Euro Blog 2006

Well I wasn't sure I'd make to all nine countries that I had originally laid out: Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Spain, Hungary, Czech Republic, Turkey, and Switzerland. I don't know if Austria really counts since we didn't sleep there -- though we spent a lot of time passing through. But anyhow, Switzerland made it back onto the itinerary for the last few nights of my trip.

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Zurich, banking capital of the world, is a nice quiet city that is much smaller than I would have imagined. I walked the infamous Bahnhofstrasse (very posh shopping district), went to the zoo (of course), and generally just relaxed. Some of the views are incredible, like this one with snow-capped mountains in the background.

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It seems that you can't go anywhere these days without running into amusing sites. For instance, this tent for advertising dianetics. For those who don't know: Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices regarding the relationship between mind and body that were developed by author L. Ron Hubbard. This is really only funny to some of us ska-kids that remember the lyrics to an old Buck-O-Nine song.

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This is supposedly something you can't miss when in Zurich: hot chocolate from Cafe Schober -- "made with Swiss Suchard chocolate and topped with whipped cream that comes from the cafe's own herd." I kind of prefer the one with peppermint schnapps that I had in Mammoth, but that's me.

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And of course the Hotel California! This picture brings a funny story to mind -- probably no so funny to you though. On our last day in Istanbul, Brandi bought her name written in Arabic from a street vendor. While we waited, I started chatting with a Turkish guy, who in turn introduced me to his friend who is supposedly a famous fashion designer. After telling us how he just got back from traveling all over the U.S., he invited us back to his carpet showroom -- apparently he leads dual lives as fashion designer and carpet salesman. We had survived the relentless carpet salesman tactics up to this point, so why we cracked now, I don't know. But back at his carpet showroom (house), he showed us a fiew runners (I think of these as hallway rugs), and then handed us off to a friendly Curdish guy named Charlie.

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Charlie was a friendly guy with black wavy hair that borderlined curly. He was very outgoing (salesman-like), with a set of eyes that looked like they might leap from his head at any moment. I distracted myself from his eyes, by scanning the carpets that hung along the walls. Charlie informed us that he had been in the army before selling carpets and was stationed at an American base in Istanbul. For those who don't find this subtlety amusing, let me also say that Charlie was his nickname, given to him by, you guessed it, Americans. To top it all off, when he found out we were from California, he immediately went into: "Welcome to the Hotel California..." We promptly cut off his rendition of "Hotel California," hoping it wouldn't come back to haunt us again. I suppose it's really only funny if you were there...

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At night the birds do this really cool thing where they circle around the tops of the mosques. I'm not sure why they do it, but it looks really cool.

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My first visit to a Muslim country and I really didn't know what to expect. I have to say that everyone here has been so nice though, and I'm really glad we've spent a few extra days.

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We visited the famous Hagia Sophia and then the Blue Mosque. Of course you have to take off your shoes to go inside a mosque -- Bad idea guys! The place smells awful, I have no idea how you would pray there.

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While inside Brandi discovered a new religious calling.

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Dinner time! Some restaurants bring you bread, others bring you this.

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And of course no day is complete without a shisha.

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This little boy is dressed up for his upcoming circumcision. The poor boy has no idea what he's in for.

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I fought off my own troubles this day. That intense look isn't me being awestruck as we cruise the Bosphorous River.

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How cool is this public toilet? Now if only it were one of the ones with one-way glass.

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And Brandi found her store, but also found out she's number 2 or 3 on the list of Brandos.

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Berlin makes Berkeley look like Utah. This is way more counter culture in one place than I have ever seen. Our first night we spent the early part of the night at a street festival where bands played out of the backs of trucks, and the streets were full punk rock kids with red hair and metal everywhere. How many people can say they've been to the Butt Markt? Or better yet, double fisted in front of it?

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We found this random life ring on a bridge. I guess it's there just in case someone falls in. While taking this picture some kid walks by, looks at me, and says: "Hi tourist".

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If you haven't heard of these bears of the world, they are a series of bears painted for each country. Ours is totally cliche. Serbia's is pretty sad -- riddled with bullet holes.

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Brandi goes in for a closer check.

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The MasterCard cheer leaders put on a great half-time show for the World Cup!

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And how great is it that a pizza restaurant called "La Dolce Vita" has an American flag?

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Brandi pondering her first bra.

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And how classic is this sign?!? No standing huh -- right...

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As card carrying members of the funicular club, we were so excited to see that Prague has a funicular. Our moods promptly changed, however, when we discovered that this magnificent piece of machinery was closed.

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Brandi made up for her sadness by posing for suggestive photos with this guard. She got so close to him that he actually pushed her away.

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No party town is complete without it's fair share of cabaret.

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And how could we come to a former communist country without visiting the Museum of Communism and taking some photos with the man.

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We've heard nothing but amazing things about this place and they were all true. We've had a great time in Prague (other than the first night in our scary hostel). We did a little preliminary walking around on our first day to get the lay of the land, and of course a few beers.

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Why so many stationary shots you ask? We dont' know, but we figured it was time for some action shots.

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Brandi and her fashion twin sporting some pretty loud pants while watching the World Cup on a circular TV in Old Town Prague.

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Well after 2 hours of sleep and then 16 or so hours of traveling, I was wrecked! And all I have to show for it are a few pictures taken from a train as we travel through the never ending green hills of Austria.

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We've covered a lot of ground, but not as much in one day as we tackled in Budapest. This pirate hanging off the side of the building signaled the beginning of a very long day.

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Our day of walking took up to the castle district for a bit where Brandi decided to take it back to the old school for her pose.

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Whereas in Rome you take pictures with Romans; in Budapest you take pictures with big blindfolded birds -- go figure.

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And of course, no trip is complete without a funicular. At this point, they're becoming a major theme for our trip.

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Our walk was far from complete at this point. We went up past Parliament, Margaret Island, and over to a nice park with these guys playing ping pong, and a menacing looking sculpture in front of the Museum of Agriculture. I have no idea why he represents anonymity.

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The newest member of team Zissou points out an interesting find along the way. She's still waiting for her correspondence stock and then she'll write.

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What did she discover you ask. Only the best ice coffee ever!

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And no long day of walking is complete without a Thai foot massage!

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At the end of our day we returned to our Zen room for relaxation.

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We visited the Guggenheim Museum today. It's showing a Russian art exhibition with art ranging from 15th century to present. I got to see more 15th century, gold-inlaid, religious art -- lucky me!

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A small ordeal with a cancelled flight ended up putting us into San Sebastian around 11:30 PM. After 13 hours of traveling did I go to sleep? No way! I partied until 4:30 AM with my Canadian roomies. The next day we explored, walked the beach, took a funicular that was as likely to send us careening down the hill as it was to get us safely to the top, and got massages!

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In our travels we passed by a tennis club with some hybrid version of tennis and racquetball. I'm still wondering what it's called.

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Brandi can't seem to get enough of these! I'm still waiting for one called "Blue Steel".

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Scary, huh?!?

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Or maybe it's scarier that I ate pigeon for dinner!

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We popped across the Italy - France border for a few nights to check out Nice. We ended up at one of the most amazing hostels ever, with some 250 people! After spending the first night hanging around Nice, we ventured up the hill to yet another hill town, this time in France though. Eze is a neat little town decent crepes and a great view of the coast. But apparently they're a little upset by visitors walking around in just their bathers (aussie plug!)

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We then headed back down the hill to Monaco. As soon as we stepped off the bus we felt like Robin Leach was narrorating our journey. A quick look at the Monaco Casino told us that: "There are too many self-indulgent wieners in this city with too much bloody money!" -- Gone in 60 Seconds reference for those who are unaware. We did however spot some really nice cars, like this Maserati. Unfortunately we missed the Grand Prix by two weeks.

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No trip to Monaco is complete without visiting the famous Oceanographic Institute. Not only was this the institute run by Jacques Cousteau, it's also responsible for the death of the Mediteranean Sea -- though they'd never admit it! Best of all though, they've got the yellow submarine.

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If ever there was an appropriate time for a Zissou appearance, it would be now. Remind me to send him a red cap and a speedo.

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I had been dreaming of laying on the beach in the Cinque Terre well before my trip began. It was the place I most wanted to come back to after my quick stay last Summer. It was everything I had hoped for and more! Here we are exploring the towns by day. While totally cliche, I did have to indulge in a Corona while waiting for the ferry in Riomaggiori.

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Bacci ball is pretty popular and these guys really get into it.

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Really, how can you not love a place called Fanny Bazaar?

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By night we ventured to a cool little bar called the "American Bar". I know, I know -- cliche continues... Here are Taylor and I early in the night.

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The next day I discovered that:
3 glasses of white wine + 2 limoncellos + 1 grappa + 1 jack and coke + 1 rum and coke + and 1 strawberry vodka thing with a Russian name

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= Greg is a ROCKSTAR!

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I still don't remember doing this but that's me in Taylor's 4th story hotel room.

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It took a full day of buses, metros, and trains to get us from Nerano back up to Florence -- literally 11 hours. But the food was well worth the wait and the spacious digs we acquired here made the journey well worth it.

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We thought we were just taking a shuttle over to Capri and Anacapri -- turns out it was a full tour around the island with six hours to hang out. We were lucky enough to share the adventure with a big Italian family -- the gradma busted out a whistle two minutes into the journey and just went to town. She was sitting right behind us -- lucky us! Here she is after donning some more of her props -- Carrot Top met his match this day.

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We found the Beverly Hills of Capri with 5 star hotels, posh stores, and, of course, posh people. We also hiked around and found some interesting natural scenery like this natural arch.

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Another scary bus ride from Capri puts you in Anacapri on the other side of the island. You can take a fun little lift up to the top of Mount Salaro and you get a great view of the island, Naples on the mainland, and various other islands.

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Slightly off center there Greg.

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A two hour train ride south from Rome puts you in Naples.
From there, an hour of local metro through graffitied neighborhoods puts you in Sorrento.
As if that wasn't enough, an hour bus ride on one-lane roads, hanging off the sides of precipitous drops puts you in some little town that we think is called Nerano.

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Showing up without reservations actually worked out for us on our first night. The second night however, we discovered that the word hostel at some point became synonymous with mobile home. Here's our lovely accomodations -- probably still has the wheels attached though we didn't check.

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Driving here is crazy -- makes LA seem like a picnic. We opted to take the train into Rome, which was a good choice since our Opel wagon wouldn't fit around most of the corners in this city. We've covered quite a bit already and are headed to the Vatican City today. Here we are on the spanish steps.

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Taylor met a new "friend" at the Colosseum. Wonder what the parents will think?

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We're in Assissi for two nights and then off to Rome.

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Taylor doing a Vanna pose in front of a bush shaped like a T -- it means peace or something... Can I buy a vowel?

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Orvieto -- On the way to Rome
We stopped for lunch in Orvieto to check out, yet another cool church. But this time we found something unexpected: some type of Lambourghini gathering. Roughly ten of these beautiful cars from various years. A common theme did seem to pop up though: Red.

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On the way to Assissi we stopped at Monteriggioni and Siena. I'm told Monterrigioni used to be a lookout post. Now it's a good place to stop and get some Gelato.

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We also caught a glimpse of an airshow outside of Assissi. People literally stop on the freeways and get out of their cars to watch the show -- can you imagine this happening on the 405 or 101?

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The Internet access in the last few places has been shady at best -- their ill-conceived version of security prevents me from doing the things that I need to do. We've made it to Rome though and I'll work on getting better access to post pictures, etc.

Our first night and day in San Gimignano. What an incredible place, you feel like you're back in medieval times. Every hour of the day changes the lighting of every picture you want to take -- result: tons of pictures to show.

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After an interesting debacle with our rental car, we made to our lunch destination - Sirmione. A few pics and some paninis and we were on our way again. Next stop: San Gimignano.

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All this way just to end up at Disneyland. :-/ Actually this is the one that Disney modeled their castle after.

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We're in Bressanone for the night. It's a small Italian town near the Austrian border. Not a lot of action, but a nice place to kick back.

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4 hours from San Diego to Atlanta. 8+ hours from Atlanta to Frankfurt. And a very scenic drive down to Rothenburg, Germany -- you'd think I was in L.A. with how bad the traffic was. But I'm here and getting into the swing of things. Already been up for well over 24 hours and I'm thinking about going drinking since everyone else tanked out already -- it's one way to cure jetlag...right... We'll be enjoying tomorrow morning here in Rothenburg, probably touring the torture museum, and then driving down to Italy.

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Euro-tour 2006 is less than a month away. We have firm plans to visit Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Turkey, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. If time allows, we'll swing through Austria and Switzerland as well. We start in Germany on May 23rd. I'll post photos as frequently as I can.