A summer in pictures

At long last, here are the photo albums from my travels this summer.
They're listed from newest to oldest...


Istanbul & Cappadocia (July '09)


Florence & Castiglione (June/July)


Innsbruck & Karlovy Vary (June/July)


Berlin & Munich (June/July)


Prague (June)


London & Amsterdam (June)


Cabo (June)


Costa Rica (May/June)

Thailand & Cambodia (April/May)

Camping in Big Sur (April)

Seattle, Vancouver & the drive north (April)

Home renovations (April)

Travel tip: leave the laptop at home

Was really pleased with my ability to travel light over the past few months. It made such a difference in my quality of life on the road. One key decision was to leave my laptop at home and rely on Internet cafes and my iPhone.

In fact, 90% of my blog posts were done from my iPhone! Using an app called Blogpress, I was able to post directly to my blog service, embed photos, etc. Of course blogger also let's you email in blog posts but you have less control of formatting and it doesn't seem to address the need to edit existing posts. Typing in the iPhone is a bit of a pain but it encourages you to keep your posts concise ... Which is a good thing!

As the camera on the iPhone improves it will also be viable to leave your digital camera at home, as well. I found myself leaving the camera in the hotel. The iPhone benefits from always being with you. I know the quality isn't as high, but my favorite shots from the trip were on it.

-- Post From My iPhone

Unintential bathroom humor

No apologies for this post...

Cave houses of Cappadocia

Last sight seeing I did here in Turkey took me by bus to the center of the country. Saw an underground city used by settlers over 1000 years ago to hide from invading forces. There are hundreds of active cave houses in use, carved out of the mountains formed by volcanic eruptions thousands of years ago. Pretty surreal stuff... Looks like Tatooine.

The overnight bus ride (13 hours each way!) is only for the dedicated (and poor)... I recommend flying if you can afford it.

Bambi burger!

... is on the menu. I opted for the cheeseburger... was a little like white castle only with pickles instead of onions and salt.

Random observations from Istanbul

* there are cats everywhere. Many appear to be strays which makes it hard to resist the temptation for some kitty time.
* Istanbul is mostly muslim but not devoutly so - for instance, you see many women in burkas or head scarfs ... though just as many aren't wearing these and dress more or less like we do in the west
* another example is that there is some openly homosexual activity going on (public handholding, gay clubs, etc)
* at the same time you hear the call out from the mosques every few hours, singing and inviting people to prayer
* I'm pretty taken with the architecture within the mosques and palaces... If anyone knows where to get ahold of one of the chandeliers from the Aya Sofia for my loft, please let me know.
* kebobs on the street are *the* way to go

Last stop: Istanbul

My world tour wraps up in Turkey. I arrived in Istanbul a couple of days ago. Have already taken in some amazing sights and sounds (details to come) - am enjoying the very comfortable hostel here that offers a swanky rooftop dining area along with it's $15 beds. Tea at dusk overlooking the water ain't bad living...

Berlin redux

The family trek through Europe found it's way back to Berlin for a couple more nights. Managed to check out the German history museum, visit the site of the wall and checkpoint Charlie, and climb to the top of the Reichstagg in our short time back.

I'm a big fan of Berlin - despite the considerable history of the place, it's less a tourist destination and more just a cool urban environment. Were I to learn german I could see being very happy living there.

More pictures when I get back...

Impressions of Florence

Made the trip down to Florence by train last week. Was interesting to see the countryside change on the way... Felt a bit like driving from Oregon (lush and green) to California (dry and hilly) on the 5.

Without further ado, some final observations from Florence:
* TONS of tourists. Many more are American than elsewhere in Europe
* harder to tire of the local cuisine here than in Germany. Yum
* they love them some Jesus here
* gives Prague a run for it's money in wow-factor
* I've started seeing homeless people
* trains/buses aren't as effective here
* people are a bit more rude/pushy - not sure if it's the locals or the tourists
* academia was amazing. Michaelangelo's sculptures make me want to start messing around with clay. Maplethorpe photos exhibited alongside really added to the experience, too
* took too many pictures. Will post when home

Film festival in Karlovy Vary

Our next stop was two days in Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic. The annual international film festival was just getting underway and the weather was gorgeous... Was a definite highlight of my European travels.

It was a little tricky getting into the films but I managed to catch four movies ... Scratching an itch that definitely needed scratching. All four were pretty good but I most enjoyed the premiere of the understated german road trip movie 'Artimos Sveisos' (low lights) and the good, if somewhat silly, horror flick from the UK 'The Children'. Another highlight was the introduction of the film 'Gabrielle' by the terrific French actress Isabelle Hupert.

The whole family had fun. A good energy was in the air, lots of attractive folks milling around, and food and ticket prices were very reasonable. Also a few terrific mullets on display - check out the guy in the background of this first pic!

Ways Florence in the summer is like Burning Man

There is probably a longer list of ways the two differ, but here goes:
* bloody hot days
* hard to find your way home at night after a few cocktails
* thousands of people wandering around looking at artwork
* many of them are attractive and aren't wearing much
* personal space isn't too easy to come by
* you are likely to be run over by an idiot on a bike
* spiritual place for many of the inhabitants
* very photogenic
* hydration is important
* mushrooms are on the menu
* lots of private parts on display
* hard to keep groups together
* likely more fun with your honey

Dixie chick

Went to visit my sister in the small town of Castiglione near Florence... She's taking some summer credits there. She took me to one of the two bars in town where I was amused/disturbed to see them flying a confederate flag. WTF?

Nice to see my sis, anyhow. She joins us in Florence tomorrow.

Florence is for...

...Robots? This 'artwork' found at my hotel on the first night in Florence -- It ain't exactly the adoration of the magi... But any painting with a cat works for me.

Notes from Innsbruck

Spent a day and a couple nights in this ski town in Austria. The surrounding countryside coming and going on the train was pretty gorgeous. It was also nice to finally see the rain letting up. Innsbruck itself had a few sites to visit and would likely be a fun place to return in ski season if I were loaded with dough. It was also a nice change of pace to get up into the mountains but there is obviously less going on here than in most of my other stops in Europe.

David Lynch breakfast moment

Breakfast served at a cafe in Innsbruck by a sweet and sturdily built waitress named Oksana. I'm enjoying my boiled egg and toast when an old woman enters the restaurant. She and Oksana seem to know each other and exchange pleasantries in german. The woman then turns to me and points to her left eye, which has some discoloration on the skin around it, and says something emphatic. As I don't speak german I have no idea what she's said but I smile. She considers me for a moment, then laughs and sits down for her breakfast.

Sometimes people you meet are kind of nuts. Sometimes it just seems that way.

Why the train is better

About to hop on another train tomorrow and I thought I'd share the ways it beats air travel:
* no security screening
* no customs or immigration
* no seatbelts
* no point at which you need to poweroff your electronic devices
* no need to arrive more than 5 minutes ahead of departure
* no turbulence
* no cloud cover
* no stress (well, not much anyway)

Clown time is over?

Here's a shot of a soggy ping ping table outside the circus tent where I've slept the past few nights. Got game?

Observations from Munich

If it hadn't been raining like the end of days, I think I would have fallen pretty hard for Munich. Feels a bit like San francisco in terms of it's accessibility - very bikeable and tons of public transport options.

Found some cool bars and restaurants up near the university area. Definitely not specific to Munich, but common tables are the norm at restaurants, encouraging interaction with strangers over food ... So much better.

People here (and in Berlin) are pretty easy on the eyes. I'm just sayin'...

Apparently the cost of living is very high here yet waitpeople and shop clerks are somehow making ends meet. I have yet to see any obviously homeless people in Europe except for in Amsterdam - not sure why that is.

Prague was gorgeous but I'm not sure I need to go back again. It felt very touristy, whereas Berlin and Munich feel like places I'd like to live for a while. Hard to put my finger on why, exactly.

The rain has definitely limited us ... Was looking forward to biking around, checking out the scene at the English gardens, mad king Ludwig's castle, etc. We have managed to explore the art museums, the deutsche museum, hoffbrau house, nymphenburg palace, Dachau concentration camp and the old center of town. A few photos below... More when I get home. As expected, Dachau was tough.