Arrivederci Milano (Day 41 - GToE)

La Scala

Okay, it's official. I really do not like Milan. Twice I've been here and twice it just seems like a crowded, dirty, overpriced city. By dirty, I mean, kind of gross. I'm talking rubbish on the streets, cigarette butts everywhere, overflowing bins, and people not cleaning up after their dogs. Mind where you step. Something else I don't like is that there are people selling crap everywhere, but they don't take no for an answer. They practically follow you down the street trying to sell their garbage. I had to tell one guy off for touching me. I'm not a fan being touched by perfect strangers on the streets selling me crap. If you like shopping, then by all means, come to Milan.  All in all, I probably could have skipped coming here again except for three things: Da Vinci, Chagall, and Van Gogh.

I wanted to try to get into see a Van Gogh exhibition that's here for a few months and the ticket office is located near the Duomo and opens at 9:30am. This morning, I walked over toward the Duomo and got there ridiculously early (8:30). The Duomo actually opens at 7:00am, so I decided to take a quick run through the cathedral. Personally, I think it's kind of an ugly church inside, but it killed some time meandering through it. Then I walked through the Galleria (one of the world's oldest shopping malls) and over past La Scala (the world famous opera house) for a few photos. By then it was 8:50...still kind of early, but I went over to the ticket office and there was already a short queue. I hopped into the queue and waited to see if I could get into the Van Gogh exhibit. Well, it took an hour, but I got in. By 10am, I was roaming through the salons and looking at more of Van Gogh's artwork. It's interesting because some of the artwork was on loan from museums that I had already visited earlier (The Orsay, The Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, etc.). Now I got a chance to see these works as well.

After touring the exhibition, I meandered my way up Via Dante (a major avenue) to meet my tour group at the Sforza Castle. There were 16 of us on this tour which looked at the outside of the castle. We didn't actually go into the castle, which is now being used for 3 different museums. We then made our way to the refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie where Da Vinci's 15th century mural of L'Ultima Cena (The Last Supper) is located. There are several interesting things about this painting. One, it's in horrible condition. It was in horrible condition 8 years ago too. In fact, it's been in horrible condition since approximately 20 years after Da Vinci painted it because he did not use the correct materials for painting on a wall. Two, in 1652, a doorway was cut through the (then unrecognizable) painting, and later bricked up; this can still be seen as the irregular arch shaped structure near the center base of the painting. Three, the monastery was heavily bombed during World War II and the only reason why the painting still exists was due to a protective structure placed in front of the painting. But it is still worth the price of admission. Sad that it's so badly deteriorated.

After touring through another church recommended by my awesome tour guide and then grabbing a quick bite to eat, I made my way back to the Piazza del Duomo. You see while I was waiting to see the Van Gogh exhibition this morning, I noticed that in the same building, a Marc Chagall retrospective was also going on. Well, I do love me some Marc Chagall. So I went back to the Royal Palace to see if I could get into the Chagall exhibition. The line was insanely long, but due to some Italian craziness that involved a misunderstanding, I managed to get into the exhibition without standing in line. It was pretty amazing. The retrospective covered Chagall's art from 1908 to 1985 and had some of his most famous works on loan from various museums around the world. Chagall certainly loved his goats, cows, and Wandering Jews. 

That's the sum total of my day. Not terribly exciting, but I suppose it could have been worse. I'm glad I saw the three things that I saw today, but I'm also glad that I'm not spending much more time here in Milan. Tomorrow, it's onto one of my favorite cities: Venice!

There aren't many pictures today because no photos were allowed at any of the venues, but feel free to check out my limited Day 41 photos on my GToE photo site.

Buona Sera da Milano (Day 40 - GToE)

Good evening from Milan!

Woo hoo! I'm in Italy. Yes, I love Italy and am proud of my Italian heritage. Of course, I don't speak the language very well, but what can you do? As I mentioned yesterday, today was mostly a wasted travel day, thanks to Iberia Airlines. Originally I should have been in Milan and wandering the city by 10am, instead it was 6pm before I could walk around the city.

Eight years ago, I spent 11 days traveling around Italy, starting in Milan. My memory of Milan is not very good. I mostly kept thinking that it was just one large open-aired shopping mall. You see, I'm not a fashionista. In fact, I couldn't give a rat's arse about fashion. I like my clothing to be comfortable and affordable. The most expensive thing in my wardrobe is a leather Coach purse which retailed for $400, but I got at the outlet store for $70 and even that I found a little pricey. You might ask, "Well, Sandi, why did you return to Milan if you didn't like it 8 years ago?" I'll tell you - three reasons: (i) I'm willing to give it a second try, (ii) I want to see the Sforza Castle which I somehow missed 8 years ago, and (iii) Leonardo DaVinci's, L'Ultima Cena (The Last Supper). I saw this mural 8 years ago and I was blown away by it and really wanted to see it again. 

A bit of a bonus: I discovered on the train from the airport that there is a Van Gogh exhibit here of which I was completely unaware. Hopefully, I can get into to see it tomorrow in addition to the castle and The Last Supper. Then it's onto Venice. Yes, it's a very short (now) 1 day visit to Milan.

As for today, I couldn't do much in the way of sightseeing because I arrived so late. I did take a walk over to the main square which houses Milan's Duomo (Cathedral) and snapped exactly 2 photos before finding a place for dinner. What was for dinner? Pizza, of course. Best pizza in the world is in Italy. I went with the anchovy and mozzarella pizza. Yummy! So sad, I couldn't finish it all.

Air travel exhaust me, so I'm going to call it an early night. (It's just after 9:00pm.) There are only 2 photos for today (seen here), which I'm not going to bother to put on my GToE photo site.

Final Full Day in Barcelona (Day 39 - GToE)

Today is my final full day in Barcelona and it was a pretty laid back kind of day. I had a 2-day hop-on/hop-off bus ticket so I decided to do the second route. Yesterday's route took me to the north and outskirts of the city. Today was about seeing the south and Montjuïc ("Mount of the Jew") which overlooks the port of Barcelona and derives its name from the Jewish cemetery that is located on the mountain.

I jumped on the bus in the city center and rode it around until reaching Montjuïc. There's much to see and do up on the 'mountain' but still not feeling 100%, I limited myself to touring the Catalan Art Museum. Interestingly, or maybe not so interestingly, when they say "Catalan" they mean all artists showcased are Catalan artists. There were absolutely no artists outside of the Catalan region of Spain. Which means that I had no idea who any of the artists were. The museum showcases artwork from the 10th century until about the mid-20th century. There is only 1 Picasso painting in the whole museum, which I found a little bizarre. They have a huge collection of Romanesque frescoes which I find amazing how they transfer the frescoes - I watched a video on how it's done. The modern art section was differently arranged than most art museums. Instead of putting the modern art into categories, they arranged the art by subject matter. For example, self-portraits are all in one salon. Another salon housed landscapes, etc. I would often find photography next to paintings because they were grouped by subject matter. It's a unique way of arranging the artwork and I kind of liked it. I also went up to the roof terrace and took some photographs of the city. It is a stunning view.

On my way back down Montjuïc, the bus passed by the Olympic Stadium that was used during the 1992 Olympics. Then the bus went by the waterfront. I decided to do something slightly different and went to the Aquarium. It was a nice relaxing hour watching fish float by and seeing sharks and penguins and stingrays - not in the same tank, mind you. I also needed to stop by the shopping mall next to the Aquarium. I stopped to buy a crepe for a snack and got it with banana filling, which ended up being banana syrup. Next thing I knew, I was wearing banana syrup all down the front of me. I figured instead of trying to clean up the syrup, which was horrendously sticky, I'd just stop in a store a purchase a new fleece. Man, that was annoying.

After visiting the Aquarium, I hopped back on the bus which took me by the beach. I got off to snap a few photos of the Mediterranean Sea. Mostly I lucked out in that it was a pretty day. The weather said rain today, but it managed to hold off and was rather warm. I jumped back on the bus after visiting the beach and rode it all the way back to the Eixample and my hostel. See, a pretty laid back kind of day. It's just past 5:00 pm and I'm not certain what else I can do. I certainly feel like I have seen just about everything there is to see in Barcelona.

Tomorrow, I head for Milan. It will probably be another lost day as my 7:00 am flight was cancelled and rebooked for 3:00 pm. Check out my Day 39 photos on my GToE photo site.

A Modernism Kind of Day (Day 38 - GToE)

First off, let me wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. Unsurprising, it's not a recognized holiday here in España. Go figure. Although, I did see a few stores with "Black Friday" sales signs. I assume they're trying to pull in the US tourist. Strange.

Today was all about looking at Modernist sights, mostly from the mind of Antoni Gaudí. Born in 1852 in Reus, Spain, Antoni Gaudí was a Catalan architect whose style was incredibly unique and surreal. He gained his inspiration for his buildings through nature and religion. I mentioned that I had seen one of his buildings yesterday (Palau Güell), but I wanted to see the rest of them today. Most of them are located in the Eixample ("Expansion") part of town. The Eixample was created due to the overcrowded problems in the Old City of Barcelona. Around the same time as the expansion came about, so did Modernism and Art Nouveau which makes the Eixample architecturally unique from the rest of Barcelona. Coincidentally, my hostel is located in the Eixample.

At 9:00 am, I began with La Pedrera (a.k.a., Casa Milà). This building was Gaudí's last civil work, but it is certainly one of his best. Built between 1906 and 1910 for the Milà family, "it was very controversial because of the bold undulating stone facade and twisted wrought iron that decorate the balconies and windows...Architecturally it is considered an innovative work by having a structure of columns and floors free of load bearing walls. Similarly, the front – which is made of stone – is also self-supporting" (Wikipedia). Frustratingly, the entire facade of the building is currently covered up because it's undergoing some reconstruction so sadly I don't have a photo of the building, but you can see it by clicking on the above link. One of the most interesting aspects of this building is the funky rooftop. The 30 chimneys on the roof look like humans wearing helmets (see photo). It's very cool. The apartment that tourists visit is decorated as it might have been when the building was first occupied in the early 20th century. It truly is a magnificent work of art.

Popping down the avenue, one comes upon another of Gaudí's buildings and probably his most famous facade: Casa Batlló. A remodel of a previously built house, it was redesigned in 1904 by Gaudí and is a masterpiece. It has tibia-like pillars and skull-like balconies, inspired by nature. The tiled roof has a soft-ice-cream cone turret topped with a cross. The humpback roofline suggests a dragon's back. The interior is funky and crazy and I love it! I'm slightly annoyed with myself that my batteries in my camera died in the middle of the tour so I missed some photos of the amazing roof. ARGH! But otherwise, you can get a general idea of the splendor of this building. Next door to Casa Batlló are two other Modernist buildings from other architects (Casa Lleó Morera and Casa Amatller) and the three buildings together are known as the 'Block of Discord'.

After leaving Casa Batlló and purchasing more batteries, it was onto Sagrada Familia (Holy Family Church) via a hop-on/hop-off bus tour. Gaudí's most famous and awe-inspiring work is this unfinished super-sized church. With its cake-in-the-rain facade and otherworldly spires, the church is an icon in Barcelona and a true testament to the Modernist stye. Gaudí labored on the Sagrada Familia for 43 years, from 1883 until his tragic death in 1926. Nearly a century after his death, this church is still being worked on in order to hopefully complete it. Ideally, the goal is to try to complete it by 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudí's death, but there's still a shit-ton of work to be done on this building. The building is the weirdest and wildest church I have ever seen. I tell you if more churches looked like this, I might start attending services. Not out of any belief, but just to continue to admire the funky architecture. I'm not sure that my photos show the exquisite design of this church. Sad that I will not see this church finished in my lifetime. The one thing that I didn't like about Sagrada Familia is the crypt. There is no access to the crypt where Gaudí's tomb is. The only way to "see" his tomb is in the museum and smushing your face against a glass window and look down into the crypt. Even then, you only see about a foot of the tomb.

Once my tour of the church was completed, it was onto Park Güell. This park is located on the outskirts of town and was originally supposed to be an upscale housing development in the early 20th century. Sadly, it failed to come to fruition because the wealthy did not want to leave the urban center. Gaudí was a 100 years ahead of his time because the area surrounding the park is filled with some of the wealthiest neighborhoods. Within the park are several Gaudí designed structures: fountains, a terrace, a couple of buildings, a multicolored mosaic salamander called 'el drac' (the dragon) seen here, and such. Also located within the park is Gaudí's house where he lived for 20 years until the death of his father in 1925. Gaudí did not design the house he lived in, but it was the model house for the failed housing development. It stands today as a memorial to the great architect. By the way, if you've never sat on a seat designed by Gaudí, you have been missing a real treat. The man was an ergonomic genius. Every seat fits the body perfectly. If they weren't so expensive, I'd buy a chair for home.

After leaving the park, I hopped on the bus for a quick jaunt around the outskirts of town before heading back to the Eixample. I then walked around the Eixample photographing a few more Modernist's buildings, like Casa de les Punxes, Palau Baró de Quadras, and the Hotel Casa Fuster. None of these building were designed by Gaudí, but all are excellent examples of Modernist buildings.

It's another quiet night hanging in the hostel, because I'm feeling little wonky. I'm having a hard time catching my breath. Even the walk around the block to pick up something to eat was stressful. I'm hoping it's allergy related and not cancer growth related. It's a little disconcerting, but time will tell if it's something over which I truly need to be concerned.

Check out all of my Day 38 Monderniste photos on my GToE photo site. It was a very cool day!

Hanging out at Casa Battló

The Ramblas, The Barri Gòtic, and Museu Picasso in Barcelona (Day 37 - GToE)

This morning, when I woke, I was still feeling less than 100% but I refused to let a little stomach ailment keep me from seeing Barcelona. After some tea and toast, I headed out to explore the city. I decided to explore the Old City, which is broken into three sections. I only focused on two of the sections today: Barri Gòtic and El Born. Before I get into the nitty gritty of my day, I would like to point out that I hate pigeons! Today, I was majorly pooped on by a pigeon. I mean it was a huge poop, like the pigeon hadn't pooped in a week and held it in just to drop it on my arm. It was the size of a golf ball. I know people say that's lucky, but I prefer to stay disgusting! Okay, onto my day:

Palau Güell

I began with walking Barcelona's version of the Champs Elysees: The Ramblas. Running from Plaça de Catalunya (the city center) to the waterfront, this walk takes usually about an hour except that I made a few stops along the way so it ended up taking me about 2 hours. Halfway through my ramble along the Ramblas, the heavens opened up and it started teeming with rain. I'm just glad I brought along my umbrella today. Although I think my feet are still trying to dry out.

Some of the sites I visited along the Ramblas: the Fountain of Canaletes, which legend says if you drink from the fountain it ensures that you will return to Barcelona one day (I filled my water bottle here - I think the legend is wrong); a Roman necropolis; a church dedicated to Bethlehem (Belem Church); the market hall (La Boqueria); the Liceu Opera House; Palau Güell (a mansion designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí early in his career); and a Christopher Columbus monument. A bit of weirdness at the market hall - I saw some stuff they were selling that I had no clue what it was and some other things that I wished I hadn't seen, like a skinned rabbit.

Chocolate Museum

After returning to the Plaça de Catalunya, I then did a walk of the Barri Gòtic (the Gothic Quarter). Sites seen: a 12th century church; lunch at Els Quatre Gats ("The Four Cats"), where Picasso hung out drinking with friends and had his first one-man show there in 1900; some Roman towers; the Cathedral of Barcelona; a martyrs statue; the church Gaudí attended; and a Roman temple. Funny story about The Four Cats is how it got named: When the proprietor told his friends that he'd stay open 24 hours a day, they said, "No one will come. It'll just be you and four cats." (Catalan slang for "a few crazy people".) Funny!

I then headed to the El Born area where the Museu Picasso stands. Interesting fact about the museum is that it's one of the few museums dedicated to a specific artist which was built and completed while the artist was still alive. Focusing on Picasso's early work, the museum has over 4,000 pieces of art by the artist of which only about 400 are shown. It's a fascinating museum except that it shows very little of Picasso's most famous and prolific artwork from the "middle" part of his career - basically all of his cubism art is ignored in this museum. After leaving the museum, I made a quick stop at the Chocolate Museum which traces the story of chocolate from the Aztecs to Europeans via the Port of Barcelona. There is a wonderful series of chocolate sculptures on display which were really fun to see. I then walked over to view the Church of Santa Maria del Mar (beautiful architecture) before heading back to the Ramblas in order to have some dinner. 

That was my day. I thought I might find something to do tonight, but between still not feeling great and some serious back pain, I thought it best to rest up for tomorrow. Check out all my Day 37 photos on my GToE photo site. Tomorrow, I'm going to try to see the rest of Gaudí's buildings. I can't wait -  so excited!!

A Lost Day (Day 36 - GToE)

I guess it was bound to happen - an entire day lost to unforeseen circumstances. This post should be short and sweet.

The day began with a 6am wake up due to the 7:15am train from Paris to Barcelona (or as the locals say: Barthelona). I arrived at the train station with plenty of time to get myself some breakfast: a hot chocolate and a chocolate braid (basically a twisted chocolate croissant). I should have known something was up right away when nothing tasted right. I sipped a bit of hot chocolate and then tossed it before getting on the train. I ate half the braid, but figured I'd save the rest for later. I assumed my taste buds were off because it was early.

During the 6.5 hour train ride, I started feeling more and more ill. The other half of the braid made me feel worse. The 2 hour nap didn't help. By the time I reached Barcelona, I wanted to hop on a plane home because I felt so awful and said to myself "I'm over this." I seriously thought that my head was going to explode and something was going to burst out of my body like in the movie Alien. I was in tears due to the pain. Don't ask me what caused this, but I suspect it might have been the sandwich that I picked up from the convenience store.

I got to my hostel and checked in. I immediately posted on Facebook that I arrived safe, but that I was sick. I then closed the privacy curtain around my bed and fell asleep from about 3pm until nearly 6pm. Therefore, the only things I've seen today are the insides of my eyelids and my hostel. Actually, that's not entirely true. After I woke up, I took a little walk around the block and got a bite to eat - wrong move because the food is making me feel awful again. An entire day lost to travel and illness.

Time for bed and the hopes that I will wake up feeling better and can see some sights. Although, in an 8 person dorm, getting a good night's sleep might be difficult. Time to dig out the ear plugs.

Note: The weather is mild (mid-60s), but the forecast is calling for rain most days that I'm here. Oh well. No new photos on my GToE photo site.

I love hostels with privacy curtains. Makes
a world of difference.

A Day at Mont Saint Michel - Meh! (Day 35 - GToE)

I cannot remember who insisted that I "must go to Mont Saint Michel" when I was traveling through France, but I need to have a conversation with them. Not that the day was a complete waste, but a good portion of it was. I wish I did the Loire Valley tour instead.

Why did I end up at Mont St Michel? If you remember, I was supposed to go there this past Saturday because someone said I "must go" but the tour was cancelled due to low interest. They rebooked me for today for the Loire Valley but said that if there was interest in Mont St Michel for today, they would change my reservation. Sadly, there were 15 other people who book MSM. <grrr>

Mont St Michel is an island commune in Normandy, France with a population of 44 people. "The island has held strategic fortifications since ancient times, and since the eighth century CE has been the seat of the monastery from which it draws its name. The structural composition of the town exemplifies the feudal society that constructed it: On top, God, the abbey and monastery; below this, the great halls; then stores and housing; and at the bottom, outside the walls, fishermen's and farmers' housing" (Wikipedia). That's pretty much it. It's basically a tourist trap with an abbey and a monastery - and a pretty sparse boring one at that. Once you get past the initial gasp inducing view of the island, there's not much else to talk about. Certainly not something that I needed to ride in a van for 7 hours in total to see. Plus 7 hours in a quiet van with only my thoughts to occupy me was not good for my mental well being. I kept thinking I should fly to Massachusetts so I could kick someone's ass, but that would be bad use of time and money. Additionally, the weather in MSM was icky: overcast and very cold. If you want to know more about Mont St Michel, check out MSM's Wikipedia page.

So instead, let me tell you about the group I traveled with. The minivan holds 9 people including the tour guide, who today was more of a chauffeur because he did almost no tour guiding. The other 8 people in the van were: the Asian family (mom, dad, and daughter) from Kentucky (that threw me), the Asian man from somewhere (he spoke about 2 words the whole day), the NJ-Lima gay couple living in Paris, the Mexico woman, and the Spanish tour guide (who speaks French, Spanish, and English). Now with every tour group, there's always someone who is going to be an irritant. I initially though the Kentucky-Asian family would win that prize, but no, they were actually quite pleasant. Nope, the winner of annoying person of the day: Mexico woman! Oh, she almost got a fat lip and not just from me. We hadn't even left Paris and she was already whining about how cramped the conditions in the van were. She was just annoyed because she had to sit between the driver and me in the front seat. Yeah, I'm sure it wasn't the most comfortable but I'm certain the three tall men weren't any more comfortable in the middle seat. Just shut up or get out of the car. She proceeded to nap almost the entire ride there, sort of leaning on me. Then when we got to Mont St Michel, she kept sort of following me around like she couldn't figure out where to go. It's not difficult, just following the freaking arrows. We had to be back at the van by 4:30, but there's not a whole lot to do and we arrived around 11:45. By 2:30, I was done and back at the information center which was right near the parking lot. Most of the others were back by 3:45, which means we could have left by 4pm, except... you got it - Mexico lady didn't get back until 4:20 and then had to go to the bathroom. Biotch! We could have gotten back to Paris earlier if it weren't for her. Here's the topper: we stopped half way back at a rest area for a bathroom/food break. We were given 15 minutes, but everyone was back in 10 minutes. But Mexico lady says to me: "We were given 15 minutes but everyone's back early." I said: "Yes, because we would all like to get home." She proceeds to go back into the convenience store because she wanted her extra 5 minutes. Of course, that gave the rest of us time to berate and ridicule her. Seriously, my idea of good vacation time is not spending it in a freeway convenience store. Man, was she annoying!

Anyway, if you feel like checking out my photos from Mont St Michel, feel free. They're on my GToE photo site, but it's pretty uninspiring beyond the few I posted here. I'm certain that in the summertime, MSM is a much more interesting place to visit - although a hundred times more crowded that it was today. Tomorrow morning I leave via train to Barcelona!

Dead Bones Day (Day 34 - GToE)

Today was all about being in the world of the dead. Okay, maybe not actually in the world of the dead, but surrounded by the dead. I visited two tourist sites today that are all about dead people: Père Lachaise Cemetery and the Catacombs of Paris.

Opened in 1804, Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris; measuring 110 acres. Currently, there are over 1 million bodies buried there, and many more in the columbarium, which holds the cremains of those who had requested cremation. "Père Lachaise is still an operating cemetery and accepting new burials. However, the rules to be buried in a Paris cemetery are rather strict: people may be buried in one of these cemeteries if they die in the French capital city or if they lived there. Being buried in Père Lachaise is even more difficult nowadays as there is a waiting list: very few plots are available" (Wikipedia). Burial in this prestigious cemetery carries a price tag of approximately €11,000 for a 21 square-foot plot. Ouch. But some of the most interesting famous people are buried here. Just to list a few names of the graves I visited today: Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Moliere, Frederic Chopin, Jim Morrison of the Doors and quite a few more. I spent the entire morning trekking all over this incredible cemetery, hunting down all the plots that interested me. Weirdly, I was unaware that Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Tokas are buried at Père Lachaise. For some reason, they were left off the official map. Drat!

I will say that there were some changes to the cemetery from 14 years ago. One being Oscar Wilde's grave now has a clear plexiglass box around it. The other that Jim Morrison's grave now has a barrier around it so you cannot get close to either grave. It is a sad statement of the current times that people cannot be trusted not to desecrate the tombs. Makes me glad that I'm on my way out and I hope I return to a better world. 

After leaving the cemetery, I headed back to my hostel because I needed to do laundry. Oh, so exciting! Fortunately it didn't take me long.

Then I was off to visit the Catacombs (the underground ossuaries). The ossuaries hold the remains of about six million people and fill a renovated section of caverns and tunnels that are the remains of historical stone mines, giving it its reputation as "The Worlds Largest Grave". If you remember, when I was in Prague, I went to visit the Bone Church in Kutná Hora a little more than 2 weeks ago. That was bizarre, but the Catacombs are just overwhelming. The amount of bones just seems interminable. Just when you think there can't be any more bones, you turn a corner and there they are. While not as artistic as the Bone Church, the Catacombs are ... erm ... is it wrong to same impressive? 

While waiting in line for the Catacombs, I met a very nice young American couple who are currently living in England. He is in the US military and she works in a video shop. It made the hour long wait in line much more enjoyable. After departing the Catacombs, I took a quick jaunt over to the Arc de Triumphe in order to photograph it at night and then I was going to hit up La Duree for dinner and scrumptious desserts but the wait was entirely too long. I decided to eat a little cafe near my hostel instead.

Check out all Day 34 photos on my GToE photo site. Tomorrow, I'm either off to the Loire Valley or Mont Saint Michel. I will know when I get to the tour office which it is.

The Louvre, the Orangerie, and the Orsay (Day 33 - GToE)

First, let me start with some of my pet peeves. I hate: (i) when you're in a museum, looking at a painting, and someone stands right in front of you without so much as a by your leave, (ii) people who hold hands/join arms in crowds, thereby not allowing anyone to get by them, (iii) people who take photographs in a museum when it is clearly marked that no photography is allowed, and (iv) gross public displays of affection - if I see one more couple sucking face, I may just punch a baby. Each and every one of these pet peeves happened multiple times today. I'm ready to shoot someone.

Now onto my day. As I mentioned yesterday, today was a museum day and man, am I exhausted. I was on the go from about 8:30 this morning until 7:00 pm tonight. I only sat down for maybe a total of 15 minutes for lunch and about 5 or 10 minutes in each museum. Touring three important museums in one day is a hefty and exhausting day. 

I started this morning at 9am at the Louvre. Fourteen years ago, I visited the Louvre, but I don't believe I spent as much time back then I as did today. I was there for 3.5 hours and saw so much. The nice thing about the Louvre is they allow photography. Why some other museums do not allow photography baffles me, but I at least adhere to the rules of the museum - unlike others. But I digress. Just a sampling of what I saw at the Louvre: many Roman, Greek, and Egyptian statues, including the armless Venus de Milo, Ramses II, and Winged Victory; all five of Leonard da Vinci's paintings, including the mysterious Mona Lisa, Vermeer's The Lacemaker, Napoleon III's apartments, and so much more. 

After trekking all over the Louvre, it was time for a quick lunch. I picked up a Quiche Lorraine and sat down in the Tuilieries Garden to people watch for a few minutes while eating and digesting lunch. It was then onto the Musée de l'Orangerie. When I last traveled to Paris, this museum was closed for refurbishment much to my disappointment. You see it has been on the top of my list of 'must sees' when in Paris, but now I can check it off my bucket list. In 1922, Claude Monet signed a contract donating eight paintings (his Water Lilies series) to the French government. It was decided that the perfect location would be the Orangerie. I wish that you could experience what I did today when I walked through the two rooms that house this magnificent series of artwork. It was mind blowing. Before you ask, yes, I wept. I will never understand when people say they don't like or don't get Monet's or the Impressionists' artwork. To me, it is the most moving and stunning artwork given to humankind. Photography is not allowed in the Orangerie, but I'm not certain that a photograph would capture the spectacular artwork. Also housed within the museum is the art dealer, Paul Guillaume's collection of 19th and 20th century modern paintings, which include artwork from Renoir, Matisse, Picasso, Cézanne and others. 

My last museum of the day was the Musée d'Orsay, one of my favorite museums. I loved this museum 14 years ago and it still enthralls me. Primarily, the Orsay houses some of the most magnificent Impressionist artwork on the face of the earth. You see Monet hanging next to Renoir, Manet sprinkled among Pissaro, a few Degas here and a few Cézannes there. It is truly delightful. Again, no photography is allowed in museum - not that it stopped some jerks taking photos. There is also a delightful section which houses some of the post-impressionists, with some spectacular Van Goghs. The artwork is so stupendous that I just might have to return here tomorrow for one more look see. I spent an amazing 2.5 hours roaming all over this museum.

After all that artwork, I needed to take a long walk in the beautiful Paris evening. The weather was such a joy today that I'm sort of sorry that I spent so much time indoors. I walked from the Orsay to the Eiffel Tower (about a 2 mile walk along the Seine). I wanted to photograph the Tower at night with all the lights on. I then hopped the metro to Notre Dame in order to photograph it at night. I managed to get there at the perfect time. It was just about 6pm and minutes after I arrived, the bells of Notre Dame were tolling. I was picturing Quasimodo ringing the bells. 

Then it was time to return to my hostel for a little dinner and a shower. I am exhausted. I'm not certain what I'll be doing tomorrow, but I'm sure it'll be fabulous because Paris is amazing! Check out all my photos from Day 33 at my GToE photo site.

Notre Dame at night - notice the Christmas tree?

Hanging with the Sun King and His Descendants in Versailles (Day 32 - GToE)

When you are a royal subject and your king says "I liked your hat." You respond, "Thank you, sire." The king then replies "I really like your hat." Again, you thank the king. The king says (meaningfully): "I LIKE YOUR HAT." You thank him and then remove the hat from your head and hand it to the king. That's pretty much what happened in Versailles. 

In 1575, a Florentine noble, Albert de Gondi, purchased the land called Versailles. He then invited Louis XIII on several hunting trips in the forests around Versailles. Louis XIII liked the area so much that he eventually gained the land and had a hunting lodge built on the location. He eventually made enlargements to the chateau. His son, Louix XIV, expanded the chateau until it became one of the largest palaces in the world and eventually became the official location of the French court. Louis XV and Louis XVI also added their touches to the palace. Additionally, Louis XIV, fed up with crowding of Versailles by the French court, built the Grand Trianon palace as a small get away palace on the grounds of Versailles (which is still pretty palatial). During the reign of Louis XV the smaller Petit Trianon palace was built, which was often used by Marie Antoinette as her refuge to get away from palace life. Additionally, Marie Antoinette in the 1780s created the Hamlet, a fake peasant village, where the Queen would spend her days under a bonnet, tending to perfumed sheep and manicured laws in a thatched roof wonderland.

Fourteen years ago, I visited Versailles when I vacationed in Paris, but I did not get a chance to see as much of it as I wanted. I only saw the Chateau and part of the beautiful grounds. I missed seeing the Trianon palaces and the Hamlet. While I could take or leave seeing the Trianon palaces (because, seriously, how much more overly luxurious palaces can one see?). No, I wanted to return to Versailles to see the Hamlet! For fourteen years, I've been kicking myself that I didn't get a chance to see this village. Well, today I got the chance and I was not disappointed. 

I want to live here!

I arrived with my fellow tour group around 8:40am, just before the palace gates opened. I did the usual tour around the chateau - seeing the state apartments, the king's wing, the queen's wing, the Hall of Mirrors, and madames' apartments (the daughters of the king). Then I tooled around the gardens for a bit. While during the spring and summer, these gardens are stunningly gorgeous; they are much less so in November. I then toured the Grand and Petit Trianon palaces and their gardens. But the pièce de résistance was touring the Hamlet. It is adorable and makes me wish that I had the power that Marie-Antoinette had in order to create my own fake peasant village. I even found the perfect little house in that village. Alas, I do not have that power.

Check out all of my Versailles tour photos (there are a ton!) on my GToE photo site.

Originally, tomorrow I was supposed to head to northern France in order to tour Mont Saint Michel, but alas the tour was cancelled. I was the only person who had signed up for the tour. Instead, on Monday, I will be touring the Loire Valley Castles, which is equally cool. Now my museum hopping days will be tomorrow and Sunday. I'm starting with the Louvre tomorrow.

Versailles' green carpet and grand canal

Bonjour de Paris! (Day 31 - GToE)

Holy cow! I'm halfway through my trip! I cannot believe how quickly the time is flying by. 

Anyway, I made it to Paris! Yes! Last night I boarded the 10pm trip to Paris from Munich and arrived around 9:30 this morning. A 10 minute walk to my hostel and I was ready to revisit Paris. Today was all about rediscovering this city and see if I still love it as much as I did 14+ years ago. Well, I discovered that I still love Paris. Not necessarily Parisians but there is a reason why they call Paris "The City of Light". It's that light that makes this city just so amazing.

I began my revisit in the heart of Paris: Notre-Dame de Paris. This nearly 700 year old cathedral is a marvel. The most impressive parts of the cathedral are the beautiful stained glass windows, particularly the rose windows. After leaving the cathedral, I walked behind Notre-Dame and came across one of the many bridges in Paris. There were thousands of padlocks on the bridge. I've been seeing these padlocks on bridges all over Europe, but the sheer amount on this bridge was shocking. Locals and tourists leave these padlocks in honor of loved ones by writing a message on the lock and attaching it to the railing. Very sweet. I took a quick jaunt over the Ile St. Louis, which is a beautiful (and wealthy) island north of Notre-Dame. I did a little stroll through the Latin Quarter and then made a visit to the Gothic church, Sainte-Chapelle - more beautiful stained glass windows. I walked a bit along the Seine and then came to the oldest bridge in Paris - the Pont Neuf (the New Bridge). 

I decided to head over toward the Louvre. I did not tour the Louvre (or any museums) today. I'm planning 2 days of museum crawls on Sunday and Monday, but I did walk by the Louvre. I stopped for a bit of lunch (the very French dish, Quiche Lorraine was the choice today). After eating, I walked all the way up the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triumphe. Then, I walked over the Eiffel Tower for some fun photos of the structure (the line was way too long to go up, nor do I think it's worth 15 euros). 

It was time to head back to my hostel to check in and rest up. I don't have any plans tonight, but perhaps I can think of something to do. Or it might be an early night because tomorrow I'm spending the whole day at Versailles and that's going to be a long day.

Enjoy looking at my Day 30 photos of Paris on my GToE photo site.

A Sobering Visit to Dachau (Day 30 - GToE)

When I created my itinerary for my European trip, I knew that I wanted to visit a concentration camp in order to pay my respects for all the lives lost in the holocaust. The one that best fit my schedule was Dachau. A mere 20 minutes from my hostel via the S-Bahn, it is a sobering and moving visit.

First off, I need to rant about something. When I arrived at the memorial, I was expecting to walk through the iconic prisoner gate which bears the Nazi slogan "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work sets you free") only to find out that it was stolen Nov 1-2, 2014! (Read about it here.) What kind of scum sucking, dirtbag, mother fucking asshole steals the gate from a Nazi concentration camp memorial site?! I want to hunt the little shits down and beat the living snot out of them. It's very reminiscent of  when some Neo-Nazis stole the Auschwitz sign in 2006. Assholes! Yeah, I'm a little angry.

First some background information: Dachau was the first concentration camp created by the Nazis and acted as a forerunner for the rest of the camps. Originally, Dachau was to house political opponents of the Nazis, but expanded to include other classes of people (i.e., Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, criminals, and prisoners of war). Opened in 1933 by Himmler, prisoners lived in constant fear of brutal treatment and terror detention including standing cells, floggings, the so-called tree or pole hanging, and standing at attention for extremely long periods. There were 32,000 documented deaths at the camp, and thousands that are undocumented. On April 14, 1945, Himmler ordered the evacuation of the camp and the extermination of all inmates at Dachau, writing, "No prisoners shall be allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy alive."  Built to house 3,000 prisoners, by the time the camp was liberated on April 28, 1945, there were 30,000 prisoners.

The memorial has a wealth of information about the camp. What was once the maintenance building has now been turned into a museum, which is broken down into several sections: before the war (1933-1938), early in the war (1939-1942), late in the war (1942-1945), and after the war (1945-1965). The most disturbing and moving portion for me was the section that tells of the medical experiments conducted at the camp. Additionally, there is a 22-minute documentary about the camp which brings tears to the eyes with its graphic images. I cried quite a few times during my visit. 

Upon leaving the museum, I walked through the "bunker", which was a cell block for prominent "special prisoners" such as failed Hitler assassins, German religious leaders, and politicians who challenged Nazism. This building was where some of the more brutal tortures took place, in addition to murders. 

I then toured the reconstructed barracks where the bulk of the prison population was housed. The conditions in these barracks got steadily worse as the years went on. Barracks which were to house 200 men would have 2,000 actually living in them. Cramped quarters, little food, and much disease wreaked havoc on the lives and caused many of the deaths that happened. The tour continued with viewing the religious memorials (Jewish, Catholic, Protestant and Russian Orthodox). 

Finally, I visited the camp crematorium. There are actually two camp crematoriums, which were used to burn the bodies of prisoners who had died or been killed. The old crematorium was unable to handle the amount of bodies that the camp had, so a new and bigger crematorium was built. The new crematorium also had a gas chamber, which worked on the same principles as the one in Auschwitz, and was disguised as a shower room, complete with fake shower heads. There is no evidence that the gas chamber was ever used for large scale murder of prisoners but that there may have been experimental deaths. Outside of the crematorium are memorials for the "unknown prisoners" and the ashes and executions of prisoners. 

My visit to Dachau will stay with me for awhile. It was one of the most moving and gut-wrenching sties that I have visited. If you ever find yourself in Munich, please go visit the memorial. 

Tonight, I'm on the 10pm train to Paris. Check out the rest of my Dachau photos on my GToE photo site.

Churches, Palaces, and Beer in Munich (Day 29 - GToE)

I can honestly say that hostel living can be annoying. For instance, let's take this morning: two of my roommates got up at 5am and proceeded to make a ridiculous amount of noise between showering, blowing dry their hair, and other morning rituals. It's just sheer rudeness that these girls don't take other people into account. If I know I have to be up and out early on a given day, then I take my shower the night before, I pack up my suitcases and already have my clothes ready to change into with only the tiniest amount of noise to disturb the other residents. But the under-30 set are so self-centered that they just don't give a rat's arse

First a review of last night's viewing of Mozart's Requiem. It was spectacular. The chorus was magnificent, the soloists had the most amazing voices, and the orchestra was perfection. It was a lovely night. I even managed to snap a couple of photos of the chorus and orchestra. If I were having a funeral, I'd ask for the Requiem to be played, but since I'm not, I guess it's a moot point.

Anyway, today was a crappy, rainy, cold day. I've lucked out up until today. I've had a lot of overcast days but not many rainy days and up until today, the weather has been pretty mild. Oh well, all good things must end. Today, I toured Munich's central city. It's interesting that 80% of Munich was destroyed by Allied bombing in World War II (including nearly everything I saw today) but when it came to rebuild the city, the powers that be decided to reconstruct much of Munich so that it looked nearly the same as before the war. Truly incredible.

I started the day in Marielplatz (Mary's Square). This is the location of Munich's famous glockenspiel. A glockenspiel (or in English, carillon) is "a musical instrument that is typically housed in the bell tower (belfry) of a church or municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are serially played to produce a melody, or sounded together to play a chord" (Wikipedia). Munich's glockenspiel consists of 43 bells  and also re-enacts two stories from the 16th century, utilizing 32 life-sized figures. The top half of the Glockenspiel tells the story of the marriage of the local Duke Wilhelm V to Renata of Lorraine. In honour of the happy couple there is a joust with life-sized knights on horseback representing Bavaria (in white and blue) and Lothringen (in red and white). The Bavarian knight wins every time, of course. This is then followed by the bottom half and second story: Schäfflertanz (the coopers' dance). According to myth, 1517 was a year of plague in Munich. The coopers are said to have danced through the streets to "bring fresh vitality to fearful dispositions." The coopers remained loyal to the duke, and their dance came to symbolize perseverance and loyalty to authority through difficult times. At the very end, a rooster is supposed to crow three times, although for some reason it did not do it today. The show lasted approximately 7 minutes today, which is about 5-8 minutes shorter than usual. While I find the glockenspiel not really worth the time spent watching it, I did record it for you to see (video below). The figures start moving around 1:50.

Some other sites that I toured and/or saw today were: St. Peter's Church, the outdoor produce/meat market, the Jewish Synagogue, Asam Church, St. Michael's Church (which also has the crypt with King Ludwig II's tomb), Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), a bizarre Michael Jackson memorial, the famous Dallmayr Delicatessen, the equally famous beer hall - Hofbrauhaus, and the Residenz Museum, Residenz Treasury and Cuvillies Theater, which were all part of the winter palace of the Wittelsbach family.

The Residenz is humongous! I'm not even kidding. There is something to be said about limiting the amount of rooms that people can tour when viewing these palaces. The Residenz offers visitors 90 rooms to view, which is overwhelming to say the least. There is only so much luxury and information that a person can take in a given time. After viewing the Residenz Museum, I then walked through the Residenz Treasury, which is the museum of the Wittelsbachs jewels. Cuvillies Theater is the last part of the Residenz tour and is the former court theater for the Residenz. I loved the Cuvillies Theater. I can't imagine having my very own theater. It's very sweet inside.

It was a busy day filled with so many sights to be seen. After viewing the Residenz which took about 2.5 hours to get through everything, I made my last stop the Hofbrauhaus, where I had a much deserved late lunch/early dinner and a couple pints of their finest beer. Ah, it's good to be on vacation. Check out my Day 28 photos on my GToE photo site.

Tomorrow: a visit to Dachau. 

A Poorly Planned Day in Munich (Day 28 - GToE)

Hello again from Munich. Yeah, so I didn't really plan this day very well because I didn't get much done today. Oh well. There's always tomorrow and Wednesday, which both promise to be crappy weather days (rainy and cold). Ugh!

This morning, I decided to do a hop-on/hop-off bus tour of Munich, mostly because I wanted to get to Nymphenburg Palace, which was the summer residence of the former rulers of Bavaria (the House of Wittelsbach) and is located on the outskirts of town. I got on the bus at 10am and didn't get to the palace until 11:15. I learned a lot about Munich on that hour plus ride around Munich but it put me a little behind schedule. 

The palace is a Baroque style palace, which was built over the course of about 100 years, being expanded from a small central pavilion to a grand palace. While the palace is huge, there is only a small portion open to the public, as the Wittelsbachs still utilize a portion of the palace for their home. I've had a bit of a fascination with the House of Wittelsbach ever since I did a staged reading of a musical based around "Mad" King Ludwig, who was of the Wittelsbach House. Today, I saw the room in which he was born. Quite stunning. The rest of the royal residence isn't too shabby either.

After touring the palace, I hopped back on the bus and decided to get off at the painting galleries. While most of the art museums are closed on Mondays in Munich, there was one that was open - the Neue Pinakothek, which shows paintings from 1800 to 1920 - my favorite years for artwork. Yes, more Monet and Van Gogh. I got to see my third Van Gogh Sunflower painting of the trip. I believe I have seen all of them now, except the one that is in a private collection. 

After the museum, it was getting on toward 3:30 and it was too late to really do anything else. It's already getting dark and cold. I decided to return to my hostel. Before heading back though, I stopped by the Tourist Information center just to see if I could get tickets to see something tonight and managed to snag a ticket to see Mozart's Requiem. (I actually tried to get tickets to see Ed Sheeran tonight, but it was sold out.) So I'll be high brow tonight, instead of low brow. 

Time to think about where to have some dinner before heading to the concert. Check out my photos from Day 28 on my GToE photo site.

Where Ludwig II was born - very, very nice!

Confessions of a Solo Traveler

Greetings from Munich. I'll post another entry later today after I spend my first day touring Munich. But there's something I need to get off my chest:

The other day when I was on the Sound of Music tour, I got to chatting with Peter, the tour guide. He asked me if I were traveling on my own, to which I replied "yes". He's said "That's fantastic. You get to set your own schedule and go where you want when you want without worrying about others" and such other commentary. I concurred that those are the benefits of being a solo traveler and yet...

Okay, if we're going to be completely honest, there are pluses and minuses to traveling on your own. The pluses are pretty much set out above. I can keep my own schedule. If I decide to sleep in one day, I can (not that I have). If I change my mind on what I want to do today (which I do on occasion), I don't have to consult other people. These are all the fantastic benefits of solo travel.

What are the minuses? There are just as many. I carry the burden and costs all on my own. If something gets effed up, I'm screwed without anyone to help me deal with the fallout. But the worse part is that it is incredibly lonely. You see, most people travel with a companion or two or three or... well you get the idea. I watch them as I'm touring sites and am a bit envious. I've been in a mild funk a bit over the past few days (generally it hits me at night in my room) and it's not homesickness because I love this trip, but I just wish I had someone to share the experience with me. I know that there isn't anyone that I know who could have afforded (both financially and time-wise) to go with me, but it still makes for a lonely time on occasion.

Such is the eternal burden of my life. I miss my family and friends and still wish that I had a Mr. Darcy who could have accompanied me on this wonderful trip. Alas, 'twas not to be.