When in Rome...

...eat a lotta gelato! I have given up grumbling about the heat (unless it's to start a conversation with an Italian girl). Rome is fast, loud, hot and crowded...and I love it! Well, I love discovering an oasis amidst the chaos to reflect on the magnitude of this ancient city. I walked where Julius Cesear walked. I looked out over the arena where man and beast battled to the death for the entertainment of over 50,000 Romans. I touched brick and mortar and marble that has been gracefully crumbling for two thousand years. I squeezed through narrow catacomb halls where 16 popes and countless faithful followers were left to begin the afterlife. This is a very modern city built upon the highly visible foundations of its past.

I'm staying at a campsite about a 30 minutes public transport ride from the city centre. The last bus from the city to the campsite is at midnight. Here is my thought process from Saturday evening:

"I want to see Roman nightlife at it's peak. I don't want to walk an hour and half through the not-so-well-lit backstreets of Rome. I want to see the Vatican and St. Peter's on the FREE Sunday of the month. The line will form very early.

...compute...

I will stay up all night in the city and I'll be first in line!"

Brilliant! So I took only the necessities, my camera, ID, and some money (but left Rick Steves back at the tent) and set off for an adventure. I'm sad to report that Rome's nightlife seems to be a sort of "in-the-know" scene. There were only a few pubs open with dancing and I never found a proper nightclub (although I heard deep bass bumping somewhere under a building without a visible entrance). So I just did what the Romans were doing, ate gelato, watched people at the Trevi Fountain and others, and walked around. For five hours. I slept for one fitful hour on a bench outside of St. Peter's basillica and sure enough, like the faithful fan at a concert, I was first in line. Seeing St. Peter's with only a handful of other people was magical. It earns the title of the world's greatest church, and I've seen some pretty impressive churches.

What I didn't realize (this is where Rick would have been helpful) is that the entrance for the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel was a kilometer away from the entrance at which I had queued so eagerly. Oh well, I was still there earlier than the thousands of people who would surely come after me. The Museum and Chapel were worth the wait. I wonder if Michelangelo and his fresco crew could have had any notion of the masses of fans who would later risk neck injury to admire their beyond impressive work...

Exhausted, I returned to my camp for a restful night--but ended up playing cards and talking with some Germans and Poles for a few hours before finally getting a proper night's sleep. The touristic sights aside, this trip has taught me much about my peers across the globe. Everyone has a story, everyone has a history.

Tonight I will listen to Billy Joel and Bryan Adams at their free concert in front of the Colosseum. How could I pass that up?!

Ciao!

My Bologna has a first name...and it's not O-S-C-A-R.

Personally, I think Ocsar Meyer gave the city of Bologna a slap in the face by naming their "meat product" by the same name. This city is known for its world class food, or so I was told this morning while leaving Florence. I was planning on heading south to Sienna, but that can wait. The was I see it, if I'm only an hour's rail ride from the food capital of Italy, I'm going to ride that rail for an hour and at VERY least get dinner here. Shoot, if the food's really as good as they say, I'll stay an extra night. Although my hostel is in the middle of nowhere...literally. The bus dropped me off next to a field and off in the distance was an institution-style structure with a small tiangular "Hostel International" sign. But that's not where my room was. "You'll be staying 50 meters down the road at the house with the gate," said my dark-haired, dark-skinned Italian receptionist. At the house with the gate, eh? So I walked in the 37 C heat (which, by my engineering calculations comes out to somewhere near 257 degrees Fahrenheit...okay, 98.6...but still, IT IS SO HOT HERE!) for what seemed like a bit more than 50 meters until I reached what was indeed "a house with a gate." This particular hostel tops the one in Antwerpen as the oddest accomodation yet. From the outside this place looks like an old mansion fit for the mafiosa. From this inside, however, it's new, sterile, and empty. So I took a shower and left. Strolling through this city, I've seen more midaeval architecture than anywhere else on my trip. Of course there is also the civil engineering novelty of the leaning little brother of the city's two towers.

A bit on Florence: I camped near Michelangelo's hilltop property for three nights. My tentmate was an Argentinian who knew about as much English as I do Spanish. Between our staccato converstations about the heat (AY! Caliente!), the ants who invaded my food stores (Ay! Hormigas!) he played beautiful spanish guitar for the surrounding tents.

I did the big tourist push on Saturday. Following my good buddy, Rick Steves', advice, I booked my reservation for the Uffizi and Accademia early in the day at a lesser known attraction. Surprisingly enough it was during the wait for the big shots that I happened into my favorite attraction of the day, the semi-precious stone museum. For the price of a caffe, I had an entire museum to myself for an hour and a half, and what a gem it was! A refreshing break from the barrage of paintings and sculptures, these skillfully created mosaics where some of the most impressive art I've seen. That, and the receptionist, glad to have an appreciative visitor and a chance to practice his English, gave me the inside scoop on gelaterias, snack bars, grocery stores, and less touristy sights around Florence.

Uffizi: Crowded. I am not a huge fan of Renaissance art. Over and over again I see angels and priests and cherubs, and the occasional casually bare-breasted woman. I can appreciate any one piece for it's beauty, but that's tough to do when there are hundreds of them and hundreds of cranky, sweaty tourists pushing to get in the obligatory glimpse.

Accademia: Worth every Euro cent simply for the David. That is an impressive sculpture. Although I've come to learn that it's original destination was high up in a church so it was sculpted to been seen from underneath and only from the front. As it is displayed now, it doesn't satisfy the "eight perspectives of perfection" expected of a fine sculpture. Amazing the things students of the fine arts are excited to share!

Gelato: I am addicted. Much like my kebap tour of Europe (I'm eating a Turkish doner kebap in every city I visit), I'm now embarking on the Official Gelato Taste Tour of Italy. This essentially means that I will be sleeping on Parisian park benches at the end of my trip because I will have blown my budget on the world's best ice cream. Sounds like a good deal to me!

Sunday was lazy and wonderful, just a long day of walking with no destination (except gelaterias).

Monday: Took a bus into Chianti country. This was a treat. Chianti has long since been my favorite wine and to top off the experience I drove past my favorite vineyard, Gabbiano. What a surprise that was! Of all the roads in Chianti, I happened to be on that one! Stopping at Greve in Chianti, I took to the hills and found myself at the quiet little hilltop town of Montefioralle. Then, out of nowhere, came a roaring thunderstorm. Protected by a canopy of trees, a stray cat and I picnicked on cheese, bread, and melon while rain soaked the Chianti vineyards and olive groves and thunder rolled through the Tuscan hills.

Right, that's a proper update for now. Still no pictures, I'm sorry. I might be able to upload a few tomorrow. Leave some comments so I know someone's out there and I'll be more motivated to get pics up. Thanks for reading!

Ciao!

Instant replay

Fast internet time--Florence in expensive.

Update:
At last posting I was choosing between Venice and Munich. I chose Venice. On the night train from Vienna to Venice, I met a German and an Irishman travelling.They hosted a couchette party at the end of which I had decided to travel with them for a few days. We hit Venice train station feeling no inclination to join the tourist hordes. So we headed west to Desenzano on Lago di Garda. Simply put, we hopped off the train at paradise and found a campsite (they had a tent). For the next two days we did nothing but sleep, eat, sunbathe, swim, lounge on the lakeshore, nap, and eat some more. It was the perfect holiday from the holiday. No sightseeing (I will have enough of that during this leg of my journey), no schedules, and no worries (except that we might not be able to pull ourselves away).

We did leave paradise, though, after an early morning adventure involving some mafiosa-style nighclub owers. Everything turned out fine for the guys (it was them in the heat, not me) and we railed to Venice with very little sleep. Four hours of getting lost in Venice was enough for my travel mates but not for me, so we parted ways and I searched for a place to sleep. I found a fantastic campsite that gave me a private camper for a great price.

I spent today soaking in Venice, a city decaying with elegance. I also discovered (or finally admitted to myself) that I have a gelato addiction. I am perfectly content to spent my lunch money on two scoops of heaven.

Now Im in Florence and I can already tell this is going to be an enjoyable stay. I have a big day of siteseeing tomorrow, and I probably wont be able to fit it all in, so I wouldnt be surprised if I stayed here till monday.

Ciao!

Absolute Austria

Been a while since my last post. I've been to Vienna and Bratislava in the past few days. My last day in Budapest was going to include a brief visit to the baths. But it didn't. The tram across town got stuck in construction and we actually were asked to push. Along with about 10 locals, I heaved all my might into the back of a several ton eastern european public transport vehicle. I gave up and walked away pretty quickly realizing it was a futile attempt. On my way out of Budapest I was caught without a ticket for the tram and slapped with a 2500 HUF fine, about 12 bucks. I didn't have any cash but I was fortunate enough to be traveling with a Floridian who did. E xcellent backpacker karma for him.

Tuesday: I pulled into Vienna with the hopes of finding a place to stay. As it worked out there was a brand new hostel only two minutes from the station. The Wombat Lounge, as it was called, was my base for the next three nights. That first night some hostel mates and I met the self proclaimed "greatest country western singer in all of Europe." All we knew was that she was a little bit batty and a whole lotta fun. She drove us to some obscure local irish pub that puts most irish pubs I've seen to shame.

Wednesday was tourist day. A group of us from the hostel made our way to the Schloss Schonbrun palace for a walk and a picnic with a view of the whole city. None of us saw reason to pay 9 Euro to peer into the 40 open rooms of the palace's 1410 rooms. I took off on my own to enjoy the Kunsthist. Museum which to my delight had an incredible ancient Egyptian and Greek display. I wasn't too keen on the 16th and 17th century religious art...too many halos and cherubs. At night, Vienna is a diner's dream. The vehicle-free downtown area is alive with the din of chatter and clink of glasses. The balmy evening brought everyone out for drinks, conversation, and people watching. I'd never seen anything like it at home. So many people just enjoying a relaxed evening.

Thursday: I swam in the Danube. I wasn't the only one, either. In fact, I stumbled across what seemed to be the typical afternoon pasttime for the people of Vienna. Take a dip in the river and sunbathe (tops optional).

Ana from Portugal asked if I'd join her on her visit to Bratislava and Ljublana. I had been considering Munich, but had no reservations about changing plans for a travel partner.

Friday: utter chaos as I tried to meet up with Ana in Bratislava. The plan was simple enough that morning in Vienna. She would take the bus because it was cheaper for her. I would take the train because it was only a few dollars. I would arrive earlier than her in Bratislava and meet her at her arrival station. I knew it wouldn't be as easy as it seemed but things have a way of working out so we were off. I missed my train by seven minutes so I had to catch the next in an hour. Arriving in Bratislava, I realized I was in the middle of nowhere with no clue how to get anywhere. With hand signals, numbers, and a smile, I was able to get from the locals that I needed tram 93 to the main station in order to get to the meeting point with Ana at a different station. So I hopped tram 93 to the main station. Once there I lucked out and asked the right local who spoke great english but couldn't explian the transport to my destination. Andre, the good samaritan that he was, offered to drive me there after he parted with his four girlfriends. I showed up an hour past the meeting time with Ana (although we'd discussed the possibility of me catching the later train) but she was nowhere in sight. So I bought an ice cream bar and sat down to consider what to do next. Not ten minutes later, a very ruffled Ana sat down next to me. She had slept through her stop on the bus and had a hell of a time getting back to her stop.

In light of the unnecessary stress caused by sticking the orignal plan of a stop in Bratislava and a night in Ljublana, we found a hostel. Amazing what the simple knowledge of having a place to sleep can do to a situation.

There isn't a whole lot to see outside of the old town of Bratislava, except the big castle on the hill. Like Vienna, this city has a pedestrian only center where the sidewalks are host to outdoor caffes and ice cream stands. The nightlife here is incredible. We were lucky enough to have a hostel across the street from THE nightclub/disco of the weekend. Great DJ's spun throbbing techno beats till 4 in the morning both Friday and Saturday night.

Yesterday was lazy sightseeing day, although as mentioned there isn't a whole lot to see for free.

Today is Sunday and I've parted ways with Ana. She's off to Madrid for a flight home and I'm off to either Venice of Munich. I doubt I'll do Munich but it's still a possibility. Italy is the highlight of this trip and I intend to give it a full two weeks.

That's it for now, no pictures because they are impossible to load here.

ciao ciao

The Praha adventure and Budapest (with photos!)

Finally, I've found the time, free internet, and data transfer availability required to share a few photos. I'm not sure how to format the photos on the page, and I don't think I can label them so these are jumbled. Nightscape is the view of the Praha Castle also in the background of the heavily-touristed Karlov Most (Charles Bridge). The suspension bridge is Budapest's own Chain Bridge as viewed from the Buda Royal Palace. Also shown is a shot of the Buda shore of the Danube River.

I've finally become accustomed to feeling sticky and gross two minutes after a shower and in clean clothes. This is good, because from what I hear from passing travellers is that it only gets hotter from here.

After an extra day in Praha on account of meeting a Russian girl, I am in Budapest. Looking back on my days in Praha, I have to say it is a beautifully romantic city overrun by partying tourists. Not that I am against a good party, it's just that a gem of a city such as Praha shouldn't be degraded by touristing 16-year-olds and stag party hooligans. A few early mornings however gave me a very pleasant experience in this postcard city. Meandering, cobbled alleyways lead to preserved synagogues or cool, dark cellar-pubs. Nearly every street corner boasts some visual reminder of Praga's rich history.

I rode my first night train on Friday to arrive in Budapest ready to explore. It worked, as I spent the entire day hiking the hills of Buda and its Royal Palace. Crossing the Chain Bridge to Pest, I was pulled into a local music festival with lively Hungarian music and amazing food. Speaking of food, goulash is unfortunately not a summer meal so the only restaurants to serve it do so for tourits (read: it costs three times more than it should). The music festival was a refreshing display of smiles and enthusiasm after finding that Hungarians are unusually grumpy. Especially the hostel owner! I was warned about this on the train. Hungary is, according to my cynical cabin mate, one of Europe's top countries for suicide, alcoholism, divorce, and depression. I suppose that's what a history of communist rule will do to a nation.

On the schedule for today is a visit to the famous szechenyi thermal bath.

Next stop, Vienna.

Perfect Praha (Prague)

Following an all-nighter in Berlin (didn't pay for room Sunday night!) I missed my 7:40 am train to Prague because I was asleep on the train station bench. I wish I had a picture of that! No hassle, I actually slept long enough to only wait 20 minutes for the 9:40 train. Monday in Prague (after a nap) was spent getting as lost as possible with my Chilean roommate, Danni. With the intention of walking 15 minutes to a nearby subway station we found ourselves sightseeing for two hours. He, like me, is of the belief that if a goal or plan isn't working, simply change it to what is working...like saying "I'm exploring" instead of "I am completely and utterly lost." So we explored and found Olga. Ogla is a ravishing Russian woman of 24 who had become separated from her tour group and was fending off the pursuits of local street urchins. She spoke very little english but after 15 minutes or so of jerky conversation agreed to grab a drink with us. We closed down a sidewalk cafe/bar discussing travel, art, and 80s music. Before retiring ourselves, Danni and I ensured Olga's safe return to her hotel--which was in what appeared to be in a district of Praha that is anything but safe.

My hostel bed is an asymmetrical arrangement of springs wrapped in fabric.

Tuesday: wake. eat. tour old town with Danni. separate with plan to meet again in two hours. get lost and miss 4 pm meeting. spend next three hours attempting to beat national Czech average for beer consumption (80 gallons per person per year, I don't know if it's correct, but it makes for a goal of a bit under a gallon over four days). The beer here is phenomenal and at posting I have more than held up my end of the bargain. Prost, Praha!

Tuesday night: watch football at dance bar with another traveler. He finds a(nother) Russian girl (Julia) who doesn't speak english. Somehow, someway, we hit it off and stay out till the sun comes up. Ha! Now I have a Russian girlfriend who doesn't speak english in Praha.

Wednesday: I'm adopted for the day by a group of five californian/danish soccer players. Tour main city sites in a pack till game time. Instead of hitting the town with them at night, I opt for a romantic tour of this romantic city with Julia.

Presently: Overheating in expensive internet cafe. Time to logout.

Cheers!

Journal dump

Berlin is HOT...in more than one way. but the weather is sunny skies and wicked hot heat. it also happens to be THE most happening city in the world right now. well...friday night was, hands down. Germany's victory over argentina ignited the entire city for the entire night. i was at the brandenburg gate fan fest along with a million screaming fans. Okay, so I'll try to be better about posting because now I have some catching up to do.

Amsterdam: a waste of time without a bike. I rented a bike as soon as I could and was advised by the bike rental guy to go to Broeke in Waterland for a beautiful taste of the netherlands countryside. he was right. my leisurely ride took about 40 minutes and brought me in the path of a few friendly, helpful locals. i explored little villages and wandered through elegant old churches. a random picnic bench in the middle of canaled pastures gave me the perfect lunch.

biking back into the city, to my utter astonishment, i ran into lis. to clarify, lis is a usc grad i had met briefly in brugge and exchanged emails with the realization that we'd both be in amsterdam. just arrived and still burdened by luggage, lis was in that "wow, i have no idea if i'm going the right way to my hostel" phase. i helped her in the quest to find her destination and we spent the rest of the evening exploring a city with much to explore. amsterdam is a difficult city to navigate, it's canals and streets are curved and much of it looks the same.

The next morning (tuesday) lis and i met up with a couple she had met in brugge. beat the crowds to the anne frank house. that was a sobering exhibit. not to be left in a state of solumn reflection for the rest of the day we nabbed some wicked strong espresso and hit up the van gogh museum. great visit but we were museumed out by the fourth floor (more obscure works). After a relaxing lunch along a canal we fed some nice ducks and were attacked by mean swans. who knew? they look so graceful but they're really winged assholes. To round out our museum experience for the day, we toured the sex museum. truth be told, for 2.50 euro it was a great display.

at some point i decided my plans were flexible and lis booked us for a hostel in köln. plans were made for a morning bike ride from nearby haarlem to the beach with lis' friends dani and chad. lis opted for a quiet morning alone so i hopped a train to haarlem with my bike. that's when i was almost deported. well it wasnt that bad, but i did get yelled at by the conductor because i forgot my eurail pass and hadnt bought a ticket for the bike (i played stupid tourist and got off free). the beach trip was amazing, i hadnt realized the netherlands had such a beautiful beach. it looked like newport.

railed with lis to köln. wandered around köln drinking cheap beer with other travelers for the night. the morning was the real treat. lis had found a walking tour phamplet so we picked out the best sights and checked them out. our stroll brought us past a church tucked back behind a shopping center just in time for a practice recital of a mahler concert. refreshed with a generous serving of culture, lis and i parted ways and i headed to berlin.

train to berlin: met some americans fresh into the backpacking lifestyle. i was happy to share my insights and they were happy to hear them. my first impression of berlin was eastern bloc. the station was graffittied and dark. happily, that was an outlier and berlin has a fabulous public transport system. i hit the jackpot with my hostel accomodations (good thing, too, considering i was paying 30 euro a night) anyway, my roommates were two laid-back beauties from canada. love at first sight. in berlin for over a week, sonia and heather were fixed to party. we took off looking for the scene and ended up at a huge nightclub filled with football fans. it was a late night, my other roommate, wes, and i walked home as the sun came up.

friday. game day. the whole city was pulsing and fan fest was the heart. over a million people gathered to watch germany and argentina on 17 gigantic screens. i met up with a festive group led by a stunner named yanna. they were generous with gifts and drinks and delighted to have me along, despite knowing very little english. then i found out they were 16. eh well, still more fun to cheer with them than by myself. germany'd nailbiting victory ingnited the whole city. cars honking, everyone cheering, polizie patrolling, and smiles all around (except argentina fans).

heather and i hit the town in search of a party (sonia took a much deserved night off in light of thursday night). tahalaus (sp?) was the place to be for a while with its beach party outside and multi floored parties inside. craziest club i've ever seen. used to be a deserted department store or something. taken over by artist squatters it was converted to a multi themed party building. parted with heather at some point and met up with four locals at the station. they showed me around the nightlife (including the redlight) and even bought me beer. i had my first german language lesson compliments of the two girlfriends. "you are beautiful" and "i'm in berlin for one night" were the takeaway bits. again, stayed out till the sky brightened.

all day saturday was sightseeing with sonia and wes as heather recharged. saturday night we took advantage of a pub crawl with a bunch of other tourists and a few locals who knew a good deal when they saw it. 10 euro for five club entires and free drinks. exhausted from the days events i called it an early night at 3. nearly fell asleep on the train, but i'm feeling like a local riding the rail with no map.

today: hot. still not sure if i'm spending the night here or on the rail to prague. time to eat, then think on it.