Archives by Subject: Travel
Veritas Airlines
From a recent piece in The Economist on what a truthful in-flight announcement would sound like:
"Your life-jacket can be found under your seat, but please do not remove it now. In fact, do not bother to look for it at all. In the event of a landing on water, an unprecedented miracle will have occurred, because in the history of aviation the number of wide-bodied aircraft that have made successful landings on water is zero. This aircraft is equipped with inflatable slides that detach to form life rafts, not that it makes any difference. Please remove high-heeled shoes before using the slides. We might as well add that space helmets and anti-gravity belts should also be removed, since even to mention the use of the slides as rafts is to enter the realm of science fiction."
· Welcome Aboad [Economist]
Posted in on September 10, 2006, 04:53 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Overheard on Chicago's El
New York's subway car announcements are always extreme: either inaudible or annoying ("Thank you for riding New York City Transit!").
Yet I was surprised to hear "the voice" on Chicago's El inform me that
"Soliciting and gambling are prohibited on CTA vehicles".
Sorry, no poker games on the subway!
Posted in on August 28, 2006, 11:57 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Adventure on Flight 4219
I woke up at 3:30am to go to Chicago. Unfortunately, 5 hours later, I am still on the ground in New York.
Apparently bad thunderstorms have closed the airports. When the flight attendant noticed I was looking at the radar, she asked if she could walk up and down the cabin with my blackberry and show the other passengers.
I maintain she shouldn't have charged me $3.95 for my snack box!
Update: Over 6.5 hours after settling into my seat, I landed in Chicago.
Posted in on August 24, 2006, 08:34 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
From Florence to Baltimore
On Saturday evening, I arrived at Baltimore's Penn Station. Over 48 hours earlier, I had left Florence's airport. Quite an adventure, indeed.
Some of my friends were bumped off of the flight in Florence because too many girls had too many shoes -- so many shoes that there was a weight problem, and they had to bump people to make room for luggage. Other highlights included waiting in lines, waiting in lines, and waiting in lines.
Be on the look out for all that I've been meaning to post, but just haven't had time to.
Posted in on December 19, 2005, 11:43 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Travelogue: London
I've spent some time in a bunch of cities many people have never visited: Budapest, Florence, Barcelona, Vienna. But I've never been to London or Paris! So, that's what I'll be doing this and next weekend.
My morning started early (5:30am!) due to my 7:55am flight out of Florence, but I can safely say I made it. After watching my cab whiz past me, realize his error, and then back up at a rapid speed down a one-way street, I made it to Florence's airport. At security, one of the guards was playing with his gun, which was a tad unsettling.
The flight itself was rather uneventful. Upon arriving at London Gatwick, I figured out I had to take a train to the center of the city. Unfortunately for me, I had made few prior arrangements with the friends I was meeting here. So, I sent some emails, and wandered around with my bag on wheels. I saw a bunch of sites in the center of London until the storm (yes, it deserves bold) came! Though the forecast for today was "light rain," the storm tore my umbrella to pieces and soaked my luggage.
That's okay, though. I established contact with my friends, checked in to my hostel, and am now off for Thanksgiving in London!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted in on November 24, 2005, 11:07 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Travelogue: Reflections on Hungarian Culture
The instant we arrived in Budapest's airport, two people came up to our group and asked if we needed a cab. They were pretty good salespeople, armed with tons selling points: cabs were cheaper than the airport buses for large groups, cabs were quicker, cabs took you directly to your place, these were especially cheap cabs, you can pay in Euros instead of the Hungarian Forints, etc.
Yet the cab ride proved interesting. Our cab driver, fluent in English, was very honest and open. Though I assumed it was obvious, he asked if we were American, and had a lot to say. He didn't like the globalization of America. He didn't like American films, American politics, American food, or American cars.
"You go to a movie theatre and there are 10 films, and 8 of them are American." He was adamant: Hungary has its own private market, and doesn't need American products.
Throughout all this, he was weaving the cab through traffic like a madmen. European traffic lights seem to flash the yellow light when the light is red to indicate that it's about to turn green, allowing the drivers to prepare to take off at full speed. If he hadn't had us as passengers, he told us, "there is only one rule... no crossing the cars." Or, in other words, no car accidents.
Posted in on November 08, 2005, 11:02 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Travelogue: Budapest, Hungary
Having spent any time in Europe up until a few months ago, I had no idea to expect out of Budapest. But I love it!
Budapest is the first step on my three city Fall Break all this week. I wish I had more time to spend here! It's a beautiful city rich in history and with plenty of things to see, do, and look at.
We arrived last night on WizzAir (actually a suprisingly good airline) from Rome. We checked into our hostel around 8:30pm and then went off to get dinner. My first observation: it was cold. For some reason, Italy has been blessed with weather almost consistently in the 70s. And somehow I managed to leave the jacket I brought for this trip on the bus in Rome, making me one very cold traveler. Yet I persevered, as we were all pretty tired anyway and it was pretty clear last night would not be a late night. After some delicious Hungarian food (salty!), we walked along the river and went to bed.
We rose this morning at 9:30am and spent a few hours doing... nothing. It takes a group of six longer to get ready than we thought. After a late breakfast, we began our walk across a bridge into Pest (you may not know that Budapest actually used to be two separate cities: Buda and Pest) and began to climb to the Citadel, or the highest point in the city with certainly the most beautiful view. I managed to hurt my ankle (again!), so that slowed me down briefly, but we eventually made our way down and all around the city.
It should be noted that geniuses that we are, we managed to schedule our trip to Hungary during a national holiday. Today and tomorrow all museums are closed, and I'm told many of the locals have left the city entirely. But that's okay, there's still lots to see! This city is huge -- the fifth largest in the European Union.
We came back here and went to one of the city's famous baths. After testing our Hungarian trying to read all the signage, we made our way outside to the warm pools. They were packed, and while we dashed from pool to pool trying not to freeze, the Europeans casually strode to wherever they were going. "Silly Americans," I'm sure they were thinking. The warm water was incredibly relaxing -- perhaps too relaxing -- but after a few hours we headed back to our Hostel.
We got a late dinner and, as seems to happen often here, were pretty tired when we finally got back here, about an hour ago.
Tomorrow: Vienna!
· Photos from Budapest [Flickr]
Posted in on October 31, 2005, 06:53 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Travelogue: Perugia and the EuroChocolate Festival
Last weekend I took the hour and a half train ride to Perugia, Italy for their Chocolate Festival. The annual 10-day festival brings loads of people into this tiny town: it was packed while I was there, and their website says 2004 brought 900,000 people!
The weather was beautiful and the hilly town provided some of the best views I've seen this semester.
For 5 Euro they gave us some kind of membership card, which entitled us to five samples from booths scattered around Perugia. Needless to say, by the end, I was stuffed!
· Perugia's Eurochocolate Festival
Posted in on October 29, 2005, 06:13 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Rome's Zi Gaetana
During last week's visit to Rome I had a delicious lunch at Zi Gaetana. A welcome departure from most Italian meals, I had Pasta with Seafood Ragu and a salad.
The atmosphere reminded me much more of a trendy New York restuarant than the Italian trattorias that I usually frequent. And the meal was very reasonably priced.
Zi Gaetana Ristorante
Via Cola di Rienzo 263
Tel: 06-321-2342
Posted in on October 15, 2005, 07:48 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Travelogue: Rome through Videos
Photos are nice, but videos are my current obsession. Anyone who has spent any time with me recently has probably seen me whip out my camera and start taking videos. It's a much better way to remember events.
On that note, here are some videos of Rome.
Changing of the Guard
As I wrote, this was a pretty cool thing to see.
Fontana di Trevi
Advertising at the Fontana di Trevi
This was truly one of the most beautiful sites I've ever seen. To turn around a see a giant billboard was, at the least, an interesting experience.
Inside the Vatican
The Spanish Steps
Filled with people, the Spanish Steps (at night) reminded me of New York's Union Square.
Roman Ruins
Monument to King Victor Emmanuel II
Posted in on October 11, 2005, 02:00 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Travelogue: Thoughts on Rome
My first month in Florence has unfortunately not consisted of much travel. I went on a day trip to Lucca, and last weekend was supposed to travel to Perugia, but that fell through. So, this weekend, I decided to go to Rome. I originally was going to travel and stay with some friends, but they had to cancel because they were sick. They also cancelled the hostel reservations.
But none of this deterred me, so at 11am on Friday I walked the five blocks to Florence’s Santa Maria Novella train station, without a place to stay, people to travel with, or even a map.
It just so happened that sitting across from me were two students from Pepperdine University in California that were studying abroad for the year in Germany. Unlike me, they have traveled extensively, and had decided just the night before to travel the many hours (somewhere around 13) to Rome on the train.
They, too, had no where to stay in Rome, and immediately upon entering Rome’s giant “Termini” (train station), someone with a nametag that said “Tourist Information” came up to us and asked if we were looking for a room. He then walked us several blocks to a hostel (or, as he called it, a “bed and breakfast”) that was only €23 for one night. (And for the record, the “breakfast” aspect of the hostel consisted of orange juice and a stale croissant.)
This was actually my first time in a hostel, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. We were placed in a room with six beds (including two bunk beds). Everything seemed okay to me (they even had maps for me!), so we paid our money, showed them our passports, and went to explore Rome.
I just followed the seasoned travelers, and we saw dozens of sites, one after another. I had little knowledge of what Rome had to offer, and some of the coolest things I saw were things I didn’t even know existed!
Unfortunately, I didn’t keep track of where we went, so using my map, I’ve tried to piece together photos, memories, and names.
A few highlights, thoughts, etc:
The Vatican
I’m actually going to be spending a lot more time here when I go back to Rome this weekend for a class field trip. Somehow, our professor has gained special access to a normally restricted portion of the Vatican Museum. Regardless, I spent Saturday morning in the area near the Vatican. The plaza near St. Peter's Basilica was beautiful. The lines for the Sistine Chapel and other major tourist destinations were much too long for me to wait in, especially since I'd be going back the following week. I was surprised by the large amount of advertising in the plaza.
I tried to enter the Vatican proper, but was denied entrance by the clown-like Swiss Guards. As I approached, he made some gesture resembling a salute. I obviously didn't know the correct response, and he told me I couldn't come in. It's also possible I wasn't let in because of the bag I was carrying. I'm going to try and figure out what I need to do to get in next week.
Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II
This was one of the most incredible structures I've ever seen in my life. We first saw it while looking at the ruins of the Roman Forum, and it was one of the few buildings where we could go anywhere. It is difficult to communicate its size through words or photographs. It was apparently constructed between 1895 and 1911, in honor of King Victor Emmanuel II. It was heavily secured with Roman police, and every so often one would start blowing their whistle at someone doing something you weren't supposed to.
Fontana di Trevi
They say that you're supposed to supposed to throw a coin over your right shoulder, but I'm not sure how I could have pulled that off without hitting anyone! We were walking down a street, turned a corner, and all of the sudden, there it was.
One of the most shocking things was that as soon as you turned around, you saw a giant advertisement for a cell phone. I guess that's capitalism for you.
Changing of the Guard at the President's House
I saw a surprising amount of heavily armed authority figures throughout Rome. While standing outside of what later I learned was the President's house, I witnessed a changing of the guard. Like something out of a movie, a guy comes out and starts chanting instructions. I managed to capture some of it on video.
I go back to Rome next week, so I'll have lots more to say then!
· Rome Photoset [Flickr]
Posted in on October 02, 2005, 04:01 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
In Florence, ATMs Close Sunday, Too
The guidebooks tell you that in Florence, many shops and businesses are closed Sundays. It's possible that's true for the ATMs ("bancomats") too!
I just spent 30 minutes trying to find a working ATM. Only the seventh ATM I visited was actually working.
Posted in on September 25, 2005, 09:11 AM | Comments (2) | Permalink
More Thoughts on San Francisco
"The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco." -- Mark Twain
Despite San Francisco's suprising chill, I continue to have a good time exploring the west coast. Instead of stopping by the Blog Business Summit, today I played tourist and took a bunch of neat pictures.
In more useful news, WorkHappy.net, self-described "killer resources for entrepreneurs," is an excellent read for all entrepreneurs and wanna-be entrepreneurs.
Posted in on August 20, 2005, 03:05 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
