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Overtime

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

November 1st was the anniversary of when we left to start our trip around the world. It’s hard to believe that it has been a whole year already. I’m very glad that we decided to extend our travels by 3 more months because I’m not quite ready to come home yet. We just arrived in San Sebastian, Spain (or Donostia as it is known in Basque), but we stopped in Mont St. Michel a few days ago on the way – see the photo at the bottom.

We’ve been doing a lot of driving to get down here and have had time in the car to reflect on the last year. We also read many travel books along the way, by current writers like Paul Theroux or Bryson, or those from the past like Mark Twain. I’m in the middle of his “The Innocents Abroad” right now and we got to discussing how little has changed in traveling since 1869. While many of the sights he describes are nearly identical today, his thoughts on guides, souvenirs, cultural quirks, and touts could have been written yesterday. And based on what we saw in Rome, it’s been that way for centuries.

However, there are some things that have changed for the better, and it’s certainly a little more comfortable and a lot more convenient to travel in the 21st century. Here’s our list of things that we are glad to have:

15. Quick-dry fabrics

14. Digital Cameras

13. iPods

12. Wheels on luggage – no way we could afford the porters for the trunks that Twain had

11. English bookstores – new or used, you can almost always find paperbacks in English

10. Airplanes – hate the airlines, love the jets

9. Airline Lounges – well, maybe we don’t hate everything about the airlines

8. Rental Cars – who needs public transportation if you have one of these? Although a nightmare to park, there is no better way to see a country

7. GPS – its fun to get lost in a country at times, but there’s still plenty of opportunities even with a SatNav

6. A good pair of walking/hiking/everything-everywhere shoes – even with #8, you won’t get far without these

5. US Passports – easy entry to almost any country, same as in Twain’s days. Everyone still loves America

4. The Sock Puppet – “Levity is good. It relieves tension and the fear of death.” The Terminator said that and he’s our governor now.

3. The Euro – even though it’s unconscionably high vs. the dollar, we don’t have to keep pockets full of lire, marks, francs, and pesos

2. ATMs – always open, almost always work

1. The Internet (and all that comes with it)

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Posted in Spain, Travel | 2 Comments »

878 Years in 1 Day

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

I have always wanted to see the D-Day beaches at Normandy, so we headed in that direction and somewhat randomly picked a town with a good hotel. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the place we were staying, Bayeaux, was also the present home of the Bayeaux Tapestry. If you’ve never heard of it, you are probably not the only one.

A few months before we left the US, I happened to see a TV program about it on the History Channel (I used to spend quite a lot of time watching that channel). I filed it away in my memory and hadn’t thought about it since, but here’s a brief review. The Bayeaux Tapestry is actually a 70m long piece of fabric that has been embroidered with pictures of the story of William the Conqueror invading England and becoming king. It’s very detailed and the craftsmanship is excellent. Since it was made just after the events happened, it’s a first-hand account and gives historians a huge amount of information about everything from the weapons, clothes, and boats to meal preparation. We just had to see it, and I found it fascinating.

Fast forward from 1066 to 1944 and there is another invasion in the opposite direction. From Bayeux we drove to Omaha Beach and visited the American cemetery there. The exhibit at the visitor center does a great job of setting up the events leading to D-Day, as well as present a moving display of individual soldiers’ stories at the end. In the background a voice reads out the names of the casualties and I found it very emotional. The cemetery itself is somewhat stark, but respectful. It’s hard to imagine the events of that day standing there in bright sunshine in near silence. We walked down to the beach and just stared up at the cliffs, not being able to imagine what it must have been like to face it under siege.

It’s a lot to take in and think about these two events. They are so far apart in time and so different on scale, but strangely similar in how they are remembered as historic events.

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Posted in France, Travel | No Comments »

Here Comes the Sun King

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

We made it to France via the Chunnel with no visa drama, and proceeded to pick up our second new Peugeot, a 207 this time.  We decided to spend a few more days in France on our way to Portugal and Spain.  There are a few things that we intended to see earlier on the trip, but just ran out of time. 

Our first stop was Versailles and I’m very glad we decided to go there.  It’s been described so many times that I can’t do it justice, but will just say that it is beautiful and huge.  We had a great fall day with the leaves changing colors.  Here’s the view of the gardens:

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Posted in France, Travel | 1 Comment »

Real Football

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

After nearly a year without watching a pro football game, we were shocked and excited to find out that there would be a game in London of all places during our visit. While the actual game between the Pats and Bucs was a blowout and not the best example of American football, for us it was a treat.

The game was at Wembley Stadium and it was cool just to see it and be among the 84,000 people streaming into and out of it. The atmosphere can only be described as a spectacle – the NFL pulled out all the stops to make it a “home” game for the Bucs. There were the usual cheerleaders and pyrotechnics, but also huge hot air “helmet” balloons, pirate flags for everyone in the stands, live music, and of course two national anthems before the start (Toni Braxton sang the US one).

The craziest thing was the fans. I think that anyone in England who owns some sort of NFL jersey wore it to the game. Between us we spotted every team represented except for the poor Jaguars. It was really strange to be at a game and see fans and colors from all the teams, not just the ones that are playing. Aside from the Pats, the Dolphins and Green Bay seem to have a lot of fans here too.

The final part of the experience was getting back to central London on the Tube with everyone else. The police kept everyone moving, but slowly enough for the trains to handle. The queues were orderly and it was amazing how quickly everyone got out of there. Other cities and venues should take note.

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Posted in England, Travel | No Comments »

Goal!

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

For the last week and a half we rented a little house in Brixham, which is along the south coast of England in Devon.  There’s not much to report here because it was meant to be downtime to chill out and think about our future plans.  It was very enjoyable, even though we didn’t do much other than sample the wares of not one, but all three fudge shops in town.  Our one big day out was to attend a local football match in Torquay.  We learned a few things about the game here and how they prevent trouble.  They separate the home and away fans, there is no beer served at the game, and strangely there is no photography allowed.  Here’s a contraband picture that I snapped before the security guard caught me.

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Posted in England, Travel | No Comments »

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