Europe Trip

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Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2008 01:05:06 -0700
From: "Yibing 'Bing' Wu" <yibing.wu@gmail.com>
To: yibing.wu.heros@blogger.com, songyibing.wuuw@blogger.com,
songyibing.heros@blogger.com
Subject: More background info on Heros
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The critically acclaimed first season's run of 23 episodes garnered an
average of 14.3 million viewers in the United States, receiving the
highest rating for any NBC drama premiere in five years.[6][7][4] The
second season of Heroes attracted an average of 13.1 million viewers
in the United States.[8] The second season was NBC's top series in
adults 18-49,[8] the top Monday series on any network in adults
18=9649,[8] and the top scripted series on any network in adults
18-34.[8] In addition, the second season marked NBC's sole series
among the top 20 ranked programs in total viewership for the 2007-2008
season, according to Nielsen Media Research.[9] A total of 24 episodes

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Visit me at: http://www.wuyibing.com

Google Ad Testing

2004-10-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

I want to try out google AdSense with my blog. Added it yesterday. It took google 1 day to index the pages to show up customized ad. For now, it is always the "Sorrento Italy Info" ad.
Action Item: I will experiment with different size etc to see other ads and their relevance (Oct 27 or later).
Oct 27: Now, I tried reload several times, I see other Italy adds. Pretty good. However, the ad only showed up on the blogger home page.

Alps

2004-10-07T02:58:00.000-07:00

We are writing this log on top of Swiss Alps. The weather is better than we expected. We took the train from Interlaken. After changing 4 trains, we are heading for the gondola to the panaromic top : Schilthorn.

Thet built some amazing train tracks here. The Buen leg was completes 1891.
The top-of-Europe tunnel took 16 years to built. It was completed 1912. Shortly before WWI.

The Swiss people are extremely like to keep their streets and home neat and clean. Bing loves this aspect especially. It is heaven vs. hell compare to Roma.

We rode with tourists from Korea, Japan, India. We are at the gondola station where 007 movie was shot ('For your eyes only').

Milan: Day 1

2004-10-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

took train to airport 8.23am. changed 3 trains before heading to airport. chatted with 2 Toronto travellers. last minute shopping t-shirts & cap for Wang Li kids.

Plane perfect on time. airport tax 28EUR per person.

arrived after 2 hours in the air. looked hazy as we approach Milan.
got on taxi : old guy with Benze van, like self talk while driving.

got to hotel after 40 min ride, nice hotel , facing a piazza and church.
headed to central train station for train reservation. no waiting line, all done in 10min.

visited Duomo Cathedral, got audio guide again. (after no guides at all in Greek, this feels homy).
climbed the dome after ice-cream break.
attended church service.

internet in the alley.

Meteora, Athens Impression

2004-10-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

Athens: people, noise, food

Bing did morning hike 8am. Song decided to skip it.

With crisp air, Bing enjoyed the hike, feeling sentimental about Beijing's old days with blue sky and crisp air.

Had quick breakfast with toasts and O.J. Got on taxi to train station.
2 UK traveller got on same train, we met them on the Delphi trip.

train-1: lots of seats. train-2: extremely crowded. settled down in the kids play room. no kids, lots of local adults, sitting, sleeping. it was cozy. Bing got sandwichs after piercing thru the crowds for several rail carts. Train was getting more and more crowded as we approach Athena.
Had conversation with the Greek people sitting in the same cart. The Grandma can't speak English, but very chatty. Her daughter and grand daugther(half-Sudanian) can speak some English. She thinks we make lots of money, can buy a house in every EU city.

Checked in hotel around 6pm. Wondered around Plaka stores, had dinner: not delicious at all. grilled squid, greek salad again, calzo, pastta.
Took a walk around Acropoli. Nice lighting.
A concert in the theatre on Acropoli.

Bing dislike Athens. People are nice, but doesn't take work seriously.

Meteora: The area, the people

2004-10-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

We had a sunny breakfast, Yannois prepared the omellet himself following our request 'ham/cheese/mush-room', he shopped fresh ingredients and cooked local style.

His 5 cats had fun begging for food and got punished by garden hose shower.

Chris arrived in his truck around 10am. We headed to the old church first.

Chris explained the history of the town. It was burnt down twice during WW.II.
The church was preserved, but can see some fire trace on the wall.
It has a special pegoda like structure in the middle where they preached.

The lady attending the church let us peak into the main chamber which is not open to public. Chris explained a lot details for us. The frescos are quite dark, the figures rigid and 2-dimensional.

Then, we drove thru the pass up to the mountain, we passed thru and stopped by a mini vineyard. Saw some old vace, scarfolding of the historic sites where monks built 'monks prison'.
climbers, caves with scarfs for good luck. mountain goats roaming in the high rocks.

picked up 2 New Zealand visitor along the way.

Arrived the first monestary: big meteraon. lots of tourists and buses. cross the bridge, visited the church, museum. old kitchen, vine celler, dining area, the bone/scull remains of monks who died there. peak time, it housed 400 monks, now only 15.
A group of conservatory students were visiting as well, all dressed in dark color suites and ties.

Got into trouble with police, Chris and Bing talked with Police. Heading downhill to police station, Chris called his friend in Police station, it was resolved.
got a hich'hiker along the way.

Heading back up to the nun monestary. they close 2pm. took picture with Chris with panaromic view point.

Visited the nun church on our own real quick. Then the trinity church. Heading down hill for late lunch. saw green color patterned turtle on the way. after a quick sandwich, hiking up for sunset shots.

nice walk along the rim. view was great. saw sunset on huge rock.
heading down in the twilight. nice trail.

light on for the rock. same dinner place. more salad. meat more salty.

plan to go up for sun rise next morning. slept early.

Athens and Kalambaka/Meteora

2004-10-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

did laundary, bye-bye Natalie.She spent 2.5yr remodelled the APT. Opened Aug 10. All stuff brand new, extremely comfy.She was very capable and helpful person. We really appreciated her help.heading to Olympic stadium, no entry allowed. they are taking down stuff since para olympic is over.heading to train station. get luggage from deposit place acrosst the bridge.train on time. heading to Klambaka.

After 4 hour train ride, got to Klampaka 8:40pm. Yannios came to meet us. We ride taxi home. Settled in our room. Awsome view for the rocks. Had dinner in the tarven next door. Met John and his wife from Newzland. They came here to trace the Newzland hero: Don. Don helped Greek to fight in WW.II. Became POW, escaped by pole-vaulting. Died in Singapore some years later. John's family are close with Don's family. They got connected thru the interpreter, visited many small villages to chat with people in their 70-80 who fought together with John. Auther is the tarven owner. He lived in Aus for 15 yrs. Posted a picture of Don from Magazine on his tarven window. Had salad and grilled meated on pine bark stove fire. Salty but tasty. Very quiet location.

Yannois called his buddy -- Christo to be our tour guide for the next day tour.

Athens: Day 3 Dap trip to Delphi

2004-09-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

got up 8am to catch long distance bus ad 10:30am.
took bus-24. the station was not far from Attiki.

Called Beijing on cell.

Heading to Delphi. Had a break. got to town 1:30pm. Good lunch.
walked 1km. tour the site and museum.
the stadium was surprisingly huge.

heading home 6pm. got to Athens. had dinner at McDonalds after blocks and blocks of cafe-bar-gyro stops.

Athens: Day 2

2004-09-29T10:06:00.000-07:00

Called TI to find out para olympics already closed. Marching to the Acropolis. Narrow and slippery path ways with too many people. Many disabled from diff. countries.

Visited surrounding sites near Acropolis. Other than American restored stoa, impressive, most others are almost like digged up relics on Crete (e.g. Pnyx). Read history of Acropolis and when and how it was destructed.

Finally back to Acropolis. Cannot reentry. Like taking away his inheritance. The restoration is to take apart every stone, polish and put them back as a demolished temple (often shuffle stone locations based on "new discoveries". Project far from completed as stated in the tour book.

Decided to visit again during sunset. Best decision made. Took many pictures.

Concert in the ancient theater. Cannot get in.

Visited the famed "plaka" district. Just another tourist trap. Overpriced and terrible food.

Athens: Day 1

2004-09-28T10:05:00.000-07:00

Landlord: a sharp enterprising lady. Very helpful.
Visited National Archeological Museum. Excellent selection of articrafts from Cycladic, neolithic and, most importantly, Mycenean civilizations. Better displayed and documented than the one in Heraklion. Extra clean glass cases, very good lightings. Complements the Minoan display on Crete, very educational.
Seeing the info kiosks on the streets closing down. didn't realize missing the para olympics.
Again couldn't find restaurant on the streets. Had Italian instead.
Did laundry

Santorini: Last Day

2004-09-27T04:55:00.000-07:00

Post office: like in Italy, can't get packaging supply from post office. Have to go to bookstore, which sells everything from cigarrettes to office supplies. Cheap postal services.

Lunch at sea side (the last time for a while). Visited hotels on the cliff. 80-100 euros at this time of the season. 50% higher in peak seaon.

Hazy weather but no winds. When it blows, it blows.

Arrving Athina. Apartment impression: new, clean, comfortable towls, modern toilets. Noise streets. Heart of residential area. Not many tourists. Couldn't find restaurants: cafes or fast food only.

Santorini: Day 2

2004-09-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

Windy, cloudy day.
Took the Sunset tour at 4pm.
Don't believe the sail boat crap. Yesterday fooled us to think no sails because no wind. Today the same boat, still no sail.
Still no great sunset. But good moon light.
Had dinner at a locally recommended restaurant. No menu. Meals written on a board in Greek. Waiters always started with "if you don't speak English, we are in trouble"
Memory test.

Santorini: boat tour

2004-09-25T01:17:00.000-07:00

A very very beautiful island. Volcano results. Related to Crete?
Stayed too far away from town center. greedy, bad agent. 52/20! Local's lament.
Hitched a taxi to Thira. Info center does everything. Nice agent. One of the few fluent in English. Nice hotel rooms. Booked two tours.
Cable car ride down to old port. Beatiful locations/houses, etc. 100% US tourists on the boat.
Beautiful weather. Little wind. No sail. Hotspring. Mountain goats. Miniture church.
Volcano. Dusty trail. Young volcano. From 1600bc to 1950 no stop. 6 eruptions documented.
Liu Huang gas still abandent at the top of the crater.
Beautiful view of thira and ia. black, red rocks, little vegetation, pure white houses like snow cap. crystal clear water.
donkey ride up. a little scary. smelled like a zoo. better than cable car? same price!
bus ride to Ia to see sunset. Thrones of people. Hill top like a chinese beach. Many many people with all kinds of camera. Sunset anticlimatic. still beautiful. golden colored. dancing couple. very romantic.

moon is even better. reflection on the calm sea. hill town in the dust, in the night.

Dinner at the roof top terrace.

Crete: Knossos, Archeology Museum

2004-09-24T01:55:00.000-07:00

Had a good night's sleep
Had a good breakfast.
Got flight ticket off Santorini. Hard to find tickets! Helpful agent.
Visited Arch. museum. Reading books ahead. Very fascinated by Minoan culture
Museum has no audio guides. Excellent collections but poor descriptions and almost none context. Like a warehouse. Generally poor illuminations. Horrible bathrooms
Minoans were incredible craftsmen: potteries, jeweries, seals, fresco. Most decorative. Daring patterns. Full of imaginations and showoffs.
Pottery in the shape of flowers. Bull head. 2 Bee+honey comb ear ring/pin.
Beyond the needs of daily usage. Very maticulous, elaborate and painstakingly detailed.
Reading Crete mythology like reading a porn novel. Islanders must be peace loving (not war making). Cities had no fortifications.
ladies in beautiful dresses, hair style. Heard this before. Seeing still impressive. beautiful female profile. Minoans were keen at capture object essences: abstract but adequte: dogs, bulls and hippos.
Declining creativities towards the end? No sculptures. Figures extremely primitive. Not even on par with fresco. The Festos Disc: unbelieveable delicate piece of mistry. Linked to Linear A scripts.
Knossos Palace: seen model in museum. Unbelieveable complexity 3700 yrs ago. 1500 rooms. Huge court, grandeous design. Seen the toilet/sewage. Seen some in Festos/3 saints but not so clear. Much better documented, restored than Festos. Doves on the tree as in the acient model. Sir Author Evans: curious to know his role in shaping the current interpretion. Took 35 yrs to restore/illustrate original state. Tried to distinguish the original/restored pieces.
At least has some tour guides. Ours very intense. Brush eye browse. inject personal opinions from metaphysics to reproduction. Urban legend run amock. Not sure what's known, what's speculated, what other speculations. Will learn more later.

Another big dinner, same restaurant. same waiter. Not sure who is more embarassed. Car rental also sent us to ferry dock. huge ferry. smooth ride.

beautiful moon and sea. Santorini cliff in the night. scary drive along the cliff. 50euro room plus rental car!

Crete: Heraklion

2004-09-23T01:49:00.000-07:00

Sleek travel agent
Song drove for the first time!
Lunch on the beach cafe. Nice beach. A lot topless.
Heraklion: same driving pattern as in Hania but day light helps.
Hotel Megaron: luxury at middle class prices. Extra nice. Help desk recommended a local restaurant. Had a huge meal. Waiter impressed.
Walked to harbor after dinner. People fishing, sunflower seeds. Big ferry docking, fast.
Roof top cafe: view of the city in the night. beautiful harbor/archway. ferry floating to horizon.

Crete Excursion: Reythmno, Hania/Xaviar

2004-09-22T01:41:00.000-07:00

Reythmno: busy beach, visited Venitian castle, crazy driving: winding road, passing cars, road side shops. Striking weather while passing mountain passes, elegant mountains/peaks, villages along the way, small, quiet, occasional fancy cars. endless olive trees

Hania: ancient regional capital. Arrived late. Impossible to drive in the dark: narrow street, irreversable one way streets, few locals speak english, always 3 minutes drive/walk.
Noisy streets in the night, small rooms, didn't sleep well.

Trying to get ferry tickets. Fewer ferries during offseason. Fast boats all booked.

Feistos, Matala

2004-09-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

Feistos: different spellings all the way. very confusing. althought the 2nd largest Minoan ruins.
very striking location: valleys and rivers.
didn't come as imagined. didn't understand much. no audio guide or even text descriptions at sites. only simple flier at ticket office. had to buy books at site.
tour groups don't speak english. wished we joined one that does.
had trouble finding the site in the beginning. asked a lot of local folks with little english. dusty small towns. nice people though.
also visited a summer palace 3K to the west (?)

matala: beautiful seaside town. small. dog bark can be heard in the whole town. most people are tourists. many rooms for rent. we rented two (55 euro total). used one to do laundry. smelly dirty laundry.

bing swam to the cliff foot, climbed half way. ancient roman burial sites. nice warm beaches.
hiked the caves together. took many beautiful shots at sunset.

dinner in the dark. elec. on and off. the whole town oow-ahhed. waiter took us to kitchen. order on the spot. again extra dishes, wine, full meal. only 39 euro

candle light dinner at sea side. wind breezing. bing told stories. very romantic. slept well (separatedly)

song hiked out at 10pm to take pictures at the caves in the night. very good pictures though.

Flight to Crete

2004-09-20T07:23:00.000-07:00

We are flying to Crete, Greece today. Althought we woke up early enough, we still had to run to catch a train to the airport. It took only about 3 hours to travel from Naples to Rome. But nowadays you need get started at least 3 hours to get to your flight.

We had a connection in Athens. To me, the city is an endless source of fascination. Think of today's world, thousands of years after the Athenians and with so many technologies available, the majority of the population still live in various levels of poverty, superstition and repression. Back than, I can't imagine what kind of a world the Athenians were surrounded by? Were there still Neanderthals? Yet the Athenians stood like a giant amidst this vast primitivity. It took the rest of the world another 1700 years to "get" what they had achieved in 100 years.

The Athens airport looked brand new. Still full of Olympic logos, it was very clean and charming. However, the plane was delayed in Rome and now in Athens again. So we arrived in Heraklion, Crete more than 2 hours late.

Before coming to Crete, we've heard from other visitors that: one, we should rent a car; two, the lodgings were very cheap and easily available. Indeed, inside the airport there were 7 or 8 car rental counters. They were all very small in size (like a cubicle) and were next to each other. You could shop among them like in a farmers market. We found a car that cost only 100 euro for 3 days with everything included. I handed them the cash and they gave me the key.

We were not surprised by the size of car. After all, we had seen all kinds of miniture cars in Italy (some even made by Mercedes and Audi). It was pretty clean and very easy to drive. We bumper-car-ed our way out of a very packed parking lot and went to a eatery at local's recommendations. It was called 3 Trees and the name was really helpful to find it. By then, we were starving. I ordered an extra beef stew dish. The hostess, althought didn't speak much English, apparently understood but didn't comprehend:)

Finally, we got on the road driving south. We were here to visit the ancient Minoan sites and people recommended some sites in the south. We planned to drive there on day one, then circle back to visit Knossos before leaving. Because the plane was late, we started in the dark. The roads were well paved. But the road signs, to us, looked like random math formulars without the equal signs or the operands. There were English signs but you had to look hard to find them. We got the freeway OK but missed an exit to the main road to the south.

Driving in here was more stressful than I was ready for. Not only the cars were running fast, apparently there were unwritten rules you had to get use to. For example, on a one lane road, slower cars ought to drive on shoulders. Some sections of the road we traveled were winding around sea side mountains. When I drove on the shoulder, sometimes, it was absolute darkness on my side. In addition, we had to yield to passing cars and to find directions. It was a bit nerve-racking at first.

Finally we found our way to south. It was clear, however, we were not able to reach our original destination by midnight. So when we saw a "Room for Rent" sign in a village, we decided to check in and call it a night. The room was cheap, only 20 euros. But to our chagrin, not only we had to share the toilette and shower, but there was no hot water. The beds were not very conformtable either. And my worst fear also came to pass: the toilette paper rule.

When we were in Florence, a fellow traveler from Gig Harbor told us that he stationed in Greece for many years before. Still he couldn't get use to their toilettes because one had to throw the toilette paper in a backet. Even in bathrooms with flush toilettes, you were not supposed to flush them away. It could get very nasty in a hot day. I was hoping this had changed by now but ... it was not.

Capri: day 2

2004-09-19T07:20:00.000-07:00

We weren't quite finished with Capri just yet. I wanted to take a boat tour aournd the island, and to visit a place called Blue Grotto. So instead of heading to the train station, Song and I decided to go to Capri first then take a ferry to Naples.

We deposited our luggages at a gift store then bought a boat tour ticket to visit the Blue Grotto. It didn't take long to get there. I didn't know what exactly it was. Looking from outside, it was a small cave entrance on the water. Since it is so small, people had to get off bigger tour boat on to 4 person row boats to visit inside.

The sky was less clear today and the wind was picking up. Because the openning was so tiny, some bigger waves could easily cover it up. To get out the cave, the guide rowing the boat had to hold on to a chain and pull the boat out. Everyone else had to lay on their faces or backs, to avoid being caught by the entrace ceiling. It was a ritual everybody seemed to enjoy.

When we arrived, there was already a line of tour boats ahead of us. Some were much bigger than ours. The tour guide said we had to wait and took us to see some mountain goats on another cliff. When we came back, the line seemed to get only longer. But the guide said the guys selling tickets on a boat next to the cave had been keeping track of the order.

So we waited. And waited. And waited more. The sea was getting rougher. When the boat moved, the up and down motion was pretty rhythmic. After it stopped, and being so close to a cliff shore and to other boats, the wave seemed to come from all directions except above. We felt like being stir fried in a master chef's wok. Some fellow visitors fell visibly sick and we were just barely hanging on.

Finally, it was our turn. If there was any sense of discomfort, it disappeared quickly once we passed the entrance. It was a magical world. None of "it is like ..." could describe the sense of wonder flowing through everyone's mind at the moment.

It turned out the cave was more like a helmet. The entrance side wall does not touch the sea floor. So the sunlight from outside is reflected by the white sand and diffused, from bottom up, into the water in the cave. So the cave was pitch dark but there was this uniformly translucent, crystal blue water in it.

The tour guides started singing and some people used flash lights to take pictures of each other. We were just holding our breath and try to imprint every moment to our memories. It was well worth the wait.

When we got back to the habor, it was almost the time for our ferry to Naples. Since Sorrento and Naples (with Pompeii in between) were at two ends of a giant bay, it was faster to take a ferry from Capri to Naples than to take a train from Sorrento. We originally thought about staying in Naples for one night but the travel consultant at Rick Steves subtly hinted it was not the most desirable place in Italy. On our way from habor to train station, we sat in a taxi and looked out to the streets. It was not too bad but reminded me the old industrial sections of Baltimore.

We arrived in Rome in less than 3 hours. We randomly picked a hotel recommended by Rick Steves. It was called Lancelot Hotel near the Colosseum, a favorite among U.N. workers in Rome. We were pretty tired from early morning's rolling and rocking so decided to have dinner in the hotel. We met some very interesting folks: one Belgium environmental economics scholar, and two ladies from Germany, one of which apparently married an Italian and has lived in Rome for 20 years. The other spoke a perfect Oxford English, and was in Italy to learn Italian. Finally we were joined by the chef of the night, who was a very learned gentleman. We dinned, wined and exchanged stories. It was a wonderful evening.

Sorrento/Capri - Italy

2004-09-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Sorrento yesterday evening. Took a side trip to Pompei. We've heard of this ruin for so long. Bing just wanted to see the cast of dead people and lost interest fast. Song really enjoyed the trip.

Sorrento is a small sea side town. There was a well known song "Come back to Sorrento". There are tons of tourists here. A lot Germans among them. We lived outside of the town in a B&B. Pretty simple lodging but has a wonderful view of the town, the sea and Mount Vesuvius in the horizon.

The land in this area seems just drop right into the sea. All towns are built on huge cliffs. We were about to visit the famed Amalfi coast further north-east but rain falls couple of days ago apparently caused land slide that sealed a major portion of the road.

It was certainly a disappointing news. We'd seen pictures of Amalfi towns before and they were breathtaking. We woke up at 7 this morning just to catch a bus to downtown Sorrento only to learn the road closure. Locals might afford not to go home for a day. But for action ready tourists like us, it was disaster.

Song and I were wandering about the town, not knowing where to go. We found a Tourist Office that had fliers about local attractions. On a whim, we decided to visit an island just off the coast, Capri. We walked on to a ferry and were curious what the little island could offer.

But, man, what a surprise! The island was a darling! As the boat getting nearer, the overcast clouds started part ways like stage curtains. In between clear Mediterranian water and a blue sky, there stood this little island like a giant piece of rock.

After we disembarked, we took a funicular (tram) up to the town. The town was on a flat area between two peaks at both ends of the island. This was a Saturday and there were tons of tourists. It appeared that, prior to being discovered by the first tourist book author, the town was only fit for small population. The town square in front of the main church was very tight and the streets, if they could be called as that, were even tighter. With so many people, we felt we were part of a human conveyor belt.

But we did hop off the "conveyor belt" and looked for some serenity. There was a picturesque, zig-zag road that started at the edge of the town to a marina. It was pretty quiet because there was sign warning of rock falling. Sure enough, the dangerous part was easy to pass and the view was more than rewarding. Before reaching the marina, there was a sign points to trails leading to a nudist beach. Never been to one before, I was naturally curious and tried it out. It was not much a beach but full of rocks. Most of people were there to sun themselves, only a few were swimming. Not wanting to sit among naked and baking bodies with my pants on, I chose to swim. But the rocky coast made the sea even rougher, I was helplessly dragged back to water a couple of times when I tried to get ashore. It was wild.

The last ferry back to Sorrento ran at 5pm. But we did save some time for sightseeing. The town seems to cater high end customers, for there are many fashion clothing stores, each trying to out-decor the other. We bought two bottles of water and had some exquisite ice creams. When the bill came, it was 20 euros. As a Beijing slang has it, we were "butchered":)

Still, we plan to visit the island again tommorrow.

Pompeii, Sorrento

2004-09-17T07:07:00.000-07:00

Leaving Rome. Some aspects of Rome were really irritating: the trash on the streets and the noise (for example, in addition to the mopeds and car alarms, apartment burglary alarms would go off in the middle of the night somewhere. They were meant to be heard from a satellite I thought). The city was pretty tricky for a first time visitor too. For example, if you forget to validate your 75 cents bus ticket on the bus, you can be fined for 52 euros. We were fined for not reserving seats on a train --- yet no-one nowhere in the train station prompted us to. The travel consultants gave us more guidances (against threft on Roman buses) than a ski instructor would to his first time students. Than again, the museums were great. So I guess visiting Rome is kind of like going to your dentist: you know it is good for your health but it is such a pain.

After Rome, we travelled south to Sorrento. On our way there, we visited Pompeii. It was a striking site, especially when I stood in the town square, facing the temples and had Mount Vesuvius menacingly in the background. The story of the town was well known so it attracted huge crowds. The hotspot was the ancient brothel: it still had cubicles of ancient sex workers ... actually their beds, and paintings on the well, which served the same function as porn videos and magazines in fertility clinics today. It was packed, today too. I had to stand outside and listen to the descriptions through multiple tour guides' megaphpnes in different languages ... quite an experience indeed.

Actaully, coming out of Rome, Pompeii just gave you a sense of how uneventful life in a provincial town must had been. There weren't any colossal public monuments, the roads were just wide enough for two wagons to squeeze by. Close to town center, the prime location one would thought, there were large food stands where people could buy hot food. At the end of the town, there was a beautiful villa, called Mistery Villa. It was very large and some rooms still had original frescos painted on them. I thought those frescos were finer than the ones I saw in Roman Museum in Rome. When wandering around the villa, I came upon a small, dark and locked room. In the middle of the room there was a cast of the dead resident from the eruption. It was eery. I almost cried "I saw dead people!"

Pompeii has two threaters. The bigger one could hold 5000 people and the smaller one 1000. They were currently being restored.

We arrived in Sorrent in late afternoon. We decided to take a bus to our hotel as everyone told us the town's Mercedes taxi fleet was way too expensive. As in Rome, nobody could give us a definitive answer as of which bus would go where or when it would arrive. You go around asking the old man at newstand where you buy bus tickets or the train station clerks, the answers all end the same, "just wait there and the bus will come". Of course, the lack of information naturally fermented a community out of dozens of anxious, disoriented tourists gathered at the bus stop. Finally, as the local sage predicted, the bus did arrive.

Sorrento and Pompeii were at the two ends of a laaarge bay. Unlike Pompeii, Sorrento resides on steep coastal hill. You sit in their buses, the bus runs and turns. After 5 minutes, the bus will come to the same spot where you left, but much higher. The nice thing about this is, almost every hotel in the town has ocean view. Ours was no exception, plus Mt. Vesuvius. We had dinner in a small restaurant, looking over a moonless sea. The hilly road must be too steep for mopeds, the town was very quiet in the night.

Rome: day 4

2004-09-16T07:04:00.000-07:00

Taking cues from yesterday, we woke up early, ate simple breakfast and ran down the metro station to check the strike status. Thanks God it is over today.

We first visited the Boghese Museum. There was once a Cardinal Boghese, who was the reigning Pope's nephew. He was a, shall we say, Machiavellian connaisseur: he would get what he wanted to collect by all means, including imprisionment, actual theft and the threat of excommunication. Other than this little vice, he was an excellent collector. He had the right taste and was keen to discover emerging artists. Caravaggio was one of them.

He loved Baroque style and patronized Bernini during his life time. With some neoclassical master pieces, his collection was not vast but exquisit. One of his offsprings married Napoleon's sister, and was coerced to sell or gift some pieces to Paris. After Napoleon's down fall, by treaty, Italy only got back what was taken for free. Later, one of the Rothchilds wanted to buy a Titian's work, priced it out of reach of governments. But thanks to an Italian law, which forbad selling individual pieces off a collection, the painting was preserved.

There were just way too many masterpieces, many of them could anchor other museums individually. Pauline Napoleon's statue by Canova was great. It was said Canova wanted to create the sense that she was leaning on a soft bed with satin sheets so he polished the cold hard marble many times and coated it with wax. The result was unforgettable. We both liked the Apollo and Daphne by Bernini, and thought it was his best. His David, in comparison, looked a little Roman Rockwell-ish.

The Museum was the Cardinal's private villa. It is surrounded by a forest of pine and cyprus trees and a manicured garden. The museum we visited in the afternoon, though, was a stark contrast. The National Roman Museum was an undistinguished brick building next to the bustling train station (Termini). It had a vast collection of coins and minting process/equipments from antiquity to Middle Ages. When we visited the Capitol Hill museum and saw the She-Wolf statue, the description said the two brothers were added later in Roman Imperial period. Sure enough, some of the coins from early Roman Republic period had the same statue without the two bros. The museum also had frescos and mosaics from the Imperial period, many of which were carefully preserved and we had to be escorted by museum employees to look at them.

Downstairs we saw a piece of stone tablet that was from the very very early Roman times (before the Republic?). It was a calendar used at the time. Next to every day of the month (lunar calendar), the engraving marked what activities were allowed or not allowed on this date. In old China, there was this Huang Li ("Yellow Calendar") that street soothsayer used to decide when is the best time to do what (wedding, for example). Song and I have our own :)

This is our last full day in Rome. Still we found something new, like we stayed REALLY close to Vatican Museum. On day one, we followed the tour book to the letter and took a subway to the Museum. Today, we just found out that had we walked passed the subway station another block and turned our heads, we would have seen the Museum right in front of us! It was pretty silly, and funny. Then we found there was a Chinese take out place close by. It was our first Chinese food in Europe ... and it was not bad. Back at our apartment, we ate from the ubiqutous Chinese takeouut box and watched the videos we shot during the day on a small TV ... I will say the food was the best part:)

Rome: Day 3

2004-09-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

We got a late morning start. Just woke up late thinking we would have plenty of time to visit the Roman Forum and Colosseum. After we had our morning pastries and cappuccino, we were in for a surprise: all metro (subway) entrances were shut closed. Apparently, we were hit by a labor strike.

After some confusion and seeing large crowds wandering on the street seeking alternative transportations, we were very lucky to have found an empty cab.

The capital hill museum has the famed bronze she-wolf statue. We didn't realize that the two baby Roman founding brothers were added later. This was confirmed when we visited the National Museum near Termini later, where we saw ancient (4 century BC) coins had the same she-wolf but no sucking babies. Song particularly liked a sculpture that depicts a youth picking out a spike in his foot. We both admired the "dying Gaul" by Bernini (?)

After having a lunch at the museum's roof top cafe. We toured the Roman Forum and the Colosseum, almost next to each other. The Forum didn't have too many thing left standing. All we saw were building foundations or lower layers of stones or pedestals of columns that suggested something grandiose before.

One except was Constantine basilica. I didn't realize how big it was until seeing in person. Although only less than one third of the original building are still standing, you look up and around, still feeling like standing in a open jumbo jet henger: it was simply huuuge.

Comparatively speaking, the Colosseum was much better preserved. Thanks to a Pope who decided, instead of pulling stones from it to build new churches, he made it a Christian worship site. When we entered we saw a huge meta cross bearing Latin (or Italian) scripts about John Paul II. Not sure he just blessed it or also paid for some projects there.

The Colosseum was about what I've read or seen before. No surprises there. The area used to be open to tourists that one could walk across on a wooden deck, looking up and imagine the madness there must have been at the same spacial dimension of the universe. But it was closed when we were there for some archeological work. You see this type of the project all the time in Rome. Some college students in Calvin Kline top working in a fenced hole full of old stones and tourists snapping pictures like watching Xing Xing the panda in national zoo.

Sunset was great, so we took a lot pictures. On our way back, one of the two Roman subway resumed operation. The other still closed. We had to hail a cab but the guy charged us at least twice than usual. In broken English, he kept shaking his head saying, "Strike. No train. Not possible." Not sure what he meant. But I guess this is how market economy works after a socialist event.

Roma (Rome) Day-2

2004-09-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

We finally found a internet cafe in Rome (1.5 EUR / per hour). Writing today's log first. Will make up the missing days later on.

The APT we rented is very home like, we enjoyed it a lot.
Today was wonderful. We rested well and set out from home around 10am.
We got to Vatican Museum via subway. It is just 1 stop away from where we live.

The Vatican Museum is a vast complex. Its collection it truly amazing, with depth and diversity, well balanced and nicely presented. Both of us like it a lot.
We spent about 5 hours there. By far it is the best Musuem exhibit we've visited.
It also is the first Museum allows photo and video (except Sistine Chapel).
So, we got to take lots of pictures. Bing likes the Egyptian collection a lots. Rapheal's paintings are my favorite. Sistine Chapel is certainly the most impressive. We would like to return and visit the museum again in the future. Audio guide was very helpful, they don't use the dual system Florence museums use.

Had lunch inside the museum, very pleasant. Also, sent post cards via Vatican postal office.

We spent the late afternoon visiting St Peters square and cathedral. Its colossal scale is simply striking. We visited Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal,Canada which was modelled after St. Peters, with 1/3 the size of St. Peters. With that experience, it is still hard to imagine the sheer size of St. Peters. We got audio guide and walked around the cathdral, admiring the master pieces. Also, climbed up the dome with 330 steps of snail staircase. The view from the top is wonderful, we can see the Pope's residence and his garden.

We had a quick dinner, cured ham, calzone, salad. Very delicious. It is a wonderful day.
Signing off now. We will be checking into the internet cafe more often, so see you soon.

Train to Rome

2004-09-13T07:15:00.000-07:00

In the morning, still in Civita, we woke up by the sound of church bell (which was just next door). It was a bright day. Franco, the B&B owner, told us that if it rained the day before, the next morning, the town would be surrounded by a sea of clouds.

On our way to Orvieto, the town that has a train station to Rome, we took a unexpected detour. Unable to understand what the bus driver was trying to tell us, we boarded a bus that took a longer route.

Which was great! The bus was almost empty except every now and than, a few locals got on the bus, chat with the driver and nodded head with us. We were driven to towns just like Civita. Cats and dogs napping on the strees, barely bothered by the passing bus. In couple of towns, the driver had to make three point turns in the town square in order to get back on the highway. The country side, under the Tuscan sun, was pretty but not novel pretty. Yes, there are cleanly aligned fruit trees and grape vines. But since the land is used in rotation, next to the columns of rolling vines, you'd see dry dirt left bare.

We didn't take many pictures, just sat back and enjoy. The roads were pretty hilly and winding. When the bus finally arrived in Orvieto 1hr later than we planned, we were both a little dizzy.

The train to Rome was relatively eventless. The main train station in Rome, Termini, was huge. We got off and took a taxi to the apartment we rented. Unlike the owner in Florence, this owner didn't speak any English. So it took a while to get used to each other. We both loved the apartment immediately. It was spacious, much better furnished, and everything was thoughtfully arranged for us. Since it was on the 7th floor and had a lot windows, the rooms were bright.

After settling down, we followed Rick Steves guide book and took a "Night Walk through Rome" tour. He plotted a route that covered several popular squares and fountains. First we went to the Tourist Information office and boarded a Rome bus for the first time. Since we heard so much after thefts on Roman buses, I have to say it was the most stressful bus ride in my life. All senses went to high gear trying to intercept any unwanted stimulus. I probably over-reacted. Nothing happened in the end:)

There are many public monuments in Rome since the Roman Empire days. The monuments could be beautiful fountains, huge statues, or obelisks. The fountains were especially impressive because of the sculptures around them. But over all, my first impression of Rome was less than pleasant.

Rome is dirty, noisy and crowded. Many city streets were paved in cobble stone, as in Florence. But you see a countless cigarette butts stuck between the stones. The locals are so used to just throw trash on the streets, they don't even blink. Mopeds and bikes roaming around everywhere there is a space. The only way a biker can alert pedestrians ahead is to make more engine noise than others. Sirens run constantly. Only when you see a policeman sticking his head of the police car, waving his arms fanatically, then you know he's serious.

It was said that people driving like crazy in Rome. The other way is more true in my opinion: in Rome it is the crazy people driving. They run traffic lights (by law, mopeds don't have to follow traffic lights!), and park anywhere they want. The subway is no much better. For unknown reasons, the driver like to jerk the train every once in a while, as if he's running a traffic light on the surface. And the trains are without exception fully coated by street artists. Like many public places (walls, billboards and bridges everywhere in Rome), graffiti are everywhere. Like the Visigoth and the Vandals never left Rome.

Rome can certainly get better.

Civita: the Donkey Race

2004-09-12T06:53:00.000-07:00

Civita was on Rick Steves' recommended Tuscan village list. It is on top of huge rock (or small hill?) in a hilly region roughly half way between Florence and Rome. The owner of a B&B picked us up from the train station in the neigbhoring town. He told us the town had only 15 permenant residents. The soil underneath the town has been slowly eroded by rainfall. There is an EU sponsored project at 10 mil euros to fortify the town, to be completed in 2006.

The town was small: a church, a town square about two basketball courts. But there are definitely more than 15 rooms. Not sure what the rest rooms are for? Anyway, this town used to be the center of action in the neigborhood until an earthquake destroyed much of it, and the seat of government moved 400 meters to the next hill. Therefore, the town is now formally called Civita da Bagnoregio.

The towns in the region are not too far apart. Before some modern bridges were built, however, the residents traveled in between via winding and dusty trails under full grown wild chestnut trees, on donkey backs. Apparently, donkeys played such an important role in their lifes that, had the Romans not invaded, they would have had a ass-cult;)

Instead, they hold two inter-town donkey races twice a year (in US, we have one only every 4 years). We are so lucky that we visited on the late summer event. The atmosphere started to build with the arrival of a local band. All looked like coming out of the Godfather movies: in wrinkled and overwashed uniforms, with their instruments under their arms. One of the fellow apparently spoke some German, and he was not shy about that: he asked us among all others whether we spoke German. But he connected us with someone in the band, a guy named Simone, who spoke enough English that we started a prolonged conversation between their plays. He was a telecomm. engineering student in a local university and has been playing piano since childhood (now a drummer in the band). There was a little fat boy with a sanguine face who played flute in the band. He seemed to know everyone and everything in the town. He was a genius, we were told: he didn't know how to read scripts but remembered a tune once he heard it.

The donkey race was proceeded by a formal procession led by local priests, the mayor, a lady in naval uniform and other local luminaries. With the incense smokes, the band playing behind a conductor dressed like a professor, the spectators circling the town square sensed something important was about to happen!

The donkey race didn't happen until about 45 minutes later. After the local church bells rung every 5 minutes. It was a play off format: 12 donkeys from Civita and neighboring towns ran in pairs and the winner advanced. A local black stud eventually won the race. The award? The winner with his stud got to hold a flag with a image of Jesus circling around the square a couple of times. But don't expect donkey races are easy: donkeys run at their own liking. Several apparently strong contenders steadfastly refused to move an inch and were ungamely disqualified.

We had dinner at the B&B. The owner spoke fluent English and we chatted a little. But the maid, a nice teenager, spoke none. It took us 5 minutes, in sign languages, to communicate: yes, breakfast at 8:30am tomorrow.

The town was dead quiet in the night. We took some pictures at the town gate. Definitely an unique experience.

Florence: Day 4

2004-09-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

We visited Santa Maria Novella (Church/Basillica) briefly. It is located right across from the main train station (Termini). Its well known art work is 3D Jesus (Masaccio's Trinity).

We reserved the visit to Accademia 2pm. Statue of David is really impressive. It is 14 feet high. It is definitely the center piece of the Museum. We are able to appreciate the details, up close and in person.

We then strolled thru the Duomo. Its external scale is awsome. Its interior decoration is relatively simple. The famous dome fresco is splendid. The dome was constructed after the church was built. It was modelled after the Pantheon dome in Rome. It also inspired the dome of St Peters in Rome. I like to view the Duomo and church from the exterior most. Its gigatic scale must be experienced in person. No picture can really convey the feeling.

We also rode the "top of bus" scenic tour, went across the river to visit Michelanglo's sequare.
We were able to get a panaromic view of the entire city from Michelanglo's sequare. Also passed thru lots of luxurious private home compounds along the way, all hidden in beautiful tree woods with great view.

After getting off the tour bus, we pass thru Uffizi plaza to head for dinner.
The food places (they all looked like restaurants but they are actually just sandwich bars) around Palazzo Vecchio were just so so. We had dinner there last night. So we decided to pick a real restaurant from Rick Steves' book. It was called something cei cei. The food was OK. But we met two couples, all from Seattle area, all came in by following Steves' guide book. It is as if we turned to the same page at the same time! Deb and Al were from Gig Harbor and Hellen and ZiHeng were from Bellevue. In the end, we all held up our dear own guide books, had a group picture taken by another couple, who, not surprisingly, had *their* own.

Florence Day 3: Bargello, Uffizi

2004-09-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

It is probably the best day of our Florence stay. Song reserved the tickets to two museums Rick Steves recommended in his tour book. Bargello is a national museum that has an impressive collections of sculptures. Almost all from the Renaissance period, many statues not only have classic postures but also rich emotions. Unlike the Pitti Gallery, the collections here are diverse in time periods, styling and subjects.

We tried to visit the Santa Maria Novella church right across the train station. I heard of it from Boccaccio's Decameron. But it didn't open till 1:30 pm. Strange.

Next was Uffizi Gallery. That even bettered Bargello. It was very well organized and presented. Although it covered a long period of time and a lot many artists, we didn't feel totally overwhelmed at the end (we didn't remember much either). It would be a great place to take a Renaissance 101. The audio guide from the museum was extremely helpful. So we were told how the art of paintings evolve during the Renaissance: their styles, themes, and motifs, etc. How one period or one region of artists differed from the other.

Most of the paintings were religious matters. The majority of which are about the life of Jesus. From the Annunciation to Transfiguration, it went on and on and on. I guess the Church and the artists' patrons didn't care about anything else, so the guys in Renaissance had nothing else to think about but outdoing the other dudes of how to paint Mary and Jesus. The result, I have to say, is stunningly rich spectrum of paintings that have everything else different but the subject.

By the way, among all the Annunciations, I like da Vinci's best. The Angel appeared mischievious and Mary a sense of surprise and, I thought, entitlement.

We both loved the Uffizi gallery. When we come to Florence again next time, we will visit Uffizi again, definitely.

Florence Day 1 & 2

2004-09-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

We visited Pitti Palace in the afternoon. It is full of Medici collections, 20+ rooms full of paintings,mostly portraits. The gallery is nicely decorated. The Spirito church we visited was not impressive.
The most enjoyable part is crossing the Arno river, wondering around the bridges in the sunset.
The weather is nice, there are lots of fellow tourists. I really liked the ice-cream.

The Uffizi plaza was full of street artists, drawing portraits and caricatures for the travellers, the lines were extremely long for visting the gallery. We made reservation to on Sept 10.

We finally got to upload photos via the internet cafe tonite. So, I am adding several photos here:

Trip to Florence (Firenze)

2004-09-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

I (Bing) woke up early in the morning. Jogged to the beach and dived right back in. The water was still warm at 8am! Wonderful weather again.

Took a long train trip to Florence. 8hrs and 3 transfers. For 6 hrs the train was traveling along the same beautiful coast line we visited yesterday. Yes, Sur Mer, Monaco and so on. Passed through many lovely villages. We were assigned a 1st class cabin on one of the lags. We both rested well. Too bad we can't keep the cabin window open all the time, otherwise, a lot more great pictures to come.

When we arrived at Florence, it was already dark. It took only 5 minutes to our apartment. Florence was most impressive. Especially none of us learned much about it before hand---just for the kick of surprises. Our apartment was almost in the shadow of the Duomo cathedral. Together with a tower, they are colossal buildings. Peeking through the narrow alleys of Florentine streets, it is as if we are seeing the Titanic passing by. Simply stunning.

Bing was particularly enamored. It reminded him of Shanghai, but much cleaner and classy.

Nice-Sur Mer-Monte Carlo

2004-09-07T04:18:00.000-07:00

We spent morning strolling along the beach. Then swam in the mediterinian sea for about 10 minutes each. The water was warm and very clear. Just wonderful.

The hotel we stayed was still a little too close to action. Next time, we should get one room that is facing the court yard. And there is a long pedestrain only street in Nice. Finding a hotel here may be quiet enough too.

We took a bus to Monaco. The road to Monaco was one of the most picture-perfect. Blue ocean to our right and stony cliffs to our left, spotted with villas with spanish roofs and all kinds of flowers and trees. We found a small town, Sur Mer, in between. Only 10 min bus drive from Nice. Most beautiful and charming. The town sits on a steep hill. With very few driveable roads, it is mainly connected by long, narrow and winding steps. Will post some photos later.

Added later, images from Sur Mer

Monaco is OK. We had a dinner at a wonderful restaurant, Zebra Square, overlooking the casino, the Grand Hotel and the race way. Food is good, but the view is GREAT.

Arrived in France

2004-09-06T13:42:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Paris at 10am. CDG is pretty old and crowded. But had no problem getting everything. Then took TGV train to Nice. Very nice train. Bing slept like a log on the train. Song made fun. Nice is very cool. We like the hotel we are staying too. More later, sign off

Added later,
The flight was very bumpy. We both felt dizzy when the aircraft finally landed. There were many US kids going to school in Europe on the same flight.

It is already dark when we arrived in Nice. We took a walk along the beach after we had dinner. Even found an Internet cafe to type up the previous posting. It was still pretty warm but the sea breeze made the night so delightful. A lot of people on the street even at 10pm.

image testing

2004-09-04T21:36:00.000-07:00

we finally got http://www.lisasong.com working today.
here's an test image.
A Image Size: Height.250 (image: 1MB, Sanyo xacti)

B Image Size: Height.125 (image: 1MB, Nikon 995)

Start packing

2004-09-04T00:47:00.000-07:00

The living room is full of cloth, luggage and all kinds of stuff. Try to bring as few things as possible but still have to cover 6 weeks. Plus new tech things, like those space saving bags. You sit on them and squeeze out air. The down side is afterwards, it is hardened like a piece of plywood. Can't bend at all.

Hard disk is giving us trouble. Bought a portable device, X's Drive Pro, that hosts a laptop hard disk and has 3 different type of memory card card readers. Not good. The device is poorly made, not much more than a cheap plastic casing. Song turned it off too quickly and the hard disk is corrupt. Still having trouble recovering it.

Count down: 2 days to go. Nikon refunded

2004-09-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

We confirmed most of the hotel/apartment reservations.

Many of those would charge for a day or two's fare but required us to bring the rest in cash. Or we have to pay a hefty "processing fee" for using credit card.

Now we are working on organizing the information we have to bring with ourselves:
Embassy phone numbers, document IDs, important phone numbers, etc.
Calendar, train schedules, all the hotel/apartment confirmations.
Like everything else today, travel is as much about information as physical movements.

Pretty stressful reading tour books. My assignment is Rome and Song's Florence. Just too many places to see and too much history to stuff into my brain.

We've thought about remembering most of the tour book highlights and just bringing some copies of pages for reminder. Now it seems we have to bring 3, 4 books, and keep reading them along the way. One draw back from not going with a Tour.

Finally Ritz said the returned D100 has been accepted and fully refunded. I have to say Ritz (www.ritzcamera.com) is pretty decent. Except I suspect the D100 I got was already a returned one, and I was talking to an all Indian crew while on the phone. Never the less, they didn't take any cut out of my return.

We are trying to build a website, now at the 11th hour. So we can upload images on the road. Imagestation from Sony may be another option if this website thing doesn't work.

Trip planning

2004-08-29T23:44:00.000-07:00

The Logis agent finally tracked down the owner of our first Paris apartment choice. He was on vacation so didn't check email or vmail. How about that.

Anyway, almost got another apartment. Totally enchanted with some apts. in www.rentparis.com Almost went for it. Then when I tried to show Song the site, it was down. Down for two days. Then Logis called and said our first choice was available.

Athens is finalized too. So was Civita. It was an unbelieveable town. On top of a hill with one bridge out. I had a choice of visiting Ovieto. But I thought it was too much for one day visit.

Paris apartments

2004-08-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

Paris apts. are pain in the neck. Found http://paris.lodgis.com/ a very good site where you can search by your criteria, has good images and pretty detailed descriptions, including location ranking, etc.

Found two candidates. Faxed over applications to the agency, who'd take a cut from the booking. Then they would look for the owner, bridge up the two parties. Except I have been waiting and waiting. Called and left a message. B/c timezone differences, you have to pretty much wait for a day for reply.

I'm looking for others in the meanwhile. But not sure if Logis all of a sudden replied that they've already booked for me, I could end up owning two Paris apartments for 2 weeks.

Athens apartments going well. They all seem to speak/write English so well I was wondering they are expats over there. First one is www.viviun.com/AD-11538 Not sure it is the best I can find though.

Took some test shots with D70. Still not 100% happy. But Nikon can't be an Emperor without cloth ... everybody loves D70. What did I do wrong?

Good start, mishaps ... not bad after all.

2004-08-23T23:12:00.000-07:00

I snore too much. So Song insisted we find separate sleeping areas at long stays.

Hotels are pretty expensive if you want a suite or even two single rooms. Rick Steves and other tour books do have a lot hotels listed but none of them was cheap. At least by looking at the Internet price listings.

I wonder if you can get a better deal if just walk in and bargin. But it is our first trip so ... no.

Anyways, Song thought about renting apartments. Since we will stay at least 4 nights or more in Rome, Florence, Athens and Paris, it was a brilliant idea.

Paris is abundant with apartments. Rome is a little harder to find at first. Then if you try the 2nd or 3rd pages from Google's return, you will find more and better fits. Don't try their "Sponsored links". Not all are relevant.

We found and settled for two apts in Florence and Rome first, actually. The hosts/owners are pretty nice. Quick email reply and pretty clear rules and very good English too.

Nikon has been returned. UPS said Ritz received it. It was a pain to ship via UPS: since I insured the camera for $1500, I was told to hand the package in. I went to a UPS Store (formerly mailbox etc.) they said they couldn't take it. I had to drive to their DC instead.

Nikon mistake

2004-08-21T23:34:00.000-07:00

Nikon was a mistake. I bought D100, what I meant to buy was D70---who would've thought Nikon would model their product downward?? Thanks heaven I complained to Steve. I've reordered the D70 and returned the D100. Hopefully, Ritz (www.ritzcamera.com) will give me a break. Man.

I took some shots with the D100. Not very impressed though. I don't have a lab to test shoot, of course. But the results were kind of dull and grave looking. Steve did mention the "intended" under exposure problem. But the images were never that sharp to begin with. Is there any problem with my lens?

Ritz already shipped my new D70. Oh, gosh. Much lighter.

Preparation Days

2004-08-20T22:30:00.000-07:00

We just got a new Nikon camera today. We've made most of the hotel reservations today. Lots of work. We've been to 2 Rick Steves' travel class, also consulted David for trip planning last week.

Rick Steves shop is so socialistic that is true European. The name is startling: Europe through the Back Door.

But people there are incredibly helpful. You walk around and they'd approach you to offer help. You ask questions big or small and they were happy to answer for free. Apparently they all enjoyed travel fervently. Although the selling point has always been thrifty and and homeliness, you can feel a touch of loftiness when you hear them talk.

Anyhow, after sitting through two free classes and wandered around in their shop long enough, when we finally met the consultant, we already had most of the questions answered. No laptops, no Zermatt. Interlaken instead. And so on. In the end, we were still pretty happy to pay $40 for a 40 min session.