Trips

Well, the last several posts are all about some of the trips I've taken since I arrived in Europe. I recommend reading the oldest first, and working your way up. Please leave friendly comments, and if you're a person I haven't talked to in a while, send me an e-mail!

Israel

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In late October, Lea and I went to Israel for a wedding. We spent most of the time in Jerusalem, but also managed to make a trip to Haifa. Jerusalem is kind of an intense city at times. The people there are really remarkably good at living life even with the regular threats to civilians in Israel (something the U.S. could learn a thing or two about).



This picture was taken inside the old city.

And here you can see both the Dome of the Rock and the Western Well (and even some very small people praying at the wall).



And this is Haifa Bay. On a clear day, you might be able to see Lebanon in the background.

Grenoble

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In October, Lea and I went to visit two friends of ours that we met in Texas, Chloë, who is French, and Vince, who comes from El Paso. After riding an overnight train with a stop in Geneva, we arrived.



This is Chloë.

And this is Vince. He's the strange one of the two.



And this is Grenoble.

Grenoble is nestled in the Alps in Southeast France, near Geneva, Switzerland. The landscape is truly stunning, and Grenoble itself is a vibrant college town.

It seems like there's a mountain at the end of every road (and there really might be).



The very vague white mountain in the background is Mont Blanc, the tallest mountain in Europe.

In France, they don't think the customer is always right. At this cafe, the waiter started tapping his foot in annoyance because we took too long to order. Silly Frenchies.


Up next...
Israel.

Italy

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The next big trip we took was a 2-week trip to Italy. Italy is a fun, exciting country. There's lots to do, and the people are really interesting. A lot of the stereotypes are true. For example, at a restaurant in Rome that Lea and I were eating at, the waiter looked up from taking our order and yelled "Mama Mia!" at a woman passing by. Seriously.

Florence



We spent a few hours in Florence one morning before catching our next train to Umbria (in central Italy).

Here's a second picture of a really incredible cathedral in Florence.



And these 10 engravings are really famous (I know because I saw one in my art history book).

And this statue is awesome.


Umbria



We arrived in Umbria, which is the only region in Italy that doesn't touch a sea. It's a beautiful region of rolling hills and the biggest scorpions and bees I've ever seen in my life.

We stayed for over a week in a 500 year old stone cabin in the valley you see above. The land is owned by a Countess, who showed us around the valley. At the spot you can see (where it looks like open fields) Roman troops defeated Hannibal's troops and elephants.



This is the sun setting in a pretty village at a lake nearby.


Rome

The next city we visited was Rome, which is a cool place. It's dirty and busy and crowded, and people will steal your stuff if you're not careful.

That being said, it's a big place, and there's so much to do and so many amazing things to see.



This is the fountain made famous in La Dolce Vita.

And this is the Roman Forum! There's so many structures still intact or partially intact from the age of the Roman Empire. The forum here was the center of the city, where deals were made and trade was conducted. It was also the political center of the Roman Empire.




This is the door to some ancient temple near the Roman Forum.

And that's the Colosseum.



And that's where the Pope lives! I was hoping he would stick his head out the window while I was there, but he didn't.


La Cinque Terra

La Cinque Terra is actually five villages on the west side of Italy on the Ligurian Sea, Northwest of Rome. We went there the last few days of our trip, and spent most of the time on the beach. This is what the village we stayed in looked like.



And that's what the sea looked like. It really is a beautiful region.

I have to say, I really enjoyed the two weeks I spent in Italy. I want to go again.



Up next...
Grenoble, France!

Austrian Countryside

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A few days after arriving in Vienna, Lea and I took a trip to the little town of Neuberg in the Austrian state of Steiermark. There's not much to say about the trip, but the landscape is stunning.

Up next...
Italy!

Vienna

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Ah Vienna, Imperial Seat of the Habsburg Empire.

One of the first things that struck me when I arrived here was the incredible density. While Vienna has over 1.5 million people, most of them live in a really small geographical area. Viennese residents have fewer square feet of living space per person than even most Europeans.

That being said, the density really gives it something special. It's got a really great public transportation system, and Vienna is regularly ranked in the top three cities in the world for standard of living.

The parts of the city that survived World War II can be really magnificent. There's lots to do here. Besides interesting museums, there's a number of palaces and other things like that around.



The towers you see peaking over there trees here is the Wien Rathaus (Vienna City Hall).



And this is the Heldenplatz (Heroes Plaza). The building you see is part of the Habsburg Imperial Palace. Also, Hitler made a famous speech here in 1938 after the annexation of Austria into the German Reich. 4 years later, the Austrians were so hungry that this plaza had been dug up to plant crops.



This is a statue of a man about to beat another man with a club. Imperial Austria was really into that sort of thing apparently.



And this is a post put up to keep away the plague. I'm not sure how well it worked, but you can see them all over Central Europe.

For some reason, I don't have very many pictures of Vienna, even though I've spent far more time here than anywhere else. Every time I go somewhere cool, I seem to forget my camera. Oh well.

Up next...
Austrian countryside!

Salzburg

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So last July, I left the good old US of A for some backwards-ass, commie-loving, Old World adventures. After a brief stop in the UK, I flew to Salzburg, Austria. At this point, I hadn't seen Lea in over a month, and I was real happy when she showed up at the airport.



Lea showed me around Salzburg a bit. That's what it looks like (more or less).

Salzburg is situated on the edge of the Alps. This region is really beautiful. It's also where they filmed the Sound of Music, which, incidentally, almost no Austrians have actually seen.

One funny thing about Austria is that they really don't like to put many words on signs. They prefer to use pictograms, some of which can be really funny (and/or confusing). I always think that this picture of the man walking looks like a guy from Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks. By the way, this sign is telling you that you can't walk anymore (starting in 50 meters). They're a bit obsessed with order, cautions, and pictograms.

This is where Mozart was born. When I arrived here, it was Mozart's 250th birthday (or something like that). Everywhere I went, it was "Mozart this", "Mozart that", "Mozart slept here", "Mozart peed here", etc. I'm really glad that the Mozart year is over.



Here's another view of the stunning fortress in the middle of Salzburg.

Salzburg isn't huge, and there's not a lot of partying going on, but it's really quite a beautiful and interesting city.

Up next...
Vienna!

London, July 2006

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When I first left America last July, I decided to stop over a few days in England (that's in the UK). I hung out with my friend Alec, and we had lots of adventures around St. Alban's (near his parents house) and in London.

That big-ass building in the background is a church (with the always lovely Alec in the front left of the picture). I'm not sure how old that church really is, but I do know that at that point, it was the oldest building I had ever seen.

One thing about churches in Europe is that they really don't mess around (especially the Catholics). In America, churches often seem to be extremely boring (architecturally). In Europe, they cover every square inch with gold. Then they tell you how poor the church is, and that you're going to hell if you don't pay up. It's pretty sweet.

Anyway, back to London.



This is me, representing the Taos Corndogs in front of some pretty old Roman ruins. I think I'm standing in front of a town-house.

Oh wait, that's the town house.

And this is an Anglican cathedral.

And that's Cleopatra!!



And that's Buckingham Palace.


London is pretty cool.

Up next...

Salzburg!!

Start from the beginning

I left the U.S. for Vienna about 9 months ago. When I left, I was planning to send regular, detailed updates to all my friends, relatives, etc., about my life, plans, and trips. Unfortunately, I never got around to it. But it's never too late to start. The next posts are going to be posts about individual trips I've taken in Europe and elsewhere.

But to start at the beginning - to the left you see my beautiful girlfriend, Lea, and myself. We live together in Vienna. I moved there last July to be with her and to travel and have fun. Since that time, I've had a lot of (somewhat wacky) adventures. These will be detailed later, but to summarize, I've been to Italy, France, lots of Austria, Israel, and a couple of return trips to the U.S., with more to come in the future.

I was recently accepted into the Master's of Political Science program at Vienna University. It sounds hard, but I'll actually be spending my first couple semesters studying German full time. Lea is almost done with her education, as well, and at that point, well, the world is our Oyster.