TravelStream™ news feed for member dabassisst on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/dabassisst en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:52:51 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/2/1222707120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/2/1222707120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/2/1222707120/tpod.html Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:52:51 -0400 Home on the Range

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Cle Elum, Washington, United States

Hiking to Waptus Lake.
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Snohomish, Washington, United States

Did four full stop landings in the Champ.
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Kent, Washington, United States

Best photos of trip
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Rome, Italy

I had one mission today; get my holy on. I was going to pretty much spend my entire day at the Vatican. I ended up getting there at around 11:00, and expected serious lines, but it wasn't bad at all. I had to wait all of about 5 minutes before I was inside. After going through the fairly boring tomb of popes, I entered the Bascilica. Holy crap, pun intended. Everything about this place was extreme. The size, the amount and quality of sculptures; the immense size of the church itself; the quality of decorations. Everything. From the millions of mosaic's, to the perfect inlays going all the way up the columns. I wandered through there for at least 45 minutes before venture up to the top of the dome. The cost was 7 euros for the elevator, 5 for the stairs. Since I'm a cheap ass, I chose the stairs. The hike up the first flight of stairs wasn't too bad; they were wide, the hallway was well ventilated, and it wasn't a tight spiral. After reaching the top, I nearly died from the heat though; the jeans really didn't help anything. The second set of stairs was a whole other animal though. Since this set actually wrapped around the dome, the ceiling was really low and at an extreme angle that made walking very awkward; and hot. There were almost no windows here, so the walk was absolutely baking. After the narrow walkways came a really tight spiral staircase leading to the top. After a minute or so of that claustrophic climb, I finally reached the top; drenched in sweat but glad for the amazing view before me. No buildings are allowed to be higher than St. Peters in Rome, which leads to sweaping views for as far as the eye can see. After spending 15 minutes up here "cooling down", I made the treck back down into the church. Using the excuse to cool down again, I made another lap through the church before heading to get something to eat. I found a nice sandwich place away from the Vatican, ate a quick lunch, then made my way to the Vatican Museum. The price was a little steep, 14 Euros, but it was well worth it. The amount and quality of sculptures here was just out of this world. So much talent in this building. Surprisingly, one of my favorite parts of the museum was actually just looking up at all the 3D art on the ceilings. I can't comprehend how how in the world those artists were able to do that. Truely amazing. By the time I was done with the museum, it was time to make my way back home. On the way I had some of the best ice cream of all time for only 2 euros.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214599860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214599860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214599860/tpod.html Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:10:06 -0400 Ben's Europe Extravaganza

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Rome, Italy

It's getting late, I'll get as much as I can and finish the rest later...I actually decided to sleep in today to 8:30. I've got 4 days here, I might as well be semi relaxed. I had a mediocre but free breakfast, and then headed into town. By 10:00, I was on my way to the Coloseum. I'm a firm believer in walking to attractions if its less than a 1 hour walk; what better way to see the city? After a short walk and a few close calls with speeding mopeds, I arrived. Such an amazing building; and to think, this was built nearly 2000 years ago. This shell of building is a run down shack compared with the original. If only it could have been better preserved by the hordes of invading barbarians after the fall of the empire. It only took me about 30 minutes waiting in line to get inside, and for the next hour or so I wandered through the halls in awe. I only had one other stop on my itinerary today; the Forum. It took me 20 minutes of productive searching before I found the entrance; apparently they decided to charge to enter now-they must have heard I was coming. Mr. Steves claims that entry was free, but I definitely paid 9 euros. It was well worth it, both in sights, and the amount of free water that I was able to drink. No where else in Europe have I seen FREE public drinking fountains in abundance. Barcelona had a few, Belgrade had one, but no other country has had any. The water was delicous and cold, and free. Did I mention that? I spent over 4 hours here, enjoying the sights, wondering how the hell these structures were built. By about 5 I was ready to head home, after hiking through the swealtering 37 degree city all day (104 F). The train ride home was certainly not air conditioned, and possibly even heated. Stepping outside the train was considerablly cooler. And the bus must have been 120 inside, no joke. I was dieing by the time I stepped off that thing. I quickly changed into my swim trunks, went for a quick swim, and took a shower. I had a pretty tiny lunch today, so I went out to a recommended restaurant. I got two kinds of pizza. The first one was the best pizza I've ever had in my entire life. The second slice was better still. That really hit the spot.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214511000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214511000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214511000/tpod.html Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:29:48 -0400 Ben's Europe Extravaganza

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Rome, Lazio, Italy

Well, my day started at 7am as I ate breakfast and started packing up all my crap. As much as I love it over here; I'm looking forward to some degree of normality, and not living out of a suitcase. I wandered out of the hostel at around 10am; since there really wasn't much I could do here, I decided to just head to the airport now, even though my flight didn't leave until 1pm. Since I was flying a budget airline to Rome, they had a very strict weight limit for checked baggage of 20kg, about 44lbs. When packing this morning, I put all of my camera gear, my lap top, external hard drive, and books in my backpack to cut down on suitcase weight, and the ole' curl test to see if the bag was too heavy. If I couldn't curl the suitcase, then it was too heavy. It turns out I was JUST under the limit, at 19kg. Phew. They charge 8 euros per kg over! As expected, I got onto my flight ok without any problems; I freakin better have considering how early I got there...The flight was short, and I was off the plane by 3:00pm. I didn't quite follow the directions on my ticket, and ended up going to the wrong gate to pick up my baggage, but all I had to do was go through security again, and I was able to pick up my bag no problems. According to my hostels website, I could take a public bus from the airport into the town where my hostel is. I was given three different anwsers as to where that bus was, and after an hour of wandering and waiting, I gave up the search. My hostel is only about a 10-15 minute taxi ride from the airport, BUT, it comes at a whopping 25-35 euro price tag. No thanks, I'll spend the extra hour on public transit. So I go get a ticket from the airport to the central Termini station in Rome, 11 euros. Um, what? I can get from Cologne to Amsterdam for 29. I guess since people don't really have a choice, they can hike up the price. Whateva. 30 minutes later, and I'm on another train, going in the reverse direction to my hostel. This price? 1 euro, yes, 1 euro. Thats more like it. 15 minutes later, I transfer to another train ; this one takes me to my hostels town. My 1 euro ticket was applicible for this trian too. 40 mintues after THAT, and I'm on a bus, my 1 euro ticket STILL works. A few really nice old ladies helped me find my bus stop, and bam, I was at my hostel. It only took me three hours, three trains, and a bus to get to my hostel, but I saved 30 euros damnit. That night I just went for a swim, took a much needed shower, and watched Spain crush Russia.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214415780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214415780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214415780/tpod.html Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:09:09 -0400 Ben's Europe Extravaganza

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Barcelona, Spain and Canary Islands

Today, Kate and I pretty much just hung out at the beach allll day. Yeah, it probably didn't help my burn city, in fact, I'm fairly sure it made things worse. But it was a good time. I enjoyed just relaxing and laying out in the sun. I got to get a good dose of the Spainish liberal views towards public nudity as well. Lots of topless women;  and, gah, a few guys just spread eagle on the sand wearing nothing, not a care in the world. It was nice in a way seeing a non prudish society, but I definifitely wasn't too thrilled about the whole nude cassa novas.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214001240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214001240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214001240/tpod.html Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:32:32 -0400 Ben's Europe Extravaganza

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Paris, Île-de-France, France

I got up fairly early today; I had quite a bit that I wanted to see. First stop; the Louvre. I read many, many times how excruciatingly long the lines at the museum can be, and I was a little bit worried as I was heading there an hour after it opened. I was immediately greeted by a 1 second line. Awesome. I knew that this museum was huge; I just had no idea how big it really was. I was pretty much always lost. For two hours I wandered the halls, by the end of it my brain was fried from so much stimuli. It took me 30 minutes of following exit signs before I finally left, not like it's a bad thing, but still. After the Louvre, I wandered my way over to the Arc de Triumph; the largest triumphal arch in the world. It was an amazing site; both the arch and the insanity surrounding it. Supposedly the arch sits in the middle of a six lane traffic circle; although I really saw no lanes or any real attempt by the drivers on keeping their cars, mopeds, or buses in any sort of straight line. I would not drive through this thing if my life depended on me. After experiencing the mayhem of French drivers; I wandered my way to the Moulin Rouge, because seriously, if you're in Paris, you have to get a picture of it. I wasn't prepared for excitement or jaw dropping views, and that's pretty much how it turned out. I did find out how much it costs though to see a show...at least 100 euros! No thanks. Having gotten my tourist fill, I headed up to the tallest hill in Paris to check out, what I heard was one of the best churches in Paris. I wasn't too impressed with the Notre Dame, it was nice-don't get me wrong, but I've seen some pretty amazing churches since I've been here, so I'm hard to please. It was definitely a great looking church, with an awesome little neighborhood surrounding it. On the steps of the church was a full Latin band working the crowd, with some stupid techno nerds trying to impress people with their techno dance "skills"; they just looked like fools. I was pretty beat at this point, so I went back to the hostel, relaxed for a bit and ate some dinner. That evening I headed into town, posted up in a bar and watched the last half the crazy Russia-Holland game, I still can't believe that Russia won that. I snapped some shots of the Arc du Triumph, with my camera conveniently running out of batteries half way through, then went home.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214087880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214087880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214087880/tpod.html Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:24:22 -0400 Ben's Europe Extravaganza

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Paris, France

Well, today was my last few hours in Germany. I got up early, finished packing things, ate a rushed breakfast and then gave my good byes to my host family. I was given a ride to the streetcar stop, and then began my journey to Paris. I arrived in Paris at 1:30, perfect timing, I thought, to get checked into my hostel. So I to the nearly TI office, ask the woman for directions, and she tells me that the address I have is not in Paris. That's nice. She gives me directions for where she thinks my hostel is, and I get on my way. Well, after 30 minutes of wandering, I quickly figure out that the lady gave me the wrong directions. I walk into a hostel, show her the address, and she quickly prints out a small map and tells me how to get there. The address doesn't exist eh? So I head back to the train station to catch a metro, another 20 minute walk. By the time I actually get checked into my hostel, it's already past 3:00. Good god. So I head down to the train station yet again to purchase my ticket from Paris to Barcelona; I tried to reserve this in Germany, but France, in their infinite wisdom, doesn't allow this. I stand in line for a good 20-30 minutes, only to find out that I picked the wrong line. They have three different ticket counters for some reason. I've found that I like the French people, just not the inefficient government of private business. It's infuriating. So I to what I hope is the correct ticket counter, ask to reserve my train, and am told it's full. Well, I'm pretty damn angry at this point, so I get into a swear filled rant. He then tells me that the only other train I can take will cost 90 euro! I have a Eurail pass damnit, how can this be? More swearing ensues. He then says, "Wait, I might have found something." Another 10 minutes of dicking around on his computer, and he came up with the only alternative he could find. Sure it would kill my third day in Paris, but it wasn't going to cost 90 euros either. So I took it, begrudgingly. I was fairly pissed off, because it was past 4 at this point, but I was determined to see a lot. So took a train to the river, and began my walk. I wandered up past the Notre Dame, Louvre, all the way up to the Eiffel Tower. I really enjoyed just people watching on my way; this city is just so full of life. I took the stairs up to the first two levels of the Eiffel, it was one euro cheaper. The views were just phenomenal. I stayed up top right until they were about to close before finally heading down.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214292120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214292120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dabassisst/1/1214292120/tpod.html Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:23:19 -0400 Ben's Europe Extravaganza

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Barcelona, Spain and Canary Islands

Adventures through a modernist park.
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