TravelStream™ news feed for member shmikes on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/shmikes en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 15 Aug 2006 09:16:50 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1152974460/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1152974460/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1152974460/tpod.html Tue, 15 Aug 2006 09:16:50 -0400 To see the sights and experience delights upon a foreign shore....

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Buchrest, Romania

Gather around, for I shall recount to you the story of my journey into the heartland of the Dracula legend. It was a dark and foreboding night. Taking my wooden stake, holy water and eating enough garlic to put everyone from vampires to closest friends off talking to me I set out on my quest....

Transylvania made it on the itinery years ago after one of those fanciful travel shows sold it to me. Presenters with large pearly white smiles, clearly enjoying their tour through the old country. I finished the trip wondering if we went to the same place! But then this is why I travel. A friend of mine once said she had no need to travel, everything she wanted to see could be seen on TV. I think this misses the concept of editing, but who am I to argue ;)

Romania is a country that is evolving from a relatively recent communist dictatorship into a potential EU member if all goes as planned next year. It is within Bucharest that you see the contrast between the two.

The first few days were spent wandering about the capital and it quickly becomes apparent that someone had an inferiority complex! You all know what they say about guys who own big expensive cars?! ;) (Actually, if I could afford one of those cars I'd love to have one so I might have to edit that out one day! I digress...) Now think on a much larger scale. During the Caucesue??? era an entire section of the city was bulldozed, displacing 70,000 people, for the purposes of building the 'the world's second largest building' in the form of the palace??? and a boulevard 6m longer that of the Champ de Elyes???. The end of the era was marked by conflicts that are still evident if you look around for the bullet holes.

The palace is a huge chunk of a building that dominates the end of the boulevard. A guided tour takes you through a small fraction of the rooms and most of it is a statistical run down of materials. Crystals in the chandaliers totalling 3.5 tonnes, tonnes of marble from somewhere in the north, oak wood panels costing such and such....you get the idea. The national office of statistics has had to set up across the road in order to deal with all this data! The final cost is still not available but it has been said to have been a significant drain on economy. Contrary to my initial elusions to dark and foreboding, the weather was hot and humid, especially evident in this building. Air-con was not anticiapted during the initial planning and the humidity is already starting to have it effects.
From the palace you can walk down the boulevard to Unrii Square, passing numerous small fountains in in the centre of the road, coming at last to a large cluster of fountains set about in a concentric pattern at the square. A shopping complex has formed on one side of the square. Large billboards atop the buildings surrounding the square light up come dusk. The city goes to bed late, there were crowds out until late every night.
As you start to deviate off the main streets though the buildings become far more asture and the communists housing blocks become apparent.
The historical quarter is worth a look.

Brasov has established itself as one of the key tourist destinations in the country. A small town tucked away in the mountains to the north of Bucharest, it offers that comfy experience with a large town square surrounded by cafes and small shops in neat cobbled streets. A cable car quite probably offers a good view of the city but unfortunately it closed early the day I was there. Brasov also serves as a connection to the widely touted Dracula's Castle at Bran.

Castle Bran does not have any solid connection to the historical figure Vlad the Impaler. It was the point at which my imagination of imposing fortifications and dank dungeons was dismissed. Instead, this is a home of a noble family, with it's quaint little cobbled courtyard and spire topped roof. Tacky souvenier shops line the entry, all pretty much selling the same things. It was the first sign of souveniers I had seen since being in Romania, and much of it resembled items you could get at any joke shop, fake blood and masks included. This is seriosuly over-rated. It takes about an hour to get there from Brasov on a rickety old bus and takes about 20mins to walk around the castle proper. On entry you don some cloth covers for your shoes, which I suspect are a cunning way of getting the floorboards polished! :)

Sinaia is another small town up in the mountains. Initial plans had been to go hiking up in the mountains. Tina had a local friend who knew the area, but the rain and fog soon put a dampener on this. It didn't stop a visit to Peles Castle, which as it turned out was the architectural highlight of the trip. The entry to the castle takes you up a staircase into a 3 story high foyer with hand-carved hardwood spiral staircase starting part way up the wall and pictures of various ancestral seats and and coats of arms carved into the wood up the sides of the walls. Two staircases then lead up into further sections of the castle. The rooms have an amazing amount of detail incorporated into all the finishes, even the window handles. Yet the ostentacious over-the-top feeling has not taken over. The library has the mutliple level arrangement with ladder up to a balcony area and a secret door recessed into one of the shelves that led to the King's private chambers. Other rooms have themes including the Turkish room, the Roman room, the war room with ancient weapons from past campaigns and the painting room. They flatly refuse to let you take any pictures. I thought this would mean a gift shop at the end would sell you one, but there wasn't any sign of any books selling pictures. It was one of the few times I would gladly have paid an extortionate tourist price to have some pictures to show everyone what i am trying to describe! Peles was substantially more interesting than Bran.

The mountain regions are beautiful and relatively unchanged. Horse-drawn carts and people using scythes to slash and stack hay were not uncommon in the rural communities. The trains from Bucharest varied from brand new style carriages with automatic doors and plastic bucket seats to the dog-cabin style complete with the draughty toilet, where the ground blurs by as you stare down the hole. Don't stare for too long! :) The roadside is dotted with cows and sheep tied to small pins and grazing under the watchful eye of a shepherd. If I was to go back in the future it woould definitely be with a view to hiking or riding in the mountain areas.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1134690780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1134690780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1134690780/tpod.html Tue, 18 Jul 2006 17:42:12 -0400 To see the sights and experience delights upon a foreign shore....

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Prague, Czech Republic

Choosing a destination by the cheapest available flight up to 3 hrs long may seem a bit random but there you go. Prague has a lot of cheap flights, probably to support the demand generated by lads on stag weekends! The city has developed a niche market for the testosterone hormone.

The first 3 days seemed to go by in a haze, a very damp mist of a haze. Prague is reknown for it architecture but I was beginning to wonder if it would clear enough for me to actually see it. Plenty of time for So-Doku, reading and coffee. Well it was a holiday :)

It's an easy city to navigate and no problems with English language (with exception of a gorilla working for the underground train police!). The remainder of the week was spent taking pictures, interspersed with hot beverages. I will refrain from giving a snap by snap account. Suffice it to say I have tagged all the pics with commentary and I hope you enjoy them.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1132104660/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1132104660/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1132104660/tpod.html Mon, 20 Feb 2006 14:37:17 -0500 To see the sights and experience delights upon a foreign shore....

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Malaga-Gibraltar, Spain

'The place in the sun', a national obsession the draws Brits to the south of Spain, an all natural alternative to the tanning salons!

I have to admit a degree of laziness on this trip. Pre-booked all the accommodation, easy itenery and delibrately choosing a region reknown for its tourism. A desire to eat Spanish food and sit around, preferably in little cafes at the beach side.

Malaga was to be a bit of a surprise...it's not the tourist magnet that I expected. Dont't get me wrong, there's an old fortress to look around with the obligatory post-card shop at the entrance. But after that it's fairly much a funtional city that even requires the phrase book on occasions. Where was everyone?? Thousands of Brits fly into the airport every month. Was I missing something? I re-read the travel guide...there was a cathedral to see but surely that didn't account for all the missing tourists. There's really not much to do so move on.

I'd been tipped that Ronda was a little known gem worth visiting, a hilltop town with sheer cliff drops. It didn't disappont. The town has two main components, separated by a 130m deep gorge an spanned by the Puente Nuevo bridge. In centuries past a number of unfortunates have been tossed from its heights, immortalised by Hemmingway in 'For Whom The Bell Tolls'. The old Moorish part of town is a maze of little alleys but its the hilltop walk that reminds me of that I'm not good with heights! Ronda is also accredited with being the birthplace of bull-fighting.

The mystery of the missing tourists was soon to be solved. The sprawl of development along the coast known as the Costa Del Sol. Its tacky, its bright and don't they just love it. Families, youths out for a laugh and the quietly retired; they all flock here. The high rises extend off along the beach front and the planes continue to arrive one after another from over the ocean. The Spanish culture seems to have been gradually consumed.

Somewhere back in the distant past I decided that Gibraltar was on my to-do-list but to be honest I'm not sure what specifically caused this to occur. Perhaps it was just to have a look for myself at the chunk of rock that Britain and Spain have been arguing over for so long. Whatever the cause I'm glad, the place is fascinating. The English have literally created a little Britain with all the normal high street stores and even those little municipal items like rubbish bins and post boxes have been carefully chosen to be the same as those as you find in any UK city. Tehir only concession is the traffic drives on the 'wrong' side. The Spanish border is just a constant flow of foot and vehicle traffic as people head off to shop on the Spain side. Yet again my nervous demeanor and shifty eyes had me pulled up by border control for questioning.
The rock is a large sheer cliff of granite with the town nestled tightly between it and the sea. During various wars the rock has been carved up like swiss cheese to allow armies to move around under its surface. The attraction of the rock is at it's heights, some vertigo inducing drops and views in all directions. There are miles of tracks to follow along the ridgeline or the easy option of cable car from town to summit.

The summit is home to the barbary apes, the resident wild population of RANDY THEIVIN' TROUBLEMAKERS! If its not tied down they will have it, if it is tied down they will give it a go anyway. It's amazing how quickly the 'oooohs' people make as they look at the little baby ape curled up with its mum can change to 'aaahhhhh!!!' as the said baby leaps towards their head. The apes are particularly partial to plastic bags, information handed down through generations has taught them this means food! The English have some strange connections of animals to major events and this is yet another example. At the tower of London, legend holds that if the Ravens leave the Royal family will fall. Thus they have keepers to ensure such disastrous events don't occur. Likewise, if the barbary apes are no more then Gibraltar will be ceded back to Spain...or so the story goes. They seem to have very high libido so I think its safe for now.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1067284800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1067284800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1067284800/tpod.html Tue, 04 Oct 2005 15:14:16 -0400 To see the sights and experience delights upon a foreign shore....

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Belfast, Ireland

Driving on Irish roads involes avoiding a lot of old Irish men taking their evening constitutional. It also takes a little patience (not my strongest point behind a wheel!) and good windscreen wipers.

Nine days ahead, a general feeling of....north?....., 6 travel guides (nice crisp pages, you can tell we prepared!), 3 people, 1 car, one virus of unknown strain. Our very own outbreak was about to begin, who brought that monkey?

The team:
Me; driver...the rest of the team may have some critism to insert here but I deny it all!!
Katie: Navigator: I have a theory that each trip must involve Katie giving one wrong direction, but after after that you are home free. Sure enough, a little detour (which I sure there was a good reason for!) and then no probs!
Rach: Accomodation guru: 3 stars all the way! No hostel was good enough for this trip and with Rach getting us accomodation each night at up to half the price we were set. Just don't let her have the map! It is not so much an inability to navigate, just a greater interest making sure we had good tunes on.

There are so many places to go, and never enough time. To cut down the selection I now rule out "Gateway" or "Market" towns. Anything with a postcard is at least worth a look, and an attempt to get some pics.

Up the road from Dubliin airport is Newgrange, an ancient grave site dating from 3000BC. We actually ended up in Knowth, another of the graves. The graves are large mounds with tunnels leading to central chambers, surrounded by large slabs of stone carved on all 6 sides. Over the millenia various settlements have actually been built on and around the mounds. The centre chamber has a large stone bowl that poses a puzzle: how do you get a large bowl through a tunnel much smaller than its dimensions. Solution: the bowl is first, then you spend centuries covering it over in stone and earth....or so the story goes.

Our next puzzle was, where do you stay in Belfast when Rotary hold a convention in town....solution, way outside the city! But if you get a concierge who knows a cook, who knows someone else...this was the start of a trend everywhere we went in Ireland, people going out of their way to help.

Skankill Rd (Ulster-Red Hand-Protestant)and Falls Rd (Catholics) are separated by a large corrugated iron wall called the 'peace-line'...although it was anything but peaceful given the violent conflicts in the region. Both sides have painted large murals over the decades with strong political messages. There's a few pics above, walking around the streets makes you appreciate the nice quiet surburbia of home to grow up in. Despite some fairly dire stories the area is ok to wander about during the day.

Hiking and driving alongs rugged coastline occupied much of the next few days gradually heading to the northeast coast and stopping along the way at places like Glenariff Forest Park(nice walks, waterfalls), Cushendall and Cushedun (the last recorded foot and mouth case was here, a statue of a goat and and lone goat chained below it... not sure of its tourist appeal though!!) and then along to Ballycastle and Londonderry. Mangaged to squeeze in an essential detour to the Bushmills distillery for a little whiskey appreciation along the way.
The Irish have the alternative version to the Giant's causeway story. Since they have the far more impressive end of causeway I will run with their version. It was said that an Irish Giant by the name of Finn McCool challenged the Scottish Giant Benandonner to battle. Finn then dresses as a baby. When the Scottish Benandonner comes across he finds the giant 'baby' Finn and thinks to himself, if this is the baby I don't want to meet the father. He flees back to Scotland and the causeway is torn up.
The scientific explanation is about volacanic rocks and erosion....the causeway is all protected national park now and has plenty of hiking trails that are worth wandering along.

More hiking, driving and stopping at various natural sights and monuments and we end up on the western coast heading towards Sligo. About this stage of the trip the itinery took a bit of U turn as a passport and wallet went walkabout. So back to Dublin and an unexpected trip to the consulate.

The Sat morning spent sitting watching the Ireland-Australia World Cup match. 2nd best place to watching it after Aust!

At the end after walking and driving a substantial distance a strong feeling of exhaustion lingers but was worth it. No luck with the leprecaun hunting on this trip but perhaps next trip!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1100554740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1100554740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1100554740/tpod.html Sun, 02 Jan 2005 22:38:50 -0500 To see the sights and experience delights upon a foreign shore....

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New York, United States

One week is just not enough...
Standing on top of the Empire State as the sun sets.....it's a big place, and a bit chilly!

Manhattan Island is a shifting blend of regions and a fascinating place in which to just wander. China town, with its rich smells and cheap I LOVE NEW YORK T-shirts. Then cross into 'Italy', fake lawn rolled out for the sidewalk eateries and the fire-hydrants all painted green-white-red. There are signs though that Italy is gradually being invaded by China.
Suburbs that were once abbreviations have become words, SoHo (South of Houston) and TriBeCa (Triangle Below Canal)...these are trendy little arty enclaves but don't spend too long there or you won't be able to afford to eat! The Brooklyn Bridge is a good walk at night as it slopes up towards the skyline and gives you the feeling of walking to the toward the top of the city.

There are so many ways of getting views of the city. Helicopters fly charter tours, ferries circle the island, climb up the Empire State building or walk across one of the bridges....now if only that constant mist would go away so I could get a picture! Alas, 6 days of haze thwarted many attempts! I must be the only tourist who has not snapped the Statue of Liberty. The Staten Is. ferry is well known for being a free way of cruising past her famous facade.

Times Square is a bustling humm of people and yellow cabs. Camera flashes alone could light this place, yet it is the one place where the last thing you need is more light! The Toys-R-Us store here has 6 floors and its own indoor ferris wheel! Roll out the red carpet and throw on the tux..I'm going to a Broadway musical! No need to pay full price though when the half-price booth is so close by.

Amongst the hustle and bustle is central park. It's an oasis of tranquility and quiet, where squirrels stalk the lone tourist...do not go into the woods alone! Above the trees are the ever present reminder that a large city looms around you. Hours drifted by as I sat and watched New Yorkers jogging or those being dragged along by large dogs. It is also surrounded by the major musuems. The Guggenheim: bit disappointing actually. The gradual curving/inclining gallery can leave you a little dizzy. Metropolitan: impressive collection and free! There are some ticket offices staged at the entrance that look like they mean business but it is entirely voluntary. Natural History: an entire day to get through! Just keep moving or you will suffer serious information overload.
If you are going to see the major sites I would suggest getting the city pass...it will save you a lot of money and some queues! The Empire State have very deceptive queues, a large portion is tucked away around corners in the basement.

But I was here also to visit Ali + Dave on Long Is. before they moved back home to Aust permanently. It was great catching up after nearly 4 yrs and thx for the roast dinner! :) Long Is. is a much quieter..dare I say dull...place. A place where a man is judged by the size of his truck and probably not on most touristy itineries. The fields were either filled with rotting pumpkins or turf....it pays to watch grass grow!

I could not leave New York without paying homage to the bull. I laid hands upon this holy symbol of the financial world and a message came down unto me and it was said 2005 is the year of the bull!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1097358120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1097358120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1097358120/tpod.html Tue, 19 Oct 2004 16:49:57 -0400 To see the sights and experience delights upon a foreign shore....

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Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The challenge: sneak into a swanky hotel and swim in their pool
For one of us on this trip the challenge was to actually get to Dubai... what day were you supposed to catch that plane mate?? :)

Not long ago phones around the world begin to humm in the offices of long frustrated architects. Rumour had it that bountiful riches of gold would allow their dreams to become reality......
Dubai is a city dotted with large shopping malls and large iconic buildings! A huge building development shaped like a palm tree stretches out in the ocean and as you drive down the road huge banners portray a new spire that will tower above the skyline in years to come.
The Burjal-Arab: A 7 star hotel(I didn't even know these existed!) resembling a huge sail, set on an island that can only be reached by a secure bridge. No hope of getting into that pool! The cost of the hotel has never been revealed.
The Jumeira Beach Hotel: Shaped like a giant wave, this is apparently 6 stars. Worth a try, we walk in and through the lobby like we belong, so far so good! Out onto the rear paving, the beach and pool are in site.... keep moving confidently.... turn left..dead end and sprung! "Are we guests?" Um....yes. (damn that hesistation!).... Ok, guess the attempt here is over!
Never mind, we will just have to settle for the roof-top pool back at our humble abode! It was a welcome relief to just laze around for a few days and soak up the heat, jump in the pool and float around, soak up some more heat, do some more floating...you get the idea!

Go to Wild Wadi!! Water slides, lots of them! No walking up hills required here, jump into a rubber tube and a water jet will shoot you uphill.

The Deira region of Dubai is dotted with Souks (markets) that are well worth wandering around. The Gold Souk has gold literally draped in the windows, the place to go if you have a lady to impress and deep pockets! Follow your nose to the Spice Souk, small shops in which the trader sits behind a large desk surrounded by large hessian bags full of every spice imagineable. The markets stretch off for blocks and are a maze of little alleys selling just about everything.

Great amounts of effort are expended on keeping small patches of greenery alive. The city continues to grow out of the desert and sand predominates anywhere that the water is not pumped onto. Through the middle of the day it's fairly quiet, people are asleep under any patch of available shade and just the stupid tourists are wandering about....that would be me!....and thanks to the 2 arabs guys who pointed at the sun and then at me and twirled their fingers around their head in that classic symbolism of craziness :)

With the end of my sun worshipping looming a faint hope arose that I may have an excuse to avoid a return to work! "Hello Debs. I'm really sorry(cough!), my plane can't seem to get off the ground! I guess I HAVE to stay longer." Twice we made a roundtrip from the terminal out to the end of the runway and each time we got there someone would start vomiting! It nearly happened a third time but for the space of minutes, but that guy had to spend the 7hr flight wrapped aorund the toilet.
Rumour has it they ate at the same bar in the airport...

And I have escaped just before Ramadan begins!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1088184240/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1088184240/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1088184240/tpod.html Sat, 02 Oct 2004 16:25:28 -0400 To see the sights and experience delights upon a foreign shore....

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Limerick-Dingle, Ireland

Limerick, a.k.a Stab City!

Another driving trip in Ireland. My car in the UK is a Peugeot 206 2L GTI, my hire car this week was also a 206, but a 1.6L slug...but then Irish roads don't really lend themselves to acceleration!

There is not a lot for a tourist in Limerick. It was just a stop over to meet up with Leanne and then head down to county Cork. A few relaxing days of meandering through the countryside from Killarney down to Bandon. We stayed at Leanne's grandmother's house and I didn't get away without being over-fed! :) Food was great so no complaints here! It's a beautiful part of the world and worth a revisit.

We drove back up to Limerick and then I headed on my own off to the western coast. The first stop was the Cliffs of Moher, a relatively well known tourist spot, there's a large carpark for the coaches. But there's hardly a soul to be seen early on a Monday morning. My ears were on fire by the time I got down off the cliff, it was either the cold gale force wind or someone had a lot to say about me! Onwards to the north is a great winding drive along the coast and into the Burren, an area of barren stone landscape. Try to picture an entire region of stone paving, broken only by hills of more stone. There are some caves to visit as well (Aillwee) but they are a bit melodramatic, sequenced light show and a general push to keep you moving. There's a great view obtained by hiking up the hills behind the cave.

The last trip I tried to get to Connemara but we had to take a detour along the way....and it happened again! After a few wrong turns in Galway I decided to give it up and stay there the night. Met Linds and Cal at the hostel and then out to the pub, it seems wrong not to go to a pub in Ireland! The pub was great, a couple of live bands complete with fiddler. It was a good night to have gotten lost!

From Galway across to Trim Castle and then on to Kilkenny Castle. I think that is enough castles now!

Dingle penisula is suppsoed to rival the Ring of Kerry for it s natural beauty. Dingle itself is a bustling little town and home to Fungi the dolphin. Fungi is the local dolphin bachelor and draws a lot of attention from the boats. I managed to get myself into a wetsuit with the aim of going snorkelling with him, but alas the currents were horrendous when we got out into the bay and so had to pull the plug on that plan. Marion and I then embarked on a trip around the peninsula. The trip around the coast road takes about a day. Just leave the Collie dog on the beach alone, he's not very friendly!! We left him to howl at the waves.

Back to see Leanne again in Limerick and a plan to go see Bunratty Castle for their theme day celebration....but no....instead we end up helping the garda catch a Collie that apparently developed a taste for small children. Anyone seeing a trend here...?

Is that man watching me? What is that buzzing in my phone, could it be a wire tap? Will my identity be erased and I just disappear? I am being stalked! Ramblings of a paranoid?? I have a theory that President Bush is stalking me! I went to Rome a few weeks ago and Bush arrived a few days later, apparently for the Republic Day march. The Sunday that I arrived back in Portsmouth (UK) and he was here! The excuse this time...going from the naval base across to the D-Day remembrance. Just a coincidence I hear you say.... I landed at Shannon airport on this trip and a few hours later Airforce 1 arrived! There were 6000 police(garda) and security forces to protect Bush from TERRORISTS, BOMBS, ASSASINATION..... a few keywords that should bring my humble little travelogue a few more hits from a mysterious government agency (if you believe in conspriracy theories). Lets face it though, putting keywords SEX and PORN is far more likely to get the visitors! ...what was that noise?!

I should finish by clarifying my opening! Its only really dangerous if you stay in a particular area and happen to be involved in the local feuds! There was no problems going out.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1095682980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1095682980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1095682980/tpod.html Sat, 02 Oct 2004 09:17:45 -0400 To see the sights and experience delights upon a foreign shore....

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Dublin, Ireland

Where better to absorb the culture and soak up some knowledge than by staying in Trinity College. A grand (roll that r!) institution, eye-catching architecture, and my humble abode for a week. With the students on summer holiday there was plenty of relatively cheap accommodation. The library on campus houses the famous book of Kells, but wait until the end of the exhibit! As you exit the exhibit you are led though the 'longroom'; high vaulted ceilings and hardwood everywhere, this amazing hall is lined from floor to ceiling with old leather books and houses Ireland's national symbol, their oldest harp.

Dublin actually takes it name from being the site of the 'black pool'. In the middle agaes the black pool was formed at the site of 2 rivers converging. Now the pool is buried deep below ground, Dublin's street level have risen by about 5m since then. They don't need it anymore...Dublin is famous for a different type of black water now!

The Fringe Festival was in full swing when I arrived. Theatres with between 12-20 people, half of which obviously friends of the performers and lots of over-acting. It was the sad shadow of the last couple of years at Edinburgh's Fringe. Was worth a try! Oh well, back to the regular Irish tourist route and off to the Jameson Distillery to partake of the water of life.

At the turn of the century a daring lad (or lass...politically correct as always!) made off with a rare and valuable mirror from the ladies dressing rooms of the Dublin Castle. Typically the mirror is very gold and very OTT. Three exist in the world today. This outstanding piece of ostentatious decoration was later to be recovered from a sheep farmer in county Wicklow. Not to his taste, the farmer had painted the mirror black, removed the glass and turned it into a bed-head!

But I wasn't here just for the tourism, eventually I had to settle into a lecture theatre and try to remain awake through 3 days of lectures. What was I thinking!! In an attempt to keep everyone upright the cooling was turned down to near arctic levels and caffeine was supplied on tap. Irish nightlife, a black + white dinner function at the Guinness Factory and copious free alcohol, any wonder that narcolepsy was rampant throughout the lectures.

Somehow my backpack seems heavier......
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1072384560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1072384560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1072384560/tpod.html Tue, 28 Sep 2004 19:10:43 -0400 To see the sights and experience delights upon a foreign shore....

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Reykjavik, Iceland

What do you do when lost in an Icelandic forest?
Stand up!

Have you seen Schindler's list? The entire film is black + white, except for a brief moment of color where a small girl in red coat walks through. This is Iceland in the winter. Snow over the ground, black volcanic landscape breaking though and clouds that stretch off to the horizon. Its very hard to distuish where the horizon is. Then there is the flash of color amongst the grey. Brightly painted buildings that leap out and assault your retinas. At night the lights come on everywhere. Even the gravestones are wired up! Ancestry is important in Iceland, much kudos can be gained if you can trace your ancestry back to the first landing of the Ingolfur. The 'Sagas' of Icelandic history and geneology are maintained on ancient vellum parchment in the national museum and worth a look.

The Golden Circle is the regular tousist track. En-route a thermal oasis offers respite from the cold and there is convenient souvenier shop if you want to start spending. After that the real tour begins. The Gullfoss waterfall was a bit tricky to photograph. It's very difficult to get a focus when everything is just varying depths of white from sky to ground! I've learnt to keep my batteries tucked away nice and warm to keep them running, but my fingers did not have the same luxury. Around the great geysir was a much warmer environment. Past a series of mountains that are rumoured to contain a buried silver treasure and on to the end of the tour, a walk down through the rift. The rift is a gap that has been torn apart by the movement of the American and European tetonic plates. It looks like a giant zipper has peeled apart the rock.

Icelandic horses are supposed to be an indication of wealth, so it's a touchy question to ask 'how many horses do you have?' Also, don't make the mistake of calling them ponies! The govenment used to tax people per horse, so generally you could be certain that the number they claimed to have was lower than reality. There are a lot of them about today, inflation has been rampant. We did manage to fit in a ride on a mild day but it was fairly short.

Christmas day approached and the snow continued to fall. Neither Katie or I had experienced a proper white Xmas......well except for some fake Santa snow, but I don't think that counts. More used to donning a t-shirt and swatting flies away, it was a different experience to be able to go outside and have a snowball fight!
Bring on the food!

Saving the best for last, the Blue Lagoon! 38-40 degrees, its a big geothermal pool that supposedly has healing properties. I certainly felt better after each visit! :)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1086433260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1086433260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/shmikes/europe_2001-/1086433260/tpod.html Wed, 30 Jun 2004 08:41:02 -0400 To see the sights and experience delights upon a foreign shore....

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Rome, Italy

This trip has begun with a very fuzzy plan, along the lines of a pub chat with Jay months ago in London. Hey, we should go away again....how about Europe.....um, Italy...Venice? Instead we end up meeting in Rome at 11pm at night and sitting in a smokey little pizzeria with the locals. A couple of old Italian guys were playing cards in the corner. In these auspicious surrounds we made our plans, tomorrow we should go see some history.
Jay is pretty handy with his SLR, the pics are often worth checking out when he gets them online. (user: jrcormack, on this site)

Its been awhile! Thwarted by the new job and moving half way across the UK, but at last I have made a break for it. Had a brief moment of panic when I realised that I couldn't remember which box the passport was packed in, so tipped them all out and just started the rummage.

Roma is the postcard capital. We spent the first day wandering around the forums and just wandering around in general. It's all fascinating to look around, but the atmosphere for me was most evident on the triumphal way at the top of the forum, looking back down the valley past Palatine Hill towards the Coleseum late in the afternoon. You will just have to go and check it out for yourselves! :)

Need a new handbag, come to Rome! New shoes, Rome. Silk tie, Rome. Sunglasses, I'll give you one guess. This is the city of accessories. Every corner there can be someone trying to sell you the latest imitation designer handbag (apparently very good ones!)....but wait, is that rain threatening...handbags disappear and umbrellas flood the marketplace!! Literally by the time the first raindrop hits the ground you have been offered an umbrella by about 3 different guys. Nevermind if you have one already, they will try to sell you another. The guys are all illegal, they are constantly twitching whenever the polici are about. Occasionally this works in your favour, during the bargaining process just drop in a comment like 'is that that polici'....and watch the price plummet.

We have seen a lot of partial brick walls (aka: ruins) in the last 9 days!! Initially this is very exciting, those walls are very old! But after awhile I became a little less enthusiastic and starting looking for brick walls with a difference. A little bit of ancient graffiti, an old fresco or one centered in a majestic location. Many of the walls were supposedly covered in marble frescos at some stage, but have since been recycled into other structures. The tomb of the unknown soldier seems to have the most marble I have ever seen in one location. Frankly I want more from my walls now. Being the wonderful city that it is, Rome kept on delivering.

I think 'Gladiator' ruined the Coleseum, I expected a bigger and somewhat more preserved structure, but the inside has been gutted and much of the outside is a patchwork of repairs after various earthquakes and restoration work. If you sit on the ground nearby you can feel the ground vibrate as the metro train rumbles beneath you. The nearest gladiators were in plastic costumes outside....refer to cheesy photo of Jay and I! Still, can't compalin too much, we did end up in Rome during 'culture week', very handy as most of the entry fees are free.

My taste buds were quivering with delight with the anticipation of a whole week of Italian food, but alas the bread has been dry and the food quite salty...so far...haven't given up yet! Jay and I did monopolise a table at a local restaurant for a good 4 hours one night, much to the disgust of the waiter who was keen on move us on through the courses and free his tables up. The biggest mistake he made was seating Michelle next to us, who was just as keen to sit around and chat! The trick is to keep ordering small dishes, any self respecting Italian would have polished off twice what we ate in that time frame.

Now for a little word association: Vatican City - QUEUES
Its all about perspective, you don't feel so bad if you can't see how the queue extends 1km in front of you. And that's just the first one for the museum. The second queue for the cuppola (top of St Peter's Basilica) was only a few hundred metres, that's good because it means we won't get so sunburn waiting! A quick crisis meeting, a little mathematical reasoning....if the man in the orange jacket has moved 1.4m in the last 10mins, how long will it take for him to travel to the entry point. Students should assume that the queue moves at a constant rate and that no old Italians are pushing in front. Plan B meant we came back early the next day, still a good distance from the entry even an hour before opening, but a vast improvement. The museums were great and the Sistine Chapel and St Peters Basilica have the best walls I have seen. Our plan to meet back at the entry fell in a heap though, there's a one way exit point. Having spent about 4 hours in the museum and made 2 circuits through the crowds in the Sistine it was definitely time to eat! Gail locates us a local supermarket (more difficult than you might expect!) and we sort out a small picnic, and what better location than under the columns of the Piazza San Pietro.

Water fountains here are amazing. The obvious ones with tourist appeal; Fontana Di Trevi and the Fontana Dei Quattri (Four Rivers) in Piazza Navonna. But best of all, the tired hiker can pause and partake of beautiful cold refreshing water at one of the numerous public spouts..the water is great and safe!

A day trip to Tivoli, crammed onto a rickety regional bus that required a good deal of shoving to enter and packed with a number of people that prefer 'odour naturale'. The lure was Emperor Hadrians Villa, a 'little' countryside retreat. The whole layout is based on symmetry and symbolism. Much of the traffic was in underground tunnels, and buildings lacking a symbolic meaning were obscured below ground. So the emperor could walk in mystic wonder whilst the plebs worked below him! The emperors also believed an eagle would come to carry them up to godhood when they died....hmmm, well who am I to question!

Naples is crazy, but humming with people so interesting from that point of view. Hang on to your gear, don't go out alone at night and try not to get killed crossing the road. Most of the cars have significant impact points on them and the 'safety' barriers along the road have all been flattened. Crossing the road can only be achieved by stepping into the flow and having vehicles dodge around you....don't pause or hurry, it just confuses the Napolise. Jay has by this time returned to work in the UK, so missed out on this 'fun'! This was just a stop-over for Pompeii. I could nearly write another essay on Pompei, but will restrain myself! In perfect timing I met Nat and Crystal, both studied classical history and were great tourguides! Everything falling into place! :) Much of Pompeii has been dug up and sent to museums, but the general layout and the Villa Di Misteri (walls 7/10!) are really worth the visit. Enough said.

The book of scams has not developed much on this trip. A good thing! Usual stories of pcikpockets and harmless pushy sales.

Gradually my trips have developed into a process that evolves as I go. Its much more relaxing! I am never behind schedule, there isn't one-well except for that flight back! It shifts and flows as opportunities arise and one of those has been meeting some very cool people that have become mates in the UK; admittedly a lot of Aussies, but can't help that! :)
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