Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Today is my birthday. For the first time since 2001, I didn’t feel the gloomy hangover of the NYC terrorist attacks. In some ways this makes me feel glad but at the same time I wonder if we’re just back to being complacent (especially in light of our …

Today is June 19th, 2005. One year ago I was about to witness my good friends Matt and Jenny marry each other and then set off for Europe. After being back in the States for 7 months, I finally got around to putting together a travelogue. I’m …

Could I make a bigger adjustment than to switch from living in Spain to going to my 10-year high school reunion in Redding, CA? I’m still trying to see if I can 1-up this somehow.

First stop: Taqueria Cancun @ 6th & MarketMy first order of business when I …

Today is Spain’s Day of Independence so most everything is closed and everyone has the day off. I woke up “early” this morning at 10 and showered so I could go out and catch the parade on Paseo de Recoletos and Paseo del Prado. These people are pretty …

As it turns out, haciendo puentes is a big deal in Spain. Such a big deal that not only were there no seats left on the train last night from Madrid to Sevilla, there were also no seats available on trains going to Bilbao, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga… outside of …

October 12th is Spain’s Fourth of July, the day they celebrate their independence. They do it in earnest with the holiday falling on a Tuesday, irrespective of packaging it into a three-day weekend. This allows them to “hacer un Puente” or, “make a bridge” and turn it into …

I just came back from having dinner at my little Mexican restaurant; they make some good tacos there. Not as much food as I would normally eat, but it’s tasty. I don’t know if Madrid once suffered a major power outage but trying to get up the stairs …

Spanish people are indecisive. Luckily that doesn’t get entirely in the way of a nice little trip, but it’s a bit obnoxious. Aqui, aqui, aqui? No, alli. No, alli. No, alli.

“We’re leaving at 8… to then drive around the city, pick up someone who isn’t expecting …

What I thought was my phone being delivered actually did come today. It was a care box from Jennifer with a bunch of bathroom-related things that I had apparently lost forever on our trip from Santorini to Athens. There is aspirin, a nail kit, a little sewing kit, …

The weather here makes me not miss San Francisco much. This time of year, when most of the northern hemisphere is enjoying warm sunny weather, San Francisco is hidden beneath a layer of fog. It might be 65F in the city while 5 miles to the East, South …

Apparently Saturday is the new launch day for websites. C|Net relaunched their site (at 1024×768 no less) as did Ebay. The new C|Net site certainly is sexy looking but I haven’t used it enough yet to know if it’s working. C|Net is one of those sites that …

This week I did very little. I mean I accomplished a lot, but it was centered solely around Pukka. I don’t think I went outside yesterday. That’s OK; sometimes you have to be productive and I solved a number of problems not the least of which was …

Being part of the motorsports scene, I’ve wondered long and hard how major car manufacturers financially justify participating in Motorsports as a competitive level. Some builders such as Ford do not. Outside of the possible R&D benefit where technology and experience gained from racing filters into the …

Yes, I have food. It sounds like such a simple task: acquire something to eat. But then you throw on top of that not speaking the language very well, not knowing the neighborhood very well, not knowing where to look to …

My apartment is in a central zone known as Chueca. Chueca is a great neighborhood. Although it’s the “gay” area, more than that it’s very diverse and has lots of trendy restaurants and bars. In Madrid, I would say trendy means “non-Spanish”. Gabriela, who turned 27 …

I’ve wasted my Sunday today doing more or less nothing. Some hacking away on the API for Pukka and some research for trips to see WRC Espana at the end of October and the southern coast of Spain in the next week or two but it took more …

It’s been almost exactly 10 days to the minute since my last entry but I’ve been busy enough to justify the shortage of writing. Yesterday being my birthday, I was just outside of Milan staying with my cousin Laura, her husband Etorre and their two very cute Italian children …

It started sprinkling about half an hour ago and now it’s a full fledge rain. I don’t think I’ve heard thunder before in Spain but it sounds pretty close.

For my birthday next weekend, I’m going to Milan to see the Formula One race at Monza. Air …

This complete stranger just opened her doors to me and invited me to stay. She is either incredibly generous or incredibly crazy.I’ve been back in Madrid now for a couple of days. I’m staying with an Ecuadorian girl named Mariela whose roommate is out of town for …

Leaving Cairo, it certainly feels like retreat as my Egyptian travels come to an end. I’m sitting in Air France business class flying over the Mediterranean en route to Paris CDG before connecting to Madrid this afternoon. I picked my seat using Travelocity yesterday and was surprised I …

Despite the dire plane ticket situation, Jennifer and I both managed to score flights out of Cairo tomorrow using the good ole Internet today. That means we only had the afternoon if we wanted to go see the Pyramids. Abercrombie & Kent was unable to get a guide …

While the rest of the boat is out visiting the Temple of Esna here in Aswan, I am sitting in our room typing away. Last evening I came down with some stomach cramps and an upset stomach. I wanted to get some Pepto-bismol so we called the on-board …

Breakfast came quicker than I would have liked with Money giving us a brisk wake-up knock around 7am. I slept alright although I tossed and turned a good bit. I left the top bunk ladder against the wall and it rattled until about 4am when I realized what …

Somewhere in the Nile Valley, I’m sitting in the top bunk of a two-person overnight sleeper train en route from Cairo to Aswan. Jennifer is reading a book on the bunk below and we’re somewhere about three hours outside of Cairo. We’re scheduled to arrive at Luxor around …

And now for something completely different…Welcome to Cairo, Egypt! For all of the interesting things Western Europe has to offer, the first time you have to get a visa for your passport as an American, you know you’re not in Kansas anymore.

Our flight from Greece left …

If the first day was any indication, there were not a lot of Americans at the games. But more obviously, there just weren’t a lot of people. The women’s basketball game was a semifinal and the stadium was maybe 1/3rd full. The atheletics event was better attended …

The last two days have been a whirlwind as they consititute our entire time in Athens for the Olympics. Our 270€/night hotel was not exactly stellar but hey, we’re in Athens for the 2004 Olympics, it’s not so bad. So we went to sleep…

At 4am I …

I can’t wait to finish writing about our time in Santorini although Athens has already been classic last-minute-planning. A basic recap: we had no reservations or anything lined in Athens. I knew that we would find a number of touts at the port waiting to pick up …

Tuesday was beautiful; we woke up from an amazing nights rest, took high-powered hot showers with a curtain. I wasn’t even sure what the weather was like but already I liked how this day was starting. A room-delivered breakfast to our private terrace looking out on the caldera …

On a high speed catamaran to Athens, I have a few spare moments to recount the last few days of Greek island living at its best in the island of Santorini…

With a monstrous 80cc scooter at our disposal, we kicked off Monday morning with a ride across the island to …

What a difference twelve hours can make! We made our connection in Athens and hopped a thirty minute flight to Santorini. Although the faxed reservation we had made for Hotel Keti were somehow lost in the shuffle, we managed to negotiate a reasonable price from a tout at …

This airport sucks.

Who designs an airport with such few wayfinding aids? It’s more like a citadel than an airport! With only one boarding pass checkpoint into the upstairs departure level, the airport funnels out but works hard to prevent entry. On the plus side, our luggage …

On our way back from the bike tour, Jennifer and I took the metro to what we thought was the closest station to our hotel, Monteparte. This was a major connection with multiple lines and the station was a labyrinth of stairs, escalators and long, winding corridors. What …

The French Eurostar tops out at 186mph (300km/h)Jennifer and I got up at 3:30am to get to the train station in time to catch our 5:30 Eurostar departure for Paris. It was still dark outside and we weren’t doing much other than keeping our eyes open. My …

Not that it’s very England or London specific, but our hotel was just down the street from a collectible store called the Forbidden Planet. If it’s geeky and sci-fi, it’s in this store. You can buy anything from posters to action figures (or dolls, as they really are) …

Last Saturday, I checked out of my hiding place at the High Tech Arenal hotel (which, had the best shower I’ve experienced yet) and hopped the metro to Barajas to catch my EasyJet flight to London Luton. I was en route to meet up with Jennifer who was …

I awoke to rain this morning at about 8:30am. At least, I thought it was rain. But then I remembered that it seems to be raining every morning when I wake up and yet the ground is never wet. Just then, the sound of a toilet five …

It’s been several days without an update because the Internet access I was supposed to have at the apartment I lined up didn’t materialize. There is a limit imposed by our Telefonica router that prevents more than two computers from connecting but even after turning one of them off, …

The Internet redeemed itself today. I posted yesterday on an expat website in Madrid looking for someone to go to with to the bullfights tonight at Las Ventas. A girl named Lena replied this afternoon and after a short IM conversation we set a time to meet and …

I landed in Madrid Wednesday afternoon and with my three bags in tow, had a very adventurous time navigating the metro. My arms were so sore yesterday morning from the carrying of some 60kg/125lbs of luggage up and down various flights of stairs and in and out of trains. …

A couple of days of warm but beautiful weather in Rome have passed. I “took the day off” yesterday and lounged around mostly to recover from a long weekend as well as give my left foot a rest. Since Bay to Breakers 2003 it has been an …

The wonderful deal I found for my ROM-MAD flight on Wednesday for 88€ unfortunately has some pretty wonderful baggage limitations as well. No more than 20kg total in weight. My bags total probably 50kg – the computer gear box alone weighs about 25kg.

Luckily, the Air Europa office is …

Yesterday, Patrick and I went to a friend’s house in the suburbs where they have a pool for a little swimming. The house was interesting because it was quite large and very nice. The neighbors next door had a Mercedes and an Audi so it was a wealthy …

As expected, tonight did not disappoint. Patrick brought me along for a “blind date”; he was meeting some friends of a colleague he had not met before. Four girls in their early 30s and Patrick all speaking Italian, mixed with the occasional word of English. I really …

Me? I went back to bed.At 7:15 this morning I dragged myself out of bed to help my brother and father carry their bags downstairs and pack into a shuttle to Aeroperto Fiumcino. Today was their last day in Europe and now they’re headed back to their …

Gelato includes egg making it creamier than ice cream. San Crispino Gelateria, near the Trevi Fountain at Via della Panetteria 42, is reputed to be the bestHonestly, I don’t know. After trying the crème (caramel) gelato tonight at the place that the NY Times and other regarded …

For the Florence to Rome leg of our tour, we decided to take the scenic route and forego the autobahn in favor of the coastal highway. This gave us a chance to drive through Pisa and see the famous leaning tower (there’s no way to go there and not …

What can you really say about Florence? It is a center of art, history and culture and stands as one of the most beautiful and famous cities in the world. The fact that it sits squarely in Tuscany means it has amazing food to boot. Oh, …

Our next destination was our Italian origins near Lago di Garda. This is the village where Ghidinellis come from, quite literally. I was a little bit apprehensive about this part of the trip because it’s something that my father particularly wanted to do (although he has done it …

Innsbruck was our stopping point between our mid-day departure in Berlin and our next destination of Brescia in northern Italy on the shores Lago di Garda. Driving through the Alps was incredibly beautiful; the mixture of rugged, steep mountainside and dark green mountain plateaus was breathtaking. Houses and …

I’m a BMW brand loyalist and I love beer so I was excited about visiting the Bavarian capital of Germany in Munich. The weather was a bit gray during our stay but we only pulled out our umbrellas once or twice in the three days we were there. …

We arrived in Dresden via our lovely navigation guide and came across an old fortress like building surrounded by a half-empty moat. We decided to stop and head inside to look around as it was coming close to sunset and looked interesting inside. The combination of …

I’ve heard so many great things about Prague and forced my brother and father to add it to our itinerary. The Czech Republic is in the process of becoming part of the European Union but my travel agent (Rose Wylie, Travel 100 Group, 847.256.2108 x163) wisely advised us to …

My overall impression of Berlin was that it was very similar to San Francisco: cosmopolitan, very diverse and good food. However, it was quite different in that people obey rules. Every rule. If there isn’t a car in either direction for 500 yards but the crosswalk light …

Given that I’ve quit my job and am in the process of moving to Europe, “I did it” could apply to a number of items. At the moment, it refers to shaving my head. I’ve always wanted to do it and I figured with at least a couple …