Monday, August 28, 2006

Map link

The map link that I posted earlier was a javascript popup that worked for me in Firefox, but doesn't seem to be working in IE. Here is the direct link. I will setup a permanent popup link soon. Hope this one works for everyone: Map.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Where in the world is Seth?

For a while I have been wanting to have some sort of map depicting where I have been and where I am. After a helpful nudge from my buddy Jeff I finally got motivated to put it together. Here is a map that pinpoints my current and past locations with links to corresponding blog entries: Map.

This is just version 1 and I will probably make a few minor adjustments/refinements. If you have any suggestions please let me know.

Video: Verona

One of the touristy things that I manage to get to during my second stop in Venice was an Opera in Verona. I really knew nothing about Verona but Emilie had mentioned that there was an old arena there where they still performed Operas, so we decided to go check it out. The old arena is an old colloseum-esque place, built roughly 1000 years ago (I think), that is still largely intact/restored and can still hold roughly 20,000 people.

We showed up a couple of hours before showtime and were able to get tickets to 'Carmen', that nights opera, for about $20 up high on the old stone, unnumbered bleacher seats which provided a great view. Waiting for the opera to start the atmosphere was similar to that of a baseball game, with the sun setting, people talking, and young men and women walking around selling drinks and food from coolers slung over their shoulders. Once the sun went down and the lights extinguished, everyone lit the small candles that were handed to them upon entry, as part of the tradition of lighting the stage with candles (something started during the fist re-inaugural opera in ~1913).

The opera was amazing, with over a hundred people in each scene, live horses and carts on stage, and an incredible sound from the orchestra and singers alike, despite no microphones. Unfortunately, Emilie and I neglected to check the times for the trains returning to Venice and missed the last one by over an hour. As a result we passed the time in the 'Green Bar' until 3am, listening to dated techno music and munching on flat bread sandwiches to keep us going and prep us for the remaining 2 1/2hrs in the train station on hard stone benches until we could catch the next train at 5:30am. Despite the night in the train station it was a great nite.

Photos: Verona

Video: Return to Venice

Venice was even better the second time around. Not having to stay in a hostel was a very nice change, I could sleep late, cook my own food, lounge around all day reading without being kicked out, and other simple pleasures that hostel life doesn't really allow for. It was also nice to be shown around town by a fluent Italian speaker that knew Venice considerably better than I did.

For the most part my time was spent sleeping, reading and writing, doing a bit of cooking and cleaning (to make sure I don't lose those all important domestic skills), lots of aimless back street wandering, and generally taking it easy. In my wandering I did come across the Mask shop that provided the masks for the movie 'Eyes Wide Shut':



Photos: Venice

Switzerland: Geneva

Geneva...

I had never planned on heading as far west as Italy, let alone Switzerland, but in my search to find a cheap way back to Istanbul that didn't involve three+ continuous days of trains and buses, I found a relatively inexpensive flight for 40euro from Basel Switzerland to Istanbul. I figured this would be a good option if nothing else presented itself. Not soon after finding the flight, an friend from highschool that I hadn't been in contact with for years sent me an email out of the blue...and coincidentally she was now living just outside of Geneva. In discourse I mentioned that I might be heading up to Basel for a flight, and she invited me to come stay with her for a few days on the way and we sorted out the details of when I would show up, etc.

The day before leaving Venice for Geneva I sent her an email letting her know when I would be getting in the next morning and to reply that day if there were any issues. Since I didn't hear anything I assumed I'd see her the next morning, so you can understand my unpleasant surprise when I arrived in Geneva (having spent all night on an expensive train) to an email from her stating she would be 'out of the country until next week, explain later'. Needless to say I was a little angry, and I think justifiably so. And so here I was in Geneva with no plan and no where to stay.

I was able to find a hostel near by and grabbed a room there while I tried to figure out what to do next. I was fortunate to meet three southern belles fresh off the plane from the US for a study abroad semester in Italy. They were kind enough to let me tag along for the day as we wandered around Geneva, my favorite part being a beautiful, big park with tree lined lane and large saints wall sculpture.

I spent 3 days in total in Geneva, uploading a lot of photos, visiting the Red Cross museum and perusing the outside of the UN building, before I made up my mind to head back to Venice for a few more days where Emilie (whom I had met on my first pass through) had offered me her couch to sleep on for a few days.

I'm sorry to say I have heard narry a word from the friend that left me hanging at the train station...

Photos: Geneva

Thursday, August 17, 2006

CouchSurfing

In the course of my travels I've received and passed on a lot of helpful tips to other travelers. One of the sites that has been mentioned to me several times is the CouchSurfing Project, a website for helping people offer and find couches to sleep on all over the world. I decided to sign up a couple days ago and test it out. It sounds great in theory, certainly as a way to meet some great people and save a few bucks here and there, but has the potential to be a bit sketchy. Luckily they do have some safe guards such as user and address verification, references, etc. I'm anxious to try it out a few times and will report my findings. Another similar resource is Global Free Loaders.

Media Overload

Italy: Venice

Several people had told me in the past that Venice was not worth seeing and so I never really had much interesting, but seeing as my train had to pass directly through it to get to Geneva I decided to stop off for a couple of days and check things out. I have to say that those people were wrong! I loved Venice. Admittedly, the major tourist spots (Rialto Bridge, and San Marco Square) were certainly over run and made me want to get away fast, but the beauty and charm of Venice is getting lost in the maze of narrow streets among small hidden restaurants, cafes, and squares while enjoying the multitude of different buildings all in varied states of decay. I certainly could have spent more than the three days I was there and may soon go back.

While in Venice I also visited the nearby islands of Murano (famous for glass blowing) and Burano (with an amazing array of different colored buildings), where I spent an afternoon doing even more wandering, filled in with some reading and writing here and there.

After only 3 days in Venice I caught the night train to Geneva, which was a mistake.

Photos: Venice, Burano
Videos:

Slovenia: Ljubljana and Bled

I made it to Ljubljana after a fairly uneventful but scenic 2hr train ride and was fortunate enough to get the last available bed at the Alibi hostel, a nice place with a cozy communal area, free albeit slow internet and character painted walls. It's pretty amazing how much a good 'common area' facilitates and greatly eases the process of meeting new people.

Ljubljana was a great town with lots of old streets, wonderful cafes and restaurants, great events and live music, interesting 'street art' (ala radiohead), and friendly people. Unfortunately it rained most of the three days I was there which limited my walking around to the nearest cafe/restaurant.

I did manage to make it to the small town of Bled one day, whose claim to fame are the great mountains and wooded areas surrounding bled lake, which also has a small island containing a chapel. I'm sorry to say that the rain soon induced a cold in me and so I decided to press on to the warmer weather of Venice on my way to Geneva.

Photos: Ljubljana, Bled
Videos: Alibi Hostel, Rowing Lake Bled

Croatia: Plitvice Lakes National Park and Rijeka

I arrived at the Plitvice Lakes around mid-day and wandered for a while before coming upon a house with a sign indicating they had a room available. After finding a very nice, smiley young woman inside, she explained that the room included dinner and breakfast and I would have my own bathroom all for 50...50 what I wasn't quite sure (it turned out to be Euros), but after lugging my bag around for an hour or so I decided to take it. After dumping my stuff I headed to the lakes and spent several hours walking around and exploring the amazing lakes, waterfalls and scenery. The clarity and color of the water was so amazing and different from lake to lake (11 in total) and you could look down from the wooden walk way to see fish swimming right beside you.

I met an English family that night that mentioned they were headed to Rijeka the next morning and they graciously offered to give me a ride. Unfortunately Rijeka was the dirtiest city I had seen in Croatia, with graffiti fairly rampant. Fortunately it just acted as a stop off on my way to Slovenia.

Photos: Plitvice Lakes, Rijeka
Videos: Plitvice Lakes 1, 2, 3, 4

Croatia: Split and Zadar

As I headed North I was hoping that things in Croatia would get slightly cheaper, and was a bit surprised when I arrived in Split to even higher prices for accomodation and food. I stayed in Split for two nights, in the house of an old woman who liked to wander into my room at all times unannounced (especially at 8am when I was freshly woken) and tell me long stories in Croatian despite my gestures of incomprehension. She was friendly, and we did manage to share some comprehension through our smiles, I think she was just a little lonely. Split houses another old town, similar to the others, but surrounding the remnants of Diocletian's Palace. I explored the old town with two Irish students I met and got the chance to brush up on my fashion sense as we bounced from one clothier to the next in the old town.

I continued my way up the coast to Zadar and made the acquaintance of two Australian travelers, both on vacation from working in London and traveling solo. The three of us stumbled around the Zadar old town in search of accomodation and ended up in the apartment of a man named 'Robert Wagner' (not the actor). Robert was nice enough, but things soon proved strange: it appeared that the girls and I had been assigned to stay in the master bedroom of Robert's parents, complete with clothes, china, and pictures of young robert and his sisters. The remainder of the apartment consisted of three other bedrooms also let out to travelers as well as a kitchen/lounge area which appeared to serve as Robert's bedroom, with clothes stacked on the sofa and countless nail-clippers, nail-files, and scissors splayed out on the tiny kitchen table. Another oddity was the pervasive presence of ballet paraphernalia throughout the house...all adding to the mystery was Robert Wagner. The strangeness aside, Zadar was a relatively quick and uneventful stop on the way to the Plitvice Lakes National Park.

Photos: Split, Zadar
Video: View from my window in Split

Croatia: Mljet and Korcula

Having had such a good experience in Dubrovnik and having no specific plans, grandpa suggested that I go stay in his house in Sobra on the island of Mljet close by, which I did. A wonderful small island town that gave me the chance to escape the hustley, bustley mode for a few days and just relax by the cool green and blue water, albeit on a concrete slab of a beach. On Mljet, I met Aisling and Athol, a couple from England, who were having a bit more success than I when it came to relaxing. We spent the evening cooking a wonderful pasta meal (my first home cooked meal of the trip) and reading a play, which was a fun and new experience.

After three days of relaxing I started to get a bit antsy and decided to press on to the island of Korcula, which also has a nice 'old town' similar to that in Dubrovnik but much smaller. I have to admit that Korcula was a bit more my speed and size, perfect for leisurly strolls and a bit of getting lost, but not to lost. The first night there I met a fellow American traveler who provided some reassuring words about long term solo-travel as we swapped travel stories over dinner. I ended up in the 'one love' hostel, where there were no locks on any doors, you only get 10mins in the bathroom, and the party goes to the early morn. Needless to say, sleep was not bountiful.

Photos: Mljet, Korcula
Videos: Sobra Beach, Live Music in Korcula

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Croatia: Dubrovnik

Croatia has been killing me, or more precisly my budget, slowly with expensive accomodation, food, and most importantly internet access, which is the primary reason for my lack of posting frequency lately. Enough about that, down to business...

After arriving sick in Dubrovnik at 4:30am and relaxing on the concrete for an hour, I was fortunate enough to be greeted by an old man offering a room, unfortunately it was a bit more than I was planning on paying at roughly $22 a night, but being sapped I took it (I would later find out that $22 was the cheap end of accomodation). The man proceeded to drive me to his place in the most rickety car (apparently a communist era Yugo) I have ever had the pleasure of riding in: sitting in the back seat it felt and sounded like a metal rod was about to break through the seat at any moment. The place was nice, also housing the man's son and a daughter and grandsons visiting from Virginia for the summer.

Dubrovnik itself was an amazing, and surprisingly large, old, walled town that has been impressively restored/maintained. The town has been filled with expensive restaurants, bars, cafes, hotels, clothing stores and other shops that fill the narrow, winding streets and cater to the large tourist crowd. Unfortunately Dubrovnik was the most touristy place thus far along the way, largely filled with german and french tourists. Despite the large crowds it was nice to spend a day getting lost amongst all the back allys, stop for a coffee, and drink from the large, multi-headed fountain. At night, parts of the town were filled with jugglers, musicians, and peeps dressed in traditional outfits. Alas, two days was all I could manage before heading off to the small island of Mljet, just off the coast.

Photos: Dubrovnik
Video: Inside Dubrovnik

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Review: The Arabs

I also just finished The Arabs by David Lamb, a book about Lamb`s experiences during his 4 year stint as the Times Middle-East bureau chief based out of Cairo. Part experience, part history, `The Arabs` was originally written in the 80s but recently updated, and is a fascinating look at the complexity of the Middle-East states. It`s a fairly quick read, and I would recommend it for anyone interested in a primer on the Middle-east.

Review: Blindness

I recently finished Blindness by Jose Saramago, a great book about a town who`s citizens suffer a sudden white blindness where all they see is whiteness. The style took some getting used to as there are no seperations for speech and no quotations, but overall a fascinating read. The book was certainly chock full of social commentary, the second half of which I glossed over in my hurry to finish the book. A fairly which read, I would definately recommend it for anyone looking for some fiction and mental stimulation.

Mostar to Dubrovnik

I was originally planning only 2 days in Mostar, but when I showed up at the bus station on the morning of day 3 to catch the 10am bus, I was informed that there are only 3 buses a day (7am, 10am, 1am), that there are only 5 seats available on each bus, and that the 10am was sold out so I would have to wait for the 1am. Upon asking for a ticket I was told I would just have to buy one from the bus driver when the bus arrived at 1am.

The day passed fairly quickly with a bit of reading, lots of coffee drinking, and several chavapi meals. I showed up at the station at 9am to wait. Around 11 the on-set of sore, scratchy throat, ferver, headache, and chills were settling in, and by 1am it was in full swing. Though several buses came and went, none were the one I needed. About 1:30am I started chatting with a group that was apparently waiting for the same bus, and they informed me that they had been told they all had reservations and tickets aboard the coming bus and were very surprised that I didn`t.

When the bus finally arrived at 2am the bus driver was very reluctant to take my money and let me on the bus, but after some hard-nosed, hand-signal driven negotiations he relented and I was awarded a spot. We pulled into Dubrovnik at 4:40am, to the wonderful aroma of salty ocean air.