Category Archives: travelogues

October 22, 2011

Passport pages

By simply three cents

I have a beef with the newest passports. I recognize this is not a problem in the grand scheme of the world, but since it’s my blog, I just want to point out something that the printers should fix in the next go-round.

While I think the photos on the pages are beautiful and representative of the United States of America, the pictures are too dark.

Some of the stamps I have received are so very light. It’s not that  haven’t thought about asking a customs agent to please ensure they refresh the stamp with a hit on their inkpad, it’s just that I would never do it. But something like my Bosnia-Hercegovina stamp is something really cool to me, and the darn thing is just barely visible.

Granted how and where* I got the stamp is a cooler memory than some ink on a page, but still. WAAAH!

* Our guide was driving us from Dubrovnik into Bosnia-Hercegovina to visit a town called Mostar, with a few stops at smaller towns along the way. We were crossing the border from Croatia into Bosnia-Hercegovina with a local, two Americans and two British passport holders. It was a lovely country road with beautiful scenery on either side.

As we approached the non-descript border we noticed a little shed on the side of the road. The border agents came out, our guide explained in one of those languages that his passengers wanted stamps. Our driver and the border agents all had a laugh and the border agent left for some time and came back with four stamped passports. Obviously mine was stamped first or last because it had the least ink. Not really a situation (I don’t think there is any situation where this would be appropriate) where I can ask him to restamp it please.

Just before we had arrived at the border, one of our travel mates had to ask the driver to pull over on the side of the road to vomit. The roads were winding and she got carsick. We had a laugh a little later, because had she timed it right, she probably could have puked on the border. No passport stamp could be more memorable than that!

Leave a comment   |  tags: , | posted in travel, travelogues

October 15, 2011

Overpacking Prowess

By simply three cents

I know I have shared some of my personal tips on packing.

I pride myself on being a good packer, and when I am not, I recognize it. On the flip side, my sister is one of the worst packers. EVER.

As I packed on Thursday night for my weekend, I thought about my sister, and her packing prowess…NOT!! I thought, what would she pack for two nights away from home?

She is well aware that she over packs clothes, hair supplies and everything you might think you need, but won’t even use. She is devoted to her hair products, and hasn’t found them in travel size. She refuses to buy travel size containers to pour her shampoo in. Obviously, because she exceeds the 3 ounce liquid limits, she also has to check her luggage…which I won’t do unless I absolutely have to – say it with me ‘checked luggage is potentially lost luggage.’

Even as kids she over packed. She was like a little bag lady. On long car rides, I’d use the seat belt to create a border as her side and my side. Her stuff couldn’t cross. And it always did.

I traveled with a book and a Walkman with a few cassette tapes (remember those?). Back then she packed stuffed animals, pillows and toys and games and who the heck knows what.

She also was given less leg room for storage. As the older sister, I always sat in the seat behind my mom. My short (er, she’s taller than me) mom. I ensured my sister sat behind my dad, my 6 foot + dad. Since my dad did most of the driving, he needed to be comfortable, and to do that his seat was pushed pretty far back, limiting my sisters leg room. This should have been a good thing, limiting her ‘carry on’ possessions. Alas, she found every possible corner to stuff some crap into.

Pack, and travel, lightly. You can buy what you need. And what you think you can’t easily replace (glasses, prescription medicine), be sure you pack it!

Caveat: I have never traveled extensively with children, except when I was one. I’m sure this changes things up a bit. So parents, do tell. What’s the craziest thing you, or your child, ever wanted to bring on a trip?

And a special shout out to my Mom and Dad – feel free to share any of J’s crazy must-haves for our many family road trips. I know I am off the hook for that since I always traveled lightly 😉

Leave a comment | posted in packing, things that make me smile, travel, travelogues

September 20, 2011

“How to Shit Around the World”

By simply three cents

Well, I’m definitely buying this book! I realize it’s more about travel health but it reminds me of two bathroom stories.

One – I was eating at a restaurant in Bosnia and I had to pee.

The owner gave me a key to the bathroom. I had to go outside, down a little hill and around the back – which happened to be off a main street. I figured with the key this would be a nice, clean bathroom.

Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. All I know is that as soon as I opened the door, I saw what looked like a shower stall with a toilet seat (like the top part) around a hole in the floor. If I had only thought to take a photo. I am sure I didn’t bring the camera to the bathroom and I had other things on my mind – like deciding if I was going to attempt this!

Either way, I got freaked out and I decided to hold it. I didn’t want to insult the owners of the restaurant since they were so kind, so I just waited around the corner for a sufficient amount of time so they would think I went and then I headed back. I’m not sure what I would have done if I had to go number two!

I realize this is hardly a shocking bathroom travel moment, but for that moment, I just freaked.

I know I have popped a squat more times than I would care to remember. This would have been the same thing, just with a toilet seat on the floor!

Two – After going through customs at the airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina, I had to go to the bathroom. I knew the ride into the city would take at least an hour and I had to go. I went to the ladies room and I remember that the toilet seats were the THINNEST toilet seats I had ever seen. It was almost like the seat shouldn’t have been there because the ring was just so thin. Did notice that around the whole country. Are American asses so big that our toilet seats are so much bigger?

Let’s go. I’m sure there are funnier stories out there. Weirdest bathroom situation or observation you’ve got. Domestic or international – go.

Caveat: “When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” – Clifton Fadiman

Leave a comment   |  tags: | posted in just silly, travelogues

September 9, 2011

The Haimish Line

By simply three cents

I had never heard of a Haimish Line before reading this New York Times article but after reading about it, I totally understand it.

This article points out the exact reasoning of why I enjoy staying in locally owned bed and breakfasts, and try to partake in locally owned business for tours and activities. It’s all about the local experience and the truly familial feel.

Do the boyfriend and I remember Malania and her husband, the owners of  the B&B in Arenal, Costa Rica and their kindness? Do we remmber Malania’s husband, who spoke zero English, who kindly drove us to his favorite restaurant down the road from the B&B in the pouring rain (because we didn’t yet have a rental car)? Yes.

Do we remember Alejandro, Marta, Elda and Elda’s husband at the family run B&B in El Calafate, Argentina? They repeatedly brought me fresh ice for my knee after my glacier hike and told me the word for knee so I could get a brace for my aching knee. Do we remember how Elda kept telling me I would be fine when she was booking our horseback riding excursion, and not laughing when I asked her if she would come to the hospital if I happened to get hurt? Do we remember being dropped off by the Alejandro’s brother (Elda’s husband) at the airport, not just at the curb, but inside at check-in where there were hugs and handshakes and tears? Only my tears, but still. Of course we do.

What about having breakfast in the kitchen of the family, with the family, in Monteverde, Costa Rica where Reina, the mom, easily handed the boyfriend their baby daughter while she made our eggs…straight from their neighbor’s chickens. Again, yes.

What about Zoran who picked us up in Dubrovnik and drove us to Bosnia-Hercegovina, with one other couple from London in his family’s van? He took us to a local restaurant, did the ordering and introduced us to local Bosnian fare like burek (amazing doughy goodness stuffed with cheese or sausage or spinach) and cevapcici (spicy sausage sandwiches with a red pepper paste).

 

 

Zoran was our own personal guide and because we were such a small group, he was able to take us to see several towns along the way to Mostar. He spoke about the turbulent history from an extremely personal perspective (to be fair, everyone we met in Croatia that spoke about the war, had a very personal perspective). And as he handed over all of our passports at the border, he knew we all (well three of the four of us – guess who was indifferent) coveted a stamp from Bosnia, so he asked Border Patrol in the local language to stamp each of our passports, which they did.

What about Ana and Ralph at Delta Unplugged in Tigre, Argentina? We had an amazing day with them at their home and on their boat. In fact we are still penpals.

What about the feeling at some of the wineries on the Finger Lakes where they treat you like family, and not just another taster? Yes agains.

And what about Bube and her mother in Dubrovnik? Her mother, who spoke a few words of English, was the only one there to greet us after our 13 hour expedition to get from Newark, NJ to Dubrovnik, Croatia by way of a race through the airport in Frankfurt.

Bube’s mother showed us to our cottage where we dropped our bags, and then she brought us up to her roof, for an amazing view of Dubrovnik.

Once we realized that the walk up 300 or so steps (cars were not allowed where we were going) was absolutely, positively worth it, she asked us “Drink?”

After spending ten minutes with this lovely woman, we realized that her English vocabulary was limited. Wanting to make this as easy as possible I replied, “Water?”

She replied “Beer?”

And that was that! Yet another resounding yes.

These are just a few of these memories that make me smile. You don’t, typically, have these experiences in hotels where you are one of hundreds of guests. There are very few fond memories from my time staying in hotels. Do I remember the kindness and the hospitality they had? Yes, of course. But do I remember those memories as fondly as these truly personal touches of kindness and local hospitality? No, of course not.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , | posted in observations, things that make me smile, travel, travelogues

August 25, 2011

All Aboard. Like Now.

By simply three cents

Catching a New Jersey Transit train from New York Penn Station is a breeze…IF you are already in Manhattan.

Catching that same train when it arrives in Newark Penn Station is another story. It really is quite easy. But because there are several transfers from where I live, it can induce stress, even in a frequent traveler (like me!), to ensure you catch that train!

Knowing what time the train leaves Newark Penn and working backwards takes some mathematical doing to avoid spending as much time in the station as possible.

Here’s the transportation process from my home:

I live about a fifteen minute walk (okay, it’s probably more like twenty and because I go with fifteen, is probably the reason I cut it too close) from the PATH train, that will ultimately get me to the train station. This train on the weekends is a little iffy. They run on a schedule, but you never know if there will be signal problems, delays or construction.

This train takes you right to Newark … almost. You need to switch at Journal Square, a transportation hub in Jersey City, which is no problem since you are literally just crossing the platform. It takes about five seconds. Seriously. But you have to allot time to wait for that train because of said issues: signal problems, delays or construction.

Accounting for these delays is important because it could mean the difference between getting your train in Newark, or waiting thirty minutes to an hour for the next one. Newark Penn Station is not a place you want to spend extra time if you don’t have to.

When getting on the PATH train in Journal Square, I make sure I am waiting on the platform for the car that will align me with the exit in Newark so I can just head directly to my train, and not waste any time getting myself off the platform.

Pulling into Newark…

Now I’m not usually cutting it THAT close because I don’t want to miss my train. I typically try to ensure I arrive into the station about ten to fifteen minutes before my train, which is more than enough time to get to the right track and buy a ticket. Again, because I rely on public transportation and I am forced to abide by their schedules, I’m just rushing for the train, plane, bus or ferry that I need…of course on the other end, when I disembark I’m perfectly on time, or pretty damn close to it!

As the train doors open, my heart beating ramps up. As anyone who takes public transportation can tell you, you never want to ‘just miss’ the train. Let me miss it by ten minutes, not ten seconds.

So the doors open and I jog, even though I know I don’t have to. My first glance, as I am speedily cruising through the train station to purchase my ticket, is to check the train status.

So long as it says ‘on time’ and not ‘all aboard’ I am all good. The ‘all aboard’ status usually goes up about five minutes before the train arrives. Those five minutes are important because they mean I am more than good and I don’t have to sprint up the stairs to my track.

Even with that said, I always get nervous I am going to miss my New Jersey Transit train.

I know you may be scratching your head saying, why don’t you just get the PATH train before the one you really need? I do. But without fail, it still causes me stress to make sure I am getting to the platform in time. I can’t breathe a sigh of relief until I am holding my ticket and waiting on the platform.

If I am traveling with someone who is worried (see: boyfriend), I have to act cool and collected because I know we’re good. If I let him know we weren’t good, well that would just add unnecessary stress, because he would have liked to give himself double the amount of time he would need.

If you have ever spent any time in that train station…you know why I don’t want to be there any longer than absolutely necessary. I think that is the cause of why getting to Newark Penn Station stresses me out.

Newark Penn Station contains a mix of some interesting characters. It’s a great place to people watch. I’ve seen degenerates peeing on the station floor and I have seen people getting taken out in handcuffs. If you’ve ever spent any time there, I am certain that you have a story.

Do tell!

2 Comments | posted in train travel, travel, travelogues

August 18, 2011

The basics seem to be the same

By simply three cents

Sometimes I get asked, how do you find food you are accustomed to when you travel?

WHAT?! Not knowing what are the staples to the local country is one of the best parts of traveling!

My grandpa is laughing somewhere in heaven right now. Once I got addicted to sushi, he was amazed that the same girl who would only eat grilled cheese and cereal as a child would like such a thing. Especially because some of my favorite pieces of sashimi are some especially strange, but that’s a story for another time.

Truly, the basics are the same all over.

Several years ago the boyfriend and I were traveling from the San Jose airport in Costa Rica en route to La Fortuna, where the famed Arenal Volcano sits. We were famished. The drive is about 60 miles so somewhere halfway, on these back roads, we pulled over into a Sam’s Club kind of place. It was a big food shopping warehouse. We got some water and some small snacks. (You didn’t need to buy everything in bulk, just most of it!)

The woman in front of us had several dozen eggs, huge sacks of rice and a couple of loaves of bread on the conveyor belt. These three items are pretty basic no matter where in the world you may be.

Also in Costa Rica, there was a dish called ‘casado.’ It is a large plate with rice, beans, plantains, tortillas, salad and your choice of chicken, beef or fish. We were told it means marriage in Spanish but it’s called that because that’s a dish that men eat when they get married. I guess because it’s a real meal. It’s not all that different from what you might eat in America either.

And again, in Costa Rica, one of the parts of breakfast we were once served was cheese. I had never met a cheese I did not like enough to eat the whole thing. Until that one piece. A thick piece. It almost looked like you were served a large square of a sponge soaked in butter. I had thought, cheese? I told the waiter, of course, I will try it, and I did. And when I did, I realized I had met my first kind of cheese I could not even stomach. I took a second bit just to confirm I hated it. I absolutely did.

I don’t know what kind of cheese it was, I don’t remember what it tasted like, I just remember I covered it with another plate because there was no way I could take another bite. I was so embarrassed because before I tried it I had told the waiter I loved  all kinds of cheese. Note to self: never tell anyone you love cheese until you try what they are serving.

But let’s go back to basics that you count on at home. What about all the pizza and pasta in places other than Italy? So many options in Argentina and Croatia because they are influenced by Italian cuisine, just like the US.

Of course in some places, you can get your ‘American burger’ or your ‘New York pizza’ – but what’s the point of adventurous eating then?? Obviously sometimes you are homesick, or craving a certain something, but don’t think for one second that the ‘New York pizza’ somewhere outside of Edinburgh is going to taste like New York pizza.

Although once while in Amsterdam, my dad (who is not at all an adventurous eater) managed to find a Chinese restaurant. That had the biggest eggroll we had ever seen. Ever. I don’t recall if it was any good, but most eggrolls that I’ve seen fit into a little paper bag, and are an accompanying piece to the meal. I will never forget that it was so big, it came out on a properly sized entrée plate.

More on adventurous eating in another post. My dad may not be an adventurous eater but my mom certainly is!

And when you are out and about trying to figure out your meal, having translation trouble is really fun too!

Leave a comment   |  tags: , | posted in food, observations, travel, travelogues

August 11, 2011

All Aboard!

By simply three cents

Continuing the train theme this week, I took a roundtrip ride on Amtrak’s Acela to and fro Philadelphia for a client meeting earlier today.

I forgot how quick and smooth the ride is, when all goes well.

I also forgot how slow regular cars on regular roads can be.

The ride from Philadelphia to Newark on Amtrak’s Acela (a speedy train)…59 minutes.

The car ride from Newark to my home…55 minutes.

According to MapQuest, Philadelphia to Newark is about 84 miles. Also according to MapQuest, Newark Penn Station is 9.91 miles from my home, which, again, according to MapQuest, should take 22 minutes.

I could have gone back to Philadelphia in the time it took me to get home.

There wasn’t so much standstill traffic as you would think. The drivers roundabout route kept us moving, just for a long, long time.

Leave a comment   |  tags: | posted in observations, train travel, travelogues

August 10, 2011

To be, or not to be, on schedule

By simply three cents

I wanted to go from Madrid to Seville by train. There were a couple of options for travel, but my big decision was if I would be going on the slow train ($) or the fast train ($$$). I don’t remember what the exact travel time was for each train but the speedy train would take me only a few hours versus the slow train which would take me the better part of a day.

I was told that there was a refund policy. Imagine that! If the train was more than five minutes, five!, late, the train company would refund my money. As a very budget traveler, I had been hoping it would arrive six minutes late, as I had splurged on the speedy train. Of course it wasn’t late, it was perfectly on time, just like I was promised.

Yet, just outside of NYC, there are still train delays today, more than 24, yes that is TWENTY FOUR, hours after a train derailment yesterday morning. Thankfully, no one was hurt. I understand the process of re-railing (un-railing? un-derailing?) a train is probably difficult and time-consuming, but this seems a little crazy.

Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor route services travelers from Boston to DC and beyond. New Jersey Transit’s trains heading into NY Penn Station are shuttling passengers on some of the same tracks on various routes from all over the state of New Jersey.

I should mention for readers unfamiliar with this area, that these tracks (the Northeast Corridor tracks) are likely the busiest in the nation as they connect major cities (Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC) all along the US Eastern Seaboard.

As a former New Jersey Transit Northeast Corridor commuter (Hamilton, NJ to New York Penn Station), I assure you, there are a lot of people being shuttled to and fro on these trains. Picture double-decker trains, with only standing room available. Every single day.

I no longer do this daily commute but I know many people who do. The tracks belong to Amtrak but New Jersey Transit uses them to shuttle commuters, travelers and tourists daily. Amtrak trains always have priority as they are Amtrak’s tracks. And because I use Amtrak sparingly, I can’t speak for Amtrak, but I know NJT trains are consistently delayed, thanks to Amtrak’s (much-needed) ongoing construction, track failure and other oddities that happen on a fairly frequent basis.

I don’t know how to solve this transit problem and I certainly will not pretend to know the answer, but there has got to be a better way. Even if the tracks in Spain shuttle fewer passengers, they obviously are doing something right if there is a refund policy for delays longer than five minutes. Shouldn’t the US get Spain’s best practices and follow suit?

Why Wednesday.

Leave a comment   |  tags: | posted in train travel, travelogues, WHY Wednesday

August 9, 2011

Where did we go, you ask?

By simply three cents

Following up on yesterday’s post…we wound up going to Brescia, a small medieval town in between Venice and Milan.

The only hiccup…okay, okay there were two, and they were so minor, but the boyfriend never lets me tell this story without these two key parts because he likes to know where he is sleeping each night, and I happened to prevent that.

1 – I figured we would go to the tourist center to find out what we could see and do for the day, and of course get a recommendation on where to stay. So we got off the train, and because there was only one or two pages about this particular town in the guidebook, there was not a sufficient map. Since we had our luggage (just one wheelie suitcase each — no rucksacks on this trip) this was not the time for aimless wandering. Suitcases on cobblestone…not ideal. We cabbed it from the train station to the tourist center. Which we quickly found out was closed. Until April. It was January. Oops.

Trying to prove that picking a town and finding accommodation on the fly were still great ideas, I wanted to relax the situation a bit and I figured a glass of wine and some lunch would be good right about now. So we crossed the square to a lovely restaurant where we could sit outside. Yes, we could sit outside. In January. (See, there are positives to all of this).

Another positive was our waiter. He was friendly and helpful, especially with accommodation recommendations. The guidebook had said something positive about places near the train station. Yet he told us, and this was a few years ago so I may not remember exactly…but it was more or less ‘The places by the train station are a piece of shit. You should stay here or here.” So we went to each of the places he named, they were across the cobblestone from each other, and walking distance from the square we were in, ensured there was availability at both, were invited to take a look at each of the rooms at both, and settled in for the nicest, and costliest, accommodation of our trip.

The boyfriend does not let me forget this because…

2 – If you plan ahead you do not have to sleep in a ‘piece of shit’ place near the train station, or spend an hour sorting accommodation with luggage in tow.

Hey, it was still fun, and I proved that sorting accommodation on the fly is totally possible.

Leave a comment   |  tags: | posted in things that make me smile, train travel, travelogues

August 8, 2011

You say it’s a split-flap

By simply three cents

I thought more and more about yesterday’s blog post. I do have the same awe about trains as that little boy I saw yesterday.

Setting: Venice, Italy train station, January 2008

Had convinced the boyfriend that we could ‘wing it’ for two nights, while the rest of our accommodation and destinations had been planned in advance, and there were many. We had been in Siena, San Gimignano, Chianti and Greve in Tuscany, Florence and Fiesole, a small town on the top of a hill outside Florence.

We had added one day/night to Venice, so we had one freebie day/night towards the end of our trip, with no plans. We had to ultimately get back to Milan the day after the day it was for our return trip so anywhere between Venice and Milan was fair game.

I was in my glory watching the train boards flip and change the destinations with that deliberate noise to make sure travelers are paying attention.

The sound that those boards make just get me excited over the opportunity of where you can go next, what’s near the destination and how easily you can get there.

Thank you Wikipedia for telling me that it is called a split-flap display. And this video showcases the noise I am talking about. Thank you random YouTube user. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA6zn3nP7tY)

I was looking at the destinations on the board and looking down in the guide book to decide which line we should take, and which stop we should buy tickets to.

Since the boyfriend was totally, utterly and completely breaking a sweat not knowing where we were headed next I had to work quickly. I had to figure out a destination while ensuring it would get us headed in the general direction of Milan.

Isn’t this compromise? We planned most of our accommodations in advance…are two nights, with no planned destination or accommodation, that much to ask? If you ask most of my friends, and my boyfriend, the answer is yes. Unfortunately, for any of my travel companions who do think that way, I don’t.

And yes, if I could install a mini split-flap display of some sort in my home, I think I would seriously consider it. I just love that noise and the day dreaming it promotes.

Leave a comment   |  tags: | posted in in and around the world, things that make me smile, train travel, travelogues, wanderlust