Linear is boring, anyway!

When last I blogged, I mused over the idea of life not always being an easy, linear path. My thoughts on the subject today: Linear is boring, anyway! I'll take the slower, more interesting, meandering path any day of the week.

The long and short of the story is that I found myself in the fortunate predicament of receiving multiple job offers and having the opportunity to choose a great job that's pretty much everything I wanted - bearing in mind that nothing is ever entirely perfect. I really couldn't be happier.

On reflection, I do tend to do things the hard way - on my own terms - but I also tend to land on my feet. I think a lot of people want to live life on their own terms; they're just fundamentally afraid of dealing with the consequences of doing so (i.e. they're more comfortable with the idea of what's easy and safe, than with the idea of what's precarious but "right" on a personal level). I guess my philosophy is simply that life is too short NOT to live it on your own terms. I'm a supreme advocate of preparing for worst case scenarios but, once done, I believe in bulldozing full-steam ahead and taking control of your personal power. Once you've harnessed your personal power, you've already won. IMO, "losing" is the impotence that comes from giving that personal power away to an external entity...

Not always an easy, linear path

In the interest of procrastination, I think I'll update this blog...

I basically found myself out of a job at the end of August in conjunction with a corporate acquisition. As fate would have it, I then wound up re-injuring my knee and having to cancel my trip to Peru at the last minute. (That still makes me sad - but one day I will get to Peru. I promise.) I wish I could say that I have a good/funny explanation for how I re-injured myself, but I don't; the truth is rather pathetic and a sure sign that I'm getting older. I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you. (I wouldn't want news of something like my human frailty getting out, you know?)

Anyway, the knee injury also forced me to reevaluate my daydream of heading to SE Asia for a few months in my new-found unemployment. Physical limitations suck, but it's better to recognize them than to wind up in some remote location needing a med-evac or something of the like.

Allowing myself time to recover from the knee injury basically brought me into the holiday season, when hiring traditionally tapers off and people think about more important things like their families and their own vacations. I did, however, fly up to Oregon for third-round interviews with two companies--which meant I was also able to squeeze in a wonderful weekend visiting old friends and colleagues in Eugene. I got to visit the old Whiteaker neighborhood where I used to live, eat at Keystone, and take a nostalgic tour of the old college campus. End result: I felt younger and more optimistic than I have in years - and that's a good thing.

I'm not sure what the future holds, but I'm staying positive. Life is about growth and evolution - and that's not always an easy, linear path. And that's okay. I'm a spiritual person and my motivators are not strictly financial. I would rather be "happy" than rich; I would rather be "fulfilled" than merely existing. And, yes, these are idealistic notions - but why not? It's not like this thing called life is a dress rehearsal. It's up to each of us to make our dreams come true; it's up to each of us to find our place in the world. No one else is going to do it for us; that's for darn sure!

In the meantime, I'm building skills by taking programming courses: C, JavaScript, AJAX, etc. Woo?

Also, I'm saddened to report that it appears Spirit Airlines has canceled their LAX-GUA route - so I'm not likely to (affordably) return to Guatemala any time soon. I'm glad I took advantage of it while I could!

Would you change?

On my way back from Guatemala, I spent a lot of time listening to music since I couldn't sleep. Over and over, I heard lyrics from Tracy Chapman's song "Change" taunting me, challenging me to think, to reassess:

If you knew that you would die today
If you saw the face of God and Love
Would you change?
Would you change?

....

If everything you think you know
Makes your life unbearable
Would you change?
Would you change?
Would you change?

Recap: Guatemala

Well... I'm back from Guatemala. (Actually, I got back weeks ago - but then dealt with the Mayan version of Montezuma's Revenge for ~2wks and got busy with work, so I just haven't felt like posting.)

In a nutshell, Guatemala was great!

I got a friend to drive me up to LAX on her way to a Muay Thai fight, and then waited a LONG time for my 1am flight down to Guatemala City on Spirit Airlines. I think I was literally the only Caucasian person on the flight down; people definitely kept looking at me like "are you sure you're in the right place?" but no big deal. I landed in Guatemala City - which, I noted from the air, is a lot greener than expected - went through customs and got my passport stamped, worked my way through the international arrivals hallway, and then found myself dumped outside with the taxis which was not exactly where I wanted to be, since I had a domestic flight to Flores to catch. I explained my dilemma to a taxi driver and he pointed me to the main airport entrance, so I just walked through the parking lot and up a ramp and went back in that way. I made my flight to Flores with no problem; the airplane, however, was perhaps the smallest I've ever been on. :)

Once I got to Flores, I still had to figure out how to get to Tikal (which was ~1hr away). For one person alone, it could've cost as must as $40USD if you were stupid. I made friends w/a couple people and we split a minibus for $10USD/person - which was still expensive, but I didn't want to wait hours to find the only other transportation I'd heard about. Fortunately, the little bumfuck airport in Flores had a bank / ATM and I was able to get some Quetzales; I'd been unable to do so back in Guatemala City. (It was also fortunate I'd brought a "backup" ATM card with a VISA logo. My primary card has a MasterCard logo - and wasn't accepted in Flores.) Anyway, I make it to my little hotel in the jungle at Tikal - after driving through landscape with free range horses, having to stop for suckling pigs to cross the road, and going through an armed checkpoint into the park. I think they must've upgraded me since it was low season in the jungle (i.e. rainy season), because I got a whole three-bed bungalow w/ceiling fan, private bathroom, and covered porch w/a hammock to myself. It was cute and surprisingly bug-free, but the place only had electricity for a couple hours a day (10am-1pm, and 6-9pm) so you were still definitely in the jungle.

After crashing on my bed and falling asleep to monsoonal rain, I woke up near 4pm and decided to go for a wander in the park to see some Mayan temples and watch the sunset. I bought my entrance ticket (50Q) which was also good for the next day, since it was so late in the afternoon. I then went way out in search of Temple VI because I didn't want to be around other people. Walking through the jungle entirely by yourself as it gets closer to dark is definitely something; the jungle comes ALIVE with sound the darker it gets and the howler monkeys (which I wasn't convinced could even be monkeys based on the creepy sound they emit) were getting closer and closer. Alas, after all my sweating to get out to Temple VI, it wasn't really that impressive - d'oh! - and I decided to find my way out of the jungle before it got completely dark. [Later, I read in my guidebook that lone females have supposedly been raped out in that area – but guidebooks contain a lot of often unnecessary cautions, so who knows. It seemed fine to me.]

The next morning, I was up and in the park as soon as they opened at 6am. Unfortunately, it was the wrong time of year to watch the sunrise from atop a temple - as it was already up(ish) by the time the park opened. Still, there's really no one in the park at that hour and all the birds and monkeys and other critters are most active then. Plus, there are just no words for climbing a Mayan temple in the morning mist and having absolutely no other human around. Just me. Just that experience. I'll never forget it. I hiked through almost all of the ruins, which was definitely a task as it was murderously hot and humid by 6:30am. Eventually, I made it out of the ruins and just laid in my hammock for the rest of the day.

The next day, I intended to go back into the ruins again but just couldn't bring myself to do it. I was pooped and just slept underneath the fan until I had to check out and take my little $5USD collectivo back to Flores. A collectivo is basically the same as a minibus/van, but one which they cram lots more people into. How many people can fit in a collectivo, you ask? Well, I can vouch for at least 18! We threw our luggage on the roof rack and were packed in like sardines. It let us out at the entrance to Isla Flores (the island of Flores) and I ate lunch with an Italian woman working in Panama before we shared a tuk-tuk back to my motel in Santa Elena and she continued on to the airport. I could've stayed on the island of Flores, but I had an early flight and wanted to be able to walk to the airport. Unfortunately, while the motel seemed okay initially, I wound up fending off giant cockroaches that started climbing the walls after dark. I half-dozed with every stinking light on, until I got up and left for the airport. Oh well. (But I swear - they had more bugs than their sister hotel in the middle of the jungle! And roaches really creep me out for some reason...)

My flight back to Guatemala City was only interesting in that the security people confiscated my nail clippers and rounded tweezers (because I was so obviously going to hijack the plane w/my tweezers!), in that I met an American GI (who's Guatemalan) who lied and told me my Spanish was really good, and in that our plane was a normal-sized jet liner. I didn't think an airplane that size could fit on the runway, but I guess it did. Hands down, though, it was the steepest/sharpest takeoff I can remember. Once back in Guatemala City, I decided to ask at the tourism info desk how to get to Antigua (since, frankly, Guatemala City looked a bit sketchy and I didn't want to take chances w/safety as a solo female traveler who's not fluent in the local language). The woman at the desk directed me to a shuttle/minibus service where I paid $10USD for the ~1hr ride to Antigua. The more we wove our way through Guatemala City, with its erratic drivers, bizarre streets and vehicles belching smoke at every turn, the more I realized paying for a shuttle was worth it.

Antigua, itself, is a charming old colonial town (that used to be the capital back in the 1700's) surrounded by three volcanoes. It's beautiful. Much to my amusement, it's also apparently popular on the hippie-wannabe backpacker circuit. I wonder, sometimes, what others think of "Americans" if that's all they see of us. As a rule, I have no problem w/either hippies or the wannabes (I mean, shit, I went to college in Eugene!), but I just don't enjoy people who's sole motivation to travel is only to go out and get pissed/stoned/whatever every night - and nothing else. But, I digress.

On my first full day in Antigua, I stumbled on a once-a-year Catholic procession just as it was starting. I couldn't get a lot of info about the procession; however, I understood that it was related to the body of Christ. There was also something about how everyone goes to church on Sunday, but nine Sunday's were special - but I didn't really understand that because the procession happened on a Thursday. (D'oh! - rudimentary language skills from compulsory elementary school Spanish decades ago in NM!) Aside from that, I really just spent my time in Antigua relaxing. I shopped a bit, ate a bit, watched people in the park, visited the old ruined buildings in the city, got invited to Mass, etc, etc It was great and relaxing :) If I hadn't gotten royally sunburned during the religious procession (drat that closer-to-the-equator sun!), I would've gone on a volcano trek to Pacaya - but I knew better than to climb a volcano and roast myself on lava rocks at that point.

I then got a shuttle/minibus from the hostel back to the airport in Guatemala City ($8USD), caught my flight but only slept maybe 30min out of 5.5hrs, landed at LAX and took forever to get through customs (where I, curiously, got a US stamp in my passport - WTF?), met a Guatemalan guy who offered for me to go home and crash at his place in Van Nuys after he learned I'd also come back from Guatemala (a non-sketchy offer more in keeping w/the notion of Guatemalan hospitality - though I still declined), caught the Flyaway shuttle from LAX to Union Station sometime after 1am, got to Union Station around 2am and actually found an Amtrak employee so I was able to buy a ticket down to Oceanside on a bus that left at ~3am, arrived at the OSD transit station at ~5am and called my mom to come pick me up. Oy. I was tired, but it was nice watching the sun come up in Oceanside. Each time I go away and come back, I realize how blessed I am to live where I do. It's beautiful, here.

That said, if I can find another amazing fare to Guatemala City on Spirit, I'll definitely go again... (However, I may very well travel with a small amount of Cipro in case I run into travel-stomach-funk issues again. That was no fun!)

Corpus Christi en Antigua

Okay, I lied. I´m logging in again - luxury of a hostel w/free internet and mid-afternoon thunderstorms. :)

By the time I finally dragged myself out this morning - after a tasty but curious omlette at the hostel - I stumbled into a fascinating religious procession just as it was about to start. It was something about the Body of Christ and happens only once a year. It was a mixture of priests, the devout, Catholic school kids, interested and faithful from all around, and military police. There were fire crackers (not the "ooh, pretty" fireworks one might usually think of, but simply fire crackers that made noise and smoked), a marching band reminiscent of a New Orleans funeral, flowers laid in the street, confetti thrown from the church, etc, etc. All in all, it was great - the kind of random thing that´s right up my alley when travelling.

Aside from that, just random walking about town, looking in on churches and ruins, and being invited in to Mass. (Seems like I may be going to Mass more these days than some Catholics I know... Odd.)

Live: from Antigua

Signing in briefly from Antigua, Guatemala - to let folks know I´m still alive.

What I´ve seen of Guatemala so far is a mixture of the expected and unexpected. Yes, there armed guards all over the place; yes, there is poverty; yes, you hear stories or encounter other travelers who have been robbed (usually while doing something dumb); yes, Mayan ruins are breathtaking; yes, the jungle is extraordinarily hot and humid during the rainy season. However, the people are largely warm and lovely - which means they´re willing to work with my awful Spanish (a largely disused holdover from my early childhood in New Mexico).

I´ll sign on again from home with more of a proper travel log... For now, I just want to enjoy the most of my few remaining days here. I have no agenda, no real concerns of touristic goals - and it feels wonderful. I just want to wander around, people watch and eat local food. :)

Random tidbit: Even if I didn´t know a little Spanish, "You have really beautiful hair" comes across pretty much the same in any language... (This, coming from one of the employees where I was staying in Tikal.)

Since when is insect repellent exciting?

Apparently since now... I just got back from buying a few odds n' ends at the store:

• rain poncho (jungle green, thank you very much)
• 1oz insect repellent
  
• mini carabiners (since you can never have too many)
  

And I'm quite childishly pleased with these new additions because it means... [drum roll, please] ...that I'm hitting the road again in a couple days. Even though it's just a short trip, I'm in dire need of a change of scenery and perspective shift - and, thus, insect repellent apparently excites me as a symbol of the travel yet to come. :)

I also finally got off my lazy behind today and decided to just bite the bullet and book the flight from Guatemala City to Flores so I don't have to deal with overnight chicken buses to get up to El Peten on such a short trip. Assuming my arrival in GUA isn't delayed overmuch, I should be able to make it through customs and go straight to the boarding area for my domestic flight - with time to spare. I'm still working out lodging, but there's always a bed somewhere so I'm sure it'll be fine...

Reawakening - and fretting over chicken buses

Wow. It's been 7mo since my last post. How did that happen?

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of involving myself in more "meaningful" endeavors, as I wrote in my last entry. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I quickly got sucked back into the corporate drone mentality after I got back from Europe and haven't really allowed myself the opportunity to explore other aspects of my life, as a result. (Between work and school - which has included courses in Perl, PHP, shell scripting, XHTML and Javascript - I've just been predictably "busy". I did, however, manage short trips to Portland, OR and Austin, TX...so that's something...)

Now, however, I'm turning my mind again toward feeding my spirit, and again toward international travel - albeit in shorter, quinessentially American spurts. I have a 1wk trip to Guatemala coming up in early June and a 2wk trip to Peru in early October - both solo trips. I'm excited!

I plan to continue my theme of exploring religious sites and other "places of power" wherever I go; it's just who I am. Whether I'm an academic or just another cubicle drone, it's in my nature to explore the spiritual world from a variety of different angles and a variety of places. I hope that never changes...

As I prep for my trip to Guatemala, though, the dilemma of the moment is two-fold:

1. To ride the chicken bus or not to ride the chicken bus? I've read plenty of accounts from people who suggest it's NOT a good thing to ride tourist-class buses in Guatemala because you're basically painting a target on yourself saying "I have money" and that tourist-class buses frequently get stopped/robbed by guys with machine guns. On the flip side, in order to avoid the tourist-class bus, I'd have to take the chicken bus from Zona 1 in Guatemala City - and that seems to be uncertain in terms of safety, as well. (My guide book references robberies and even murders on board local chicken buses. The U.S. Dept of State paints a predictably sketchy picture, too.) To my own chagrin, I have to admit that the more I read, the more anxious I'm getting - but, at the same time, I think to myself "Well, there are whole travel books dedicated to Guatemala, whereas I only ever found a 1pg entry for Bosnia before I went there - and it turned out to be both safe and wonderful..." Not really sure what to think, though...
   
2. To go to Tikal, or not to go to Tikal? I fly in to GUA. Domestic flights from GUA to Flores are ~$100 each way - so very expensive for Guatemala. The only other real option seems to be taking two overnight chicken buses from GUA to Flores (~$15 each way) - one there, one back - and that doesn't exactly sound like fun. Hmm...

Depart: June 2nd (for Guatemala City)
Return: June 10th

Looking back to look forward

I've been getting a lot of the "so how is it to be back???" type of question since getting back home. The truth is that it's both good and bad. First of all, I'm not going to lie: I had a 20min love affair w/my bed after I finally got home on Thursday night (i.e. "I love my bed. I love my pillow. I love my sheets. I love my blankets." etc). I also love having actual toilets (i.e. not squat toilets and not toilets w/out seats) and toilet paper. Readjusting to other things are a challenge, though - like sitting in front of a computer all day, immediately starting a Perl programming course at a local community college, going to Wal-Mart and seeing the rather disgusting force that is American consumerism - combined w/our warped sense of "need" v. "want", etc.

Overall, I think my mind is still trying to process the experiences of the last two months and I think it will be a while before I feel like I've really integrated what I've learned along the way. There's a big part of me that will be searching for ways to involve myself in more "meaningful" endeavors in the coming months, but I still have to work on defining "meaningful" in that context. For now, we'll just have to wait and see what the future brings...

That said...

Am I glad that I went? Hell yes.
Would I do it again? Hell yes.

When in Rome...

Rome is...something else. I went w/the somewhat naive expectation that it was just going to be fantastic to see classical Rome (after all, I'd had such a positive experience at Pompeii); however, it turned out that classical Rome really underwhelmed me. It's not that it wasn't impressive or meaningful; it just wasn't what I thought it would be while I was sitting at home watching it on tv (a la Rick Steves, or the travel geek/guru of your choice). On the flip-side, religious Rome totally overwhelmed me in a positive and unexpected way. Point being that you just can't predict how you're going to react to certain places; it's all about the experience of being there...

So... I arrived in Rome after 1hr on the Circumvesuviana between Sant' Agnello and Naples, and the 2hr train betw Naples and Rome. I lucked out & didn't have to wait very long in Naples for a train. (I guess by that time, I had good train karma or something.) My hostel in Rome was just...sad; I won't go into details beyond that, but trust me. It revealed itself as increasingly sad as the days passed. If it weren't for the fact that I would've had to waste my limited time in Rome searching for another affordable place, I would've just moved someplace else & written off the money I paid there up-front. But, I digress... The good thing about the hostel was its location. I was ~5-7min walk from the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine, which was great. Trevi Fountain was ~10min walk & the Spanish Steps were ~15min walk. (To me Trevi & the Spanish Steps were ridiculously overhyped tourist spots that I could've done w/out. I snapped a few photos at Trevi, but didn't even bother at the Spanish Steps...) Vatican City was ~45min-1hr walk, depending on your speed.

My first afternoon, I just visited the Forum and gawked at the Colosseum from the outside. It's architecturally and historically impressive, but the tourist curiosity outside it (inc. photo ops w/guys Roman solider costumes, a wide array of overpriced "tour guides" shouting/touting their services in several languages, and the bevvy of Indian and African guys selling their wares) is something to be seen.

The next day, I bought the Palatine/Colosseum combo ticket (i.e. visited Palatine Hill & went into the Colosseum), and then went to the "Pope's Church" i.e. the Basilica of St. Giovanni in Laterano, and the Scala Santa. The basilica is impressive in its own right, but the Scala Santa (aka Sacred Stairs) are something else. It's a big Catholic pilgrimmage spot where you can climb a staircase in front of a crucifix, but you can only climb it on your knees while praying at each step. When I was there, the stairs were packed w/the faithful; there was literally no space left and people were standing in line waiting for their opportunity to climb on their knees - including old women who could barely walk to begin with. A powerful sight.

Other than that, I went to a horde of churches and basilicas (because they're beautiful - and FREE), visited the Capucchin crypt containing the remains of ~4000 Capucchin monks (similar in nature to the Kutna Hora ossuary, but more powerful in terms of symbolism), went window shopping in Italian boutiques, visited the Vatican and did the whole Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel thing.

The first time I went to the Vatican, I got there in the morning before 9am & intended to go straight to the Sistine Chapel, but wasn't smart enough to figure out where I needed to go. So... I went inside St. Peter's Basilica & it was mostly like "my own private Vatican". I saw masses going on in three different languages (simultaneously, in different chapels), but there were very few tourists in the basilica at that hour. It was lovely and somewhat surreal. I also went through the Tombs of the Popes, and witnessed the profound emotion people had while praying before the tomb of John Paul II. Eventually, after standing in line for ~1.5hrs, I did make it to the museum and to the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel was "interesting". Yes, Michaelangelo's work is fantastic and awe-inspiring. However, for me, I was more amazed that people kept trying to sneak photos when it's made abundantly clear that no photos are allowed, and that most people focused only on a single panel of the ceiling, rather than really stopping to LOOK at what was there. For me, that single panel of ceiling is nice but not the most impressive or intriguing; it pays to keep your eyes open. I was also in awe of the fact that people were spending <5min or so actually in the chapel, while it took Michaelangelo something like 20yrs of work to paint the ceiling. I kept thinking of the amount of himself (i.e. personal power / life force / what have you) he'd invested in the ceiling; it's really quite humbling.

Now, if you know me, you know I've had some, uh, "differences of opinion" with The Church - and, of course, the Vatican is completely symbolic of The Church; however, I was surprised to find that I really felt a sense of peace inside. It didn't matter that my beliefs differed from those of at least 99% of those present; we were all (or mostly all) there as spiritual people - and it was beautiful in that sense. I walked around the basilica and found tears coming of their own accord. The experience of being there wasn't about our differences; it wasn't about problems or centuries of grievances; it was about finding similarity and appreciating Beauty and Spirit. That was something I could totally get on board with...

I actually went back to the Vatican on my last afternoon. I wanted to buy a rosary there; it was that powerful and I wanted to remember it. My second Vatican experience was decidedly different than my first, though: there were hordes of tourists present and there was actually a LINE to get into the basilica. I wound up buying two rosaries from the Vatican Post Office outside the basilica (having mailed a few post cards from Vatican City the day before & noticed that they had an assortment of affordable options) and then sitting at the base of a column in the rotunda to write in my journal for a bit. Eventually, the line started going down & moving faster, so I decided that I'd go in the basilica one last time. (After all, how many times are you really in Vatican City, anyway?) It turned out to be perfect timing. Once inside, I learned that mass was going to be held at the high altar (though not the papal altar) in 15min. So... I decided to go.

Not being Catholic (and understanding what a big thing mass at the Vatican is), I didn't want to sit front-and-center; instead, I opted to sit in the 2nd-from-the-back row of pews, on the far left. Ironically, I couldn't have picked a better place if I'd tried. From where I was sitting, I had a completely unobstructed view of the processional of priests and altar boys coming in from the sacristy - candles and cross raised high, massive censor swinging and smoke billowing out. It was breathtaking. I've never seen anything quite like it. The tears just started pouring down my cheeks and continued through a good part of mass (in Castillian Spanish). I know the Spanish women near me were a little surprised at first by the tears, but I noticed them all with wet cheeks as the mass progressed; there was just something powerful about the ritual and powerful about being there at that moment.

After the mass, I just had time to walk back across town, grab some food, grab my bags at the hostel and walk to the train station to catch the 2nd-to-last Leonardo Express to the airport. (I spent the night in the airport since I had a 6am international flight...too early for public transit.)

Now, I'm no more Catholic than I ever was; however, I really couldn't have ended my trip in a better way. The resounding theme of my trip was of spiritual journey and recentering, working through "issues", reconciling death and impermanence, and just letting myself be "in the moment" and open to appreciating each new experience again. Attending mass at the high altar of the Vatican was definitely symbolic of that...

In the shadow of Vesuvius

I thoroughly enjoyed my time around the Amalfi Coast. I spent 5 nights in Sant' Agnello, a suburb of Sorrento. It rained 2 of the days I was there, but it was still good. I spent a couple of afternoons in Sorrento, took a crazy bus ride down to Amalfi (during which the bus driver totally rammed a parked scooter into the wall - it had to be physically pried out from between the bus and the wall before we could continue on) and, of course, went to Pompeii & Herculeneum. In the end, though, I just couldn't be bothered to head out to Capri or Ischia; I opted for a day lounging about and reading in the hostel garden instead. (Believe it or not, you sometimes do need a vacation from your vacation...)

For me, the Amalfi Coast was too touristy - full of sunbirds with money to blow, like I imagine Miami to be. Pompeii was amazing, though. I spent much longer at Pompeii than many (~5hrs) & then went through Herculeneum rather quickly (~1.5hrs) because I was in full sensory overload. It's hard to put into words how I felt walking through those streets or standing in the Pompeii amphitheatre, but it was very powerful. I also loved that there was greenspace where I could escape the throngs of tourists and just be by myself, appreciating the fact that I was actually at Pompeii after all the years I've spent dreaming of going there. (It also didn't hurt the overall experience that I kept running into the very attractive Swedish art teacher from my hostel...) I think the thing that suprised me about Pompeii and Herculeneum, though, was just how far they are from Vesuvius; seeing the distance with my own eyes allowed me to better appreciate just how strong the volcanic explosion must've been...

More than anything, though, my time in Sant' Agnello convinced me that those living in the shadow of Vesuvius are the "forgotten Italians" - if there be such a thing. I rode the Circuvesuviana train a fair bit, and the towns between Sorrento and Naples are in rather "interesting" shape - more like Tijuana or parts of Romania than you'd expect to find in Italy. There are towns like Via Nocera where young children get on the train for a few stops & play cheap plastic accordians trying to get $$ from the tourists; they do this every day, all day - and they're school age children. So, what, maybe they make 1-2 Euro/day? Is it worth it? Scenes like this are definitely what they try not to have the tourists see - or at least what they hope we don't remember. Then again, maybe that's part of the distinction between tourists and travellers: tourists likely won't remember scenes like that, whereas travellers will. Just a thought...

Napoli!

Ciao from Napoli (aka Naples). I arrived at my hostel around 1pm, got a free map and some advice (including the tidbit about it being some kind of a municipal holiday so museums were free), and set out on the town...

Everyone says bad things about Naples. It's dirty; it's not safe; it's ugly. (I could go on.) However, I actually think Naples isn't bad. To me, it's less sketchy than some parts of Tijuana...

Anyway, the one things I really wanted to do here was visit the Museum Nazionale (which houses all the artifacts that have been removed from Pompeii). Getting in for free was a bonus. There were some stunning black marble statues with haunting white eyes (not from Pompeii), amazing Pompeii mosaics, a special phallic/sexual art archive section, and what was the most interesting to me...busts and statues from the temple to Isis (who knew?) and a gorgeous icon of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi (again, who knew).

I also got into some Palace for free - and need to do some research to understand what exactly I was seeing. :) Other than that and general photo snapping (e.g. of Mt Vesuvius across the bay), I just had time for some genuine Napoli pizza. Good stuff. :)

Tomorrow, I'm off to Sorrento (or, actually, someplace slightly outside it) where I plan to base myself for 5 nights so I can see Pompeii/Herculeneum, the Amalfi Coast, and Capri...

Tuscany, O Tuscany...

On Thursday, I took a daytrip to Siena by bus. Siena (and the Tuscan countryside we drove through) is beautiful, no question about it. I went w/a German girl from my dorm and we caught the last bus back to Florence that night because we were busy seeing so much... Everything we did was pretty much religious in nature: a combined ticket got us into the cathedral, baptistry, crypt, and museum. We also walked around & visited others churches that were free.

By sheer luck, we happeneded to be there during the short time of year when the mosaic floors of the duomo are uncovered. Very, very cool. It was really interesting, too, to look around the duomo and realize how much pre-Christian symbolism was present; it was all over the place. (Side note: There's also pre-Christian and Judaic symbolism on the exterior of the Duomo here in Florence. I spent a while just walking around & looking at it last night. It's kind of like they intentionally included the symbolism of other traditions so that they would feel included/welcome in the new tradition.)

Yesterday, I got up early and got to the Uffizi before 7:30am to start standing in line so that I could get in reasonably. (They open at 8:15am.) I was one of the first 20 people to buy a ticket & get in, but that would not have been the case if I was a few minutes later - by that time, there were literally a few hundred people in line. Crazy. That said, the sacrifice of getting up early (and the high 9.5 € price tag) was totally worth it; the artwork & sculpture was amazing. There were, of course, highlights such as Boticelli's "Birth of Venus" and assorted works by Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael - and even Rembrandt - but I really found that I enjoyed the lesser known (to me) artists. ...and I was smart enough to start writing down their names so that I can research them later... :)

Today, I've just been wandering around visiting churches that are free, sitting in the park watching little Italian grandmothers play with their grandchildren, and generally just relaxing. That's part of what makes a trip like this enjoyable, I think - having the time to be able to do that.

I also booked my train down to Naples for tomorrow morning & actually made reservations for my remaining destinations in Italy. I'm reaching the somewhat surrealistic point where thoughts of home, and of the end of this trip, are starting to manifest. ...but I'm doing my best to block out those thoughts for at least another week :)

Venice & Florence

I took the night train from Vienna to Venice. 12hrs. It was, hands down, the nicest night train experience I've had. The train was mostly clean, had toilet paper, had only 4 people in my 6-bed couchette, required no passport check (since both countries were EU countries) and even had little extras (like mini water bottles when you boarded and coffee/rolls for breakfast). After spending so many of my train rides outside the EU, I think I've gotten used to lesser quality; these days I'm easy to impress :)

That said, it was raining in Vienna when I left - and raining in Venice when I arrived w/out reservations. Not good for a cold. I bought an umbrella tried some hostels (which were full) and then got a recommendation for a 1-star hotel that also had a dormitory for 20€/nt. I jumped on that because I needed someplace to stay. The rain let up a bit, so I went out for a walk - and then proceeded to get caught in a major downpour. I bought a geeked-out raincoat/poncho, huddled under an overhang, and watched how the Venetians dealt w/ the weather. (Actually, I think that's when I fell in love w/ Venice.) People were so good natured about the weather - laughing and smiling and singing and playing accordian; it was great.

Only stayed two night in Venice (because that "hotel" really was a pit - I'll have to describe it when I get back to do it justice), but had a great time. I went to the Guggenheim museum, Palazzo Ducale and a couple other museums. I walked across a flooded Piazza San Marco & went into the cathedral. I also walked into a variety of small churches, and got myself lost in the back alleys of Venice. Good fun.

Venice seems to be a place that hit or miss among travelers; for me, it was a definite hit. If I have then opportunity (and make actual reservations for something not crap), I'd love to return...

This morning, though, I caught a train to Bologna and then another to Florence (arriving at 3pm). Again, I didn't have reservations. This time, however, I hit gold on my first attempt. I'm staying at the Novella Inn for 20€/nt. Clean, spacious dorm, great bathroom w/ hot water - again, I'm easy to please these days. I've booked 5 nights here so that I have time to really see Florence. So far, I love it - and I've just walked about with a German dorm mate.

I didn't really intend to have internet time, but I got stuck chatting/walking with a seemingly nice Indian guy, but I didn't want him to see where I'm staying and internet here is comparatively cheap. So...

Vienna wrap-up

I never really found that part of Vienna that I loved - though I really liked the subway. : ) I made a fairly decent attempt at seeing the sights, though, for being sick. (Somewhere between the cold nights in Cesky Krumlov & the warm weather in Vienna, I got quite a cold - which has continued through for a while.)

I felt fairly proud as a psychologist that I made the effort to visit the Sigmund Freud museum. It was his Vienna house and office (not terribly exciting, but still obligatory for me) and then saw a very interesting exhibition upstairs that had all kinds of different couches, some scary looking paraphernalia from old sanitariums and even a video clip from Star Trek TNG (where Data is psychoanalyzed by Freud on the holodeck). Very surreal to be watching Star Trek (in English) in Freud's house in Vienna... Of course, you'll get no complaints out of me...

I also saw the Schonbrunn gardens (and the exterior of the palace), Karlskirche (and a very cool bear buddy exhibit), assorted street fairs, etc.

First Thoughts on Vienna

Getting from Cesky Krumlov to Vienna was easy. I took the shuttle bus to Linz and the caught a train to Vienna. My hostel here is cheap (13.5 €) and pretty decent for a mega-hostel (i.e. it isnt a party hostel the way some others in the area are). I can't say that much positive yet about Vienna. I extended my stay to 4 nights because I'm feeling somewhat sick (weather here is still summer-ish, whereas Cesky Krumlov was closer to SAN winters in the evenings) and because I really want to try to find some part of Vienna that I love...

So far, I've just walked around town and gazed at the amazingly ornate buildings from the outside, visited a handful of cathedrals (which are free, yay!), hung out in Sigmund Freud park, and visited a few local bars. Don't get me wrong, the architecture here is quite nice; however, it's so much that I find it overpowering and really quite difficult to appreciate much of anything. Even the Stephansdom cathedral (which some American ex-pats living in Vienna talked up when we met in Prague) isn't that impressive to me. Oh well; you can't win 'em all, I guess.

Side notes: The € is my 6th and final currency on this trip. I'm glad to be able to stick with something for at least a couple of weeks... I leave for Venice Saturday night. (Affordable accommodation in Salzburg just isn't available, no matter how much I might like it to be - presumably due to people heading this way early for Oktoberfest.)

Cesky Krumlov

I took the bus from Prague to Cesky Krumlov. It was very easy & cheaper than the train; it also did not require changing in Ceske Budejovice, which was good. As I was walking up from the bus station in Cesky Krumlov, all I heard was Pink Floyd wafting through the trees that obscured the town. Odd, but welcome - one of those little things that lets you know you're in exactly the right place at exactly the right moment. (It turns out a Czech tribute band was putting on an open air Floyd concert that night. I didn't even have to pay because I could watch from a lookout point near my hostel.)

The hostel I'm at right now (Krumlov House) is really more of a communal living situation in a regular house. I love it. The people are amazingly friendly & it's a welcome dose commraderie. I went mushroom and berry picking in the woods the other morning with a few people and we made a mushroom cream pasta sauce w/our findings. (The guy working the hostel first reviewed the mushrooms to ensure they weren't poisonous, but I was still a little nervous; the mushrooms turned blue when you cut them and then a little red when cooked down. Interesting...) There's also great vegetarian food in Cesky Krumlov & interesting/affordable bars (e.g. Horor Bar). Overall, this town has been a welcome respite from Prague and Croatia - just a quiet place to chill by the river, in the forest, or wandering about the old buildings; it just gets cold here at night, which is really bringing home the message that it's basically Fall now and that I may have to think about buying warmer clothes and/or actual shoes... :)

Tomorrow, I take a shuttle bus to Linz, Austria (450CZK or ~$18USD, only 1.5hrs) and then a train to Vienna (another 1.5hrs). I wanted to go to Salzburg, but the hostel situation was not looking good (i.e. most affordable things were booked). We'll see how Vienna goes... So far, I've only booked 3 nights there...

Kutna Hora ossuary

Yesterday, I went to the ossuary (i.e. bone church) in Kutna Hora. A nice gay guy from my dorm at the hostel (who was curiously from Denton, TX - of all places) tagged along because he also wanted to go and had no idea how to get there on his own. We walked to the Prague Florenc bus station, caught the bus to Kutna Hora w/minutes to spare, and had an easy 1.5hr trip for the bargain price of 76Kc. Fortunately, once in Kutna Hora, there was an information map at the bus station and we figured out how to get to the ossuary on foot. (I had no idea about where it was in relation to the bus station; I just chose the bus because it's cheaper and, frankly, I prefer buses to trains because I'm strange like that.)

The ossuary, itself, was impressive, curious, and much smaller than I expected. I suppose it could be viewed as controversial (i.e. exploitative), but I choose to look at it from an artistic perspective that expresses the impermanence of life and tries to create something beautiful out of death. So, I loved it. It seemed fitting that I light a candle there, amongst so many others that have died, for those that have passed away in my life this year...

Getting back from Kutna Hora was mildly interesting. We caught a 5pm bus for 70Kc...that dropped everyone off at a metro station on the outskirts of Prague, rather than at the Florenc station. I also didn't have change to buy metro tickets and there's no means of getting change, unless you find a nice person who can break something into small coins. I didn't. Anyway, we hopped on the metro sans tickets and had to switch metro lines at the main station to get back to the hostel. Not a big deal in the sceme of things, but I was mildly paranoid that the "black rider" ticket guy was going to catch us w/out tickets & fine us the 400Kc (~$16USD)...which would've sucked... (I mean, come on, 400Kc is like 1-2 good classical concerts...)

Prague - quick thoughts

Prague is lovely. The architecture is beautiful and the city is so compact that walking almost anywhere a tourist/traveller would want to go is not a big deal. It's just...different for me than Budapest (which is much bigger).

I've walked around and seen most of the "usual suspects" (got to take photos on my 2nd day, since it rained the 1st). I went to a classical concert in the Church of St. Nicholas in the old town (which is, to my amusement, different than St. Nicholas' Church/Cathedral) and was actually able to appreciate "lighter" classical music (flutes/harps) for the first time; I think the excellent acoustics combined w/the visuals helped. I went to a somewhat cheesy little Renaissance Faire in old town sqaure, etc., etc. I also visited the most beautiful church (St. Vitus' Cathedral) I've ever seen - hands down - and climbed the 287 steps to its lookout tower.

Other tidbits: I was eating street food in front of a sex shop on the main "square" and overheard a couple of 40-ish men haggling w/a "vendor" over the price of girls for 30min or 60min. Mmm. Yeah. I get it, but it would've been nice to have at least a 5ft radius of non-smut-talk while eating. ;-) I definitely love countries where you can buy good beer for less than $1USD...

One Month "On the Road"

Today marks my "one month-aversary" for physically being in Europe. Yes, travel is tiring; yes, the unexpected can (and will) happen. However, it's really been an amazing month. Travel can (and will) change you in unexpected - and somewhat inexplicable - ways.

Now that I'm in Prague, I'm getting my sense of excitement and adventure back. I can't wait to see what the next month will hold. ...and I really don't know what it will hold. I have no reservations anywhere else; all I know is that I need to be in Rome in October to fly home. ;-)