Munich: Passing Thoughts

As promised, or I guess not really promised but suggested as possible, I thought I’d do a general post of Munich. Mainly just random thoughts and I’m not sure if I’ll have pictures to associate with the thoughts, but we’ll see.

I enjoyed Munich. Not as much as I enjoyed London or Paris, but it was still a good time. Foodwise, I found myself eating bratwurst and schnitzel. And, oddly enough, pizza because there was a really good pizza place right around the corner from my hotel. There was also a lot of beer, unsurprisingly. I kept my streak alive of drinking primarily native beers and I think that Paulaner was my favorite of Munich.

Munich has the biggest bicycle culture of any city I’ve ever seen (though I haven’t been to east Asia yet). The bicycle lanes take up half of the sidewalks and it seemed in places that there were more bicyclists than drivers or even pedestrians. Also, there were huge parking lots of nothing but bicycles. Good for the environment? Perhaps. But I don’t like bicyclists. That’s a story for a different blog, however.

English (and occasionally some form of sign language) was good enough to get around and get fed. Munich isn’t as English-friendly as a city like Paris, but the basics were understood by most. I have to say that my favorite thing about German is that my last name pops up all of the time unexpectedly, which I love.

The weather again was perfect. Without exception, every afternoon I have spent in Europe, going on twenty now, has been sunny or partly cloudy and in the 70s. Mornings have occasionally been grey and it’s getting a little cooler now that we’re closing in on October, but the weather has been unbelievably beautiful.

As I move east across Europe, I find that it’s getting darker earlier and earlier. Of course, part of that can be attributed to the time of year, but part of it also is because all of continental Europe, or at least all that I am visiting, are in the same time zone even though some of the cities are hundreds of miles apart. It’s sort of like the difference between Detroit and Boston. Even though they are in the time zone, it gets dark in Detroit at least an hour later than it does in Boston because of the distance. Brussels and Vienna are affected the same way.

Okay, as far as languages, this was the itinerary: English, French/Dutch, French, German, German, German, Czech, Czech, German, Dutch, English. Munich is the second of four German-speaking cities that I’ve stayed in and it’s finally growing on me. I’m not saying I’m learning any of it, I’m just saying that it doesn’t sound as strange to me as it did from the beginning.

Okay, that’s it for Munich, with the possible of an exception of a hotel review. As I write this, I’m in Vienna (with no internet access except at McDonald’s), so that’ll be the subject of the coming posts.

Later.

Hotel Arlette Am - A Review

I’m going to double-back for an entry here and do a brief review of the Hotel Arlette Am in Zurich. The first thing that I have to point out about it is how convenient it is with respect to the main (only) rail station in Zurich. From the spot where I got off of the train from Paris, Hotel Arlette Am is only a ten-minute walk away. As much stuff as I was lugging around, this was a big bonus.

Another bonus, and for the same reason, was that the hotel had a lift. Seeing as I was on the fifth floor, this again prevented me from having to carry heavy loads up lots of stairs.

I forget how much the hotel cost, but it seems to me that this one was on the higher end of the spectrum – in the neighborhood of $140/night. After complaining earlier about Paris being expensive, I learned that Zurich was probably even worse. I guess that’s what happens when you’re the richest country on Earth.

The hotel is between the train station and Central tram line, which borders the part of Old Town on the east of the river. Another A for convenience as the historic part of Zurich was all within a 20-minute walk of the hotel. That includes the Swiss Museum, Bahnhofstrasse and all of the buildings in the earlier pictures. As with the Hotel Mozart in Brussels, the hotel was in a perfect location for a tourist and was even closer to public transportation.

One strike against the Arlette Am was the nickel-and-diming. It was the first hotel that I stayed in that didn’t have free wi-fi. It turned out to be about $10 a day for the two days that I was there, but Zurich isn’t big on public options for free internet, so it was a price I felt compelled to pay. Also, the breakfast was pretty light, though the hotel had additional options to choose from, for a price. Figuring that if I was going to pay for breakfast, I wasn’t going to do it for hotel food, I opted out.

The staff was very friendly. I understand that the hotel is family-owned and operated. The people there were fluent in English and able to answer questions that I had about Zurich. Like at the Hotel Monte Carlo in Paris, I had to leave the key at the front desk when I left, which I find annoying, but it isn’t the biggest annoyance in the world.

The room was very clean and rather small. Kind of par for the course in the hotels that I’ve been staying in, though I think I can say that this room was cleaner than most. There also was absolutely no noise problem. As I’ve experienced everywhere, there was no air conditioning, but the window opened onto a street that was very quiet, at least at night.

The television had two English-language stations: CNN and MTV. I ended up watching a few too many MTV reality series and worry that my sanity will suffer because of it. We’ll see when I get back if I find myself compelled to watch Rock of Love.

Anyway, in summary, good hotel. Great location. Quiet and clean. Friendly staff. Pricey for what I’ve been spending, but not so bad for Zurich. Would have appreciated free wifi.

Fin.

More Munchen, More Munchen, More Munchen

I told you there would be another post about Munich and here it is. This time, I’ll hit Olympic Park, Schloss Nymphenburg and Allianz Arena. I may come back in another post with some passing thoughts, but we’ll see how that goes once I get to Vienna.

Olympic Park, as you can probably guess, includes a series of structures built for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Now, I don’t remember the 1972 Olympics, but other than Mark Spitz’s seven gold medals, everything I know about them is bad. First there was the September 5 massacre of Israeli athletes. The only thing I can recall about the Olympics is the Soviet Union’s ending of the United States’ perfect record in Olympic basketball after a very controversial call or calls. Those are the thoughts that I had in mind as I strolled around the area.

I have to say that most of the sports arenas on the complex look alike, and not attractive at all. I went by the Olympic pool complex to see where Mark Spitz made history. I also took an unguided tour of Olympic Stadium to see where Bayern Munich played its home matches during the height of its power. Both were sort of disappointing in person, but it was still an interesting experience.

I took an entire morning to go by Schloss Nymphenburg and never even made it into the Palace. The garden and paths around the building are not only beautiful but also immense, covering several acres. I don’t know much about the history of the place, so if you want to know more you can google it, but I spent a few hours strolling through the gardens and taking pictures. It appears to be very popular with the early-morning joggers and with good reason. I didn’t get a chance to visit the Palace or any of the other buildings on-site, but I needed to get to a soccer match.

As usual, I won’t go into too much detail on this site about the soccer match. I will say that it was between two second-division German clubs, TSV 1860 Munchen and FC Paderborn. It was held at Allianz Stadium, which is the home of Bayern Munich and, I believe, the site of the 2006 World Cup final, where Zinedane Zidane made his famous career-ending head butt. I know I haven’t been to many European football fields (five on this trip, so far), but I can’t imagine a more perfect place to watch a match. Every seat looks like it is right on top of the action, and that’s not easy in a place that sits 80,000. As before, there will be a review of the stadium on my soccer website if you are interested, and even if you aren’t.

Okay, that’s it for now. I’m going to enjoy the Austrian pastoral views from my train window as we close in on Salzburg.

Stay tuned.

Munich: They Have Beer Here

It seems like it’s time to post an intermediate entry about Munich. My time here is coming close to an end, but I should probably save myself something to do on tomorrow’s train to Vienna, so I’ll talk about Oktoberfest and the Deutsches Museum.

Part of the reason I scheduled my trip at the time that I did was so that I’d have an opportunity to attend Oktoberfest. Well, I did it and now I can cross it off of the bucket list. To me, Oktoberfest was like a state fair except that there are 14 or 15 tents holding thousands of people each full of people drinking beer and singing drinking songs. The fair part is pretty standard. There are booths selling German fair food – sausages, schnitzel and fish. There also are rides and general fun for the whole family. Inside the tents, in the traditional Munich beer hall tradition, there are hundreds of picnic tables with people drinking beers out of liter glasses and usually a band on a stage in the middle leading everybody in song.

During the day, there were lots of families, including small kids, enjoying the rides and eating the sausages and fish. Gradually, as it gets later, the park gets more and more crowded and eventually is filled with people who have been drinking for several hours and there are plenty of the typical signs of people who have been drinking for several hours. I won’t go into those signs here.

I enjoyed some food (1/2 meter Bratwurst anybody?) and then made my way into a tent on Friday to enjoy some liquid refreshment. I met some people and went through a few liters of beer, and generally had a good time, but it wasn’t all I had hoped. Perhaps if I was with some good friends. Perhaps if I was a bit younger. Perhaps if I was just in a mood to get really drunk. I don’t know. I just left thinking that it lacked something. Of course, I went back the next day to try again, but the results were the same. It was a good time, but I’m not counting the minutes until I return.

The Deutsches Museum was unlike any other museum I’ve been to here in Europe. Most of the other museums were full of art and/or historical artifacts. Being Germany, the Deutsches Museum concentrated on technology and industry. There were sections on aviation, astronomy, textiles, power machinery and printing/paper technology. It also included an excellent planetarium. Again, it wasn’t the Louvre, but it turned out to be very interesting in its own right.

Okay, I still have to write about Olympic Park, Schloss Nymphenburg and the fussball match I went to Allianz Arena. I’ll go into those in another post in the near future. Auf Wiedersehen!!!

Munich: First Trip to the Fatherland

Okay, I’ve been in Munich for a day-and-a-half and it definitely is different from all of the other cities that I’ve visited here in Europe. Part of that may be because my hotel is a little bit out of the way from all of the tourist activity. I’m not sure why it’s so dead in my neighborhood because it is walking distance from Oktoberfest, yet once it gets dark, the neighborhood dies.

I have now had beer at Oktoberfest, so I can mark that off of the bucket list. I’ve been in the early afternoon and in the early evening and it is two completely different scenes. Early on, it’s still packed, but there’s room at all of the tents and you can still get beer and there’s plenty of room at the food stands. In the evening, the tents are packed and the field is packed with drunken idiots and it’s kind of difficult to work your way through the crowds at times. I’m planning to go back tomorrow morning, just to check out the morning crowd and to get myself a good morning buzz, but afterwards, I think I’d like to see some more of Munich away from all of the beer.

Walking back to my hotel, I saw a sign advertising an anti-capitalism protest here next week. Hmm . . . socialists in Munich . . . what could POSSIBLY go wrong?

I did manage to get a little bit around town to take some pictures of old buildings – if you haven’t noticed from past posts, I like old buildings – but it’s hard to get good shots of a lot of buildings in Munich because the buildings are in amongst newer, tall buildings so it’s hard to get a good angle for a picture. Any way, I’ve tried.

This is just a start. I’ll check back in with more Munich later.

Zurich: Turned Out Good

I ended up having a great time in Zurich, though I wasn’t sure it was going to be that way from the beginning. I spent my first afternoon walking around and taking pictures, but starting to wonder what I was going to do with an entire second day. A happy surprise answered that question and guaranteed a great time.

The most famous building in Zurich, and the one that ends up on most of the knickknacks (shot glass alert) is the Grossmunster, which is really a lot cooler that its name might lead you to believe. You can climb the towers, but I didn’t because it’s not THAT cool.

Do you know what structure has the largest clock face in Europe? Do you know what church has largest clock face of any church in the world? The answer to both of those questions is the same – St. Peter’s Church in Zurich. Just one of the little tidbits that you pick up in Zurich.

Another question. Do you know where to get a sausage and beer in Zurich. That’s a trick question. The answer is pretty much anywhere. And there are lots of types of sausages. I tried numerous ones, with my favorite being the Knoublachwurst. I only tried it because it reminded me of the baseball player and, you know, it was a sausage. Here, though, if you are order a sausage, you don’t get it on a hot dog bun. You get it wrapped in paper and along with this gummy, dense roll that I guess is supposed to fill you up. And you can get beer and drink beer anywhere. There were open containers on the bus and at the train station and it was a little disconcerting, though that’s not a complaint.

I also walked down the Bahnhoffstrasse, which reputedly has the most expensive real estate prices in the world. I say that because I read that somewhere while I was here and I have no idea if it’s true or not and I can’t say that I’ve ever heard of it before. Like Fifth Avenue or Rodeo Drive, though, it’s lined with stores like Tiffany’s and Chanel and Walmart. Okay, I didn’t actually see a Walmart, but it had to be there, right? I must just have missed it.

On the second day, I went to the Schweizerisches Landesmuseum, or Swiss Museum, for a few hours. You’d think a country that didn’t actually become a country until the 19^th century and is known for neutrality wouldn’t have that much stuff to put into a museum, but it was full of stuff. Actually, it was very interesting and I learned a lot about Switzerland while I was there. Like how much they profited by dealing with the Axis powers and denied refugee status to Jews. Didn’t make me like Switzerland more, but at least it was honest.

I honestly had no idea what I was going to do my final night there that I hadn’t already done. Then, I was flipping around channels and saw that FC Zurich was playing on television that night. While they were playing out of town, it alerted me to the fact that the Swiss Premier League was playing and I figured there must be other clubs in Zurich. After a little research, I found that Grasshopper Club Zurich was playing FC Aarau at Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich. The crowd was tiny and the quality was subpar, but the home club won 4:0, I had sausages and beer and I learned a little about Zurich public transportation. I’d call that a complete success.

Okay, that’s it for Zurich. Now, on to Munich and Oktoberfest.

Zurich: Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome.

Does anybody else remember the opening to Cabaret?

Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome!

Fremde, etranger, stranger.

Gluklich zu sehen, je suis enchante,

Happy to see you. Bleibe, reste, stay.

Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome

Im Cabaret, au Cabaret, to Cabaret!!

That’s all I could think of on the train from Paris to Zurich. Every announcement was in German, then French, then English. The very first announcement was Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome and I thought we were getting ready to see a free show!!! We didn’t.

I got to Zurich and, just as I had heard, everything is in German. Now, the only German I know is what I was able to absorb at the feet of my grandfather Herman. Unfortunately, my grandfather Herman died when I was little and I never actually met him, so I didn’t absorb very much. Fortunately, Switzerland put the multi in multilingual, so I have had no problem communicating.

I’ve just been here a few hours walking all over town – there’s not really that much of it. Lots of clocks and old buildings. (Including an old building with the largest clock face in Europe.) Okay, it’s a little nicer than that. Some of the buildings are pretty cool. I’ll go into more detail in an all-inclusive Zurich post that I type on the train to Munich, with pictures and everything.

The hotel is literally a five-minute walk from the train station. Talk about convenient. Any closer and I would be checking in to my hotel while I’m still in on the train.

It’s beautiful, from what I’ve seen, but I’m not sure what to do to spend an entire day here. The Swiss Museum is across the street from the train station and I’ll probably check that out in the morning. Also, I’ll probably stroll by the lake. I’ve already been through Old Town a few times. Like I told you, it’s a pretty small town.

If you have suggestions, I’ll take them. Otherwise, you’ll probably here back from me from Munich with any Zurich stories I may have.

Paris: Passing Thoughts

I’m about halfway between Paris and Zurich – the train just made a stop somewhere in northeastern France – and I thought I’d take a minute to make some passing random comments about Paris.

I’d like to say I love Paris, but that’s not quite true. I’m in love with Paris. I already miss her and I can’t wait until I have an opportunity to go back and see her again.

I was concerned that my spotty French might be just enough to get me into trouble, but it turned out there was nothing to worry about. While I wasn’t going to have any deep conversations with anybody in French, I was able to feed myself and get around with little problem. Unlike Brussels, which was more Dutch than French, and Zurich, which will be more German than French, in Paris, everything is in French and that made things less confusing. I also was amazed at how quickly French will come back to you after a dozen years when you are immersed in it.

I’ve always heard about how rude the French are, particularly to Americans. I found this to be untrue, at least in Paris and at least in my experience. Of course, I tended to stay in touristy areas for the most part and you would expect people in that field to be extra nice and helpful to their sources of income, but even when I went out into the little shops in the other neighborhoods, I found the people to be charming and patient with my broken French.

One quick story – speaking of broken French – when I went to the soccer match Sunday night, a girl came up to me and wanted me to fill out a card, something to do with a giveaway related to the match. She spoke quickly, and I wasn’t particularly interested, so I told her I didn’t speak French. She replied that it was okay, she spoke English. It turns out that her English was like my French and after she explained what was being given away, I still had no clue. She then asked me if I was “interesting”. I wanted to assure that I was, but that I was not “interested” in whatever she was trying to get me to do. Remembering that people hadn’t picked on my French, though, I decided not to pick on her English and just passed on the card.

On my way to Sacre Coeur, I stopped by to take a picture of the Moulin Rouge (see left). After taking pictures, I walked down the street on my way to the church. Down the street was an interesting mixture of adult theaters, sex shops and other businesses of the same nature. A virtual pornucopia of adult-related . . . umm . . . entertainment. Just in case you’re in Paris and are so inclined.

Okay, that’s it for now. I’m beginning to see mountains. Alps? Maybe. I’m not sure when I’ll have internet access and be able to post this, but you’ll hear from me in Zurich, I’m sure.

Paris: Hotel Monte Carlo - A Review

Unlike in Brussels, I was able to find my hotel in Paris, the Hotel Monte Carlo, with not just relative ease, but actual ease. Once I arrived in Paris by train, the stop closest to the hotel was only four stops away and the hotel was less than a five-minute walk from that stop.

I arrived too early to check-in, but the hotel allowed me to store my belongings and gave me a map to Paris. The check-in was very quick and friendly and, this is a big plus for cheap European hotels, it had an elevator, so I didn’t have to lug my gear up four flights of stairs.

The room was very clean. It also was small, but not too small. There was a bed, a desk, a fan (which came in handy) and a sink. The room I stayed in did not have a bathroom en suite, but this was not too much of an inconvenience other than the noise of people roaming the halls.

The neighborhood was fantastic. The hotel was very close to two metro stops serving three lines. The street I was on connected was like the middle line of an H connecting two much busier streets. All along each of these streets were bars, cafes and various other types of shops. One thing I found tremendously convenient was a little market across the street from my hotel that had among the only good values I saw while in Paris. I ended up eating or drinking in several of the places up the street (Rue de Faubourg Montmartre) and really enjoyed the vibe.

The staff was very friendly and helpful. The hotel had free wireless internet which, like the other places I went, tended to go out for periods of time, but fewer periods of time here than I experienced at other places. The free continental breakfast was very basic: croissants and bread, cereal and coffee or tea. That was okay, though because it was good enough and there was plenty of other food around Paris (ham and cheese sandwiches, in case you haven’t been following) that I wanted to eat.

Besides convenience, I picked this hotel because of the price, which came out to around $95/night. By any standards, that would be a good deal. By Paris standards, it was pretty damn great. They also have rooms with en suite bathrooms, as well, they are more expensive, of course.

One problem I did have was the noise. Like the other hotels I’ve stayed in here, there was no air conditioning and it was a little warm at night. I could open the window to the street, but it was a very busy street and quite noisy. After being awakened early two evenings in a row, I abandoned the open window and used the fan that was provided in the hotel. That turned out to be just the ticket, though the hallways were noisy as well, especially in the evenings. I don’t know if others had doors that were difficult to shut or if other guests were just oblivious to the fact that people might be sleeping at 2 am, but doors seemed to slam at all hours of the night.

Overall, if you’re looking for Paris on a budget, I would recommend this hotel. The location and price alone are well worth a stay.

Paris: Last Two Full Days

This is my last night in Paris and my train to Zurich is a 8:24 am tomorrow, so I probably won’t go into too much detail about my past two days in Paris. I guess that as a compromise, I won’t dwell too much on what I’ve been eating. I’ve veered a little off of the ham and cheese sandwich routine, but not by far and I have still been getting my fair share of ham and cheese sandwiches, fear not, but we don’t have time to discuss that right now.

Yesterday was Sunday, so that made it church day, just like every Sunday in the Sheldon household. Okay, it had been a long time since I went to church on a Sunday, but this week I went to the Cathedral of Notre Dame. I was sort of mixed on this beforehand, not being a church-going person myself, but I really enjoyed it. The bad part about visiting a church on Sunday morning is that services are being held so you have to be extra quiet and you don’t have complete access. The good part about it is that it’s free.

I have to admit that I was a little awestruck as I was walking up the metro steps to Notre Dame that these were the same steps that Jesus walked when he went to speak to the players before their game against La Sorbonne and told them to win one for the Gipper. (I think that is Touchdown Jesus to the left.) Or something like that. Anyway, Notre Dame was awe-inspiring for completely non-made-up reasons as well and I took lots of pictures.

After Notre Dame, I went to Sacre Couer because, well, too much God on a Sunday can never be a bad thing, right? No pictures were allowed inside, although that didn’t stop many, so my only pictures are from outside. Sacre Couer is near the top of Montmartre and I had heard how great the views were from there. If you like views of smog, there probably were none better. Again, Sunday, God, pictures, so I can’t complain.

After this, I decided to go on some wild goose chases. I guess that wasn’t technically the plan, but on some friendly advice, I went to the catacombs. They were closed due to vandalism. Then, on some friendly advice, I went to Harry’s New York Bar. Entirely different part of town. It was closed due to not being open. Oh, well. So much for the friendly advice.

Last night was for football and the reason for the timing of my trip. Olympique Lyon, who has won six of the last seven French football championships, came to play Paris St.-Germain at Parc des Princes. I am not going to go into a lot of detail here because (a) few of you care and (b) I’m doing more complete rundowns of all of the stadiums that I am visiting on my soccer blog www.worldclubrankings.com. Anyway, let it suffice for me to say the following. Soccer fans can be scary when they are yelling in English. When they start yelling at you and you have no idea what they are saying all you do is shout in agreement and hope you survive.

Oh, and I know I wasn't going to talk about food, but at the football game, I bought a hot dog. Not just a hot dog. A hot dog with a mini-baguette as a hot dog roll. I have to admit the hot dog was good. Not the best I've ever had, but a solid tube steak. The roll, however, was the bestest hot dog bun ever created. The entire cost of the trip was worth having a hot dog on that bun alone.

Today was mostly a cleanup day, trying to hit places that I had heard about, mostly little things. I went to the Pantheon and Jardin du Luxembourg, where I had lunch. (Yes, ham and cheese.) Then I went to the Bastille. Rather, I went to where the Bastille used to be and now, among others, a McDonald’s stands. Storm the Golden Arches!!!! I went back to Harry’s New York Bar and it was open, so I drank. Then I went to a McDonald’s (my first since London) to get the famous Royal with Cheese (see Pulp Fiction) and have a beer with my Royal with Cheese. (Actually, it was a Royal with Bacon.) D’oh!!! I wasn’t going to talk about food.

Okay, that’s enough. Gotta go to bed soon so I can catch the early train to Switzerland. Still don’t know what I’m going to do there, but I’ll decide once I’m there. The train ride is four-and-a-half hours, so I’ll probably write some more on the way.

Cheers!!

Paris: Another Beautiful Day

It’s been another unbelievably beautiful day here in Paris. After a sprinkle or two early in the morning, Indian Sommer continues with temperatures in the upper 70s under a gorgeous partly cloudy sky. Even if it starts to rain in an hour and continues as long as I’m here, I’ve already received more than I could have asked for.

Last night, I tried to get off of the ham and cheese sandwich kick for dinner, but I didn’t really get that far from it. I had an assorted cheese plate with bread and some foie gras with mini toasts. I also had an adequate French beer. Good meal, but too expensive. Such is Paris.

I started today with la Tour Eiffel. I hopped on a metro train to Trocadero because I learned yesterday when I was in the neighborhood what a beautiful view of the tower you get crossin the Seine from that direction. I knew that I wanted to go to the top, but I couldn’t decide if I wanted to climb the first two levels or take the elevator. I decided to compromise and take the elevator up and use the stairs coming down.

The view from the top of the Eiffel Tower is amazing. I think I saw North Carolina, though I didn’t recognize anybody, so I didn’t wave. Sorry. There are two levels at the top – one that is completely covered and an open-air level. I went out to the open-air level briefly, but decided that the enclosed area was more my speed. After taking the lift to the second level, I decided to show my vertigo what’s what and climb down. On the first level, I took a break and had the best cup of coffee I’ve had since I got to Europe. Afterwards, I made it the rest of the way down.

From there, I decided to go to the Hotel des Invalides. It contains the French Army Museum (insert joke here) and the tomb of Napoleon. I started strolling around the grounds and viewing the exhibits and never saw anybody looking at tickets, so I never bought one. My primary interest was the tomb of Napoleon (see left) and I took some pictures and left. Turns out, judging by the size of the tomb, Napoleon must have been a hell of a lot larger than I’ve been led to believe all my life. My guess is that he must have been at least 15-foot tall and 2000 pounds. Not somebody I would usually peg to have a Napoleon complex, but what do I know?

Once I was finished there, I went to the Musee d’Orsay, which may have been become my all-time favorite art gallery. The highlight of the museum for me was the Van Gogh room. (In my mind, I’m pronouncing “Van Gogh” like Diane Keaton does in the movie Manhattan because it makes me laugh.) It has some of my favorite paintings of all-time (see left). (My favorite is The Scream. That’s why I stole it.) Anyway, I took a ton of pictures at the Musee d’Orsay and will post them to my Facebook page.

I came back to the hotel to rest up, which is where I’m at now. Heading out soon to find people in a bar watching football and drinking and likely will do the same. That’s it from Paris for now.

Cheers.

One Night in Paris

Hahaha . . . I got to name my blog post after a porn film. If you like this one, wait until my trip to Dallas . . .

Getting out of my hotel in Brussels and into my hotel in Paris was perfectly painless. Good maps and a metro system in Paris with tons of stops allowed me to get to my hotel so quickly that I got there too early to check in. The Hotel Monte Carlo allowed me to drop my stuff off, so I went to the Jardin des Tuilieries and walked around for an hour or so until my hotel was ready. I took some pictures, including the one to the side. Then I went to my hotel.

I have to say that I’m pretty happy so far with the hotel. My room is on the fourth floor, but this hotel actually has a lift, so I didn’t have to lug all of my stuff up four flights of stairs. My room looks out over a busy street, so it’s a little noisy when the window is open, but I also have a fan in my room, so I may try to sleep with the window shut tonight.

I spent most of my first afternoon in Montmartre, the neighborhood in which my hotel is located. It’s very lively, with a ton of cafes, bars and various other institutions of capitalism, despite everything I’ve heard about France from about 40% of Congress, but I digress.

Last night, I went to an Irish pub to watch the Europa League match between Lille and Valencia. For dinner, I had what essentially was an open face grilled cheese sandwich with ham and tomato. I don’t like tomato much, particularly on sandwiches, but this was perhaps the best use of cheese I’ve ever experienced. In fact, I’ve had a lot of bread, ham and cheese since I’ve been here, as you probably could’ve guessed. Since I’m not a big fan of wine, I probably won’t be going crazy with it because this town is extremely expensive and good wine is just wasted on me because I can’t tell good stuff from bad stuff. I’m much more interested in bread and cheese.

After breakfast this morning, I headed to the Louvre. I took a ton of pictures and will post them to my Facebook page. My main interest in going was to see the Mona Lisa, which I’ve always dreamed of seeing. It’s even the wallpaper for my iPhone. Well, I’ve seen it. It didn’t change my life, but it was pretty awesome. Overall, I have to say that La Musee du Louvre was not as great as I hoped, but still well worth the price of admission. The one area in which it was much superior to the London Museum was the art collection, as one might assume.

One piece I have to point out, though, is the one to the right. As you already know, this is the great Gummi de Milo, made famous in an episode of the Simpsons several years ago when Homer peeled it off of the butt of a babysitter and as a result was accused of sexual harassment until he was proven innocent by a secret filmmaker. I always thought it was smaller than this, but I don’t really know art that well. Also, I was surprised to see it in the Louvre, but they have a whole wing dedicated to Jerry Lewis, so go figure.

Before I let this go too far, the Louvre doesn’t really have a Jerry Lewis wing. Just for the record.

After the Louvre, I again walked through le Jardin des Tuileries. I then continued on L’Avenue des Champs Elysees all the way down to L’Arc de Triomphe, which I’ll get to in a second. First, I want to point out that it was a beautiful Indian Sommer (German spelling) day here in Paris and that the stroll down the Champs Elysees was gorgeous. Again, a lot of cafes and eateries and other shops. I stopped for a ham and cheese sandwich and made my way down the street.

I got to L’Arc de Triumph (or as it is called by the Onion, The Arc of Capitulation, but I won’t go there) and decided I needed to walk to the top. Keep in mind, I had just walked around the Louvre for several hours and then walked a mile or so down to the Arc. I then decided to walk UP STAIRS to the top of L’Arc. It was worth it, though. Great views of the city on a beautiful day to go along with such a historic place.

After a little break, I decided to take advantage of my unlimited five-day metro pass and go to the Eiffel Tower. I was able to take some pictures, but it was already getting late and the line for tickets appeared to be never-ending. I decided that I would try again in the morning.

Tomorrow, my plan is to begin the day at the Eiffel Tower and then head to the Hotel des Invalides. I’d also like to get in the Musee d’Orsay and Notre-Dame, but whatever I don’t get to tomorrow, I’ll try on Sunday morning or Monday. I still have a few days here and the only thing set in stone in my calendar is a soccer match between Lyon and Paris St.-Germain on Sunday night.

Okay, I’m going to eat now. Since the wireless internet is fantastic in this hotel, I’ll probably keep you a little better posted from Paris than I have from elsewhere.

Brussels: Hotel Mozart, a Review

Okay, I am currently on a train from Brussels to Paris and I have an hour or so to kill, so I’ll do a quick review of the Hotel Mozart, in which I stayed while in Brussels.

Although it took me an hour to find the hotel because it’s located in an alley of a street, it turned out to be a fantastic location. I dropped my stuff off and went outside and turned in the opposite direction from which I came. I walked 50 feet and boom, I was in the Grand Place, the most well-known area in Brussels.

The room that I stayed in was larger than I was expecting, but that was because of an upgrade. According to the hotel’s chart, the room went for 150 Euros a night, but I was charged only 80 Euros (about $115) per night. I guess that explains the full-sized bed. The lighting was horrible, but I didn’t stay there to read anything, any way.

Another convenience was that I was on the first floor. This kept me from having to lug my stuff up four flights of stairs like I did at the WIgmore Court Hotel in London.

Like the Wigmore Court, there was no air conditioning. Of course, at this time of year, it’s fine to open a window. Unlike the Wigmore Court, however, noise was a bit of a problem. Not so much from the busy street below, because I didn’t face that, but my room was on the way to the breakfast room, so I got a lot of traffic outside my window starting at about 7:15 am.

The wireless internet service was free, but not without problems. The first day-and-a-half, I had no problems connecting and it was pretty fast. Last night, however, it was hit and miss, and mostly miss.

The continental breakfast was adequate, but nothing special. A croissant and a large roll made with almonds and other nuts, with some butter and strawberry preserves, coffee and orange juice. It got me started, but was not as good as the full English breakfast (kinda, sorta) that I had at the Wigmore.

The staff was polite enough, though I can’t say that I used them for anything, so I don’t know how helpful they would have been.

A brief summary statement about the hotel is that it is a good hotel, in a fantastic location, at a good price.

Brussels: Map = Good

While I’m waiting here in a Brussels train station for my train to Paris, I thought I’d put together a short entry to pass the time. (I f-in love my MacBook, by the way. Have I mentioned that before? I’m sure I’ll mention it again at some point.)

Today’s topic: If anybody ever tells you that you don’t need a good map when you travel to a foreign, non-English speaking country (and I’m not sure why anybody would ever tell you that), you yell at that person!! You yell at that person like he’s the President of the United States and you’re a mentally-challenged South Carolina congressman with neither dignity nor integrity and you say “YOU LIE!!!” because a better map really would have helped when I got to Brussels.

I got off the train in Brussels, navigated my way through the metro to the stop (I thought) was nearest my hotel. The problem was that my hotel was not so much on a street as it was in an alley and the alley wasn’t on any map in my possession, and I had a handful of them. What also didn’t help was that streets in Brussels keep changing names, sort of like they did in London. It was easier for me in London, though, because of the whole English thing, as opposed to in Brussels where everything is listed in two languages – French and Dutch. As soon as I thought I knew where I was, the name of the street would change and I’d discover I was heading in the wrong direction.

Eventually, obviously, I found my hotel. It took me about an hour of hauling 100 pounds of crap around Brussels, at certain points of which I was only a block away from my hotel although I didn’t know it. After I dropped off my stuff, I backtracked and learned that the metro stop was only about 15 minutes away. The next day, I discovered that there was a closer metro station (10 minutes) from which I wouldn’t have to switch trains to get to the train station. Good news for today – my trip back to the train station was quick and painless – but a better map would have helped when I arrived.

Oh well. Part of the excitement to travelling to new places, I suppose. I think my map of Paris is sufficient, but we’ll see when I get there.

Cheers.

Brussels: Two Days Was Probably Enough

I’ve had fun in Brussels, but that has been primarily because I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some British ex-pats for the (European) football matches that were played last night. There are a few things I’ve found impressive in Brussels, but I think it was a good idea limiting this leg of the trip to two days.

If you see a crowd of people standing around a statue of a little boy peeing like a racehorse, you must be in Brussels. Manneken-Pis is the symbol of Brussels and adorns most of the Brussels-related souvenirs. (Georgia, your shot glass will have a little boy peeing on it.) It’s just the way it is. I guess its better than having french fries with mayonnaise as your city symbol because THAT would be really gross.

The Grand Place, which is about 50 feet from my hotel, is the center of the historic city. There are numerous former guild-houses bordering a large open square and market. Most of the buildings go back to the late seventeenth/early eighteenth century, rebuilt after the French blew up the original buildings. The area and the architecture are very impressive.

Unfortunately, that’s been about it, as far as I’ve been able to find. Everything around the Grand Place is in French and Dutch, although English will get you around. My one proud moment was when somebody asked me for directions in French and I was able to help her. (Don’t be impressed. I just recognized a place where I had just been and I pointed for her. In any event, it helped her, so I’m counting it.)

The Grand Place also is surrounded by dozens of restaurants of various ethnicities that all seem to sell moules frites. By the way, I’ve had fries now at three places in Brussels and they’ve all been Big-Hunt-good.

Today, I walked up to the financial part of the city, which I guess is a mile or so away from the Grand Place. As you get closer to the financial center, more and more English appears on the signs around town. There are a lot of malls and shops in between the two areas.

One thing that is great about walking around the city is that I could allow myself to get lost. My hotel is very close to the Hotel de Ville, which, like the Washington Monument in DC, can be seen for a few miles all over town. This was helpful because I pretty much always knew which direction to head in to get back to the hotel.

Another thing that is great about walking around the city is that you go from mall to mall and then find some 400-year-old church or some monument to Belgian history. (I don’t know any, by the way.)

If I had another day, I suppose I would find my way down to Waterloo to tour the battlefield. If I've missed much more, I'm not aware of it. (I hit a number of museums in London and will again in Paris, so I'm not much in a museum mood at the moment.)

Finally, I just want to note that I found a few street vendors selling escargots. I have nothing against snails. I’ve eaten a few. They’re a’ight. But they’ve never struck me as street food before.

Speaking of food, I have had waffles and steak frites and have tried a burger from a local fast food place. Also have enjoyed coffee and pastries and people watching. Tonight, I’m planning on trying a few Belgian beers and watching some more football. And I’ll probably get some moules frites because everybody seemed to be enjoying that last night. That’s about it from Brussels. I head to Paris tomorrow and will post some more pictures on my Facebook page later.

I heart London

Well, tonight is my last night in London. In fact, it’s my last night in an English-speaking country for the next four weeks. I’m hoping Mr. Keene taught me enough to feed myself in Belgium and France. After that, it’s all going to be guesswork for me.

I haven’t had a chance to go into any detail about what I’ve done since I’ve been here so what I’ll do is sort of give everyone a bullet-point type of list of what I’ve been doing, with a little commentary where it appears necessary. The brief summary, however, is that I love this town. I could spend another month here and still not get everything in.

What have I done over the last four days in London?

Went to the British Museum - My main interests here were, for some reason, the Rosetta Stone and the collection from the Parthenon. The Rosetta Stone was the first exhibit visible when they opened the museum, so that was pretty cool. I’ve seen the Parthenon before and I wanted to see the parts that were stolen, I mean taken to England for safe-keeping. Lots of other stuff here too, of course, but those were the highlights for me.

Went to the Tower of London – I paid four pounds for the audio tour and it was well worth it. Unless you’re an expert on the history of the Tower of London, I’d recommend it.

Took a tour of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace – Fancy. Didn’t learn as much as I had hoped, though. Still, I suppose it was worth it; if not for the tour, then for the pastry I got at the café.

Took a tour of the Cabinet War Room and Churchill Museum – These are together and are both really cool. If you have any interest in WWII, this should be high on your list.

Walked from the Tower of London to Parliament Square – I think this was a few miles or so. During the trip, got to see the London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey and several other buildings. Good for picture taking, though I didn’t get a chance to spend a ton of time at any of the landmarks.

Had Fish & Chips, Sausage & Mash and Beef & Ale Pie in various pubs – How much brown sauce is too much? Evidently, there’s no such thing as too much brown sauce.

Went to two Football matches – Highlight of the trip!!! Sat in the home side at a Tottenham/Manchester United match. Home side lost. Sat in the visitors side at a Fulham/Everton match. Visitors lost. Don’t tell PSG that I’m sitting in its side when it plays Lyon next week.

Crossed Abbey Road in the crosswalk on the album cover – I am now officially the fifth Beatle.

Went out drinking with some locals – The people that I hung out with were awesome. Very friendly and fun. Somebody told me that if you wanted to make friends in Europe, just talk soccer. So far, that’s been true.

Watched a British comedy and thought it was funny – It was called Lunch Monkeys. I’m sure there’ll be an American version eventually that will be funny for a few seasons and then lose its way.

Rode the Underground – Probably on at least half of the fourteen or fifteen lines. Even rode the National Railway out to White Hart Lane.

Rode a red double-decker bus – From Oxford Road to Abbey Road.

Made a phone call from a red box – Had to get my hotel reservation straight for Brussels.

Walked at least 25 miles – Saw a lot of the city and a bunch of different neighborhoods, including Chinatown (and San Francisco has nothing to worry about). A decade of walking around DC and three years of walking around Cambridge is paying off.

All around London there are plaques that say so-and-so lived here or worked there. I found one hilarious one and took a picture of it. Evidently, Benedict Arnold is still considered an American patriot here. (I know he once was in America, as well, but that ended a long, long time ago.)

That’s all I have for right now. Tomorrow, I’m hopping on a train to Brussels for a few days. The only thing I know about Brussels is the stuff in and around the Grand Place. If anybody has any advice or suggestions, I’d be happy to hear them.