Heading to Cinque Terre, a collection of 5 cliffside towns in the Italian Riviera (see: Another heaven on Earth)
Talk soon!
Greg
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Leaving Florence for Cinque Terre
Heading out of an amazing 2.5 days here in Florence. We have lots of pictures and stories to share and will be catching up on the blogging while on the train.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Rome'in around
Written yesterday...
We are currenty on a train from Rome to Florence. I am sitting across from Greg and Steve and began thinking about what it's going to be like when I'm not with them 24/7... and it made me happy. Just joking. I am very excited to get home, see all of you and get the next stage of my life started with grad school and living in Arlington but I will miss this experience. I felt this way when the trip began but almost 6 weeks in, I still feel so lucky to be on this trip with these guys. Not only have we been able to see these magnificent parts of history but knowing that we will be able to reminisce years from now makes it all the more special. And on top of the touristy things, we've been able to share some moments that are shaping the next stages in our lives. So many decisions have been made while we've been away such as what schools to go to, cities to live in, apartments to live in and tatoos to get(just joking...or am i?). It's been great. But now let's talk about Rome.
Rome is a beautiful city with a rich culture and a history that just makes you want to watch the movie Gladiator. After being delayed due to another strike, we arrived in Rome with plenty of energy so we went on a tour around the city. Our guide was great. A local who clearly loved the city and loved showing tourists some of the side attractions most don't get to see including two beautiful churches and stories behind the architecture and sculpures. One story in particular was in The Pantheon(one of the main attractions he took us to). The 2nd king of Italy and his wife are buried there(also the 1st king of Italy and the famed artist Raphael). His wife's name is Margaritta. Remind you of something? That's right, this classic pizza was named after her in 1889 and contains basil, tomato and mozzarella. The colors of the Italian flag(Boom! Knowledge bomb).
The next two days were filled with the typical yet classic tourist attractions; The Colloseum, The Forum, Vatican City( which includes St. Peter's Basillica) and a few other famous piazzas and fountains. It was also filled with great pastas, pizza and wine.
Our last night was great. After some good pizzas and wine we headed out on a night walk of the city. Every city we go to is similar in how it lights up the buildings and monuments and I love it. It helps create such a cool atmosphere for the city and you almost feel like you're seeing a whole new city when walking at night.
I leave you with a quote from the movie Gladiator when Crowe's character is talking to his owner who was also a gladiator and was freed. I said this repeatedly as I walked through The Collosuem. This one's for you Colin.
Maximus: [laughing] You knew Marcus Aurelius?
Proximo: [very quickly and defensively] I didn't say I knew him, I said he touched me on the shoulder once! -- Gladiator (2000)
Dave
Friday, May 6, 2011
Santorini is the place to be
I think I've fallen in love, and her name is Santorini. If you have ever been here you know how I feel. We've spent the past 5 weeks roaming city to city seeing monuments, museums and memorials. This was quite a change of pace. After about 2 or so days of traveling/ sleeping on floors on a variety of trains and boats we finally got to one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.
We arrived around 5am and began the drive up the massive cliff face. Winding back and forth you could see the small dock lights get smaller and smaller as we rose in elevation. Then we drove about 10 minutes across the island and about 3 turns later we were looking at the ocean. After we checked in we were too excited to go to sleep. As we walked outside we couldn't help but to notice two things in the moonlight. The black sandy beach at your feet and huge mountain that makes you feel like an ant next to a rock. After about 10 minutes that 2nd wind of energy dissipated(gre vocab what up!) and we crashed.
After a well deserved sleep in, we ate and began an adventure I will never forget. We rented ATVs for the day and it was AWESOME(yes it needs to be capitalized). From 1pm to 10pm we drove around the entire island. The view was priceless. At one point we had massive cliffs on our right and the sea to our left. It was hard to decide whether to focus on driving or the view(i think you can guess which won). One small town, Oia, is the quintisential Greek looking town. Rows of different sized homes and small hotels/cottages with white walls and blue doors all facing the open sea. Oh yea and the three small volcanic islands that look as if they were placed there strategically to make the view even more beautiful. After hours of driving around the island we headed back to one of our first stops, a light tower on the south west edge of the island to watch the sunset. There we climbed around a bit and although clouds prevented a clear view, it was still a beautiful sight. We headed to a market to get dinner and drove around with the remaining daylight getting in our last moments with our ATVs. Needless to say it was very sad droppin them back off at the rental place. What a great day!
The next day we climbed the mountain near our hostel that holds the remains of the ancient city of Thira. Then relaxed by the beach and pool in the afternoon. Soooo relaxing. That night we headed out for my bday dinner(bc my actual bday dinner would be on a boat) at place called Atlas, which is owned by a Canadian who moved here after only wanting to spend 2 months island hopping. He said he spent a week in Crete then when he got here, never left. Greg and i had mousaka, a greek dish kind of similar to a pot pie with meat, eggplant and potatoes, very good. For my bday we were brought 3 shots of Raki(pronounced rocky) which is basically a greek moonshine made from the local wine leftovers.
We headed back to our hostel where we watched the Real Madrid vs Barcelona fútbol game and awaited my bday. A few drinks, new friends and another free bday shot of Raki later, it was midnight. 23 yrs old, crazy.
Leaving Santorini was the first time I was actually sad leaving on this trip. We went at a perfect time before tourist season, the people were so nice, the atmosphere was wonderful and the views were spectacular.
My bday was spent sitting on the back of the ferry watching us weave in and out of the islands. "Tough life," as my Dad would say. The only sad thing was watching the Caps get knocked out of the playoffs :(
We spent a nice semi rainy day in Athens seeing the major sights. I was warned this before and will also recommend the same thing, there is no need to spend more than one day in Athens( unless you're a huge Greek history fan).
As Greg mentioned there was a slight delay flying to Rome, lame-sauce. Leaving Greece marked the end of the first part of our trip. With officially all of our hostel/hotels booked we begin heading back west towards our final destination, Mardid. It was a wonderful 4.5 weeks and am very excited for what comes next.
Hope all is well with all of you,
Dave
Stunning Santorini
Santorini, a small island off of the coast of Greece, truly is like heaven on earth.
When we last talked, we had left Venice and headed southeast on a 30-hour ferry ride which took us to the western Greece town of Patras. As we needed to get to Athens- across the country on the east coast- there was some confusion as how to actually get between the two cities. Greek public transportation is notoriously unpredictable, and getting practical information is nearly impossible. While we were promised a shuttle by the ferry company between the two cities, we were told there was no such shuttle- then that there was- then that there wasn't. Finally, Minoan Lines- the ferry company- did provide a bus shuttle, for a nominal price of 17€. We arrived in Patras around 8pm and arrived to Pireaus, the suburb of Athens that has the port, around 11:30 at night.
The plan was to grab a hotel, sleep a few hours and then wake up and hop right on the ferry to Santorini. Unfortunately for us, May 1st is some sort of communist holiday (not a joke) and almost every form of transportation was halted as a result of a huge transit workers strike. Our ferry would be departing- 15 hours later than expected, at 11pm on Sunday. We tried to see some of Athens with our newly acquired day, but the strike even shut down the famed acropolis, so we were outta luck. We still had a great day, ate souvlaki, and just lounged around in the hotel lobby for a few hours waiting for night, and our ferry, to come.
Finally the time arrived, and after a 3 km trek around the massive port we arrived at our ferry, a beautiful ship that put our last ferry to shame. The express service to Santorini took around 6 hours. I blogged about Munich and Venice for part of it and slept for a few hours before being awoken by the PA system announcing we were coming in to port.
Outside, it was still dark, but the outline of a huge cliff-lined island was visible through the shadows. It was like sailing into Jurrasic park, giant cliffs all around us, rising thousands of feet from the ocean. Lights from a distant town up on one of the hills shined down on us. After disembarking, we met our ride, a nice guy who was arranged by our hostel to pick us up. We were driven approximately 10 minutes to the town of Perissa Beach on the southeast part of the island. When we got out, it was indescribable. We were on a small street with shops and restaurants directly on the right and the ocean crashing right to our left- maybe 30 yards away. We walked up a tiny alleyway to our hostel, Anny's Studios. It was still dark out and we were disoriented and had no idea what anything actually looked like.
After we checked in and dropped our bags, we headed right out to the beach. The sun, still below the horizon, was beginning to light the sky and we could make out where we were. It was such a sight. The black sand beach went on and on to our right, but to our left, just a mile or so down the road rose a huge mountain out of nowhere that towered over the town. I snapped this picture in the low light:
After we slept til about noon, no longer tired from our overnight ferry, we walked out to the now bright beach. We had a great breakfast at one of the restaurants right at the ocean and then decided on an amazing activity for the day: rent ATVs. These little guys were only about 15€ for the day and gave us the independence to travel the entire island. We headed to the west side of the island, along the cliffs, down to the red sand beach, then headed all the way the other direction, through the largest town, Fira, for lunch and then to Santorini's postcard spot (and filming location of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) and cliffside town called Oia which was the most beautiful spot I have seen in Europe.
Going between these small towns on ATV was a dream true. I was channeling my inner Mario Kart as we whipped along waterfront roads and rolling hills. Yes... We all wore helmets.
As the sun started to set, we headed back towards Perissa Beach and went to the lighthouse to see the show. We were completely alone, climbing on the rocks and just enjoying the views. The fact that it was a bit cloudier than we would have liked didn't dampen our spirits at all. We ended up parking our ATVs on the side of a road and watching the lights.
We made a pit stop at a grocery store, made dinner back in our apartment/hostel and just relaxed for the night. It was also then that we got news of Osama's fateful demise... And trying to get the news while a few hundred miles off shore was an experience I doubt any of us will forget.
On our second day in Santorini, we decided to do what you are supposed to do on an island paradise: absolutely nothing. Well, almost. We did do a 2-hour hike up to ancient Thira (the original name of the island) to see some really old ruins and enjoy the views from the highest point on the island. Then, returning to Perissa Beach hot and sweaty, we grabbed some chairs on the beach and then later by the pool and just read and napped. it was awwweeeesome
That night we rang in Brownies birthday in style, first getting some authentic greek food at a nearby restaurant called Atlas. Run by a Canadian ex-pat (also named Dave) who came to Santorini 20 years ago and never left, the food was really good. I had Mousaka, a cheesy, eggplanty, ground beefy concoction cooked in a clay pot. So good. Dave the Canadian treated us to a shot of Raki, which is basically just Greek Moonshine; not as good as the Mousaka.
At night we went with some new hostel-friends to the two bars that were open on the beach and then watched the Caps blow game 3 to the Lightning on TV. It was a great, relaxing day.
Our final day on paradise was spent in much the same manner. The guys slept in after staying up til like 5 to watch the whole hockey game... So I took a nice long walk along the beach and enjoyed watching all of the shops and hotels further down digging out from a winter of closure- excited for tourist season, no doubt. Later, after the guys woke up, we went to a great Souvlaki pita place (for like the 8th souvlaki pita in 4 days) called Pepitos. Before we knew it, we were heading down to the port to meet our ferry back to mainland Greece. The ride back was incredible as we weaved through the islands, stopping in a few others to pick up more passengers. We got to Pireaus around midnight and took the train- which was now working normally- to Athens and to our hostel.
--
We were told before we left that we only needed an afternoon or so in Athens, and I have to agree. Central Athens has the benefit of hosting The Acropolis with ruins from over 2,000 years ago- including the famed Parthenon. It is beautiful, but once you have seen it- there is not a plethora of other things to really do. We walked all throughout the ruins dodging the thundershowers and then headed back to our hostel to hang. We had amazing greek salads and pasta left over from Santorini for dinner and then enjoyed a night of sitting on the hostel's roof deck had absolutely amazing views of the Acropolis and the city in general.
This morning we departed Athens for the airport and were greeted with more travel complications: a strike- this time in Italy- closed the airport in Rome. Thank God for the EU, though, as the airline had to provide us with a 4.5€ voucher to be used at McDonald's. Finally though, we are airborne heading to our strike-ridden destination. Hopefully the trains will be running to get us from the airport to downtown!
--
Greece is tough. It reminds me of Israel in that the people and the culture are inherently a bit rough around the edges, though they never mean any harm. Lines are non-existent, information is tough to obtain and often unreliable. However, like most things that are a bit difficult, Greece is definitely worth the hassle. I'm not exaggerating when I say Santorini is indescribably beautiful, and I am sure there are a thousand other islands that share its beauty. While Athens is a bit of an eyesore outside of the ruins, it is an ancient center of civilization and one of the most densely packed urban areas in the world. If only used as a gateway to the rest of the country, Athens is definitely worth a (short) trip. The islands, on the other hand: make sure you book a return ticket or you may never leave.
Enjoy the pictures. Talk to you from the *true* center of civilization: ROME!
When we last talked, we had left Venice and headed southeast on a 30-hour ferry ride which took us to the western Greece town of Patras. As we needed to get to Athens- across the country on the east coast- there was some confusion as how to actually get between the two cities. Greek public transportation is notoriously unpredictable, and getting practical information is nearly impossible. While we were promised a shuttle by the ferry company between the two cities, we were told there was no such shuttle- then that there was- then that there wasn't. Finally, Minoan Lines- the ferry company- did provide a bus shuttle, for a nominal price of 17€. We arrived in Patras around 8pm and arrived to Pireaus, the suburb of Athens that has the port, around 11:30 at night.
The plan was to grab a hotel, sleep a few hours and then wake up and hop right on the ferry to Santorini. Unfortunately for us, May 1st is some sort of communist holiday (not a joke) and almost every form of transportation was halted as a result of a huge transit workers strike. Our ferry would be departing- 15 hours later than expected, at 11pm on Sunday. We tried to see some of Athens with our newly acquired day, but the strike even shut down the famed acropolis, so we were outta luck. We still had a great day, ate souvlaki, and just lounged around in the hotel lobby for a few hours waiting for night, and our ferry, to come.
Finally the time arrived, and after a 3 km trek around the massive port we arrived at our ferry, a beautiful ship that put our last ferry to shame. The express service to Santorini took around 6 hours. I blogged about Munich and Venice for part of it and slept for a few hours before being awoken by the PA system announcing we were coming in to port.
Outside, it was still dark, but the outline of a huge cliff-lined island was visible through the shadows. It was like sailing into Jurrasic park, giant cliffs all around us, rising thousands of feet from the ocean. Lights from a distant town up on one of the hills shined down on us. After disembarking, we met our ride, a nice guy who was arranged by our hostel to pick us up. We were driven approximately 10 minutes to the town of Perissa Beach on the southeast part of the island. When we got out, it was indescribable. We were on a small street with shops and restaurants directly on the right and the ocean crashing right to our left- maybe 30 yards away. We walked up a tiny alleyway to our hostel, Anny's Studios. It was still dark out and we were disoriented and had no idea what anything actually looked like.
After we checked in and dropped our bags, we headed right out to the beach. The sun, still below the horizon, was beginning to light the sky and we could make out where we were. It was such a sight. The black sand beach went on and on to our right, but to our left, just a mile or so down the road rose a huge mountain out of nowhere that towered over the town. I snapped this picture in the low light:
After we slept til about noon, no longer tired from our overnight ferry, we walked out to the now bright beach. We had a great breakfast at one of the restaurants right at the ocean and then decided on an amazing activity for the day: rent ATVs. These little guys were only about 15€ for the day and gave us the independence to travel the entire island. We headed to the west side of the island, along the cliffs, down to the red sand beach, then headed all the way the other direction, through the largest town, Fira, for lunch and then to Santorini's postcard spot (and filming location of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) and cliffside town called Oia which was the most beautiful spot I have seen in Europe.
Going between these small towns on ATV was a dream true. I was channeling my inner Mario Kart as we whipped along waterfront roads and rolling hills. Yes... We all wore helmets.
As the sun started to set, we headed back towards Perissa Beach and went to the lighthouse to see the show. We were completely alone, climbing on the rocks and just enjoying the views. The fact that it was a bit cloudier than we would have liked didn't dampen our spirits at all. We ended up parking our ATVs on the side of a road and watching the lights.
We made a pit stop at a grocery store, made dinner back in our apartment/hostel and just relaxed for the night. It was also then that we got news of Osama's fateful demise... And trying to get the news while a few hundred miles off shore was an experience I doubt any of us will forget.
On our second day in Santorini, we decided to do what you are supposed to do on an island paradise: absolutely nothing. Well, almost. We did do a 2-hour hike up to ancient Thira (the original name of the island) to see some really old ruins and enjoy the views from the highest point on the island. Then, returning to Perissa Beach hot and sweaty, we grabbed some chairs on the beach and then later by the pool and just read and napped. it was awwweeeesome
That night we rang in Brownies birthday in style, first getting some authentic greek food at a nearby restaurant called Atlas. Run by a Canadian ex-pat (also named Dave) who came to Santorini 20 years ago and never left, the food was really good. I had Mousaka, a cheesy, eggplanty, ground beefy concoction cooked in a clay pot. So good. Dave the Canadian treated us to a shot of Raki, which is basically just Greek Moonshine; not as good as the Mousaka.
At night we went with some new hostel-friends to the two bars that were open on the beach and then watched the Caps blow game 3 to the Lightning on TV. It was a great, relaxing day.
Our final day on paradise was spent in much the same manner. The guys slept in after staying up til like 5 to watch the whole hockey game... So I took a nice long walk along the beach and enjoyed watching all of the shops and hotels further down digging out from a winter of closure- excited for tourist season, no doubt. Later, after the guys woke up, we went to a great Souvlaki pita place (for like the 8th souvlaki pita in 4 days) called Pepitos. Before we knew it, we were heading down to the port to meet our ferry back to mainland Greece. The ride back was incredible as we weaved through the islands, stopping in a few others to pick up more passengers. We got to Pireaus around midnight and took the train- which was now working normally- to Athens and to our hostel.
--
We were told before we left that we only needed an afternoon or so in Athens, and I have to agree. Central Athens has the benefit of hosting The Acropolis with ruins from over 2,000 years ago- including the famed Parthenon. It is beautiful, but once you have seen it- there is not a plethora of other things to really do. We walked all throughout the ruins dodging the thundershowers and then headed back to our hostel to hang. We had amazing greek salads and pasta left over from Santorini for dinner and then enjoyed a night of sitting on the hostel's roof deck had absolutely amazing views of the Acropolis and the city in general.
This morning we departed Athens for the airport and were greeted with more travel complications: a strike- this time in Italy- closed the airport in Rome. Thank God for the EU, though, as the airline had to provide us with a 4.5€ voucher to be used at McDonald's. Finally though, we are airborne heading to our strike-ridden destination. Hopefully the trains will be running to get us from the airport to downtown!
--
Greece is tough. It reminds me of Israel in that the people and the culture are inherently a bit rough around the edges, though they never mean any harm. Lines are non-existent, information is tough to obtain and often unreliable. However, like most things that are a bit difficult, Greece is definitely worth the hassle. I'm not exaggerating when I say Santorini is indescribably beautiful, and I am sure there are a thousand other islands that share its beauty. While Athens is a bit of an eyesore outside of the ruins, it is an ancient center of civilization and one of the most densely packed urban areas in the world. If only used as a gateway to the rest of the country, Athens is definitely worth a (short) trip. The islands, on the other hand: make sure you book a return ticket or you may never leave.
Enjoy the pictures. Talk to you from the *true* center of civilization: ROME!
Monday, May 2, 2011
A little change of pace
Greece has been quite an experience so far. Firstly, after arriving in peraious on Saturday night after our long ferry from Venice. We were all so happy to have our own beds after two nights of sleeping in transit. The hotel was run by the nicest Greek man, who informed us that he spent 1.5 years in Baltimore working before being deported.
There was a transportation strike in Athens which delayed our original ferry departure, so after a great night sleep we had a day to kill in athens before our fairly left for santorini at 11pm. We quickly found out that a transportation strike means no metro, so we had to find another way to get from the port to downtown Athens. After some confusion, and a talk with a Greek man, we got on a bus to Athens that was packed to the brim. It took us about an hour in these tight conditions to reach the city, where we learned that the strike also meant the acropolis and roman agora were also closed. So we spent the day walking through the flea market and using the wifi at our hotel. Finally, it was time to head to the port and we prayed the strike wouldnt create any further problems. Other than a small group of port workers, no further problems occurred and we arrived safely in santorini at 5am! I should comment that it was interesting to see the port workers chanting for communism after the struggles Greece has had under a capitalist system.
Now, santorini is amazing! We slept in this morning, which was much needed after another night in transit. After a nice breakfast by the black sand beaches, we rented ATVs and went on a wonderful adventure. We drove all over the entire island, which happens to be a big C. We had a blast driving around, i dont think any of us have ever had more fun. A 30 minute ride took us to the lighthouse on the west end with a beautiful view of... The east side of the island. We then went on a nice long ride all the way around the island to the east side, which has a town called Oia. This place is absolutely amazing, and the quintessential Greek isle. It feels completely isolated here, and it's a great escape from all the cities we've been in over the last month. I'm sure Greg will post pictures soon. After driving the entire island, we went back to the lighthouse to climb some rocks and watch the sunset. We ended our day with a nice pasta dinner cooked in our hostel. Then we sat on the beach with some beers and some dogs that befriended us. The dogs were very welcome visitors for all of us, and a nice source of entertainment. What a great way to end a fantastic day.
-Steve
Munich! Venice! The Adriatic Sea!!
If you have followed this blog, or any before, you probably have realized that I love to update the blog with my thoughts. It comes as no surprise, then, that many of you have emailed wondering why lately the updates have been few and further in between. I can only tell you, we have been having so much fun it has literally been a struggle to sit down and write! But here we go.
MUNICH
Munich, and the state of Bavaria is like a young person's heaven. The self-proclaimed world capital of beer, a thrilling history, beautiful sights and a vibrant population all combine to create a city that was so hard to leave we extended our stay by 24 hours (read on).
We arrived on Sunday- a week ago- and found a great hostel that was only a few minutes from the Haubtbanhof (main train station). Our hostel had a great bar with really friendly staff and other customers and after stashing our bags we went downstairs for a quick drink. One sip of Berlin's famous "Augustiner" beer and we were hooked.
The following morning was easter Monday, and after a great all-you-can-eat breakfast, we headed out to Munich's main square to participate in a free tour of the city. Our tour guide was Liz, a nice british gal who led us around the city with a hilarious and exciting look into Munich's medieval and more recently, Nazi history. I had heard that the Nazi party had gotten its start as a working-class party in Bavaria but I never knew the details. For instance, Hitler was arrested and held in Munich after holding government officials hostage at a beer hall one day- but his trial was such a joke it was nicknamed the circus. Even though he spent time in prison, it was in his Munich cell that "Mein Kampf" was written and he was released after only 9 months. As he took over the city over the next 10 years, many of the decisions he made in munich carried over to the whole of Germany in the years that followed. It was really, really interesting to see all of this played out in front of us.
After the tour, we decided to participate in another tour of sorts, this one of Munich's greatest achievement- its beer. Munich takes drinking beer to a whole new level. It is like The Olympics of beer drinking. For one thing, the sizes are ridiculous: small is a half-liter, most places serve giant Liters as the norm. Second: instead of packing into tiny dark bars to consume their pride and joy, Munichers have perfected the art of drinking socially in Beer Halls and Beer Gardens. Essentially, these massive areas are full of benches and tables, are always open seating and provide gargantuan mugs of beer as well as manly food like half-chickens and pigs' legs. They are always full of locals who are laughing with friends and family and it is very common to bring your young children along.
Our tour (nicknamed the "Size Matters Beer Tour") took the three of us and about 30 others to a few of the city's most famous drinking establishments while providing us with some history, a lot of beer drinking know-how and a lot of entertainment with our new friends. The leader of the pack was named "The Bear" and as you might imagine, he and Steve were best buds about 4 minutes into the tour. At the end of the trip, Steve (called by everyone "Bear number two") was awarded the prestigious beer-drinking-liter-mug-award for his service and entertainment to the group. I don't think I have ever seen steve so happy as when he was declared the winner after 5 hours of touring Munich's greatest hits. Along the way, we met some great friends: Deep and Om from UTexas, Kevin who was traveling home after working for months in Antarctica, Paulette from Canada, as well as a venerable who's who of characters from all over the world- each of which became crazier and crazier as they started knocking back their liters of beer.
The next day, Tuesday was- forgive the pun- a much sobering experience. We decided to head out to Dakau, the Nazi's first concentration camp and the only one that lasted the entire length of the war. None of us had ever been to a concentration camp before, and I can tell you that it was a sad and moving tour through the depths of history. It brought the holocaust to a level I did not think possible, while still reminding me that I could never even begin to imagine the conditions that so many people faced only a few years ago. The tour took us through the old gates of the camp, the old headquarters, barracks as well as the crematorium and gas chambers. Nothing I can say can describe being there, and being there only scratches the surface of such a terrible history. To me, being there- however painful it is- reminds the world that this was a very real chapter of history that can never be forgotten. Being there honors the millions who died.
On that subject, Munich as a city decides to remember the years of nazi leadership with a much quieter strategy than their brothers and sisters in Berlin. While it's nearly impossible to miss the history while in Berlin with their huge memorials every city block, Munich quietly leaves clues around to validate their history. While I appreciated both strategies, I worry that as the years pass, the meanings of such small memorials in Munich will be forgotten. It is up to its citizens and governments to make sure this is never the case.
--
That night, we decided to head down the street to another of Berlin's most famous beer halls, where we had an incredible experience. After sitting down next to a nice german family, we started examining the menu. A few minutes later, three English-speaking girls were walking by, looking for a seat. The hilarious German waiter, realizing that there were three English-speaking males only a few feet away from these three English-speaking ladies could not help himself. He grabbed them and ushered them towards us, banging on our table to get us to scooch down to accommodate them. As he had a laugh at the potentially awkward situation he had just created, the 6 of us got to talking. Becca, Brianne, and Nicole were sophomores from Union College in New York State, on a 2-month study abroad program in Germany. Like us, they were in transit in Munich, stopping for a few days before moving on to a new city (for them, Berlin).
Over the next 2 hours we shared great food, amazing beer and even better conversation. As all 6 of us were in relationships back home, the pressure was off and before we knew it, they were heading back to our hostel-bar with us to take advantage of the free beer tickets we had racked up the night before. We exchanged emails and said goodnight and just laughed at how a seemingly random event had given us such an entertaining night.
The next day, Wednesday, was to be our last in Munich. Having so much fun, we decided to extend our stay by 24 hours and leave for Venice on the night train Thursday night instead. For the day, we headed out on the Subway ("S-Bahn") to Munich's grand Olympic park, the host of two games and the infamous massacre of israeli athletes in 1972. The park was amazingly beautiful with the famous Olympic stadium built into the landscape in a unique top-down design. We moseyed around, enjoying the sights and playing hackie sack on the banks of the huge lake that dominates the park. After, we headed to BMW World Headquarters where we acted like little boys, walking among the shiny cars, imagining what it would be like to speed down the Autobahn in one.
When we returned to our hostel, we decided to meet up with our friends from the night before, who were planning on going to the same place we had met them at. We agreed on a meeting time and headed out there. When we finally saw them later, they had brought their entire study-abroad program- like 8 additional girls- to the beer hall. We sat down with them, laughed about the randomness of it all and then had another great dinner and drinks. We ran into our waiter from the day, who was proud to see that he had set up three American boys with like 10 other girls. As the night went on he got us drinks and even posed for pictures with us. A German tuba band even made an appearance and, after hearing that we were Americans, they did a rousing rendition of The Star Spangled Banner that made me laugh so hard for about 5 minutes straight. You literally cannot make this stuff up. It was a great night. We were sorry to see our new friends go- but such is traveling; cool people come into your life so quickly and so intensely and then vanish in the same way. It always reminds me that there are so many people out in the world to go and befriend. It shouldn't take the audacity of a German waiter to meet some of them, but it doesn't hurt when it does.
Our last day in Munich there was no availability in our hostel, so we had headed down the street to The Courtyard where 'Ma and 'Pa Lessans treated us to a great night of western-style accommodation. After sleeping in all morning long, we had an amazing breakfast and then took our time getting moving while we booked hostels for the remainder of the trip.
Finally, in the afternoon we went to the English Gardens, the largest Municipal park in the world and relaxed all day. After a great nap on the grass and a great afternoon of people-watching we headed back. Before we knew it we were saying goodbye to Munich and off on a night train to Venice, Italy.
VENICE
after a mostly sleepless night in a train compartment, we arrived at 6:30 or so to the famous canal city of Venice.
Venice was incredible. There is literally one road in and out and then all canals. To get around, you hop on city boats that motor down the canals like busses on a freeway. In the morning, hundreds of small delivery boats flew by dropping off products everywhere. Unfortunately, since everything- everything- is delivered via boat and then hand-trucked to its destination, prices are through-the-roof. As 3 budget travelers, staying in Venice for more than a few hours would have broken the bank, but being there that long was an experience in itself.
We followed Rick Steve's self-guided tour down the grand canal as we got a crash course in venetian history and architecture. We continued all the way down to the famed St. Mark's square with its equally famous pigeons who are so severely domesticated that they land on you without thinking twice. We met a nice American couple who were traveling with their kids (who, having brought bread crumbs for the birds, were being mauled by about 35 hungry pigeons).
We walked about, paid the outrageous €1.50 to use the toilet (to get the full venetian experience), and walked all the way back to the north of the island, winding through the tiny back streets and crossing over the canals.
Venice is unlike any other place in the world- it just takes your breath away. I can't wait to return one day when I have much more moolah :-)
FERRY TO GREECE
We departed Venice 8 hours after arriving on a Minoan Lines ferry that would take us all the way to the West coast of Greece after a 30 hour transit. This mammoth crossing was included in our Eurail pass, so we were not quick to complain. We tied down some airplane-like seats on the 7th deck and just relaxed for 2 days. On the way, we passed islands all around the Adriatic Sea. It was beautiful.
I was very happy to be back on the water, and I couldn't contain the thousands of SAS memories that bubbled to the surface. I really enjoyed it :-)
Saturday night at 8pm, we arrived to the port city of Patras, Greece on the west coast of the country- and our greek adventure began. But that will have to wait for another blog...
Currently, as I write this we are on another ferry- this one from Athens to the island of Santorini. I have heard so many good things about Santorini and I can't wait to arrive (even though our arrival is set for 4:45 in the morning, haha). As I wrote this blog I kept taking breaks to go out to the outside promenade on the side of the ship to just watch the waves roll by. Back on Semester at Sea, I used to love going out on the promenades at night to just look at all the darkness, and I love it out here just the same. There is something so liberating about being out in the middle of the ocean- I'm hooked.
Can't wait to update you again in a few days.
Talk soon, thanks for reading,
Greg
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
MUNICH
Munich, and the state of Bavaria is like a young person's heaven. The self-proclaimed world capital of beer, a thrilling history, beautiful sights and a vibrant population all combine to create a city that was so hard to leave we extended our stay by 24 hours (read on).
We arrived on Sunday- a week ago- and found a great hostel that was only a few minutes from the Haubtbanhof (main train station). Our hostel had a great bar with really friendly staff and other customers and after stashing our bags we went downstairs for a quick drink. One sip of Berlin's famous "Augustiner" beer and we were hooked.
The following morning was easter Monday, and after a great all-you-can-eat breakfast, we headed out to Munich's main square to participate in a free tour of the city. Our tour guide was Liz, a nice british gal who led us around the city with a hilarious and exciting look into Munich's medieval and more recently, Nazi history. I had heard that the Nazi party had gotten its start as a working-class party in Bavaria but I never knew the details. For instance, Hitler was arrested and held in Munich after holding government officials hostage at a beer hall one day- but his trial was such a joke it was nicknamed the circus. Even though he spent time in prison, it was in his Munich cell that "Mein Kampf" was written and he was released after only 9 months. As he took over the city over the next 10 years, many of the decisions he made in munich carried over to the whole of Germany in the years that followed. It was really, really interesting to see all of this played out in front of us.
After the tour, we decided to participate in another tour of sorts, this one of Munich's greatest achievement- its beer. Munich takes drinking beer to a whole new level. It is like The Olympics of beer drinking. For one thing, the sizes are ridiculous: small is a half-liter, most places serve giant Liters as the norm. Second: instead of packing into tiny dark bars to consume their pride and joy, Munichers have perfected the art of drinking socially in Beer Halls and Beer Gardens. Essentially, these massive areas are full of benches and tables, are always open seating and provide gargantuan mugs of beer as well as manly food like half-chickens and pigs' legs. They are always full of locals who are laughing with friends and family and it is very common to bring your young children along.
Our tour (nicknamed the "Size Matters Beer Tour") took the three of us and about 30 others to a few of the city's most famous drinking establishments while providing us with some history, a lot of beer drinking know-how and a lot of entertainment with our new friends. The leader of the pack was named "The Bear" and as you might imagine, he and Steve were best buds about 4 minutes into the tour. At the end of the trip, Steve (called by everyone "Bear number two") was awarded the prestigious beer-drinking-liter-mug-award for his service and entertainment to the group. I don't think I have ever seen steve so happy as when he was declared the winner after 5 hours of touring Munich's greatest hits. Along the way, we met some great friends: Deep and Om from UTexas, Kevin who was traveling home after working for months in Antarctica, Paulette from Canada, as well as a venerable who's who of characters from all over the world- each of which became crazier and crazier as they started knocking back their liters of beer.
The next day, Tuesday was- forgive the pun- a much sobering experience. We decided to head out to Dakau, the Nazi's first concentration camp and the only one that lasted the entire length of the war. None of us had ever been to a concentration camp before, and I can tell you that it was a sad and moving tour through the depths of history. It brought the holocaust to a level I did not think possible, while still reminding me that I could never even begin to imagine the conditions that so many people faced only a few years ago. The tour took us through the old gates of the camp, the old headquarters, barracks as well as the crematorium and gas chambers. Nothing I can say can describe being there, and being there only scratches the surface of such a terrible history. To me, being there- however painful it is- reminds the world that this was a very real chapter of history that can never be forgotten. Being there honors the millions who died.
On that subject, Munich as a city decides to remember the years of nazi leadership with a much quieter strategy than their brothers and sisters in Berlin. While it's nearly impossible to miss the history while in Berlin with their huge memorials every city block, Munich quietly leaves clues around to validate their history. While I appreciated both strategies, I worry that as the years pass, the meanings of such small memorials in Munich will be forgotten. It is up to its citizens and governments to make sure this is never the case.
--
That night, we decided to head down the street to another of Berlin's most famous beer halls, where we had an incredible experience. After sitting down next to a nice german family, we started examining the menu. A few minutes later, three English-speaking girls were walking by, looking for a seat. The hilarious German waiter, realizing that there were three English-speaking males only a few feet away from these three English-speaking ladies could not help himself. He grabbed them and ushered them towards us, banging on our table to get us to scooch down to accommodate them. As he had a laugh at the potentially awkward situation he had just created, the 6 of us got to talking. Becca, Brianne, and Nicole were sophomores from Union College in New York State, on a 2-month study abroad program in Germany. Like us, they were in transit in Munich, stopping for a few days before moving on to a new city (for them, Berlin).
Over the next 2 hours we shared great food, amazing beer and even better conversation. As all 6 of us were in relationships back home, the pressure was off and before we knew it, they were heading back to our hostel-bar with us to take advantage of the free beer tickets we had racked up the night before. We exchanged emails and said goodnight and just laughed at how a seemingly random event had given us such an entertaining night.
The next day, Wednesday, was to be our last in Munich. Having so much fun, we decided to extend our stay by 24 hours and leave for Venice on the night train Thursday night instead. For the day, we headed out on the Subway ("S-Bahn") to Munich's grand Olympic park, the host of two games and the infamous massacre of israeli athletes in 1972. The park was amazingly beautiful with the famous Olympic stadium built into the landscape in a unique top-down design. We moseyed around, enjoying the sights and playing hackie sack on the banks of the huge lake that dominates the park. After, we headed to BMW World Headquarters where we acted like little boys, walking among the shiny cars, imagining what it would be like to speed down the Autobahn in one.
When we returned to our hostel, we decided to meet up with our friends from the night before, who were planning on going to the same place we had met them at. We agreed on a meeting time and headed out there. When we finally saw them later, they had brought their entire study-abroad program- like 8 additional girls- to the beer hall. We sat down with them, laughed about the randomness of it all and then had another great dinner and drinks. We ran into our waiter from the day, who was proud to see that he had set up three American boys with like 10 other girls. As the night went on he got us drinks and even posed for pictures with us. A German tuba band even made an appearance and, after hearing that we were Americans, they did a rousing rendition of The Star Spangled Banner that made me laugh so hard for about 5 minutes straight. You literally cannot make this stuff up. It was a great night. We were sorry to see our new friends go- but such is traveling; cool people come into your life so quickly and so intensely and then vanish in the same way. It always reminds me that there are so many people out in the world to go and befriend. It shouldn't take the audacity of a German waiter to meet some of them, but it doesn't hurt when it does.
Our last day in Munich there was no availability in our hostel, so we had headed down the street to The Courtyard where 'Ma and 'Pa Lessans treated us to a great night of western-style accommodation. After sleeping in all morning long, we had an amazing breakfast and then took our time getting moving while we booked hostels for the remainder of the trip.
Finally, in the afternoon we went to the English Gardens, the largest Municipal park in the world and relaxed all day. After a great nap on the grass and a great afternoon of people-watching we headed back. Before we knew it we were saying goodbye to Munich and off on a night train to Venice, Italy.
VENICE
after a mostly sleepless night in a train compartment, we arrived at 6:30 or so to the famous canal city of Venice.
Venice was incredible. There is literally one road in and out and then all canals. To get around, you hop on city boats that motor down the canals like busses on a freeway. In the morning, hundreds of small delivery boats flew by dropping off products everywhere. Unfortunately, since everything- everything- is delivered via boat and then hand-trucked to its destination, prices are through-the-roof. As 3 budget travelers, staying in Venice for more than a few hours would have broken the bank, but being there that long was an experience in itself.
We followed Rick Steve's self-guided tour down the grand canal as we got a crash course in venetian history and architecture. We continued all the way down to the famed St. Mark's square with its equally famous pigeons who are so severely domesticated that they land on you without thinking twice. We met a nice American couple who were traveling with their kids (who, having brought bread crumbs for the birds, were being mauled by about 35 hungry pigeons).
We walked about, paid the outrageous €1.50 to use the toilet (to get the full venetian experience), and walked all the way back to the north of the island, winding through the tiny back streets and crossing over the canals.
Venice is unlike any other place in the world- it just takes your breath away. I can't wait to return one day when I have much more moolah :-)
FERRY TO GREECE
We departed Venice 8 hours after arriving on a Minoan Lines ferry that would take us all the way to the West coast of Greece after a 30 hour transit. This mammoth crossing was included in our Eurail pass, so we were not quick to complain. We tied down some airplane-like seats on the 7th deck and just relaxed for 2 days. On the way, we passed islands all around the Adriatic Sea. It was beautiful.
I was very happy to be back on the water, and I couldn't contain the thousands of SAS memories that bubbled to the surface. I really enjoyed it :-)
Saturday night at 8pm, we arrived to the port city of Patras, Greece on the west coast of the country- and our greek adventure began. But that will have to wait for another blog...
Currently, as I write this we are on another ferry- this one from Athens to the island of Santorini. I have heard so many good things about Santorini and I can't wait to arrive (even though our arrival is set for 4:45 in the morning, haha). As I wrote this blog I kept taking breaks to go out to the outside promenade on the side of the ship to just watch the waves roll by. Back on Semester at Sea, I used to love going out on the promenades at night to just look at all the darkness, and I love it out here just the same. There is something so liberating about being out in the middle of the ocean- I'm hooked.
Can't wait to update you again in a few days.
Talk soon, thanks for reading,
Greg
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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