Day 51 - Basically Lazy (Stream of Consciousness)

Mmmmm. Sleep in. Only one roommate. Gone to shower. Better get up.

Musli sucks. Finish the english muffins. Mmmm. Butter-like goo in a tub.

Go walking. Get CD made. Yeah. Gonna suck. Boss isn't in. "But I've got the card reader." No CDs. I take your five. Burn. Can't burn. No CDs.

Go to the store. Wow, four floors. CDs at the top. Slide down to the bottom and back around.

CD PC has no power. But I'm not feeling sour because, all I got are hours. I got nowhere to be and nothing to do. No frustration or elation, cause I'm set on cruise. They set up a laptop it's working I won't stop. They gotta getta cable though, the bat-te-ry's popped. I'm burnin' now, chillin. Cause my memory cards were fil-lin' up. But now it's cool, cause I fit 'em on a disk, quick away to whisk, while the day away I while, thus ends the free-style!

Where's a post office? Meh. Wander. Wander. Ooh. Veggies. Nicer than the market. But no onions.

Wander. Wander. Whither wander, fool. Will I ever find a...

POST OFFICE. Sweet. Under ten euros, as always. Two more CDs and a handful of stubs are winging it back home. Wave bye-bye.

Wander. Wander. Whither wander, fool. Outsville. Industrial land. Factoirs. Saved by a metro stop. Back to the (un)real world.

Metro shark. Circles the city. Duuuh-dum. Duuuh-dum. Feeling hungry.

Where's that school? Oh, it's up north. I'll switch...

Oops. Wrong train. I guess I'm going south.

The garden's out here. I was thinking of going. Then I was going by not thinking.

Pretty. Lots of clouds. Pretty backdrops that make me wait for the light sometimes.

Green house. Flowers. Trees. Beauty. Wallpapers for mom's PC. :)

Oops. Not so nice outside now. Raining. Running. Hiding. Glad I always lug my umbrella.

Back to the Bahn. Back to Berlin. Seventy five cents for another bottle of pasta sauce. Still got noodles at "home".

Add some free garlic. Mmmm. Stinky me.

Talk to Madonna. Lovely Swede. Six years of German and still can't speak... much.

Show pictures to David's Aunt. I'm her hero. Luckily I'll be gone before I can let her down.

Go to the i-point. Type-a type-a type-a. Clack-a clack-a clack-a. Talk-a italian-a. Go-a home-a. Go-a sleep-a.

Ciao-a.

Day 50b - My Kingdom For A Nice Surprise

Oy, what a day.

First I figured I'd take the metro to the zoo and walk to the Bauhaus museum. I guess some visiting dignitary is taking a walk between here and there, though because the police rerouted me. I just kept a block away from all the blockades and started working my way around. At one point a low flying helicopter was just hovering in the area for a while. Seeing no nun-cops, I was pretty sure they weren't coming for me. Thinking back, I realized I had seen a flag with a star of david flying across from the brandenburg gate. Checking online, I see that Sharon is meeting with a Brazillian dignitary, so I have no idea what was going on. Regardless, I eventually made my way around to Bauhaus.

The Bauhaus Museum is changing exhibits. Mind you, if they'd put this out on a sign, I would have known days ago and not wasted my time. This from the design school that was supposed to make everything people friendly. They had a gallery of really crappy items with no descriptions, much less english ones, for which they charge a euro. There were too busy selling crap from their gift store to serve me in any reasonable amount of time, so I just went in and paid the euro on the way out. I wish I'd paid on the way in so I wouldn't have known I was being gypped. WARNING: Most of this update is complaining, so if you don't find my complaining entertaining, push forward. Some of the stuff in the gift store was at least interesting enough to photograph. It was generally better than the stuff in the gallery. They had funky versions of most household object. They didn't follow the people friendly, high utility philosophy I thought the school was known for, with the possible exception of the ergonomic silverware, which was cool. They seemed more interested in turning everyday objects into funky geometric shapes, mostly. I will say this, if you enjoy nicotine dependancy and want to impress your fellow tools of Phillip Morris and have a hundred dollars to burn, Bauhaus makes exceptional ashtrays. Words cannot describe my level enthusiasm for a famed design school wasting their time on ashtrays. Well maybe the words NEGATIVE EVERYTHING!!! But that's still a little too mild.

After Bauhaus, it was off to the Gugenheim. The one here is the fifth gallery from the Gugenheim family. I actually ran across one in Venice while I was busy getting lost. Since it was Free Monday, it was actually somewhat crowded. I even saw the gals who work at the hostel there. Many of the works were exactly what you'd expect, so abstract or weird that it's hard to justify the use of paper, much less public adoration. They had some photographs that were pretty cool, though. I took some pictures of both types so any of you who are interested can see for yourself. The display area (at least the front room) was built in a way that reminded me of an Alien hive, so that was cool. That reminds me, supposedly Giger has an exhibit here in Berlin. It'll be nice to skip that extra side trip back to Switzerland. :)

After the Gugenheim I took a tip from Terry. As we were touring the area yesterday, he pointed out a university where the cafeteria was open to the public. It was good and cheap. I had a veggie casserole, strawberry milk drink, and a hardboiled egg. I'd never seen hardboiled eggs just lying around like that before, so it was mandatory to try one. After cracking up half of the shell with my spoon I decided it looked as good as half the stuff at the Gugenheim, so look for the Grinning Egg in my slide show. :) I'll have to make sure to try and get some food in the culinary school Terry mentioned as well, if I can remember where it is. Mmmm. On the subject of food, there seem to be a lot of turkish immigrants in most of europe. I've seen kabob places all over. I stopped into one the other day. They had some rice with chickpeas and green been salad that were really tasty... and cheap. :)

All right. Thus ends the truly productive portion of my day. The rest of it was spent trying to understand why no german internet cafe can put my pictures on a CD. The owner of the place I'm using here said he could, but then disappeared for the rest of the day. Five'll get you ten he won't have the CDs when he gets in tomorrow. I wasn't interested in waiting though, so I went to other places around. Four other shops in the vicinity couldn't do it. None of them even spoke english, which is slightly odd to me since most of the internet places I've gone have been full of english speaking people. I went to the train station area, figuring shops in that area might be more full service. No dice. And when I went to the internet cafe in the mega mall next to the Kaiser Wilhelm church three men accosted me on the way in trying to sell me drugs. I like to think I am not a violent man. But I was so frustrated at that point that I wanted to beat them senseless with my umbrella. How the heck do they get away with that in the middle of a public area? Anyway, I finally came back here, my main internet place in Berlin. The owner never showed. I am running out of memory. I'm hoping mom's package with my 512 card comes soon. I've actually bought a card reader in case his doesn't support XD. It may also come in handy as I get further into Eastern Europe. Anyway, now I figure I'll head back to the hostel, eating some more chickpeas and green beans on the way, watching a movie and sacking out.

Day 50 - Brewer´s Tour

I did decide to go on Brewer´s Best of Berlin tour yesterday. This is why I didn´t update yesterday, as I didn´t reach the hostel until after midnight (and the internet place is an extra ten minute walk from there). The tour was pretty sweet. Let´s see if I actually retained anything. :)

• Jewish Synagogue in East Berlin (the vast majority of the city´s history is in the east). There was a plaque in front of it to the police captain who turned away a Nazi mob on the Night of Broken Glass. The synagogue is mostly restored, as opposed to many of the buildings in the east which still show sixty year old war damage. Terry made a good joke about communists having an offical two thousand man Bureau of Neglect that comes up with new and more effective ways of letting their most valuable resources lay fallow or, better yet, deteriorate. You can´t accuse Terry of being PC. He´s a brit, and rails against everything he doesn´t like. I think the main reason he still does the tour is because of how upset he is that all of this stuff isn´t effectively taught in school.
• Puzzlingly Elaborate Post Office. Apparently, at the end of the Franco-Prussian War, they didn´t use all the gold to gild the victory column. (I don´t really even know if that story is true.) They put half aside as a future war reserve and gave a bunch to all the towns in Germany to build schools, roads, and elaborate post offices.
• Jewish Girl´s School where hundreds of students and teachers were pulled from the building. WARNING: This is the first of a lot of ugly bits of history. If you don´t care to read about it, just skip today. Many of the girls were sent off to brothels in Poland and subsequently killed. Many were raped on the spot by Hitler´s men. The people watching across the street reported the rape to authorities, not because it violated the bodies of the girls but because it made the men guilty of violating Hitler´s racial purity law against fraternizing with jews.
• Jewish Hospital. Same story, pretty much, except that one "lucky" woman survived because she had gone to pick up medicine for one of the doctors. I put lucky in quotes because although she survived the day, her eleven year old son did not, and he was the last family she had left.
• Cemetary. We saw the graves of Berthold Brecht, Hegel (most well known from Monty Python´s philosopher song as being a lesser drinker than David Hume), and some of the architects of Berlin´s most famous monuments (Rauch, Shinkle, Strack, and Cantien).
• History Lesson. At this point, Terry poured some water on the ground and gave us a history lesson. He showed Germany at the end of the second world war and put the question forward, much as the allies did, "These people gave us two world wars in thirty one years. What the #§ß* can we do with them?" Apparently the allies seriously floated proposals of killing or castrating every last german male. And they actually spent a few months pursuing the following policy. We´ll destroy all their industry, flood all their mines, and give every german man a bucket, a spade, and maybe some seeds if they´re lucky. That was actual policy for a number of months. Freaky. He then went on to explain how the country and Berlin were divided up by population, things went bad with the soviets, etc. etc.
• The Wall. We then went to the wall museum and environs. They´re still completing the roads that link east to west. It really is amazing how slow some of the repairs are. The first iteration of the wall was just barbed wire and completely encircled West Berlin overnight. 400 east german border guards defected in those first few days before the second iteration (a simple brick and mortar job) went up. There were all sorts of crazy circumstances that arose from the wall. In the first few days the east german border guards did not have orders to shoot, so anyone who could outrun them or sneak through the barbed wire when they weren´t looking could escape. In some cases we saw people jumping out of windows because their east german apartment buildings were right next to the wall. Those buildings were soon demolished. By 1971, the wall was a pair of walls with a death strip covered with barbed wire, floodlights, and mines. There is now a double row of cobblestones running across the city where the wall once stood.
• Museum Island. We strolled past the Pergamon and a bunch of other museums that I´m sure you´ll hear enough about later.
• Hitler´s Bunker. There is no marking for Hitler´s Bunker. The idea was that anything marking the spot would be a rallying point for neo-nazis (who consistently pull a little less than ten percent of the vote in any german election). So instead it´s the paved over parking lot for an apartment complex. I spit on it. It seemed the only proper thing to do.
• End of the Tour. We whipped by Checkpoint Charlie and a couple other buildings, but our group was pretty slow, so there were a lot of things we didn´t get to see. I almost wish I was taking the tour again today so I could hopefully see what I missed. But it´s supposed to be raining a lot today, so it´s probably just as well that I´m not. I went out with Terry and a couple other tour members for a snack. It´s sad to see this man who is so passionate about history and doesn´t know how to communicate with the younger generation to really make it matter to them. He´s not a showman. Of course, he´d been picking up shifts for another guide and was pretty worn out that day. Still, I wouldn´t mind sitting down with him and really talking about how the tour might be improved.

All right. Enough daydreaming. Let´s hit the Bauhaus, Googenheim and whatever else is open on a Monday.

Day 48 - What... Ever!

It's been a weird day today. First off I was amazed that I didn't stick to the bed after getting so sweaty dancing the night before. It's a good thing I didn't bother doing laundry before leaving Munich. That would have been a waste! It was really nice to shower in the morning. I'm going to keep an eye out for proper shower facilities when I'm looking at hostels on "the dismal side of the iron curtain".

I ate some cereal, then I hiked about. I wanted to drop by the euraide office to grab a map, but they were closed at 1PM on a Saturday. I'm guessing that was their lunchtime. So I head to BVG. I don't know what BVG is, but the Lonely Planet book in the hostel said it provided tourist info. They sell bus tours, and the maps they have are not suitable for people like me who would usually rather walk than ride. I take one anyway and head over to Easy Internet where my blog update gets eaten. But on the plus side, they have some half decent maps in the back of a free english guide to Berlin. It's more paid advertising than an actual guide, but a map's a map. I start walking and eventually realize I'm on embassy row. It's mildly interesting to see the different architectural styles for the chinese embassy (ancient stone lions on the steps and metal box patterns in the windows), italian embassy (cheesy fluted scroll capital columns), and the south african embassy (with a big rusty gate right out of Half-Life 2's City 17), but I'm not bothering to take any pictures. I check the map and realize I'm close to the Kulturforum, a collection of museums, at least one of which was on my museum list (the long one, not the five item one I wrote about on day 43).

I was not feeling that museum. I had seen much cooler stuff in the Residenz, and everything was in German, so there was no way to gain any insight that might make the collection interesting. So I flew through the old stuff, only taking some snaps of stuff I thought looked especially nice. I don't know if I'll even bother putting that kind of stuff in a slide show when I get back. It's more just for me to look at and try to understand why I like some stuff and not some other stuff. In fact, if there were two similar items and I liked one a lot better than the other, I made sure to photograph both, for future study. Then I started getting into the modern collection. Some of that stuff was awful. I couldn't believe you could have jeweled challises in the same building as this incredibly tacky and uncomfortable furniture. Highlights include the chair made from a shopping cart and the pressboard television.

I wandered the streets for a while after that, locating the Bauhaus Museum for future reference, then I took the metro home, bought some pasta and made dinner. I didn't make sauce. I wanted to, but I couldn't figure out if the market had the right tomatoes, but they definitely had no onions, which is totally improper for saucing.

So now I'm trying to figure out what's up for tomorrow. I'm guessing I'll mark the museums I want to hit on my map for future reference. I was planning to take Brewer's Tour on Monday to try and avoid weekend crowds, but I think I might do the Sunday one. I keep wanting to walk around and saying, "Nah. I can't go see the Reichstag. That'll be on the tour." Best just to get it over with, I think.

Day 47 - Road Movie to Berlin

Most of today was spent on the train to Berlin. Oddly, there are no direct trains between Berlin and Munich, so I had to spend seven hours to get here. I´m heading out now so I´ll finish this update tomorrow.

Tomorrow:

Doh. This is the second time I'll write this update because Easy Internet near the main train station crashed on me. They owe me forty minutes of vacation! :)

So what did I do on train day? I got up at seven fifteen, ate a bowl of cereal, and hit the train station. Then I napped intermittently until arriving at Berlin at about two thirty. I realized I'd forgotten to get the address to the hostel sorted out. Note to self: always write down the hostel info the second you book. I jumped on the internet and got myself straightened out. I was still about fifteen minutes late getting there. Ordinarily, I wouldn't care, but the blurb for John's Hostel made it seem like a really big deal if you were going to be the least bit early. And if you're an hour late, they'll sell your bed right out from under you.

After getting settled, a couple of the guys wanted to go clubbin'. They had a flyer for a club playing "Black Musik", and, both being black DJs, were curious as to what that meant in Berlin. It took forever for everyone to get ready, but eventually we headed out. On the way, everyone got nicknames. Nigel got the Bollywood Blaxploitation apellation "Curry Johnson". He's spicy. :) Chris tried to go with the theme and became Punjab Black. My appologies if those are incredibly offensive. I don't think they were meant to be, and I don't really know any better myself. I became Eugy, which is short for Eugene, which is derived from Refugee, which is the title of a Tom Petty song, who both Nigel and Chris think I currently look like. Fair enough, I suppose.

We arrived at the "Black Musik" club at eleven thirty or so. I was told the subway closes at one or two and starts up again at four, so I was figuring on a long night. I was pretty much right. We danced for an hour. Some other people from the hostel showed up. Theoretically that meant there were now women I could actually talk too, but it was too loud. I had fun dancing with them, though. Johanna in particular, was very fun. If it hadn't been waaaaay too hot, I would have tried to dance with her instead of just in her vicinity. Most of us decided to call it quits around three thirty. Nigel and Chris stayed longer and tried to get with some German cuties. Hey, if I spoke German, I would have been trying to talk to them too. They seemed really friendly.

The rest of our intrepid band walked halfway home, then took a taxi. We got to see the victory statue. Apparently when Germany kicked France's butt around 1871 (the Franco-Prussian War), they took gold from the french treasury to gild the giant bronze statue at the top of the column (which was originally to comemorate an early Prussian victory). The statue supposedly faces Paris, waving back to the people who gave it its shiny coat.

Day 46 - I Are Tipsy

And that's true. You'll understand why at the end.

• Neuschwanstein. Phbtbtbtbt. The Neushwanstein is an overpriced tourist convergence spot. The nine euro tour runs fifteen minutes. The famed "grotto" is like a room and a half of fake rock with colored lights. And you can't take any pictures inside so I can't even show you how sad it was. The natural scenery nearby is much cooler than the castle, and could have done without the big white brick, in my opinion. In conclusion, there is no Santa Claus and bah humbug.
• Having eaten very little on the way out, I headed for Hofbrauhaus for my last dinner in Munich. It was loverly. I had mushroom soup with dough dumplings, cheese noodle onion stuff, a small salad, and half of my liter mug of beer, which was more than enough. Sorry Chris. It was a glass mug. Nobody seems to actually drink out of steins anymore. You can buy them as souveniers, but they're not in the bars or restaurants.

Despite the fact that I spent a good part of the day wishing I'd gone to the New Pinakothek instead of Neushwanstein, it was a good day. The sun was shining. There was lovely nature. And I finally found out what those crops of yellow flowers I've seen all over the place (France, Italy, Germany, and I think some in England too) are. They're rapeseed, the seed canola oil comes from. Apparently the fried food demands of the world require a heck of a lot of it.

Since this is turning out to be a criminally short update, I'll add a couple of cultural notes. I have never seen or heard of a city the size of Munich where people wait for the crosswalk signal regardless of whether there is any traffic. It's eerie. I do it too, just to blend in, which I apparently do too well. More people per day here approach me assuming I am a native than in any other country I've visited, including England. I'm freaking out!

I'll catch you all tomorrow when it's off to Berlin (and a PlayStation 2)!

Day 45 - I Are Confused

I forgot to mention a guilty pleasure I pursued yesterday. It's so cool it deserves it's very own list.

• Dallmayr. Dallmayr is one of the world's best delicatessens. That's what my Europe by Eurail book said. But when I went by and looked in the windows, all I saw were cigars, wine, and chocolate, staples of a healthy diet, to be sure, but not what I consider delicatessen. Regardless, coming home from the Residenz, I decided to see what the inside was like. It was cool. There were rows and rows of foods I couldn't even identify. There was a fountain with live crayfish. At least I think they were crayfish. I used my sloppy german to ask for some items without meat. I got some potato and veggie cakes, some fruit salad, and some pasta salads I couldn't identify. I also got some chocolate covered fruit (mango, figs, and apricots). And then I saw them.
• Avocados. Avocados from Israel. All the avocados I'd seen in european markets could easily pass for recovered meteorites. But this was Dallmayr. These had to be good. They also cost two euros a pop, but who the heck cared! I bought one and was on my way. I didn't even get around to eating it until this morning though as I spent the evening walking around with some guys from the hostel and violating one of the most basic laws of physics and food safety by eating a pretzel bigger than my head. But back to the avocado, it was good, like the rest of the Dallmayr food. The texture was not as smooth (which means it was probably not as fatty) as a Mexican avocado. But the taste was really nice, and I finally got to use the salt and pepper I bought for cooking in France, well, the salt anyway. Mmmmmmm.

Okay. Enough delectation.

• Not Neuschwanstein. I somehow slept through most of the construction noise (Oh yeah, did I mention there are holes being cut in walls and ceilings and pipes being run starting at eight in the morning, every weekday in my hostel?) and didn't wake up until ten. It was a beautiful sunny day out, so I thought I'd hit the Nymphenburg gardens. Then I realized I'd just spent the last evening wandering the English Garden with guys from the hostel and wasn't really in a pastoral mood. So what did I do?
• Alte Pinakothek. Regardless of whether or not you know what that is, you're probably confused. Why the heck would I go to a painting museum, given I haven't really enjoyed paintings very much in my travels thus far? Well, the guys I'd been walking with the night before were going to the New Pinakothek (with modern paintings as opposed to classical ones) and I figured with my limited interest in paintings, I could breeze through the Alte Pinakothek and catch up with them at the New Pinakothek. Boy was I wrong. I ate that gallery up. I don't even understand why, but I was really enjoying myself. The Flemish masters were really speaking to me. Actually, I think it was the free audioguide that was speaking to me. Considering that admission was only four fifty, the free audioguide was a sweet deal. What's more, it did a really good job of brining out the most interesting parts of the paintings. Sometimes it would talk about the technique involved in making especially bright colors. Sometimes it would talk about the artist and what the artist thought about the painting. There were some oil sketches of some Ruebens paintings (and lots of Ruebens paintings). I took a picture of the sketch for one of the few paintings I bothered to photograph in the Louvre. [Note to self: It was the painting of some Medici lady arriving on a boat.] Anyway, the audioguide definitely helped, but I think the organization of the museum was important as well. It was a simple layout and chronological. It was easy to get lost and run into dead ends in the Louvre. The National Gallery was a bit confusing for me as well. But every room in the Alte Pinakothek is numbered, and in every doorway you can see which room you are leaving and which room you are going to. Leave it to the germans. It's funny how something so completely unrelated to the quality of the paintings makes viewing them so much more enjoyable. I will definitely hit the New Pinakothek and happily give more of my euros to this great institution. They can probably use them too, as there were more people sunbathing on the lawn than viewing the gallery.
• BMW Museum. It was about three thirty when I finished up with the Alte Pinakothek, so I started walking. I ended up (after a detour because it moved) at the BMW Museum. I'm not really a big car nut, but I thought some of my audience might be, so I have some photos (including interesting placards talking about the history of the company and the significance of particular models) for you. I spent about half an hour taking pictures, then I headed for Nymphenburg. I never made it.
• Olympic Park. Some of you may remember that Munich hosted the olympics. Actually, if you remember it at all you probably remember that eight Arab terrorists murdered eleven Israeli athletes. I didn't remember until I looked it up just now. It's bizarre, because I just spent a beautiful afternoon in the olympic park, watching children play, ducks swim, and healthy germans work to stay that way by biking, jogging, and simulating cross country skiing with rubber tipped ski poles. I took some pictures of the green grass. I climbed a hill and took some pictures of the city. The legacy of that tragedy does not live here. I wonder if there's even a plaque. Maybe it's at the airport where the majority of life was lost. Spooky.

So like I said, I never made it to Nymphenburg. I caught sight of it around eight, but that meant it was too dark, and I was eager to get home to some real food (mushroom pizza in this case). The gal at the pizza place on the corner is so italian. For the record, if the survival of the italian people depends on their ability to perform customer service, they are doomed. If it wasn't for the ruins and art, I'm not sure they'd even have a tourist industry. Regardless, I ate well and will now head back to bed. I guess I have to get up early tomorrow or I'll never make the Neuschwanstein. And the salt mines probably won't make the itinerary either. Oh well. That's what I get for trying to plan ahead.

Day 44 - Residenz

Will the splendor never stop!? The Residenz was the home of Imperators (sub rulers for the Holy Roman Empire) and Kings. There may have been a duke or two before that, but I don't think so. Anyway, the Residenz is a study in opulence. I get the feeling that I got everything I would have gotten from the Versailles experience by cruising it's gilded halls. The treasure room was really impressive as well. I may have to take a day trip to Vienna, though. I've heard the Hapsburgs had the lock on opulence. If I only end up going to Europe once, I should make sure I "check out all his majesty". It wouldn't be a propper update without a bulleted list, so here you go.

Residenz Items of Note
as compiled by self-admitted monkey lover, Blain Newport

• Perseus. They have a statue of Perseus slaying the gorgon, much like the one in the Vecchio Plaza in Florence. I guess I just never noticed it before, but apparently Perseus had a funky bavarian mustache. Uh, yeah.
• Nymphoneum Paintings. There's a statuary garden and summer home of the Witten-something family that ruled Bavaria here in Munich. Seeing the paintings of it in the Residenz has me resolved that if we get another clear day here, I'm definitely going to have to take a peek.
• Olmec Statue. I couldn't believe it, but the last item in the treasure house is a freaky were-jaguar statue from South America, covered in gold and other precious substances by those crazy european goldsmiths. This is definitely a sign that I need to check out that Ethnology museum in Berlin.

There's lots more, but it's late. I should hit the trail early tomorrow and see if I can't find my way to the Neuschwanstein.

Day 43 - Ulm

Note to Marjan: I replied to your post on Day 41.

Well, it was time to get the truck out of Dodge, so I hopped a train to Ulm. There wasn't a huge amount to see in Ulm, so I'll skip the bullet point format for this update. Ulm is the birthplace of Albert Einstein. There is a plaque and a statue and a few buildings named after him, but that's about it. Still, much of Ulm is cobblestone streets and really old houses, so it's probably pretty similar to how it was when Al was there. They also have a bread museum. I was curious about what a bread museum might contain, but standing in the lobby, looking at a couple lame glass sculptures and paintings of bread, I thought better of it. No, the highlight of Ulm was definitely its cathedral... THE TALLEST ON EARTH!!! Oh yeah. It's tall allright. 160 meters, and you get to climb 143 of them via three tiny spiral staircases. I like to think my hiking is keeping me in decent shape, but taking the steps two at a time, like I normally do, was not happening. The cathedral is called Ulmer Münster in german, so I now call it the Ulmer Monster. Even though it was a pretty cloudy day, the view was really impressive. It made me wonder at the souls who were brave enough to work on it near the top. It gets pretty windy at that altitude. If it gets really clear, I might have to go again. :)

That's most of my day. After that I bought some groceries and went back to the hostel. They supply hot water, dishes, and utensils, so I've been eating instant soup along with bread so heavy it doesn't resemble bread so much as meatloaf. The array of bread choices here really is bewildering. I should see if the Lonely Planet Germany has any good suggestions. It certainly had enough suggestions for Berlin. There are five museums I am very curious about and... aw hell. I've got time. Let's list them all (in the order of my interest).

1. Ethnology Museum. Basically it's a lot of art from cultures I don't get to visit on this trip. It has art from Africa, South America (maybe including everyone's favorite Olmec god, Ixtapalapaqetl), South Seas and India.
2. Bauhaus Archive. The Bauhaus school of the early twentieth century supposedly defined much of what we consider "modern architecture". I'm very curious to see what that means. And if it's really cool, I'll take a day trip to Dessau, where some of their buildings can be moved through, as opposed to just seen in sketches and models.
3. Brohan Museum. This explores the art of furniture and home decoration. I saw some cool Art Nouveau stuff in D'Orsay in Paris and am curious to see more funky furnishings.
4. Egyptian Museum. I've seen a lot of Egyptian stuff on this trip. This museum should help put it into context as it has a bunch of different displays about different aspects of early Egyptian life.
5. Pergamon. Huge museum featuring more fabulous babylonian, islaamic, middle easter, greek, and roman art. The book said to take multiple days, but I'm guessing one will be enough for me at this point.

So that's the top five. I wrote down eight others, just in case I get bored. And I've only started to look into daytrips. And to think I didn't even have Berlin on my original itenerary. :P

As a final note, I have my address for the hostel I'll be at in Berlin. Given that I won't be leaving Berlin for more than ten days from now, it should be safe to mail me postcards, memory cards, etc.

John's Cozy Little Oriental Hostel Berlin
Waldenser Str. 30
10551 Berlin-Mitte-Tiergarten-Moabit

Day 42 - Move Ahead; Fall Behind

Okay, I took the day off yesterday and felt much better. I didn't really take the day off, though. I grabbed the hostel's Lonely Planet guide to Germany and started checking out Berlin. In fact, I think I've basically sorted out the rest of my itenerary. This is tentative, of course.

Date: City
May 27: Berlin
June 6: Krakow
June 9: Prague
June 14: Budapest
June 20: Athens (may take a day or two of travel)

That's a long time in Berlin, but there's a crazy amount to see there. I've heard there's a fabulous tour by a guy who worked for British intelligence during the cold war. Check it out. The first line of the description of the Nightlife Tour is especially choice for fans of late 80s SNL. I think I'll have to go on that one.

Okay, so let me check where I left off. [goes to check]

Doh! I forgot to tell you the rest of the story about the Devil Church. Even if you don't believe the first story about how the devil built it, here's another. And this one is definitely true. They ran out of funding many times during the twenty years they were building the church. Their biggest fund drive involved bringing in hundreds of vatican priests to sell indulgences. They sold one hundred and forty thousand indulgences to the thirteen thousand people of Munich. So even if you don't believe the devil literally built the church, it's foundation is definitely on shaky moral ground. We now resume your regularly scheduled bulleted list to recap today's events.

• Center For Unusual Museums. I was in a mood for something goofy, so I hit the Center. I was getting worried as I headed up to it. There was this piece of paper on all the signs for it with some sort of letter written on it. I thought maybe they were closed for refurbishing or something. I kind of wish they had been. It turns out they're closing. My first day back in the states (June 30), will be the last day of the Center For Unusual Museums. And if you can't muster any sadness, you have no appreciation for kitsch. Skip to the next bullet. Okay, for the rest of you (and this definitely means you, Holly :) the CTUM rox with a capital OX! It's a collection of funky little museums. The most expansive (and probably most hilarious) is the chamber pot museum. You have no idea how elaborate some chamber pots were. The oriental enamel painted ones were as elaborate as any of the vases I've seen in the British Museum or Louvre. You have no idea how silly some chamber pots were. It was apparently very popular to paint an open eye on the bottom of the chamber pots. We move on to the guardian angel museum. Since guardian angels don't get the attention that regular angels, saints, martyrs, and apostles seem to, the CTUM decided to collect everything with guardian angels on it. From paintings to plates; from statues to snowglobes (well, one snowglobe anyway), they had plenty of guardian merchandise. They also had the pedal car museum, featuring pedal cars from since before there were even real cars. (The tricycle horse they had could predate automobiles, anyway.) Then there was the museum of perfume bottles and the museum of official wax seals. Did you know Einstein had a seal? What a kook! I could go on, and certainly will when I get back with my pictures, but before you think this museum was entirely fun and games, let me tell you one thing. One museum in the CTUM was so disturbing, so frightening, so just plain wrong that I dare not speak of it online. Suffice it to say children will not be allowed to view the slides. Brrrr.
• Deutches Museum. After being laughed out (and creeped out) by the CTUM, I headed for the german equivalent of the Exploratorium. I gotta tell you, the Exploratorium is way more fun. There were some fun things here, but nothing as cool as the shadow flash room or the shadow dance room at the Exploratorium. They don't even have the bed of pins to poke your eyes out with. Who would have though Germans took their science so seriously? Regardless, there were some cool things to see, but the map it was listed on lied when it said the displays were in german and english. Many were, but a lot weren't (and wouldn'tcha know the most interesting stuff was all german).

That's really most of what I did today. I spent three hours at the CTUM and four hours at the Deutches Museum. Then I dropped my big pretzel on the floor... twice... and ate it anyway. The stores are mostly closed on Sunday. I'm beginning to resent Catholics a little. I wonder if everything in Israel is closed on Saturday?

One last thing before I wrap up. I'll be headed to John's Cozy Little Oriental Hostel Berlin next. (They have PS2 and Xbox! w00t11!) I'll email them to make sure I've got the proper address so we can get that half gig memory card mailed. Swapping the smaller ones is a bit of a pain.

Day 41 - The Sound of Munich

Wow. Another daily update missed. Chalk it up to my hay fever or whatever I've got. I just remembered I have some only slightly expired anti-histamine in my pack, too. Tomorrow should be better. But first let's talk about the day before yesterday. I don't really understand why, but after my internet usage, I was feeling light headed. I wasn't going to go to bed without some food, though, so I went to a nearby pizza place the gal at the front desk recommended. It gets really cold here at night, so I started off with asparagus soup. I've seen it all over since then, but at the time, I was a little surprised to see albino asparagus. I followed it up with what turned out to be a really funky veggie pizza. I declare artichoke (including softened leaves, not just the hearts) a right proper pizza topping. Then I wandered back to the hostel, all of fifty meters away, in a congested haze, and went to bed. Oh yes, and I thought some of you might get a kick out of the street I'm on. Senefelder Street. I'm not sure if that's what Jerry's family name was pre-Ellis-Island, but I wouldn't be surprised. I love this head cold. It's rambleriffic.

• Deutshmarkets Uber Alles. First thing yesterday morning was provisioning as I was down to two apricot cakes and a 250ml juice box and the five euro breakfast here looked pathetic, kind of like the breakfasts in the hotel in Buenos Aires, but with even less variety. So I walked around a couple blocks. In addition to lots of naughty shops, there are a ridiculous number of computer shops here. But these aren't like US shops. Apparently everyone here rolls there own, because every shop window was full of pieces and parts, no prebuilt systems. I think a lot of electrical engineers would move to Munich if they walked down that street. Eventually I did come across a supermarket. Well, it wasn't exactly a supermarket. It was more like a really long and skinny U-shaped market. But I had no problem finding a big bag of assorted rolls (including the mandatory soft pretzels), a good sized box of granola cereal, a liter of unrefrigerated milk (a common thing here in Europe), and a liter of vitamin enriched fruit juice cocktail for just under four euros. It's funny. Lots of people get a huge thrill from having the latest, most featureful item. I get a small "oh goody" from that, but the glow I get from a really good bargain is so much more satisfying. I am truly a grandchild of the depression. Thanks for passing it on, dad! ;)
• Free Tour. I finished up breakfast just in time to catch the "Free Tour". Really the guides work for tips, so it should read "Free (for total jerks) Tour", regardless, it was nice to be part of a group for a change. Although trying not to get in the way of normal pedestrians was sometimes a challenge. I'm definitely too nice for my own good. Ah well. At least one American is. :)
• Marienplatz. Platz means square, so Marienplatz is Mary's Sqaure. There's a gold statue of Mary in the middle, so I'm assuming that's the English translation. Munich is largely Catholic as well. In fact, the St. Michael's church here was built to celebrate the "success" of the inquisition. (What a show.) But I digress. So let's regress to Marienplatz, where they have possibly the world's most famous glockenspeil, which literally means "bell play". First you listen to the impressively out of tune bells play a song. Then a small carosel of marble figures representing a wedding and a joust go around. The second time they go around, the knight representing an enemy state to Bavaria leans back to represent the coolness of Bavaria. Then the carosel below that, representing a funeral goes around twice. Life-sized marble figures twirl around on sticks. It's a very festive funeral appartently. Then the bells clang away for a big more and you wonder if you can't get that twelve minutes of your life back. Seriously, our guides making fun of the glockenspiel was more fun than the glockenspiel. I didn't even consider taking a movie.
• The Monkey Tower. I think this tower is attached to the old town hall. Nothing's really old here of course, since the place was levelled during WWII, but they built replicas of all the historic stuff. Anyway, the old town hall and monkey tower courtyard have some cool back story. The low wall (It's actually just a fence.) off the courtyard faces away from the city. Since Munich's leaders were appointed, and often not well liked by the people, the palaces were built at the edge of town so the duke (Munich was a duchy.) could escape quickly in the event of revolt. Okay, but back to the monkey tower. Duke Ludwig the second (as opposed to Mad King Ludwig the Second) was supposedly picked up by a monkey (who I assume was supposed to be there for entertainment purposes). The maid freaked out. This in turn freaked out the monkey. The monkey, baby in hand, jumped out the window and climbed the nearest tower. Apparently the monkey was pretty preturbed because it took over an hour of coaxing to get monkey and baby to come back inside. Of course the tower was built over a hundred years after Duke Ludwig the Second was born, so this story is a total fabrication, but supposedly the locals still like to tell it to people. I like Munich Monkeys.
• Devil's Church. Depending on how you look at it, this really is the devil's church. It was built in twenty years, breakneck speed in cathedral time. And one way or another, it could be argued you have the devil to thank for it. One story is that the devil was strolling by while the cathedral was under construction and noticed only one window on the building. (That's because the windows along the sides are all recessed.) The devil finds the architect and tries to trick him by saying, "If you agree not to add any more windows to this church, I'll have my minions finish it for you." The architect happily agreed. When the devil came back, he thought the deal had been broken and demanded the architect's soul. But when the architect showed him how the devil had just stood in the wrong place to see how many windows were there, the devil stamped his foot and disappeared (probably with a suitable BAMF noise), leaving his footprint on the floor of the church. I don't know where that footprint is because I went up the bell tower instead, but I'll probably be back to take a picture of the footprint at some point.
• Hoffbrauhaus. Litterally "Royal Brew House" this is the most famous beerhall in Munich, despite the fact that the beer isn't the best, the food isn't the best, and the prices really aren't the best. Regardless, it's the oldest brew house and the Nazis used it to announce their platform (and followed it up by beating up some Commies).
• Residenz. You remember how dukes in Munich had to be ready to head for the hills at a moments notice? Well, during a 100 year period of Munich's history, the city grew five times in size, so the original palace was surrounded. Obviously the amount of love the people had for the ruler didn't because a new escape friendly palace was then built on the new edge of town. We just walked through a courtyard there, but I think Eulah's Europe For Dummies book said this place has the greatest collection of royal jewels (from the Hapsburgs?) of any treasury in Europe, so I'll probably drop by.
• Military Plaza. Between the Residenz and the Tina Turner Church (a big yellow church who's name in german escapes, but sounds like Tina Turner) is a big military monument showing great Munich generals. Or it would if there were any. The statue on the left is not of a man from Munich, and the statue of the right is not of a general. It's of a military lawyer. He was actually scheduled to lead troops into battle once, but in very un-german fashion was delayed and missed the fight. There's a couple lions on the front. The one next to the Residenz has it's mouth open and the other doesn't. That's to represent that you can say whatever you want about the goverment, but don't mess with Tina Turner. It's too bad Ike had to find out the hard way. And just when you thought this thing couldn't get any weirder, the main statue, a giant black bronze of a man with a spear and a woman with a flag (I think) turns out not to have anything to do with Munich... at all. It looks greek. It was commissioned by a South American government who didn't like the fact that it didn't look hispanic. Munich picked it up cheap and stuck it in their monument. Needless to say, I couldn't help but take three or four pictures. :)
• English Gardens. After the tour officially ended, I was feeling pretty beat. But there was a statue of Ludwig the First (the education king) to photograph, and a big garden to explore. If my allergies hadn't clouded my judgement so thoroughly, I'm sure I would have considered the garden excursion a bad idea. Oh well. It was lovely, and I got some gnarly video of one of the river surfers shredding it up.

Okay. My time's almost up. I've sent some more pictures and stuff back, so expect them shortly. Later days.

If you haven't already preordered this, the only possible explanation is that you didn't know it was available for preordering. Consider yourself informed. ;)

Day 39 - Munich Bound

Gotta catch a train. I'll update when I get settled.

Okay. I´m settled, basically. By the way, the germans use the letter Z a lot, so it is swapped with the letter Y on the kezboard. Correct absent minded mistakes accordingly. Oh yeah, and the "at sign" moved again. Sigh. Oops. And I was going to go visit the at sign shaped staircase in Venice. They apparently invented the at sign to distinguish a package´s origin from it´s destination on shipping manifests. Ah, geek history. I can´t tell how much time I have left on this PC, so I´ll just try to hurry and hope for the best.

• Whoomp. The main part of my day yesterday revolved around visiting Torcello, and island to the northwest of Venice propper. I now know why Robert took a speedboat. Even by water bus, the trip took over two hours out, and probably an hour and change on the way back.
• Pre Island. There's only one water bus to Torcello, so you have to wait on the island it leaves from before you can go there. This turned out to be a pretty cool thing as the houses there are decorated in all sorts of crazy colors, just like Caminito in Buenos Aires, only more stylish. Caminito people did it because they were poor. People in Venice do it because it's cool. They had curtains, flowers, and paint and trim all matching. It was almost unnatural.
• Torcello. After missing a ferry and spending a full hour on the island of the lollipop guild, I finally got to Torcello. The only real attraction there for most people is a nice church. On the scale of churches I've been seeing, quaint would be the best description. But it was still well built. They also had a model of dead jesus in a plastic crypt in the back. Between the realism of the model and Tuesday train incident, this was spooky. So to take my mind off it I climbed a bell tower. There really isn't anything on Torcello at this point. In most directions it's swamp as far as the eye can see. It gives one an idea of what the area must have been like before the Venetians showed up.
• Weiner Scottie. After coming back down from the bell tower, I got an opportunity to do something I'd been meaning to do for a long time: take a picture of one of the dachshund / scottish terrier mixes that seem to be so popular in Italy. The lady who owned it seemed pretty tickled that I was so happy to get a picture of her dog.
• Yeats. After finding a nice patch of grass, I read my Yeats. The poem and Torcello really did go well together. The feeling of deep faith and lost love mingled with the weathered church and empty swamplands and just seemed to spread out forever.
• Night Train. Some of the folks at the hostel wanted to head back into the city and hang out. Not having been involved in any nightlife for a while, it seemed like I was due. We spent two hours lost in Venice trying to find the place. It was fun and goofy. One of the gals from Australia found Venice magical (partly because this was her first trip in). Again, seeing the world through someone else's eyes made it more beautiful. But we didn't hit the plaza until eleven, and the last train was due to leave at twelve thirty. I was definitely having Paris flashbacks, so I left early. The funny part is, they all made it back way before me. They had been using the busses, which I didn't even know went all the way out to Venice. I still feel like I made the best choice at the time, but I'll try to give my fellow hostellers the benefit of the doubt a little bit more in the future.

So that was yesterday. Today was a very relaxing train ride through Austria. I had stocked up on food and drink beforehand, so all I had to do was sit and enjoy the Alps. You can never get the pictures you want from the train because trees and power lines are always in the way, but it was still lovely. Speaking of pictures, I still have my CD from Rome to mail. Luckily the post office is right next to this internet place. I'm already thinking of extending my stay in Munich. There are a lot of cool, weird things to see here. I mean, how great is it to be able to visit a place called The Center for Unusual Museums. They also have a place like the Exploratorium, only bigger (430,000 square feet). I can take day trips to Neushwanstien, to salt mines where you get to slide down chutes, ride mine cars, and cross underground lakes, to Salzburg to catch a concert, the list goes on. I'm already booked for a six day stay here, but we'll see. I would like to make my next reservation early. Oh yeah, and there are strip clubs all over the place. What's up with that? I never figured Munich would have more naughty bits than Rio. ;P

Day 38 - Hello Venice

I tried to find an internet place in Venice, but the one I found was full, so I'm using the obscenely expensive internet at Hotel Belvedere. (five euros an hour) Regardless, there are definitely stories to relate.

• Catacombs. After taking the metro across town and waiting forty five minutes for a different bus than Let's Go recommended, I did make it to San Castillo (as opposed to the four other catacombs in Rome) with an hour to spare. You have to go down with a tour guide and only go down two of the four levels. That's probably just as well as I'm sure someone in the tour group would have freaked at being over 120 feet underground. We did get to see where they buried popes during persecution. We also saw the tomb of Saint Cecilia, patron saint of music (which explains Paul Simon's reference to her on Rythm of the Saints). We also saw a bunch of normal tombs and a couple fancy family tombs with some remnants of wall paintings. This was the point at which they informed us we could take pictures without flash (as opposed to the signs which said we couldn't take any) so I have no photos of the pope hole or Saint Cecilia's statue. Overall the catacombs were okay.
• Last Night. I hit my second favorite pizza place and my favorite gelato place for my last night in Rome. I still haven't found a decent mushroom pizza anywhere. Baffling. On the other hand, I've found really great grapefruit gelato. ;)
• Rain. Just to let me know it was time to leave Rome, it was raining in the morning. This was the only day in Rome anyone bothered to check whether the people getting on the metro actually had passes.
• Train. Surprisingly enough, our italian train left on time. Then they made up for it with delays enroute. Once we paused ten minutes for a mechanical problem. Then we paused forty minutes. As we finally started moving again, we crossed a dark green bridge. Then I saw two people taking a picture on the opposite tracks. I then saw little cards marked "A", "B", "C", "D", "E" on the tracks. I couldn't quite make out what they were marking, but suddenly I got a chill about what they might be marking. Sure enough, someone tried to cross the high speed tracks on foot. I know there are veterans reading this who've seen far worse, but let's just say this was not something I expected from my European experience, which is almost funny considering half the items on my itinerary are memorials of one kind or another.
• Back to the Hostel. I found that my hostel is not on Venice propper (which is not surprising considering it isn't crazy expensive). So I caught a train back. I was developing a little sore throat, but with only a day and a half for Venice, that wasn't going to stop me.
• Venice. I basically just followed the signs to San Marco, with little detours to whatever side streets looked interesting. It's not easy to take a bad picture in Venice. But I was losing the light. Which was odd because it was only seven in the afternoon.
• Rain. The sprinkles began about seven thirty. They never got that bad, either. But between getting lost (mandatory in Venice as the streets often dead end at canals and the narrow streets make landmark spotting very difficult) and still stopping to take a few pictures, I was getting really wet. My sore throat was in full bloom, and I wasn't doing it any good being out in the wet and cold. I finally found my way back to San Marco and began following the signs back to the train station. Sounds easy, right? It isn't like it sounds. The signs are not always easy to find as you enter a square and somewhere is the sign. They aren't always lit, either, and it was well past dark. In one square I came across two businessmen also lost. I pointed them towards the next sign, and it was game on. I took point and kept a brisk pace. I felt a little bad for the businessmen in their hard shoes, but we weren't getting any drier. It was a lot of fun. When I saw a sign I would point toward the sign, then the direction it was pointing, and we were off again. There were a couple good "spots" of hard to see signs on my part, and even the businessmen were impressed. The pictures and stuff were great, but it's probably this event that I will most remember from my first night in Venice.

Well, so much for my first night in Venice. My throat feels a little better, so I'm headed out to Torcello (after I get my umbrella and my Yeats, that is). If anyone wants to follow along in your poetry primer, I'll be reading Broken Dreams. It's not really appropriate, but it's a great poem.

Day 36 - Goodbye Roma

I booked an early train for Venice tomorrow (trying to get the most bang for my buck since Venice is so expensive), so this is my last day in Rome. The more I explore, the more I try to understand why I explore. The picture CD I'm sending home will have lots of pictures of little clay lamps, almost overgrown paths, and side streets that just drew me in. Over time I hope to understand what draws attention, useful in all visual arts. I keep thinking about video games, though. I would fly to Japan in a heartbeat to see a museum designed and organized by Shigeru Miyamoto. His games are so often built to feed the joy of exploration that I'm sure would make for a truly great museum.

That's not to say that the Vatican Museum was bad, of course. All I've done today, apart from blogging and burning a CD, is spend time in and around the Vatican Museum. I was in line two hours before it opened. Well, I was in line two hours before it opened to individuals. Tour groups get in forty five minutes earlier. So by the time the rest of us get in, there are already dozens of clusters to weave through. It makes taking pictures an interesting proposition as well, since much of the art is too big to photograph close up, but there are too many heads to get pictures from far away. But the fact that pictures are allowed at all is great. You can't take pictures in the Sistene Chapel, but it would take too long anyway with the huge crowd and sheer size of the place. It turns out the Sistene Chapel is where they elect new popes, so it's been used recently, which is pretty cool.

I also visited the Coach Museum, featuring lavish carriages that carried popes past, including a 1977 Toyota LandCruiser. Cute. There was also a small painting museum (mostly closed, so if they had any Caravaggios, I didn't get to see them), and some cool chambers by Raffael. They also had some gifts to popes past that were pretty impressive. It's good to be the pope.

So now that the papal goon squad has been paid off, it's time to see if I can squeeze in a visit to the catacombs.

Day 35 - Closed

As one would expect, much of Rome is in church this morning, and probably won't be working at all today. It took me a while just to find an open internet point (and one with the dirtiest mouse of all time. You know how old ball mice get a little gunky once in a while? This mouse was so gunky that the gunk all came off in one big strip. Wow. Also the space bar doesn't always work, so don't be surprised ifsomewordsruntogether). I'm glad I'm not leaving on a Sunday. I'd never be able to get my pictures burned to CD. I'm also glad to take a day off after yesterday, but I'm getting ahead of myself. First let's see if I can remember what I did after I got off the internet yesterday. Oh yeah, I went to Saint Peter's. Heh. Yesterday had to be a big day if I forgot Saint Peter's.

Saint Peter's is monstrous. The giant pope statues are freaky. The treasure room was expensive (six euro, but you get the audioguide for free), so I was often the only person in the room with millions of dollars in artifacts. The reliquary of the holy childhood was one of my favorites, supposedly containing straw, cradle fragments, and some of Mary's veil from the nativity. I saw enough peices of the true cross there to build a six inch by six inch cube, I think. I saw enough diamonds to make a hundred prospective fiances very happy. If they build cars out of bronze, they couldhave made two out of Pope Sixtus' death sculpture. I forget which of the Sixtusses (Sixti?) it was from. I wish Pope's could be more original.

Security is understandably tight. The lines for the metal detectors were quite long. Not as long as this morning, I imagine, but then they probably had all twenty of them running as opposed to the three that were active when I visited.

Despite the fact that they're in one of the most amazing buildings in Christendom (and got in free to boot), tourists are still tourists. I saw a lot of impatient, resentful, and just generally not awestruck faces. It's a shame that a nonbeliever such as myself seems to appreciate some of these sites more than the devout.

Okay, so I've got about twenty more minutes of internet time in which to describe yesterday's "Vini Vidi Vici" hike. Basically, I walked the circumference of most of the interesting sites of Rome. I had originally just intended to walk around Vatican City to say I walked around a city in a day. Or is Vatican City its own country? Regardless, Rome is so damn small, I couldn't stop. 7:45 AM until 6PM or so. It's a full day. I took pictures along the way, so I should be able to reconstruct the walk completely when I get home, but for now, just the highlights.

• Western Hills. From the southwest of my map (along the Viale Delle Mura Aurelie) you can look west and see where the rich and famous of Rome must live. All the houses just stop, except for the occasional sprawling villa with beautifully manicured lawn. I saw a delivery boy dropping off boxes of groceries outside and immediately was reminded of the demo mission for Hitman 2. :)
• Southern Landmarks. The south is the ancient city. It was approaching noon and I thought I might catch the tour at the Colloseum, so I high-tailed it around Circus Maximus (which is pretty much just a big depression / jogging track / dog park). I whipped by the entrance to Palantine Hill and bought my ticket. Much thanks to the Let's Go guide at the hostel that recommended picking up the combined ticket at Palantine as it saved me a 45 minute line at the Colloseum. Then it was the Colloseum. Some guy at the front wanted to charge me eight euro for a tour. No thanks. Let's Go said three fifty. I actually never found the tour, but I didn't really care. There are tourguides everywhere, so you can't help but hear. And none of them were saying anything I didn't already know. 5000 animals died in the first 100 days of the Colloseum's opening. There was sand on the floor to soak up the blood. That sort of claptrap. Mostly the Colloseum was big. Palantine Hill, on the other hand, was really cool. Mind you, I have an affinity for ruins. :) There were parts of many brick structures, pieces of many types of marble columns, and what could have been fragments of original floor stones around. It was very cool. Also, it gives you a much better view of the forum and related ruins than you get by walking around between them.
• East Rome. Bleh. It had some okay parks and a really funky building with a mosaic museum, but mostly the east was pretty bland.
• North Rome. This is where the zoo and mega park and modern art museum are. I went around, so I didn't see too much, but it was still pretty.

There's more to say about my day trip, but you'll have to wait for the slide show as I am out of time.

Ciao!

Day 33 - More Rome

It's a rainy morning in Rome, perfect for writing blogs and making reservations. I have no qualms about spending only six days in Rome. It's certainly got enough to see, but it just doesn't feel like Florence. It feels more like New York. If you say hello to someone on the street, they assume you want something from them. Not everyone is like that. An older lady I offered some strawberries to was very nice. She chatted at me in Italian, and I was so glad to meet someone friendly I didn't want to spoil it by admitting I didn't understand. And now, for the sights:

• Castle of Saint Angelo. Actually, that may be an incorrect translation. The name may refer to the two big angel statues (one in a courtyard and one on the roof). Regardless, it's big, a pope or three lived there, and the tomb of Hadrian (one of the best loved roman emperors, based on the amount of statuary made in his likeness) is what it was built on. You can't really see the tomb as such, but you can see the many different layers the castle was built on. And if you still feel let down, the piles of marble cannon balls (leftover or perhaps cannibalized (cannon-ball-ized?) from castle sculptures) are nifty keen. And if you still feel let down, after seeing the bits of papal furniture, paintings, etc. Head for the roof. As I looked around, I couldn't see any building that looked like it had a better view of Rome. And all this for five euros.
• Tomb of Augustus Caesar. Click on his name, and read of his deeds. His tomb is now an overgrown pile of bricks where trash is thrown and homeless people sleep. To say I was indignant would be polite. This man made Rome an empire more even than Julius. I stood at the foot of this mockery and made a soliloquy of my contempt for the people of Rome. They weren't even fit to hold what he captured, and this is his memorial. I understand Italy less and less every day.
• Spanish Steps. Placed in Rome, named for the spanish, and paid for by the french, the Spanish Steps have a lot of history, most of which I don't know. :P In fact, I didn't even realize what they were when I first saw them. They were just a busy stairway covered with pretty purple flowers. By the time I overheard a tourist call them by name, I'd already walked by the windows of all the world famous fashion designers. Prada, Armani, and whoever else have their incredibly overpriced stores on the street in front of the steps. Fashion is a segment of the arts I definitely don't understand. The woman is always the pretty part, not the dress. And the suit never bears any designer's mark enough to be meaningful. Regardless, I've seen more crimes of fashion in Italy than anywhere else. They almost always wear pants instead of skirts here, but I guess they wear them low to make up for it. I've seen more whale tails and plumbers cracks on the women here than I ever needed to see. And to whoever made that clingy frilly short skirt in sizes large enough to be worn by the woman I saw it on today: If I find you, I will hit you until candy comes out.

It seems to be clearing up a bit outside. I may brave the hordes and hit the Vatican just to have it out of the way. Or I might jump on a double decker bus, now that I won't get soaked. Ah the freewheeling life of a tourist. ;)

Day 32 - Do as the Romans Do

There are good and bad points to Rome. Ubiquitous internet access is not one of the good points, altough it is kind of cool to be sitting next to an asian nun checking her hotmail account. :)

• Sights. Just wandering from the train station to my hostel, I saw some of the most incredible architecture and ruins. I mean, I'd never even heard of monuments here that are just breathtaking. I guess that's what happens when every emperor needs a monument.
• Traffic. I'm glad I'm getting this city out of the way. The traffic and crowds are crazy.
• Good Pizza. The best pizza I've had in Italy was a little hole in the wall near the Vittorio Emanuelle II monument, and less than four euros for two slices. The onion pizza, while a little oily, is my favorite so far.
• Police. I guess this many monuments and dignitaries mean police out the wazoo. I've seen them in many colors, riding scooters, in motorcades, carrying submachine guns, telling me I can't take pictures on public streets, the works. With regards to that last item, I'm not even sure that was a policeman, but some guy on a scooter said I couldn't take a picture of some Batman boxer shorts in a store window. (Sorry Paul.) I wonder if he worked for the store and was worried I was a spy for AOL/Time/Warner.

Okay, my time's almost up, and I had to change my password to get into this blog so I'm worried my accounts may have been hacked in Florence. Luckily I'm not checking my bank or credit card from anything but the most locked down terminals, but I still should change my Calweb password so I don't lose email access.

Day 30 - Last Days in Florence

Since I'm already a little behind for not updating yesterday, let's jump right into the update.

• Spaghetti. That was the best batch of spaghetti sauce I've made it yet. I was a little worried I'd make another crappy batch like I made in England. There's just no excuse for bad pasta in Italy. Sadly, though, my own pasta is the best I've had since I've been here. I think
• Siena. I would never have thought of going to Siena, but Marc was going, and after banging my head against closed signs all day Sunday, I was happy to blow town for a day. Siena has some nice old buildings in it. It was definitely a good photo day. Marc likes to climb stuff as well, so we went up the tower in the center of town. It was only 83 meters tall (pfft), but it was the tallest thing around, so it had to do. From there we got lovely shots of the six or seven churches (for a town with only 60,000 people). Of course the stats on Italy are probably something like 80% catholic, so I guess that's a reasonable ratio. It was pretty sunny out, so I think I did a good job of maintaining my sunburn. I should be thoroughly freckled by the time I return.
• Museums. It worked out well that it was rainy and cold this morning, as I didn't have to think twice about trying to catch one more museum. The archeological museum here has absolutely nothing on the British Museum or Louvre, but there were a few interesting items, and I don't have to wonder what I missed.
• Lunch. After my success with the spaghetti, I decided to try my luck and roast some garlic for lunch. I put the garlic in the oven as it was heating, then let my brown and serve baguette cook along side it. I think I'd give the garlic five minutes more of a head start next time to make it truly spreadable, but it was still really good. I guess Italy just brings out the chef in people. I also picked up some orange and carrot juice at the store. It made a nice mild companion to the bread. I'm glad Dany (Hi Dany!) turned me onto it.
• Il Duomo. I'd already taken a quick trip through, but I wanted to get a few more snaps. The place was almost deserted. I keep wanting to go into a deserted cathedral and start belting out the choral music from Halo. (Hi Dany! ;) Maybe if I can get into the Sistene Chapel before anyone else.

So now I'm in the internet cafe getting ready to burn a CD of my pictures and UPS it, along with some other souveniers. I also need to get my directions to the hostel (Il Chercino, I think) written down. It's supposed to be right next to the vatican, so I may have to tell New Pope to keep it down if he hasn't stopped celebrating his election into the wee hours.

Day 29 - No Time

No internet time today, but I'm alive and well.

Day 28 - Florence is Closed

I thought museums closed mostly on Mondays, but apparently a lot of stuff closes on Sunday around here. I guess the Italians are more devout. :) I spent most of the day wandering the streets of closed stores singing A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall. I also hit the market, but we'll save that for the end blurb. In the meantime, since I have no sights to speak of (I mean I saw a cat in a garden and took a picture through the fence, but who cares?), I guess I'll blather a little more about Art.

Art very rarely pays the bills. It generally makes bills, in fact. (Hi Blake!) In fact, I find the story of any artist often revolves around their relation to money. Van Gogh sold one painting his entire life... to his brother. One pity sale for a man who really cared about his creations. He wanted to put his soul up there. Then you've got someone like Michaelangelo, without a doubt a genius, but always having to fight like hell to get his patron (the pope) to let him make his own choices. Well he was gay and trying to work for the catholic church as well. But that's a whole other story. I guess what I'm trying to say is that on a practical level, art isn't. (Hi Yogi!)

So why do I care when people are starving and killing each other? I can't answer that in any way that satisfies me, so I won't even attempt an answer for the public at large. But then I can't justify anything except chucking my life and doing nothing but trying to house and feed the poor when I think about things like that. Meanwhile, back my (insulated) world, I like art.

Someone once said that no matter what we study, we are learning about ourselves. I agree. Art tells me what matters to people. When the church dominated, the art is all sacred. When merchants and money became the rage, portraiture took off. People always liked naked pictures. :) The relationship between man and nature is a constant theme. And when nature didn't always look as scary as what humans felt when things howled in the night, they imagined monsters. I don't know if being in touch with these artifacts of humans from the past will ever have any real value for me, but at some level, it makes me feel like I'm not as different as I sometimes feel, like through this understanding I feel a little more a part of humanity. Considering my normal feelings ("All things being equal, I tend to sympathize with the android."), this is probably a good thing.

That's enough for today. I'm going back to the hospital to commit a sacrelidge and make my own pasta in Italy. Hey. If they were willing to sell it at anything close to a reasonable price and in anything more than tiny portions, I'd buy it. As it is, I feel totally justified. I've paid less for the three dinners and breakfast I bought at the store today than I've spent for any single dinner out here.

Day 27 - The Color of Italy

It's been a good day today.

• Slept In. After getting up really early yesterday for the Ufizzi (and not getting to bed until late because Marc had all of his slides up on a laptop) it was time for some quality snoozing. But I was out the door promptly at 11AM. :)
• Shop Around. The hostel employee I met when I first got here pointed out a farmer's market, so I decided to go take a peek. It was pretty cool. I got a ridiculous amount of strawberries, some brazil nuts, some dried apples, and some water for really cheap. At 1.50 euros a kilo, I think the nuts are cheaper here than they are at home. I also got some bread to go with it. I got the wheatiest looking loaf they had, but still got burned. I guess oil and vinegar are mandatory for eating bread in Italy because they primarily have baking soda tasting bread. :P
• Hit The Parks. I went to the north side of town to see a park or three. Once I got far enough away from the city center, the parks were nice and empty. I've got some pictures of them that I'm eager to share, as well. I'm almost trying to find excuses to take movies now so I can fill up my CD before I send it back.
• Hit The Stibbert. There was this museum on the map not close to anything. Since I was in the neighborhood, I dropped by. Um. It was nuts. A guide escorts you and a few other people through rooms filled with antique everything. I was never much of an arms and armor fan, but the sheer quantity and quality of this collection was astonishing. Then you moved onto the living quarters with ridiculously expensive furniture. I looked up at one point and noticed a Grecian Urn sitting on a cupboard. The amazing thing about this was that I could have just reached up and touched it. I didn't because I respect the damage touching does to pottery over time (Heck, David's left foot has suffered irreperable damage from all the people who wanted to touch it, and it's solid marble.), but somehow just knowing I could made the experience more compelling. There were chandeliers and mirrors more elaborate than I've ever seen. There was a table that appeared to made out of close to 80 different types of marble. I saw other furniture with colors of marble I didn't know existed. The oranges and blues were particularly striking. There was more antiques (including guns, lots of guns) and porcelain and suchnot, but because you have to stay together as a group, you don't get nearly enough time to really examine things. I was tempted to buy a book at the end, just to see what I'd seen, but they were broken up into multiple books (Three books? Nobody said anything about three books.), all in italian, and pretty pricey. And of course, you can't take pictures.
• More Parks. The park in back of the Stibbert was very nice. It had a lake with some more wildlife to photograph. I'm sure the gals out there will love the ducklings. :) It also had a fake egyptian temple for no reason I can fathom.

That's really about it. It's been relaxed and lovely. Perhaps I've finally found the right balance so that I can sightsee and relax at the same time. Okay, so if you were wondering about the subject line, here's what it means. Green is the official color of Italy, and in addition to seeing a lot of lovely green parks, I also got to see a green robe worn by Napoleon when he went to Italy in the Stibbert. That was behind glass, but I understand the need for precautions there.

Okay. I suppose this is kind of out of place, but dad made a comment about being jaded concerning art, so I thought it might be worthwhile to talk about what I get out of art, and what I don't.

• Majesty. Some art is just so massive or well composed you have to marvel at it. David is a perfect example. But a lot of cathedrals have the same effect.
• Skill. David is again the best example. Unlike most sculptors who worked in plaster, then transferred to less forviging materials, Michelangelo worked directly in the marble. It's insane. And the skill that goes into a lot of the other works is very impressive, too.
• Meaning. Art often tells stories. I like stories.

Well, my time is almost up, so I'll talk more about art next time, but if anyone wants to discuss it, the comment link is now open. :)

Day 26 - Galleryville

Financial Note: The rough conversion I use for euros is that one euro equals a buck fifty. It's not quite that bad, but it's close enough.

After internetting yesterday, I talked to a gal who works here about putting some pictures on CD. They can read my memory card (or cards since it will take more than one to fill a CD). It's only five euros to make a CD. And they also do UPS shipments here, so I can bypass the potentially flaky italian post office. I'll definitely be doing that just before I leave to free up lost of memory for Rome. It's hard to believe I've still got four more days here after everything I saw today. A day trip to the world's greatest monument to mediocrity (Pisa) may be in order.

• Ufizzi. It supposedly has more important works than any other museum on earth. My ignorance was definitely showing in that I didn't recognize most of them. I saw a very nice painting by Michaelangelo (maybe the only painting of his still around), one and a half by Da Vinci (one wasn't finished), and a lot of stuff I knew I'd seen in books, but really didn't make a huge difference to me. My appologies to my christian readers, but I get really burned out on devotional art after a while. I've seen Christ on the cross, off the cross, as a baby, as a child, back from the dead, etc. more times than I can count. It ceases to have any impact after a while. Especially when you've seen it done better by some other painter. Oh yeah, and almost no painters know how to do babies, or want to make baby Jesus unique or something because baby jesus looks freaky. Seriously, the poses, lumpy bodies, and disturbingly adult facial features on baby jesus (and other babies) in paintings are just wrong enough to be truly unnerving. The first painter who starts doing babies right will make a place in history. I also figured out part of why I find paintings so taxing to look at. Painters are frustrated storytellers. Seriously. They try to cram in so much symbolism, extra scenes in the background, etc. that you either go through a really arduous process of examination, or realize you're probably missing a great deal of what paintings have to offer. All things considered, I think they should have invented comic books sooner.
• Pizza. I met some nice folks from LA in the Uffizi and joined them and a gal from the Phillipines they also met at the gallery for pizza. This was my first pizza in Italy. It was good. The crust was thin, and the edges were very crunchy. For a topping, I chose to try the scalloped potatoe pizza. It was basically potatoes cooked in oil with herbs and salt. It was pretty good, but I'm betting there's much better to be had here in Florence, nevermind Rome.
• Academic Gallery. David.
• Academic Gallery. A lot of other stuff that is pretty cool (a Stradivarius violin, viola, and cello, unfinished Michelangelos, plaster originals of a lot of sculptures by his nephew, Leonardo Buonarroti)
• Duomo. This was mostly just a stopover, but the architectural triumph known as the Duomo is another cathedra. The main feature of the Duomo is a huge gothic dome over the alter/choir/apse area. It was built without any internal supports. You can't really get close enough to appreciate that from the inside, but that may just have been because we were there during confession.
• Bell Tower. Outside the Duomo is a bell tower you can climb for six euros. It was a bit trying for some of us, but we made it. If you want the highest view, climb the Duomo itself. It's maybe twenty feet higher. But since it renders you unable to view the Duomo, I consider the tower the better use of your six euros. Actually, I consider gelatos a better way to spend six euros. Most of Florence is just red roofs. If you want to see the scenery of Tuscany, take a walk.
  
• Gelatos. I hadn't had a gelato yet, so my companions were eager to induct me into the fan club. Gelato is definitely nice. It's not as heavy as ice cream, but it's more flavorful, or the one I had was, at least. There's no replacement for New York Super Fudge Chunk, but gelato is certainly refreshing on a hot day.

That pretty much covers our day today. I want to start checking for my roman holiday location soon. My companions recommended a place a little out of town where you can easily bus to all the sights from, but I'll probably stick with hostels, as I really enjoy walking and encountering other travelers. I started looking today, then realized my reservation online doesn't match with what I think I'm actually doing at the hostel, so I need to confirm my departure date before I make my next booking. Details, details. Let's go have a gelato. :)

Day 25 - Gone Walkabout

Last night I went up to the bronze David with a couple guys from the hostel. It's a pretty nice view up there. You can see a few of the major landmarks well lit up, and the lights along the river make a nice snakey countour as well. It was a walk, and I haven't stopped walking much.

• Follow the River. That's what I did most of the day. In fact, I have a picture of the sign that marks the edge of Florence as I nearly walked out of town. :) There are fabulous views all over. They put just enough homes on the hill to give them color, but never spoil the natural beauty. It must be expensive to live anywhere near here.


• Giant Supermarket. The food in town is all at tourist prices. But on the way back from the edge of town, I followed the signs pointing to a "commercial center" with a little shopping cart icon. It turned out to be the biggest supermarket I've ever seen. It's probably too far away to visit again, but I had a huge lunch (bread, apple, mediterranean salad, and a liter of juice) for three euros and seven cents. That's compared to the medium sized plate of spaghetti that cost me seven euros last night. :P


• Animals. Florence is the first semi-rural area I've been to so far, so I'm actually seeing a tiny bit of wildlife. And speaking of wildlife, my little plastic troublemaking friend has now been to his Mecca. The plastic warthog Paul gave me when we both left HP has been accompanying me on my travels. He snuck into my bags for Rio and Buenos Aires, so I figured I'd take him to Europe as well. Since he was made in China, he's still travelled more than I have. Anyway, we were coming back from our walk last night when we happened upon a plaza with a giant, drooling bronze warthog in it. This was well after dark, but there was still a line of people waiting to:
  
  
  
  1. stick their hands in its drooling mouth
  
  
  2. rub their wet hands on its nose (now worn very smooth)
  
  
  3. have their picture taken with it
  
  
  
  Obviously this is Warthog Mecca. I read today that this good luck statue is 400 years old! The world never ceases to surprise.
  

Well, I'm about out of time and I guess I really didn't do much more today than enjoy the natural wonders of bucolic Florence. There were literally dozens of tour busses at the edge of town, and the streets are lousy with other tourists. I'm partly walking so much just to tire myself out so I can get up ungodly early tomorrow for the Uffizi. See you then! :)

Day 24 - Welcome to Florence

The night train has pros and cons. On the pro side, it's less expensive than almost any hotel: $21. On the con side, it's totally tiny. Those beds and I did not agree. I did like my traveling companions, though. There was the spanish family: mom, the ten year old, and the six year old. They were very friendly and mom was always cracking jokes. (I probably understood one in four. :) And there was a professor of music in Vienna, also a spanish speaker, in our car. He was a class act, translating in perfect english when the family and I couldn't understand each other and securing our door really well by both locking it and blocking it with the ladder used to reach the top bunks, when we went to "sleep".

The Zurich train station was... a train station. I walked outside, snapped a few pictures, and got on the train to Florence. I also picked up a box of chocolates which has already started to evaporate, so I don't think any will be making it home. Oops. I do have another full memory card, though. An Aussie named Marc mentioned you can find places here that will burn your files to CD, so I may start sending photos home that way instead. It's certainly less tempting for a thief than a memory card. Who wants to buy CDs of other people's photos?

I think I made the right choice coming here now. It's already ridiculously crowded. Marc says Rome isn't a bad, but he still had to wait for hours to see the Sistene chapel (and he showed up at 9:30AM on a Monday). Anyway, I'm about out of internet time, so I'll be heading to the top of a nearby hill to get the lay of the land, then trying to find some dinner, I suspect much easier in Rome with pasta in abundance. Someone asked me at about the French brassieries (or however the heck you spell it). The one I tried to eat at had one vegetarian item on the menu, and they were out of it. Think Ranch Cafe with an attitude. Heh.

Day 23 - Burned, Rested, And Ready

I haven't even left Paris, and I'm already nostalgic. And this is a great day in particular. I feel really relaxed. Partly because I have nothing on the itinerary except getting to the train station before 10PM. Heck, I already wrote up most of yesterdays activities, so there isn't even much to write about. Ah. I suppose it keeps me from developing an enduring passion and ambition, but I so dearly love doing nothing. Some would say I'll have plenty of time for that when I'm dead, but I say why put off tomorrow, what I can do today? Hey, at least there's one area of my life I don't procrastinate in. :)

Day 22 - Notre Dame 2 and The Sun King's Revenge

Sorry for the lack of update yesterday. I got another late start and it slipped my mind when I got back to the hostel for reasons I'll explain further on.

First, let's get a peek yesterday's itenerary.

• Notre Dame. It's the most visited religious site in France (12 million visitors a year). I went on a Sunday. Surprisingly it was well nigh desterted (Not!). It was very cool despite the crowds. I thought the transept windows were better than the ones at Chartres. But the sculpture at Chartres was definitely more detailed. For reference, here's a picture I drew up for cathedral reference. I'm sure it will be useful again. :) You can also check out this article on cathedral terms for reference.
  
  
• Notre Dame Gardens. They are very simple and nice, and I've never seen gardens more packed with people. I sat there and ate my half liter of yogurt there. It's hard to buy single serving yogurt here for some reason, so I have to eat a lot when I eat it.
• Islands in the Stream. Notre Dame is on one of two islands in the middle of the Seine. They're nice to walk around on with nice buildings, gardens, and even some sunbathers on the lower levels right next to the water. Most of the island is built about 40 feet up, presumably to avoid flooding.
• French Holocaust Memorial. A passionate french architect from the Astor Museum hostel found this place very powerful. I found parts very effective, but I think being able to read the french inscriptions would have helped a lot, too. Still, it was definitely worth a quick stop. You actually can't t stay too long (without being rude) as the monument is too small to accommodate more than a handful of visitors at a time.

So that was Sunday, pretty much. I also visited a scale model of Paris and tried to go to my favorite internet cafe (which is generally open on Sundays, but not the first Sunday of the month, it turns out). I also found out that I suck. I wanted to find a pen, and said "If I can't find a pen in the Square of the Republic, I suck." I mean, the square is a bustling hub of cafes and various shops. Being Sunday, all the newsstands and tabaccanists shops (what every other country seems to have instead of convenience stores) were closed. So, Primus and I both suck. ;)

After that I went back to the hostel. I met a retired architect from Portland, now teaching in Paris, and a Brazillian architecture student I'd been passing in the mornings and evenings all week. We talked about all sorts of topics, but one of the ones I found the most interesting was how overblown the french dislike of americans is. Albert (the retired architect) talked about how much money french industry had invested in Iraq. I began following the money, realizing that the media outlets here are probably owned by the same companies that lost a lot of money in Iraq. Just like in the US, you hear the news big business wants you to hear. Albert said he never once heard an opposing viewpoint in the media here. It was all negative. Money talks.

Anyway, by the time I got done chatting with my roommates, it was 23:00. Well past my bedtime because I wanted an early start for the one bullet item for today.

• Versailles. Unfortunately, the buildings at Versailles were closed. I couldn't tell how much of that was because of the renovations going on, and how much was because most museums (and Versaille might fall into that category) here are closed on Mondays. I didn't really care much because I'd heard that the gardens were the real attraction.
  
• Fancy Gardens. The gardens close to the palace require admission. It's kind of a toss up in my mind as a lot of the public domain stuff is just as nice, but I wanted to see everything. So the highlights of the Fancy Gardens include:
  
  
  
  • Statues of all the roman gods you care to name.
  
  
  • A small forrest that was transplanted into the garden from whatever silly location god had mistakenly put it in the first place.
  
  
  • Green corridors for days.
  
  
  • A couple spiffy sculpture gardens with specific scenes in them. (Apollo and his entourage; the defeat of a giant)
  
  
  • A really crazy amphitheatre with a waterfall background
  
  
  
  I don't know if the fountains are turned on other days, but the fancy gardens would really be spectacular to see with running water.
• Great Canal. There's a giant canal in the shape of a cross which is a kilometer long. Supposedly warships and gondolas were brought to Versailles and sailed in these giant pools.
• Gardens Under Construction. Versailles had fallen into disrepair and was struck with a huge storm in 1999. Work is still underway to repair a lot of it. Even in such "disrepair" the gardens are amazing. I had fifty shots left on my camera and was a little worried for a while that I might run out.
• Marie-Antoinette's Faux Hamlet. Wanting a break from palace life, Marie had this fantasy of what peasant life is like (when you don't actually have to do any work) created for her. It's a little chilling to think how far gone the aristocracy was at this point. But I suppose the price they eventually paid was high enough. :P
  

Okay, okay. If you're still hanging in there at this point, you're probably waiting for me to get to my travel itinerary so you can know what's going on. They're shutting down the computers here, so I guess everyone's anxious. :)

1. Tuesday - Chill out. Do laundry. Say goodbye to Paris. Take a night train.
2. Wednesday - Wake up in Zurich. Pay my respects to the gnomes. Abuse my Eurail pass by seeing the swiss alps from the train. Wind up in Florence.
3. Thursday - Spend a week in Florence, with my hostel in Rome booked so my main memory card can have time to catch up with me at a proper address instead of Poste Restante, which is probably more of a pain and less reliable.

Okay. Time to finish all my snacks I was too buy tromping around Versailles to eat. And apply some of the ointment to easy the sunburn I more than earned. :) Night all.