Italia part 1 (Cinque Terre/Venice)

I've been looking forward to the Italy portion of my trip for a handful of reasons including food, warmer weather, beautiful scenery and more food! Another huge reason is also because I'm finally meeting up with Blake. For the few of you that don't know Blake, he is one of my best friends who inspired me immensely to do this trip.

He has always wanted to do something like this and we talked about it constantly while we lived together a few years ago. He would always be randomly looking at tickets to exotic destinations and I thought he was crazy. Well that craziness is now my reality. So when he found out he would be traveling to Munich for work we decided to meet up in Frankfurt and fly to Italy to hike Cinque Terre for a few days.


It's fitting that I share a portion of this trip with Blake in one of the most stunning places in Europe. Our trip started with me yanking Blake out of his taxi as he arrived at the airport, rushing to the ticket counter to pay an extra 40€ (because we both failed to check in before-hand), and then booking it to the gate. Once in the air I finally got to say hi to Blake and then we started cracking jokes.


We were making fun of Ryan Air (our extremely budget airline) and how there were advertisements everywhere, how they sold lotto tickets, and the funny safety signs (like 'remove fake teeth in case of emergency'). We arrived in Pisa, got a bus to Lucca, stayed in Lucca one night, went purse shopping for Blake's wife the next day (hope you liked it Whitney),


then we caught a train to Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is a national park which connects 5 cliffside towns by various trails which all have indescribable views. We arrived in one of the 5 beautiful towns, Vernazza, looking for lodging. We saw a sign for 'camere' (lodging) which said 'ring


bell, take two steps back and look up.' A few minutes later we had rented a small room with a queen size bed from an Italian local named Serggio...can you say honeymoon in Italy?! The next 40 hours were spent hiking while seeing dream-like scenery and eating Italian food at will.There was a picture everywhere you looked wether eating or hiking.


At one point of the hike, however, I stopped and just stood there soaking in one of the most striking scenes I had ever seen. My jaw literally dropped. I come around a bend high on the mountain and all of a sudden there are endless vineyards as far as you can see starting from the top of the mountain almost all the way down to the Ligurian Sea. The contrast in color was incredible and the vineyards seemed almost fluorescent.


To top it off, near the sea, one of the colorful towns (Manarola) was being lit up by the sun waiting for us to arrive. One of our other ongoing jokes was that the waves of people hiking through Cinque Terre (mainly Americans) had a Rick Steves travel guide. Rick Steves pretty much put this place on the map and he very much appeals to the older traveler (like lonely planet appeals to a younger generation).


For about 10 minutes, however, I had this part of the park all to myself. Call it luck, call it whatever, but it was an incredibly peaceful moment I will never forget. When I finally snapped out of it I went to look for Blake and wouldn't you know it, he was doing the same exact thing in his own spot those same 10 minutes...


Blake, thanks for making the start of Italy memorable and I'm glad we were able to laugh it up in Europe. Maybe you can find a client in Asia or Africa somewhere?


After Blake took off I had no idea where I was going to go next. I sat there on a rock by the Vernazza pier, on my birthday, knowing I could go anywhere in the world. I considered some crazy options as I continue to fiend being near some body of water but eventually I decided to skip Florence (probably a bad decision) and opted for a more logistically


conservative option...Venice! Water is what I wanted and that's what I got. The first thing I saw when I walked out of the train station was the grand canal...and a million tourists! I read that Venice is extremely confusing and maze-like and given my track record with getting lost I felt it was inevitable I would get lost. So, with my pack strapped, I just started walking aimlessly as the sun set.


After two or so hours of walking, 2 slices of pizza and gelato I figured it was time to find a place for the night. I somehow found a local who was renting out a room and took him up on it. It was humble and tiny but compared to sharing a room/bathroom in a hostel it was luxury. I also used the birthday excuse to get a further discount! I spent the following day walking all over Venice and surprisingly not getting


lost once. Just like Cinque Terre there was a picture to be taken everywhere. It was cold so the canal traffic and the canal smell, wasn't as evident as usual. There were plenty of people around however. The Venice marathon was going on and like every marathon the approach to the finish line is always a very exciting area so I hung out there for a while.


For all you runners this one looks very cool! I walked for hours, took the water taxis to different parts of the archipelago, ate gelato and just watched time go by. I also noticed how cool the gondoliers were. They acted almost like rockstars. They all sported aviator sunglasses and hung out next to their gondolas like a fighter pilot would be next to his plane.


At 80-100€ a ride I can definitely see why they strut around the canals. Although I was there by myself, I easily see why Venice is considered one of the most romantic and interesting cities in the world.

Deutschland

After an unpredictable adventure in the land of olive oil, Athena, and Zeus I arrived to the well-oiled machine that's Germany. I've always thought of Deutschland as the land of gloomy weather, political upheaval, and beer. It turned out to be just that...and so much more.

My first stop was Berlin. I checked the weather before I arrived and it was supposed to be cold (12C or ~55F) but sunny. Perfect! I'm not a huge fan of the cold but If the sun is out let that thermometer drop. I checked into my hostel and thought I was at the wrong place. This is the nicest hostel I've stayed in thus far and at 13€ per night it was a steal. People say Germany (and Switzerland for that matter) is a 'well-oiled


machine' mainly for its effectiveness and punctuality in services and schedules. Well it was evident as soon as I stepped foot in this hostel. I had a welcome drink ready for me as the receptionist walked me through the area map, explained the metro, and answered my questions in perfect English (and I'm sure in Spanish if I wanted to). Since I only had a day and-a-half in Berlin I wanted to experience as much as possible. I walked to the Jewish museum where I learned a lot about the Jewish community's past and religion. It's a hands-on museum experience with a lot of history in a city which lives in the shadows of WWII.


To all my Jewish friends (and anyone really), this is a must if you're ever in Berlin. The next day was an equally beautiful and sunny fall day and I was ready for my 4.5 hour bike tour. After the perfect all-you-can-eat breakfast put up by my hostel (all while interrogating my Korean roommate on the differences between North and South Korea), I took the metro to Berlin's popular TV Tower. There we met the guides, got our bikes and started the tour right on time. We biked around all the major sites in Berlin including the one that interested me the most (as is probably the same with most people who come to Berlin) which was the Berlin wall and the history behind it.


Our guide did a great job explaining the wall's history and answering our questions. The wall has such a tragic and ironic history that I felt compelled to spend a good deal of my time trying to learn as much as possible about it. Berlin's WWII past also has me fascinated and salivating for more hands-on experiences throughout the city. Halfway through the tour I got my first taste of German beer and I went for one of my favorites, Heffeweizen. Maybe it's just me but it definitely tasted better. I also got a currywurst sausage on a roll with mustard. Solid!


Continuing on with the tour we saw the reichstag where German parliament meets, museum island, Humboldt college (where one of the biggest book burnings in history occurred) and of course Brandenburg Gate...the historic entry point into Berlin. This city gave me goose-bumps (not from gloomy weather) a few times as I continued to be surprised with its new culture and interesting history.


One of my favorite European cities thus far. Next morning I left Berlin's futuristic train station (which looked more like an airport) to see family in Luneburg who I had not seen in over 17 years. The train ride from Berlin to Luneburg was a 3 hour tour of the German countryside which I never thought would be so stunning. Open fields, horses, sheep and still no gloomy weather.


Once in Luneburg I re-met my aunt Maria Isabel for the first time and met her husband Alejandro and two daughters Isabela and Gabriela. Luneburg is what I picture a quiet European town to be like...a good combination of classic homes and shops with a good mix of newer shops and restaurants. Luneburg suffered no damage during the war so all its historic sites are just as they where hundreds of years ago.


We did a mini tour of Luneburg the first day and then took a train to Hamburg the next. Hamburg is a bustling port with a lot of history as well. That same night in Hamburg we decided to scalp tickets to a soccer game b/w Hamburg's own, St Pauli vs Dusseldorf. I was expecting excitement but nothing compared to the Barcelona game I went to a month ago in Spain.


Man was I wrong! To simply explain it, St Pauli is the equivalent of the Raiders when it comes to rowdiness, the Packers when it comes to passion, the Browns when it comes to expectations, and when it comes to drinking...well they just put them down! They're a total blue collar team, a second division team in Germany's challenging bundesliga with a following of epic proportion.


Every time they play they pack the rickety 25,000 seat stadium but make it sound like Super Bowl Sunday. Their story is simple: certain people didn't want the team so the town raised money to keep it and with some outside help it stayed. The team is sponsored by a low-cost German beer and Jack Daniels whisky...rock on! Unfortunately they lost 3-1 after dominating the


entire first half and when the last whistle blew their fans not only stayed in their seats, but applauded them. I've never seen such a loyal fan base. Maria Isabel y familia gracias por dejarme llegar a su casa y por pasearme por los lindos pueblos Alemanes. Los quiero mucho a todos y espero verlos muuy pronto. I hope Italy is ready for my sweet tooth...

Greece

I've had pretty good luck health-wise the first 35 days outside the U.S. It finally caught up to me towards the end of Paris, though, and I've been fighting a cold the past 5 days in Greece. Still, I wasn't worried about a little cold stopping me from visiting endless ruins, eating feta and olives till I dropped, or island hopping the Mediterranean.


The elements and random strikes going on in Athens, however, did make me improvise some. I had 4 days in greece. The 'plan' was to spend the first day seeing most of Athens, hop on a ferry to Mykonos and Santorini for days 2-3, and come back to finish Athens on day 4. After a 35€ cab ride to my hostel instead of a 1.70€ metro ride (because metro workers were on strike that day), I ran straight up to the acropolis. Unfortunately Athens had the worst weather they've had all summer the first two days I was there.


Rain, wind and more rain is not the ideal setting to see the acropolis and all its beauty. Luckily the sky cleared a bit while studying the Parthenon and I was able to enjoy most of it (even though it was draped with cranes due to refurbishing). I still managed to see most of the area around the acropolis that first day but that was about it. Rain ruled the day. There was still more of Athens I wanted to see and I wasn't ready to get on an eight hour ferry to Santorini just yet. So I stuck around Athens on day two which was mostly dry but windy. I had a chicken gyro for dinner.


Day 2 I went to the acropolis museum which I thought was fascinating and walked around the other ruins around the city. I was impressed with how many there were and I really got a feel of what ancient Athens must have been like centuries ago. Besides the acroplolis, most of the ruins were poorly kept. I think Athens' terrible traffic and graffiti-filled streets also took away from the allure. I ended the day with a chicken gyro and took another to go.


Day 3 was booked for island hopping. I bought a one day cruise to go to three islands (Hydra, Aegina, and Poros) with 100+ of your stereotypical tourists. Think Clark W. Griswald on steroids!


The boat was great, the weather finally cleared and it was absolutely perfect outside. All the islands were magnificent and they felt a million miles away from the chaos of Athens. The islands boasted food, boats, donkeys, and a very relaxed lifestyle.


On Hydra I went straight to the highest point I could see and was rewarded with nothing but solitude and a pristine view of the port. Thirty minutes later I was hopping on the boat again. This was by far my favorite day in Greece.


WHEN I come back I will not miss Santorini. When I got back to Athens I had a pork and a chicken gyro. Day 4 I met 2 American girls (Daryl from NY and Austin from Austin...really) at the hostel who were traveling by themselves (props) and wanted a strapping young man to show them around.

I bit. My plan that day was to finally ride Athens' squeaky-clean metro (their pride-and-joy after the acropolis) to a few sites and see the the archaeological museum. Instead, due to another strike, we ended up walking 1.5 hours to one of the only sites in Athens that was cool and wasn't closed.


This time the metro, buses, trains and national monuments all shut down! Athens pretty much refused to work this day. It ended up working out for us though and we had a really good day seeing the nicer neighborhoods of Athens and stumbling onto some great Greek food. That evening we met Dave from New Zealand and we went to a nice Greek restaurant (no gyro this time) I had to cut my night short because I had to be up at 4am to catch a taxi that was taking me and a group to the airport.


Taxis were to begin their strike at 5am so in order for me to be able to get to the airport for my 11:30am flight I had to take a cab before the strike started...there was no other way to get to the airport! So here I sit, on the plane, 6.5 hours later waiting to take off, ha!


Greece impressed me in some ways but let me down in others. The islands, most ruins, and the food were all fantastic. Athens in general did not wow me as much as I had hoped. I came here fully knowing the state of their economy and their recent political issues. No surprise there. I was talking to a protester who told me the Greek government is taxing their wages to provide money to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).


To what extent does the city of Athens see the fruit of this tax is beyond me. He was visibly upset and it was obviously something he was determined to fight for. I felt selfish for being annoyed about not being able to ride the metro while I was on holiday in Greece, especially since I was in HIS country and there was no benefit talking to a tourist who was leaving the next day.


He said to me, referring to the IMF: "in this country we don't let outsiders make decisions for us..." and continued talking to others. I'd come back just for the food...

weekend in Paris

Like most cities I've visited, I usually take a bus or the metro from the airport or train station to wherever I'm staying. Paris was no different and to my surprise the first thing I saw after hopping off the metro was the top of the Eiffel Tower. I'd say that's a nice Parisian greeting and a cool start to a fun weekend.


I met my friend Ana (from Spain) and her best friend Adrian (who lives in Paris) for the weekend. Ana and I had a great time in Spain a month ago so we decided to meet up again. Adrian showed us around town and even though the weather was less than favorable, we had a blast eating and drinking throughout the city. There was rain and wind a lot of the weekend but we made the best of it by drinking champagne in the rain on top of the Eiffel Tower and I re-enacted the windy scene from the Michael Jackson 'BAD' video.


We ate at will and I had THE BEST hot chocolate (that's right Neema) I've ever tasted. We walked through champs élysées, awed at the arc de triomphe, ate foie gras, and became paparazzi to the Eiffel Tower. It was just asking for it. Ana and Adrian had been to the Louvre before so I went by myself. It was overwhelmingly big so I went straight for the Mona Lisa.


It was bigger than I thought and surrounded by less people than I expected. It makes me laugh when people take pictures of a painting like the Mona Lisa. I understand the mystique but there are so many more stunning paintings in that building to photograph, including one that takes up an entire wall and sits right behind it.

In 3.5 hours I walked through all the rooms of the Louvre surely not giving most of the pieces their due diligence. I did however find a few that caught my eye and will definitely look into more closely. The exhibit I saved for last was in the basement of the Louvre, tucked into a corner which was not easy to find. It was an exhibit dedicated to Asia, the Americas, Africa and Oceania.


In a museum dominated by Italian, French, and Spanish artwork (amongst other European countries) it was cool to see a little piece of other areas of the world in the most famous museum inn the world...a good move by the French in my opinion. There was a Colombian piece from the Tairona people which made the exhibit even better for me!


I'm glad I got to see Paris with a local and a very cool girl whom I always have a great time with. Ana, Adrian, thanks for making Paris a memorable weekend! Get the baklava ready Greece...

Amsterdam

After a great surf trip in Portugal I found myself in Amsterdam for a major change in weather and scenery. I was trying to decide between Amsterdam, Nice, or Morocco. I chose Amsterdam mostly because of proximity to Paris (which is where I would be a few days later). Amsterdam was certainly everything I thought it would be.


My Holland experience began even before I arrived in Amsterdam. I met two lovely Dutch women (Katie and Inga) on the plane and we talked for a good while about Barcelona, Dutch slang, work and how much they liked Amsterdam. If the people in Holland are as cool as these two I knew I was in for a good time. Hope to hear from you ladies soon! I've stayed in two of Europe's "famous hostels" thus far and I'd be staying in my third in Amsterdam.


All these hostels have a very healthy 'party' atmosphere and they're great hostels to meet cool people as I've done in the past month. This one though would be tough to top. It's pretty well documented that pot is very 'tolerated' in Amsterdam but when I walked into the reception area at my hostel and the 'smoking room' (basically all windows for the world to see) is right next door I knew this place was different. The hostel itself was very cool, clean and well run.


For me though it felt too much like college. I had only booked for two nights so I switched to another hostel across the street for my last two nights. This one was perfect. The weather in Amsterdam was very fall-like. Cool and crisp, leaves falling, and some rain here and there. I walked the entire centre a few times in awe of all the restaurants, bars, cafes and coffee shops (not the same thing) and shops. The canals were also very cool but not very active because of the weather.


If I had to describe Amsterdam to someone who has never been I would say it has the feel of San Francisco with a mix of Georgetown architecture.


Things I did were a three hour walking tour of the city which was excellent, went to the Van Gogh museum, the Torture museum (very interesting), ate at FEBO (faster than fast food), and helped three guys who had eaten mushrooms cross a busy intersection. They all hugged me afterwards... Things I did not do were go to the Ann Frank house, rent a bike, take a canal cruise. Next up...Paris!