Yer out!

Had i been on that plane, there would have been one survivor - work has warned me that i'm not allowed to die or otherwise have anything bad happen to me. Instead, my relation to current events has me stranded in Zagreb for a day, a result of the immovable force known as the Italian strike. Had i been more on the ball, could have checked out Ljubljana, but in the wee hours of my Zagreb arrival, was not comprehending which country was on strike (how could i wonder?)

Wandered around Zagreb, a city i've wandered around in the past - at least this time an old man did not proposition me within the first ten minutes of my arrival. Went to a sculptor's museum and saw how a three dimensional artform can become a two dimensional work.

Added a couple k's of liquid to my pack, wonder how customs will like that.

Listened to a Belgian complain to me about graffiti, and brag that Belgium has none. That country's not even 12,000 square miles, probably can't find anything decent to tag - not that i support mindless sparypaint, the main variety found in these parts.

And now just wait. And wait. And wait, for the first post-strike train to Venice.

Everyone's Hero...

...except the hooligans. Bruce Lee was gone, having been desecrated after a football match. Back next season, after a thorough cleaning and repairs. Perhaps i will be too, if the Kosovo vote fairs well.

Rebirth

I remember my youth. So well, in fact, that my memory exagerates events exponentially, as any frequent and astute reader will be aware of. But even my over-active memories of my own experienced civil war are no match for the history lessons available by walking the streets of Mostar.

Sure, a number of buildings have been full repaired, no visible damage whatsoever. But a number of inhabited buildings still show the bullet holes and shell damage of recent history. And peppered between both of these, the empty husks of buildings, glass shattered, walls appearing as a strange war-time stucco.

Ah, life.

Is there an architecture school that teaches to build for civil war? To consider not just what the building will look like immediately upon completion, but upon destruction too? All my life i have been shown the end result, the death toll of countless buildings. Did the Colliseum architect, Pompeii's legions, the Mayans, the Khmer, consider what their structures would look like, covered with lava, dirt, trees, time?

Bucharest, Day 1

Slept 12 hours, despite the usual hostel racket. Finally no winesap worries, no koolwhip concerns. Wandered aroun the rest of the day. Hurried activities prior to my departure helped me forget my compass, but still i maintained a fair sense of direction. This town is nice enough, standard Eastern European city. More Belgrade than Prague.

I think the scale on my maps is off by a factor of two, else i'm terribly out of walking shape. Enough English spoken here, getting around is rather easy, though eating still a bit difficult. The language holds many similarities to Italian, but different enough i'm not sure what kind kind of chicken that was. Still, the language, coupled with the Roman alphabet, makes sign reading, and thus getting around, rather easy.

Safety First

Going through immigration as i'm leaving de, the officer asks, "Only in Germany for one day? Where are you going to now?" "To Bucharest." "Romania? Be Safe."

What's so dangerous about Romania? Oh, excepting maybe the roaming packs of stray dogs that even killed a tourist last year. Get some Thai over there, that problem's gone in a couple weeks. I've had my rabies shots and instictively protect my jugular... usually. I think i'll be ok.

Partial Arrival

Uneventful flight. The days leading to vacation left me so exhausted that i missed watching 2 movies i'd yet to see - listened to them as i slept, but from what i've learned in my class, that doesn't count.

In Frankfurt, managed to push the right buttons to get a train ticket from the airport. Don't know where exactly i am, just hopped on the first train. It's a lazy Sunday afternoon, i'm the only one in an Italian restaurant. Eating a penne boscaiola, though no meat. Pasta is a little overdone, but this is a Calabrese restaurant and i do not know their style.

Called in a reservation from the airport - i'll be staying at Butterfly Villa Hostel the first couple nights in Bucharest. I don't care much for hostels, despite enjoying each one i've stayed at, especially Backpacker's Hostel in Kampala. I recommend that over any $$$ hotel i've been in. Well, except maybe one in Switzerland.

I'm off to battle keyboards, and hopefully find my way back to the flughafen.

Bella Roma

Spent yesterday walking around and eating pizza at various sites - Vatican City, Piazza del Popolo, Termini, Villa Borghese, the Pantheon, the Colloseum.

Met Maudy (friend from high school) about the old times, the new times, the differences between the two, traveling, staying put, and all those things that you can only talk to with someone who knew you in high school and has also bounced around the world.

Were a couple relaxing days; even found a bar i went to once a few years ago that served a great pint of Guinness (and they still do), and a new bar that does the same.

Time to go home.

Moving Backwards

It rained the mornings of my last couple days in Ugandan, which slowed me down a little (no fun riding on the back of a moped in the rain). Eventually Monday afternoon came and i headed off to the airport. 2 hour flight to Addis Ababa, 4.5 hour wait there (and there's no place in transit to change money, and the food/drink joints don't take Ugandan Shillings or make change for large US bills), finally an 8 hour flight to Rome, arriving at 6am.

Somehow my bag gained 6kg and walking around downtown looking for the hostel i'm staying in is no fun, but i finally found the place, and it's nice enough, though i'm paying the same amount that i paid for 4 rooms and access to a pool in Nairobi.

I wonder why i'm in Rome again, it's a nice enough place, i like to wander around and sit and nap around town. A good lazy end to the vacation, i guess.

Rome, 2006

Frank and i went biking some 50+ km through the countryside by Frankfurt. We covered all kinds of terrain and were quite exhausted afterwards, and running so late that we missed all but Brazil's last goal. The France-Korea match was rather nice to watch, though - we sat surrounded by a bunch of Koreans cheering "De Ha Mingu" (sp?) among other things, and their enthusiam was wonderful.

Got home at around 1am, which left 30 minutes to pack and make it to the train stop to catch the 30 minute train back into Frankfurt (which i just made, thanks Frank!), where i waited about 35 minutes for a 2 hour bus ride to the Hahn airport, for the 2 hour flight to Rome, Ciampino, and took a 1 hour bus to catch the 30 minute metro ride to Termini, the central train station. Been up for a while now, but i'm right close to Termini in the same internet cafe that i always go to in Rome. I don't think the employee recognizes me, but i recognizes her, she's the same Peruvian woman who was working here before.

Now I'm off to wander around Rome, again. Probably nothing too fancy, like the Vatican or the Colloseum, but something less dramatic like the outskirts, to see all the crazy apartment buildings they have there.

I've a lot of older posts i should make, but don't have the time right now. Look for old posts later on, i have to backdate a bunch of them.

birthday party

My mom's wanted a new cuckoo clock for quite some years, so as she's close to der Schwarzwald (where cuckoo clocks are made) now's her chance to get one. Siegfried drove us to the area, with Heinz (who says he needed a new head after last night) coming along as a translator. While there, we saw what claims to be the largest cuckoo clock in the world cuckoo at 2pm. Think i got it on video too.

Afterwards we walked around the largest waterfalls in Germany as well as through some other small towns in the area. On each small town's central plaza is an area where a large screen has been set up. When a football game is on, the plaza fills up with people coming to watch it on the big screen and enjoy the many shops set up around it. Also, the town buildings are lined with German and other flags. I've heard various Europeans say how strange it is to see U.S. streets lined with U.S. flags, but the World Cup changes everything, being partiotic takes on a new meaning. It's a wonderfully festive time town throughout the country.


We returned around supper time and Dorle made me some good vegan fried rice with tofu, and i was told that Rebecca had invited me to a party to celebrate her and a cousin's recent birthdays. The party was a gathering of 30 or so locals in their 20's, along with a lot of local beers and buckets of sangria with long straws in it.

It was a great party, and luckily for me plenty of people spoke some degree of English and spoke with me throughout the night. At times everyone started speaking German (or Schwabian (sp?), to be exact) but i just sat back and enjoyed the interpersonal interactions.

Ended up getting home around 3:30-4am, another well-worth it long night.

Just like the ketchup

6:30am taxi to Chinggis Khaan Airport. 3 hour wait, then 6 hours aboard an Aeroflot Russian airplane with very small seats and the largest bathroom i've ever seen on a plane. 5 hour wait in Moscow airport, a dingy little place with poor organization. 3 hour flight to Frankfurt and my father greets me holding a bag of clothes. Frank is around the corner and Siegfried's outside fretting over the car. Franks bids goodbye (for now) and we head off to Backnang.

2 days ago i was racing across the Gobi Desert at 40 kmph listening to Cloud Nine Music; now i am racing on the Autobahn at 200+ kmph listening to an automated German voice giving directions.

Heinz is a jolly old man having a family gathering. I meet a plethora of people that i met 25 years ago but do not remember, and i meet Rebecca, a cousin (almost everyone here is a cousin of mine, to some degree) who was only in her mother's womb when we were last in Germany.

Many beers later i am (at my mother's request) drunkeningly explaining all the photos and people in my mom's photo album to Rebecca. Eventually everyone heads off, and we get driven to Siegfried's.

Frankfurt, Rome

Forgot to mention that i bought a ticket to Frankfurt for the 15th. I'm flying Aeroflot, the Russian airline. The ticket lady asked me if i had life insurance when i said i'd take the Aeroflot ticket - something she didn't ask when i mentioned i wanted the MIAT ticket. Looking up Aeroflot, they have a spotty record, though they've been ok the past 13 years. That's good, right? Ask me in a couple weeks...

I've also a plane ticket out of Rome on the 21st, so most everything is arranged, just need to get out of Gobi alive (and on time) and figure out the leg between DE and IT.

Until 1 week, drink a pint or two for me.

Prague Bar, last night

Here's a journey into a very nice Prague cellar bar. Lots of atmosphere; the movie has been gamma-corrected since it is very dark inside. It's about 6MB large; the original was 20MB.

All my regular readers will be happy to know that on my last night in Prague i managed to help one of those makeup-wearing girls with dreds. She was missing a man, i found her one that was lying on the bathroom floor of the bar in the aforementioned movie.

Krakow Summary

Day 1 - Walked a few klicks to see Poland's largest air museum.
Day 2 - Slept in, wandered around the castle but couldn't find an easy way to breach its walls. Hired 1000 men-at-arms to help me but by the time they arrived i was asleep again; i never made it inside the castle.
Day 3 - Went to Auschwitz Museum. Didn't make it to Birkenau. Worked for about an hour.
Day 4 - Walked through the plaza and saw some nativity scene special event (the Szopki competition), then went on to the Jewish section. Missed the right train for the salt mines. Bought souvenirs and trinkets. Worked for a few hours.

Yes i flew thousands of miles to Krakow, trained 30+ km to Oswecizm, walk another 1.5km to the museum, but couldn't make the extra 3km to Birkenau (would have been late). Also missed the salt mines due to the Szopki. Maybe next time.

Anectodal Evidence, Part III

Europe: where even the women with dreds wear makeup.

But what do i know - i've been wearing the same clothes for well over a week.

Anecdotal Evidence, Part II

Many years ago, a little after the Wawel Castle was first built, it was discovered that a dragon lived under the hill at the base of the castle. In a spectacular fight, some dude killed the dragon, and the dragon went on to become the symbol of the town. Nowadays a big Polish guy dresses up in a bright green dragon costume and introduces himself to all the people in the streets, saying hello, shaking hands, having his photo taken: the famous Krakow Dragon.

In Bangkok, he would shake your hand and then mention the $10 "hand shaking fee".

In Cuzco, he would ask you to take a photo of him with you and then mention the $10 "photo fee".

But in Krakow, he just tries to figure out what language to speak to you, and says "Hi! I'm the Krakow Dragon!"

Planes, Computers

Hiked a little over 4km to see Poland's largest air museum, which is free on Monday. Unfortunately i got there very late due to a mishap with some bad Chinese/Vietnamese food, and only had 30 minutes to shoot as much as i could before closing time. There were a variety of Soviet and Polish aircraft, and even a couple US, UK and German planes (older, WWII era). I saw nothing that made it stand out other than the quantity - there was one large hangar full of planes and the outside field had a couple rows of old fighter planes. None of them looked to be in pristine condition, and i didn't see a fantastic find, like a downed F-117 or the Enola Gay, but perhaps i don't realise the rarity of what i was seeing. The only other people there was a school tour, looked to be 13 year olds.

I think it's funny that on my first day in Krakow i walk 1.5 hours to an air museum before seeing the traditional castles or art museums in the area, but i have yet to make it to the Yankee Air Museum so close to where i live. I did check my email before venturing out.

A lot of the net cafes in Prague use linux. Even the free net access at the hotel i stayed at was run on a debian-based system (the others used fedora). A couple were using W98 and W2K, but i was told that linux is quit popular with the net cafes. It looked like most of them were set up to discard changes upon reboot, and they seemed to be running recent versions of software, implying either an auto-patch mechanism set up, or some a person-service that did this for the places. The only place i've been to in Krakow uses WinXP; i'll have to check out some other places tomorrow.

I wonder if someone sells a packaged linux that provides these services, or if there's a free distro out there that does all this already. Doesn't seem that it would be that difficult to set up an OpenBSD install cd to be a kiosk-type workstation, but perhaps browser plugin issues would prevent this from happening.

Reasons for Travelling

Travelled from Prague to Krakow by train last night; arrived at 5:30am and spent the dawn walking around the city centre. The snow i missed in Michigan greeted me in Krakow, and the parks and old churches here look quite nice in the morning light. Still, after a couple hours of walking and photographing, i was a bit cold.

In Prague i was fortunate enough to meet Pam, an old friend, who happens to be teaching English there. I stayed the first few nights in a hotel, but once i reached Pam i spent a couple nights on her couch.

Sometimes i wonder why i travel, what the point is, what there is to see, to experience.
Pam was arguing about the differences between digital and analog photography, mostly that digital is evil, an argument highlighted by the demise of her digital camera. I asked to take a look at her camera - the problem was that four of the pins in the compact flash slot were bent so as to not make contact with the card, thus disabling the camera. A couple small flathead screwdrivers or some extreme needlenose pliers would fix the problem, but unfortunately those were not available. Instead i used scissors (taken apart using a larger screwdriver), a bent paperclip (custom bent for the job), a wobbly knife, and my handy flashlight. After a little over an hour i managed to wiggle the pins into place and now her camera works again. I must admit i did not think i was going to be able to fix that, and having done so is oddly one of the top highlights of the trip, possibly even of the year.

On Sunday Pam and a number of friends went to Pilsen to have a Thanksgiving dinner with another American teacher living there. She invited me along and i accepted. The woman in Pilsen, Kristin, cooked a variety of dishes, and since Pam had told her about my eating habits, a number of the dishes were vegan.
Years ago i started having issues with Thanksgiving - i've never really had the traditionally American upbringing in this regards, but something special/different has happened for most of them. Some were quite good, like the first i spent in the States, in my brother's apartment, eating his first attempt at Spaghetti alla Carbonara (i loved it). Others were wierd, like the last i spent in Rome with my mother (where was my father again?) or the time my brother and i helped my mother move.
Lately they had just been getting real sad, but the past couple years have seen a turnaround.
2 years ago i travelled to Cambodia and spent Thanksgiving eating rice and vegetables in some village. Last year i was in Rome and ate turkey with Maudi, an old friend from high school (yes, turkey - it was that kind of situation). This year i stumbled into a vegan dinner in Pilsen, Czech Republic, including vegan stuffing and vegan apple pie, and local moonshine. This was not the kind of dinner i expected, and was a great, wonderful time.

Perhaps next year i will even be able to again spend this holiday in the States.

One of the main reasons i travel is to spend some time alone - truely alone, when even the words are unfamiliar. But everywhere i go is someone i know. Along with meeting Pam on this trip i have also met someone whose best friend runs a business (along with Mark's brother) in Ann Arbor, and another fellow from Canton, MI. Even Cambodia held people i knew.

Perhaps the world is telling me i am not alone; i wonder what friend i will meet when i go to Rwanda.

Anecdotal Differences

I threw away a ziploc bag today. It was in good condition, only a little dirty with some crumbs inside. In Cambodia, someone would probably fish the bag out of my trash and use it at home, but here i imagine it will be buried in a garbage heap or get incinerated.

Poorer countries seem so much more resourceful in their recycling efforts - no need to spend vast resources recycling plastics into new plastics, just reuse the old containers, like litre bottles measure and hold gasoline for sale, or float in the river to indicate where the fisherman's net is, or get used as sleds or line walkways (unfortunate flip side: no need to compost your throwaways, the poorest folks will take it from the trash and eat it, and no worries about disease or health - they're poor people after all).

Prague Initial Observations.

Arrived in Prague easily after the flight delays out of DTW. Got here a few hours behind schedule, but as i did not know what i was doing once i got here, it didn't really matter (was a bit more tired than i would have been, but otherwise no big deal).

This town seems rather safe; it is quite unlikely that i would get mugged here. My reasoning behind this? All the buses i have been on still have their emergency mini-hammers on them. I don't remember ever being on a bus (excepting a very, very new bus) that still had its mini-hammers - they are too easy a target for anyone feeling onery. If Czechs don't even feel onery enough to steal the mini-hammers, then this must be a safe place.

So far Prague seems very similar to Belgrade or Zagreb, well maybe inbetween those two (Zagreb seeming a wealthier town and Belgrade a poorer one). A hilly city, old fanciful buildings mixed with newer, plain buildings, a smattering of ornate churches, and a number of stark commie-era Things. The sidewalks are either broken cement or well-kept mosaic stone (these being simple patterns and usually accompanied by cobblestone roads). Haven't explored too much, just a few klicks around my hotel. Tomorrow i'll try to make it to some tourist areas.

Leaving Detroit

On my way to Prague for my birthday, on the first plane from DTW to Frankfurt. A few minutes after i get on the plane i fall asleep, before we even leave the terminal. I wake up as the plane is heading back to the DTW terminal. For a few seconds i think that i am returning from my trip, and perhaps i drank so much absinthe that i forgot the whole thing, but i feel my face and do not feel the wrinkles of old age (30+) so know that we have yet to leave.

Pieces keep falling off the plane, and we keep needing to have them fixed (only in the States, too many lawsuits).

A couple hours later the flight will leave and hours after that it will land uneventfully in Frankfurt. I will need to make other arrangements to get to Prague, but these will all be paid for by NWA, increasing their debt. The only real problem i will face is feelings of depression at missing the 3 inches of snow that will fall in Ann Arbor on my birthday.

Three Divided by Four

I've finished editing just over 450 photos from my last trip.
Here are some teasers.

Initial Images

I took over 1000 images while on my last vacation. Yesterday i did a first pass through them and came up with 600+ potentials. Here is a montage of the initial selection. In case you are interested, here is a montage of all the trip photos.

Wrapping Things Up

Almost by chance, I happened to meet Kirsten in Zurich and spent some good time with her in CH, exploring a bit of Bern and Zurich, the buildings, the birds, the drug addicts, the food, the art bears, etc, etc.

I took the nighttrain to Vienna, met a nice Norwegian family in my train compartment, and slept as best i could in the closed quarters, only getting lightly hit in the face a couple times.

Now am in Vienna exploring the internet cafes. Net access is quite expensive in Zurich - 5 francs for 30 minutes, but in Vienna i found a place that is 3€ for 1 hour, first hour free if you buy a drink. Still more expensive than Rome, but work will reimburse me, yes?

I have no map or tourbook of Vienna, but spent a couple minutes exploring some stuff online. It is doubtful that i will see any of the popular sites, but i enjoy exploring the other sides of things anyways.

And yes, if i see some little guy selling bad paintings on the street, i'll be sure to buy one.

I wonder how many times that joke has been made.

Old New Buildings

Of all the coincidental occurences, a friend i made the last time i was in Rome happens to now intern at my father's old work - the WFP, which is headquartered in Rome. I asked her if i could see her office (surely a strange request) because the offices had moved since my father worked there, and she obliged. She gave very good directions and once i arrived, showed through the new office buidling that she describes as "spiky", a very accurate description for an angular, 3-winged triangle building with a facade consisting of long poles reminiscent of cactus leaves.

Thanks, Dunja!

Changes

Looking for a birthday present for my niece, i tried to find a toy store i remembered in EUR. Unfortunately i could not find the store; it seems a McDonald's has replaced it.

When we lived there, EUR had 1 McDonald's. Now it has at least 3, each less than a 10 minutes walk from the other.

Bella Roma, un'Altro Volta

I've been waiting to have some good penne all'arrabiatta again.

Was a 21 hour trip by boat and train from Bar to Bari, but felt longer since i had to leave the hotel 10 hours before the boat left.

Did i mention anything about Montenegro? It already seems like a separate country than Serbia, even though technically they are still the same (option to separate comes due next year). Quite a lot of beach-goers, of course. The landscape is qutie nice on the (very lengthy) train ride down, nice mountain landscape towards the latter quarter of the trip.

One note about Serbia & Montenegro - they definitely aren't tourist places, or at least i couldn't find any tourist shoppes in Belgrade or Bar. I wanted to buy the typical tourist t-shirt from one of the places, but all i found in Bar was a shirt with a patch sewn onto it. Perhaps there aren't yet enough tourists to have a tourist shoppe? Someone could corner the market right now.

My stomach is tired of growling, so i am off to find a plate of pasta, and see if that one pub still offers good Guinness.

Quick Bit

Made it to Bar, Montenegro. The trainride down was over 9 hours long; i hear it is 45 minutes by plane. On the plane i met a couple folks who spoke some English (at least they knew more English than i know Serbian) and i got to converse for the first time in a week and a half (aside from online, that is). A choice quote from Oliver, the musician: "While we were bombed, i played basketball. When they bomb the bridges, we put festival and i sing music on the other bridges. When the rockets went across the sky, we get on the buildings and cheer and clap for our soldiers."

On the topic of the rocket's red glare, i also got to see fireworks Friday night in Belgrade. No, i mean real fireworks, not NATO fireworks. I don't think they were celebrating the U.S. (or Canadian) independence day, i think they were related to some festival going on.

The best independence day fireworks i ever saw occured a few years ago, while i was driving out west. I was 10-20 miles east of Denver, CO, heading towards the city. Though mile-high, the city lies nestled on a plateau before the Rockies really begin. It was around 10pm and four separate communities were having simultaneous firework shows. Each show was separated by maybe 10 miles, so to me it looked like the whole horizon was having one very big show. All firework shows should be that encompassing.

More Random Thoughts on Beograd

Belgrade isn't really a tourist town. I had to search to find places that sold postcards, and only found them at the Zoo and the Aviation Musuem. That museum was quite nice - all the other F-16's and F-117's i've seen have been intact, not shot down. The museum has much more than the shot down planes and missiles, there are also airplanes dating from the beginnings of aviation, WWI, WWII, and modern plans. Most are even in quite good condition.

Still, it is good to see the shot down planes and missiles, then come back to the city and see the blown up buildings.

In the northern part of the city, on top a hill, is a large castle, the Kalmegdan, which is probably the most popular tourist attraction - it is the only thing a local could tell me to see when i asked about the city. It is quite a fair-sized castle with good views of the rest of the city. Inside there are some war machines from WWI and WWII - some small tanks and artillery. Part of the castle has been rennovated into a zoo, with the castle walls serving as parts of the walls for some animals, like the bears and tigers. Among the many birds they have caged are some snakes (python, boa, anaconda ("there's snakes out there this big??")), bears, wolves and dogs, like the German Shephard and Pit Bull. Those dogs didn't look too happy.

Beograd also has a nice cable-stayed bridge . I walked around for hours trying to get a nice shot of it and only got soaking wet and a half-decent photograph. I've spent a good deal of time walking around, partially because i've been lost, partially because i've let myself get lost, and all because i wanted to see what the cty was like.

Now i have to go catch a train to a city in Montenegro, from which i will hopefully be able to get a ferry across to Italy. I'm not yet too confident on how that will turn out.

Oh, in case you watch the news, those bombings took place about 150 miles away, and i don't plan on going close to there.

Any Vegans Still Alive in Belgrade?

A note to any vegans thinking of traveling to Belgrade - don't bother trying to eat. You are better off taking up smoking and drinking lots of beer; these vices will help stave off hunger. Belgrade is one of those places where vegetable soup comes with more meat than vegetables.

You could just buy fruits and bread in the grocery stores, but i don't trust those either. Better to drink and smoke.

Belgrade, Second Impressions

Walking around town, Belgrade seems like a strange mixture of Lima and Roma, with a bunch of blown up buildings added into the mix, and all set in the hills of Pittsburgh. It is really phenomenal to see the destroyed buidlings - and i should probably (carefully) verify with someone that those are from NATO bombings and not some other disaster (6 years seems a long time to not recover from such things, but it has taken Managua even longer to clean up their last big earthquake). I wonder how much of my taxes went towards destroying the city i am now visiting?

An interesting quote from the current wikipedia Belgrade entry:

Belgrade was under some form of attack some 54 times since AD 1, or every 37 years on average. This means that, statistically, every citizen of Belgrade has seen two attacks on the city in his/her life.

The cars here are also very different - after my time in Rome i am used to seeing small European cars, but i do not recall seeing these small Eastern European cars. The most phenomenal one is the Lada Niva 4x4, which is like a miniaturized version of the Ford Bronco. It is awesome and might even fit nicely into the back of my (future) Toyota Tacoma. There are of course all models of Yugo and plenty of them, and some nice looking Skodas as well. Yugo is by far predominant, which isn't at all surprising.

Before i forget to mention it, local beer (pivo) in these parts is very good, though the Zagreb beer i had was a little better than the Serbian beer i've had so far.

I think i may have also forgotten to mention my amazement that the airplane food was vegan (i ordered vegetarian), even providing margarine and a vegan dressing - quite impressive. Since then i've had to eat bread and water if i wanted to have close to a guarantee of vegan food, though there was a restaurant close to the Cathedral in Zagreb that had a good selection of vegetarian dishes and was open late.

Belgrade First Impressions

Arrived safely in Belgrade, was an uneventful trip. The city is a little
strange, but i haven't had a chance to fully explore. Right next to the
Hotel Rex (place i'm staying) is an area that is barricaded off, surrounded by guards, and has signs showing "no photographing". I think they are keeping a pen of undead back there, will try to investigate later.

The barricaded section reminds me of El Salvador when it was really bad,
which is to say when we lived there, which is to say it's a little scary.

I don't think the whole town is really bad, i think that it's more a holdover from the past few years, and hopefully that thought will be a reality when i return home safely.

Only one way to find out - i have to go explore a little more.

Day one, or is it Two, or Three?

Munich, the gate next to mine, the plane was heading to Belgrade. Figured that was a Good Omen. The plane to Berne was a small propeller deal, reminded me of the plane i took to Ratanakiri, though the AC vented air wasn't visible and mildew- smelling. Berne airport reminded me even more of that distant Cambodian outpost - sure, the runway was paved here, and the building made out of cement, and airconditioned at that, but the size and feel was similar, and it was out in the middle of nowhere. A taxi from the airport to the city centre was a nice affair, through farmlands and around rollerbladers, and expensive too.

I waited 5 hours in Berne so i could catch the 7pm train to Zurich and save some time on my tickets (7pm is next day travel, if you're travelling overnight). During that wait i explored the city, and among other things found a nice place where drug deals go down - i think that's what all parks are for.

Zurich, 1.5 hour wait, enough time to buy some beer for the train ride and eat some pasta. I got on the wrong train car, though the right train. Apparently the car i was in only went somewhere in Austria, i had to move 5 cars ahead to go to Zagreb - no problem. The seats were quite uncomfortable, but cheap, as in i spent no extra money (sleeping cars cost up to €50 more). Long ride, empty car, constantly being woken up by ticket checker dude or passport stamping man.

Crossing the border into Croatia (or Hrvatska, as the natives spell it, hence the .hr internet address), the train stops for quite some time, not sure why, but then at the last possible minute a woman says (not so much in spoken word as in hand gestures and facial expression) that this train isn't heading to Zagreb any more, we need to change train. No problem, i changed train, though the one i left was heading to Belgrade - Good Omen part II.

I've spent my time in Zagreb mostly sleeping, have slept more in the past 2 days than i have all year, i think.

One question: who do i contact about adding some new fields to the CIA world factbook? I think every country needs a BPPT (Beautiful People Per Thousand) category, possibly one for various age groups and sex. Hrvatska would rank quite high in the 20-30 y.o. woman BPPT.

It's pouring outside and the cat in me doesn't want to get wet, guess i'll spend some time reading through misc@ mail.

And 36 hours later...

36 hours after leaving Ann Arbor, MI, USA, i find myself in Zagreb, Croatia. I'd write more but i'm quite hungry.

Old DTW terminal (yes im on my way to Europe).

Cost

Bought a ticket to Berne for under $900. It cuts my trip back by 4 days but saves me $500, enough to buy the Palm i want, or to afford a hotel while i'm traveling, or the train ticket that will get me to Belgrade. And the best part? Maybe i'll actually take this trip.

I've still little clue how to get from Switzerland to Serbia - it's just a train, isn't it? I can walk, i can bike, i can swim, i can make it? I remember this Dutch couple i met in Peru - they rented a motorcycle and drove through some nasty roads and said they'd been doing that for their vacations for some time. I've been meaning to get motorcycle endorsement (particularly after moped'ing through Northern Cambodia), and the corresponding international license, but haven't made the time.

I'll be gone from June 26 - July 24 (again assuming i make the flight this time) but still in touch. If past experience is any indication, i may still put in a good 20+ hours of work a week. But i love it nonetheless, and i'm not just saying that because today i ate only equal quantities of granola bars, rice, and chocolate.

Does every country get its own David/Goliath story?

The only time a stealth fighter has been shot down in combat was during the NATO bombings of Yugoslavia during the late 1990's. Remnants of the fighter are now displayed in the Air Museum of Belgrade - here are some photos, though you can expect my own photos after i visit the area this March. On March 12 i'm headed to Vienna, from which i'll take a train through Hungary to Belgrade. After the museum i'm not sure what i'll do until i get back on the 29th.

First pass at trip photos

Here's a first pass at the photos from my Rome and Peru trips. I think i need to add one or two photos to the Peru gallery.

Rome 2004

Peru 2004

Couple more points after travelling

Have i mentioned how nice it is to be able to buy some food at a cafe or grocery store and not have them ask me if i have change, since they don't? In Rome, many of the bars, pizzerias and other stores never seemed to have change on them, and i definitely wasn't trying to break a 100 each time.

Have i mentioned how nice it is to not watch tv? In Rome i left MTV on while i showered & got ready to leave in the morning, just to provide some background noise, but the rest of the time was content to leave the thing off. For the first couple days i was home, i forgot that i had tv to watch. In a way a shame, as i generally learn a lot (have a tendency to watch History Channel and CNN, and i disagree with people who say watching other tv is a waste - it's more a matter of the critical eye one uses while watching it), but also got me out of the house a little bit more.

I'm off to work on photos from the trip.

Caught Up

Finally caught up on all my notes from my trip and am able to reminisce a little, figure out what i forgot to mention, think about new trips i'd like to take.

In a couple weeks i'm headed to Peru, and sometime after that i'd like to head out to Cali, but there are larger trips out there i'd like to take.

After seeing Amsterdam, i'd like to visit other northern European countries, in particular the Scandinavian ones: Denmark, Norway, Finland, perhaps Sweden, and see how those all differ from each other.

Prague holds an interest, perhaps it should be a stepping stone for other eastern European countries.

Belgrade. Dunja the bartender was from Belgrade. She had been describing that city and its people rather nicely, so i said, "It sounds like a very nice city", to which she responded, "there are parts that are nice and there are parts that are less nice." I had never thought of that area as being nice - figured it was too war torn - and even now i would probably be too scared to travel there without Good Reason, so Serbia will have to live in the land of fantasy for a while.
One other comment Dunja made about Serbs, and this one was also a lesson on history for me, especially after my nonsensical rhetoric about the uselessness of history. Her mother lives in Athens, and she tells me that, when she visits Greece and mentions to people that she is Serbian, she is instantly welcomed into houses and treated as a family member. Apparently the Greeks have a very good memory and are quite appreciative for the supportive role the Serbs lent Greece against Nazi Germany during WWII, enough so that they still treat Serbian visitors with honour - quite a nice benefit of history. Dunja also says that the opposite isn't true, Serbs have forgotten the help they received from the Greeks. Perhaps they've had other things on their minds.

The South African gentleman i met made his country out to be a place i might want to visit as well, though interestingly his take on Pretoria made the city seem worse than Belgrade. I've been wanting to go to some place in Africa, perhaps South Africa is the right place (even though it's about a full day of travel time).

For now there are family obligations and monetary drawbacks (need to save money for a new tattoo too) to more travelling and i will be content to remain in place for a couple months once i get back from Peru.

A long Thursday night

Got hungry Thursday night so headed out for a couple pints. One of the waitresses from Misc was happy that she got her internship with the UN in Milan (something in criminal justice, perhaps ISPAC?), which was a good sign for the coming year. Over at the Irish Pub, an american tourist sitting at the bar was clamouring for information on where to go to, like, you know, meet women. I gave him the names of a few places i used to hang out and got a free bar tab as a result. I love sitting at the bar, it's a great subculture.

Didn't get to see my fav bartender (over the course of a week), but left her a goodbye. Stayed up all night since my plane left at 6:30am. Wasn't sure i would make it as that guy kept buying drinks ("you've never had a surfer on acid?? Bartender!!"). Still, as i scrawled into my notebook, "Well, i'm in Rome [note the use of well]. I could probably be drunk and still be drunk and find my way home safely here." Not completely sure what that means, but i did find my way safely home.

After an uneventful flight to Amsterdam, i met a white South African man on the plane to Detroit, who gave me a good lesson on the history and current state of affairs of his country and various parts of Africa. Another reason i love travelling, get some different perspectives.

Still, it ended up being around 30+ hours with little sleep; ended the trip the same way i started it.

Trash talkin'

A few stories from Maudy reinforced a criticism of Rome that i've previously expressed.

I've walked around town at around 3-4am and have seen the street sweepers cleaning up the daily mess. I've also walked around town at around 7-9am and have seen how efficient Romans are at dirtying their city: by the time 9am rolls around the streets are again a mess, littered with pizza napkins and daily newspapers and morning dog poop. They don't throw their napkins into the trash cans, they leave their newspapers on the benches so the rain and wind can spread them around the streets, and they don't care for cleaning after their dogs.

Another aspect of messiness that i alluded to before is the broken sidewalks; i can understand that coblestone roads are difficult to keep even but the sidewalks in Rome are also broken and in disrepair (in all parts of the city, from EUR to downtown to up north). In Ann Arbor we have very harsh conditions: the temperature ranges from -20 to 90 degrees farenheit and many streets are lined with trees, yet the sidewalks are in quite good condition by comparison.

The stories:

Every time he cleans up after his dog (a little dog named Rocco, i forget the exact breed), people look at him funny and say che schifo, how dirty, as if cleaning up after the dog is dirtier and nastier than leaving dog crap on the sidewalk. When he was working in a bar, this guy buys a bag of chips, finishes them, then throws the bag on the ground instead of into the trash. Maudy tells the guy, "hey put that in the trash", but the guy just looks at him and says, "what's your problem", as if Maudy has just insulted him.

There is a high wall that runs from the castel to the VC, it used to also be used as an escape route for the Pope so he could hole up in the castle during war times. A couple years ago this famous structure was open to the public, with a coffee shop and little bar at the top (by the way, a bar in Italy isn't a sit down get drunk kinda place, but implies an actual bar across which one might order a coffee or a sandwich, and perhaps a beer or shot of grappa, but not necessarily a place to get drunk), and the ability to sit down or walk around the passage way at the top. Eventually, though, this had to be closed as visitors were constantly throwing their trash off the side of the walls and into the neighbouring resident's back yards and balconies.

What's with the lack of social responsibility, both in terms of not cleaning up after themselves and in terms of not caring if their streets and sidewalks are in a good state of repair? Are they simply content with one large urban renewal plan every 500 years?

Thanksgiving in Rome

Back to the VC to have some mail sent the Holy way, as well as to do some shopping. Decided to give Maudy a call from just outside the colonnades. Beautiful columns, by the way; who can deny the all-encompassing nature of the Baroque style? I've been wondering what way is best to approach St Peter's: from the large road built by Mussolini or by passing through one side of the colonnades. Catholicism has always seemed pompous to me, so the large, formal road that runs up to the church in such a glorious way that no red carpet entrance could ever compete with it (and it's also the only sidewalk in Rome that isn't broken, an actual smooth pathway! More on this later) seems appropriate for all the other excesses that the Church takes upon. On the other hand, the Baroque style seems more emphasized when the cathedral's plaza is suddenly come upon from the side: at first you're walking through part of typical Rome - narrow streets and buildings bustling with common daily activities - then suddenly through a few rows of columns and you emerge into a peaceful plaza in a different country - the warm embrace of the church echoed by the two arms of colonnades is fully Baroque.

The last time i saw Maudy was Minneapolis 1994, while i was working for 3M during a summer internship. I believe he was looking at some school out around there, someplace to go study art at.

I called him around 12 or 1 and it turns out he currently lives a couple blocks from the VC, in between it and Castel San Angelo. He was just waking up and invited me to his family's house for Thanksgiving lunch (sure, him and his mom are Mexican, her husband Italian, but they're americanised enough to celebrate). Was a very nice treat for me to go to his house and enjoy some fine pasta with tomato sauce, a good salad, and some turkey (yeah i ate turkey, i had already lost trying to eat vegan so figured i should Fit In for one more meal) with potatoes. The meal and company was quite a delightful surprise - i think i spent last Thanksgiving eating some rice and vegetables (with egg, of course) in some country stop with a French guy in Cambodia.

After lunch, got an opportunity to talk with Maudy about Old Times and Old Friends as we went back to his rooftop apartment so i could admire the views of the famous surroundings. He told me lots of stories of lots of people from high school, most of which i cannot repeat here due to their personal nature, however, if you happen to want to know more, contact me. It's interesting how Maudy knows a take on people separate from everyone else's - during the little reunion i attended in January the folks repeated very different, tame stories about the some of the same people.

His apartment really does have a great view of the VC, including what he says is the Pope's bedroom. I didn't stay long enough to see the Pope go to sleep as i had some more shopping to do. I of course had the idea of something good to get my niece, just had to find the right one.

Was sad to go on my way after visiting an old friend and old ideas, but at least next time i'm in Rome i might have a cheaper place to stay.

Lessons

While looking for the Picasso show and after i had visited my old school, i overheard some young college girls talking to eachother. Every third word they used was the word like, as in: so, like, i was, like, talking with these guys, and like, they, like, told me about this, like, bar around here, and like, we should, you know, like, go, right?

I am neither a linguist nor a communication expert.

There are a couple categories of words i am interested in: those used multiple times throughout a sentence and those used at a distinct point in the sentence (such as beginnng/end), and in both cases there is little to no structural reason for their use. In the first category is the word like and the phrase you know. In the second category are the words well (such as during interviews, the interviewee will often begin an answer with "Well...") and right, and the phrase you know (yes this one exists in both categories). Aside from words/phrases, there are also sounds that are often used in the same context, such as uhm and hrm.

Now it would be easy to launch into a discussion about the reason these words are used in such an apparently mindless fashion, but since i was walking through Rome, listening to English speakers, having just come from talking with an Italian/French instructor, i wondered: are there similar words/phrases in other languages?

Other Wednesday activities

Wednesday morning, wound my way through Villa Borghese, a huge park just east of Piazza del Popolo. If you're going to be insanely rich, forget the private jets, million dollar cars, pounds upon pounds of jewelry, and expansive mansions. Instead, hook yourself up with a park the size of a small city inside a large city. I hear that if you're going to try this it helps if you're related to a Pope or someone of similar stature.

Somewhere inside that maze of a park is a largish mansion, the Borghese Gallery, which houses some of the best Baroque art in the world, including sculptures by Bernini and paintings by Caravaggio. It's quite a treat to stand in a single, smallish room, surrounded on all four sides by some of Caravaggio's best works - enough to bring a tear or three to the eye.

A couple other notes about Villa Borghese:

1) From the top of the park, above Piazza del Popolo, is a very impressive view of Rome, especially the Vatican City. The most impressive part is that St. Peter's can't be more than 3 or 4 miles away, yet the haze of pollution makes it appear 20, perhaps 30 miles away. Perhaps that's just Rome's attempt at displaying the environmental perspective technique employed by renaissance masters.

2) Originally i would have written something about my personal history with the park, but it's too personal and i'm not drunk. Instead, i'll mention that north of Piazza del Popolo is the Flaminio metro stop and also a tram stop (don't remember the number). This tram runs north to Piazza Mancini, an unremarkable piazza with a number of bus stops, including the 201 and 301. Had to look at all the bus signs to make sure these were the right ones - these buses run further north up via Cassia to my old high school.

at this point i went to my old school, covered in a previous post.

Had to leave school eventually, and at the suggestion of a bartender i looked and found a show about Picasso and his influence. Good little show, better lighting than the Van Gogh museum. One piece was from UofM, another from the DIA - reminder enough of home to bring a tear to the eye.

The night found me eating penne all'arriabbiata after a vegetable soup. The soup was rather thick and hearty and good, perhaps one of the better soups i've had in a while, though quite salty, too salty almost for any other specific tastes to emerge. The penne was uneventful - spicy enough, tasty enough, but the pasta was a little unevenly cooked, some places a little too firm and some places a little too tender. Perhaps it was cooked on too high a heat? The sauce was also a little thicker than the first penne i had. I think the last two places i had penne all'arrabbiata at were more geared towards tourists and thus served inferior foods. Good, just not as good.

I left the restaurant wondering if i should have stuck to a liquid diet. I think i forgot to mention the vegetables with tofu i had Monday night at a Chinese place by Termini - the plate with a distinct taste i couldn't quite place until i rewound my taste buds a number of years to the time i used to eat Ramen noodles - this place was using the flavouring from ramen noodle packages in its meals. That by itself wouldn't have been too annoying, but finding pieces of meat in the dish pushed it too far. That dish, the penne with cheese, and too much pizza with cheese made me think i should only have Guinness from then on - fish filtering i can deal with, i consider it more in the same category as what ingredients are used in the packaging, not what ingredients are used in the recipe.

I didn't go on such a complete liquid diet, but beer did make up perhaps 1/3 - 1/2 of my consumption, just like high school.

Return of the prodigal son, part II

Found my way to my old high school, the Amerian Overseas School of Rome. As the bus travelled down the old familiar road my heart started beating faster and harder, a strange sign of a strange nervousness. Spoke my way through the security guard and up to my old math class room, which is now a computer lab. A student pointed me to the math classroom on the other side of the hallway, and i spoke to my old math teach, Mrs. Fiochi, who didn't remember me but did say that my eyes, no, the look in my eyes, was very familiar and unique. She said the same thing 12 years ago, and couldn't say much more this time since class was starting.

Walked up the villa (my school consists of a number of modern school-type buildings and an old villa in the middle, housing offices in the first floors and classrooms in the upper floors, as well as a large soccer field on one side (contrary to runour, it wasn't sold off)) to my Italian classroom as i knew Mrs. Levine wouldn't mind me waling in on her class. Sure enough, she was giving her advanced French students a test on the last day, last period before the break, but she welcomed me in and talked with me at length. The students were very talkative during their test, at which Mrs. Levine would look up every now and then and say, "students, be quiet, this is Francisco, an old student, and i'm trying to talk with him. One day you too will return after ten years." You had to know her and her unique pedagogical techniques.

I was surprised that she remembered where we used to sit during class, and was most delightfully surprised to hear she remembered a unique stunt (hack?) pulled at our school: someone took salt and wrote the words "FUCK ED" (Ed Tatko being the principle at the time) in large letters in the field (salt kills plants, in this case killing the grass in the shape of the letters for a number of days, weeks after the stunt was pulled, and the words were quite beautifully visible from the top of the villa). Levine remembered our class b/c of that stunt, and related the tale to her class, though in her memory the letters were the size of the soccer field (a notion i almost scoffed at since writing letters that big would have required a little more skill than i give the possible culprits credit for). I hear that stunt was one of the main causes of his nervous breakdown, and he left the school after only 1.5 years.

Levine walked me down to the offices where i met some of the new staff, including the Spanish instructor (they now offer up to AP/IB Spanish), who happened to be friends with the mother of a high school friend of mine, Maudy Tuseth, who used to live in New York but moved back to Rome just over a year ago. Through Maudy's mother i got Maudy's number, quite a treat, of which i'll talk more later.

What's going on?

It's too bad we don't know what's going on.
- American Tourist w/ southern accent

I had forgotten about the smell in the city. Lisse warned me that a friend of hers found the city very stinky, but somehow i never noticed during the years i lived here. Coming from Amsterdam here, though, was a little mistake as the difference is quite drastic - Amsterdam being a rather clean, tidy city and Rome being rather dirty. Pollution creates a foul odor that hangs about the city, and the dirt of the streets and cars (contrasted with Amsterdam's plethora of cyclists), along with the slight humidity, helps that grime stick to one's body and clothes quite unpleasantly.

It could be a clean enough city, if people made more use of the transport system and the transport system were re-redeveloped a little, and if people would stop throwing their trash on the ground and use the many trash cans around. How can people just litter their streets? Don't they care about their home at all? Even Phnom Penh with its dirt roads seemed cleaner, but that's probably due to its lack of pamphlet advertising and its massive recycling campaign (not a true campaign, but poor people come up with very creative ways to reuse anything and everything).

I wonder if the age of the city, if being surrounded by Old Stuff (and Old Falling Down Stuff at that) has numbed their minds to the seediness of their surroundings and made them complacently accept that they must live in a decrepit city. Has the memory of their past glories destroyed any desire to better themselves in the present? Not that they don't try a little, but their present glories amount to what, being on the losing side of a world war and bringing down the cost of living for the rest of the EU? Why not concentrate on bettering your immediate surroundings and stop throwing trash on the ground?

I think there's too much history tied into Rome. Everywhere you turn is more of it - the Coliseum, the Pantheon, St. Peters - and if not this history them a homage to this history, such as the square coliseum in EUR (as seen in a motion picture starring Anthony Hopkins). What is the point of all these ruins other than to serve as a reminder - yeah, you once were something... once, a couple thousand years ago - or to bring in revenue via tourism? In a sense, this history seems a scientific approach to ancestor worship, as well as a copout for working towards a socially concious, clean Rome.

Perhaps the best argument i've heard about the need for history is that those who forget it, repeat it. But those who remember it repeat it as well, so that argument seems a little foolish. Maybe this city would be better off destroying its heritage and starting a new culture, one that knows how to clean up after itself, one that respects a little bit of health in the environment.

Or maybe i'm off-base thinking that littering is a Bad Thing, or that pollution is a Bad Thing. Maybe it's just my U.S.-centric mindset trying to impose itself on a foreign country. Maybe the culture must exist as a whole, the good and the bad, and it is silly to try to separate the two. Maybe Romans should feel satisfied living their lifestyle, grimy as others might find it.

Oh, the quote at the top was from a tourist watching a soccer game in a bar.

Monday

Passed by the Pope's place this morning. There seem to be more barricades there than before, but perhaps that's because there's some special show going on soon. There is a stage being erected in the plaza and many of the trash containers have been sealed off - i assume to prevent someone from placing a bomb inside. It feels safer to send mail through the VC than through Italian post, perhaps b/c i imagine Italian post as striking all the time, and who would dare strike against God's earthly rep? Hopefully all those postcards get to their destination before i do, and make more sense than my recollection of the feverish ramblings i wrote.

On the way out of the VC i walked down and around via Ottaviano looking around and for a tavola calda to eat at. Sat down, but was too early for them to tell me what kind of pasta the cook was ready to make for the day (was perhaps 11:45am). So waited and waited. One thing in Italy - you don't rush food very often. I'm surprised McD's can work here - people are accustomed to meals taking many hours if necessary. After some time of waiting i asked the waiter what was going on, he rambled something off about spaghetti all' amatriciana, and brought me a plate of it. What's the diff between that and alla carbonata? Thought i was getting something with tomato sauce, but instead got a yellowy sauce: cheese, egg, and a little little bit of tiny pieces of ham along with a smattering of pepper. Was quite nice, and the first time i've eaten egg since Cambodia (where they think that if you don't want meat in your stir fry then you must want egg).

This afternoon i went to EUR, down to the apartment i lived at in high school and bought some fruit and soap in La Standa, the grocery store across the way. The place looks pretty much the same. Walked around EUR a bit and noticed a couple new McD's. I wonder how many pizzerias have to close every time one of those opens.

Nighttime again found me over by the Pantheon (just like high school) where i tried to go into a restaurant to sample their penne all' arrabbiata but was denied. The problem was that it was before 7pm, and they don't open til 7. There's no sign on the door indicating this, but hay que saber (or c'e che sentire) - there are some little nuances about place that you just need to know through some mystical insight. Perhaps knowing which places serve penne all' arrabbiata with cheese is one of these insights.

out of date

Will try to post my writings about the days before i took some time off for illness. The dates and times associated with these posts won't make any sense.

Tuesday

Managed to find myself sick (fever/cold, not food poisoning, luckily - i've religiously avoided Thai food since that episode a year ago) most of Tuesday and didn't wake until 5pm. Thus, i'm a bit behind in my plans and my writing. Will reveal more in a later post, if i find the time before i leave. A couple notes: not all penne all' arrabbiata is created equally and tofu with vegetables does not imply no meat.

So, on my birthday, instead of going to my old high school like i had planned, i found my way back to EUR to see the apartment we used to live in back in the late 70's. Was easy to find. Wound my way back to downtown, to that Irish place, and had a couple pints to celebrate. Well, after a nasty penne all' arrabbiata; i had previously suspected that it might be a safe vegan bet to eat a mixed salad and that penne dish (which is one of my favourites, Paglio's in Ann Arbor also makes a good one), but this one place managed to make it with cheese. Local interpretations of a classic, i guess. At least some of the beer was free (good to be a birthday boy).

Adaptability

Last night i again found myself around the Pantheon, but this time it was early enough that the doors were open. There was a sign outside asking that during special events tourists stay outside and let the devoted pray in peace. Yeah, inside the Pantheon, the building built a couple millennia ago to worship the gods, not the God. Same thing found in Cambodia, where the former Hindu temples have been dutifully converted into Buddhist temples.

In a largish restaurant off of Piazza Navona, with a nice view of the various street artists, sampled penne alla rabbiata for the first time in a while. Just picante enough, just salty enough, and the sauce perfect consistency. The plate would have been a half portion in the States, but the States is wrong. The Chinese food i had the other day was also a tiny portion in comparison to States mentality, but was plenty for me. Most other countries serve small portions, but the States likes it big. Coffee here comes in a shot glass sized cup, and then is only half full, but packs a punch like a case of red bull (not that i'd know). The only place i've had small portions that really were too small is in Cambodia, and there it felt right to always be hungry.

I'm 2/4 in directions asked and 2/3 in places found. Not bad, i suppose. The places people asked me about, i didn't know when i lived here either, and i think the place i couldn't find closed a while ago. If i don't talk too much, i can pass for Italian (similar story in the States, if i don't talk too much i pass for an American); this morning when i ordered some pizza the woman asked me if i was on my way to school. Am i that young looking? How kind, a day away. By the way - sometimes, more important than your vocabulary in a language is how well you can pronounce the few words you know - it seems this might be key to why i pass.

A couple more notes on the differences between Europe and the States, as relayed from Dunia, the Serbian bartender at a decent Irish pub in Rome, through me, to you. She studies at La Sapienza, the largest University in Europe (200000+ students), and her classes are all 3-400 students in a lecture hall. However, no need to go to class - you only have to pass an exam in the subject matter at the end of the semester. Fail that one test and you're fucked.
Before Italy joined the EU, everything was substantially cheaper than it is now. The introduction of the Euro leveled the various countries off, with stuff in England and the like becoming cheaper and stuff in Italy becoming much more expensive, in some cases 3x more so. Dunia relates that her rent used to cost around 250,000 lire before the change and now costs around 300 euro (from roughly $200 to $350).

The logo for that Irish pub is two swans, necks intertwined and forming a heart-shape. I wonder where that stylized heart shape comes from - would be nice to be able to click on that shirt and find out more about the symbol. After 3 pints of Guinness, clickable shirts always sound good.

Sheridan's coffee layered liqueur, from Dublin, comes in a nice split bottle, one side for the liqueur and one side for the cream. I asked the bartender that i might see the bottle, which points out a difference from me in my youth versus me in my Old Age: i never used to ask such things, was always content to observe. I believe there are anthropological arguments for both sides.

One more note on expenses: those pints of Guinness cost 5.20 Euro a piece, that's about US$6.75. Luckily i was only charged for two of them - must be the pre-birthday special.

Return of the prodigal son

Was unable to find Victoria's Pub (fear it has closed) last night, but wound my way to Miscellanea. The place looks the same, the clientelle is the same, and the owner is the same. I said hi to Mickey, he didn't know who i was but listened to me and was happy that i came back - introduced me to his son (who now also works there) as "this guy used to come here as a kid, he met his first beer and his first girl here". Mickey was pretty close to the truth.

Anyways, he was so pleased to have people return that i got free food and drinks the whole night i was there. Wonder if the folks at Ashley's or ABC will be that happy to see me when i get back? Even if i were to return after 10 years, i doubt anyone there would still be working that i recognized.

Managed to sleep for another 12 hours, woke up and got out at 4pm, a little later than i had expected.

Rome

I swear there used to be a porn theatre on that plaza, now they are showing Disney flicks. Where do i go for my porn? Oh yeah, turn on the tv.

Found the Chinese restaurant that my friends and i used to go to every now and then. This was probably the first time i ever bought something there too.

Went to the apartment complex i used to live at and the grocery store across the way. Even tried the buses a bit - but these have changed a little, now there are separate lines and the numbering seems different, else my memory is just too faded.

By the time i got back i thought it might be a good idea to shave my chin whiskers. By the time i was done i realised it wasnt.

Havent been able to find the apostrophe on the Italian keyboards, and am disappointed that UofM is down by 3, but we all know they only need 6.5 minutes to score 3 tds so am not worried, just disappointed. Got to do some tech support, the woman next to me accidentally placed an image of herself and her friends on the desktop but didnt really want it there.

There are a lot more McD's here than there used to be (found the apostrophe).

Amsterdam

Arrived in Amsterdam a few hours ago. When i left MI it was in the 60's, so i didn't bother dressing to warmly. Here it has been in the 40's, windy, flurrying, and even hailing. Kind of chilled right now. Spent 3 hours getting lost in the city but wound up at the Van Gogh museum, so toured that for a couple hours. Now am trying to find my way back to the Central Station so i can get to the airport in time to fly to Rome.

Haven't slept since Wednesday. Normally i would sleep on the plane but this plane had a tv screen in every seat along with a remote that let you play games and pick from around 10 different movies, so on the way here i just watched movies instead of sleeping.

But all is ok - what more would i want from a vacation than to be exhausted, cold, and lost?

One great thing about this town - they have LOTS of bikes. So many that every road i have seen has a very wide bike lane in it. Which reminds me - Van Gogh looks like the guy who sold me my bike.

Home

In 4 days i will return home after a 10 year exile.

Here's a photo of the place: http://url.rexroof.com/1108

Termini (main train station) is in the middle right side (cut off diagonal rectangle). The hostel i'm staying at is immediately right of Termini. The pentagon on the left side, above the curve in the Tiber River, is Castel San Angelo. To the left of that is the entrance to the Vatican City - the curves are the collonades built by Bernini, a badass Baroque architect/sculptor - and the rest of the VC is off the page. Still, you can see the centre of the plaza in front of St Peter's, where i would enjoy sitting down and eating a can of soup.

The huge green area in the upper middle is Villa Borghese (a huge park previously residence of the Borghese family), and in there is a museum with some of Bernini's best sculptures in it, as well as some choice Caravaggio paintings, like David holding the head of Goliath. The park is a nice place to go and hang out, but keep your guard up after night, who knows what manner of young 16 yr old is out roaming.

Immediately left of the park is an oval shape with a dot in the middle, Piazza del Popolo and its obelisk, and there are three main, straight roads extending downwards from that plaza. The obelisk is one of a few famous ones in Rome and the plaza is nice enough, you might even find a younger man sitting buddha style in the center plaza, and feel inclined to headbutt him. If you follow the rightmost road, you'll reach the Spanish Steps towards the edge of the park, but this isn't really visible from the satellite map.

The middle road leads to a thick white line, that's a famous plaza where skinheads have been known to stab Filipinos while the cops watch on, and if you were to continue that line on down (though the road doesn't go), then the large brown rectangle shape (at a diagonal) is the Circo Massimo (big chariot race place). On its right there is a road going up and at a slight diagonal to the right that leads to the Colosseo (the slight oval shape), where i used to take the subway to on the weekends and where Gypsies steal cd players (among other things) if given a 1/2 second window of opportunity. The real Colosseo is not visible - Nero fell a while back - but of course the famous stadium is there, maybe even with a Pope inside, giving a nighttime speech. On the way from the Circo Massimo to the Colosseo, the Foro Romano is on the left.

But back to the middle road from Piazza del Popolo: about 4 blocks in and to the right is (was? soon to find out) Victoria's Pub, an English pub where i first learned to appreciate Guinness and where i plan on spending my 29th birthday. Thus Victoria's is one of the most important places in my life - how else would i have ended up in Ashley's so often?

Down the leftmost road and a bit to the left you will see a long dark rectangle with 3 white dots in it. I believe this is Piazza Navona, a plaza with 3 nice fountains, a great place to drink wine, play guitar for money, and get hastled by cops.

Ok: draw a line between the bottom two dots in Piazza Navona, then draw a line perpendicular from that, equidistant from the two dots. Follow this line to the right until you reach the larger white dot. That is the Pantheon, and about a block from that is Miscellanea, the bar that took most of my lunch money, and one of the most memorable locations from my high school years.

Now you know my Rome.

Disclaimer: this includes most of the places in the picture, but not a lot of places i used to hang out that are out of the picture, like Fermi, AOSR, and a few clubs. Also, it's all from memory so i could be wrong (good heavens!).