And the walls came a-tumbling down

Hello again from Berlin. I was in luck and my host lent me his camera so you need not worry about that on my account. I am stopping to use up the rest of my internet ticket before heading to the Pergammon museum. My flight is at 10 tonight so I have a good day ahead of me. The place I am staying is really friendly and I've met a ton of awesome people, and if I can get by the rest of today on €7 then I'll have only spent €40, plus the 40 pounds to get here. Pretty good.

Yesterday I went on an 'alternative berlin' tour, which was pretty awesome. Our group consisted of me, two others who were staying in the same place, and another American who I managed to pick out to ask if he spoke English in order to ask if he knew where the tour met. He didn't, he was wondering the same himself, but sure he could speak English. Can't I spot 'em! The friendly guide took us round to a bunch of spots popular with the local nitty gritty. We saw an old building, former Nazi HQ that had been co-opted by a bunch of avant guarde artists, tons of graffitti murals including the biggest one in the world, a second-hand store that sold clothing by weight, a famous squat house, a bombed out railway station that had been converted into a recreation center, and of course the Berlin wall where we snuck behind some ineffective fencing and walked along the behind of the East Side Gallery. (I will come back and add links to these things and pictures when I get back so you will see what I am talking about.) He leaned a piece of the fencing against the wall so we could climb it and take pictures, an activity described as "borderline illegal" but what a great photo-op! It's not everyday you get to climb the Berlin wall. We also had some really awesome kebab. I'd reccomend the guided tour to anyone who is visiting Berlin and interested in that kind of thing. Technically it's free but since the guides are only paid in tips you really should give them something if you liked the tour at all. However they are understanding if you have spent the last seven years of your life in higher education and don't have much to give.

It's been really nice, the weather not too bad, it only rained a bit on the first day, touch wood. Berlin is such an interesting city, mix of gritty and nice in its modernity. It reminds me of Belgrade in a way, but I suppose that is hardly surprising.

Now off to the museum. I thought I might buy the pass and see the other ones, but I'm walking around sightseeing so there's not really that much time and also I think that would put me at not enough to take the U-Bahn to the airport, which is kinda essential so...

There is always next time.

Update from Berlin

It is cold, cold cold.

And I am stupid, stupid, stupid.

The first thing I saw when I came out of the U-bahn was the Erenst and Young, so I thought I would take a picture for John. Except my camera wouldn't turn on. I opened it up and sure enough, the battery is gone. Way to go! I took it out to charge it and, wary of this exact danger, warned myself to double check that I put it back in. Which I thought I did. Apprantly not. Win.

It is not the worst thing to have forgotten, but it is ONE of the worst, when you are as addicted to taking pictures as I am. I am sure my mother is turning over in her grave.

I guess I'll have to see if I can borrow a camera from the people I am staying with, otherwise buy a disposable one, ick.

Other than the fact my shutter finger is itching, Berlin so far is great (if grey). It's enough to make a histroy nerd such as myself tingle with glee. Berlin walls, Brandenburg gates, memorials to murdered Jews of Europe, kitchy street performers dressed as DDR soldiers selling passport stamps to non-exsistent countries (I know I probably shouldn't have him put it in my real passport.... yet so tempting!!!)

Also known as a doughnut

Well, I am off to Berlin now. Probably I am forgetting something really important. You'd think I'd be better at leaving by now.

Cheap or free things to do in London:

Just a quick thing I wrote up to advise someone else. Thought I might as well share.

Orientate yourself with a long walk. Start at Buckingham Palace, walk down the mall to Westminster, then walk along the Thames river path (either side). Gaze at St Paul's from across the Millennium Bridge and the outside of the recreated Globe theatre from the outside, nearby. If you have the energy, continue along Southwark towards the London Bridge.

Walk down Portobello road market on a Saturday. Buy lunch from one of the amazing food stands. Stop in the Travel Bookstore to browse. (http://www.thetravelbookshop.com/)

Take the lift to the top floor of the Tate modern and enjoy the view. Take the shuttle boat to the tate for a cheap river cruise and an efficient way of getting between the two museums. (http://www.tate.org.uk/tatetotate/)

There are so many parks and museums in London, all free, it is hard to pick which ones you want to go to! Don't miss the British Museum or National Gallery. Sit is near-by Russell Square or Trafalgar Square (respectively) and people watch.

Get lost in the West End. Ask at box offices of theatres for cheap last minute seats, if that's your thing. Explore Covet Garden.

Grab a curry and some beigels in Brick Lane. (http://www.londontown.com/LondonInformation/Restaurant/Brick_Lane_Beigel_Bake/a7e6/)

Attend evensong at St Paul's (http://www.stpauls.co.uk/) or an organ recital at Westminster (http://www.westminstercathedral.org.uk/vinfo/vinfo_times.html) and see the inside for free!

Rome day II part I

The girl I was traveling with had an emergency and decided to go home, so that pretty much killed the morning and early afternoon.

I decided to try and make up for lost time and headed towards the Coliseum. I thought I'd try and pretend to be an EU until 25 since you get it free, but the lady wasn't having any of it even though I showed her my university of London id. Oh well.

Me in front of the arch of Constantine:


Had a look around the Coliseum, then headed over to the Forum where there's infinitely more stuff to look at. It's rather like an ancient roman junkyard.


I did the Rick Steve's self-guided tour in fits and spurts, dodging this way and that to avoid large tour groups. Several people approached me and asked me if I wanted a tour guide, expats and art students trying to make a few tax free euros, which seems very noveau grand tour to me, and appealing in way, but not enough to make me want to try it myself.

I rushed a bit through the last of the Forum to try and get to Palatine hill before it closed.

No luck there, so off to St Peter's in Chains:

All roads lead to Rome (Day 1)

Let's see. Rome. Rome. HOW AMAZING IS ROME??? Seriously. Even the name. Rome. Like Home, only with an R. I love R's. See, I can't even talk about it sensibly it is that cool.

I know its sounds ridiculous, but Rome is like a classic novel or movie or Harry Potter or such… It gets so much hype that you don't really expect too much in the end, because seriously can anything be THAT good? You just sort of have a vague sense of you should see it/read it/go there and see for yourself but it's not a priority because you're off discovering new and undiscovered things for yourself and this old classic, standby, will always be there, ready and waiting for you to pick it up. And when you do, you're absolutely blown over in amazement, and you suddenly realize that THIS is why there was all that hype to begin with, and you can't believe you've waited this long but at the same time you're glad you have, being older and more experienced and more able to appreciate the wonder and the beauty and something else I forgot.

More accurately, the things IN Rome are like classic novels and movies… Individually they have this effect. Put them together and… wow.

So yes. I liked Rome.

Where to begin. The day was not auspicious. There was a ridiculously early wake up call, and, as is my wont before early morning flights, I did not get enough sleep. Fortunately I am very near the Stansted express these days. I dragged Charley out of bed and off we went. Tried to doze on the train and failed. Checked in, waited aaaages in the security line when all I wanted to do was have a lie down. This I did at the gate, but didn't sleep until in the air. When we woke up we were in Rome. Rome!!

Passport control. The ONE time there is a huge line in the non-EU side I am traveling with an EU passport holder. Charley waited on the other side looking smug. We walked into the tiny budget airport and I was amazed to find there isn't an ATM. I am constantly being amazed when there isn't an ATM. Perhaps at the Republika Srpska bus station in the outskirts of Sarajevo it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise but in Rome? Never-mind. I had a few euro coins from Slovenia or somewhere and Charley had euros. We bought our bus and metro tickets and set off.

In what seems like no time we were dumped off at what looks like a shady flea market but it actually the metro stop (or at least doubles as). We were amazed because my guidebook said it takes 40 minutes. Pessimistic Rick Steves! (I shouldn't be so quick to judge I find out on the way back.)

Happily we tromped onto the metro, commenting happily on the speed and difference between this and the Underground. "I love how the train doesn't stop all the way before the doors open," Charley said. "These seats are so slippery!" I said, sliding into Charley and then, less comically, into the Roman woman sitting beside me, trying her best to ignore our banter.


We got off at Termini station, emerged into the sunlight, and blinked like blinded rats. I wished I'd brought my sunglasses. I stared at the map then stared at my surroundings, and wished I'd brought a compass. Eventually, thanks to my excellent deductive and map reading skills, we found our way to the hostel. I stared longingly at a gelateria we passed by, but soon enough we were stepping through the galactic-age automatic door to the reception at Yellow Hostel. (For more on the hostel, see my review – grr it's not published yet.) We got our keys, chucked our stuff in our room – including our coats, whee sunlight – and headed out to a nearby pizza joint recommended by the guy at reception.

Several slices of pizza loaded with tomatoes later we stumbled again into the sunlight, basking in the warmth, practically twirling in delight. Ah, London, what you do to my sanity! Anyway. We rushed onto a bus, feeling very clever for figuring out how, and jerked and jolted down into the center of Rome, getting off one stop too late.



And so it was that we passed through Piazza Navona on our way to the Pantheon. It reminded me of my visit to Brussels, and stumbling upon le grand place. Only in Rome, you keep stumbling, square upon square of amazing places, till you feel like Alice tumbling into Wonderland. But with the ability to stop for gelato!


We stared up at the eons-old Pantheon while I finished my cono, taking pictures from the outside and grumbling about the McDonald's presence on this sacred square. Inside for a history lesson from our guidebook and gaping up at the dome. We trotted to near-by Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva and stuck a 50 centime piece into the slot to look at Michelangelo's Christ bearing the Cross, then through to the Church of San Ignazio. As Rick Steve's suggested, we sat down to gaze up at the Baroque ceiling. "Is that a helium Spiderman balloon?" I asked. It was.

We left the church and followed the tide of people along the busy narrow streets to the sound
of running water and soon found ourselves face to face with the Trevi fountain. Amazing! It's a myth that if you throw a coin into the fountain you ensure yourself of coming back to Rome. I'd already seen enough that I knew I wanted to come back, and besides, I love stuff like that. So in went our coins (a bit complicated as we'd already used ours for lighting candles in San Ignazio so we had to use some of Charley's English money – I hope it still counts!) and after sitting awhile admiring the view we walked on.

Wander-ers all, soon we found ourselves near the Cappuccin Crypt, decorated with the bones of 4,000 monks, and decided to go there. It struck me as the kind of place my mother would have loved – incredibly creepy. You're not allowed to take pictures but I bought some postcards and gazed a while at the scenery. I wonder how I'd feel at my bodily remains being used for such a purpose. I suppose if you're dead it doesn't matter, but…. "You will become what we are now," indeed.

Walking up the Via Veneto I suddenly thought I was in Beverly Hills. Palm trees and villa-style buildings… ahh, the US embassy! But what were all these police doing there? They were really out in force, hard to believe it was just normal security. Maybe it was some sort of cop meet-up place. Feeling a bit foot sore we decided to try one of the cafes along the Via Veneto, but they were all a bit too posh looking for our pockets so we gave them a miss for one down a cozy side street, pleasing in both its friendliness and thriftiness.

Strolling back an hour or so later we suddenly found ourselves embroiled in a huge anti-war protest outside the embassy. Ah. Hence the police. Head lowered we maneuvered through the crowd but the solemn mood couldn't last. Rome at dusk is a beautiful sight. A slight chill descended necessitating the need to return to the hostel to fetch out hastily discarded coats, but that hardly signified. Laughing as we ran for our lives in front of speeding traffic to cross the busy streets, we dodged the flocks of birds rising to the skies from the trees around Termini, disturbed
from their resting places, and skipped back to the hostel. Stopping to chat with some fellow travelers (Aussies celebrating Australia day), we got back on the bus and went to Campo de Fiori with the help of directions from some passers-by. We ate at a restaurant in the guidebook, before realizing we could have eaten at a cheaper restaurant off the square since it was too cold to sit on the square and enjoy the atmosphere, which was half the point. But the food was so good it was difficult to care!

Our intention was to go on the night walk across Rome, but we'd inadvertently done it, practically, earlier in the day and were exhausted from the early start, unaccustomed amounts of walking, and all the excitement, so after wandering around the square some, we decided to catch the bus (joy riding because we couldn't find anywhere to buy tickets – but don't tell the inspectors!) back to the hostel and call it a night.

How to plan a backpacking trip #3: reading advice and seeking advice

You've spent the last half hour staring at the map and you're ready to pack your bags and go! Unfortunately a backpacking trip requires a little bit more pre-trip planning than that. In this article you will learn how to find and get advice specially tailored to your needs.

As you are about to embark on extensive research of your destinations and your trip in general, you're going to need a ton of help. I have done a lot of travel research—it happens to be one of my most favorite forms of procrastination. Most likely you are going to be using a ton of resources to help plan out your trip. Thankfully, there is a lot of information of there for travelers. Of course, some of it is better than others.

Below are some of the websites and other resources I find most useful. Hopefully they help you as well!

Rick Steves is the ultimate Europe travel guru. It's so interesting to read his perceptions about what he sees and where he goes. There are tons of useful articles on everything from ways to save money to packing. You'll find a lot of answers there. There's also the "grafitti wall" where other travelers post their own advice.

Crawl on over to the Lonely Planet website. You can order guidebooks online, read articles, but make sure you check out the forums, the thorntree. Here you have great advice on every part of the globe and more general travel issues such as safety and eco-friendly travel. Search the country forum for your destination and see what's been said already. If you have a question that hasn't been answered just ask! Tons of experienced travelers are reading the forums right now, ready tell you about the best hostel they stayed at in Amsterdam or that vegan restaurant in Milan.

Onebag.com. We'll get really heavily into packing later… it's almost a fetish for me and I LOVE this site. Read the entire thing. You'll be hard pressed to find better packing advice anywhere.

STA Travel is a great website, if you are a student. You can order your ISIC card and check out student deals on flights as well as booking hostels and buying travel insurance. (Your ISIC card comes with some travel insurance coverage so think about if you really want to pay extra for more.) Student universe is another student travel website, but in my experience STA has the better deals. I almost always get transatlantic tickets from STA.

Skyskanner. EasyJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Sky Europe… is your head aching just at the thought of comparing prices and flights on all these different airlines? This site does the hard part for you and finds the cheapest flight available for almost any destination (the focus is on within Europe). You can search entire countries and for entire months, too.

You can join websites such as Couchsurfing or the Hospitality Club. This is a great way to save money and meet new people. Even if you're not comfortable with the idea of staying with a stranger, you can still meet up with someone for a meal or a drink, or get local advice on what to see and do in a particular city.

Hostelworld: You can book online and read reviews for hostels before you decide to stay there. There are tons of hostelling sites and this is just one of them. It's not a bad idea to google the name of a hostel you are thinking of staying at, just to see what else comes up! The more reviews you read the better idea you have of what a hostel is really like.

Bootsnall is another travel networking sites. You can read blogs and ask for advice on the forums.

In your pocket guides

Let's go isn't my favorite travel publisher, but you can still get plenty of good information on their website and their guidebooks for western Europe are not bad.

If you're planning on traveling by rail you can get lots of information from the man in seat 61. If it's just straight train schedule you're looking for, the ever-efficient Germans have put the entire schedules for Europe on their website: die bahn. Find out more about Eurail passes at the Eurail website.

If you're planning on traveling by bus, Eurolines have a lot of routes. Busabout is like an independent bus tour: you can hop on and off as you like, but there is a specified route.

Are you a member of an online networking site like Facebook or LiveJournal? Probably there are groups for travelers already established. You can join and then your research doesn’t have to be anything outside of your normal daily routine. You can join groups for travelers on online networking site like Facebook or LiveJournal

Whatever you do, do NOT go onto a forum board (or other advice-seeking arena) and ask a questions like:

I want to go to Europe. How much will it cost?

Or:

I want to go to Europe. What should I see?

You will look like an idiot. And you will either be ignored or made fun of. Probably if you make such a post it's only because you didn't know any better, but people really need more information than that if you want advice from them. Try to include as much information as possible, such as things you are interested in doing (museums, beaches, clubbing, etc), and what kind of traveler you think you'll be (ie, you don't mind sleeping in train stations— or you plan on going shopping everyday). If you're not sure about something, say so! This will help people know what kind of advice to give you.