BootsnAll Travel Network



Amsterdam Life

April 7th, 2009

     Just a post for the gratuitous display of pictures I’ve taken while living in Amsterdam….

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Wien & Graz, Österreich

March 1st, 2009

     After a night of packing and organizing things for while I’ll be gone, I managed to forgo sleep completely and catch my 9.00 flight to Wien Thursday morning. Also on the flight, completely coincidentally, was a friend and colleague Dana. We were going to stay with her friend Johannes in Vienna before heading to Graz on Saturday. Read the rest of this entry »

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Berlin

January 31st, 2009

     Over the past year and a half, I went from having never even been to Germany, to practically living in Berlin. It began in October of 2007 when a friend from Amsterdam, Francisco, and I decided to take a road trip to Berlin during a break from school. My German girlfriend at the time, Lena, also went. In February she moved there, thus meaning I was travelling there once a month or so until September, and over the summer I was staying there for several weeks. And I spent another two weeks there right after Christmas and through New Years 2008/09 for an orchestra project I was in. It’s actually been a rather educational process, and I’ve learned quite a lot about the city and it’s history, particularly with the war. And also how much fun the place is. This blog entry is from a combination of trips to the city. Read the rest of this entry »

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Sardegna, Italia

August 30th, 2008

     Our flight was already scheduled to arrive pretty late into Cagliari, 21.40 on the 22nd of August, but with it being delayed an hour, then some confusion in finding the car rental office, it was quite late by the time we arrived to Hotel Aurora. At €55 for a double room without a bathroom, it’s one of the cheapest lodgings in the city. Our plan is to camp everywhere else, but there’s nothing close enough to Cagliari, and with it being so late, a hotel is a good plan. The Fiat Punto they gave us was quite nice. More than enough room for the two of us, handles well, rides pretty comfortably, decent acceleration, and small enough to deal with driving around Italy. Car is really the best option in Sardinia, as there’s not much in the way of public transport, and especially not for getting around the island, just from major city to the other. We booked through Auto Europe for €200 for the week, so between the the two of us, it wasn’t too bad at all. The hotel is modest but adequate. Didn’t really compare to what we had in Turkey, but it’s ok. I’m really quite far from a luxurious guy. We got settled and found some dinner, and then some amazing ice cream as we chilled in the Piazza Yenne before heading to bed. Read the rest of this entry »

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Lugano, Svizzera

August 22nd, 2008

     A good friend from Amsterdam, Roberto, moved back to Switzerland this summer, and really wanted me to come visit. And, having never been and wanting the chance to see a friend, I took the opportunity when it arose, which was en route to Sardinia. I’ve been spending a good portion of this summer in Berlin with my girlfriend Lena, and we decided to take a trip to Sardinia, and the easiest way to get there was to fly first to Milano, which is only an hour away from Lugano. So Roberto and another friend, Olli, that was just finishing his visit, picked us up from Malpensa airport at 8.15 and we drove to Switzerland. After having a coffee with Olli at the Lugano train station, he was off, and Lena, Roberto, and myself continued to Bellinzona, a town outside of Lugano, where Roberto’s sister lives, and where we were going to be staying. And since Roberto doesn’t have a license, I was driving his sister’s car. After a quick rest, we went to see one of the local castles, Castello di Montebello. It’s up on a hill with a great view over the city, and with a big grassy area to just chill out. There’s actually three castles in Bellinzona, and after Montebello, we headed up to the highest one, Sasso Corbaro. We didn’t go in either castle, but just enjoyed the views outside. We left and went back into Lugano and met up with one of Roberto’s friends, Giordano, who lives in an amazing house right on the lake, where we chilled on the dock, played some guitar, and fished before heading back to Bellinzona for the night. Read the rest of this entry »

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Lisboa, Portugal

July 28th, 2008

     After 10 hours in the bus through the Portuguese country, I arrived in the Lisboa Sete Rios station at 18.30. Sofia met me at the bus station, and got a bit of Portuguese organization… she asked at the service counter if they knew when and where my bus would arrive. Since it was international, they had no info. I had called her when the bus got to the Oriente station to let her know we were close. She asked again, if the bus was just at Oriente, when when and where it would come to Sete Rios. They still didn’t know. “Maybe over here, maybe over there… just stand around and look for it” was their answer. Despite being a rather big station, we managed, then headed to the metro to back to her house. After a shower and quick nap, we met some friends for dinner back in the center. As I’ve come to know the Portuguese habits already, it was no surprise that we waited for everyone for a while. In the meantine we got a drink in a nearby bar. After dinner we headed back to an area Sofia had said before was packed with people after midnight or so. And she was right. At a corner outside a particular bar, hordes of people were hanging around, drinking. The streets in general were quite full, lots of young people. It had a familiar Iberian/Latin feel. Warm weather, youth, music, alcohol, late nights, a bit of griminess… Read the rest of this entry »

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A Coruña, Galiza

July 25th, 2008

     My train arrived at 23.00 from Burgos (€43) and my friend Uxía and her two friends picked me up at the station. After dropping my stuff off at her house, we went out on the town. There was a Medieval festival going on in the center of town, with your typical stalls of food, jewelry, handicrafts and the like. It was a nice atmosphere, because I’ve never been to a Medieval fest in an actual Medieval city. The fact that there were real stone buildings and churches gave it a much more authentic feel that those in America. While we were out, they insisted on feeding me Galician foods. I wasn’t exactly upset by it. Being right on the sea, they have excellent seafood. We all shared a plate of octopus that was amazing. Read the rest of this entry »

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Burgos

July 22nd, 2008

     At 8.30 on Tuesday I got on a bus and arrived in Burgos at 10.30 (€12). My friend Célia suggested I stop by. There’s not much to do there, but I could make it on my way to La Coruña, so I stopped for a couple hours to see her and the city. The main site is the cathedral. She’s attended the church, and played the organ and sang in the choir there a lot, so she gave me her tour of the place. We ate some pintxos afterwards and then to the old nunnery near her house. We didn’t go in, just viewed from the outside. The neighborhood there is interesting, too. Quite old architecture. I guess the whole area is now an UNESCO area. I could only stay for the couple hours, and had to be on my way. At 14.45 I should have gotten on a train, but it was an half hour late. But once I did, I was on my way to La Coruña. Read the rest of this entry »

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Bilbao, Bizkaia

July 22nd, 2008

     It was a long day of travelling. I’m spending a lot of my summer in Berlin, but needed to take off to Iberia to visit some friends and get some sun for a bit. I left the house in Berlin at 5.40 to catch the S-Bahn to Schönefeld for an one hour flight to Frankfurt Hahn, where I waited until 15.55 for the two and a half hour flight to Madrid, and then the five hour bus ride to Bilbao, arriving at 0.45. My friend from Amsterdam, Belén, and her friend Gaizka picked me up in a car and took us to Belén’s house. In the morning she showed me around the city as we walked in the nice weather (finally! after 9 months of Amsterdam!) We went by the water and Guggenheim Museum. It’s quite a site, designed to look like a huge ship. Much of the architecture in Bilbao is very new and modern. I guess after the Guggenheim was built, it spawned a lot of similar urban modernism. A lot of times, this can look horrible. But I think it works well in Bilbao. It’s very modern, but fresh and tasteful. Not necessarily designed to be something “different” and “out”, just in a modern way. Even the trams look like something from the Jetsons. The surrounding area is also nice, with houses built into the side of the mountain. Her brother Sergio and his girlfriend Maria met us back at the house for the 3 o’clock lunch, and then they drove us to see the suspension bridge to Portugalete, built in 1893 is now a UNESCO site. We walked down to the dock and ran into a rich friend of Maria’s that offered to take us out on his boat. That evening Gaizka had some people over for dinner, and we went out to the parties that night. It was party time of year… various neighborhoods of Bilbao were just having large events going on. I’m not sure what they were celebrating… if anything… We were in one of the very liberal, Basque-nationalist neighborhoods. There were bands playing on a stage, singing in Basque, and people drinking beer and kalimotxo (red wine and coke) everywhere. Hanging above us were streamers with pictures of people that have been held prisoner without proper trials accused (often wrongly) of terrorism or involvement with the ETA. It was a good time, taking in the scene. Belén had to play in a quartet in a wedding the next morning, so we went home by 2.00. Read the rest of this entry »

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Delft

March 23rd, 2008

     My girlfriend Lena and two good friends, Marc and Belén, decided to take a trip to see Delft in south Holland near Rotterdam, where all the blue and white ceramics (Delft Blue) come from. It’s a pretty typically Dutch city, with the standard architecture and canals… and leaning buildings, particularly one church who’s tower leans so severely I could easily imagine it toppling over. We went to the Stadelijk Museum Het Prinsenhof, home of Willem van Oranje, where he was shot and killed. The bullet holes still remain in the wall. There’s also various artwork and paintings. Otherwise, we meandered through the city, had some lunch, and later some beers before heading back to Amsterdam. Read the rest of this entry »

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