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@ -107,24 +107,24 @@ description: >- |
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# Munich, Germany |
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I arrived in Munich late at night on January 14th. My friend Caitlin met me at |
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the train station near her house and we walked over to it to drop my stuff off. |
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Jetlag hit me real good at this point, so I only barely remember her taking me |
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to a nearby biergarten to get some food and catch up. The next day we headed |
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down to the center of the city, and she showed me around the sights, like |
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Marienplatz and the Frauenkirche (one of many famous churches in Munich). |
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the train station, and walked me over to her house to drop my stuff off. Jetlag |
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hit me real good at this point, so I only barely remember her taking me to a |
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nearby biergarten to get some food and catch up. The next day we headed down to |
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the center of the city, and she showed me around the sights, like Marienplatz |
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and the Frauenkirche (one of many famous churches in Munich). |
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{% include image.html |
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dir="mr-worldwide" file="munich-victory-gate-2018.jpg" width=4048 |
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descr="Siegestor (Victory Gate), Munich, 2018" |
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%} |
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As we walked and ate our way through the day Caitlin told me all of the things |
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that are different in Europe, like how water is never free anywhere, nor are |
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public restrooms; like how many buildings which are still used and lived in are |
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older than our entire country; like how people use cash instead of card, and get |
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irritated if you make them break a large bill, or they just might not do it at |
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all; like how even in a large city like Munich everything can still be closed on |
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a Sunday. |
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As we walked and ate our way through the day Caitlin updated me on all of the |
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things that I should expect to be different in Europe, like how water is never |
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free anywhere, nor are public restrooms; like how many buildings which are still |
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used and lived in are older than our entire country; like how people use cash |
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instead of card, and get irritated if you make them break a large bill, or they |
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just might not do it at all; like how even in a large city like Munich |
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everything can still be closed on a Sunday. |
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{% include image.html |
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dir="mr-worldwide" file="munich-moosach-2018.jpg" width=3036 |
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@ -141,19 +141,21 @@ and people walked home from the train station after work without hurry. It was |
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like the priorities of the whole culture were different in some fundamental way |
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that I could never quite put a finger on. |
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Caitlin worked during the week and so I was set free into the City for a few |
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Caitlin worked during the week, and so I was set free into the City for a few |
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days. I visited more churches, ate more food, hung out at the library figuring |
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out the next steps of my travels, and just generally wandered around the city. |
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One snowy day I had lunch with a distant relative on my mom's side, who is an |
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artist in Munich. I met her at her studio, and from there we wandered around |
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various museums where she gave me essentially a private guided tour of the |
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exhibits. We talked about politics, with Trump being the main topic of course. |
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We talked about art, and school, and our different cultures. She told me that |
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Europe had always looked to the US as a kind of older brother, but now that |
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image was starting to fall apart, and I told her about the tiny house and |
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minimalism movement that is hopefully picking up steam in the US. (TODO finish |
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this paragraph). |
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various museums, where she gave me a private guided tour of the exhibits. We |
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talked about politics, and about how immigration is affecting it, and about |
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Trump (of course), and about art, and school, and our different cultures. She |
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told me that Europe had always looked to the U.S. as a kind of older brother, |
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but now that image was starting to fall apart, and I told her about the tiny |
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house and minimalism movement that is hopefully picking up steam in the U.S., |
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and about my friend who is living in a van and traveling around the country. I |
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learned a lot that day, and when I headed back to Caitlin's afterwards I felt |
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much more at home in the country and continent than I had before. |
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A week after arriving it was time for me to continue on. One cold morning I |
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hopped onto a bus, rode through a snowy Switzerland, and hopped off into a |
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@ -177,29 +179,29 @@ lavish and disparate. |
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My hostel in Milan was called the Ostello Bello, and was probably the best one I |
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could have gotten as my first hostel in Europe. The hostel's downstairs area was |
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a restaurant/bar, with tables reserved for hostel guests. Upon arriving they |
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immediately sat me down at one of those tables, where others were sitting, and |
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said "this is Brian, talk to him". They did this with every person who arrived, |
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as well as giving us free food and drinks, so that every night turned into a |
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small party. |
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a restaurant/bar, with some tables reserved for hostel guests. Upon arriving |
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they immediately sat me down at one of those tables, where others were sitting, |
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and said "this is Brian, talk to him". They did this with every person who |
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arrived, as well as giving us free food and drinks, so that every night turned |
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into a small party. |
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It took a while for me to fully break out of my shell and get used to meeting |
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people in hostels, but if it weren't for Ostello Bello it might not have |
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happened at all. Every night I got to hand out and make friends with people from |
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happened at all. Every night I got to hang out and make friends with people from |
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South Korea, Scotland, Argentina, France, Switzerland, and locals from Milan |
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too. So despite all the negative things I'm going to have to say about party |
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hostels later, I'm grateful for Ostello Bello. |
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As far as Milan itself, the only thing which really impacted me was the Duomo. |
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And boy did it impact me, so much so that I visited it twice. It's the third |
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largest church in the world, but my experience of it was even better than when I |
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went to St. Peter's, the first largest. The interior is so cavernous that all |
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sounds echo virtually forever, creating a low hum which reminded me of the Hindu |
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Om. To think that the words of a book carried such force that, 2000 years later, |
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people were erecting and maintaining incredible structures like the Milan's |
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Duomo in their honor floored me. There's a lot of criticism which could and |
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should be leveled towards the Catholic Church, but damnit they know how to build |
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a building. |
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As far as Milan itself, the thing which impacted me the most was the Duomo. And |
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boy did it impact me, so much so that I visited it twice. It's the third largest |
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church in the world, but my experience of it was even better than when I would |
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go to St. Peter's, the first largest, later on. The interior is so cavernous |
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that all sounds echo virtually forever, creating a low hum which reminded me of |
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the Hindu Om. To think that the words of a book carried such force that, 2000 |
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years later, people were erecting and maintaining incredible structures like the |
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Milan's Duomo in their honor floored me. There's a lot of criticism which could |
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and should be leveled towards the Catholic Church, but damnit they know how to |
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build a building. |
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{% include image.html |
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dir="mr-worldwide" file="milan-duomo-2018-0.jpg" width=1292 |
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@ -219,31 +221,31 @@ a building. |
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Besides the Duomo I also visited some museums and other sights, like the Sforza |
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Castle, walking from one to the other as the days went on. Walking became a |
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frequent past-time for me during my traveling. Between Google Maps and an |
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external batter pack I always had with me there was never a worry about getting |
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lost, and with hostels generally being clustered near the sights it was rarely |
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more than a half-hour walk to any given thing I wanted to see. So I got used to |
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walking a lot, and taking public transit infrequently, and never once used a |
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taxi or rental car while in Europe. |
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frequent past-time for me during my traveling. Between Google Maps and the |
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external battery pack I always had with me, there was never a worry about |
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getting lost, and with hostels generally being clustered near the sights it was |
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rarely more than a half-hour walk to any given thing I wanted to see. So I got |
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used to walking a lot, and taking public transit infrequently, and never once |
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used a taxi or rental car while in Europe. |
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Five days after arriving in Milan I left it, having made many friends and |
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having learned a lot about Italy and Italians. I also learned I was spending too |
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long at each city: It was almost 2 weeks into my 3 month-max trip (for visa |
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reasons), and I'd only been to two! From then on I kept to two or three days per |
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city, depending on how much I cared about it, with a couple of five day-ers when |
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I really needed a rest. |
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reasons), and I'd only been to two cities! From then on I kept to two or three |
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days per city, depending on how much I cared about it, with a couple of five |
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day-ers when I really needed a rest. |
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## Ravenna, Italy |
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After the hecticness of Milan I needed something more quiet. Before leaving the |
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US a friend had told me about Ravenna, the once capital of the Western Roman |
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U.S. a friend had told me about Ravenna, the once capital of the Western Roman |
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Empire and now small Italian city, where some of the world's oldest Christian |
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structures still reside. Mosaics retain their original quality over time far |
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better than many other mediums, and Ravenna was full of ones from as early as |
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the 6th century. While not as glamorous and fast-paced as Milan, Ravenna really |
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hit me with the depth of its history. As someone from the US I'm not accustomed |
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to seeing anything built before 1500, and yet here were buildings in excellent |
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condition which were built a thousand years prior. |
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hit me with the depth of its history. As someone from the U.S., I'm not |
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accustomed to seeing anything built before 1500, and yet here were buildings in |
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excellent condition which were built a thousand years prior. |
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{% include image.html |
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dir="mr-worldwide" file="ravenna-mosaic-2018-0.jpg" width=4048 |
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@ -256,34 +258,33 @@ condition which were built a thousand years prior. |
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float="right" |
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%} |
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Another thing which took some time to get accustomed to was using cash. By this |
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point in the trip it had become somewhat second-nature, but only by way of many |
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mishaps previously. In the US using cash is usually a backup option, with |
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credit/debit cards ruling supreme. ATMs never give out bills bigger than $20, |
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and no establishment would ever complain about having to break a $20 except for |
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maybe the smallest purchases. In Europe the ATMs (or cash machines, whatever) |
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almost always give out €50 bills, which absolutely no one wants to break except |
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big chain stores. I still remember the exact location of an ATM in Munich which |
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gave me €10 bills, it was that exciting of a find, and I went out of my way to |
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go back to it more than once. |
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Something else which took some time to get accustomed to was using cash (what a |
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segway!). By this point in the trip it had become somewhat second-nature, but |
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only by way of many mishaps previously. In the U.S. using cash is usually a |
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backup option, with credit/debit cards ruling supreme. ATMs never give out bills |
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bigger than $20, and no establishment would ever complain about having to break |
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a $20 except for maybe the smallest purchases. In Europe the ATMs (or cash |
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machines, whatever) almost always give out €50 bills, which absolutely no one |
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wants to break except big chain stores. It's a giant pain. I still remember the |
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exact location of an ATM in Munich which gave me €10 bills, it was that exciting |
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of a find, and I went out of my way to go back to it more than once. |
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So in addition to needing to keep an eye on your cash and get more out |
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periodically, you also need to keep an eye out for places which will break your |
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bills and plan accordingly. Before leaving the US I had gotten a debit card with |
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free international ATM withdrawls at any ATM, so finding places to get cash out |
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wasn't a problem, but breaking it always was. |
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bills, and plan accordingly. Before leaving the U.S. I had gotten a debit card |
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with free international ATM withdrawls at any ATM, so finding places to get cash |
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out wasn't a problem, but breaking it always was. |
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By the time I got back to the US, I missed doing everything in cash, and even |
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But by the time I got back home, I missed doing everything in cash, and even |
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kept doing it for a while in spite of my culture. While having to find places to |
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break fifties was a pain, a little friction to making random purchases wasn't |
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necessarily a bad thing. Instead of impulsively buying whatever was in front of |
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me, I was incentivized to wait until a better opportunity arrose, generally by |
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waiting until I could buy multiple things at the same time, which generally |
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meant buying more efficiently because I was actually putting thought into it. |
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Also, by always paying in cash, I had a better sense of how much I was actually |
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spending day-to-day. In the US we abhor inconvenience, but in my opinion our |
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reluctance to use cash is a good example of how that abhorance can be to our own |
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detriment. |
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meant buying more efficiently because I was putting thought into it. Also, by |
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always paying in cash, I had a better sense of how much I was actually spending |
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day-to-day. In the U.S. we abhor inconvenience, but in my opinion our reluctance |
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to use cash is a good example of how that abhorance can be to our own detriment. |
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## Florence, Italy |
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@ -291,18 +292,18 @@ The train from Ravenna to Florence (or, as Italians spell it, _Firenze_) was |
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uneventful. Finding the best route between cities turned out to be pretty |
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straightforward. There's an app called GoEuro which helps compare different |
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methods like bus, train, plane, and taxi/ride-sharing. There's another app |
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called Rome2Trio which does roughly the same thing. There's a bus company called |
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FlexBus which I used quite a bit; their prices are good, their buses are new, |
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and the UI of their site was made in the last decade. |
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called Rome2Trio which does roughly the same thing. And there's a bus company |
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called FlexBus which I used quite a bit; their prices are good, their buses are |
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new, and the UI of their site was made in the last decade. |
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Florence was by far my favorite city in Italy. On the one hand it was very |
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trourist-friendly, and on the other it still retained the feeling of being a |
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historic city. I split my time there between visiting museums and churches and |
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finding the best cheapest spots to eat. Before leaving the US a friend had told |
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me to avoid any restaurant in Europe that has pictures on its menu; they're |
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targeted at tourists and priced accordingly. My strategy for finding food |
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involved marking off hole-in-the-wall spots in my maps app whenever I came |
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across them during the day. |
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finding the best/cheapest spots to eat. Before leaving home, a friend had told |
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me to avoid any restaurants with pictures on their menu; they're targeted at |
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tourists and priced accordingly. So my strategy for finding food involved |
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marking off hole-in-the-wall spots in my maps app whenever I came across them |
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during the day, and returning later when I was hungry |
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{% include image.html |
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dir="mr-worldwide" file="florence-2018-0.jpg" width=4048 |
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@ -361,7 +362,7 @@ through Spain. |
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## Rome, Italy |
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Rome surprised me when I got there, though to be honest it's not clear what my |
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Rome surprised me when I got there, though, to be honest, it's not clear what my |
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expectations actually were. The city center, aka the tourist center, is |
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absolutely _massive_, and all of it is completely tourist-centric. Living in |
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Rome must feel like living inside of Disney World. The city no longer exists for |
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@ -372,14 +373,13 @@ tour agencies, bike rentals, "experience" vendors (helicopter rides over the |
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Colosseum! Oh my!), shitty jewelry stores, and so much more, all aimed at |
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someone who has too much money and not enough time to spend it all. |
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My hostel was one of the cheapest I could find, but since I was only staying |
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two full days I figured it'd be fine. Seeing all the sights of Rome in only two |
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days is not recommended, but I did the best I could. The first day I went |
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straight to the Vatican, getting there as early as possible to try |
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(unsuccessfully) to beat the line. St. Peters is the largest church in the |
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world, but being rushed I wasn't able to enjoy it like Milan's Duomo, and a lot |
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of it was closed off unless you wanted to pay more. I wasn't able to spend |
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enough time in it to enjoy it. |
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My hostel was one of the cheapest I could find, but I was only staying two full |
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days so it was fine. Seeing all of the sights of Rome in only two days is not |
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recommended. The first day I went straight to the Vatican, getting there as |
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early as possible to try (unsuccessfully) to beat the line. St. Peters is the |
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largest church in the world, but being rushed I wasn't able to enjoy it like |
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Milan's Duomo, and a lot of it was closed off unless you wanted to pay more. I |
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wasn't able to spend enough time in it to enjoy it. |
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{% include image.html |
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dir="mr-worldwide" file="rome-2018-3.jpg" width=4048 |
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@ -387,14 +387,13 @@ enough time in it to enjoy it. |
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%} |
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The Vatican museum was more enjoyable than I thought it would be. For starters |
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it's huge, with tons and tons of things to see, including, obviously, the |
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Sistene Chapel. I took my time wandering around. After the museum I left the |
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Vatican and wandered over to some other sights, like the Castel Sant'Angelo and |
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the Pantheon. As the day wore on, and more and more tourists started pouring |
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out, everything became impossibly crowded. It was difficult to really enjoy |
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anything, what with everyone taking their phones out to capture anything and |
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everything the guidebook said to, without really taking the time to take in the |
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thing itself. |
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it's huge, with tons and tons of things to see, including the Sistene Chapel. I |
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took my time wandering around. After the museum I left the Vatican and wandered |
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over to some other sights, like the Castel Sant'Angelo and the Pantheon. As the |
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day wore on, and more and more tourists started pouring out, everything became |
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impossibly crowded. It was difficult to really enjoy anything, what with |
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everyone taking their phones out to capture anything and everything the |
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guidebook said to, without really taking the time to take in the thing itself. |
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{% include image.html |
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dir="mr-worldwide" file="rome-2018-2.jpg" width=4048 |
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@ -405,40 +404,40 @@ This was something I began to struggle with while I was in Rome. It wasn't |
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always clear to me _why_ these people cared about these sights, with myself |
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being included. My pessimistic self would say that people just want the social |
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media points gained by a nice selfie in front of Trevi Fountain, and that the |
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tourism explosion which has started in the last decade is driven by narcissism. |
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My charitable self might say that everyone understands that the journey matters |
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more than the destination, and that seeing the sights isn't really the point, |
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but rather prefer the adventure taken with friends and/or family, and so they |
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snap a quick picture and continue on with their good time. |
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tourism explosion which has started in the last decade is driven by that |
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narcissism. My more charitable self might say that everyone understands that the |
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journey matters more than the destination, and that seeing the sights isn't |
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really the point, but rather prefer the adventure taken with friends and/or |
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family, and so they snap a quick picture and continue on with their good time. |
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The reason people travel and visit tourist spots is really only their business, |
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and I can't be one to judge. It just seems unfortunate to take an entire city, |
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arguably the most important city in written history, and turn it into a theme |
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park for the sake of people who don't actually care all too much about it. I |
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carried this realization with me for the rest of my trip, that tourism is a |
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deal-with-the-devil, taking the money of people who, ostensibly, find some place |
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interesting, in exchange for driving away the original inhabitants of that place |
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who made it interesting in the first place. |
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deal-with-the-devil; it takes the money of people who, ostensibly, find some |
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place interesting, in exchange for driving away the original inhabitants of that |
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place who made it interesting in the first place. |
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Later on I would learn that the creep of tourism and the dreaded plague of |
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"gentrification" were spoken of as the same thing in popular destinations. The |
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problem of wealthy people driving out the inhabitants of a city in order to take |
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part in the city culture the original inhabitants created is a global one, and |
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one I'm certainly a part of. I moved to Denver because I liked the culture of |
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that city, and was fortunate enough to be able to afford to do so, but then left |
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only three years later, and was now doing the same in even shorter time periods |
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in cities the world over. |
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part in the city culture, which the original inhabitants created, is a global |
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one, and one I'm certainly a part of. I moved to Denver because I liked the |
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culture of that city, and was fortunate enough to be able to afford to do so, |
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but then left only three years later, and was now doing the same in even shorter |
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time periods in cities the world over. |
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I obviously didn't stop being a tourist after Rome, but I made a conscious |
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attempt to be a better one. I put down the guidebook (or, in my case, the guide |
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app) and tried to explore more naturally, taking in each sight as I found it, |
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and learning as much about it as I could. Rather than trying to see a little of |
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everything I find something which really called out to me and focus on that. |
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It's a tough predicament to be in; it's important to go out and see the world, |
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to meet people from all different cultures and see all the ways they live, but |
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doing so is, often, detrimental to those cultures. It was tough to find a |
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balance I was comfortable with, and I'm still not sure a "correct" balance |
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actually exists. |
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everything, I would find something which really called out to me and focus on |
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that. It's a tough predicament to be in; it's important to go out and see the |
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world, to meet people from all different cultures and see all the ways they |
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live, but doing so is, often, detrimental to those cultures. It was tough to |
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find a balance I was comfortable with, and I'm still not sure a "correct" |
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balance actually exists. |
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<div style="text-align: center;"> |
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{% include image.html |
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@ -496,7 +495,7 @@ constructed using private funds and donations since then. |
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</div> |
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The outside presents two faces, one a mishmash of sculpture which resembles |
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melting ice-cream and the other highly geometrical, both filled with biblical |
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melting ice-cream, and the other highly geometrical, both filled with biblical |
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scenes and small details. Neither really prepares you for what the inside will |
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be like. |
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@ -524,32 +523,33 @@ I'd been in a lot of churches and cathedrals up till this point. Even when they |
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were as mind blowing as Milan's Duomo, they all followed a similar pattern: |
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gothic, brooding, ornate, almost dark in a way. |
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La Sagrada Familia is none of those things; it shirks the gothic style almost |
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La Sagrada Familia is none of those things. It shirks the gothic style almost |
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completely, instead adopting one inspired by natural shapes and patterns. It |
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feels more like being under a canopy of trees than being in a building. There's |
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light, and color, and organic shapes, like the tree-trunk-like columns and the |
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flower ceiling. And yet there's also a geometric patterness to everything, which |
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hints at an order and intent for everything in sight, so your eye is drawn in |
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to investigate every detail without needing ornamentation to grab it. |
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flower ceiling. And yet there's also a geometric pattern-ness to everything, |
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which hints at an order and intent for everything in sight, so your eye is drawn |
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in to investigate every detail without needing ornamentation to grab it. |
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It's lucky that I hadn't made any other plans for that day, because I spent |
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nearly two hours at that church, walking around, taking it all in, sitting |
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and contemplating, holding back tears a lot of the time, not being successful at |
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it the rest. This might have been the first building I'd ever felt gratitude |
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for. Where the traditional catholic building has as a foundation a call to |
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for. Where the traditional catholic building has, as a foundation, a call to |
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authority, this one had a call to nature and humanity. And rather than being the |
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crackpot dream of a single person, it had been carried on and supported and |
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built by many others long after he had died. It was a reflection of an ongoing |
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change in a society which I was grateful to see. |
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I left Barcelona with a new understanding of churches, and what they represent, |
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even for someone who's not catholic, and even for someone who's not christian. |
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They're a space that's been set aside with the fundamental purpose of sitting |
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quietly and thinking about things larger than oneself. Thinking about one's |
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place in society, or in nature, or in the universe, and thinking about how that |
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affects one's actions. Every society on earth has these spaces, though they go |
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by different names, and have lots of different decorations. Each one carries a |
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message about what that society has ascribed importance to. |
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I left Barcelona with a new understanding of churches, and what they might |
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represent, even for someone who's not catholic. They're a space that's been set |
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aside with the fundamental purpose of sitting quietly and thinking about things |
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larger than oneself. Thinking about one's place in society, or in nature, or in |
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the universe, and thinking about how that affects one's actions. Every society |
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on earth has these spaces, though they go by different names, and have lots of |
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different decorations. Each one of these spaces carries a message about what |
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that society has ascribed importance to, and the message La Sagrada Familia |
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carried with it was refreshing. |
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## Madrid, Spain |
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@ -575,7 +575,8 @@ Mostly, we walked around and talked. We talked about colonialism, and oppression |
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and guilt, and about the Spanish Civil War and fascism, and about Catalan and |
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its desire for independence, about capitalism, and the pain it causes, and about |
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tourism and gentrification, and about royalty and aristocracy, and about |
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language and culture. |
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language and culture. Like in Munich, I learned a lot, and felt a lot closer to |
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Spain than I had when I arrived. |
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I only spent one full day in Madrid, and afterwards took a bus, continuing |
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south, down to Córdoba. |
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@ -583,9 +584,9 @@ south, down to Córdoba. |
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## Córdoba, Spain |
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It was on the bus to Córdoba that I remembered to actually book a place to stay |
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there. I quickly grabbed an AirBnB in town, though as it turned out messed it up |
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so that when it didn't go through. So there was an hour there, waiting at |
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the Córdoba bus station, where I was trully homeless. I spent it booking another |
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there. I quickly grabbed an AirBnB in town, though, as it turned out, messed it |
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up and it didn't get reserved. So there was an hour there, waiting at the |
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Córdoba bus station, where I was trully homeless. I spent it booking another |
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AirBnB, properly this time, and eating some bread and cheese from my backpack, |
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and watching some birds fight over a loaf someone else had dropped. |
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@ -613,14 +614,15 @@ at got this, most didn't. |
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If someone feels comfortable in a hostel they'll open up on their own, and |
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naturally want to meet the people around them, go out partying, and have cool |
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experiences. Or not. They'll do whatever the fuck they want to. But if a hostel |
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is too focused on being cool and hip and showing off how good its vibes are it's |
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neglecting the basics, and there is no partying and the vibes aren't good. |
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is too focused on being cool and hip and showing off how good its vibes are, |
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it's neglecting the basics, and then there's no partying, and the vibes aren't |
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good. |
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So I was tired of party hostels, as I began calling them, having just been in |
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one in Barcelona a few days prior, and grabbed instead spent the night in what |
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turned out to be a brutally cold old building which had neither heat, sealed |
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windows, or cooking device with which to make a hot meal. So that's what I get |
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for being a snob, I guess. |
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one in Barcelona a few days prior, and instead spent the night in what turned |
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out to be a brutally cold old building which had neither heat, sealed windows, |
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or cooking device with which to make a hot meal. Which is what I get for being |
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a snob, I guess. |
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In the morning I visted the Mosque/Cathedral of Córdoba. This site has had the |
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odd history of having originally been a church, having then been converted to a |
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@ -633,7 +635,7 @@ neglected to take any pictures of. |
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## Granada, Spain |
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This was probably one of the most interesting places I visited while traveling. |
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It was once one of the most important Moorish cities in Spain, then briefly |
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Granada was once one of the most important Moorish cities in Spain, then briefly |
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became a Jewish state, and then the seat of the Nasrid dynasty (the last Muslim |
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dynasty in Spain), and then eventually went back to being a part of the Catholic |
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empire. During this time it also had a large influx of Romani, and out of this |
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@ -653,21 +655,20 @@ homes. My hostel was in one of these caves. |
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%} |
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The hostel was small and quiet, overlooking both the Alhambra (the castle on a |
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hill, built by the Nasrids) and the rest of the city, and the guys running it |
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were chill. One was Scottish, but he had come to Granada to live and study |
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flamenco, and it was obvious from how he spoke about it that he was completely |
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in love with the art and the people. On one night they took me out to a "real |
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gypsy bar", as they called it. |
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hill, built by the Nasrids) and the rest of the city. The guys running it |
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were chill; the owner was Dutch, and the other was Scottish. The Scott had come |
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to Granada to live and study flamenco, and it was obvious from how he spoke |
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about it that he was completely in love with the art and the people. On one |
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night they took me out to a "real gypsy bar", as they called it. |
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The flamenco artists in town, the singers and guitarists and dancers, make a |
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living performing for tourists, but this bar is, according to my guides, where |
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they would go after the shows to hang out. There was no music in the bar, |
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but, as the night went on, three or four cliques formed up naturally, each |
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around a guitar player and singer, with dancers circling around, the rest |
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clapping to an indecipherable rhythm. The Scott knew the names of a few of the |
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people playing, and told me that it was at gatherings like this that the |
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musicians tried out new things and pushed the art further. It was the "real" |
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flamenco. |
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they go after the shows to hang out. There was no music in the bar, but, as the |
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night went on, three or four cliques formed up naturally, each around a guitar |
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player and singer, with dancers circling around, the rest clapping to an |
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indecipherable rhythm. The Scott knew the names of a few of the people playing, |
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and told me that it was at gatherings like this that the musicians tried out new |
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things and pushed the art further. It was the "real" flamenco. |
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After that we got kebab and went back to the cave. |
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@ -684,12 +685,13 @@ I went back to the peace and quiet of Sacromonte. |
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descr="Sacromonte and the valley below. Granada, 2018" |
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%} |
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Being uphill, difficult to access by car, it was in many ways warded off from |
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the wave of tourism which has swept the world and sucked the heart out of many |
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cities. Only those willing to carry their bags 20 minutes uphill could disturb |
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it. I found the absolute best spot possible, with benches overlooking the |
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Alhambra and the city and the sunset, sitting and drawing for hours, and was |
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only disturbed by one or two couples sharing the view in all that time. |
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Being uphill and difficult to access by car, the Sacromonte was, in many ways, |
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|
warded off from the wave of tourism which has swept the world and sucked the |
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|
heart out of its cities. Only those willing to carry their bags 20 minutes |
|
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|
uphill could disturb it. I found the absolute best spot possible, with benches |
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|
overlooking the Alhambra and the city and the sunset, sitting and drawing for |
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hours, and was only disturbed by one or two couples sharing the view in all that |
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time. |
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I had originally planned to head back to Munich after Granada, but after talking |
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with a lot of people who told me I _had_ to go to Portugal, I booked a bus to |
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@ -721,7 +723,7 @@ quiet and cozy. |
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%} |
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Another part of what made Lisbon stand out to me was the hostel I stayed in, and |
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the people I met there. The hostel was _cozy_. There was a small dining area |
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the people I met there. The hostel was _homey_. There was a small dining area |
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with a single long table, a small living room with couches and chairs |
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arranges in a circle, a decked out kitchen that anyone could use, and free |
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sangria every evening. Rather than focus on partying and yolo and whatever, the |
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@ -732,10 +734,10 @@ amazing time. |
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While I was there, a museum had an exhibit devoted to M.C. Escher, the Dutch |
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artist known for his tesselations, fractals, and generally paradoxical work. |
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Escher had always been an artist I was aware of, and then I read the book |
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_Gödel, Escher, Bach_ by Douglas Hofstadter and became even more interested. So |
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I couldn't pass up the chance to see his work in person. And boy, did it leave |
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an impression on me. |
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Escher had always been an artist I was aware of, and a year prior to this I had |
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read the book _Gödel, Escher, Bach_ by Douglas Hofstadter and become even more |
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interested. So I couldn't pass up the chance to see his work in person. And boy, |
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did it leave an impression on me. |
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Having traveled to Córdoba and Granada in his early twenties, Escher was |
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impressed by the Moorish architecture, specifically the tesselating tile |
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@ -763,10 +765,16 @@ tesselations of my own, trying to find the tricks that Escher found which let |
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him make such complex images. I would find some, but certainly Escher still has |
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the leg up on me. |
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Having traveled most of Southern Europe at this point I flew back to homebase, |
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|
Munich, to recuperate and take figure out what my next steps would be. I left |
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Lisbon promising myself that I'd be back, even considering finding a way to live |
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|
there one day. While my life plans have since changed, it's not something I've |
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|
totally ruled out. |
|
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|
Having traveled most of Southwest Europe at this point I flew back to homebase, |
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|
Munich, to recuperate and figure out what my next steps would be. I left Lisbon |
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|
promising myself that I'd be back, even considering finding a way to live there |
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|
one day. While my life plans have since changed, it's not something I've totally |
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|
ruled out. |
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[google-lisbon]: https://econews.pt/2018/01/29/from-google-to-amazon-technological-companies-are-moving-to-portugal-why/ |
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## To be continued |
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In my next post of this series I'll tell the story of the second, and longest, |
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|
leg of my European tour, where I go to Belgium, the UK, Scandinavia, Prague, and |
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Berlin! |
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