As the subtitles of this blog states, I am back on the road, or rather, back on the rails. As I enjoy the luxuries of first class on a bullet train from Köln Germany to Paris France, I have the time to post a little about what I've done so far this week.
I landed in Paris Sunday morning at 7:30 am with a family member named John. He had been to Spain before but only to Madrid and a small town where his sister is living. As we were going to come back to Paris two more times during the trip, we skipped town quickly and went up to Brussels.
As I had been to Brussels before, we efficiently saw every church and beautiful building quickly before continuing onto Bruges, where we spent two nights drinking and mixing with non-locals. The first night, we hung out with a Columbian and British woman. The second night, we met two British fellows in the hostel bar and went out for more drinks after the bar closed. The buildings in Bruges are beautiful but the town can be a bit crowded. Amazingly, the hostel was well priced and beer delicious, so I don't have any complaints about the city other than the cost if some attractions. It is definitely a great classic European city that is very walkable.
They are providing us food, so I must continue later.
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
The Camino
This past summer I did the Way or St. James, or as it's called in Spanish, El Camino de Santiago. This is a little bit different from a typical sightseeing adventure in Europe, so if it's one of your first times in Europe you may want to pass, but nevertheless I highly recommend it, especially if you've seen most of Europe. What this is, is a walking pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, which is a city in the northwest part of Spain.
Fortunately I didn't have blister problems, which was my main concern going into the Camino. (Tip: use a liner sock and medium weight wool socks. After completing the Camino blister free I went on a walking tour in Barcelona and not thinking it would matter I went without my liner sock. Big mistake because I ended the day with bad blisters, even though my shoes and wool socks were the same as used walking the Camino for 200km.) Instead I had knee problems. There was one day as I was descending a mountain range when my right knee suddenly became very painful. I still had over 5km to walk and I wasn't sure what to do because it hurt badly and I was walking with a limp. I ended up finding a stick to use to support that side of my body and went along using my right leg as little as possible. Once in the next city where I was spending the night I found a pharmacy and bought a knee brace. A night of sleep plus the knee brace did wonders. After using the brace on my right knee for the day, I found that my left knee was hurting more than the right. I finished the Camino while alternating that brace on each knee.
The walk is a joy because it's a such a simple activity and you have time where you can think, you can listen to music or audio books, you can talk to people, you can enjoy the landscape, and you are walking towards a goal and each day you see progress towards that goal. It's also awesome that you share the same goal with so many others from all around the world. The people you meet and conversations you have along the way are great. Also I should note that while you are actually walking it's easy to walk with people or alone. It's completely your preference. Another thing to keep in mind is that most people typically walk 4-6 hours per day.
While there's a lot of fun to be had, your whole time is focused on completing the journey. In addition to the walking, you need to take care of yourself without all the modern conveniences you are used to. Once checking into an albergue, the typical thing to do is take a shower and wash your clothes by hand. Then it's time for lunch, which is typically a big meal consisting of potatoes and meat, along with your choice of an appetizer, dessert, and drink for 9-10 euros. All the restaurants offer this meal and it will help sustain you on your journey. After lunch people do a variety of things, sometimes dependent on the city you are in. Some places have a river you can swim in. Typically you might take a nap, write in your journal, hang out and play cards, read a book, have a conversation, etc. There are plenty of things to do in the afternoon/evening. Most albergues lock the outside doors and have a lights out policy starting at 10pm, but I often found myself asleep before then.
I should also mention that it's typical to stop and have a coffee and pastry a couple hours into the walk. The coffee is always delicious too.
Routes
There are many routes you can take, but in order to officially complete the pilgrimage you must walk a minimum of 100km and end in Santiago de Compostela. The most popular route, known as Camino Francés, starts in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France. I walked the last 200km of this route over 10 days starting in Ponferrada. A large number of pilgrims begin in Sarria, which allows you to walk the final 112km and officially complete the pilgrimage. I would highly recommend starting at least from O Cebreiro (155km) or farther. If I do it again, I'll probably start in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France, but I'm really happy I started in Ponferrada instead of Sarria. The reason is because the landscape from Ponferrada to Sarria is a heck of a lot more beautiful than from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela and also it was easier to meet cool people before Sarria. Once you reach Sarria the trail gets crowded with Spaniards. Before Sarria there were still a lot of Spaniards, but not as many. Also a lot of the people starting before Sarria have been doing the pilgrimage from St. Jean, which means they have good experience you can learn from and they are generally more friendly.The Walking
Walking the Camino is both challenging and enjoyable. It's a challenge because you are doing so much of it and there are times you don't think you'll make it to Santiago. There are times your legs might hurt. You might get injured and still have a long way to walk. You might get blisters. There's a lot that could happen due to walking many kilometers on consecutive days. Most people say the first couple days aren't bad, but then they start to feel it after a few more days, which was true for me too. After several days, however, you get used to it.Fortunately I didn't have blister problems, which was my main concern going into the Camino. (Tip: use a liner sock and medium weight wool socks. After completing the Camino blister free I went on a walking tour in Barcelona and not thinking it would matter I went without my liner sock. Big mistake because I ended the day with bad blisters, even though my shoes and wool socks were the same as used walking the Camino for 200km.) Instead I had knee problems. There was one day as I was descending a mountain range when my right knee suddenly became very painful. I still had over 5km to walk and I wasn't sure what to do because it hurt badly and I was walking with a limp. I ended up finding a stick to use to support that side of my body and went along using my right leg as little as possible. Once in the next city where I was spending the night I found a pharmacy and bought a knee brace. A night of sleep plus the knee brace did wonders. After using the brace on my right knee for the day, I found that my left knee was hurting more than the right. I finished the Camino while alternating that brace on each knee.
The walk is a joy because it's a such a simple activity and you have time where you can think, you can listen to music or audio books, you can talk to people, you can enjoy the landscape, and you are walking towards a goal and each day you see progress towards that goal. It's also awesome that you share the same goal with so many others from all around the world. The people you meet and conversations you have along the way are great. Also I should note that while you are actually walking it's easy to walk with people or alone. It's completely your preference. Another thing to keep in mind is that most people typically walk 4-6 hours per day.
Life on The Camino
Everyone checks into albergues (a cheap hostel) around 2pm, so this leaves time in the afternoon/evening to do things with people, to sit back and enjoy a beer while overlooking an incredible mountain view as the sun goes down. (OK, this exact scenario only happened in O Cebreiro.) The point is that you never know what experiences you'll have along the way, but a good way to describe them is simple and beautiful.
While there's a lot of fun to be had, your whole time is focused on completing the journey. In addition to the walking, you need to take care of yourself without all the modern conveniences you are used to. Once checking into an albergue, the typical thing to do is take a shower and wash your clothes by hand. Then it's time for lunch, which is typically a big meal consisting of potatoes and meat, along with your choice of an appetizer, dessert, and drink for 9-10 euros. All the restaurants offer this meal and it will help sustain you on your journey. After lunch people do a variety of things, sometimes dependent on the city you are in. Some places have a river you can swim in. Typically you might take a nap, write in your journal, hang out and play cards, read a book, have a conversation, etc. There are plenty of things to do in the afternoon/evening. Most albergues lock the outside doors and have a lights out policy starting at 10pm, but I often found myself asleep before then.
I should also mention that it's typical to stop and have a coffee and pastry a couple hours into the walk. The coffee is always delicious too.
Reaching Santiago de Compostela
Completing the Camino is very rewarding and Santiago de Compostela is a great place to see everyone you've met along the way since most people stay there for a couple days. Often times you'll meet someone along the way and not see them again because you were walking at difference paces, but in Santiago de Compostela in the square outside of the Cathedral there is a good chance you'll reunite and be able to tell stories of your journey. Everyone is in a joyous mood and you can celebrate at the daily pilgrim's mass.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Unique & uplifting experience
- Meet lots of diverse people
- Complete a pilgrimage
- Spend a weekend before and/or after in Spain, Portugal, or France if you still want to do some sight-seeing and partying
- See some rural areas of Spain
- Very cheap. Spend 5-7 euros per night for albergues and 13-18 euros per day on food. No other expenses needed.
Cons:
- Requires extra preparation time. You'll need to plan our your journey (unless you have unlimited time, then you can kind of start somewhere and finish when you feel like). You'll want to be sure to have a good, light backpack and shoes that won't give you blisters.
- You don't see many typical tourist sights.
- You might get injured and fail to finish.
- Sometimes it feels like work and you might want it to be over with
Conclusion
I had done a lot of reading about the Camino before I went and had high expectations. While I was actually doing it, I thought it didn't live up to what I read. Many times it didn't seem nearly as good as it should have. There were even times I couldn't wait to be done. However, in the end it was everything I had hoped for, plus some. It really is a great experience that you will have for the rest of your life.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Day 2 in Tokyo
Hi everyone,
Day 2 in Tokyo was pretty uneventful because Tim did not want to walk too much. We went to the Tsukiji Fish Market but did not have the stomach for sushi for breakfast.
Oh and by the way, again I am having trouble with the apostrophe on this new computer. This time, I cannot change the keyboard to English because it is not already an option.
We walked through the fish market and went places that did not look like we should be going there. After we walked around the markets next to the fish market. We finally came to some place giving samples and it turned out to be a brick of eggs. It was quite literally a large brick of eggs, probably 8-10 eggs. Whatever they added to that thing was awesome. Even though it was cold, it was great. We bought some disposable chopsticks at 10 yen each. We sat in a small smokers park and ate our breakfast.
After that, Tim suggested we go to the free advertisement museum. After traveling and going through a mall that did not seem to have any appeal, even to a teenage girl, we found out (which was likely in his guidebook) that it was not open on Mondays. That made no sense to us.
Then Tim got himself a 550 yen frappe at Starbucks (he seems to like it there). We sat for about 15 minutes and went into the Panasonic Living Showroom. We figured we would see cool 3d TVs etc. Hardly any TVs and they did not seem to be the display but rather simple waiting areas. The showroom was for kitchens and bathrooms, who would ever think Panasonic sold kitchens...
We went on to the Meiji Shrine, which was really large and cool. The gardens and parks around it were really cool too. Later we walked the streets of Akihabara. It was really cool to see all this. At this time, my camera broke. Stupid cheap $90 camera. The focus lens got stuck in the half open position and would not close or open fully. I will have to return it to Amazon and give it a poor review. Luckily, Tim still has his camera. I cannot remember much of the rest of the day. It is early in the morning, so it is not like I was drunk or anything, just cannot remember right now. I will post more about Yesterday later.
Day 2 in Tokyo was pretty uneventful because Tim did not want to walk too much. We went to the Tsukiji Fish Market but did not have the stomach for sushi for breakfast.
Oh and by the way, again I am having trouble with the apostrophe on this new computer. This time, I cannot change the keyboard to English because it is not already an option.
We walked through the fish market and went places that did not look like we should be going there. After we walked around the markets next to the fish market. We finally came to some place giving samples and it turned out to be a brick of eggs. It was quite literally a large brick of eggs, probably 8-10 eggs. Whatever they added to that thing was awesome. Even though it was cold, it was great. We bought some disposable chopsticks at 10 yen each. We sat in a small smokers park and ate our breakfast.
After that, Tim suggested we go to the free advertisement museum. After traveling and going through a mall that did not seem to have any appeal, even to a teenage girl, we found out (which was likely in his guidebook) that it was not open on Mondays. That made no sense to us.
Then Tim got himself a 550 yen frappe at Starbucks (he seems to like it there). We sat for about 15 minutes and went into the Panasonic Living Showroom. We figured we would see cool 3d TVs etc. Hardly any TVs and they did not seem to be the display but rather simple waiting areas. The showroom was for kitchens and bathrooms, who would ever think Panasonic sold kitchens...
We went on to the Meiji Shrine, which was really large and cool. The gardens and parks around it were really cool too. Later we walked the streets of Akihabara. It was really cool to see all this. At this time, my camera broke. Stupid cheap $90 camera. The focus lens got stuck in the half open position and would not close or open fully. I will have to return it to Amazon and give it a poor review. Luckily, Tim still has his camera. I cannot remember much of the rest of the day. It is early in the morning, so it is not like I was drunk or anything, just cannot remember right now. I will post more about Yesterday later.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Japan
It has been a long time since my last post and guess what, I am not in Europe but Japan. First I apologize if I do not use a single apostrophe because I cannot seem to get it to work on this Japanese keyboard. Wait, never mind, figured it out...
Alright, so first impressions of Japan are looking awesome! The only drawback is this keyboard because the space bar is the size of a normal shift key and I keep hitting the button to switch to Japanese writing.
So the flight was long, I flew 13 hours from Chicago but at least it was straight and not 6 hours to here, then 7 hours to there. The flight had private TV's and 3 meals. The movie selection was mostly American and so I won't talk about that. The first meal had some sushi, so that was cool. I sat next to a guy who didn't seem to speak any English and he kept turning down the food. I think he thought it cost money. I probably got about 5 hours of sleep, so I call that a successful flight. Since Japan is 14 hours ahead of Central time, I would have been up for like 36-40 hours before actually getting to sleep, so the 5 hours (although in spurts of 1-2) was a welcome companion.
So I get to Narita airport and it didn't take long to get out. I didn't check any baggage and so it was probably 30 minutes to get and through immigration and customs. I guess tourism is really low after Fukushima and so most people were coming from Japan. Immigration took my photo and fingerprints to get into the country. This was much more difficult than flying into Austria, where they were on lunch break when I got there so nothing happened. Then when I declared my customs, the lady was confused because all I had was a backpack for 9 days travel. Apparently my friend I was meeting in Tokyo also got the same question.
Out of customs and immigration, I joined the general airport arrivals. As in many international airports, there was a long line of people waiting for their loved ones to return. For me, I was all alone. I was going to meet my friend Tim at the church because it was already 4:50PM in Tokyo on a Sunday afternoon.
In order to get to the church, I had to take a train to Nippori Station and transfer to Mikiwashima Station. Because Google maps gave me directions (all station names in Japanese) using the nicer train system, the non-English speaking directed me to the nice and expensive train system. Instead of ￥1000 I paid ￥2530 (￥2400 for the train to Nippori and ￥130 for Mikiwashima). It was a much nicer train but who really cares? Once at Nippori, I had to get my Mikiwashima ticket and was utterly lost because I did not know the color of the train or the direction I was going. I had to ask 2 people for where to go. The first person I asked was a nice old lady that thought I was asking how to get out of the train station. Needless to say, I knew I shouldn't get out of the station. The second was probably 20 years old and she was able to tell me exactly where to go.
Now that I got out of Mikiwashima station, I was completely lost. Well, actually, not quite yet. I walked down the street I was supposed to walk and turned where I was supposed to turn but somehow it wasn't true. After a while, I hit a dead end that shouldn't have existed. I figured "Well, as long as I'm in the general direction, I should be fine." Well, that's how I almost walked to my hostel (not the church) and took about an hour and 20 minutes to get to church. I arrived about 15 minutes late during the homily. The priest was saying the mass in Japanese and thrashing his arms about. If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought he was talking about me.
After mass, my friend Tim and I (Remember, I was going to meet him at mass?) went back to the hostel. We hitched a ride on the subway and were there in a matter of minute. Tim had already been there a day, so I had to go through check-in, which was really just showing me where everything was. After that, Tim and I talked for a few minutes with the other guests before venturing out to find some dinner. We went to the Ueno station area and ate Udon. It was fairly good but almost 1000 times more difficult to pick up with chopsticks than food at home.
We went back to the hostel and met quite a few Japanese locals hanging out with the bartender. We had a few drinks and played a local (I assume) game Osero (who knows how to spell) which is essentially a 3d version of connect 4 requiring much more strategy. I played about 12 games and only lost 3. We went to bed, and here I am in the morning publishing this post.
I will add pictures when I return from Japan.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Egypt and the Middle East
Heck, why constrain our trip to Europe? Why not do a pre-Europe trip to Dubai or Cairo? Dubai is a little more far-fetched, but I thought it would be cool to suggest. Round trip tickets from Frankfurt to Dubai are about $570. Round trip airfare from Frankfurt to Cairo is around $415. If we went to Cairo, it wouldn't cost that much in airfare and we'd get to see the pyramids and experience a different culture. Israel is nearby (about 500 km to Jerusalem), which would be worth going to if we decided to go to Egypt. I would think doing a 2 1/2 week trip here would be good enough. We'd have to pay for some transportation costs while over there, but I don't think it would cost more than a better Eurail pass. The only extra cost to seeing this part of the world rather than more of Europe would be the plane ticket. Another option would be to get a one way ticket to Egypt and then try paying for a ferry or something to Greece. I don't know... this isn't anything I looked into very thoroughly, but I thought I'd throw it out there.
UPDATE: I looked into going to Egypt and Israel, and it definitely looks like it will be an affordable, fun trip. Train travel is wicked cheap. A ticket from Cairo to Luxor is less than $10 for second class. Or, if we wanted to travel in style we can spend $18 on a first class ticket. I wasn't able to find which border cities we'd go through taking the train to from Egypt to Israel. This could be because I'm too lazy to really look into it, or because there isn't a railway connecting the countries... I'm not sure. Whatever the case, I'm sure we can find a way to get to Israel and go visit Jerusalem, swim in the Dead Sea, and see some other places. Egypt sounds like it would be sweet. The pyramids at Giza are world famous. It's possible to make day trips from Cairo to Alexandria, and Fayoum, a nearby oasis. Luxor is a hot tourist spot because there are dozens of tombs in the Valley of the Kings. 
Depending on how much we want to spend we can take a hot air balloon ride over the valley for about $60. That would probably be cool. There's a whole lot more to see in Egypt and Israel. I'm only touching the surface. The point is, there is a lot to see in these middle eastern countries. I don't know about everyone else, but I would be up for doing this trip before seeing the rest of Europe. I calculated all the costs, and making a 3 week trip to the middle east would cost about $900. I thought maybe the cost would be less if we took a 1-way flight to Egypt, and then a 1-way flight back from Frankfurt, but after looking into it, I found that we're better off with a round trip to Frankfurt and then a round trip to Egypt, because tickets from the U.S. to the middle east are ridiculously expensive. Whatever the case, $900 for three weeks is pretty decent. For all the places we'd be able to go and see, it would be well worth it. The only drawback is the risk of terrorism and violence. There was a massacre of over 40 tourists near Luxor in 1997, which shows that there is some risk, but of the hundreds of thousand people that visit there, I think the chances of anything happening to us is minimal. Both of these countries are popular tourist counties. I think the best time to actually plan our Europe trip and to discuss whether or not we want to do this extra trip would be around Chris' birthday if you come up here Dan. Maybe we can purchase our plane tickets too.
UPDATE: I looked into going to Egypt and Israel, and it definitely looks like it will be an affordable, fun trip. Train travel is wicked cheap. A ticket from Cairo to Luxor is less than $10 for second class. Or, if we wanted to travel in style we can spend $18 on a first class ticket. I wasn't able to find which border cities we'd go through taking the train to from Egypt to Israel. This could be because I'm too lazy to really look into it, or because there isn't a railway connecting the countries... I'm not sure. Whatever the case, I'm sure we can find a way to get to Israel and go visit Jerusalem, swim in the Dead Sea, and see some other places. Egypt sounds like it would be sweet. The pyramids at Giza are world famous. It's possible to make day trips from Cairo to Alexandria, and Fayoum, a nearby oasis. Luxor is a hot tourist spot because there are dozens of tombs in the Valley of the Kings. 
Depending on how much we want to spend we can take a hot air balloon ride over the valley for about $60. That would probably be cool. There's a whole lot more to see in Egypt and Israel. I'm only touching the surface. The point is, there is a lot to see in these middle eastern countries. I don't know about everyone else, but I would be up for doing this trip before seeing the rest of Europe. I calculated all the costs, and making a 3 week trip to the middle east would cost about $900. I thought maybe the cost would be less if we took a 1-way flight to Egypt, and then a 1-way flight back from Frankfurt, but after looking into it, I found that we're better off with a round trip to Frankfurt and then a round trip to Egypt, because tickets from the U.S. to the middle east are ridiculously expensive. Whatever the case, $900 for three weeks is pretty decent. For all the places we'd be able to go and see, it would be well worth it. The only drawback is the risk of terrorism and violence. There was a massacre of over 40 tourists near Luxor in 1997, which shows that there is some risk, but of the hundreds of thousand people that visit there, I think the chances of anything happening to us is minimal. Both of these countries are popular tourist counties. I think the best time to actually plan our Europe trip and to discuss whether or not we want to do this extra trip would be around Chris' birthday if you come up here Dan. Maybe we can purchase our plane tickets too.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Dangers of the East
Well, all this talk about the East and how cheap it is, also brings up the point of it's dangers. There are several things that the East lack compared to the West. Some countries more than others. In this post we will give a general pro and con of East vs West.
The general Cons...
Corruption: The West has little corruption that you would be confronted with when in the country. Like anywhere in the world, people can be crooked but overall that is just higher up in the corporate world like in the US. If you aren't doing business there, you are fine. The East has tons of it. Cops are not always the friendliest and sometimes require greasing. Freedoms are not so readily applied universally in the East. Especially to tourists. They are poor, you are not, therefore they feel you should give them money. If you rent a car in the East, expect to pay bribes to cops on the roads. Overall the East provides a whole new budgetary element as far as that goes. Not every country has problems, and not every form of transport will encounter it. Overall, just use the trains.
Health: Not every country has drinkable water. The west almost always does have it, but the East will sometimes lack this necessary thing. In addition to getting extremely ill from drinking the local tap, you will find that the hospitals you attend will lack competence or just be understaffed and their equipment underfunded. If you are going to break a leg, do it in a rich country. If you are going to get sick from drinking non-potable water in the East, make sure it was because you had put it in a water bottle and waited to drink it until you were in the West.
Overall Transportation: If you have money, you have great transportation. Some of the major cities in the East may have fine transport lines but that doesn't mean they all do. Although this is not as big of a problem as if found in the West, mostly because taxis are cheaper and so it is not all that bad. Things can be poorly documented and so the Internet may be filled with outdated schedules or routes. Take Budapest, the maps for hostels in the hosteling book, 2 or 3 of them were totally wrong. They stated that a particular street was between these two major streets but were not at all. Sometimes it is best to investigate on the Internet through several different sites. Another example was in Portugal. Google maps stinks in Portugal. It had us driving down streets that magically warped us across the map. It seems like it was because street names changed every block and therefore Google was confused. Getting a map from the city helped a lot and then looking at bus stops as to where we were also helped. Although bus stops don't always say where you are or can be very confusing as to what on earth they mean. Come prepared and have a local tourist map from the tourist office in the city. The big problem with that, is finding the office!
Language: The West tends to have more English speaking peoples because they see tourists all the time and it is a major income for those countries. The East will have people willing to help but don't speak a word of English. If you are not so good at languages or interpreting hand signals, you will be lost beyond compare. Not every street has a sign stating where you are and so a good mapping skill is necessary when people cannot point out where you are on the map. I don't usually get frustrated with this and I really enjoy trying to speak to people who I cannot understand. With success, you feel a power of communication only possible because of the common bond called humanity (and intelligence).
Money: Although cheaper, the East tends to have a plethora of different currencies. Unless you plan on coming back to the country you have to plan ahead on how much you get out of the bank. The cheapest exchange is to purchase all the money at a bank machine. The problem with this is that you may find something you like or do something extra or even do something less! It is difficult to judge a country that you have never been to before. With the West (and some of the East), they are all on the Euro and therefore it matters a little less and in the end you can just go to any bank and convert it back to US dollars. This doesn't mean to carry all the money you will use with you but to just hit a bank machine whenever you run low. All the exchanging in the East, if you over withdraw from the machine, will end up costing you as you visit more and more countries. Also nobody wants to find themselves short by a few dollars when trying to get a reservation on the train. Exchange rates on the train are highest, they cost a mint!
Now to the Pros:
Money: Well, although the chance of overdrawing with the machine is great, you don't have to worry in some countries because you need very little to begin with. Everything is cheap! Even with the mistakes at the bank machine, you will save money and then just have a bunch of coins to bring home as a souvenir!
Language: Well, without English, the whole experience is more authentic. These people are more often genuinely kind whereas in France, they just want your money. There are certainly people in both the East and West who want to take you for all of your tourist money but the East doesn't have so many because they don't have the same tourist economy as the West. You are more likely to find a small restaurant where they serve local food to local people at a local price. You are also more likely to see the real deal with the people rather than a catered version.
Now transportation allows you to grow in patience and learn how to get around! OK, so that is a load of bull, it stinks... I won't try to convince you that a lack of health and corruption is good either.
Food: Many of our foods that we eat or at least have had over here, are found in the East. Stews, and all that. I think that for good reason we chucked the British food (it has no taste). How many times in a year do you eat schnitzel? You do eat stroganoff and pirogi! They don't do it exactly the same but it is some taste of home. Now I am going to finish this post and see if the local store sells Pirogi, I am hungry.
The general Cons...
Corruption: The West has little corruption that you would be confronted with when in the country. Like anywhere in the world, people can be crooked but overall that is just higher up in the corporate world like in the US. If you aren't doing business there, you are fine. The East has tons of it. Cops are not always the friendliest and sometimes require greasing. Freedoms are not so readily applied universally in the East. Especially to tourists. They are poor, you are not, therefore they feel you should give them money. If you rent a car in the East, expect to pay bribes to cops on the roads. Overall the East provides a whole new budgetary element as far as that goes. Not every country has problems, and not every form of transport will encounter it. Overall, just use the trains.
Health: Not every country has drinkable water. The west almost always does have it, but the East will sometimes lack this necessary thing. In addition to getting extremely ill from drinking the local tap, you will find that the hospitals you attend will lack competence or just be understaffed and their equipment underfunded. If you are going to break a leg, do it in a rich country. If you are going to get sick from drinking non-potable water in the East, make sure it was because you had put it in a water bottle and waited to drink it until you were in the West.
Overall Transportation: If you have money, you have great transportation. Some of the major cities in the East may have fine transport lines but that doesn't mean they all do. Although this is not as big of a problem as if found in the West, mostly because taxis are cheaper and so it is not all that bad. Things can be poorly documented and so the Internet may be filled with outdated schedules or routes. Take Budapest, the maps for hostels in the hosteling book, 2 or 3 of them were totally wrong. They stated that a particular street was between these two major streets but were not at all. Sometimes it is best to investigate on the Internet through several different sites. Another example was in Portugal. Google maps stinks in Portugal. It had us driving down streets that magically warped us across the map. It seems like it was because street names changed every block and therefore Google was confused. Getting a map from the city helped a lot and then looking at bus stops as to where we were also helped. Although bus stops don't always say where you are or can be very confusing as to what on earth they mean. Come prepared and have a local tourist map from the tourist office in the city. The big problem with that, is finding the office!
Language: The West tends to have more English speaking peoples because they see tourists all the time and it is a major income for those countries. The East will have people willing to help but don't speak a word of English. If you are not so good at languages or interpreting hand signals, you will be lost beyond compare. Not every street has a sign stating where you are and so a good mapping skill is necessary when people cannot point out where you are on the map. I don't usually get frustrated with this and I really enjoy trying to speak to people who I cannot understand. With success, you feel a power of communication only possible because of the common bond called humanity (and intelligence).
Money: Although cheaper, the East tends to have a plethora of different currencies. Unless you plan on coming back to the country you have to plan ahead on how much you get out of the bank. The cheapest exchange is to purchase all the money at a bank machine. The problem with this is that you may find something you like or do something extra or even do something less! It is difficult to judge a country that you have never been to before. With the West (and some of the East), they are all on the Euro and therefore it matters a little less and in the end you can just go to any bank and convert it back to US dollars. This doesn't mean to carry all the money you will use with you but to just hit a bank machine whenever you run low. All the exchanging in the East, if you over withdraw from the machine, will end up costing you as you visit more and more countries. Also nobody wants to find themselves short by a few dollars when trying to get a reservation on the train. Exchange rates on the train are highest, they cost a mint!
Now to the Pros:
Money: Well, although the chance of overdrawing with the machine is great, you don't have to worry in some countries because you need very little to begin with. Everything is cheap! Even with the mistakes at the bank machine, you will save money and then just have a bunch of coins to bring home as a souvenir!
Language: Well, without English, the whole experience is more authentic. These people are more often genuinely kind whereas in France, they just want your money. There are certainly people in both the East and West who want to take you for all of your tourist money but the East doesn't have so many because they don't have the same tourist economy as the West. You are more likely to find a small restaurant where they serve local food to local people at a local price. You are also more likely to see the real deal with the people rather than a catered version.
Now transportation allows you to grow in patience and learn how to get around! OK, so that is a load of bull, it stinks... I won't try to convince you that a lack of health and corruption is good either.
Food: Many of our foods that we eat or at least have had over here, are found in the East. Stews, and all that. I think that for good reason we chucked the British food (it has no taste). How many times in a year do you eat schnitzel? You do eat stroganoff and pirogi! They don't do it exactly the same but it is some taste of home. Now I am going to finish this post and see if the local store sells Pirogi, I am hungry.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Living Abroad
Why pay for hostels when the experience we loved so much was living abroad. Look at Prague, I found a €142 a month apartment that can have 2 single beds, and is furnished, has a washing machine, tv and all that. You have to pay utilities, that means canceling the TV!!! That means you could probably live in Prague for some $300 or 350 a month. With a roomate, much of that would half. You could easily live there for a year or two without working. Good food, beautiful buildings but a hard language. Cheaper countries are sure to be found and even cheaper cities within the Czech Republic! Czech has a per capita income of $24,000 whereas other countries have only $12,000. Who wouldn't want to party it up in lively Prague? Go clubing every night, meet lots of beautiful ladies. This would certainly be cheaper than traveling but you don't see things abroad, just in a single (or a few nearby) city(ies).
Pros: Cheap as dirt, don't get homesick, always have a place to stay, get to meet the same girl twice, extended trip, aren't looking like a tourist fool
Cons: Don't get to see the rest of Europe, language can be hard for some, don't get to look like a tourist fool
Note by PostElectionDan: That particular apartment said that it would be possible to have 2 additional beds in the living room, so 4 total people. That is like $50 a month for rent! Maybe it is about time we lived abroad (again). Probably be able to live on $2,000 a year.
Pros: Cheap as dirt, don't get homesick, always have a place to stay, get to meet the same girl twice, extended trip, aren't looking like a tourist fool
Cons: Don't get to see the rest of Europe, language can be hard for some, don't get to look like a tourist fool
Note by PostElectionDan: That particular apartment said that it would be possible to have 2 additional beds in the living room, so 4 total people. That is like $50 a month for rent! Maybe it is about time we lived abroad (again). Probably be able to live on $2,000 a year.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Portugal
Now don't tell them, but it is kind of similar to Spain. Very very compact though. Public transit in Lisbon is great and in both Spain and Portugal, the El Corte Ingles rules the world! In Lisbon, the El Corte Ingles is about the width and length of a normal American mall, very big, but also like 7 or 8 stories tall! Every product can be found within it's walls. Unlike an American mall, it is cheap, like a Super-Super Walmart. It has movies, and hardware, and groceries and everything you could ever imagine. Enough about super stores... Portugal is small so travel is fast and easy and local trains are cheaper and a passes may not be necessary.
They have a university town which has a lively night life and awesome places to see. They have different towns to visit with different things. Easy day trips and on the right weekend, just before the feast of St James in Santiago, Obidos has a medieval festival with pig on a spit and a city wall that can be walked for free that goes all around the city. No railings no nothing. The picture to the right has the town, the castle and some of the wall.
They have a university town which has a lively night life and awesome places to see. They have different towns to visit with different things. Easy day trips and on the right weekend, just before the feast of St James in Santiago, Obidos has a medieval festival with pig on a spit and a city wall that can be walked for free that goes all around the city. No railings no nothing. The picture to the right has the town, the castle and some of the wall.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Spain
Talked to Moe today, who just finished visiting Spain. He said it would be a great place to go, so that's what this post is about. I know Dan has been there twice before (once on his 18-day, and once with his parents) so I don't know if it would be very desirable to him. But at least he would know more about it than I would. After a quick look at Spain, it looks like seeing Barcelona, the Spanish coast, Santiago de Compostela, and some other places would be good to see. There's also the question of when to go. In July there's a huge St. James celebration in Santiago de Compostela. I think Dan has been there for that, so he would be able to tell us if that's a good time to go. The pros would obviously be the celebration, but the cons would be booked/more expensive hostels, bigger crowds, etc. Whatever the case, I just wanted to write something about Spain, and then have Dan give his input. Moe may have been more interested in a particular person in Spain than the country itself... who knows.
TravelDan's half of the story:
So Tim is right, Spain is great. I was probably the only person to actually follow the siesta in the hostel but being able to sleep for a few hours every day was great. That isn't really what Spain is about and we probably wouldn't do that the next time around. Madrid and Barcelona were both really great on my 18 day and I went to Santiago for the feast of St James and it was AWESOME! Let me tell you the story of the whole shindig...
OK so we decided to go on that day for obvious reasons, and it wasn't really all that expensive, since Spain is cheaper. We were fairly close to the center of the city and we walked to the event because you cannot drive since it is all close off. It is completely a walking area and I did not feel it to be too dangerous as far as pick pockets go, probably because mostly Spanish people were there and all the pilgrims were on the road for a long time and are all dead broke. So they had been setting off bangs all day every like 5 to 15 minutes, a single loud explosion in the air that was not very far up and really close to where we were so it sounded like a single cannon firing from inside the city. Anyway, we went early and that was definitely advisable since the place gets packed very fast. They do a traditional burning of the facade of the cathedral there every feast of St James and we were almost directly in front of it. Lets just say I have never been so amazed by fireworks! Safety is minimal and I felt that the fireworks were really really low, like just above our heads and some of the sparks came into the crowd, but were probably too small and to cool to really hurt anyone. The noise was incredible and the amount of fireworks were the most I have ever seen. Spectacular and ridiculously awesome! The food was great and exotic, like you can get squid and stuff like that and it still looks like a squid. The beer in Spain and Portugal is terrible, throughout the trip we had the choice of Super Bock and Sagres, both were pretty terrible but one was a little better than the other, cannot remember. I think since Santiago is close enough to Portugal, they still served those beers there. Anyway, the Iberian peninsula is NOT known for great beers like Germany, Austria and Belgium.
Pros: definitely a somewhat cheap living style overall, although a feast like St James is a bit more.
Cons: Beer, but wine is good and when in Portugal, you can have port, awesome drink although sweet.
TravelDan's half of the story:
So Tim is right, Spain is great. I was probably the only person to actually follow the siesta in the hostel but being able to sleep for a few hours every day was great. That isn't really what Spain is about and we probably wouldn't do that the next time around. Madrid and Barcelona were both really great on my 18 day and I went to Santiago for the feast of St James and it was AWESOME! Let me tell you the story of the whole shindig...
OK so we decided to go on that day for obvious reasons, and it wasn't really all that expensive, since Spain is cheaper. We were fairly close to the center of the city and we walked to the event because you cannot drive since it is all close off. It is completely a walking area and I did not feel it to be too dangerous as far as pick pockets go, probably because mostly Spanish people were there and all the pilgrims were on the road for a long time and are all dead broke. So they had been setting off bangs all day every like 5 to 15 minutes, a single loud explosion in the air that was not very far up and really close to where we were so it sounded like a single cannon firing from inside the city. Anyway, we went early and that was definitely advisable since the place gets packed very fast. They do a traditional burning of the facade of the cathedral there every feast of St James and we were almost directly in front of it. Lets just say I have never been so amazed by fireworks! Safety is minimal and I felt that the fireworks were really really low, like just above our heads and some of the sparks came into the crowd, but were probably too small and to cool to really hurt anyone. The noise was incredible and the amount of fireworks were the most I have ever seen. Spectacular and ridiculously awesome! The food was great and exotic, like you can get squid and stuff like that and it still looks like a squid. The beer in Spain and Portugal is terrible, throughout the trip we had the choice of Super Bock and Sagres, both were pretty terrible but one was a little better than the other, cannot remember. I think since Santiago is close enough to Portugal, they still served those beers there. Anyway, the Iberian peninsula is NOT known for great beers like Germany, Austria and Belgium.
Pros: definitely a somewhat cheap living style overall, although a feast like St James is a bit more.
Cons: Beer, but wine is good and when in Portugal, you can have port, awesome drink although sweet.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Train and Eurail
I was looking up some cheap tickets to some of these countries and between Belgrad in Serbia to Budapest there was a fair offer of only 15 Euro, making it FAR cheaper than a Eurail. We must really look into such things, and I enjoy it and so I will keep looking into these things. Even regular fairs beat out the Eurail in this area, you can go from one to another to another. You don't have to worry about using up days and you can stay in a city as long as you want. With some of these countries, we may only buy a few Eurail days because they are just as cheap if we plan right.
Now a lot of considering will have to go into the best method of purchase. For Western countries it is entirely certain the Eurail is the way to go. If we really want to do the East, we best plan ahead to save every penny. €15 is really cheap, at €230 for the 6 day pass Tim previously discussed for Montenegro, Bulgaria and Serbia, it seems that it would not be useful. The pass would roughly be 38 Euro per day of travel in relatively cheap countries. Now if you had a pass for one of those countries and a more expensive country, it would be worth it. The trip from Belgrad to Vienna was something like €70, making it cheaper to have the pass. I will look into this all a lot more.
Now a lot of considering will have to go into the best method of purchase. For Western countries it is entirely certain the Eurail is the way to go. If we really want to do the East, we best plan ahead to save every penny. €15 is really cheap, at €230 for the 6 day pass Tim previously discussed for Montenegro, Bulgaria and Serbia, it seems that it would not be useful. The pass would roughly be 38 Euro per day of travel in relatively cheap countries. Now if you had a pass for one of those countries and a more expensive country, it would be worth it. The trip from Belgrad to Vienna was something like €70, making it cheaper to have the pass. I will look into this all a lot more.
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