TravelStream™ news feed for member pongpingjl on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/pongpingjl en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:43:57 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pongpingjl/1/1248903484/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pongpingjl/1/1248903484/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pongpingjl/1/1248903484/tpod.html Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:43:57 -0400 The Whirlwind Euro Trip.

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Vienna, Vienna, Austria

I finally get around to write the last entry for my trip. Vienna is a really nice city, that I would have enjoyed, but I didnt feel the trip anymore. It had been 2 months, and it was time to come back home, so I changed my return flight, got a train to Paris, then took the chunnel train to London, and left the following day for Miami.

I missed out on Auschwitz and all of Germany, but I will be back soon and finish the tour. The trip was amazing and I would do this all over again and to anyone ever wanting to do this.... Its worth it. Dont let people dissuade you from this trip; do it while you have the chance.

Thanks to everyone who followed my trip online.



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Venice, Veneto, Italy

People, here are my Venice pictures. I wish I could have stayed here one more day to catch everything, but had plans to go on to Vienna. I was at the St. Marks Square and the Dogo Museum. Food was great and you will see the proof. I also found a place with nutella crepes. I will be eating these when i get back home.
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Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland

Luzern - Ok, now I have a new favorite city.  I wake up today and just about all of the stores are closed.... WHY?  Well its a catholic holiday, and Switzerland is mostly Catholic.  I though it was protestant.  Oh, well... it doesnt matter much, other than it saves me from buying unnecessary souveniers.  Its home to a famous sculpture of a Lion that was sculpted directly into a hill to conmemorate the deaths of Swiss mercenaries that died protecting a french king.  Food = EXPENSIVE.  See pics.
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Gimmelwald, Bern, Switzerland

Cant beat 40 euros for a flight from Istanbul to Bazel, Switzerland.  By far the best country in all of Europe.  I make Gimmelwald my home base (sort of) which is right on the cliffs of the Alps, and from there I make a side trip to Laussane for some fondue (sort of).  I will let the pics speak for themselves here, but if you decide to visit Switzerland and dont go to the Jungfrau Region, then your trip is a FAILURE!  This is why people vacation in Switzerland.  The fondue was cool, but it needs to be Americanized, but for everything else its Switzerland > USA.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pongpingjl/1/1243529374/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pongpingjl/1/1243529374/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pongpingjl/1/1243529374/tpod.html Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:05:12 -0400 The Whirlwind Euro Trip.

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Istanbul, Turkey

A few lessons to pass on here:

1.  Always have backup cash.
2.  Never spend the backup cash.
3.  If you dont have backup cash, get backup cash.
4.  Always know which airport your leaving from (sometimes there are more than one airport).
5.  There is no "Welcome to Asia" sign when you cross the bridge to Asia.
5.  If you have zero cash, you cant get transportation.

The last one is a myth that I, the myth buster, busted.  Though Islamic, Istambul is light years ahead of Morrocco.  Its huge, 14 million people live here.  I stay in the historic, touristy part of town called Sultanahmet.  This is where the Sofia and the palace are located, with the Grand Bazaar nearby.  My bank, EASTERN FINANCIAL FLORIDA CREDIT UNION, has decided that they get too much fraud in Turkey.  They have SO MANY customers in Turkey that they want to limit their exposure to fraud, so I cannot use my card to retrieve money from an atm or use it at a store.  T make things worse, my visa card, coincidentally was blocked in Istambul and American Express is not accepted anywhere but America.

Anyways, there are ways to get around this money issue, though I dont have the time or desire to discuss it here.  By the way I now have been (officially) to Asia.  After a 5 mile walk, I discovered I was lied to when told there was a "Welcome to Asia" sign.   See the pics, people!
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Mykonos Town, Cyclades, Greece

For all it has to offer, you know what's the best thing about Mykonos?  It's the now, world famous chocolate croissants.  Dont I wish I would have listened (thats you, Berly) and just made a pit stop in Athens, and head here for the rest of my time in Greece.  I missed my ferry boat ride, but made it to the island in 15 minutes on a flight from Athens, because there was just no way I was stsying there one more day.

Nice beaches, very friendly/nice people and I loved the mode of transportation - scooters and 4-wheelers.  I rented the 4-wheeler.  A very fun way to explore the island and its many beaches.  The best chocolate croissants are in the middle of the island.  They believe in fresh and very cold milk here and its an excellent combo with the chocolate croissants.  I also stopped in Santorini, but I didnt do it any justice getting there at 5PM and leaving the next day at 3:PM.  I didnt get to see any of the island (too tired and a bad cold from riding the 4-wheeler with no shirt on in Mykonos).  Some nice sunset pictures for the softies from Mykonos.
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Athens, Attica, Greece

After 26 hours of travel I arrive in Athens.  Athens is a very old city, but it doesnt have much history to show its tourists.  I stayed 2 blocks away from the Acropolis.  Its very impressive, and just about the only site in Athens that's a must to see.  The other site I recommend, though its not really a site, is the open air movie theater thats 2 doors down from where I stayed.  Only one showing a day, after sundown.  Fresh air, and look straight ahead at the screen becuase if you look left you end up getting distracted by the Acropolis that is iluminated at night with lights.  Dont eat at the restaurants, order some take out gyros and you eat the same food for 1/3 the price (for the budget conscious).  Gyros are great here, but if you ever had them at the old Miami Subs (back when they had the gyro meat machines), then dont come all the way to Athens for a gyro.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pongpingjl/1/1242788760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pongpingjl/1/1242788760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/pongpingjl/1/1242788760/tpod.html Tue, 19 May 2009 18:13:07 -0400 The Whirlwind Euro Trip.

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Naples, Campania, Italy

I debated whether to put this stop on its own.  It cant hurt.  Im a little dissapointed that I got here so late because I wanted to see Pompei and go to Capri, but not enough time.  I went to Pompei and its just ruin and after excruciating ruin.  At least I get to catch up and update this blog.  Napoli is a gritty city and its organized chaos here, but people make it.  Its not as bad as people make it out to be; its not a guaranteed mugging if you walk the street or pickpocketed if you ride the bus.  Its not bad at all.  One cool fact, I found out that there are 150 dialects in Italy, one of the worst being the dialect spoken in Napoli.  My apples are cheap here; I buy 2 for 9 cents!!! You know my new motto: An apple a day keeps the gallstones away!
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Rome, Lazio, Italy

Roma!  Home to dead emperors and popes.  Not much to say here, you've seen the places in history books, etc.  Its as advertized.  The Villa Boughese has a nice collection of art by a cardinal that loved to collect art in the reneissance period.  Oh, and if you had something he liked, he took it!  He is the reason we have this term "Nepotism".  He was related to the pope and held lots of power, so he took art from people and amassed it at this location.  Good for us, bad for the local art collectors of the day.  I couldnt believe that the colloseum and forum when relatively recently rediscovered..  Rome is dirty and hot, but there is free cold water thanks to an acqueduct system by those ancient romans!
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Florence, Tuscany, Italy

I wake up at 6:00AM, a shock to the system.  I need to get out of La Spezia early for a train to Florence (quick stop in Pisa for a couple of obligatory pictures) where I will spend the whole day before taking a train to Rome where I will be sleeping.
The Tower of Pisa is impressive, if only because you see it in pictures since youre little.  There's nothing else there, so its a quick stop and onward to Florence.  Florence = great city, and I wish I could stay at least another day.  It really deserves at least 3-4 days, but I cram all the sites and gelato into 1 day.
There is a little shirt store that has the best shirts ever.  I could have bought 15 shirts there, but the budget means I get only two.  Another piece of news... new backpack because carrying around 15 kilos is never enough, I need more room for more stuff!!!  I feel like the kid in Transformers when he gets his camarro, and after he drops off the girl, he says "I love my car".... I love my new backpack.  The Rick Steves podcasts really help in this city.
Anyways, Florrence is the home of David by Micheallangelo, and some other important stuff at the Uffitzi museum and a cool looking bridge.  See for yourself.
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