Your opinion matters..sometimes!

There are a myriad of different things I could be doing right now (most notably: working, seeing that I am in fact at work), but I've decided to pursue other, more exciting challenges, such as writing this blog post to gather opinion from people who may in fact read this crafty little website of mine, on the itinerary of what my next trip should be!

The choices:
#1 "Tour de Baltic"
Warsaw-Vilnius-Riga-Tallinn
#2 "Finally getting to Prague"
Berlin-Prague-Munich-Budapest
#3 "The Balkins"
Budapest-Belgrade-Sarajevo/Sofia

I will also accept off the board suggestions.

Leave your message in the comments section (if I get 3 I'll be ecstatic!)



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Location:Deptford, NJ

Things About Italians/Italy...

They have absolutely no idea what a queue is.

The men talk ridiculously loud and are annoying.

Everyone says Ciao, Grazie, and Prego to everyone else at least 3 times during every conversation.

Actually impressed by foreigners who try to speak the language, moreso than i imagined.

Gelato is enjoyed by all at any given time of the day, not just by tourists.

Every menu consists of appetizer/salad, first course (pasta), second course (fish or meat) and dessert. Portions are the perfect size and it is spaced out enough to allow time for settling/conversation. I love this, and wish America wasn't so obsessed with the slogan time is money.

Speaking of time, Italians take forever to go from one place to another. No rush and no cares in the world.

Food. Really good.
Dress kind of silly. And by silly I mean they wear their best ALL the time...theyre just trying to hard in my opinion.

Drink coffee and cappucino. Lots of it.

Drive like drunken idiots.

Own a scooter, moped, bike, motorcycle, or some other two wheeled mode of transport.

Less "tan" than their counterparts around the world...more au naturale.

They socialize.

And lastly, they Believe that family is most important.




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Location:Italy

"The Five Lands"

We awoke to a nosy, agitated French lady who we think was complaining about a phantom alarm she heard in the middle of the night. What a bitch.



After a breakfast of foccacia pizza, we went to the local deli to pick up some fresh prosciutto, salami, cheese, and baquettes to have for after our hike.

Unfortunately, the main hiking trail of the Cinque Terre between the main villages was closed due to mudslides from previous rainstorms.

However, the trail from the town of Levanto (just north of the CT villages) that we were staying in to Monterosso, the northernmost village, was still open. It would take us approximately 2.5 hours to complete the hiking, trekking along the cliffside high above the coast.



The thing I've found out about hiking is that the first 30 minutes will always be the hardest, and will almost certainly be all uphill. When I "hiked" the volcano down in Panama, despite almost all of the hike being uphill, once those first 30 minutes were over, your legs and your body had a chance to get the blood flowing and loosen up.



The same happened during our hike. There were times when I felt like keeling over, puking, and just outright dying for that first half hour, but after that Bryan and I dominated the trails.

The views were incredible as you might expect, and when we hit the summit of our hike, we were able to look out over all five of the villages at once.



We arrived in Monterosso and spent some time on the beach to regroup, and headed off to visit the remaining four villages.








All tucked into little nooks and crannies within the mountainside, the picturesque towns all have a different look and feel to them. Corniglia is perched atop a hill and the only town without direct water access. Vernazza and Manarola are centered around small marinas.







The last photo is of Vernazza, my favorite of the bunch. We grabbed a takeaway dinner and hung out on some large rocks down by the marina as the sun set and blasted the town with incredible color.



My one complaint with the Cinque Terre is that it is supposed to be a "secret," but after walking through mobs and mobs of people (fucking bastards), im not so sure its much of a hidden gem any longer.

One question I ask of myself after every place I visit is: Would I return? For Cinque Terre, I am not so sure. These people have lived a life of seclusion for a long time...yes tourism is great for the local economy, but its destroying the image that these towns are so well known for in my opinion, and like I said, I am not so sure I'd want to contribute to that.

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Location:Cinque Terre, Italy

When weather sucks/doesn't suck!

I departed Florence on a gloomy morning. The weather was not looking up for my excursion to That City With The Leaning Tower, nor for my final destination of the day, the Cinque Terre region of Italy's northwestern coast. It drizzled steadily all morning.

I've concluded that Pisa doesn't in fact have anything of any sort of significance other than the Leaning Tower, except for maybe a decently cool river running through the middle of it. Actually that's a lie, and I blame it on the fact that I was only there for a short while.



Above is my attempt at Pisani humor.

I was in the city for all of 90 minutes, as I had prebooked a train to the Cinque Terre region prior to my departure from the U S of A. Immediately upon my arrival there, the weather turned for the better. Sunshine and 65 degrees.



I'll take it.

I met up with my friend Bryan who is currently studying in Rome at the hostel and we hung out around the town Levanto for the remainder of the day.

After a pretty epic sunset..



..we had an excellent seafood dinner of Mussels, Penne with Anchovies, and Sepia (i believe its cuttlefish, which was a first for me) before checking out the "nightlife"(non-existent aka we ended up at the townie bar).



Limoncello^ from said townie bar. Mmmmmm.

Location:Pisa, Cinque Terre

Ciao, Firenze

I have to give props to Italians for this one.

At first I was displeased that my high speed train from Venice to Florence finished the last 45 minutes of the two hour trip speeding through tunnels under the Tuscan hills. God dammit I wanted to see some scenery prior to my arrival.



Yet there I am, standing on a hill perched above the city below looking out onto beautiful countryside sprawling beyond the city of Florence...and thats when I understood. Why tarnish such an extraordinary thing?

Florence is old, charming, and full of crazy dudes in little cars and on motorcycles. Small enough to walk around and see everything on foot in a few hours, but large enough to give you the feel of a city. The narrow cobbled walkways close in on you, and one or two wrong turns in the wrong direction or down the wrong street could end with you being lost for quite some time.



Another thing I must touch on is that Italians are crazy about their churches. The Duomo was nice and all that, but the interior of some of the lesser known ones were to die for. Baroque, Gothic, Renaissance...you can see and understand the history of this city just from walking in and out of these places!

What did I think the best part about my time in Firenze was?

The Food.

A friend from the hostel and I decided to check out a restaurant close to the Uffizi Gallery that was recommended by the hostel. We both figured "how good could this possibly be?"

Well it turned out that we had perhaps one of the best meals of our entire lives at this restaurant!

First Courses: bruscetta and salami cold cuts and mixed crostinis.



Second courses: homeade papperdelle with a duck sauce and lasagna.







Final course: a gigantic steak florentine that was perfectly cooked, seasoned to an uncredible medium rare, and was the icing on the cake for both of us.



I knew I was going to eat well in italy, but seriously, my life couldnt have been better at that moment in time.




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Location:Florence, Italy

Lake Bled and Slovenia

I was overwhelmingly impressed by how much I actually enjoyed Slovenia on the whole. Of course I thought I would enjoy it, but you still need to go there and formulate a final opinion once you've had your fill.

Ljubljana turned out to be a spectacular little city, easily walkable in a day, with a charming Stari grad, clean, easily navigable streets and paths, and a likeness to Budapest that I didnt fully grasp until after I left.

Lake Bled was all I could ever want and than some. And than some more on top of that. Easily a place I could see myself living. A picturesque castle perched atop a cliff, overlooking the most robustly colored lake I've ever seen with a fairytale church on a small island in the middle of said lake! The word surreal is the closest I can get to a word that rightfully can describe this place.




Vintgar Gorge is very close to Lake Bled. It has been carved out through the mountains by a fast flowing stream, and has become a popular tourist attraction for hikers and families alike. Wooden bridges and pathways have been built along the length of the gorge...I'd say between 75-85% of the time you are completely suspended over water.









I also visited another alpine lake, Lake Bohinj. Almost three times as large as Bled but with five times less fanfare. A haven for outdoor adventurers, this place is probably kicking during the summer months. I had lunch in a small village tavern near this lake and it was excellent.

My final excursion in Slovenia was to a town called Scofka Loca. Its town square looked like a postcard right out of the 16th century. Buildings appeared just as they did hundreds of years ago and it was exhilarting to see this kind of preservation.

Other random tidbits:

-Slovenia has done a hell of a job marketing itself as a tourist destination. Signs in ALL towns, not just Ljubljana, are clearly marked in both Slovenian and English, making it a cakewalk to find your way around.

-Some of the best scenery I've seen during my travels.

-The old Slovenian grandmoms reminded me of my own grandmom.

No way in hell people can consider Slovenia "Eastern" Europe. It's as westernized as you can get.


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Location:Slovenia

Ljubljana Creeps Me Out

...but in a good way.

I am staying in a former war prison where people probably died.

I just ate a horse filet. It was good, but still weird.
The old city feels more medievil than Romania, and thats saying something!

The area directly around the hostel has turned into a "struggling" artist community with scary "art" decorating the exterior.

However, the rest of the city is extremely modern, clean, and interesting.

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Location:Ljubljana, Slovenia

Train Rides

I dislike trains with 6 person compartments that give people like me absolutely no leg room. One of the few things I am somewhat picky about when traveling. Thankfully the cabin wasnt full.



The country is beautiful with Incredible scenery. The train chugged up mountainsides, allowing myself to look out onto valleys below,  as towering cliffs were perched in the distance...'twas quite the rush.



About 2 hours into the trip, everyone had to hop off and catch a bus to the next train station because of construction on the tracks. A slight road-block, but I only ended up arriving a half hour late into Ljubljana because of it, so it wasn't a big deal, with the exception I was stuck in the middle of 25 screaming pre-teens close to the back row.

Once that fiasco was over with...Slovenia might even take the cake over Austria in terms of scenery.



Time to go explore!

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Location:Vienna-Ljubljana