Potpourri CXXV

Not too much craziness tonight, but let's get right to it, shall we?

Loretta Whitesides has a good piece at OpenNASA.com on perfectionism that resonated with me.

From Martin: If you thought I had too much time on my hands, consider this guy, who created Minas Tirith out of matches. Dang.

From Twila: I haven't watched this yet, but Jay Barbree is a long-time space journalist and fan. He gets things right about 1/3 to 1/2 the time, but what the heck.

From Tracy: A Wall Street Journal article on a possible "Plan B" response to Congress on the NASA budget. I have already complained about this, of course.

From Kristina: There's a new web site for posting events in the Tennessee Valley, just in case you're interested.

From myself, about two years ago. I was clearing out some emails, and I found this bit of whimsy. Someone started doing a Chuck Norris riff on someone I'd never heard of named Anna, and I just added to the mix. Here's what happens when I'm allowed to free associate for ten minutes.

Who is Anna?

No one knows where Anna is from.
Anna swept in mysteriously one night from a place with frozen tundra and only fair pizza.
Anna makes farm animals restless from 50 miles away.
We aren’t 100 percent sure, but we think Anna built the pyramids.
Anna can jam NORAD radars.
Anna raises and lowers meeting room chairs when nobody is looking.
Anna caused sea level to rise, but no one noticed because the land rose the same amount.
Anna’s bullets ricochet off tall buildings.
Despite what you think, Anna did not fix the 1919 World Series.
Anna has 357 unpaid parking tickets.
Anna is the one who steals socks from the dryer.
Anna is secretly running the space program.
Anna keeps 55-gallon drums of bubbles in her office.
Anna knows what happened to Jimmy Hoffa.
Anna knows the true meaning of lagniappe.
Don’t mess with Anna on days when she’s carrying a clipboard.
Anna brought back bell bottoms and disco, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Anna keeps an android of herself that is so lifelike it was declared a national treasure.
Anna knows where the next asteroid is going to hit, and when.
Anna has made Twinkies.
Anna knows the secret ingredients of every food chain’s specials.
If you’re not careful, Anna will steal your leftovers.
Anna defies gravity, and gravity defies right back.
When Anna throws toast in the air, it always lands butter side up.
Anna singlehandedly moved the city of Irvine, California three feet to the left.
Don’t give Anna matches. Ever. No, really. I’m not kidding.
Anna is standing right behind you.

What the heck is a CubeSat? Try this.

From Greg: An audio file that explains how missile guidance systems work. 'Cause you just never know when you'll need such useful information.

From the NASA PAO: A couple of NASA instruments on India's Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter have detected a LOT more water at the lunar north pole than ever previously suspected. This is awesome news! Too bad the President wants to shut down our human space exploration program, isn't it? Well, maybe the Indians can make something of it when they get there. Or the Chinese.

From D2: A company is now selling personal jet packs. Some things really SHOULD be licensed... 

And lastly, some pictures from Sarah, one of my fellow tourees, of last year's adventure through Europe. Fun!

Over There vs. Over Here

It's a bit difficult to gauge the quality of life in Europe vs. here while on travel because bed-and-breakfast hotels are not always a good indicator of what "normal people" expect in the way of amenities...I would say that the number of bathrooms per hotel room has increased compared to when my parents were traveling overseas. Only had to share a bathroom once. But here are some things that caught my eye while on walkabout.

Bathrooms/Toilets/Water Closets (WCs)

Speaking of bathrooms, "WC" is the typical sign for locating bathrooms in Northern Europe. "Toilette" is more common in Italy and France. People are people, though, and if you look desperate people can generally guess what you're looking for.

The smallest facility I saw on my trip, aside from the closet on the A330, was a commode on the canal cruise boat we took in Amsterdam. In Corniglia, Italy, I encountered what amounted to a porcelain indentation in the floor. In Paris I found a men's room commode with no lid. That means balancing yourself or giving the rim a good wipe-down.

And yes, many of the hotel rooms had bidets with hot and cold running water. As long as you don't get them too near the bowl, they can also be used to rinse your clothes in one if hand-washing them in your room.

Cars, Trucks, Scooters, etc.

It might not surprise you to learn that there aren't a lot of American-made cars in Europe. In fact, I saw only one Chevrolet dealership, and that was in Paris. Given the narrow streets and soaring prices for gas (petrol)--€1.60 per liter, which comes out to around $8-10 per gallon, it's hardly surprising the behemoths like the Hummer or Navigator are not common. In the cities, the Smart Cars are popular for to-and-from traffic, but you wouldn't want to buy groceries or something would have to be ditched. They're so small you can park them perpendicular to the curb in some cases.

Bicycles swarm the roads in Holland. I saw a multi-level garage just for parking bikes, and our guide said there were something like 4,000 in that one structure. Craziness!

In Rome, it's scooters/mopeds, some of which have their own windshields. I did see a flyer for a Harley Davidson enthusiast gathering in Amsterdam, so there's one American product over there, anyway. One pleasant thing I found on the continent, as opposed to England, was the lack of car exhaust smells, especially diesel, in the city centers. Oh, and this was strange to my American ears: in Amsterdam, there was a remarkable lack of car horn honking!

Architecture

One thing I liked about the big cities I saw was how much of their older characters they've maintained at their cores. In Amsterdam, it's still neat row houses (houses were taxed by the side of their facades, so homes are long and narrow) nestled between canals, lots of brick streets, and gabled rooftops. Thanks to uneven ground settling and the ages of the structures, several buildings are leaning quite a bit--to the point of looking slightly tipsy.

In Venice and Florence, the old city cores have maintained many buildings in the designs that were prevalent at the heights of their power and influence. For Florence, that would be the 13th and 14th centuries; for Venice, the 14th through 16th centuries. Venice impressed me--though caused me to slip a bit--through the use of marble sidewalks.

One of the images below is of the well in the courtyard of the Doge's Palace in Venice. A well is a well--it's not anything particularly exciting, just a place to draw up water--and yet it's a work of art unto itself.

What interests me most is how much more effort is put into making public structures attractive--beautiful, even. The severe functionality of modern architecture leaves one cold at times. Sure, an entire skyline of sleek, shining skyscrapers can be visibly stunning. That is the American contribution to architecture. However, the strictly utilitarian ethos has its down sides. Ornament is a thing of the past, unless it's some equally abstract sculpture or blandly esoteric painting. A shopping mall in France, by the way, looks depressingly like many malls here in America: blah.

Other Things

Little thing I noticed in public buildings in Europe: most of the doors open inward, not out. In America, doors open out to ensure ease of exit in case of a fire or emergency. I guess the theory in Europe is to ensure ease of access--to let people in. Just an odd little difference.

I spoke a bit with the night clerk of my hotel in Paris, a loquacious man who had spent his first ten years in America before moving to France. He said that he and his friends admire America a great deal, mostly because "anything is possible." However, he and his friends think that we're too focused on making money all the time. The down side of life in France would be the speed at which people can advance themselves. For example, if an employee in France has a bright idea for making more money or improving a product, they're told to "come back in a year, we're not ready yet." Well, you know how that works in America: rather than sit on a new idea, the aspiring employee will get frustrated and either take their idea to the competition or start their own business to make it happen.

What my talkative night clerk and his friends miss about the fluid, dynamic social structure of America is that it is fueled by money. Money is the great equalizer. We believe (or used to believe) that "If you build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door." Money can buy position and standing and respect while one's forebears might get you, at best, a political career. We are not as concerned with tradition here, we focus on results. Just because our father was a plumber or a civil servant doesn't mean you have to be. Birth is not destiny here. You might not be the boss now, but you could be someday! And the way you advance is by making or helping your company make more money. And to echo what Rick Steves says about Europeans, I wouldn't trade passports with anyone from Europe, either.

But as I noted a couple days ago, I do appreciate the Europeans' sense of balance: life's not just about your job, but about experiencing life, enjoying relationships, sharing meals and fine conversation. Americans talk about their jobs first. (I asked my tour guide what Europeans talk about, since work seems to be low on their conversational interest meter. She laughed and said, "They talk about sex, politics, and religion," all the things that are considered taboo and impolite here.) I'm not about to become a slacker, but I might change how I spend my leisure time. Rather than walk the neighborhood with a book in my hand, I just take the iPod and enjoy the scenery and the physical act of walking. I'm not flying off the handle at every little thing that bugs me. I've chilled out a little bit. I'm trying to bring the same focus on the new that I had on Europe back here. If you live your life as a tourist, then anyplace can become more interesting. So yes, there are always new things to learn, here or abroad. The question is: do you have a mind open enough to learn them?

Changes Since Europe

This posting was prompted by a question from Karen the World Traveler (and English cottage owner). Her specific questions were:

Do you think your trip has made a change in you at all? Do you see yourself going back to anyplace in particular or do you see yourself going to some new places in Europe? Or elsewhere? I am just wondering if your recent experiences have made a world traveler of you??

Guess I'll take these on one by one. There was certainly a lot to think about over there.

Do you think your trip has made a change in you at all?

Oh, most definitely. I'm much more relaxed. My must-do-it workaholism is temporarily at bay. It's not that I don't take my job seriously; I do. I just don't take it as seriously--as if work and only work are worth living for. That's a good thing to learn before I push myself into a heart attack by age 50. And the trip was an excellent reminder that there are plenty of worthwhile things to see and do here on Earth. Space is not the be-all and end-all of existence. And given my recurring discomfort with man-made heights, perhaps I'd be better off staying on ol' terra firm anyway.

As regular readers of this blog will note, I did a lot of studying for this trip--languages, history, art--so I would know recognize and appreciate what I was seeing when I got there. It forced me to have a more balanced perspective on life. It's not all about the words in my head. There are people to meet, foods to try, places to go, exercises to do, a God to give due honor to, etc....oh yeah, and it wouldn't hurt to share the whole shebang with someone so everything isn't locked up in my head all the time. I would say the trip definitely helped my progress toward a more balanced life, progress that was probably long overdue.

I find myself walking more. I did the math, and I think I walked about 14 miles this past weekend, so I picked up a hiking/exercise habit. And that can only be to the good, as I was approaching Homer Simpson levels of "fluffy."

Do you see yourself going back to anyplace in particular or do you see yourself going to some new places in Europe? Or elsewhere? I am just wondering if your recent experiences have made a world traveler of you??

There are things I missed on this trip due to lack of time or money. I would've liked to see:

• The International Space University in Strasbourg, France.
• Peenemünde, Germany, the site of the V-2 missile launches, which happens to be near...
• Greifswald, the home of my maternal grandmother.
• Munich...you know: Oktoberfest and all that happy stuff.
• The Large Hadron Collider, currently the world's largest atom smasher.
• The Globe Theater in London to see a (recreated) Shakespearean play as it was meant to be seen.
• Salzburg, Austria, home of Mozart and, yes, the von Trapp family.
• A live opera...something by Mozart or Puccini. I'm flexible.
• Prague, Czech Republic, just because I've heard it's a beautiful place of culture.
• Ireland, ancestral home of most of Dad's side of the family (Leahy? Dorsey? Ya think?).
• Greece, birthplace of Western civilization.
• And a whole list of stuff I missed on this trip because there wasn't enough time, like the Arsenal in Venice, Versailles, the Pitti Palace in Florence, the D'Orsay Museum, the Moulin Rouge, Normandy, Mont St. Michel, etc., etc....

So yeah, I've got the travel bug. If I keep living below my means here, that allows me to travel well over there. Now that I know I can function well over there with a decent amount of preparation, I'll probably do it again. There are also places elsewhere in the world I'd like to see, like Hawai'i, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, and wherever else my fancy takes me. There was a couple on my tour in their 70s, and they were climbing to the top of the dome of St. Peter's. I should be so vigorous!

My parents have encouraged a love of travel in me and my sister, both to see beautiful places and to expand the range of our experiences. Colleen did her European "Grand Tour" in 2001 (pre-9/11), so we've both gotten a taste of that part of the world. As a writer, I appreciate travel because the sites, sensations, and experiences expand the space of the imagination. Nothing can be more rewarding or worthwhile.

So...

I've got all this stuff, all these great experiences, and those who know me won't be surprised to know that I've got two journals full of notes/thoughts/commentary from the trip. What to say? What direction to go? Fiction or nonfiction? Actually, I don't have the urge to write so much as read more. I missed all sorts of things, some of which my fellow tourees managed to see: Normandy, Chartres, Mont St. Michel. There's music I want to purchase, additional books and eras of history I want to study.

And yes, I now find the urge to seek out the next destination. Ireland, perhaps, or Eastern Europe. I really enjoyed the Rick Steves experience. I could probably do Britain or Ireland on my own, if I was so inclined. Maybe even the Netherlands, given the ease with which English is used there. But I'm still digesting three weeks of bouncing around the continent, by far the longest and most exciting exploration experience I've ever had. As I keep telling people, there's all this stuff in my head, and it needs to get out somehow. Something will occur to me. Right now I've still got some more work ahead cataloguing what did happen. Then I can figure out how to process it.

More thoughts later, as I get 'em.

More Stuff from Europe

I thought I was done taking inventory of my loot from Germanic countries, but I stand corrected. Just got to the Ziploc bag with the souvenirs from the Netherlands. I added some more stuff to my Italy list, if you're inclined to rewind. More below.

Netherlands

• Brochure from the Openluchtmuseum ("Open Air Museum") in Arnhem. This is the Netherlands equivalent of Colonial Williamsburg. But whereas Williamsburg covers one area and one era in U.S. history, the Openluchtmuseum covers multiple parts of Dutch history and life. Interesting place, but it is (understandably) mostly in Dutch--the signs and the language of the staff.
• A brochure and ticket from the Rijksmuseum, the Royal Museum of the Netherlands in Amsterdam. They've got some very cool stuff there from Holland's golden age of imperialism, but I must confess that Rembrandt leaves me flat. His "soft lighting" effects in his painting are distinctive, but not startling or particularly attractive to me. To each his own.
• Brochure from the Anne Frank Huis (Anne Frank's House). Yes, the diary is really there. No photographs allowed inside, but being there really puts you in the head of that 14-year-old girl. The floor space--for eight people--was probably less space than I had to myself in a condo in Alexandria, Virginia: about 800 square feet.
• A train ticket for Haarlem to Amsterdam.
• A brochure that was offered at the Anne Frank Huis by a group called "Free2Choose." They had a video running on a big screen with people given the opportunity to vote on issues ranging from censoring neo-Nazis to suppressing hate speech by radical Muslims. The answers of the people who were in the room didn't interest me so much as the combined answers of people who have visited the exhibit since 2004. It's a little horrifying how many people visiting the Anne Frank Huis were willing to suppress free speech in the name of the common good.
• A picture of myself boarding our canal cruise in Amsterdam. The guy taking the photos caught up with us by moped (one of the primary means of transportation in Amsterdam) on the fringe of the Red Light District.
• Three tram tickets from Amsterdam.
• Ticket from the van Gogh Museum. This is another artist whose works fail to move me, except for Starry Night. As I put it in a postcard to Dr. OZMG, you've got on display what art created by a mentally ill person looks like. That's useful in a way, but troubling. Just as troubling is the notion that someone would pay $40 million for said work.
• A flyer for a Harley Davidson motorcycle fan gathering in Haarlem.
• A free map of Haarlem for bicycle riders.

France

• Metro and street map of Paris.
• Tickets, receipts, and maps from the Musée Rodin, one to get onto the grounds, and a second to get into a house on the grounds that had more of his works. If it were any other artist, I probably would've said to heck with it and left without seeing the rest. However, for Rodin, I made an exception. His sculpture is so lively it practically twitches.
• Ticket and brochure from the Sainte-Chapelle church.
• A couple of Metro tickets. The Paris Metro, IMHO, is much like the French language: unnecessarily complicated. That said, I never got lost or missed a stop, so it can't be all bad.
• Brochure from the Louvre. Being an idjit, I discovered too late that France's Impressionist art is in the Musée D'Orsay, and there just wasn't time/space on my itinerary to squeeze that one one in. There's always next time, right?
• Business card from my hotel in Paris, the Hotel Beaugency.
• An advertisement (one of several left under windshield wipers along the Rue du Mars--it's not just an American problem) for a company advertising its services for translating your family's home movies into DVDs.
• Brochure from the Hotel de la Paix ("Hotel of the Peace") in Beaune, France.
• A coaster from the Deux Magots, a place Ernest Hemingway is apparently known to have habituated. One word: expensive.
• A business card for the shop where I bought a case of Burgundy wine (5 white, 7 red).

• The lyrics to the song the tour sang for Paul, our bus driver as a farewell tribute, sung (I kid you not) to the tune of "The Wheels of the Bus Go 'Round and 'Round." I wonder how many glasses of wine it took to come up with those lyrics. Paul made out pretty well on this trip. Our resident tour artist, Sarah, created a charicature picture of everyone on the tour (note the dork with the hat, front and center).
• A brochure for the Domaine Chandon de Briallles, a beautiful mansion that also has its own brand of wine.
• A brochure and ticket from the Hospices de Beaune Hotel-Dieu, a quite beautiful medieval hospital that was really a hospice--people went there to die.
• A hotel guide for France.

More Stuff and Souvenirs

I'm not doing this in travel order, just in the order I pull the Ziploc bags off the pile. Just trying to give a flavor for what stuff I picked up on the trail.

Switzerland

• I appear to have picked up a train schedule and hiking map from the Jungfraubahnen region. Beautiful country.
• Kept my cog railway ticket to Wengen, Switzerland. Neat town, halfway or one third of the way up slope. Also the best internet service I had in Europe.
• Kept my bus ticket through the Lauterbrunnen Valley. What am I going to do all this junk?
• The company that made the Lauterbrunnen Valley brochure has a decent web site.
• I was very impressed by the quality of food at most of the highway rest stops in Europe. No, really! The company that has the franchise for running many of those stops is called Autogrill. The restaurants are often cafeteria-style, with the food fresh and appealing.
• Here's an attraction I didn't see, but I grabbed their brochure: Mystery Park in Interlaken, Switzerland.
• By the way, Switzerland's internet address, ".ch," comes from the term "Confederation Helvetica." This is essentially what the Romans called Switzerland back in the day. The Helvetii were one of the tribes of Gaul that Julius Caesar dealt with. Europe has a long memory.

Italy

• My room key card holder for my lodgings in Monterosso al Mare (Red Mountain on the Sea), the Hotel Punta Mesco. Nice room, larger compared to some I stayed in, and it even had a patio. Would've been even better if the TV had worked and the circuit breaker box hadn't hummed/buzzed all night. But really, a great place to stay, about a block away from the Mediterranean.
• An ad sheet from Cantina du Sciacchetra in Monterosso, where a couple of my fellow tourees, Eve and Lolita, got free wine tastings. Sciacchetra is a local strong wine akin to sherry, brownish, nearly transparent, and very, very smooth. Stupid me, I never shopped at the Cantina. But then I was a little wiped out after the hike through the Cinque Terre e due.
• Kept one of my train tickets. Why not?
• Kept the receipt for the laundry place down the block from the hotel. Must've spent the equivalent of $22 to get my clothes cleaned while there--worth every darned penny.
• Picked up a business card from a saloon that wasn't open: Osteria del Baia. Nice people, though.
• A map provided by Mary, our fearless guide, to the hill town we visited in Tuscany, Massa Marittima. Nice town, very quiet. We saw a wedding in progress that day. Fun!
• Walking path map for the Cinque Terre, sponsored by my hotel and the Ristorante Belvedere, where we did a group dinner.
• Brochure for Massa Marittima.
• Postcard from the Basilica San Marco in Venice. Startling place. It's a place of Roman Catholic worship, but is decorated in the Byzantine fashion, with a lot of wide-eyed, flat cartoon figures on the walls and ceilings. The most impressive thing about Basilica San Marco, aside from the fact that all the pictures are mosaics, is that the walls are decorated with gold. Seriously. Wow.
• Postcard of the Doge's Palace in Venice. Also an impressive place. It is really more of an executive mansion combined with a board room, legislative chamber, and courthouse. It is very much a civil building, and its functions are easily recognizeable to us today--but the Venetians did it first.
• Brochure for the Fondazione Musei Civici Venezia.
• Tickets for the Fondazione Musei Civici Venezia and the Musei Vaticani.
• Bus and metro tickets for Rome.
• Ticket for, and postcard from, Fori Imperio (the Imperial Forum), also known as Trajan's Forum.
• Business card for the hotel in Rome, the Hotel Nardizzi Americana. Nice place on the fourth floor of a building across the street from the Ministry of Defense, so it's in a really safe neighborhood. Open-air waiting and dining area.
• Two maps of Rome. Apparently I kept two. One I scribbled on to track where I'd been.
• Postcard and stamp from the Sistine Chapel. Some of these postcards I bought for myself, not to send, because pictures were not allowed in some places, especially the Sistine Chapel. They also don't allow talking, by the way. How'd you like the job of telling people to shut up in four languages all day?
• Ticket for the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
• Brochure for the Giardino di Bobli.
• Brochure featuring a specific exhibit at the Uffizi, "Splendour and Reason: Art in Eighteenth Century Florence."
• Business card for the George Byron Cafe, which was a decent restaurant/saloon within walking distance of my hotel (two blocks) and with British beers on tap.
• "Calling card" for accessing the internet at my hotel in Florence. Paid something like five euros for an hour's computer time, and used about 55 minutes of it.
• Map of Florence.
• Direction card from the Rialto Bridge to my hotel to the Piazza San Marco.
• Direction card from my hotel to the Omnibus Bar (and restaurant). Decent place, though seafood comes very much from the sea. When you order gnocchi with lobster, you don't get bits of lobster meat, you get half a frickin' lobster, antenna to tail. Order a grilled sea bass, and you get the same thing--the fish, the whole fish, and nothing but the fish. Good food, with just a little effort thrown in.
• Ticket for the Firenze Musei's Galleria dell'Accademia, where the famed statue of David may be found. David is still there, and he's still nekkid. He's taller than I thought he'd be. For reasons inexplicable to me, the Accademia decided to intermix Renaissance art with an exhibit by Robert Mapplethorpe, who is not one of my favorites by a long shot. A separate exhibit? Sure. More power to 'em. But to put Mapplethorpe in the same room with Michelangelo insults Michelangelo and unnecessarily elevates Mapplethorpe, in my opinion.
• A Harp beer coaster from the Dublin Pub (an Irish pub in Florence--who knew?) and a coaster for Hemp Ale, which I got from Hank, one of my fellow tourees. "I can't give 'em away," he said. I begged to differ, and took one.
• A brochure for the Scuola Grande di San Teodoro, which features musical performances throughout Venice. One thing I really liked about Venice was the restaurant on the Piazza San Marco that featured a band shell and concert music well into the evening, weather permitting. I would've liked to see a live opera in Italy...again, something to save for next time.
• A brochure for opera in Venice.
• A "Hotel Accademia Guest News" flyer from my hotel.
• A brochure for a boat excursion around Venice.
• An Opera House brochure.
• A brochure for the Venice Jazz Club.
• A picture of myself and some of my fellow tourees on a gondola in Venice. Not one of my better pictures, but everyone is smiling nicely.

That's about it for today. Scrapbook tips that won't make a guy groan are appreciated.

More Stuff from the Trip

You blog readers are getting short shrift, I'm afraid. It is MUCH easier and quicker to upload pictures to Facebook than Blogger. To date, I've uploaded over 1,000 pix there. But then they don't have a five-pictures-at-a-time limit. C'est la vie.

I'm going through the souvenirs and brochures I picked up on the trip now. Rick Steves advises taking along a bunch of Ziploc bags...I suppose to contain toiletry items that might otherwise leak--shampoo, toothpaste, etc.--but his book said bring a lot of 'em, which made no sense, but I thought I'd play along. So I get to Europe and I've got all these excess bags and nothing to do with 'em. Ah, but inspiration struck, and... Read More I realized I could sort out my brochures, tickets, souvenirs, and bits of junk by location so I wouldn't forget where they came from. The bags made me an accidentally anal retentive traveler, but they should help me sort out what I did where, so it's all to the good.

The Rick Steves people are up front about telling you that anything you buy you'd better ship home or keep small, because otherwise you're carrying it with you for the rest of the trip. Thus the small portables. The bracelets are from Venice and going to the mom, stepmom, and little sister. The shot glasses are for me and a friend. The magnets go to the "work wife." The books, wine, and chocolate are mine. My needs are simple.

I just thought this was fun. Passengers traveling in business class get this little goody bag of stuff for the overseas traveler, including socks, sleep mask, earplugs, comb, toothbruush, and toothpaste. Just the basics, as they're handing you a drink upon sitting down. It's going to be VERY difficult to put up with the soda-and-peanut routine (if that) on those crummy little RJ's...











I didn't buy a LOT of stuff, partially because of the weight/space restrictions, and partially because I'm a klutz and knew I'd break things...oh yeah, and partially because I'm generally cheap. But I'd have been remiss if I didn't buy a stein from Germany. I mean, really...

Eventually I need to buy a scanner so I can post some of the stuff I got (anyone need a brochure from Dachau?). Below are web sites to some of the places I either visited or collected brochures from. Let the good times roll.

• This appears to be a German lady who is interested in things astronomical: http://www.christawawers.de/univers/linksen.htm. Cool!
• From Bacharach, Germany, a site for souvenir hunters, among other things.
• A jeweler in Rothenberg ob der Tauber.
• St. Jakob's Lutheran Church in Rothenberg.
• A book about German children living through World War II. This book was recommended by our local guide, Herr Jung, who was 8 years old when the war began. Another book recommended by Herr Jung: German Boy. I guess if you want to know what it was like for German kids during and after the war, these are good sources.
• The Deutsch Post (office). At one point I must've bought something from them. I was curious about their logo. It appears to be the stylized horn of a herald, who would blow said horn when he had messages to deliver.
• Picked up a brochure from Hotel Gerberhaus, where we stayed in Rothenberg.
• Also got a brochure from Gutshof zum Schluxen, where we stayed in Austria.
• Oh, shoot. I found a €5 note in my pile of stuff. Well, I suppose I could keep ONE bill as a souvenir. I managed to spend everything else, except for some loose coins.
• A brochure for the Via Claudia Augusta, formerly a Roman road that connected the Po valley with Southern Germany. It's now a tourist trail. Amazing what a difference 2,000 years makes.
• Feel like going paragliding? Try this.
• The Toppler Theater in Rothenberg ob der Tauber. No web site, sorry.
• I missed the Doll and Toy Museum, but got their brochure.
• A brochure from the Dachau concentration camp.
• A ticket from Neuschwanstein Castle. This place must be seen to be believed.
• Didn't get to see this, but figure it would've been cool: Legoland Deutschland.
• Ah! The name of the town near Neuschwanstein Castle is Hohenschwangau. I feel better. I was drawing a blank.
• Another place I got a brochure for, but didn't see: the Rhein Theater.
• Also in the bag for Germany: the travel alarm that broke, prompting the purchase of "Frau Wristwatch."
• I saw this ski jump prior to crossing the tallest road bridge in Europe.
• A piece of slate from one of the vineyards above Bacharach.
• I seem to have picked up a lot of coasters. Hmmm. Brands include:
  --Gulpener (Netherlands)
  --Mittelrhein (Winery, Germany)
  --Andescher Klosterbiere (Bavaria, Germany)
  --Landwehr-Brau (Germany)
  --Bitburger (Germany)
  --Gösser (Austria)
  --Feldschlösschen (Switzerland)

More later. That's all from the Germanic pile, I think.

First Pics from Europe

The images below are a visual companion to my "first impressions" entry. I'll do more detailed entries as needed, but given that Blogger only allows you to upload 5 images at a time, the likelihood of uploading nearly 5,000 images from my camera is pretty darn remote.

The Colonnade before St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City. Something like 200 yards across, each column over 50 feet tall. Gigantic!

Interior shot of St. Peter's. Again, the scale is enormous and impossible to convey with an amateur's camera. Lots of space, elegantly marbled and not overly decorated compared to some cathedrals. The massive spaces and soaring heights are there to lift one's eyes upward and convey the glory of God.

The Fori Imperio (Imperial Forum), a business area or shopping mall--the archeologists aren't quite sure--carved out of the side of one of Rome's "seven hills."

From the sublime to the ridiculous...my room in Bacharach, Germany, had an image of dolphins on the commode lid. Furreal.

Just as Chicago had its bulls, Orlando its lizards, and Huntsville its Saturn V's, so Amsterdam decided to install iconic figures for artists to decorate and adorn the city's public spaces. This one featured U.S. President Barack Obama.

My favorite elephant: Gene Simmons. Why elephants? Near as I can figure, the Dutch once controlled Indonesia, and elephants were prevelant there. Otherwise, I'm baffled.

Darth Vader, unable to find work after Episode III, has been reduced to doing performance art in the main square of Amsterdam.

This is about the only exterior view I could get of the house where Anne Frank and her family hid from the Nazis. No pictures are allowed inside, but yes, Anne's diary is there, under glass--a testimony to the value of witness documents from the Holocaust.

One of dozens of breathtaking vistas one can admire on a cruise along the Rhine River between St. Goar and Bacharach, Germany. This is reputedly the most scenic part of the river. The vineyard terraces date back to the time of Julius Caesar, when he first conquered Gaul.

Did I mention that the sightseeing boat on the Rhine had its own bar? If you've got to see beautiful places, there are worse ways to travel.

This is one of five seaside villages called the "Cinque Terre," hidden along the Italian Riviera between Genoa and Spezia. The hike from one end to the other is about five miles, but it's up and down great hills covered with forests and vineyards. If you don't have "buns of steel" when you start the trek, you will by the end. The views alone are worth it.

Even if you end up taking a wrong turn and hiking through the Cinque Terre e due (the Five Lands plus two), you still get to walk through beautiful places.

The Thinker is still there in the garden of the Musee Rodin, wondering where his clothes went. August Rodin was probably the greatest sculptor since Michelangelo. His figures have a living quality to them that is hard to describe, but you can feel them looking at you.

The Eiffel Tower is lit up every night. However, from the top of the hour to five minutes after, additional, "sparkling" lights are turned on to give the Tower that extra bit of magic. And really, that's why we go to Paris, oui?

European Vacation, First Impressions

Okay, here's the snapshot version to my most frequently asked questions:

Favorite part? All of it. Seriously. This was the best darned vacation I've ever had because of its length, breadth, and scope. It wasn't just a matter of what I saw, but what I did, what I ate/drank, what I did, etc., etc.

If I could return to one place again, where would I go? Rome. Best combination of stuff for me: history, arts, architecture, food, and people.

What specific things/sites impressed me the most? The Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. I hit sensory overload after about four hours. Just magnificent stuff in there.

What specific activities did I enjoy the most?

• Sightseeing cruise on the Rhine between St. Goar and Bacharach, Germany. High number of castles; interesting landscapes, both natural and man-made: vineyards and green slopes dropping down to the riverbank, along with scenic villages; railroads on both banks with trains zooming by every few minutes, like God's own train set; and as an extra bonus, a full bar onboard the boat.
• A wine tasting in Bacharach, Germany. The wine was pretty decent (after 15 different samples, how could it not be?), and a great deal of fun was had by all as a group of Americans tried to translate the German into something approaching English. That activity wasn't on the tour, some of us just found it. The group did an "official" wine tasting in the wine cellar of a former monastery/hospital in Beaunne, France that was pretty cool...the cellar was about 800-900 years old, and the wine was seriously good.
• The "luge" near Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. This was basically a wheeled sled with a brake that rolled through a snaking chute downhill.
• Walking through the Imperial Forum ruins in Rome. Some of that was guided, some of it was on my own, and I'm quite glad I went on my own.
• Hiking in the Cinque Terre (five towns along the coast of the Italian Riviera--Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore). Lots of exhausting up-and-down hiking through vineyards, along rocky ledges high above the Mediterranean, and through colorful, picturesque towns perched on the rocks above the sea, in weather ranging from sunny and cool to cool and heavy rain. The path actually splits in Manarola, and I ended up hiking "the Cinque Terre e due" (the Five Lands plus two) because the wrong path took me through two towns that weren't on the original itinerary. Absolutely worth the hike.
• Hearing religious services in a number of beautiful places, including St. Peter's Basilica, Notre-Dame Cathedral, and an Eastern Orthodox chapel located adjacent to the Dachau concentration camp. The old languages (Latin, Greek) and the old forms (chanting) make absolute sense in such places, and the sounds resonated in a way that could send a shiver up your spine.
• Walking through Paris. I took a very long walk on my last day there: the Louvre to the (Auguste) Rodin Museum; and from there to the Alexandre III Bridge, the Champs-Elyseés, the Arc d'Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, and the back to my hotel near the Ecole Militaire and the Rue Cler.
• The overall "Rick Steves Europe Through the Back Door" experience. The pattern is: arrive at a city/town, get an orientation tour of the area, set off on your own. If it's a two-day stay, the second day starts with a tour of the area or a specific site with a local guide. The next day, you get up, pack, have breakfast, get on the bus, and head for the next destination. They offer a lot of time for the independent traveler to go off on their own, but offer the convenience of a group tour in that they take care of reservations, guides, and all the logistical stuff that keeps people like me from doing the whole thing on my own. I find it highly unlikely that anyone could experience all of the delightful tour experiences we enjoyed just by going it alone. If I'd never heard of Mr. Steves and his organization before, I am definitely a fan now. My thanks to the family members who recommended him to me.

Best people? The Dutch, though I really can't complain about anyone--even the French. Everyone was very patient with me, but then one expects folks in the hospitality or service industries to self-select for that sort of behavior. Still, I found the people in the Netherlands the most approachable, direct, and open of all the people I dealt with in Europe. I experienced NO anti-Americanism and thanks to God's blessings plus a healthy dose of city-living precautionary measures, I had no problems with pickpockets or "scammers." I did encounter one girl in a headscarf in Paris who spoke English in a perfectly good American accent who asked me if I spoke English, then asked me to read her little note asking for money to help thus-and-so cousin needing assistance. I just scanned the note and walked away. No harm done.

Did you have any language barrier difficulties? I used most of my foreign language "skills" in Germany, where I managed to order beverages in a biergarten, get directions to a restaurant, and buy a watch without using much English at all. I should point out, however, that I ended up buying a wristwatch that spoke, and had directions in, ONLY Deutsch. The watch doesn't work worth a darn now, but is very polite when announcing the time or waking someone up for an alarm. I call it "Frau Wristwatch" now, as it speaks with a female German voice. In most other countries, as soon as I started speaking the local Klingonese with my Yankee accent, the other person would switch to English, either to help me out or to stop me from mangling their language further. The phrase book and the online lanugage classes I took sporadically definitely helped with my comprehension, if not my speaking.

Best food? I really liked most of what I had, except for some stuff at an Indonesian restaurant in Haarlem, Netherlands, and a "pizza sandwich" I bought off a cart in Rome. Of course I had some snails (escargot) and foie gras (goose liver paté in France). The most unique dining experience had to be in the Cinque Terre, where we had "amphorae," large bowls filled with a large variety of seaborne critters, including lobster, octopus, whitefish, mussels, and a few other critters I didn't quite recognize. It would've been more fun/appetizing if I hadn't been sitting across from a couple of more squeamish eaters, who felt that the bowls looked like something you'd find in an Indiana Jones or Star Wars movie. What, doesn't everyone enjoy tentacles for dinner? I must also put in a strong vote for the breakfasts we had in the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy: fresh rolls, croissants, meats, cheeses, juice, fruit, cereal, yogurt...whatever. Everything fresh, everything delicious.

Least favorites? Breakfasts in France were a real letdown after some of the other countries. Some of my rooms--I paid $800 extra to travel as a single--were downright tiny, with the worst being in Bacharach, Germany, and Venice, Italy. That said, I was there for the other stuff, not the rooms. I think the TV was broken in at least four of my rooms, which was annoying, but again, I wasn't there to watch TV, either. The Paris Metro system, like the French language, is more complicated than it needs to be: 16 different lines, with peculiar senses of logic for making connections.

I'm sure other things will come to me, but that covers the FAQs so far. A lot of thoughts occurred to me during the trip, and others are percolating now. If you're interested, you can read further entries. Otherwise, you can wait until I get back to babbling about NASA, space, politics, and other such things that I paid ZERO attention to while out of town. That disconnect alone was nearly worth it.

Salud.

Returning from Europe

Greetings, Dear Readers (all 20 of you)! Some of you are no doubt interested in all my little adventures, and especially in seeing pictures from said travels. I am doing my darnest, but my camera or my computer is barfing because I have too many images to download. Any suggestions on how to clear all that stuff out or download it to my computer more directly would be appreciated. In the meantime, I am rereading my journal (filled two of 'em!) from the last three weeks to remind myself of what-all I did and to try to sort it out into some sort of logical forms. I think what I'll do is fire off a "first impressions/thoughts" posting first (short version: LOVED IT!), then break up my comments by topic or location. This may take awhile, but hopefully such an arrangement will avoid a 6,000-image slide show on "how I spent my summer vacation," which can bore anyone after awhile.

Your patience is appreciated!

Vacation, Day 21

Tour Over After Breakfast

If you're staying on in Paris, today would be a great day to hop on the train and tackle the sprawling palace and grounds at Versailles. If you're headed home, the airports are an easy shuttle-van ride away. Au revoir!

Vacation, Day 20

Parisian Masterpieces

This day provides a busy, star-studded finale for our tour. After a practical Métro subway lesson, we'll visit the Louvre with a local guide. You'll be free for the rest of the afternoon, to round out your Paris sight-seeing with a walk down the Champs-Elysées, or perhaps a visit to such legendary museums as the Orsay and Rodin. This evening we'll share a final dinner together. No bus. Walking: moderate.

Vacation, Day 19

Historic and Neighborhood Paris

After breakfast, we'll drive into Paris. Our driver will drop us off at our hotel, a croissant's toss from Paris' greatest sights. This afternoon we'll visit the stunning Notre-Dame cathedral, the brilliant stained glass windows of Sainte-Chapelle church and take a walking tour through the historic core of Paris. Sleep in Paris (2 nights). Bus: 4 hrs. Walking: moderate.

Actually, I might ditch the tour this day and sneak off to Versailles. Shhhhh!

Vacation, Day 18

A Hearty Taste of Burgundy

Today we'll say "Auf Wiedersehen" to the Alps and "Bonjour" to la belle France. We'll drive into profoundly French Burgundy for a look at small-town France. After an orientation to town and some free time, we'll gather for a sampling of this region's most famous product, Burgundian wine. Sleep in or near Beaune (1 night). Bus: 5 hrs. Walking: light.

Vacation, Day 17

Free Day to Hike in the Alps

The day is all yours. If the weather is good, you may want to ride a gondola up to the Schilthorn at 10,000 feet, loiter in the thin air, and hike part way down. Or just lie low and play Heidi. For more Alpine thrills, ride trains and lifts to hikes at the foot of the majestic Eiger and Jungfrau peaks. Bad weather options include Trümmelbach Falls, valley hikes, or just relaxing in the mountain air. No bus. Walking: light to strenuous (your choice).

Vacation, Day 16

To the Heart of the Swiss Alps

Today we'll catch an early train back to our bus, then head into the heart of the Swiss Alps. After a breathtaking drive, we'll arrive at our hotel located in the magnificent Lauterbrunnen Valley. Sleep in a creaky old chalet in the Lauterbrunnen Valley (2 nights). Bus: 9 hrs. Walking: light.

Vacation, Day 15

Free Day in the Cinque Terre

Ahh, time for a 'vacation from your vacation.' You couldn't see a museum here even if you wanted to! This is simply traditional Italy, with nothing to do but hike through the hillside vineyards that connect the five villages, take in the breathtaking scenery, hang out on the beaches, swim, and lounge around the town like a local. No bus. Walking: light to strenuous (your choice).

Vacation, Day 14

To Italy's Cinque Terre

We'll drive all day to reach the sun-drenched beaches of Italy's hidden Cinque Terre: five perfectly preserved fishing villages, surrounded by vineyards and the sea. On the way, we'll take time to visit one of Italy's enchanting hill towns. At the coast, we'll leave the bus and take a 10-minute train ride into the Cinque Terre, where we'll sleep (2 nights). Bus: 7 hrs. Walking: moderate.

Vacation, Day 13

Renaissance Rome

Today we'll focus on Renaissance (Catholic) Rome, spending our morning touring the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel, and our early afternoon in St. Peter's amazing cathedral. You'll have the rest of the day free to take a siesta or explore more of the Eternal City. No bus. Walking: strenuous.

Vacation, Day 12

A Walk Through Caesar's Rome

This morning we'll drive straight to the heart of Rome, where we'll spend the afternoon uncovering Ancient Rome (visiting the Colosseum, Forum and Pantheon) with a local guide. Tonight let's celebrate la dolce vita, with a fountain-splashing, after-dinner stroll through the heart of the city. Sleep in Rome (2 nights). Bus: 4 hrs. Walking: strenuous.