The Great White North

Here's what I miss when I am in Germany.

Great quotation

“I always wonder why birds choose to stay in the same place when they can fly anywhere on the earth, then I ask myself the same question.”

― Harun Yahya

Konbanwa

Well I'm not sure if anyone's still reading but I felt like sending my Japanese-learning process out into the void of the Internet. I'm learning some in preparation for my trip to Japan next year.

So I have gone through Hiragana and Katakana (storing the latter one in the back of my mind, where it will be mostly neglected for now) and while I still need to look them up sometimes, it is coming along enough that I am getting my feet wet with some Kanji and grammar.

I think the most fascinating part of this language so far is how the approach is really entirely different than the languages I am used to. I didn't really think too much about the symbols in Japanese but now that I am looking into it, I guess I didn't quite expect to be faced with this difference.

So, with any European language, you basically have an alphabet and you build words out of that. More or less, even if you need to remember stupid and inconsistent rules, you can figure out how to pronounce the words.

Not in Japanese! Now, it is obvious that these symbols can't convey the pronunciation but what I was unprepared for is that even the combination of symbols is not consistent. Take, for example, the Japanese word for adult, 大人. This word is comprised of two Kanji, the one for "big" and the one for "person". Now, I already learned that person is pronounced hito, yet adult is pronounced otona.

German is frustrating because there are extraordinarily large words, which can be difficult for the novice to break down (see: Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz) but at least it is possible. With Japanese, every Kanji can have multiple readings, which means that you can't reliably build worlds like in the other languages I know.

More concisely, the spoken word seems to be divorced from the written word. Of course, there are the already-mentioned other two alphabets, which, in fact, do allow you to spell words out phonetically but apparently that would lead to too many collisions (who cares - English has a million).

Anyway, it's an adventure.

Business travel

I got home last night from 4 days in Düsseldorf. We hit the ground running with the new company and after 1 day of getting set up, we were on the road and travelling again away from the familiarity of my own bed.

I always thought it would be so cool to travel on business. Even though Felicity sometimes said she was too busy to see the sights, it sounded awesome anyway that you could go to France or Germany or even Japan and have somebody else foot the bill... but now I see that it isn't actually all that cool after all.

Don't get me wrong: it wasn't a bad experience in terms of work or meeting colleagues. Rather, it wasn't anything like travelling for fun. The transportation and accommodations are out of your control and are only made to facilitate the business to be conducted: you drive straight to the company, work, and go to your place to sleep. Meals were eaten at local hang-outs, which can be a mixed blessing. It was essentially a normal work week but in a different office, where I slept in a bed that wasn't mine.

It'd probably be a little different to have business in a really cool city or country but unless you have a weekend in there somewhere, it's probably going to always be strictly business. Again, it was a great experience from a work perspective - we got a lot done, learned many things, and made great contacts - but it does make me realise that a job involving travel probably wouldn't be something to dream about.

Instead, it reinforces my current choice: live somewhere you enjoy, where you can work to afford travelling to the cool places you want to go to on your own terms!

Calling Canadians

I just got off the phone with Mountain Equipment Co-op. I was inquiring about renting cross country skis at some point during the Christmas break.

Every time I call some store or support line in Canada, I am always happy to hear the friendly Canadian on the other end. It's like a breath of fresh air in the cold German social world. It's not that Germans aren't friendly, it's just that Canadians are a million times friendlier. I get the same feeling when I step onto an Air Canada plane in Frankfurt airport. Incidentally, the girl I met on the train home through Germany actually asked me if we take special classes as children to learn how to engage in small-talk, so foreign was the concept to her German psyche.

I was just telling (Jewish) Mike (sorry, Mike, that's how you're identified) that I should call up random stores and support lines each day to boost my mood. I could call up Futureshop and ask if they have some obscure electronic device that doesn't even exist or maybe call CIBC and tell them I'm interested in opening a savings account and would like to know my options.

Oh, yes, I am interested in hearing more aboot a Rogers cable subscription. Do tell.

Trips that change things in your life

I always say that one of the best parts about travelling is when it makes a change to your normal, every day life. Of course, travelling can change you in huge ways: Vancouver had a major role in developing who I am today but I am talking about the small things from the smaller trips you make.

Before I went to Turkey, I had never tried drinking tea. Now, I drink it sometimes often and sometimes every so often. Much more impactful was the discovery of Turkish cheese. I ate it every morning for breakfast, with my bread and meat, and loved it so much that I continue to buy it all the time from the local Turkish grocery store, here in Wiesbaden. It's a staple of my breakfast and I've even introduced other people to it too. Had I not gone to Turkey, I would have never known about this great food, which has become an integral part of my life!

So what am I getting at? Well, this change is not so exciting but it is an interesting experiment to me. The iPhone battery sucks. I know it. You know it. Steve Jobs's corpse knows it. So one thing I did before I left was changed some settings to make the battery last longer. I always want to know when I have email, just because, well, you know, I mean, well, if it's there, I've got to read it. Why wouldn't I? Well, I changed the instant delivery of emails not even to the time-based setting but to manual.

It might sound small and insignificant but in today's crazy electronic world, it's a big deal for me. It basically changes the whole way I consume emails. Instead of demanding my attention at any given moment, I am now reading emails when I choose to read emails.

The natural decision would have been to turn instant emails back on upon getting home but I'm going to try to keep this one connection to the electronic world severed. Maybe I won't know about everything instantly but I managed to live well into this decade without ever having that option before.

Trips don't have to just introduce you to new foods or interests. They can also change your habits, introduce you to new people, or even give you a desire to move to a new place and turn your life upside-down. It's about breaking out of your routine and out of your bubble.

Gott sei Dank

Review: it is going to be awesome.

365

So I recorded about 365 km of walking on my entire trip. That doesn't include all walking, of course. I don't track much under 1 km and I obviously never track indoors.

Anyway, from the 28th to the 28th, that's 31 days, meaning I walked an average of 12 km per day. Not too shabby. I think the most I walked in a single day was around 20 km.

I spent around 81 hours walking in October, which is about 3 1/3 days of solid walking. If you think about it, that's less than a third of the time I spent sleeping, so I'm actually pretty lazy.

Everything works out

Well here I was, bored out of my tree, thinking the train would never end, when the worst happens: the train drove over something and came to a halt! The man across from me keenly observed the obvious in the way only a German can, das kann nicht gut sein, as smoke or dust followed the loud noise of whatever it was we crushed. No, that can't be good at all. The loudspeaker informed us that the train was damaged to the point that it could no longer drive with any speed. Great, I thought, I will never get to sleep in my bed!

Well, as has been very well established, there is always good in bad. As we limped back to the station, a slower intercity train pulled into the station. We all hurried across the platform to search, futilely, for an open seat. Seeing that there were none and having spotted a fellow backpacker from the now deceased train, I made my way into the hallway and tried to make conversation. Turns out she was on her way to the airport to fly to Thailand!

So while the trip seemed doomed to boredom, this disaster actually delivered an interesting conversation partner. Though I got home later than I expected, the journey was a lot more entertaining and there's a story to tell. It also gave me the opportunity stop over in Frankfurt and get my favourite sausage. And it was a good re-entry to Germany, as the conversation was, naturally, entirely in German. East Germans especially have trouble with English (and have very little exposure to North American popular culture, much less than the average German), so it's a lot easier to speak German with them - and I'm in Germany afterall. Don't worry: she made the flight.

And how great it was to round all the familiar train stations, finally pulling into Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof. I stepped off the train, looked around, and breathed in a deep breath: home! I opted to walk home to take in the sights of my beautiful city and bask in the feeling of familiarity. How great it was to walk home, obeying every traffic light but that one that nobody obeys. As I approached it and waited for the cars to pass, I glanced anxiously at the fellow German across from me, knowing we were about to break the one rule no German is permitted to break. We stepped out onto the pavement as rebels, criminals, disorderly citizens. And there before me was the Fußgängerzone, the European dream I live in.

Traveling is great but there's no place like home. I'm now sitting on my couch, having sifted through all the junk mail. Evidently, tigers and black people are still dying and all the money I've donated to charity this year has been pointless. Well, I guess I better send more.

Various chores await but only one thing of import is on my mind today and that is the sweet, sweet comfort of my own bed.

The trip must not end

Well our train ran over something on the way home. Now the train is broken. After half an hour of sitting around, they have informed us that we will limp back to the previous station and will have to take other trains.

It's going to be a late night.

Ah, complaining about train delays. I missed you, Germany. You suck, Deutsche Bahn!!

Haribo

I got in much better shape over this last month. Good thing there was time to stop at the Rewe. Candy explosion.

Über alles

As I am sending this, I have made it back to Germany and have 3G Internet again. Hurray! The trip from Prague to Germany was beautiful. We followed a nice river the whole way, which was dotted with colourful houses and green hills. It would be quite wonderful to come canoeing on this river, I think.

As I make my way home, I thought I'd write some random things that I either forgot to write or which just didn't fit in anywhere. These things will appear in point form and in no real order.

- English people are definitely the most well mannered people in Europe by a long shot.

- Spain, surprisingly, had the worst service in restaurants of all countries I went to. It was worse than Germany.

- Italian people actually say "mama mia!" for real.

- Jellyfish are the creepiest thing and confirm by belief that the ocean is evil.

- Life is hard for the French.

- Italians take a sick pleasure out of getting trapped between doors

- This is a pretty interesting quotation.

- Had to change trains in Empoli, some small town in Italy. I saw this awesome pizza place:

- Traveling alone is incredibly lonely at times but it also frees you to do anything you want, such as not wasting time on eating or going to the bathroom. All things considered, I would still recommend traveling with someone.

- Fall is still a high tourist time in the southern countries!

- Southern Spain is infested with flies.

- Americans have an unfair reputation as the worst tourists. Germans are definitely up there. In October (they have Fall break cause school is hard for Germans), swarms of Germans cover every part of Southern Europe and they don't have much in the way of manners. Rome had more Germans than Italians in some areas.

- Even English tourists are very polite.

- Some ticket checkers have no clue what an InterRail pass is. You could hand them toilet paper with InterRail in crayon and they would inspect it very thoroughly with a very serious face and then hand it back to you with a "thank you!" These guys are to be found in the south and the east.

- Some ticket checkers are nazis. These guys inhabit the centre and the north.

- In some old trains in Italy, you can see the train tracks through the toilet. Relieving oneself in the train station is forbidden with good cause.

- Taking a train through the alps is as beautiful as they say.

- Monaco sucks.

- Gibraltar is cool but not set up for tourists at all.

- Postage costs the most in Italy, at 2€ for an international stamp.

- Most useful thing to bring on a backpacking trip: hand sanitizer.

- Two things I never used once: gloves and a sweater. Still glad I took the chance.

- I met Canadians from coast to coast: BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec, and Nova Scotia. The only one with a different accent was the girl from Montréal. The least friendly? BC. Most friendly? A tie between all the rest. Canadians are great.

- Someone had a dog in the hostel in Rome.

- I met a Dutch guy who was just in Barrie the week before for a wedding.

- I learned to not leave any tip at all in Spain and Italy, which is normal.

- I walked over 300km during this trip. I will figure out a more precise total at home.

- The InterRail details page contained exactly enough space for the trains I took. Weird.

- Secret detail above: Still wearing sandals! (I have worn shoes on a few days)

The most important thing to know is that the best experiences come on their own. Be flexible and don't plan too much. Avoid cars and the metro: walk in a general direction and discover the best experiences of your trip. Meet locals or fellow travelers and form new friendships or learn about that one restaurant you wouldn't have known about. Have an open mind and be willing to accept setbacks and failure. There's always a positive side to be found in every mis-step or catastrophe. Be an explorer.

Thanks everyone for reading and commenting. It made it less lonely and more enjoyable to know people were drinking their coffee and reading about my crazy adventures. Next crazy adventure? A Christmas trip to the sub-zero frozen arctic tundra of Barrie, Ontario.

So Czech people are like Germans

Rude! I returned to that delicious restaurant because the pizza looked fantastic and asked politely if it was possible to get tap water. What followed was certainly the loudest sigh I have ever heard. The woman was utterly disgusted with my question. Gee, sorry I don't want to pay for your idiot pretend water from a glacier or whatever. I'm about to order an appetizer and a pizza, so you're going to get your money (but your tip is in question).

I didn't take a photo of my salad but it wasn't my thing anyway. It was clearly good but the cheese with it was not my kind of cheese. I also don't need a repeat bread picture. I ordered a pizza with chicken and some different cheeses. I don't often take chicken on my pizza but I felt a bit like chicken tonight (like chicken tonight!), so I thought why not?

Actually, the pizza was not as good as I expected. It was mostly good except for the gooey cheese, which tasted like that cheap American stuff. It made me feel sick to my stomach after eating it. But the rest tasted good.

Unfortunately, a young chain-smoking 20-something year old girl (what the heck) said at the next table over and tried her best to kill me. Eastern Europe is pretty behind on the smoking laws and it's unbelievable that someone so young would be a chain smoker. Great country to visit but bad to live in.

I heard from an Ontario girl at the hostel that black people shouldn't go out of the main tourist area of Prague. People always think fondly of the past but come out east and realise it'd be like living with your grandfather. (clarification for family: I think we all know which grandfather I'm turning around to talk about - "when did you come from Jamaica?")

Anyway, I took the opportunity tonight to have a look at Prague by night. The river and castle area are rather underwhelming but the old town has a wonderful and magical feeling to it. Still, I'd say the city is overall better by day.

Also, the clocks went back last night.

Praguemattic

This is a world class city! It feels a lot like what I'd imagine Germany looked like, before they started a war and got their country burned down. From the moment I got off the train until today, I've been awed by the architecture and scenery. Prague manages to keep a lot of green and blue in the city, thanks to the big river and all the parkland and trees. Throw in the red roofs and you've got a masterpiece on the level of Wien and Paris.

Yesterday, I did the whole tour thing and looked around the city, including the castle district and old town areas. I also had an excellent dinner at an Italian restaurant on a boat, recommended by the tour guide.

There was free bread, which came with a delicious herb butter:

Then came my appetizer, Tuscan salami, olives, and salad:

I ate some before I took the picture. Sorry. Same goes for my penne all'arabbiata:

It was all excellent, as excellent as the view of the castle:

And it was just 21€, with a juice and a tea. The only negative part was when the waiter spilled an entire hot, foamy drink all over my shoulder, arm, and backpack, and was more concerned with cleaning it up than with having spilled it on me. I was all ready to tell him it was no big deal but he never really cared anyway. Oh well. I am tempted to go back today for the pizza.

I think I managed to rest away and sleep off the illness that was attacking me because I feel a lot better today. Rather than search for touristy things to do, I decided to explore the city on my own terms - Geocaching! I found about 8 caches today, by 3pm or so. The best part is that it allowed me to discover an excellent park, where fall was in full effect.

There was that nice fall wind, not cold but windy enough to be blowing the leaves every which way. It was really great. One Geocache was even set up to bring you to a little traveled great viewing point in the park, where you could observe the whole city.

Later, I actually ended up looking for a Geocache on an island and running into two strange Czechs who were doing the exact same thing. We all pretended to just be walking by but I took the step of initiating an international effort of cooperation to locate the cache. For the record, I made the find in the end!

So now I am resting a little, planning to take a tea and read maybe for a short while or try to give Danielle a call, before I go out again to see Prague at night. It is supposed to be quite beautiful when it is all lit up at night. I think any city on a river is especially that way.

Prague's definitely a must-see and I can give you a restaurant recommendation to boot. I'll come back here for the opera or a concert some day. Somehow, I think the fall colours really bring out the colours in the city, though. I wonder how it looks otherwise. I bet it's great in the winter, under a blanket of snow.

Tea time.

Inferiority complex

Well, after 15 minutes of walking from the train station to my hostel, I can say for certain that Prague is about 40 million times better than Bratislava. I see now why the tour guide was always trying to say Slovakia was better than Czech: because it isn't.

Why did they even separate? It'd be like if Charolettetown was like, oh we're totally better than Toronto and are making PEI its own country. We'd be like... bye.

Bratislava sucks

My train is delayed by 45 minutes (originally 40), which means I'll get in after 11:30. Not only that but the previous train was delayed 80 minutes and was just leaving as I arrived, so I don't have high hopes for this one.

Man oh man is this train station ghetto. And this is the main station for their capital city.

At 18:01, I am prepared to declare that the entire nation of Slovakia sucks. (even if they are the only European country I've been to where hockey is the national sport)

P.S. Slovakia sucks.

Brati-sucks-a

Well my first impression upon arriving in the train station last night was that I had taken a train back in time. After crossing the ghetto to get to my hostel, I realised this morning that the whole city is a ghetto.

There are some relatively nice bits in the old town but much like East Germany, the communists worked hard to destroy everything and build up the ugliest stuff they could think of. In fact, something like 70% of the old town was destroyed by the communists. They decided to leave Prague as the classic, old city and to make Bratislava the new, modern city. But this is new and modern by Soviet standards, so it's actually old and ghetto.

They've got a castle up on the hill but a highway divides it and the old cathedral.

I found a Geocache near there. At least they've got that. They also have Europe's ugliest bridge:

And then there's the Blue Church:

Yes, they were serious about the name.

Anyway, as a Western European, I am forced to turn my nose at this place, much like a Vancouverite might do upon visiting London, Ontario. But the people I've met have been super nice, so maybe the comparison is even more valid (stuck up, snobby Vancouver people vs. real, nice Ontario people).

I forgot to take a picture but I had a meal with three people I met in the free tour (the tour guide was only a 20 year old girl but seemed to know everything - finally a tour guide who was an enthusiastic native!) for less than 18€ - and I'm talking the total for everyone, with drinks. Crazy.

The only unfriendly person I met so far was the post office lady but I guess "going postal" didn't get made up from nowhere.

Well in under two hours, I've got a four hour trip to the last stop - Prague. Then it's almost time to rejoin the real world. What a trip it's been. Too bad I am coming down with a bit of something as I approach the finish line.

Eastern Europe

Met some black guys from Somalia at the hostel. One lives in the town and the other guy is visiting from Norway. He said despite having the money, his friend was refused from every hotel he went to. They have another friend who just got into town and he also has been rejected from two hotels so far. Yes, I have truly arrived in Eastern Europe. Cue the Soviet anthem.

Also, they said Bratislava sucks and isn't nice looking at all. And they're from Somalia.

Good thing I'm going to Prague tomorrow!

Here's the view from my window:

More Alps photos

Well it looks like the train passes through the bottom corner of Germany, so I can splurge on data.

It's flattened out a little since we've hit Bavaria, which is a shame but for a long time, I was just seeing view after view!

Also, I am very hungry.

Gerade im Zug

I've been on my way for a couple hours now, cutting across Switzerland and Austria, in a mad dash for Bratislava. I didn't book anything yet, in case I don't make it. We'll see where I end up but if it doesn't work out, I'll just stay somewhere in Vienna.

I don't want to use up all my Internet posting pictures but wow wow wow is this trip amazing. We're cutting through the alps, with beautiful forested mountains and quiet villages on every side. Lake Zürich was absolutely incredible. I don't mind being in the train all this time because the trip itself is like a non-stop nature sightseeing tour!

The weather in Zürich yesterday was terrible and my delayed train meant I lost the day but rays of sunshine are always to be found everywhere and yesterday was definitely no exception.

As I was checking in, a French girl came to check in also. I thought her accent was a bit different but I asked anyway if she was from France. Actually, she was from Québec! Both of us had been traveling all day and neither of us had eaten, so I asked to join her in a search for food.

We wandered about, talking about Canada, travels, language, and politics (yes!!), and ended up settling on spaghetti. Later, we went back out to walk around the town for the rest of the night; she said she was a huge walker and both of us were convinced we could walk longer than the other. So we got back around 1am.

It was nice to have the company and was a great way to salvage the day. So now I've hung out with someone from Manitoba and someone from Québec. Tomorrow, it's gotta be Ontario.

Well, I'm going to keep staring out the window and having my mind blown.

The Alps

I got up early this morning to catch the 8am train out of Rome, direct to Milano, where I could take another train to Zürich. In typical Italian style, the Italian train was fashionably late and I didn't make the connection!

Well, it at least gave me some time to grab a piece of pizza and a doughnut. I also checked out the inside of the Milan train station, which is a palace in itself. It's massive!

I'm guessing the train to Zürich would have had its own beautiful sights but I had to take a later one to a Swiss town called Brig. The sights were amazing!! How have I not spent more time among the alps? I have no clue. Brig itself seemed to be situated in the middle of mountains. I really don't know anything about the town but I'd like to.

The trip to Zürich turned out to be pretty flat but at least we passed by Bern. I didn't get to see much from the window but it's a nice city. I guess that was about a year and a half ago since I was last there.

The bad thing is, it's pouring rain terribly so I think this city is a loss.

Roma

Well I spent the day wandering Rome. I took few pictures, since I just wanted to enjoy the atmosphere. In fact, I only took any photos atop of St. Peter's; I didn't climb up there last time. Funnily enough, the most dishonest people I've ever seen in line ups was at the Vatican. Go figure.

I also checked out the big park and I've gotta say, it's the worst big city park I've been to. In fact, Rome is really lacking in green space. I'm starting to think maybe Florence is better after all but I still don't know.

I randomly came across a place I ate last time I was here. It was a great three course meal. This time, there were no deals for courses to be had and the meat was sub-par. The rigatoni was awesome, though. And they gave me no free bread. What the heck.

I have realised that Rome is way better in February. It's still overrun even in October! You couldn't even move inside St. Peter's. And they obviously have better food deals in the off season. I would highly recommend against coming here in the summer; I don't even want to imagine it being worse than it is now.

Also, they have cleaned the coliseum since a few years ago.

After walking over 20km today, I am off to Switzerland tomorrow. I am going to bathe in the order and timeliness. But I will miss crossing traffic anywhere and any way I like. I think I haven't obeyed traffic rules in a month (Mom, don't read this paragraph).

I've had a lot of fun speaking Italian. One sandwich lady even said my Italian was good, which was one of those feel-good lies you can enjoy basking in for a few minutes until you are honest with yourself.

Ciao, Italia!

Buonasera

I realised that I haven't posted anything lately. I've been pretty tired and haven't felt like writing. I won't write much now either.

After I left Florence, I went to Monteriggione, an old medieval fortress, made famous by Assassin's Creed. It turned out the game made a lot of it up but it was still neat to check it out. I always wondered how it looked; I just wasn't prepared for it to be, like, 1/10 of the size. On the way to Rome, I dropped by Sienna, which is another really nice Tuscan town. I just spent a few hours walking around and had a great pizza. I wouldn't mind going back some day to spend some more time in Tuscany, either to bike ride or hike.

Today, I made the trip down to Pompeii. First of all, Italy is the most beautiful country in the world. My God. The mountains and sea and hills and architecture... and then you see Vesuvius, the volcano that buried Pompeii. Just amazing. I want to hike up there some say, maybe in combination with a trip to the Almafi coast.

Pompeii itself is quite interesting but difficult to appreciate without more information. It's nice to imagine how it all was and look at some of the restored houses but it would have been better with a tour or with someone who is deeply knowledgeable about the era. Still, it was cool and also something I've been wanting to see for a while.

The train ride home was again amazing. You just can't take in all the scenery. It's too amazing. I don't even know why Italians would ever need to leave Italy, other than to, you know, find jobs. (burn)

I've just been lazing around this boring hostel for a few hours, looking into final plans, etc. I booked a night in Zürich and will make my way somehow to Prague. I might pop into Bratislava for a night, as I've never been to Slovakia. I'm also hoping riding the train through Austria will be beautiful.

I was glad to meet a German guy in the hostel last night, so I could speak some German. Made me feel at home, which is too weird of a feeling to come to terms with. I'm looking forward more and more to sleeping in my own bed.

Well, I'm too lazy to post any photos, so I will just look for a random one from Pompeii.

Poor two thousand year old dead guy.

Disappointing meal in Florence!

It has long been my dream to track down one of the tastiest things I've ever eaten, some cheese and salami in Florence, at a place beside the cathedral.

I retraced my steps and found the exact place but what I was looking for was missing from the menu!!!!

Still, I decided to sit down and go all out, since the pizza I had there was also excellent. Spoiler alert: it was a bad idea.

Typical free bread to start. Unfortunately, it was old and not very good.

I got Prosciutto di Parma and grilled mozzarella but I ate it before I took a picture. Instead, you get the world's most famous failed piece of achitecture. The cheese sucked but the meat was too good for words. You could just let it sit in your mouth, absorbing the delicious flavour.

A sub-par lasagna, worse than some lasagne I've made myself. 0 points. Also, I took one bite and realised I forgot the Parmesan cheese. ;)

Meat + mozzarella. It was okay but Bruno makes better in Ingelheim, Germany.

Total price: 44.50€

Totally not worth it in any way. The weird thing is that I had substantially better food in August, at the height of tourist season. You'd think it'd be worse then.

Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow in Monteriggione, a small town in Tuscany, which was the base for Ezio in Assassin's Creed!

No better than a one-legged fox

Well I didn't make it across Monaco. I wandered around for 11km but that city is laid out insanely and absolutely not pedestrian friendly. I was glad to abandon that fool's mission and leave town.

Also, it seems the iPhone threw out a lot of my panoramas again. Go Apple.

Heading off to Pisa tomorrow.

Catching up

I'm going to adapt my saved but unsubmitted Sevilla / arrived in Gibraltar post and add to it with the last days' info.

At first when I was arriving at the border to Gibraltar, it was a little bit worrying, since I couldn't book in advance, but I had faith that everything'd work out and it did. I wasn't sure that I'd know which way to go but you really can't take a wrong turn with this as your guide:

Walking across the border was a breeze (and not just because we're on the sea heh heh), despite news about tensions between the UK and Spain, resulting in border blockages. The hostel was a total dump (major understatement) but it is the only one, so whatever. I didn't die in my sleep, so my minimum requirements were met.

The trip to Seville was nice. There are some great buildings and sights to see there. Like other Spanish cities, I was glad to give it just that part day and move on. Still, it is the second best Spanish city I've been on in this trip.

You ought to see the Spanish Plaza with your own eyes. The architecture is amazing and the atmosphere was abuzz with all the locals and tourists alike enjoying their Sunday. You can definitely get a sense of the Arab influence as you walk through the city (Spain was conquered by the Arabs for a while). I checked out the palace, which was alright.

Now I'll skip forward, past Gibraltar, since I think I already posted a bit on that. Yesterday, I spent the day in Valencia. This city redeemed Spain for me. Although I spent a lot of time on the beach outside of town, just walking through the city felt much better than any other Spanish city I've been too. Things were clean and they seemed to work. It looked like more people had a purpose, rather than just bumming around. I don't think I saw any scammy, annoying people who torment the tourist areas. I would go back to Valencia and would also put it above Barcelona. I didn't take any pictures; I just relaxed.

Speaking of Barcelona, I had an hour to kill there today. I travelled a long, long way today (all day), to the French city of Avignon (oh, France, je t'aime). I sped out of the train station to get some exercise (and find a post card for Natalia, of course!) and happened upon the museum of art. I don't know how we missed this part of the city when I went with Andreas and Elon. There were some really great sights.

It seems my panorama didn't save. Oh well. I think Barcelona is a city I'd visit again too, since I only have good memories of that city.

So tomorrow I will check out Avignon. Walking out of the train station was pretty cool (and not just because I finally escaped the 11 hours of trains). There before me was the gate to the city walls, which encircle the entire old town. So I can sleep well tonight: no invading armies shall breach these walls!

Avignon was the home of the Pope for a short time and is supposedly a very beautiful city. Depending on how long I stay here, I will either check out Monte Carlo afterwards or tomorrow morning. In either case, I will sleep in Nice tomorrow.

I'm playing with the idea of a stop in Pisa. We'll see how the week develops but I want to see Pompeii and maybe kick around Rome a bit. I've got to get back to Germany at some point, of course. It's funny but I miss speaking German. It was fun to meet a retired Austrian couple in the hostel in Valencia.

Bonne nuit!

Living the rich man's life

So the regular tickets to Barcelona were sold out, meaning I had to pay 40€ for a first class ticket, giving me access to the fabled first class lounge.

This place is a laugh! There's super comfortable chairs, free (bad) snacks, free coffee and tea and water, and lots of people trying to look important.

They've even shaded the windows, so we don't have to look out at the common peasants, standing outside for the train like idiots! Stand there, peasants! Dream of my free packaged and disgusting croissant or my tea in a thin plastic cup! Dogs! Animals! Scum!

Anyway, today is a travel day. I will get into Avignon at the end of the day. It will be horrible but tomorrow will be great. It also means I am buying myself an undeniable chance to reach Italy. Prague can wait for another day.

Update: First class sucks. These seats are spaced so far apart that I can't rest my knees on the seat ahead of me. And there's nowhere to charge my iPhone. At least we each get our own arm rest. These people are all fools. I bet they ride first class just because they don't want to ride with commoners. Some people looked at me like you don't belong here.

European transformation complete

So I am at the beach. But my shorts aren't! Seriously, if you enjoy a bath, you would enjoy this. I don't even know why people go to the beach with clothes. It's that nice. Probably the warm water and hot sun helps. Anyway, I can only recommend it.

And, yes, I am wearing sunblock everywhere.

I love Europe

Just two weeks ago, I was walking out of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, freezing to death. Yesterday, I was back in a UK territory, warm and overlooking Aftica from atop a giant rock. Today, I arrived in Valencia at the end of the day and took a quick dip in the sea, at about 7:30pm. It was still at least 25 degrees out! Tomorrow, there'll be a high of 33 degrees! I'll be heading to the beach and picking up sunblock along the way. I love the range of not only culture but climate too.

Monkeying around in Gibraltar

Actually, I was working on a post for Sevilla while I was in Gibraltar but I was having such a good time that I never finished it. Maybe I will or maybe I won't. Probably not. It was a nice city with some amazing architecture. The Spain Place has to be seen with your own eyes.

At the hostel in Gibraltar, which was a huge dump, I met an older man from Northern Ireland and a nurse somewhere around my age (I can't tell age) from Winnipeg. We had a good chat that night and then all hung out together yesterday. 

It was a ton of fun and the land around Gibraltar is beautiful. We walked for a good part of the day, up and down the hill and also stopped to play with the monkeys (or apes or whatever). There are also some really cool caves and tunnels to check out. Yesterday was definitely a highlight of the trip, up there in the top days with Mont St. Michel, and surpassing Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

Also, here's Africa:

Thanksgiving saved

When I got into the hostel the night before last, a girl showed up after me and she turned out to be Canadian. I wished her Happy Thanksgiving and, yesterday, we had a pork roast with all the trimmings in Gibraltar. Fate found a way to keep Thanksgiving alive for two lost Canadians!

The capital of Spain

Well I've got still another hour to kill on the bus, so I may as well write a bit about Madrid. To be honest, I'm trying to keep an open mind but something about Spain just rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it's that everything is run down or poorly made, maybe it's that everything is done at their own pace and with no order, maybe it's the horrible service and strange format of consuming food, but I think it can all be summed up by the huge lack of clocks in this country. I can think of about two wall clocks I've seen this whole week.

Anyway, my entrance into Madrid was great. The sun was shining and it was warmer than I'd been in a while. Rather than go straight to the hostel to drop off my bag, I opted for a walk in Madrid's large and central park, where I could also search out a Geocache and drop off a trackable.

I made my way through the park and then set off in the direction of the hostel. There are a lot of grand fountains and grander buildings along the main roads, heading to the appropriately named centre of the city (and country), Sol (though, due to a desparate need for money, the city-in-crisis was forced to rename this landmark to Vodafone Sol).

There are nice parts of the city for sure but the culture isn't for me. This was confirmed wholeheartedly by the types of people staying in this hostel. It was a hostel for people who either hadn't yet grown up or never would. Although the rules were to be quiet after 11, it was still noisy after 12. But when you're tired after a day of walking, it's not a big deal. In fact, the only time it was quiet was in the morning, when most people were drunkenly asleep. In Spain, it's common to party until 7am even and then go home and waste the day sleeping.

But it wasn't a total loss at the hostel. I did meet an interesting teacher from Texas. He is over here to teach English (he wasn't the only English teacher I met; a girl on a tour told me she was one of thousands who Spain hired - with no requirements for qualifications - to come teach English to a populace where it is almost unknown). We talked mainly about history and politics, skirting around the issues where Canadians and Texans generally don't meet eye to eye. There was even a short mention of Star Trek!

On the full day I was there, Saturday, I decided to do two walking tours, to beef up my knowledge of Spanish history, which is mainly non-existent. They were both interesting but the free one is almost always more so and this time was no exception. Interestingly, Madrid hosts the oldest still operating restaurant in the world.

I popped into the art museum at the end of the day because it was free after 6 but it turned out to be a bore. Next was time to follow up on a recommended Spanish restaurant.

Tortilla sucks. That's all the space I'll waste on my continued disappointment in Spanish food. I don't know where you get the good stuff but maybe you need luck or local knowledge. We found awesome tapas in Barcelona but all the other meals were bad. There's a great Spanish place in Wiesbaden; I'll stick to that.

This morning, I took off as soon as possible to Sevilla, wishing I had done that already the night before. Madrid was nice but it's not my thing. I could say that about Spain as a whole. I enjoy experiencing it but I look forward to leaving it. You've got to break a few eggs to make an omelette and not everywhere you go is going to be a winner.

So I'm on my way back to the good ol' Commonwealth. I wonder how English, Spanish, or whatever Gibraltar is. Apparently, there are dolphins, so that's cool. If I've seen one before, I have no recollection. Again, I'll be walking between countries, as this bus only runs to the border. Spain isn't so cool with the UK holding onto this piece of land but the people of Gibraltar unanimously rejected joining Spain, so what're you gonna do?

The adventure continues! Oh, I'm really enjoying picking up what little bits of Spanish I can.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I didn't realise that it was already Thanksgiving. It's hard to keep track of the days when the days don't really matter. Well, my Thanksgiving meal was a couple slices pizza because I'm soon on the bus to Gibraltar and won't get into town until 10 or so.

It's a great day here. I'm probably going to get a sunburn before the day is out. Don't think any pharmacies are open on Sunday, except at the train stain, which I'm not going to.

Anyhow, I will check in when I get to Gibraltar. Happy Thanksgiving from Seville to everyone back home!

Pizza Hut

It is a two hour walk away. :(

Heading south

I'm on the train now to Sevilla, where 30 degree temperatures await. Madrid is summer (20-25) in the day but the mornings and nights are cold. I'm getting really tempted to just b-line it for the beach; I have a craving to go swimming in the salt water and escape the cities but I want to make it down to Gibraltar, so I've got to stay on track.

Sevilla is supposed to be beautiful. I haven't decided if I will try to get to Gibraltar tonight or if I will give Sevilla more time to walk around. I have a feeling I will opt for Gibraltar, if possible, since I want a bit of a break from walking around and looking at cool stuff.

Speaking if which, I've recorded about 93km of walking in the past week. And here is a little look at where I've been so far:

A few of those are transfers but most are places I've been. I won't put any more pictures for now because I only bought 50 megs for today, to book wherever I end up going tonight.

I changed my mind: let's cut off Spain

Why are we sending money to these people? I asked the hostel reception where I can find a bakery (just after 8am) and his response was laughter, followed by, "nothing is open on a Saturday before 10am!"

Well, at least a coffee shop with croissants and awful sandwiches was open. But, seriously, what the heck! Let me out of this lazy place.

Arrived in Madrid

Two things:

1. Sweet mother of God, it's like summer here and only gets warmer the more souther you go.

2. This hostel is filled with the most vapid travelers I've yet experienced. They sound to be all American. Time to get out and see the city.