The lounge experience here at LAX has been unparalleled. Since I had a business class ticket, there was no wait to check in, so I headed up and right through security. Now, a giant beautiful lounge with free alcohol access? Yes please.

The food was pretty good, they had a selection of both american style lunch foods and asian style lunch foods, since our destination was the far east. The lounge was also being used by other star alliance flights, and as such, I was seated next to some folks headed to Germany via Lufthansa, and there was an ANA flight also departing for Tokyo.

After boarding, the Singapore Airlines experience was fabulous. I was seated on the upper deck in an exit row, and I was immediately offered a pre-departure beverage. In the interests of taking my experience as far as possible, I ordered a Singapore Sling. The post-departure beverage was champagne, and this kept flowing until I decided (somewhere around Vancouver [USA! USA!]) that it was sleepy time. A few movies and a few hours sleep later, I landed at Narita, marking my first experience in Japan, and becoming the 3rd generation of men in my family to visit Tokyo. (Story to come later)

***

The planning for this trip has taken some time, and was almost completely canned altogether with the 2010 snowpocalypse in Washington D.C. Since airport shuttles were suspended, I was forced to take the train in at 10PM and wait at the airport until my departure at 5AM the next morning, for a grand total of seven hours in an airport. This breaks my previous record of 5 hours spent in the most boring and ugly airport in the world, Paris-Charles De Gaulle. I get shivers just thinking about the concrete monstrosity the aesthetics loving Frenchmen plunked down in the middle of a rabbit warren in Roissy.

The flight departs at 5:20; another hour to wait. I am halfway through Game Change, the newest political fad to hit D.C. The book details the entire history of the 2008 presidential campaign, and is, as my roommate terms it, very “gossipy.” I am enjoying it thus far.

I have been awake since 7AM EST. I plan on staying awake until my flight for Los Angeles departs from Charlotte. The rationale for this is to get my body adjusted to Singapore time as quickly as possible to minimise my zombie affect when I arrive, and thus maximise the amount of stuff I can do on my trip without becoming catatonic.

It occurs to me that out of all my blog posts, this is the most stereotypical “this is what I had for breakfast” post. Since I don’t indulge in that very often, I don’t blame myself too much. And for all you airplane nerds, I will be posting a full report of my flights, including my Singapore Air leg (LAX-SIN). But since at the moment I am internet-less, my less well connected muse will have to do.

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Photo: jnemo

My flight routing is as follows:

1945

5:20 AM BWI

6:45 AM CLT

1h 25m

None

737-300

First (O)

2A

1431

7:35 AM CLT

9:59 AM LAX

5h 24m

Breakfast

A321

First (O)

2D

11

1:10 PM LAX

1:35 AM SIN

20h 25m

None

Unknown (I)

Return:

402

8:10 AM SIN

9:30 AM BKK

2h 20m

None

Unknown (I)

794

7:30 PM BKK

7:20 PM LAX

14h 50m

None

Unknown (I)

1498

10:45 PM LAX

6:04 AM CLT

4h 19m

None

A321

First (O)

3C

1858

7:55 AM CLT

9:18 AM BWI

1h 23m

None

737-400

First (O)

2A

Trip details

Depart: Baltimore, MD Singapore, Singapore Date: Friday, 12 February 2010

		Depart: Date: Flight status

Flight #		Depart	Arrive	Travel time	Meal	Aircraft	Cabin	Seats
	1945	5:20 AM BWI	6:45 AM CLT	1h 25m	None	737-300	First (O)	2A
	Stop: Change plane
	1431	7:35 AM CLT	9:59 AM LAX	5h 24m	Breakfast	A321	First (O)	2D
	Stop: Change plane
	11	1:10 PM LAX	1:35 AM SIN	20h 25m	None		Unknown (I)
	Flight # 11 : Arrives two days later, Sunday, February 14, 2010

Depart: Singapore, Singapore Bangkok, Thailand Date: Sunday, 21 February 2010

		Depart: Date: Flight status

Flight #		Depart	Arrive	Travel time	Meal	Aircraft	Cabin	Seats
	402	8:10 AM SIN	9:30 AM BKK	2h 20m	None		Unknown (I)

Depart: Bangkok, Thailand Baltimore, MD Date: Sunday, 21 February 2010

		Depart: Date: Flight status

Flight #		Depart	Arrive	Travel time	Meal	Aircraft	Cabin	Seats
	794	7:30 PM BKK	7:20 PM LAX	14h 50m	None		Unknown (I)
	Stop: Change plane
	1498	10:45 PM LAX	6:04 AM CLT	4h 19m	None	A321	First (O)	3C
	Stop: Change plane
	1858	7:55 AM CLT	9:18 AM BWI	1h 23m	None	737-400	First (O)	2A
	Flight # 1498 : Arrives next day, Monday, February 22, 2010 Flight # 1858 : Departs next day, Monday, February 22, 2010

• US Airways
• Thai Airlines
• Flight operated by Singapore Airlines

Now, all of these flights were booked through US Airways Dividend Miles program, which got me first domestic and business class Trans-Pacific on Singapore Airlines’ all-business product (and the 2nd longest flight in the world, after EWR-SIN), and Thai Business Class on the way back.

Before I leave for the trip

I have never travelled to Asia before, so this will be my first experience with super long haul flights. Thankfully I am flying what I understand to be one of the best airline products there is, Singapore Airlines’ All-Business class A340. Lie-flat beds, the Krisworld entertainment system, and all the Singapore Slings you can drink. I can’t think of a better way to lose my Asian travel virginity.

Considering that I will be in the tropics, I consulted with a few sources and determined that it wouldn’t be necessary for me to take anti-malarial drugs or get jabbed for Yellow Fever or any of that other stuff. I’m sure there’s a threat of Dengue too, but I ran into that in Argentina, and it’s not a huge deal.

I’m a little bit unsure what to pack. I’ll have to haul out all my summer clothes from storage and probably just throw a couple pairs of shorts and jeans in with some tee shirts and other necessities. Carry-on only, no exceptions…play like a champion. I figure I’ll bring one decent set of clothing, which I’ll probably wear there, so as not to look like a schmuck when flying one of the most elite cabins in the world.

When I’m there

The plan at this point is only determined by a few factors: I’m travelling in tandem with a friend on a Fullbright in Singapore, and we have decided to visit Manila, Philippines and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. So, with four days removed from my itinerary in Singapore because of intra-Asian travel, it will be interesting to see what happens.

—

My current biggest worry is actually getting to some of the airports in question here. On my way out, I’m probably going to have to sleep in Baltimore at the airport, which in itself will be aggressive. On our way into Manila, since we’re flying Joe’s Discount Asian Airline (Tiger Airways), we’re flying to Clark-DMIA instead of the standard Ninoy Aquino International. This means we probably have at least an hour taxi ride to the airport, both ways. Further complicating this is our connecting flight to Malaysia is just an hour and a half after we land back in Singapore, so we’re just banking that we can check in in Manila. Then, on the way home, I have a day in Bangkok, where I’m going to have to clear Thai immigration, get from BKK to down-town Bangkok by taxi, and then get back. (BKK, by the way is called Suvarnabhumi Airport, which is pronounced Soo-WANNA-poom. That fascinates me.)

Depending on the whim of my travel companion, I will add 4, possibly 5 countries to my slowly expanding total. Originally our trip included Vietnam and Cambodia, but since it is Tet in Vietnam, we made the decision not to travel there because most things would be closed.

—

Another focus of the trip will be food. This excites me greatly. As I mentioned before, I have never been to Asia, and never experienced real Asian cuisine, other than Full Kee on F Street here in D.C., or the ever elusive secret Thai restaurant on Florida Ave. However, as also previously mentioned, I will be travelling with someone that has more than a passing knowledge of Asian cuisine and special interest in the hawker centres in Singapore.

Also in the food area, I’m going to have a chance to go to the Raffles Hotel and sample the Singapore Sling that I wrote about in 9 places where you can eat and drink the original.

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Has anyone been to Southeast Asia and have some advice? You can e-mail me, get me on Twitter, or leave a comment below. Thanks for reading, and keep watching for updates on this trip!

photo credit: SoniaT 360.

2009 Travel

1. Spain and Morocco – Paris for a couple of days (IAD-CDG), enjoying some of the sights I’d missed previously. Then, flew on to Casablanca, and train to Marrakesch and Tangiers. From Tangiers, I flew on to Madrid and spent some time with my family before returning home.

2. Mexico City – 3 days over USA’s Labour Day weekend, seeing Tenochititlan, Teotichuacan, Tlatelolco, and the other hard-to-pronounce Aztec words beginning with the letter T. Like Tequila.

Two international trips and numerous domestic trips is in keeping with my quota of approximately 2-3 major trips a year (Hey, having a day job makes insane travel challenging…). 2010 is shaping up to be a great year though…

2010 Travel

More than a few factors will determine how much travel I’m able to do in 2010. Right now, I have a big trip planned to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Phillipines. This is probably the most ambitious trip I’ve undertaken since Europe ‘06. Thanks to the nice folks at Star Alliance, I will be flying all-business class Singapore Airlines (Airline nerds: Routing BWI-CLT-LAX-SIN/SIN-BKK-LAX-CLT-BWI), and undertaking a fairly unhealthy schedule of eating hawker food and travelling on an unhealthy schedule.

Also, thanks to promotions, I have an award ticket to Europe on American Airlines, which I hope to use to travel to Western Europe sometime later this year.

What I’ve written about

Continuing a meme started by Katie at Tripbase, I was tagged to do a post on my Top 3 Travel Secrets by Steph at 20something travel. She was tapped by Shannon at A Little Adrift and Gray, who writes Solo Friendly.

In Travel Planning, I wrote about travel in Israel and Palestine, how to see Argentina by car, and if you love trains (like me), how to become a Eurail master. Some other stuff you might have missed in this category:

• How to Pick a Great Hostel
• The Best Hostel I Ever Stayed In
• To Plan or not To Plan?

In travel stories, the main focus was the Grand Tour along with the follow up posts. One of my New Years’ resolutions is to finish up that series with the Italy post, probably in the next week or so.

Doing a monthly wrap-up is a lot easier, and keeps things clearer, so I’m going to start doing that.

Finally

I just wanted to quickly let folks know about other bloggers I’ve met and interacted with, that I think write very well and deserve a read:

20something travel – Already mentioned this earlier, but Steph has a great site, and tons of great content. She’s getting ready for a RTW trip, which should provide tons of awesome information.

Travels of Adam – Adam is a graphic designer in Boston ramping up for a RTW trip as well. He started blogging right around the time I did, and he’s gotten some great content up as well.

Go With the EBB – The curiously named blog of a Singapore expat on a Fullbright scholarship writing about and researching Singaporean cuisine.

Where is Hawkins – Nick’s writing is phenomenal. Travel with an attitude. And his most recent trip to Singapore falls right in with my current obsession with the mini-nation on culinary steroids.

A Traveller’s Library – A really neat take on travel writing, Vera focuses on the literature of travel. Great book reviews and a great twitter follow.

Go Backpacking – Another fellow Washingtonian, Dave is a great writer who has such a vast array of past travels, he makes a great resource.

Travelojos – Steven’s blog focuses solely on Latin American travel, and I really praise him for specialising. I think in a group of people that loves to travel, it’s very easy to be too broad.

—

Another resolution of mine was to be more active on Twitter and other social networking sites. You can follow me on twitter at @8hourlayover.

***

Thanks for reading, and I wish everyone a happy new year filled with new places.

-Dan

Bucket image courtesy of Er.We

It’s Christmas Eve, so I don’t really have much else to say. The holiday weekend probably means entries will be a bit more sporadic, but look for at least one before the new year detailing exactly where I want to go with this blog in 2010. I’ve had a lot of input from some very talented people, and there are some things that are great, but other things that could be greater.

From the New Jersey Turnpike, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

-Dan

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(Photo Credit: ChrissyMorin)

Operating In-Country

Once past Israeli immigration (you can ask them to not stamp your passport, for those interested in visiting countries with a no-Israeli visa policy), I found it to operate much like a standard European country, except for trains largely replaced by buses. There is only one bus-company, Egged. They are fast, efficient, and cheap. Getting from Ben-Gurion Airport (which lies 1/4 the way from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem) to Jerusalem is most commonly done by shared taxi. You can pick it up at the airport. A ride to J-lem costs about 40NIS, or about $12USD.

Most travel intra-city in Israel/Palestine (and the middle east in general, though Cairo does have a metro system) is done by taxi. And even in Jerusalem, which is fairly modern, you’re still going to have to negotiate for cab rides, pretty much everywhere. It’s an acquired skill.

Things You Should Know:

1. Everything is much smaller than you think – The old city of Jerusalem can be crossed in 5 minutes walking. You can walk from down town Jerusalem into the West Bank in about an hour. A bus cuts this down to about 10 minutes, a taxi less than that. To go from Eilat, on the Red Sea, to Jerusalem, about four hours. Tel Aviv to Jerusalem? 45 minutes. Just remember, the entire place is the size of New Jersey.
2. Everything is a lot safer than you think – As of right now, the security situation is very good. This should not be a concern for people. However, the country does have mandatory conscriptions, so get used to seeing people carrying automatic rifles. It’s everywhere. Military and police are very polite.
3. Cross into the West Bank on foot – This is where the article really got me. There are numerous buses you can take right down the Bethlehem Road that stop right at the Security Fence/Wall/Border Crossing/Checkpoint. They are called the “Arab Buses” and are used primarily to get in and out of Jerusalem for workers. They cost 1 shekel, very affordable. Alternately, you can take a Jerusalem taxi to the crossing. Get off the bus, go into the checkpoint and hold up your passport. More than likely you’ll just be waved through going into the territories. Somewhat unfair but true. Find a cabbie, ask how much and offer about half. Settle for 75%. Shekels are accepted in Bethlehem. Flashing US Currency is not advisable, shekels will keep you under the radar a bit more.
4. Religious sites in Israel/Palestine are insane – You cannot understand until you see it for yourself. There are no signs anywhere. There are no brochures. There are no entrances and exits. Most of the religious folks speak some English, but I found Spanish to be more useful. The Church of the Holy Sepulchure in the Old City is a mixture of a carnival, St. Peter’s Basilica, down town Marrakesch, and Mexico City on Our Lady of Guadalupe Day. There is a ladder above the main door that hasn’t been moved in 150 years because they can’t agree who’s supposed to move it. Jewish and Muslim sites are similarly insane. If you are interested in a calm, orderly experience, I recommend touring the cathedrals in England. The Israel Museum (where the Dead Sea Scrolls are) and the Yad Vashem (Israel’s national holocaust museum) are exceptions. Both are very well organized, labelled and should be visited.
5. Prepared to be discriminated against – If you ascend the Temple mount (which I recommend), you will be flatly told that you may not enter the Dome of the Rock or the Al-Aqsa Mosque unless you are Muslim. The Old City is segregated into four quarters, Jewish, Arab, Christian and Armenian. As before, tensions have been running high here since the time of the crusades. Hatchets have not been buried. It doesn’t matter what you are, someone is uncomfortable with you being there. Respect everyone and make it clear that you are there to learn.
6. Eat as much as you can – Hands down, the one thing Jews, Arabs, and Christians can agree on is that Schwarma and Pita are the best combination known to man. Street food is plentiful and inexpensive in the old city. While alcohol is tough to come by in the Arab parts, a delicious schwarma or felafel paired with an ice-cold Gold Star (Israeli beer) might be the one thing that everyone can agree on.
7. Tuck a note in the Western Wall – Whatever it is you believe in, it’s a tradition that goes way back. From the Pope, when he visited, to presidents, kings, rabbis, to the kid making his Bar Mitzvah there (yes, you will see them going on), everyone does it. In a region so beautfiul that has so much history, write out a short little note and tuck it in. Ask for peace. They need it.
8. Visit Schindler’s Grave – One of the lesser visited sites, a bit difficult to find, just outside the old city near the Zion Gate. The Jewish tradition is to place a stone on the grave of a departed. Symbolically, the meaning is debated. Some say it is a symbol of upkeep, others that it signifies a part of you lies with the person. Most graves have a handful. Schindler’s has a few more.
   
9. Hitch-hike - The one place in the world that I’ve found hitch-hiking is almost encouraged. Due to the forced conscription, young kids are always trying to get around the country to see their buddy in army or trying to get down to Eilat for a quick weekend. Sticking your thumb out is a common occurrence. I myself hitch-hiked from the Dead Sea to Masada, and then we caught the bus on to Jerusalem. Obviously, standard rules for hitch-hiking apply. Make a sign (Get someone to write your destination in Hebrew), look respectable, be flexible, etc.

—

Travelling to the middle east is something everyone should do. Even if you aren’t Christian, Muslim, or Jewish (like 66% of Earth), it’s still fascinating. You just have to remember that it’s not like going to Vegas for the weekend. There are some additional rules. Tensions do run high, and at times, organization is low. But I can guarantee one thing you will not have is a boring trip. 10 days in Israel/Palestine and you will never look at the Middle East the same way again.

—

Anyone else have experience in the area?

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Photo Credit: maxim grishe

The best way to see a country is to experience it to integrate yourself as best as possible. Since my friend was studying in Cordoba, and flying was prohibitively expensive, and train service between Buenos Aires and Cordoba was spotty at best at the time, and inconveniently timed. So I decided that I would rent a car. I managed to squeak out a deal with unlimited mileage (or as they say in Argentina, Kilometraje libre), and when I touched down, I assumed there would be a rental counter.

Unfortunately, not only was there no rental counter for the company I rented with, but none of the other rental counters had even heard of the company. Only when I convinced one of the other counters to let me use their cellphone to call, did I determine I was actually renting through Thrifty, and they were off site. An hour and a half wasted, and it turned out there was a guy waiting in the terminal with a little card with my name on it, I just failed to see that. I managed to get over to the rental agency, and rent my vehicle. From there, I got vague directions about how to get to where I wanted to go (About 800km (497 miles)) away.

From the Rio de la Plata to the Pampas

I was driving to the city of Cordoba, where I would meet up with my friend, and we would spend some time there before returning to Buenos Aires. So all told, I would be driving about 1600km on this trip. At first intimidating, I quickly realized that the highways in Argentina, especially in down town Buenos Aires, were much like any other big city. I was comfortable after some time, and luckily the directions were good.

As I left the city and entered the completely flat expanse of the Pampas, it dawned on me how large the world really was. Perhaps this is the experience of a city-dweller in the US first seeing the vast flat expanse of Kansas, but to be in South America and see the unbelievable variety of environments, from crowded Buenos Aires, to mountainous Ecuador, and now, utterly flat and cow filled Pampas, was awe-inspiring.

Oh, and there was no speed limit.

For the only time in my life, I could see no obvious speed enforcement. Of course, I also saw no other cars. Wide flat highways that ran up to Cordoba were utterly empty. (25% of people in the country live in Buenos Aires) And so, on the straightest, flattest piece of road I found, I decided to set my own speed record. With the 2-door sedan I had, I managed 168Kph, which works out to just over 100 miles per hour. And I didn’t limit myself for safety reasons (there was literally nothing to hit as far as the eye could see), the car simply would not go faster. I passed the time by keeping track of how fast I would travel a kilometer with a stop watch. (About 25 seconds).

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(Hat tip to Eat Me Daily, the amusingly named food blog)

(Title Photo: PZAO)

Europe, however, went a different route in the 1950’s and established the Trans Europ Express. This democratised train travel by making frequent, cheap international train travel possible. This service was the forerunner to the current EuroCity trains.

How the system is set up

Each country has its own train services within that country. Trains that run across international borders are run jointly by the countries that are the origin and destination. So for example, the Francisco de Goya, which operates between Madrid-Chamartin and Paris-Austerlitz is a joint venture between SNCF and RENFE, the French and Spanish train companies, respectively. Before the advent of the Schengen agreement and the European Union, passport checks occurred on the moving trains when they hit the border. You would be woken in the middle of the night, your passport stamped and then you could go back to bed. This no longer happens between many European countries. Austria and Germany however, retain the practice. I have also been stopped on the Hungarian border. More often than not, a police officer will politely ask to see your documents and not even stamp you.

Ticketing

There are several ways of travelling the rails in Europe, each with positives and negatives, depending on where you are. Its important to remember that the rules are different for every country. Here are your options:

1. Point to Point Tickets – If you’re only making one trip, e.g. you want to go from Paris to Munich, this is your best option. The more trips you take, the more costs you accrue through point-to-point tickets, the more sense it makes to buy a rail-pass.

2. Country Passes – These passes enable you to travel on the train systems and ferries of a given country for a set amount of time. Generally the only thing you will have to pay is the fee for a reservation (anywhere from .50€ to 10€). These make sense if your travel is, logically, going to be all in one country, as they are quite a bit less expensive than the Eurail Global Pass.

3. Regional Pass – This type of pass enables travel to a specific region for a set amount of time.

4. Select Passes – These passes are much like country passes, but group together 3, 4 or 5 contiguous countries for a set amount of time.

5. Eurail Global Pass – This is what most people think of when they hear “Eurail Pass.” It enables you to travel on all 21 countries in the system (Britain is not a member). All of these countries are contiguous except for Ireland and Greece, which must be reached by ferry from France or Italy respectively.

—

The timing of these passes is all different. The first three passes, Country Passes, Regional Passes, and Select Passes are all for a certain number of days in two months. Meaning, you have a set number of travel days. A travel day is defined as any train leaving from midnight to midnight of a given day. However, if you are riding a night train that leaves after 7PM, you are only charged for the day of arrival.

The Global Pass can be bought for a stretch of time as long as 3 months. Meaning, you can travel all you want in that stretch of time.

—

Where can you purchase the passes?

Eurail’s main site offers a really great explanation of the passes, how much each one costs and how much each one covers. When I bought mine, there were time constraints, and I was going to be in Europe for a period of time before I wanted to validate it, so I needed it quickly. I was able to use STA Travel, which provides the same services that Eurail’s site does. They were friendly and helpful and despite having to drive all the way to New Haven to pick it up, it worked out perfectly.

How to use the travel effectively

Assuming that you’ve figured out which pass to use and how long you want to be travelling, the most effective use of the pass comes in maximising the amount of travel you do, and minimising your expenditures elsewhere. Remember, you’re paying for the train, so you might as well use it to the fullest extent.

1. Night Trains – Taking a European night train is an experience in itself. Always inquire as to how much a couchette (fold-down bed) costs, but in most cases, it’s cost-prohibitive for the truly budget minded traveller. Remember though that every night you spend on the train is a 15-20€ hostel stay that you avoid.

2. Know Your Geography – This is a theme with my travel. Many people that travel don’t take the time to study the geography of the city that they’re going to. Which train station are you going to be arriving at? There are no less than 6 in Paris. Where you arrive will make a difference when picking a hostel and dealing with timetables.

3. Timetables – This is one of the more confusing elements and something I wish I had understood better before I left on my first trip. Searching the internet will bring confusing and incomplete timetables. The best rail-trip planning tool is the Swiss Railways Timetable. It even has a conveniently rememberable URL for use at hostels when you lose your notes “sbb.ch”. It has departure, arrival and stop information for every train on the continent, and has the most user-friendly interface. Use it not only to plan out your trip, but to keep alternate schedules in case something should change.

4. Know what the pass covers – Read the fine print. Many ferries in Europe are free, even super long distances ones that cross the Aegean. The beauty of having a railpass is being able to say “Hey, I’ve never been to [insert crazy place here], let’s go for a day or so.” Furthermore, some suburban rail systems are integrated with the national rail network, and allow you to use the pass if you happen to be travelling that day. The S-Bahn in Berlin is one example, and if I had known that the Eurail pass covers it, I could have saved myself 12€ worth of day tickets as I was seeing the sights there.

5. Eating and Drinking – In contrast to American trains, food and drink (including alcohol) is not only allowed, but encouraged and common on trains in Europe. This is a huge money saver, and my last stop before I get on any train is a grocery store where I pick up simple snack food, cheese, bread, some light meat, and of course, wine. If you have a compartment train, and your compartment is shared by you and friends, you can have your own personal banquet as you watch the european countryside roll by.

6. Enjoy the Stations – Yes, you could be flying ryanair for a little bit cheaper, maybe. But that means you might land 50 miles outside the city at Bob’s airport. Train travel in Europe is a long tradition, and by passing through such stations as King’s Cross, Gare d’Austerlitz, Atocha, and Santa Maria Novella. These are icons of the cities they serve.

Paris-Gare Saint Lazare
photo credit: Juan Seguí Moreno

Madrid-Atocha
photo credit: marko8904

Berlin Hauptbahnhof
photo credit: Tobias Mandt

Budapest-Keleti Palyaudvar
photo credit: sludgegulper

Does anyone else have good tips for the European rails?

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Title Photo: vxla

After our adventures in Marseilles, which included me having my pocked picked and a weird undercover French policeman try and get him to follow us, we boarded the TGV for Paris. Marseilles is a beautiful city, and one of the things we got a chance to see (and that most excited me, the literature nerd) was the Chateau d’If.

photo credit: zenra

For those that don’t know, this is the prison where Dumas’ fictional “Count of Monte Cristo” was held. The ride up to Paris was interesting. For those that haven’t been on the TGV (Which stands, curiously for Tren Gran Vitesse, or “Very Fast Train”), it’s an awesome experience. To go from palm trees in Marseilles to snowy Paris in 4 hours is really incredible.

photo credit: SnippyHolloW

Paris

There is something about visiting Paris for the first time. I have been back many times since, but the first time I was there will truly stick in my memory. We arrived at Gare d’Lyon, which is on the right bank of the Seine. As soon as we disembarked, we walked to the hostel we were staying at, which was located at Ledru-Rollin. We put our bags down, checked in, and then embarked on an amazing walking tour of the city.

We started by walking to the Notre Dame Cathedral and walking around inside. We then continued along the Left Bank (Rive Gauche) and crossed the Seine right in front of the Louvre. Deciding that we would do the Louvre in its entirity the next day, we walked down the Champs-Elysees all the way to the Arc de Triomphe.

Coming around the Trocadero, I got my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. My first reaction was that it was quite a bit larger than I thought it would be. We took the obligatory photos and then walked to the base of the tower. Enquiring as to how much it cost to get to the top, we were told €12 to take the elevator, but further questioning led us to the fact that it only cost €3 to climb the stairs.

photo credit: conskeptical

So up we went. Let me go ahead and advise you that unless you are a good athlete, this is not a spectacular money-saving idea. We were definitely bushed when we got to the top (There are three levels, and you can only go to the 2nd highest via the stairs; the top was closed for renovations). However, we were lucky enough to ascend at a rate that got us to the top right as the sun was setting over Paris.

In the following days, we did all of the touristy stuff, seeing the Louvre, the Orsay, Montparnasse, Montmartre, Sacre Coeur, etc. They were all great, but the atmosphere of the city, for a first time visitor, was wonderful. One of the more interesting places I visited were the catacombs of Paris, a long trek through an abandoned subterranean quarry where bones from Paris’s overcrowded cemeteries were placed.

photo credit: just.in

photo credit: coralinetheblue

Fascinating, but a bit disturbing. One of the more interesting things you can see in the City of Lights.

Amsterdam

I was only in the city of Amsterdam for a day. Josh and I parted ways in Paris. He was returning to Geneva to do work and a fellowship, and I was continuing on, since my return ticket was from Rome (Or so I thought it was). I boarded in Paris and changed trains at Brussels. The hour or so I spent in Brussels was odd, because I had never experienced Flemish, and the true bilinguilism that Belgium has. It was a little disorienting. My train departed for Amsterdam, and I spent the ride looking at the foggy Dutch countryside.

My first impression of Amsterdam was that it was somewhat seedy. It was one of the only places that I felt uncomfortable. This, of course, was completely unfounded, and if I were to return to Amsterdam today, I’m sure I would feel right at home. But for someone with less than a month of travel experience under his belt, and the first time really travelling alone, being in Amsterdam, with legalised prostitution and coffee shops, and the cast of characters that both of those things attract, made me nervous.

My two main targets for my short stay in Amsterdam were Anne Frank’s House and the Rijksmuseum. I batted .500, mostly due to my less-than-stellar Dutch and difficulty comprehending the Amsterdam public transit system. Anne Frank’s house was fascinating though, and I would advocate anyone visit. You can still see the tree in the backyard that she discusses in her diary, and at the end of the tour, you can see the actual diary in her handwriting, which I thought was the most interesting part (that, and the secret door behind the bookshelf).

photo credit: carmen_seaby

I also got the chance to visit Rembrandt’s house, although for some reason, I found that to be less interesting. It’s completely reproduced, unlike Frank’s house which is pretty true to the original. Night was falling, so I made my way back to Centraal Station, passing by the main cathedral on the way. Of course, the cathedral is right in the middle of the notorious red-light district.

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