Zurich
1 CommentAh, ok. The weather outside goes between rainy and sunny, but always plenty of clouds.
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Travel Gear Postmortem
No CommentsI’ve been back in California for some time now, and I’ve been able to think about some Travel Tips. But mostly, I’ve been looking over the stuff I took to Europe and how my gear weighed me down.
How would I have planned and packed differently?
If your trip is open ended with an undefined itinerary, definitely get the Eurail Pass. I crossed Europe so much that I think I used twice its worth. But if you know exactly where and when you will be traveling, I suggest doing the extra leg work to find cheap air flights– SkyEurope and RyanAir are good cheap carriers.
My Rick Steves Backpack was a great great buy. I was able to take it onto the plane; it fit well in storage lockers; it was manageable (loved the backpack straps); and it fit everything I needed. I did modify it, however, by sowing in D-Rings into the inside so I could clip on key chains, etc.
A good day bag is a must for the traveler. But don’t get in the habit of loading yourself down. It’s there to help carry things you need, not your entire vacation’s stuff. I highly advise against those day bags that zip onto the backpack, it just encourages people to carry more on their trip… when they should be carrying less.
So with the main backpack and a day bag, how would I pack in the future? I would stuff everything I would be bringing into my backpack: shoes, clothes (including the ones I would be wearing), day back, electronics, etc. This should at most fill up three-quarters of the backpack. The reason for the extra space is two fold: for items bought during the trip, and because packing on the road seems is sloppier than the need pre-travel packing.
It doesn’t really matter what brand toiletry kit one brings, but the two features I look for are:
- A hook to hang the kit.
- Basket like design, so I can just toss things in there while washing up.
The one I had worked out well. I also brought an electric razor. I think I will bring simple disposable razors from now on. I know it takes a bit more effort and time, but the space saving would be worth it (razor size and power cable). And one should think about bringing– swiping them from the Venetian– mini sewing kits for fashion emergencies; small enough to just toss into the toiletry kit.
Quick dry Towels work, but I like the feeling of real towels. The space saving is definitely worth it. I don’t have too much experience with different quick dry towel brands, so ask around… I’ve heard other backpackers complain about the ones they bought.
I had brought a camcorder as an experiment and to document some experiences with CouchSurfing. I will definitely leave it behind on my next trip. Not only do I need to carry the extra weight of the camera (small it may be), I had brought thirty miniDV cassette tapes and the camera’s power cables. It was just bulk I did not need. I did mail back used tapes, but that still was a pain.
The music on my iPod was a blissful luxury. I will bring it again for my next trip, but the lost space is a compromise I choose to live with.
My mobile phone was a must have because of CouchSurfing.
The travel wallet is nice for the high risk travellers– old people. But I found no use for it. I just kept to a few habits: Keep ID and money in different pockets. Only carry around low amounts of cash. Leave the passport at home base. Keep backup documents, cash, and credit cards in, yet another, separate place (hidden backpack pocket).
I loved my Moleskines. Over the three months I used one for travel info (phone numbers, addresses, notes), two for journals, and one as a spare. And to compliment the moleskines, I brought two Fisher Space Pens– a back is needed.
The CamelBak water sack I bought was just too much trouble– leave it.
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Rome: Vatican and St Peter’s Basilica
1 CommentI got to bed by 2am the night before; I woke up at 6:45am; I made it to the metro stop by 7am; and queued up for the Vatican Museums at 7:30am.
Five minutes after the museums opened, I was in the door and at the start of a four mile walk. The museums show a great number of old works, but the School of Athens was by far my greatest pleasure and greatest surprise. I had not known that this work was a large fresco. Awestruck, I stood in front of that wall for a good ten minutes… damn, Raphael did some good work. But I returned to a disappointing reality as I saw a majority of tourists walk straight through the rooms with only the briefest of glances. I presumed that they were just following the signs (on this one way trek) to the Sistine Chapel. I took my time walking through the halls, and took a detour into side rooms to see modern Catholic art. I don’t know what the religious message was, but seeing another Picasso work was pretty cool. Anyways, I finally made it to the incredibly crowded Sistine Chapel and its strict “No Photo, No Video” policy. Signs leading up to, and in, the chapel were very prominent. But the second I walked in, I saw a barrage of flashes go off. The flashes went on for thirty minutes, two loudspeaker announcements (four languages, “Please respect the “), and three shouted announcements by the guards. I may have personal differences about no-photo policies, but flash photography is truly unacceptable in my book. The Sistine Chapel was just recently restored, and now tourists are making an early start to destroying priceless works of art. Don’t be fooled in thinking that these tourists were unaware of the rules… tour guides announced it to their groups, and these tourists have heard the announcements… they still blatantly disregarded the guards.
Enough of seeing white flashes disrupt my view of the ceiling, I hopped out a second exit (primarily meant for reserved groups) outside… to a controlled area between the Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s Basilica. Yay, I just saved myself at least forty five minutes walking to the Vatican Museum entrance and around into the Basilica’s entrance (and presumably, another wait in line and through security). I queued up for the Copola (The dome of the Basilica). The climb to the top took me inside the Basilica to the inner circle of the dome, with a great view of the altar. The Copola is the highest point in Rome, I took a nice 360 look of the city.
The exit for the copola lead me onto the Basilica’s roof where there was a souvenir shop of all things. Putting a souvenir shop on the roof of St. Peter’s Basilica is like . What is this?! But I have to hand it to the planners, the shade of the rooftop walls made for a good place to take a long break and write postcards.
I stuffed postcards into the postbox on the roof and descended the rest of the way. I stepped out of the stairwell, through double doors, into the Basilica itself! Dang! That would be like stepping out of a service hall into the Oval Office. The place was… a big big church. Impressive and full of a lot of art, but I think that its central significance to the Roman Catholic Church makes people think more about it that it really is. I’ve seen other cathedrals and basilicas just as nicely decorated… but, then again, none with St Peter himself.
I got my fill of the interior and all of its overwhelmingly spiritual art, I went outside and got into the Dead Popes line. I think I expected deeper cavernous tombs… But those parts are probably closed off to tourists. I got into what looked to be the main tomb room and saw a crowd of people taking pictures. Can anyone guess which recently departed papal pimp rests there? You got it, JP2 in da Houze!
Finally, done! Hours and hours later and out the exit, I accomplished my Rome must-do checklist. I took a break in a most impressive square. I was happy to find that it was empty. No papal blessings, nor was it time for a mass. I could breath again.
Because I started really early, I still had plenty of time to make other tourist attractions. I went outside to the city to visit the catacombs. Crap, they were closed, no luck. I headed back into the city, passing the old city wall and gate. I stopped in on the old Roman Baths (now a church), and took a snapshot at the Piazza della Repubblica.
I tried to do the the Roman Holiday thing, failed. The following photo was my second attempt the day after:
Finally, I got in a successful stop: The Knights of Malta Keyhole. One looks through the keyhole of a closed gate (entrance) at a Templar church on the outskirts of Rome, one will see a large St Peter’s Basilica. The cool trick is to compare that image to the view of St Peter’s Basilica from the Orange tree garden just next door. The Basilica is life sized through the keyhole, yet it also is just a speck when seeing it from the garden’s cliffs.
I was starved by this point. I had a nice leisurely dinner with fried appetizers and incredible pizza. Not much to say here except that I had a great time with friends (unpictured, camera shy).
We finished dinner and walked around. The drive passed a lit Basilica was nice, but I was dead tired. I crawled into bed by the time I was done… and slept in late.
And that was that… Rome, what a way to finish off my touring (my time afterwards in Switzerland were just a chillout time, no siteseeing). There was so much in this city that I probably need a few more trips to cover them all… and know this, I will be back. 
Rome: Coloseum and Stuff
2 CommentsI made it to Rome Termini station by 12:30 on August 18th. Without wasting any time, I jumped onto the underground metro and headed south to my hostel. I exited at the Colosseum metro stop and– bam, right there– saw the Colosseum. Woah, what a great thing to see for one’s first sight of Rome.
I stood gawking at the Colosseum for a few minutes before snapping out of a daydream, and then set off to find my hostel. The day was hot, the walk was uphill, and I was lost. I spent an hour finding my way, without a map. I stupidly forgot to pick up a map on my arrival, but I found where I was going and checked in; then ran back to the Colosseum… only a 10 minute walk away.
Rome is an incredibly popular tourist destination, and gaggles of tourists cause something known as long lines. I hate lines, and I look for any way to bypass them. Luckily I found a way for the Colosseum: buy the tickets at the Palatine Hill entrance across the street from the Colosseum, next to the forum. Doing this, I bypassed the hour+ long wait in line at the Colosseum’s own ticket office and immediately entered the arena.
Afterwards, I went back to Palatine Hill for a quick walk through. Quick was key, because it was a boring place and oddly quiet for a tourist packed Rome. I was jumpy to get to the Roman Forum and see history. The Forum (and surrounding area) is chalk full of ruins, columns, and temples. The place gave birth to Rome, and an empire that had such great influence on today’s world. And I was fixated there for a few hours. I must admit that this trip has opened my eyes to really understanding the history we learned in school. Before, history was just abstract events and ideas; now history has been made real. I think I found clarity about the world in which we live today.
But the one funny thing I saw in the Forum was at Julius Caesar’s temple… the place where he was cremated and buried after his assassination; where Shakespeare’s famous words were to have been spoken, “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him”. Someone has left flowers on the temple mound in remembrance. I had not even considered that someone, in this day, would care to do this.
After four hours of wandering Ancient Rome (including the Ancient Capitol Hill), I head off to the Pantheon. I passed plazas and churches (countless) on the busy streets, trying to follow my map (Rome was a bit disorienting at first). I finally found crowds of people heading in a single direction… and I guessed correctly that they were off to the Pantheon. The temple is quite a marvelous architectural piece of work. I stood in the center staring up to the dome, I had a strong sense of deja-vu… I can’t explain it, just that I was dumbstruck by everything I had seen in Rome so far.
Tired of walking, I took a rest to write in my journal. I got a lot of writing done, but lost my momentum when the host of The Bachelor: Rome stood behind me and started speaking lines for the show. I looked up to see, across the plaza, a film crew and camera on crane. That show is still on-air?! Gawd I hate that show… reality my ass.
So I departed– lest their filming intrude into my own reality any further– down a side street from the Pantheon into a local church. I sat in front of the altar to take in Michelangelo’s Christ Bearing the Cross. Even this earlier work displayed the master’s skill in turning stone into flesh. I could see the beginnings of David.
I wandered around from the Pantheon to find Giolitti’s, a gelateria. Giovanni, from the European CouchSurfing Collective, has said it was one of the best places in Rome. Locals love this place, and it was cheap. I rewarded myself with three scoops: Chocolate, vanilla, and caramel.
I made a quick detour to the Augustus Mausoleum, off Rome’s main shopping drag.
And after a visit to the Spanish Steps, I met up with Giovanni for coffee. The place he showed me used a special secret method for grinding and processing coffee beans. It was definitely yummy, but I couldn’t qualify the exact differences from other coffees. I I was glad to have tried it, but a real coffee lover would have had a richer experience than I.
Anyways, the coffee shop turned out to be a quick stopover before reaching Trastevere where we feasted. The Trastevere quarter has become a trendy place in the past few years out of its once deteriorated state– gentrified. I don’t know too much more about its history, but I know that it hosted a great dinner. Bruschetta was appetizing. It was toasted simply with a good portion of freshly sliced tomatoes. My first course was an absolutely delicious spaghetti dish. It was made with a creamy white sauce, bacon, ham, and eggs. And when I thought I had stuffed myself, a second dish of salted bacon over veal was serviced; but it was the pudding that topped me off. I sorely needed, and made use of, a digestive… a desert wine and cappuccino worked wonders.
After an after dinner stroll through the neighborhood and its local nightlife scene, I somehow found myself back at the hostel… and crashed. I felt like I covered a lot during my first day, and could hardly fathom Rome having more to offer… but silly me, of course Rome had more great stuff to see: Vatican and St Peter’s Basilica were next.
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Ben Returns Soon
1 CommentI have previously stated that I will return to Los Angeles on September 4th, 2006.
That date has changed, I fly into LAX on August 28th, 2006. Just a few days left before my European Adventure 2006 has ended… I have already started planning for my next trip.
But, for now, I look forward to seeing all my friends and family in California soon.
Florence, Italia
1 CommentThe main reason I wanted to visit Firenze (Florence) was because of its Renaissance history. So I sped into the city for a very last minute couch offer for August 16-17th. I arrived late in the evening to my host’s home in the city, and I went straight to bed in anticipation for a long day ahead.
I got up early the next morning so I could see as much of the city as possible. I started off at the Firenze Santa Maria train station (main one in the city) and started walking. It only takes 15 minutes to walk from the station to either the Uffizi or Galleria dell’Accademia museums, a fact which gave me great flexibility in wandering about before making my museum reservations. The streets were flooded with vendors and tourists; they were lined with old buildings and Churches; they were lined with gelaterias.
I finally ended up in the central market. It is a place were one can buy fresh foods of the day, and it was where I picked up some cheese, fresh bread, meats, and fruits for a picnic lunch. I parked myself in San Marco plaza, sat soaking in the hot weather, and had a peaceful lunch.
I made my reservation– a 10 minute wait opposed to the two hour normal wait– and entered the Accademia. I walked inside to the first room, turned a corner, and– WHAM– was hit by the view of Michelangelo’s David towering down at the end of the hall:
Believe all the hype you hear about seeing Michelangelo’s David, believe it all; this towering statue lives. The stone on David didn’t seem like stone at all; I saw flesh in his muscle contours, veins, tendons, balanced stance, flexed wrist, and staring eyes. I spent a good half hour circumnavigating the statue wondering how such a genius was able to carve out such a statue. Seeing this statue completely justified a trip to Florence.
And after that, I headed off to the Uffizi where I passed by David, a copy, standing in its original spot. The plaza by the palace was, again, packed with tourists and street merchants. I did find a poster I liked, a reprint from an oil on canvas. The artist was “Filipe Bouday”, name misspelled. The merchant first asked for 20 euro. I walked away, yet he kept pestering me to buy; kept on asking me to name a price. I just played hard ball, kept walking; and he kept on trying to corner me. He finally went down to 5 euro. I didn’t really care to buy the poster, but I was struck by these merchants’ mindsets: how gullible they think tourists are (overpriced cheap mass reproductions) and that they really really want, any or all, your money.
I spent a good deal of time in line, only to enter a museum with art that failed to impress me. The palace itself, built by the Mediccis, was far more interesting to me– an influence from watching way to many PBS documentaries. And as I think about it more, I think I had a better time by the bridge (south of Uffizi) eating delicious gelato:
I finish everything by 7pm; I had a quick dinner; and went back to my host’s apartment to pack and sleep; I left the next morning for Rome. In all I spent just two nights, and one full day of touring in Florence.
Treviso, Italia
2 CommentsTreviso is located about thirty kilometers north of Venice, and this is where I spent a few days hanging out with friends. I was welcomed into a great family’s home; I was stuffed me with incredible home cooked Italian food, extra food was abound since I was there during a national holiday; and I got to see more of the Italian countryside. Ah life was good.
My trip went like so:
I arrived in the afternoon after a journey that began early in the morning, and which had made me feel absolutely restless. I looked like hell when I arrived, but it did not stop my friends from taking me out about the town. So we walked about Treviso’s old city center and stopped for some food and Spritz. The Spritz, this time, did not seem so bitter as it was in Venice… it actually was quite drinkable.
The town is quite small, and we got through walking and relaxing pretty early. So what we did was continue on into the night with a pub crawl, which centered around a locally made specialty: Prosecco. Prosecco is a sparkling wine, a competitor to Champagne… and tastes just as good. In anticipation to becoming too inebriated, we snacked on more local food. Pictured below was a nice little deep fried finger food (I forget what it was called). And we finally ended up at the beach area, which felt a lot like Santa Monica 3rd street Promenade, to close off that night… with gelato. I couldn’t get enough gelato in the hot Mediterranean weather.
What, nothing else? Well, just rinse and repeat. Great, great times.
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Zurich, Switzerland
No CommentsI can’t say that got to know Zurich. I just changed trains here between Gossau and Venice, with an hour and a half for a layover. So, I wandered down from Zurich’s central station to the lake (and then back).
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A Broken Camera LCD Screen
No CommentsCRAP CRAP CRAP! The LCD screen of my new Canon IXUS 55 is completely busted. I still can take pictures, and I can transfer the pictures to the computer. But all management functions are inaccessible because they require the LCD, arg!
My only consolation is that I’ve finished all the touring of this trip, and I have no other touristy pictures that I must get perfect.
When I get home, I’ll see if I can get the camera replaced under its warranty…
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Gossau, St. Gallen, Switzerland
1 CommentI seem to have a knack of not doing what I say I will do: stick to my travel budget, eat healthy, skip Switzerland. This isn’t a knock on the Swiss, I just didn’t think I would want to double-back across to this country after I’ve made it to Eastern Europe. But as it happens on my trip, I arrived in a small Swiss city for much needed R&R (take 2).
I spent my time in Switzerland eating (more paella), drinking (local beer), sleeping, hanging out with CouchSurfers, and watching movies. Something about this place (besides the cold rainy weather) forces one to slow down. I cannot say any more, my enjoyable time was spent just simply… in peace.
Where are the pictures? My camera just took a vacation of its own, sorry.
Ben returns to Los Angeles on September 4th