Doubtful Sounds. I decided to cruise both sounds (heavily doped up on anti sea sickness meds) and each were stunning. Milford is famous and it's always the one you see in postcards with Mitre Peak in the background, but I actually liked the Doubtful Sound better. Both are equally beautiful, but you cruise quite a bit further in the Doubtful Sound (meaning some awesome wave action on the Tasman Sea) and it's not as crowded as Milford.
New Zealand was amazing. I'd put it in my top 5 of places I've visited. It's no Berlin or Cinque Terra, but the fact is that there's places to see and things to do in New Zealand that you literally can't see anywhere else in the world.
FIJI
Fiji is an island chain made up of over 2,000 islands in the South Pacific with roughly 900,000 residents. It is one of the most isolated places on Earth as well as one of the most friendly. It was impressive how nice people were, and my "pinch me, peel me, eat me" shirt got a lot of praise from the locals. Nadi, the location of the island's international airport, is roughly a 10 hour flight from LAX. If you ever plan a trip to New Zealand or Australia and have the opportunity to fly Air Pacific with a stopover in Fiji, do it.
In Fiji I stayed at a place called Denarau Island. Denarau is the location of 7 resorts and a world class golf course. There is a Hilton here, so I used my points to get a room at the Fiji Resort & Spa which is managed by Hilton. I had a beachside room with a great view of Nadi Bay. Interestingly enough, they let me check in at 6 am and checkout at 1 pm the following day to accommodate my flight schedule. I am grateful for that, because I really just wanted to relax after my plane landed. I spent most of my time on Denarau hanging out on the beach or by the pool. The weather was gorgeous at 85 degrees and the sun was intense (I have a sunburn to prove it). The only negative was the wind which blew about 20 mph the entire time I was there (which led to choppy seas and no kayaking).
All in all, Fiji was excellent and I'd like to return one day to explore some of the other islands.
NEW ZEALAND
Where to start? New Zealand is unlike any place I've ever been. It's a lush, green, rugged, glacial, volcanic wonderland.
I started my journey on the North Island in Auckland. Auckland was nice, but pretty boring for a city of 2 million people. The highlights were Mission Bay and the Auckland Museum (which was excellent). I met a couple of guys there that I ended up renting a car with and from Auckland we drove north to the Bay of Islands, Cape Reigna, and down 90 mile beach to Ahipara. 90 mile beach was a trip! I can honestly say I've never considered how fun it would be to drive 125 kph (roughly 78 mph) on the sand. The Bay of Islands and Cape Reigna were amazingly beautiful. After leaving northern North Island, I made stops in a tiny little town called Te Aroha, a tourist trap called Rotorua, and the capital Wellington. Te Aroha was fun even though there was nothing to do: the highlight being the liquor store where you filled your own 2 liter bottle with your preferred beer. Rotorua is famous for it's geysers, but I'd been there, done that in Iceland (for free mind you while they wanted $45 to see it at Rotorua) so it was kind of a letdown (I snuck in and saw it anyway). Wellington was awesome. It's not a big place, but it's got an amazing harbor with some spectacular views from the surrounding hills.
After Wellington, I flew to Christchurch to start my tour of the South Island. Christchurch was pretty lame, but the Buskers (street performers) festival was in town so that was pretty awesome/comical. After Christchurch, I made my way to Queenstown which reminded me a lot of Interlaken, Switzerland. In Queenstown, it's all about the extreme sports and the extreme parties. I enjoyed it, but two days there was plenty for me. My final South Island stop was a tiny little town called Te Anau; the gateway for the Milford and Doubtful Sounds. I decided to cruise both sounds (heavily doped up on anti sea sickness meds) and each were stunning. Milford is famous and it's always the one you see in postcards with Mitre Peak in the background, but I actually liked the Doubtful Sound better. Both are equally beautiful, but you cruise quite a bit further in the Doubtful Sound (meaning some awesome wave action on the Tasman Sea) and it's not as crowded as Milford.
New Zealand was amazing. I'd put it in my top 5 of places I've visited. It's no Berlin or Cinque Terra, but the fact is that there's places to see and things to do in New Zealand that you literally can't see anywhere else in the world.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
1/13/2011 Update
Greetings from Los Angeles! I've been back in the US for almost 5 weeks now, but today I am heading back overseas to visit Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia.
My time home ended up being great. I was somewhat apprehensive to come back for fear of boredom, but I was actually really busy the entire time I was home. A lot of people I know who have spent significant chunks of time overseas say it's tough to get re-acclimated once they get home. Aside from jet-lag, I didn't have that problem at all. There's no re-acclimation period that a good nights sleep, Mexican food, and my truck can't solve! While I was home, I saw friends (not as many as I would've liked but some is better than none), spent Christmas with my family, celebrated my dad's 60th birthday, my 28th birthday, and Aaron's 31st birthday, saw OSU win 11 football games for the first time in school history, partied with good friends (old and new) for New Years, attended my first Thunder game, signed a lucrative free agent contract with a new softball team, and attended Zach and Tia's wedding. It was also nice catching up with my finances, working on my house, driving my truck, sleeping in my own bed, going to Quiktrip, and much more.
I can't say I'm as excited to leave this time around as I was the last time. I really appreciated my few weeks of sanity and organization while back in the States. Don't get me wrong, I know the next few weeks of traveling will be amazing, but displacing my life again after just getting resettled has me less pumped (yet still pumped) this time around.
Next update will be from the future!
Cheers!
My time home ended up being great. I was somewhat apprehensive to come back for fear of boredom, but I was actually really busy the entire time I was home. A lot of people I know who have spent significant chunks of time overseas say it's tough to get re-acclimated once they get home. Aside from jet-lag, I didn't have that problem at all. There's no re-acclimation period that a good nights sleep, Mexican food, and my truck can't solve! While I was home, I saw friends (not as many as I would've liked but some is better than none), spent Christmas with my family, celebrated my dad's 60th birthday, my 28th birthday, and Aaron's 31st birthday, saw OSU win 11 football games for the first time in school history, partied with good friends (old and new) for New Years, attended my first Thunder game, signed a lucrative free agent contract with a new softball team, and attended Zach and Tia's wedding. It was also nice catching up with my finances, working on my house, driving my truck, sleeping in my own bed, going to Quiktrip, and much more.
I can't say I'm as excited to leave this time around as I was the last time. I really appreciated my few weeks of sanity and organization while back in the States. Don't get me wrong, I know the next few weeks of traveling will be amazing, but displacing my life again after just getting resettled has me less pumped (yet still pumped) this time around.
Next update will be from the future!
Cheers!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
12/09/2010 Update
Greetings from Tulsa! After 88 days, I've finally returned. This wasn't part of my original plan, but festivities have led me home for a few weeks before continuing my trip again in Fiji, Australia and New Zealand.
My final stop on my European swing was Paris. Paris is somewhat similar to Rome. While I don't believe there's as much to do in Paris (completely subjective depending on what you like), there's still enough to occupy as much time as you'd like to spend. Paris also has the distinction of having as many, if not more, gypsies than Rome. It's really annoying. I usually talk to them in German and occasionally that works and they leave me alone; however, I did have one stab me with a pen when I kept saying "nein" over and over again.
My favorite sightseeing stops in Paris were the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre.
The Arc de Triomphe is awesome. Twelve Parisian avenues radiate from the arc including one of the most famous in all of Paris, Champs-Élysée, a huge shopping boulevard. From the arc, you can see downtown, the giant ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde, the Eiffel Tower, and several high dollar neighborhoods. The arc was commissioned by Napoleon and stands 164 feet high. The facade is full of sculpted scenes that commemorate different triumphs of French history, such as the French Revolution. There is an eternal flame that burns beneath the arc which is dedicated to the unknown solider of World War I. It's much bigger than what I imagined it to be, and was well worth the time and effort to see it.
The Louvre is enormous. Originally built as a palace, the Louvre was transformed into a museum in the 1700's and has since been expanded numerous times. The Louvre is instantly recognizable by its glass pyramid entrance designed by I.M. Pei. Once inside, the Louvre is split into seven sections amongst three different buildings. The best thing about the Louvre is how well laid out it is. The map is easy to read and in most situations, there was good continuity within exhibits. This is important, because with a museum that is so large, a poor layout would really ruin the experience. The most popular section is the Italian painters section which is home to the Mona Lisa. It's pretty funny to see everyone nudge their way into position for a picture of the Mona Lisa. My favorite exhibit was the Egyptian exhibition. The Egyptian section was the most extensive Egyptian collection I have ever seen and contained a lot of really unique pieces. My favorites were the statues of Ramses II and the Sacred Scribe which has eerily real looking eyes. Some of my other favorite pieces included the Winged Victory of Samothrace, Venus de Milo, Pandemonium by John Martin, Hercules battling the Hydra, and Hamurabi's Code of Laws.
Paris was much better then what I was expecting. Sure, I had a few run-ins with rude French people, but I also had my fair share of encounters with really nice, friendly people. The weather sucked while I was there including three days of heavy snow but c'est la vie (although I am pretty disappointed I couldn't make it to Omaha Beach to pay my respects). Luckily, I had awesome roommates while I was there (2 girls from Brisbane, 1 guy from Singapore, 2 guys from Bologna, 1 guy from Melbourne), so even though we were cooped up inside quite a bit, we made the best of it and found ways to have a good time, weather be damned!
It's nice to be back on US soil! I look forward to time with the family, a good nights sleep, and Rio Verde!
Cheers!
My final stop on my European swing was Paris. Paris is somewhat similar to Rome. While I don't believe there's as much to do in Paris (completely subjective depending on what you like), there's still enough to occupy as much time as you'd like to spend. Paris also has the distinction of having as many, if not more, gypsies than Rome. It's really annoying. I usually talk to them in German and occasionally that works and they leave me alone; however, I did have one stab me with a pen when I kept saying "nein" over and over again.
My favorite sightseeing stops in Paris were the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre.
The Arc de Triomphe is awesome. Twelve Parisian avenues radiate from the arc including one of the most famous in all of Paris, Champs-Élysée, a huge shopping boulevard. From the arc, you can see downtown, the giant ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde, the Eiffel Tower, and several high dollar neighborhoods. The arc was commissioned by Napoleon and stands 164 feet high. The facade is full of sculpted scenes that commemorate different triumphs of French history, such as the French Revolution. There is an eternal flame that burns beneath the arc which is dedicated to the unknown solider of World War I. It's much bigger than what I imagined it to be, and was well worth the time and effort to see it.
The Louvre is enormous. Originally built as a palace, the Louvre was transformed into a museum in the 1700's and has since been expanded numerous times. The Louvre is instantly recognizable by its glass pyramid entrance designed by I.M. Pei. Once inside, the Louvre is split into seven sections amongst three different buildings. The best thing about the Louvre is how well laid out it is. The map is easy to read and in most situations, there was good continuity within exhibits. This is important, because with a museum that is so large, a poor layout would really ruin the experience. The most popular section is the Italian painters section which is home to the Mona Lisa. It's pretty funny to see everyone nudge their way into position for a picture of the Mona Lisa. My favorite exhibit was the Egyptian exhibition. The Egyptian section was the most extensive Egyptian collection I have ever seen and contained a lot of really unique pieces. My favorites were the statues of Ramses II and the Sacred Scribe which has eerily real looking eyes. Some of my other favorite pieces included the Winged Victory of Samothrace, Venus de Milo, Pandemonium by John Martin, Hercules battling the Hydra, and Hamurabi's Code of Laws.
Paris was much better then what I was expecting. Sure, I had a few run-ins with rude French people, but I also had my fair share of encounters with really nice, friendly people. The weather sucked while I was there including three days of heavy snow but c'est la vie (although I am pretty disappointed I couldn't make it to Omaha Beach to pay my respects). Luckily, I had awesome roommates while I was there (2 girls from Brisbane, 1 guy from Singapore, 2 guys from Bologna, 1 guy from Melbourne), so even though we were cooped up inside quite a bit, we made the best of it and found ways to have a good time, weather be damned!
It's nice to be back on US soil! I look forward to time with the family, a good nights sleep, and Rio Verde!
Cheers!
12/04/2010 Update
Bonjour from Paris! It's below freezing cold (wind chill -2 degrees Fahrenheit), it's snowing, and it's definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
I came back to Munich/Germany for a few reasons. The first was to pick up a Christmas gift for my brother, but the second was to attend one of Germany's world famous Christmas markets. After befriending a girl in Bruges who lives in Munich and hearing all about how awesome the Munich market is, I decided I had to come back one more time to check it out. She was right, the Christmas market is incredible. There are actually several different ones in Munich, but the big one is Munchen Christkindlmarkt in the main shopping district of Marienplatz. There's another one at Theresienwiese, the site of Oktoberfest, but it's much smaller. You can find a little bit of everything Christmasy at the market. There's around 150 booths set up that sell wine, beer, bratwursts, wood carvings, Christmas ornaments, trees, clothing, and more. Everything is also decorated so well with lights that it really gets you in the Christmas spirit.
Originally I was only planning to spend that one night in Germany and then make my way to France, but after the Christmas market I met an Australian girl who told me if I liked the Munich market a lot, I need to go to the one in Nurnberg which is supposedly the biggest one in Germany. Since Nurnberg is only an hour from Munich, I was sold on the idea pretty easily.
Early the next morning (it was actually noon but that was early for me!), I jumped on the train bound for Nurnberg. I had no idea where the market was, what's in Nurnberg besides the market, and how to get there. Luckily when arriving in Nurnberg, there was just enough signage to direct me in the direction I needed to go to find the market. The Nurnberg market has about 250 booths, and the vendors sell similar items to the ones in Munich. The Nurnberg Kinderweinnacht is renowned for it's woodworks, Glühwein, and a girl who wanders around town dressed in gold with a crown on to spread Christmas cheer. The woodworks were pretty cool. There were some crazy complex and cool Nativity scenes built by master craftsmen, and if they weren't so darn expensive, I would have bought one. Glühwein is a hot wine that is popular in Bavaria during Christmas time. It's also the patron drink of the Nurnberg Christmas market. It sounds awful, but I had to try it (plus I wanted the commemorative mug). Verdict...it tastes as bad as it sounds. At least
it warmed me up for a brief period of time. Finally, the Christmas cheer girl. Every two years, the city of Nurnberg crowns a young girl to spread Christmas cheer amongst the people. She wears a gold dress and a gold crown and is easily recognizable. I was kind of creeped out at first when hearing about Christmas cheer girl, but she was the star of the show. This girl took so many pictures with people, and was so good with all the kids that it honestly made you a little more cheerful for the season. Overall, I loved the Nurnberg market. Better than the one in Munich...minus the glühwein.
After visiting the Munich and Nurnberg Christmas markets, I was hooked. When I got back to the hostel that night, I looked up the best Christmas markets in Germany, because I was determined to see a few more before heading to Paris. I decided to stop in Frankfurt, because I hadn't been there yet, it's really close to several big cities, and the Cologne market, allegedly the best in Germany, is just over an hour away. Frankfurt was a surprisingly cool city. The only reason most people go to Frankfurt is for the airport, the only one in Germany capable of handling large volumes of international flights. The city has a very modern skyline and is an important business hub for the Eurozone. It's clean, pretty, and safe all this despite staying in a scuzzy location; where I was solicited by a hooker which I found insulting because she was pushing 60. The Christmas market was also much better than what people said. After a bad glühwein experience, I decided to jump back in the saddle (and conversely off the wagon?) and try it again. Good thing because it was much better the second time around. I also consumed my last currywurst in Frankfurt which I must confess was a bittersweet moment for me. I've got to figure out how to make them when I get home. All in all, Frankfurt was great and it was probably the most livable German city I visited (few tourists, cheap, good jobs, international airport, etc.).
My final Christmas market stop was in Cologne, Germany. I've been here before, liked it, and figured I'd stop again to see Germany's "best" Christmas market. I'd love to meet the person who decided that, so I could punch them in the stomach for wasting an entire days worth of my time. The only cool thing about the Cologne market is that it's backdrop is the Dom, the most widely visited attraction in Germany. The tree is big, but not that much bigger than the one At Marienplatz in Munich. There were considerably less booths than Nurnberg. Worst of all, only one currywurst stand! Perhaps if I visited the Cologne market first and didn't see any others, I would've loved it, but it was not even close to as good as Nurnberg.
I'll miss Germany. When I originally planned my trip in my head, I had no intention on spending much time at all in Germany. I had a very negative perception of the people and the German lifestyle. My perception couldn't have been any further from reality. German's are extremely nice and helpful. They don't mind speaking English with you. The infrastructure is excellent and well kept. The cities are extremely safe. It's cheap compared to the rest of industrialized Europe. Overall, Germany is a great place and I look forward to coming back again someday!
Prost Germany!
I came back to Munich/Germany for a few reasons. The first was to pick up a Christmas gift for my brother, but the second was to attend one of Germany's world famous Christmas markets. After befriending a girl in Bruges who lives in Munich and hearing all about how awesome the Munich market is, I decided I had to come back one more time to check it out. She was right, the Christmas market is incredible. There are actually several different ones in Munich, but the big one is Munchen Christkindlmarkt in the main shopping district of Marienplatz. There's another one at Theresienwiese, the site of Oktoberfest, but it's much smaller. You can find a little bit of everything Christmasy at the market. There's around 150 booths set up that sell wine, beer, bratwursts, wood carvings, Christmas ornaments, trees, clothing, and more. Everything is also decorated so well with lights that it really gets you in the Christmas spirit.
Originally I was only planning to spend that one night in Germany and then make my way to France, but after the Christmas market I met an Australian girl who told me if I liked the Munich market a lot, I need to go to the one in Nurnberg which is supposedly the biggest one in Germany. Since Nurnberg is only an hour from Munich, I was sold on the idea pretty easily.
Early the next morning (it was actually noon but that was early for me!), I jumped on the train bound for Nurnberg. I had no idea where the market was, what's in Nurnberg besides the market, and how to get there. Luckily when arriving in Nurnberg, there was just enough signage to direct me in the direction I needed to go to find the market. The Nurnberg market has about 250 booths, and the vendors sell similar items to the ones in Munich. The Nurnberg Kinderweinnacht is renowned for it's woodworks, Glühwein, and a girl who wanders around town dressed in gold with a crown on to spread Christmas cheer. The woodworks were pretty cool. There were some crazy complex and cool Nativity scenes built by master craftsmen, and if they weren't so darn expensive, I would have bought one. Glühwein is a hot wine that is popular in Bavaria during Christmas time. It's also the patron drink of the Nurnberg Christmas market. It sounds awful, but I had to try it (plus I wanted the commemorative mug). Verdict...it tastes as bad as it sounds. At least
it warmed me up for a brief period of time. Finally, the Christmas cheer girl. Every two years, the city of Nurnberg crowns a young girl to spread Christmas cheer amongst the people. She wears a gold dress and a gold crown and is easily recognizable. I was kind of creeped out at first when hearing about Christmas cheer girl, but she was the star of the show. This girl took so many pictures with people, and was so good with all the kids that it honestly made you a little more cheerful for the season. Overall, I loved the Nurnberg market. Better than the one in Munich...minus the glühwein.
After visiting the Munich and Nurnberg Christmas markets, I was hooked. When I got back to the hostel that night, I looked up the best Christmas markets in Germany, because I was determined to see a few more before heading to Paris. I decided to stop in Frankfurt, because I hadn't been there yet, it's really close to several big cities, and the Cologne market, allegedly the best in Germany, is just over an hour away. Frankfurt was a surprisingly cool city. The only reason most people go to Frankfurt is for the airport, the only one in Germany capable of handling large volumes of international flights. The city has a very modern skyline and is an important business hub for the Eurozone. It's clean, pretty, and safe all this despite staying in a scuzzy location; where I was solicited by a hooker which I found insulting because she was pushing 60. The Christmas market was also much better than what people said. After a bad glühwein experience, I decided to jump back in the saddle (and conversely off the wagon?) and try it again. Good thing because it was much better the second time around. I also consumed my last currywurst in Frankfurt which I must confess was a bittersweet moment for me. I've got to figure out how to make them when I get home. All in all, Frankfurt was great and it was probably the most livable German city I visited (few tourists, cheap, good jobs, international airport, etc.).
My final Christmas market stop was in Cologne, Germany. I've been here before, liked it, and figured I'd stop again to see Germany's "best" Christmas market. I'd love to meet the person who decided that, so I could punch them in the stomach for wasting an entire days worth of my time. The only cool thing about the Cologne market is that it's backdrop is the Dom, the most widely visited attraction in Germany. The tree is big, but not that much bigger than the one At Marienplatz in Munich. There were considerably less booths than Nurnberg. Worst of all, only one currywurst stand! Perhaps if I visited the Cologne market first and didn't see any others, I would've loved it, but it was not even close to as good as Nurnberg.
I'll miss Germany. When I originally planned my trip in my head, I had no intention on spending much time at all in Germany. I had a very negative perception of the people and the German lifestyle. My perception couldn't have been any further from reality. German's are extremely nice and helpful. They don't mind speaking English with you. The infrastructure is excellent and well kept. The cities are extremely safe. It's cheap compared to the rest of industrialized Europe. Overall, Germany is a great place and I look forward to coming back again someday!
Prost Germany!
11/30/2010 Update
Guten Tag from Munich! I swear this is my last update from this place!
After leaving Cinque Terra, I went to Florence. Florence is the capital of Tuscany with quite a bit to offer, but also has a small town feel to it given that it's population is only about 400,000 people. There's plenty of intriguing stores and shopping areas in the city. The Ponte Vecchio, Florence's famous bridge, is home to the town's jewelers and gold dealers. In addition to shopping, Florentines love their food, wine (especially Chianti), and art. I hit up two popular tourist sites while there.
The Duomo Santa Maria, a huge cathedral in the middle of the city, is an impressive building. The Duomo, built between 1296 and 1436, was the first domed structure built in Europe since Roman times. The exterior is adorned with marble and absolutely dominates the skyline from many parts of the city. Strangely enough, the interior was pretty drab. Maybe I'm just used to walking into cathedrals and being blown away by the austentacious decorations, that when I go to a place without gold everywhere I feel unimpressed.
The Academy Gallery was originally founded as an art school, but currently it houses a museum with many statues, paintings, and even musical instruments. The main reason people go to the Academy though is to see the world's most famous statue; Michelangelo's David. I had read and heard a lot about the statue and how "perfect" and true to human form it is, but I was absolutely blown away by the scale of it and it's perfection. It's truly a flawless marble human being. Other than the David, the museum was kind of boring, but there were two other sections I enjoyed. One was a history in music during roughly a 100 year time period in Florence. There were a bunch of old instruments on display (restored and original pieces), an audio interface where the user could sample certain musical selections from the time period, and an interactive display that showed the differences between a piano and a harpsichord (piano strings are hit with a hammer versus harpsichord strings which are plucked). The other section I enjoyed was about storyboards. Painters used to paint long storyboard pieces that told mythological or Biblical stories when you looked at the painting. It was fun looking at the boards, coming up with my own interpretation, then reading about them to see how close I was.
There are many other sites to see in Florence, the Uffizi Gallery is extremely popular, but I really only had time for a few things and I'm kind of museumed out at this point.
Also in Florence, my friend Brad and I picked the hostel we did because they supposedly had good wifi. This was important because we really wanted to watch the Bedlam football game. It didn't turn out well, but since the game didn't come on until 2 am, it was pretty fun trying to figure out ways to occupy our time until it started. Luckily there was a Playstation 2, so we spent a significant amount of time racing and playing tennis. I went through a 1.5 liter of Coke to keep myself awake until it ended just before 6 am. Pretty sure everyone else at the hostel was really confused about what we were doing. Fun experience despite the outcome of the game that we'll be able to talk about for years to come.
After Florence, I had every intention of going to Venice, but it was pouring down rain the day I was supposed to go, and Venice turns into a swamp when it rains, so I decided to postpone that idea. Next trip!
Ching Ching!
After leaving Cinque Terra, I went to Florence. Florence is the capital of Tuscany with quite a bit to offer, but also has a small town feel to it given that it's population is only about 400,000 people. There's plenty of intriguing stores and shopping areas in the city. The Ponte Vecchio, Florence's famous bridge, is home to the town's jewelers and gold dealers. In addition to shopping, Florentines love their food, wine (especially Chianti), and art. I hit up two popular tourist sites while there.
The Duomo Santa Maria, a huge cathedral in the middle of the city, is an impressive building. The Duomo, built between 1296 and 1436, was the first domed structure built in Europe since Roman times. The exterior is adorned with marble and absolutely dominates the skyline from many parts of the city. Strangely enough, the interior was pretty drab. Maybe I'm just used to walking into cathedrals and being blown away by the austentacious decorations, that when I go to a place without gold everywhere I feel unimpressed.
The Academy Gallery was originally founded as an art school, but currently it houses a museum with many statues, paintings, and even musical instruments. The main reason people go to the Academy though is to see the world's most famous statue; Michelangelo's David. I had read and heard a lot about the statue and how "perfect" and true to human form it is, but I was absolutely blown away by the scale of it and it's perfection. It's truly a flawless marble human being. Other than the David, the museum was kind of boring, but there were two other sections I enjoyed. One was a history in music during roughly a 100 year time period in Florence. There were a bunch of old instruments on display (restored and original pieces), an audio interface where the user could sample certain musical selections from the time period, and an interactive display that showed the differences between a piano and a harpsichord (piano strings are hit with a hammer versus harpsichord strings which are plucked). The other section I enjoyed was about storyboards. Painters used to paint long storyboard pieces that told mythological or Biblical stories when you looked at the painting. It was fun looking at the boards, coming up with my own interpretation, then reading about them to see how close I was.
There are many other sites to see in Florence, the Uffizi Gallery is extremely popular, but I really only had time for a few things and I'm kind of museumed out at this point.
Also in Florence, my friend Brad and I picked the hostel we did because they supposedly had good wifi. This was important because we really wanted to watch the Bedlam football game. It didn't turn out well, but since the game didn't come on until 2 am, it was pretty fun trying to figure out ways to occupy our time until it started. Luckily there was a Playstation 2, so we spent a significant amount of time racing and playing tennis. I went through a 1.5 liter of Coke to keep myself awake until it ended just before 6 am. Pretty sure everyone else at the hostel was really confused about what we were doing. Fun experience despite the outcome of the game that we'll be able to talk about for years to come.
After Florence, I had every intention of going to Venice, but it was pouring down rain the day I was supposed to go, and Venice turns into a swamp when it rains, so I decided to postpone that idea. Next trip!
Ching Ching!
Sunday, December 26, 2010
11/27/2010 Update
Greetings from Cinque Terra, Italy! I've put a lot of miles in since my last update. The best of those miles was between Naples and Florence when the train goes 300 kph (roughly 186 mph). Pretty awesome especially with Naples in the rearview mirror.
My first stop after Rome was in Sorrento, Italy. Sorrento is a coastal town on the Mediterranean Sea. There aren't really any beaches here, because the majority of the town sits atop high cliffs over the water. The views are amazing, and I can see Naples, Mount Vesuvius, and Pompeii across the bay. I picked Sorrento mainly because I wanted to visit Pompeii, and I did not want to stay in Naples. Naples is a pretty disgusting place. There's constant trash strikes, tons of gypsies, and pretty much everyone ignores all laws. You would think that as a libertarian it would be a dream come true. Not so.
Ever since I studied Pompeii in school I have wanted to go. For those unaware, Pompeii was a town that was buried almost 2,000 years ago by volcanic ash and pumice from a massive eruption at Mount Vesuvius. The initial eruption "rained" 2-3 meters of ash on the city in a matter of hours, and killed people either by collapsing their homes on them or through asphyxiation from the toxic fumes. After everyone died, Vesuvius further buried the town under another 3 meters of ash and pumice. For you English measurements people, that's roughly 18 feet of ash! The result was that Pompeii went undiscovered for centuries, and when it finally was discovered, everything was well preserved because of all that ash. Enough of the history lesson. Pompeii was a huge city and I greatly underestimated the size of it when I first arrived. The coolest thing about Pompeii is that since everything is so well preserved, your imagination runs wild thinking about the daily activities of ancient Pompeiians. My favorite sites within Pompeii were the amphitheater (seating capacity of 20,000), the restaurant (where Pompeiians would gather for food and socializing), the theater, and the brothel; with it's colorful "artwork."
I left Sorrento the day after Pompeii for Lucca, Italy. Lucca is in the heart of Tuscany and Italian wine country. Aside from world renowned wine, the city features 3 sets of city walls which aren't only really cool, but also help keep traffic to minimum. After being in Rome, that was a pleasant surprise. The city center features cool shopping, tight, picturesque Italian streets, and cafés. The old city walls have been turned into walking paths and parks which provide a great opportunity to rent a bike and ride around them; which I took full advantage of. Overall, Lucca was nice, relaxing, laid back, and far less touristy than most other places in Tuscany.
After leaving Lucca, I made my way to Monterosso, Italy which is in an area known as Cinque Terra. Cinque Terra, a UNESCO site, is made up of five (duh) cities on the northwestern Italian coast with unrivaled views, unbelievable hiking, and no cars (walking is the only method of transportation). My friends and I stayed at an agriturismo where the farm produces grapes for wine, olives for oil, lemons for lemoncello, and various other fruits. Upon arrival, we quickly noticed that our accommodations had no heat. That's not uncommon in Europe, but we knew it was going to be cold the 3 nights we were there. Luckily, we had a fire place so my buddy Brad and I quickly focused our attention on starting a fire (mostly because all real men love playing with fire). Starting this fire was a headache. First, we had no matches and no lighter so we resorted to lighting magazines (and later cardboard) on fire using the gas stove in the kitchen and running through the dining room to the fireplace. Second, we had no way of knowing whether or not the flue was open, so after filling the room with smoke several times, we learned that smoke in the room means the flue is closed. Third, we had limited wood so we found ourselves hiking through the farm looking for wood (I wish I could tell you we Paul Bunyaned a tree but we found wood pretty easily). Even though it was a headache at the time, it was a pretty hilarious adventure I'm retrospect.
Our first full day in Cinque Terra, we decided to hike the trail from Monterosso to Reggiomare. It's about a five hour hike or so we thought. Only one of the four trails we had to take was officially open due to heavy rain. The first two trails we took were in good shape, but halfway through the third leg, we got stuck because the mountain had washed out creating a landslide. It was a big disappointment to me to have hiked roughly 4/5 of the way only to get stuck at the end, but it was still a fun, beautiful, and tiresomely good time!
Our final day in Cinque Terra was Thanksgiving! Even though I couldn't be home with my family, there's far worse places to spend the holiday then Monterosso. My friends and I had decided previously that we were going to try our hardest to prepare a traditional Thanksgiving meal. This was not an easy task. We were able to find potatoes, green beans, desert, and even substitute chestnuts (which we roasted on the fire of course) with relative ease, but finding turkey was turning out to be a huge problem. We had no oven and Cinque Terra has tiny grocery stores, so we were getting close to abandoning hope in this wild turkey chase and settling for a turkey substitute or an Italian Thanksgiving meal of pasta. As luck would have it, there was a market going on in town Thursday morning and of all things, there was a guy who had 3 precooked turkeys waiting when we arrived. It was like manna from Heaven. We quickly snatched it up along with a few other things and later that evening we all enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
Cinque Terra was amazing and now my favorite place I've been on the trip. Lucca was worth a days time and Pompeii as well.
Ching ching!
My first stop after Rome was in Sorrento, Italy. Sorrento is a coastal town on the Mediterranean Sea. There aren't really any beaches here, because the majority of the town sits atop high cliffs over the water. The views are amazing, and I can see Naples, Mount Vesuvius, and Pompeii across the bay. I picked Sorrento mainly because I wanted to visit Pompeii, and I did not want to stay in Naples. Naples is a pretty disgusting place. There's constant trash strikes, tons of gypsies, and pretty much everyone ignores all laws. You would think that as a libertarian it would be a dream come true. Not so.
Ever since I studied Pompeii in school I have wanted to go. For those unaware, Pompeii was a town that was buried almost 2,000 years ago by volcanic ash and pumice from a massive eruption at Mount Vesuvius. The initial eruption "rained" 2-3 meters of ash on the city in a matter of hours, and killed people either by collapsing their homes on them or through asphyxiation from the toxic fumes. After everyone died, Vesuvius further buried the town under another 3 meters of ash and pumice. For you English measurements people, that's roughly 18 feet of ash! The result was that Pompeii went undiscovered for centuries, and when it finally was discovered, everything was well preserved because of all that ash. Enough of the history lesson. Pompeii was a huge city and I greatly underestimated the size of it when I first arrived. The coolest thing about Pompeii is that since everything is so well preserved, your imagination runs wild thinking about the daily activities of ancient Pompeiians. My favorite sites within Pompeii were the amphitheater (seating capacity of 20,000), the restaurant (where Pompeiians would gather for food and socializing), the theater, and the brothel; with it's colorful "artwork."
I left Sorrento the day after Pompeii for Lucca, Italy. Lucca is in the heart of Tuscany and Italian wine country. Aside from world renowned wine, the city features 3 sets of city walls which aren't only really cool, but also help keep traffic to minimum. After being in Rome, that was a pleasant surprise. The city center features cool shopping, tight, picturesque Italian streets, and cafés. The old city walls have been turned into walking paths and parks which provide a great opportunity to rent a bike and ride around them; which I took full advantage of. Overall, Lucca was nice, relaxing, laid back, and far less touristy than most other places in Tuscany.
After leaving Lucca, I made my way to Monterosso, Italy which is in an area known as Cinque Terra. Cinque Terra, a UNESCO site, is made up of five (duh) cities on the northwestern Italian coast with unrivaled views, unbelievable hiking, and no cars (walking is the only method of transportation). My friends and I stayed at an agriturismo where the farm produces grapes for wine, olives for oil, lemons for lemoncello, and various other fruits. Upon arrival, we quickly noticed that our accommodations had no heat. That's not uncommon in Europe, but we knew it was going to be cold the 3 nights we were there. Luckily, we had a fire place so my buddy Brad and I quickly focused our attention on starting a fire (mostly because all real men love playing with fire). Starting this fire was a headache. First, we had no matches and no lighter so we resorted to lighting magazines (and later cardboard) on fire using the gas stove in the kitchen and running through the dining room to the fireplace. Second, we had no way of knowing whether or not the flue was open, so after filling the room with smoke several times, we learned that smoke in the room means the flue is closed. Third, we had limited wood so we found ourselves hiking through the farm looking for wood (I wish I could tell you we Paul Bunyaned a tree but we found wood pretty easily). Even though it was a headache at the time, it was a pretty hilarious adventure I'm retrospect.
Our first full day in Cinque Terra, we decided to hike the trail from Monterosso to Reggiomare. It's about a five hour hike or so we thought. Only one of the four trails we had to take was officially open due to heavy rain. The first two trails we took were in good shape, but halfway through the third leg, we got stuck because the mountain had washed out creating a landslide. It was a big disappointment to me to have hiked roughly 4/5 of the way only to get stuck at the end, but it was still a fun, beautiful, and tiresomely good time!
Our final day in Cinque Terra was Thanksgiving! Even though I couldn't be home with my family, there's far worse places to spend the holiday then Monterosso. My friends and I had decided previously that we were going to try our hardest to prepare a traditional Thanksgiving meal. This was not an easy task. We were able to find potatoes, green beans, desert, and even substitute chestnuts (which we roasted on the fire of course) with relative ease, but finding turkey was turning out to be a huge problem. We had no oven and Cinque Terra has tiny grocery stores, so we were getting close to abandoning hope in this wild turkey chase and settling for a turkey substitute or an Italian Thanksgiving meal of pasta. As luck would have it, there was a market going on in town Thursday morning and of all things, there was a guy who had 3 precooked turkeys waiting when we arrived. It was like manna from Heaven. We quickly snatched it up along with a few other things and later that evening we all enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
Cinque Terra was amazing and now my favorite place I've been on the trip. Lucca was worth a days time and Pompeii as well.
Ching ching!
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