tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8139695917736534942024-03-14T14:06:56.298-04:00Kat Zantow's BlogProject-Log, Travelogue, UnderdogKat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-2057887896970374792014-06-22T17:10:00.000-04:002014-06-22T17:10:09.114-04:00Tips and Tricks for Travel Blogging<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
What can you do with a summer vacation? Have you ever thought of writing a travel blog? It's a great exercise to keep your writing sharp for the summer and cement your trip in your memory!</div>
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But how do you get started? The <a href="http://twc.tupelopressva.org/">Tupelo Press Teen Writing Center</a> has asked me to put together a guide to getting your blog on its feet.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Random Writing Tip One:</span> <b>No matter where you're going or what you're doing, keep a personal journal of the things you do, the people you meet, the places you see, and what you think about everything.</b> This is your number one resource for writing material: life. Even if you decide not to share a blog of your trip, you can take experience, aesthetics, and situations and apply them to stories later. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What are you doing this summer? And how do you blog it?</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bk2cEcjTPZE/U5tKUpW2sUI/AAAAAAAACmI/drCe4F6EGvE/s1600/IMG_1459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bk2cEcjTPZE/U5tKUpW2sUI/AAAAAAAACmI/drCe4F6EGvE/s1600/IMG_1459.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Are you flying this summer? Or taking it slow?</td></tr>
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<i>Are you traveling this summer with friends or family?</i> Yes? Amazing! This is a huge opportunity to see a wide variety of places and experience new things.</div>
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Traveling is a great excuse to write a <b>Travel Journal</b> blog. These tend to be more diary-like and personal. It's your story. Where did you go? What did you do? What did you see? And what did you learn from it? In this form of travel writing, your personality is front and center. This style will be most appreciated by your friends/parents/followers of your cult of personality.</div>
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<i>No chance to travel this summer?</i> Studies show you can still have an amazing eye opening summer without traveling far. Most people make use of less than 20% of their home town on the regular. But you can change that. Take the opportunity to open your eyes to the city you live in, and experience it in a new way. You can make a conscious effort to go to the historical places you've never bothered to visit, try new hiking trails, try new restaurants, or other nearby attractions. Explore your city in depth! This is sometimes called taking a "staycation".</div>
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Staying in one place, or staying in different places for several days at a time lends itself to more <b>Guide Book</b> style blogposts, in which you can give fellow travelers advice on <i>Things To Do In ______</i>. This does involve a little more research, but you can share your unique thoughts and analysis of the places once you've been there. This style will be most appreciated by fellow travelers looking to go to the same destinations. </div>
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As long as you keep your eyes and ears open, and keep yourself open to new experiences, you'll find material to write about. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A Picture is Worth More Than 1000 Words</span></div>
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Pictures are the number one reason anyone will click on your article. They are an excellent opportunity to work on writing witty photo captions. I have many close personal friends who only skim my blog posts for photo blurbs!</div>
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<b>Tip 1 for Photos:</b> Tourist attractions want you to leave with a magical impression, and many are well lit for photo opportunities at night. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DYj5dTVFhGo/U5tNgu5D1_I/AAAAAAAACm4/4Ci8cVPK9MA/s1600/IMG_8491.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DYj5dTVFhGo/U5tNgu5D1_I/AAAAAAAACm4/4Ci8cVPK9MA/s1600/IMG_8491.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Your tourist dollars pay the power bill.</td></tr>
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<b>Tip 1.5 for Photos:</b> Make sure to always travel safely in packs when taking night photography.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kwuM5f1SkMQ/U5tNsth9QtI/AAAAAAAACnA/6cGPKQfTm0w/s1600/bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kwuM5f1SkMQ/U5tNsth9QtI/AAAAAAAACnA/6cGPKQfTm0w/s1600/bridge.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">A good photo can bridge cultures.</td></tr>
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<b>Tip 2 for photos:</b> Take some pictures of recognizable places so readers can get excited that they recognize places. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wOX975xGGEQ/U5tN1oRSL1I/AAAAAAAACnI/AtXJNfA5P04/s1600/IMG_0049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wOX975xGGEQ/U5tN1oRSL1I/AAAAAAAACnI/AtXJNfA5P04/s1600/IMG_0049.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Though infuriatingly unavoidable,<br />
Tourists are useful to provide scale. </td></tr>
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<b>Tip 3 for Photos:</b> Take pictures of temporary things like street art and other cute things that you appreciate that not everyone will have seen when coming to a city.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2B__8BE4mDU/U5tOIn4qepI/AAAAAAAACnQ/8LoOsOCDyiE/s1600/IMG_8582.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2B__8BE4mDU/U5tOIn4qepI/AAAAAAAACnQ/8LoOsOCDyiE/s1600/IMG_8582.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cats in bubble baths won't stay there for long.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Misc. Tips and Tricks for Travel Blogging</span></div>
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<ul>
<li>Include lots of beautiful pictures. </li>
<li>A little humor is a good thing. </li>
<li>A lot of humor is a better thing. </li>
<li>Be honest about your thoughts on a place, within reason.</li>
<li>Pointed pictures juxtaposed with text can do the talking for you.</li>
<li>Enthusiasm, or at least keeping an open mind is a good thing.</li>
<li>Even if you're upset, don't bash whatever place you're visiting, or the people you meet.</li>
<li>Try to keep a regular posting schedule, and plan for delays.</li>
<li>Blogger is the easiest blogging platform, but you can also try Tumblr for very short entries. If you are dedicated you can learn how to set up WordPress! </li>
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Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-57258857800872920432014-06-19T11:28:00.002-04:002014-06-19T11:30:37.281-04:00Madrid, Madly, Deeply<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
You'd be mad to miss Madrid. It's not just a Spanish city. It's <i>the</i> Spanish city. It's also the city I was most terrified to enter. The city from which I had to fly home. I still loved the city. The art galleries were great. The wine was great. People were great. Trying to talk Spanish was great. Flying home was probably the worst mistake of my life. But back to Madrid.</div>
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Madrid is a city of things, and here are <b>six random things</b> I loved about Madrid:</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. Sunsets!</span></div>
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(Sunsets are a little known phenomenon in which the sky changes color when the sun goes down. If you look at the right time of day, you might see one too!) </div>
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There is something majestic sunsets, and a Spanish sunset is quite a thing. Colors burn across the sky like beams of light scattered by molecules and particles. It's scientifically miraculous. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UUvBGk1neGA/U5tKHx838PI/AAAAAAAAClY/_Q6D6SCFfgQ/s1600/IMG_2702.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UUvBGk1neGA/U5tKHx838PI/AAAAAAAAClY/_Q6D6SCFfgQ/s1600/IMG_2702.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Crane your neck for a better view.</td></tr>
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In Madrid, the weather already feels like the air is on fire, and when the sun sets, the sky shows its true colors. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wqGqMwyk9n8/U5tKGjaDKRI/AAAAAAAAClI/E-UqI6RWfIM/s1600/IMG_2680.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wqGqMwyk9n8/U5tKGjaDKRI/AAAAAAAAClI/E-UqI6RWfIM/s1600/IMG_2680.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Hot times, summer in the city,<br />
people everywhere getting down and gritty</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. Palace!</span></div>
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Like many places, Madrid once upon a time decided it needed a ruler, a poor scapegoat to burden with the task of heating a really large building. This is the building they chose to heat: </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gc223ssDhWw/U5tKKb2495I/AAAAAAAAClw/eavDwzHo2-c/s1600/IMG_2739.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gc223ssDhWw/U5tKKb2495I/AAAAAAAAClw/eavDwzHo2-c/s1600/IMG_2739.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The palace, too, likes sunsets.</td></tr>
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It's important that the building has a space for reflection. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HMxPdoDkSgo/U5tKLtddUDI/AAAAAAAACl4/Jdn-pjgjRK0/s1600/IMG_2752.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HMxPdoDkSgo/U5tKLtddUDI/AAAAAAAACl4/Jdn-pjgjRK0/s1600/IMG_2752.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The building has a space for quiet reflection, so it can think about politics.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. Elephants</span></div>
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If you're like me, your trip to Madrid will be unforgettable. But what if Madrid forgets
you? Don't take the chance! Find this random building, and look an elephant
dead in the eye. That elephant will never forget. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uCEfr7ktVxs/U5tKMklsD8I/AAAAAAAACmA/g7KgV06hEXc/s1600/IMG_2768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uCEfr7ktVxs/U5tKMklsD8I/AAAAAAAACmA/g7KgV06hEXc/s1600/IMG_2768.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With his stony stare.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">4. Wild Statues</span></div>
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Is a foreigner, I don't know much about Spain. I can only reconstruct what seems to be going on. There are machines, kicking around. I can only assume that that the baskets are statue-catchers, designed to take care of the problem of wild statues roaming the streets. I can only assume there is a bounty on their heads and hooves. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZA_ItrfBhjQ/U5tKGQor6hI/AAAAAAAAClE/m2i5rq0vKu0/s1600/IMG_2664.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZA_ItrfBhjQ/U5tKGQor6hI/AAAAAAAAClE/m2i5rq0vKu0/s1600/IMG_2664.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wild wild horses couldn't drag me away!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">5. Smurfs</span></div>
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There is an even greater problem on the streets of Madrid than statues. And that problem is photobombing Smurfs. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4h_ssO_R_x4/U5tKGXomGsI/AAAAAAAAClA/DVp4fo5l7lQ/s1600/IMG_2661.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4h_ssO_R_x4/U5tKGXomGsI/AAAAAAAAClA/DVp4fo5l7lQ/s1600/IMG_2661.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photobombing leaves you feeling blue.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">6. Turtles</span></div>
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There is something magical and strange and unexpected about the city. It contains things you never expected to find, like a dedicated Vegetarian restaurant in Spain (no ham at all!). But one of my top unexpected pleasures of Madrid, was definitely the miniature rain-forest habitat in the train station. (What, a train station has a greenhouse?) Yep. And it gets better. There is a pond, and it's got turtles all the way down. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turtles</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">all</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XyuPl4nx9fY/U5tKDQe1_wI/AAAAAAAACko/_MBq-yolPBg/s1600/IMG_1521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XyuPl4nx9fY/U5tKDQe1_wI/AAAAAAAACko/_MBq-yolPBg/s1600/IMG_1521.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">way</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EZ-X80RKbEo/U6JtP_-UDiI/AAAAAAAACnw/IXmorBA8Pw0/s1600/IMG_1459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EZ-X80RKbEo/U6JtP_-UDiI/AAAAAAAACnw/IXmorBA8Pw0/s1600/IMG_1459.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">down.</td></tr>
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Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-78350217569820048122014-06-15T12:15:00.000-04:002014-06-15T15:04:53.054-04:00Córdoba, mi Corazon<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dre2Uz1PSi0/U5HwwDujGDI/AAAAAAAACg0/oQk8U2yD6mc/s1600/IMG_2601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dre2Uz1PSi0/U5HwwDujGDI/AAAAAAAACg0/oQk8U2yD6mc/s1600/IMG_2601.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Candyland Concept-art</td></tr>
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Looking for a romantic getaway from the hustle and bustle of Madrid? Take a day to walk around this tiny, idyllic city with Roman and Iberian remnants!</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tgj9y8nvxbY/U5HwveEBGhI/AAAAAAAACgw/OdFKo4Hs6QI/s1600/IMG_2597.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tgj9y8nvxbY/U5HwveEBGhI/AAAAAAAACgw/OdFKo4Hs6QI/s1600/IMG_2597.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mini Minaret</td></tr>
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Ever find yourself in the middle of Spain just wishing you could see something different, like Roman ruins? You're in luck! There is a <b>Roman Bridge</b> which dates back to the first century BC. Two of the arches are original. But we'll never known which. There's also a temple kicking around somewhere.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5ShK76c5G20/U5HwxV2xypI/AAAAAAAAChA/RDL_4AKVDCA/s1600/IMG_2621.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5ShK76c5G20/U5HwxV2xypI/AAAAAAAAChA/RDL_4AKVDCA/s1600/IMG_2621.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roman and Iberian rule are water under the bridge.</td></tr>
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From the bridge, you can see the <b>Albolafia mill</b>, which helps give the river area a postapocalyptic wasteland aesthetic.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1m_A_EsF0LY/U5Hwykoq9HI/AAAAAAAAChQ/aJSq1I99whw/s1600/IMG_2624.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1m_A_EsF0LY/U5Hwykoq9HI/AAAAAAAAChQ/aJSq1I99whw/s1600/IMG_2624.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">General Mills</td></tr>
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If you are still itching for Moorish architecture, check out Medina Azahara. Formerly a royal property, later a place for the Inquisition to hang out, it's a<span style="text-align: center;">ltogether a pretty massive structure. The candycane arches on the inside match the door arches outside.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-psRuN3vgHVw/U5HwzIyGAAI/AAAAAAAAChY/apJLZuiH5Sw/s1600/IMG_2644.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-psRuN3vgHVw/U5HwzIyGAAI/AAAAAAAAChY/apJLZuiH5Sw/s1600/IMG_2644.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arches show their stripes</td></tr>
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When you walk around the old town, you can find a huge variety of angel statuary. Of interest is this really bewildering <b>statue of Archangel Raphael</b>. It is a fenced-off stone structure, with a mix of many clashing art styles and themes. The thing is made of stone, and surrounded by a wrought iron gate. The net effect looks like someone serial-murdered other statues then tried to glue them back together but only managed to stick their limbs onto a very blocky attempt at a grotto, topped with a castle tower, topped with a roman column, topped with an miniature angel. All of which is growing some plants.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ieM72_8qJI8/U5Hw0QKkrUI/AAAAAAAAChk/42gu7RH_4QM/s1600/IMG_2645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ieM72_8qJI8/U5Hw0QKkrUI/AAAAAAAAChk/42gu7RH_4QM/s1600/IMG_2645.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grotesque is an art style.</td></tr>
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And what sits beside the base? As mysterious as the rest of the assemblage, you find a Sphinx.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QqPBApOJ2Qg/U5Hw0Lj7TPI/AAAAAAAAChg/Iqzh3WG16S8/s1600/IMG_2646.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QqPBApOJ2Qg/U5Hw0Lj7TPI/AAAAAAAAChg/Iqzh3WG16S8/s1600/IMG_2646.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A grumpy cat before it was cool</td></tr>
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GrumpyKat approves.Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-48263305007525795022014-06-13T13:47:00.002-04:002014-06-13T13:47:54.855-04:00Behind the Vale of Valencia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
No trip to Spain is complete without a trip to Valencia. It's got everything! Gothic quarters, skinny buildings, fountains, a river that is now a series of <strike>soccer</strike> futbol fields, and what I'm pretty sure is lifesize concept-art for a space station. </div>
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It's a beautiful city so small you're bound to run into someone you know before you even get to your hostel.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0bUjS4APeMs/U5H0MoAR2EI/AAAAAAAACjI/fYjMcbtn_Ok/s1600/IMG_2578.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0bUjS4APeMs/U5H0MoAR2EI/AAAAAAAACjI/fYjMcbtn_Ok/s1600/IMG_2578.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Or possibly a dead cybernetic whale.<br />
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But we'll get to the future amazing architecture in a moment. </div>
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The Gothic section of Valencia is plenty great, in the way that all Gothic quarters are pretty great. Go on a free walking tour, and they will point out all the excellent buildings, as well as the dirty gargoyle (not pictured). </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ah9Ba2T13X4/U5H0Eh_49YI/AAAAAAAACiA/_V8qNJBphFE/s1600/IMG_2440.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ah9Ba2T13X4/U5H0Eh_49YI/AAAAAAAACiA/_V8qNJBphFE/s1600/IMG_2440.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Speak with a cathedraawl</td></tr>
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And it's nice and pleasant to walk around and see the very European stylings.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cv-JG3iI7gA/U5H0Elc8DsI/AAAAAAAACh0/N02eBxqKIec/s1600/IMG_2443.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cv-JG3iI7gA/U5H0Elc8DsI/AAAAAAAACh0/N02eBxqKIec/s1600/IMG_2443.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">pretty random building/random pretty building</td></tr>
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But some buildings really have a size problem.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XCwnLmNZvqs/U5H0HU4B0fI/AAAAAAAACiM/EsixJ_FPBcE/s1600/IMG_2483.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XCwnLmNZvqs/U5H0HU4B0fI/AAAAAAAACiM/EsixJ_FPBcE/s1600/IMG_2483.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another senselessly skinny building.<br />
Like Amsterdam, but in Valencia!</td></tr>
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<br />And there was a very rich family who had this overly fancy building called the Palacio del Marqués de Dos Aguas. You would be shocked to learn that the guy who owned the building held the (influential) title of Marqués de Dos Aguas. The family later moved to Italy and founded a mob or something.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DD7U0iMouxc/U5H0ICPj9rI/AAAAAAAACiU/F8_qPvznrUE/s1600/IMG_2500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DD7U0iMouxc/U5H0ICPj9rI/AAAAAAAACiU/F8_qPvznrUE/s1600/IMG_2500.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They might've been rich once, but they're baroque now.</td></tr>
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<br />By the cathedral, there is also a fine Plaza de la Virgen.<br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cVR0EKxXcAA/U5H0HxNU0TI/AAAAAAAACiQ/Bkf4LansHk8/s1600/IMG_2536.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cVR0EKxXcAA/U5H0HxNU0TI/AAAAAAAACiQ/Bkf4LansHk8/s1600/IMG_2536.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turia Fountain has not yet passed the Turing Test. </td></tr>
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And all of that stuff is great. Really, it is. If you find yourself in need of some European gothic stuff, skinny buildings, fountains, &c. &c. Go for it.<br />
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But when you're done, take an evening walk around the <strike>space station</strike> City of Arts and Sciences. It's literally impossible to walk through the complex without spouting ideas for ten new science fiction stories. <br />
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There is the giant eye, or "L'Hemesferic" aka gigantic electrical eyeball.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--fW7PZorJrQ/U5H0Kb-vZ6I/AAAAAAAACio/vOUBTprsePU/s1600/IMG_2566.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--fW7PZorJrQ/U5H0Kb-vZ6I/AAAAAAAACio/vOUBTprsePU/s1600/IMG_2566.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Sauron's got nothing on this.</td></tr>
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It is something like an IMAX theatre, or a planetarium, laserium, or all of the above.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-87pIxJrZw_c/UpOcGbxJskI/AAAAAAAABzI/lftSotBATAs/s1600/IMG_2571.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-87pIxJrZw_c/UpOcGbxJskI/AAAAAAAABzI/lftSotBATAs/s400/IMG_2571.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eye-max theatre.</td></tr>
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<br />There is also an opera house, El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia (the white part in the distance).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rn65ia_dflU/U5H0Ka1CGAI/AAAAAAAACis/vSr17t07gcs/s1600/IMG_2573.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rn65ia_dflU/U5H0Ka1CGAI/AAAAAAAACis/vSr17t07gcs/s1600/IMG_2573.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Reflect Effect is pretty cool</td></tr>
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Did I mention that there is a massive reflecting pool?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G48HGUODjFM/U5H0LQBCX3I/AAAAAAAACi8/LwLHoKDQaiY/s1600/IMG_2574.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G48HGUODjFM/U5H0LQBCX3I/AAAAAAAACi8/LwLHoKDQaiY/s1600/IMG_2574.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mandatory JJ Abrams lens flares included.</td></tr>
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<br />There is a museum (El Museu de les Ciencies Principe Felipe) designed to look like a whale skeleton. The exterior is visually stunning. The interior, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Arts_and_Sciences" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a> raves, "shows how little thought was put into the whole project."<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wyc544C649o/U5H0Mqw0SnI/AAAAAAAACjE/oLHShq_gPw8/s1600/IMG_2581.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wyc544C649o/U5H0Mqw0SnI/AAAAAAAACjE/oLHShq_gPw8/s1600/IMG_2581.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do you get vertigo looking at vertebra?</td></tr>
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You're welcome for finding you a shooting location for the next big sci fi movie of the year. </div>
Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-74397965346034009792014-06-11T10:42:00.001-04:002014-06-11T10:42:35.324-04:00See no Evil in Sevilla<i>Sevilla</i> (English translation: Seville) is the capital of the Andalusian region of Spain. For perfect weather, try October!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HzDE_Dh_Z2w/U483aZWA3KI/AAAAAAAACd8/lv_mjMnY06g/s1600/IMG_2196.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HzDE_Dh_Z2w/U483aZWA3KI/AAAAAAAACd8/lv_mjMnY06g/s1600/IMG_2196.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giralda: mostly minaret, barely belltower.</td></tr>
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Like Granada, Sevilla has strong Moorish influences, but it is balanced by more obvious Christian influences as well. </div>
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It's not news that the Reconquista happened. I knew about it. I was prepared for the churches. Sevilla happens to have churches.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gtYl0btoxIk/U483ZsbbLhI/AAAAAAAACdg/AX2MfHSfhxY/s1600/IMG_2171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gtYl0btoxIk/U483ZsbbLhI/AAAAAAAACdg/AX2MfHSfhxY/s1600/IMG_2171.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cathedral, actually. </td></tr>
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<br />It has a cathedral. A big one. The <i>Catedral de Santa Maria de la Sede </i>is literally the largest cathedral in the world. In the world! This is known.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TxmEdRDr_ac/U483co68WRI/AAAAAAAACes/pJGQrzspTBc/s1600/IMG_2285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TxmEdRDr_ac/U483co68WRI/AAAAAAAACes/pJGQrzspTBc/s1600/IMG_2285.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big Catholic Influence.</td></tr>
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But little did I know, before I even reached the hostel, that the Virgin Mary herself would appear before me. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S0aPxhYl16w/U483ZjPwqwI/AAAAAAAACdo/CEg5qzbk3qE/s1600/IMG_2141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S0aPxhYl16w/U483ZjPwqwI/AAAAAAAACdo/CEg5qzbk3qE/s1600/IMG_2141.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I would guess the crowd knew she was coming.</td></tr>
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It was an overwhelming moment: bells clanging, cell phones raised in a traditional gesture of piety, a march of very slow flag-bearers. And then the Virgin Mary herself came out of the church on a dais of candles. (Unfortunate side-effect of that canopy: the poles holding it up look vaguely like really fancy prison bars.) I admired the crowd and unexpected spectacle as statue-Maria demonstrated her ability to build mystery and anticipation, and make a grand entrance. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HSKJW6rqeGo/U483ZpesPNI/AAAAAAAACdk/kT2y0gtR5tM/s1600/IMG_2147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HSKJW6rqeGo/U483ZpesPNI/AAAAAAAACdk/kT2y0gtR5tM/s1600/IMG_2147.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Church pomp: waxing elegant</td></tr>
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Fortunately, there's more to Sevilla than strong Catholic tradition. Not fifty feet away from the Sevilla Cathedral is the Alcázar, a complex of Moorish and Spanish heritage. The Moors ruled for five centuries, and that leaves an impression on a city. The Alcázar was originally a fort, but transitioned into a palace through significant remodeling over the last five hundred years. It is the oldest royal palace in Europe still in use today, according to respectable sources like Wikipedia.<br />
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And it's a magical to spend an afternoon wandering with pleasant company. It's got everything:<br />
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Arches with colorful Islamic designs!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cddB0k78ZDc/U483gI-E3bI/AAAAAAAACfw/Mc11Mex9E7k/s1600/IMG_2407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cddB0k78ZDc/U483gI-E3bI/AAAAAAAACfw/Mc11Mex9E7k/s1600/IMG_2407.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even the arches have arches!</td></tr>
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Arches with scallops!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KS988NZf4Dc/U483dnQeVFI/AAAAAAAACf4/x6FeLD5egjM/s1600/IMG_2319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KS988NZf4Dc/U483dnQeVFI/AAAAAAAACf4/x6FeLD5egjM/s1600/IMG_2319.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Courtyard of the Maidens</i>, named after a legend of the Moorish king's<br />
demand of 100 virgins yearly from Christian kingdoms in Iberia.<br />
Not entirely sure that legend is accurate...</td></tr>
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Arches that look a face wearing helmets!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hcum6ZFYy8E/U483f7ZbpbI/AAAAAAAACfk/wEv6rlM3Nh0/s1600/IMG_2399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hcum6ZFYy8E/U483f7ZbpbI/AAAAAAAACfk/wEv6rlM3Nh0/s1600/IMG_2399.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dot the eyes?</td></tr>
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<br />Gardens with tropical trees!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AaCjKkp6zPA/U483eOx9guI/AAAAAAAACe8/gqKGQx6JjeY/s1600/IMG_2350.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AaCjKkp6zPA/U483eOx9guI/AAAAAAAACe8/gqKGQx6JjeY/s1600/IMG_2350.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And walls. Gotta keep the poor out somehow.</td></tr>
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Rainwater tanks named after some king's mistress!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lTIgtyl32x0/U483evW8k1I/AAAAAAAACfM/2w5EeHM9yRo/s1600/IMG_2356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lTIgtyl32x0/U483evW8k1I/AAAAAAAACfM/2w5EeHM9yRo/s1600/IMG_2356.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A place for quiet reflection.</td></tr>
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And an absurdly tiny statue of Mercury!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aSU7u0GeJYM/U483fpTVGwI/AAAAAAAACfc/VUw5ubdmwsU/s1600/IMG_2359.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aSU7u0GeJYM/U483fpTVGwI/AAAAAAAACfc/VUw5ubdmwsU/s1600/IMG_2359.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Small cast system.<br />
The Mercury rises on hot Spanish days.</td></tr>
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But if you don't want any ancient history, there are also some more recent additions to Sevilla (like, within the last hundred years) such as the <i>Plaza de España.</i> </div>
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<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gdl9FxtT1rQ/U483boQT_wI/AAAAAAAACeQ/w-GuLM0BX6k/s1600/IMG_2228.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gdl9FxtT1rQ/U483boQT_wI/AAAAAAAACeQ/w-GuLM0BX6k/s1600/IMG_2228.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">There is something alien and beautiful about the place.</td></tr>
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The whole area is a Moorish inspired blend of architectural styles from 1929 when it was built for a world's fair.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9bbNESgu5N4/U483bJ3DLhI/AAAAAAAACeE/JoYyRYo-5TA/s1600/IMG_2223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9bbNESgu5N4/U483bJ3DLhI/AAAAAAAACeE/JoYyRYo-5TA/s1600/IMG_2223.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Bridging the gaps between cultures.</td></tr>
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All of which you may have seen before in those Star Wars prequel movies we all like to pretend don't exist.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Just picture Natalie Portman<br />
and some guy whining about being evil.</td></tr>
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Spain. *sigh* It's the kind of paradise where you stop believing there are emotional states other than happy. Go to there! Feed your eyes with art and architecture. Bask in the perfect weather. And don't get trampled by the Virgin Mary.</div>
Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-16219691804918668942014-06-06T12:31:00.000-04:002014-06-06T12:31:25.505-04:00Do Nada in Granada <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IpDfy4hpl30/U43vz4_Q2cI/AAAAAAAACdE/8tSsgx5LqAM/s1600/IMG_1851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IpDfy4hpl30/U43vz4_Q2cI/AAAAAAAACdE/8tSsgx5LqAM/s1600/IMG_1851.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weather: hotter than Eastern Europe.</td></tr>
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Granada is one of my favorite cities in Europe. It's located in the south of Spain, in the region called Andalusia. In its past life, the region was an Islamic state. Today it is firmly a part of Spain, but there is a huge amount of Moorish architecture and influences. As a place visit, it feels different from the rest of Europe. In a good way.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A9FrS24SuSs/U43vuqlCSDI/AAAAAAAACcc/gEtyJelCxug/s1600/IMG_1550.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A9FrS24SuSs/U43vuqlCSDI/AAAAAAAACcc/gEtyJelCxug/s1600/IMG_1550.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lamps, no genies.</td></tr>
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After the Reconquista, the Christian-Spanish peeps put down roots into the city also. There's a big stone church with an intriguing gothic style:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VGzWdB8a478/U43vw55isfI/AAAAAAAACcE/Thtq4RGG1Mc/s1600/IMG_1606.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VGzWdB8a478/U43vw55isfI/AAAAAAAACcE/Thtq4RGG1Mc/s1600/IMG_1606.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Suspiciously Assassin's Creed</td></tr>
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After being a religious battleground for so long, Granada has gained a relatively large hippie culture. It's relaxing and warm and wonderful, and pretty cheap.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m76eURPEKrs/U43vv5jRmSI/AAAAAAAACb8/mzXsHEtCTao/s1600/IMG_1585.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m76eURPEKrs/U43vv5jRmSI/AAAAAAAACb8/mzXsHEtCTao/s1600/IMG_1585.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Street. </td></tr>
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And don't let me forget the tapas! Oh the tapas! Unlike the extremely overpriced tapas bars we all know and love, the bars in Granada follow the traditional tapas practice. You buy a drink and it comes with food. And it's cheap. It's kind of amazing. Sangria, tinto de verano, beer, whatever you want! Plus food! Two euros or less! Establishments vary: sometimes you get to pick the food, sometimes not. And a lot of it is significantly tasty.<br />
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Pro tip: tapas are great, but they are not for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Your liver will not thank you.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CCcNHU332TY/U43vw11NQcI/AAAAAAAACcQ/jByLZdF0MIk/s1600/IMG_1587.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CCcNHU332TY/U43vw11NQcI/AAAAAAAACcQ/jByLZdF0MIk/s1600/IMG_1587.jpg" height="400" style="cursor: move;" width="300" /></a></div>
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Land of the tapas eaters.</div>
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And the core of the backpacking culture is Oasis Hostel, which had a remarkably high number of people staying there for months and months. Very land of the lotus eaters. Very pleasant. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YqazWZG18Pc/U43vulTUIsI/AAAAAAAACco/NEI7VIlnyt4/s1600/IMG_1529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YqazWZG18Pc/U43vulTUIsI/AAAAAAAACco/NEI7VIlnyt4/s1600/IMG_1529.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oasis rooftop view.</td></tr>
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But the reason most people swing by Granada is not to wallow in tapas and sangria, but to see the Alhambra. It was a small fortress in 889. But in 1333, it became a palace for the Sultan of Granada, during the Nasrid Dynasty. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--igKNzafpiw/U43vuvLbyfI/AAAAAAAACb0/M7AOwuJAzZ4/s1600/IMG_1571.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--igKNzafpiw/U43vuvLbyfI/AAAAAAAACb0/M7AOwuJAzZ4/s1600/IMG_1571.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Palatial palace. </td></tr>
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It's got everything! Arabesques, honeycomb ceilings, fountains, arches, gardens, etc. etc. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sBV1DE4KbcA/U43vx_VkQCI/AAAAAAAACcU/vYKQg25XEtU/s1600/IMG_1699.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sBV1DE4KbcA/U43vx_VkQCI/AAAAAAAACcU/vYKQg25XEtU/s1600/IMG_1699.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pooled resources</td></tr>
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In the past everything was whitewashed, but the name Alhambra, which means "the red" in honor of the surrounding dirt, is more fitting with the currently vaguely orange color.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FVBCuRK-h18/U43vzrcwKWI/AAAAAAAACcw/cRzyBS4Hjhk/s1600/IMG_1772.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FVBCuRK-h18/U43vzrcwKWI/AAAAAAAACcw/cRzyBS4Hjhk/s1600/IMG_1772.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alhambra not named after ham.</td></tr>
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Repeating patterns and making art out of writing are the primary forms of decoration. The details are pretty darn intricate.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n7vCoHuy3tE/U43vy9SKPbI/AAAAAAAACcs/I1fpCe7a-BE/s1600/IMG_1725.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n7vCoHuy3tE/U43vy9SKPbI/AAAAAAAACcs/I1fpCe7a-BE/s1600/IMG_1725.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bonus cool: The doors/windows almost make a Vader-face.</td></tr>
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<br />Plus there is a beautiful lush garden area that served as a retreat for somebody's wife.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jVoOnExF6RQ/U43v1PCARkI/AAAAAAAACdM/kT37zvsL1b0/s1600/IMG_2024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jVoOnExF6RQ/U43v1PCARkI/AAAAAAAACdM/kT37zvsL1b0/s1600/IMG_2024.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Fountains of Win</td></tr>
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AND there's the Court of the Lions, featuring a fountain on the backs of lions. They are especially interesting due to the general proscription against human/animal representations in Islamic art.</div>
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<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sfhKWQXU99I/U43vzR_HoJI/AAAAAAAACdU/mF4-2d60_DQ/s1600/IMG_1752.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sfhKWQXU99I/U43vzR_HoJI/AAAAAAAACdU/mF4-2d60_DQ/s1600/IMG_1752.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Sultans of Leon.</td></tr>
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Destination: highly recommended. </div>
Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-76825422860530588222014-06-03T11:43:00.002-04:002014-06-03T11:45:12.771-04:00Barcelona: Gaudi Trees and Artchitecture<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LfbHFFcLiXA/U4ujhZoN7DI/AAAAAAAACaw/o0uztHzxq-8/s1600/IMG_1362.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LfbHFFcLiXA/U4ujhZoN7DI/AAAAAAAACaw/o0uztHzxq-8/s1600/IMG_1362.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Sagrada Familia: The biggest sandcastle of our time.<br />
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Barcelona is all about the art. And trees. I like that that in a city. Because art is pretty cool, except when it isn't. And trees are pretty nice too. </div>
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What kind of art will you find in Barcelona? <i>Modernisme</i>: Catalan modernism, which was mostly an architectural expression. This was an anti-bourgeois movement that pushed towards bohemianism, or attempted to use art to change society at large. (Thanks Wikipedia!)</div>
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But what does this really mean for the artscape of Barcelona today? Here are<i> seven kinds of art you'll encounter when you wander the city!</i></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. Gaudi Modernisme</span></div>
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If there's one person that transcended Modernisme and dominated with his personal style, it's Gaudi. His architecture pushes the line between art and building, and rises into the realm of artchitecture.<br />
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His works are informed by natural objects yet remain utterly nonrepresentational. (I took a 3D art class once and that was pretty much the assignment. I never knew what the art teacher was on about until I saw the art-process exhibit at Sagrada Familia.)<br />
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Gaudi's most famous and most unfinished work is Sagrada Familia, which is elaborate inside (below) and out (top of page).<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mszJ4ogCthk/U4ujf-Ta4XI/AAAAAAAACas/WU1krJurbx8/s1600/IMG_1269.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mszJ4ogCthk/U4ujf-Ta4XI/AAAAAAAACas/WU1krJurbx8/s1600/IMG_1269.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Trees or an inverted vertibrae?</td></tr>
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Want something more sprawling than a Cathedral? Visit Park Güell. If you like mosaics, this is a must-see.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T5LdbPIUjp4/U4ujl9_FI0I/AAAAAAAACbA/S74mvxOQess/s1600/IMG_1373.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T5LdbPIUjp4/U4ujl9_FI0I/AAAAAAAACbA/S74mvxOQess/s1600/IMG_1373.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A million little pieces.</td></tr>
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Up close with a mosaic vignette: </div>
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<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V0NqJwRusVE/U4ujkB1aeAI/AAAAAAAACa8/JhpGOzDFg3A/s1600/IMG_1372.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V0NqJwRusVE/U4ujkB1aeAI/AAAAAAAACa8/JhpGOzDFg3A/s1600/IMG_1372.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Piece.</td></tr>
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And what would a park be without picturesque gingerbread/candy/delicious looking houses?<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wWWkU6siifI/U4ujjOfwuEI/AAAAAAAACa4/Pym55zhlNFA/s1600/IMG_1369.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wWWkU6siifI/U4ujjOfwuEI/AAAAAAAACa4/Pym55zhlNFA/s1600/IMG_1369.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Watch out for ovens and vengeful children.</td></tr>
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To continue the fairytale, the park is guarded by a very nonthreatening lizard/dragon.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4aXLl_f5nu4/U4ujmZVgG1I/AAAAAAAACbE/kz20xbwQ0EM/s1600/IMG_1415.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4aXLl_f5nu4/U4ujmZVgG1I/AAAAAAAACbE/kz20xbwQ0EM/s1600/IMG_1415.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Doesn't even breathe fire.</td></tr>
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Gaudi is also known for other random houses that look like organic alien strongholds plunked down in the middle of the city. To continue the lizard theme, this one is all about lizard skull balconies. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0RPUZdJJd3Y/U4ujpX8_tXI/AAAAAAAACbQ/axigo4yLlPI/s1600/IMG_1419.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0RPUZdJJd3Y/U4ujpX8_tXI/AAAAAAAACbQ/axigo4yLlPI/s1600/IMG_1419.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">If their heads are sticking out,<br />
just imagine how many lizard bodies are in the building!</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t-qQI7KoBsA/U4ujrG_uETI/AAAAAAAACbU/Vxj_1sPDcco/s1600/IMG_1423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-t-qQI7KoBsA/U4ujrG_uETI/AAAAAAAACbU/Vxj_1sPDcco/s1600/IMG_1423.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Creepy. Love it.</td></tr>
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And at Sagrada, his religious iconography features some pretty militant facewear.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kniyhZXwemE/U4ujdWCrVBI/AAAAAAAACag/2n2Cqjxazxw/s1600/IMG_1249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kniyhZXwemE/U4ujdWCrVBI/AAAAAAAACag/2n2Cqjxazxw/s1600/IMG_1249.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Not quite his stormtroopers, but close. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. Art Nouveau Influences</span></div>
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Modernisme was a style around the time of Art Nouveau, which has a much more bourgeois look. But despite the look, this is a very proletarian foodmarket.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-seneUgumajU/U4ujN1CecPI/AAAAAAAACZs/whq6Q_M6GiU/s1600/IMG_1074.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-seneUgumajU/U4ujN1CecPI/AAAAAAAACZs/whq6Q_M6GiU/s1600/IMG_1074.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Or it would be if it were open.</td></tr>
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Unfortunately, the market is closed for renovation (reopens 2016). Frame dates from 1882.<br />
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But there are other elements around the city that jive with Art Nouveau. Fountains are covered with organic flower designs, and the trees everywhere underscore the beauty of nature.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OQTPUWSKUpU/U4ujUToUbCI/AAAAAAAACaE/3KEDIO58BRo/s1600/IMG_1211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OQTPUWSKUpU/U4ujUToUbCI/AAAAAAAACaE/3KEDIO58BRo/s1600/IMG_1211.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Oldveau than Nouveau.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. Picasso Modernism</span><br />
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Picasso was exiled from Spain under Franco (Francisco, not James), but he made up for it by gifting Barcelona with almost a thousand of his early works. And his designs were smuggled into Barcelona so that one of his agents could build a museum for them:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-05pcew_2fhI/U4ujODDQP4I/AAAAAAAACZw/Nv70VtPLCJs/s1600/IMG_1097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-05pcew_2fhI/U4ujODDQP4I/AAAAAAAACZw/Nv70VtPLCJs/s1600/IMG_1097.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not quite Artchitecture.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">4. Street Art</span></div>
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Even more modern than Modernisme, there are places around the city you can see street art. Which occupies a special place in the art sphere of subverting authority while maintaining popular appeal. </div>
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Notice the "Tourism Terrorism" sign on this building. I saw this message several times in graffiti while walking around the city. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EOol6Pj90eo/U4ujNwz6U9I/AAAAAAAACZ0/qhI0R3Stmx4/s1600/IMG_1069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EOol6Pj90eo/U4ujNwz6U9I/AAAAAAAACZ0/qhI0R3Stmx4/s1600/IMG_1069.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Totally subverts my tourist experience.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">5. Surreal Storefronts!</span></div>
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In what I can only imagine is a subversion of the anti-bourgeois attitudes of Modernisme, some store fronts in the city are taking surrealism to new levels in advertising themselves, and deconstructing consumerism with refrigerators reflected and floating.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jORxTuN5koM/U4ujYHF_SDI/AAAAAAAACaM/fZPDlm2CqP8/s1600/IMG_1219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jORxTuN5koM/U4ujYHF_SDI/AAAAAAAACaM/fZPDlm2CqP8/s1600/IMG_1219.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">It's Spain. Of course Ham is the only food in the fridge.</td></tr>
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And even further deconstructing consumerism, and the mechanisms of the consumer society and the production of ham, we have the forgotten raw ingredients of a farm.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dixGHgJzzsM/U4ujZiEiBMI/AAAAAAAACaU/mmIlsDYWf4E/s1600/IMG_1220.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dixGHgJzzsM/U4ujZiEiBMI/AAAAAAAACaU/mmIlsDYWf4E/s1600/IMG_1220.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Prepostmodern Farm chic.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">6. The Truly Garish!</span></div>
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And if store fronts begins the subversion and re-purposing of Modernisme goals, the postmodern sculptural protrusions completes it. Establishments use sculptural elements that could be confused as art, and use them as a signpost for cultural decay. This place is called "The Hole."</div>
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<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bVX2IuoEPEk/U4ujeDfFojI/AAAAAAAACak/X15M-TdXAps/s1600/IMG_1259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bVX2IuoEPEk/U4ujeDfFojI/AAAAAAAACak/X15M-TdXAps/s1600/IMG_1259.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Class reshaping? Nope. Just utterly unclassy.</td></tr>
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Fortunately, some of the more loud and in-your-face modern sculptures are harder to unpack and more ambiguous:<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VoS1yWMnnmM/U4uje14VOiI/AAAAAAAACao/1jK3twdOYUw/s1600/IMG_1260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VoS1yWMnnmM/U4uje14VOiI/AAAAAAAACao/1jK3twdOYUw/s1600/IMG_1260.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Put your claws up if you feel that happiness is the truth!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">7. And Trees! </span></div>
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In Barcelona, trees have a complex relationship with art.<br />
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At times they seem quite unnecessarily obscuring what look to be beautiful architectural elements.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zH4WyYwMJ5I/U4ujbx5ZDMI/AAAAAAAACaY/BmvQ-NBl-0w/s1600/IMG_1224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zH4WyYwMJ5I/U4ujbx5ZDMI/AAAAAAAACaY/BmvQ-NBl-0w/s1600/IMG_1224.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Clearly sends the sign to tourists: Please Leaf.</td></tr>
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The presence of the trees, while at first they seem to be obscuring a work of art, in fact enhances the mystery of the work, which clearly, if viewed without the veil of foliage, would have lost all sense of mystery and turned into just another ordinary building. <br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gNIgNmCfvA4/U4ujXbCZHtI/AAAAAAAACaI/ALeuGv-8i6U/s1600/IMG_1212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gNIgNmCfvA4/U4ujXbCZHtI/AAAAAAAACaI/ALeuGv-8i6U/s1600/IMG_1212.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Nothing to see here anyway.<br />
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Trees do not just serve the role of obscuring design. At other times, design elements are placed specifically to interact with the trees. Here: the tree-like shape of these snowflake/skeleton/lights echoes the natural upward lift of the trees.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-62IM3szx-Ss/U4ujR_cL4MI/AAAAAAAACZ4/Jm9uXFadfZY/s1600/IMG_1155.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-62IM3szx-Ss/U4ujR_cL4MI/AAAAAAAACZ4/Jm9uXFadfZY/s1600/IMG_1155.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Oh look, more arches. What a triumph.</td></tr>
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But my favorite trees in Barcelona are when the trees themselves are art. There is a coffeeshop/bar next to a wax museum. The decor is a gorgeous indoor bosque with trees with faces. There is very nice tranquil music playing all day, though it is interrupted every half hour or so by lightening and thunder storms in the bar.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-shHs-3FdRFg/U4ujSdZzDSI/AAAAAAAACZ8/tG5aiwFI4TI/s1600/IMG_1181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-shHs-3FdRFg/U4ujSdZzDSI/AAAAAAAACZ8/tG5aiwFI4TI/s1600/IMG_1181.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Did I mention there are lightningstorms!?</td></tr>
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Other cities could stand to take a tip or two from Barca and add more art to everywhere. </div>
Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-29601727883276857242014-05-30T01:20:00.000-04:002014-05-30T01:20:11.666-04:00Montpellier: Unicorns, spiderweb church, and floating dresses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Montpellier is the third largest city on the Mediterranean coast, which is to say, smaller than Nice (just as nice, though), and certainly smaller than Marsailles (which everyone in Paris will warn you is the crime capital of France). But what does size matter? It's charming.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Oh, you see balconies? In Montpellier, balconies see you.<br /></td></tr>
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I spent an day exploring Montpellier, after my host friend had given me a map with her favorite parts circled. The city has enough going on, yet the center is navigable enough, that it is well suited to a scavenger hunt. I highly recommend it.</div>
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Here's the best parts of my scavenger hunt: <div>
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1.<span style="font-size: large;"> A Church Converted to Modern Art!</span><br /><div>
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I like churches as well as the next agnostic traveler with a love of architecture and shiny things. But sometimes I wish there were secular spaces with sweeping vaulted ceilings and an air of transcendence without the baggage of organized religion.<br />
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And lo! There are churches that convert. In Britain, some have been turned into bars. In Montpellier, Eglise Sainte Anne has been turned into a modern art gallery, Carré Sainte Anne. When I was there it was an installation called "After the Dream" by Chiharu Shiota.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E8wV-uYQPsI/U4FPnWjNJUI/AAAAAAAACYY/k8iMip8gcdo/s1600/IMG_0925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E8wV-uYQPsI/U4FPnWjNJUI/AAAAAAAACYY/k8iMip8gcdo/s1600/IMG_0925.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">postmodern ghosts and constructed spiderweb.</td></tr>
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It was pretty surreal exhibit to walk through a space so occupied to webs of thin black threads that it was like a fog and eclipsed the stained glass and columns in favor white dresses flooded with light.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L_yAq2jO92Q/U4FPnmWbbtI/AAAAAAAACYg/I8H3r0GnvKQ/s1600/IMG_0934.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L_yAq2jO92Q/U4FPnmWbbtI/AAAAAAAACYg/I8H3r0GnvKQ/s1600/IMG_0934.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A postmodern commentary on the archaic nature of marriage and tradition<br />expressed as a dream of humanity, with the the supercutaneous flesh that is the air, <br />filled with fibres and the membranes of dreams. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
2. <span style="font-size: large;">Creepy Child Riding an Unhappy Lion!</span><br />
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The Promenade du Peyrou is a lovely area where you can look at a guy on a horse and an octagonal building called Chateau d'Eau (eww). There is a nice overlook of the acqueducts. But more importantly, there is a creepy childmonster riding a lion that is not digging it.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HDPAWMWUWh4/U4FPrnbOR4I/AAAAAAAACYo/auLsmtzF5HE/s1600/IMG_0994.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HDPAWMWUWh4/U4FPrnbOR4I/AAAAAAAACYo/auLsmtzF5HE/s1600/IMG_0994.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raw feeling in those lion eyes.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And fortunately, all that is right by the:</div>
<div>
<br />3. <span style="font-size: large;">Arch of Miniature Triumphs!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Don't have time to drive around L'Arc de Triomphe in <a href="http://katzantow.blogspot.com/2013/12/nine-ways-to-love-paris.html" target="_blank">Paris</a>? Save time and visit the miniature one in Montpellier! Note the scale against those shadowy people. It's the cute tiny version. Except this one is called Porte du Peyrou which was completed in 1693, so it's not actually ripping off Paris. Just the Romans.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dpdKR0Vp04o/U4FPv3xB3sI/AAAAAAAACY4/XZSiWdUiN2w/s1600/IMG_1039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dpdKR0Vp04o/U4FPv3xB3sI/AAAAAAAACY4/XZSiWdUiN2w/s1600/IMG_1039.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not to be arch, but I don't see the point of these structures.</td></tr>
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4. <span style="font-size: large;">Thing that I think is the back of a cathedral!</span></div>
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Wander around the old medieval looking part of the town and everything is completely different and old and medieval looking. This is a thing that looks old and medieval looking.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VejvxzP40JM/U4FPscaqAbI/AAAAAAAACYs/T-fHU1p4hEk/s1600/IMG_1019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VejvxzP40JM/U4FPscaqAbI/AAAAAAAACYs/T-fHU1p4hEk/s1600/IMG_1019.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monastery? Cathedral? Thing?</td></tr>
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5. <span style="font-size: large;">A Comedie of Errors!</span></div>
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A big focal point of the city is the Place de la Comédie, which is a big square with two things in it:<br />
<br />
The Opéra Comédie<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-osEhOdi478Q/U4FPvNay2rI/AAAAAAAACY0/Skuln6Xwh9c/s1600/IMG_1027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-osEhOdi478Q/U4FPvNay2rI/AAAAAAAACY0/Skuln6Xwh9c/s1600/IMG_1027.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Comedically lit up at night.</td></tr>
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<br /></div>
And the Three Graces.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vncr-79nBVQ/U4FPu4Rx0UI/AAAAAAAACYw/hIpMNp563zs/s1600/IMG_1028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vncr-79nBVQ/U4FPu4Rx0UI/AAAAAAAACYw/hIpMNp563zs/s1600/IMG_1028.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#nofilter #nomakeup #noshirt</td></tr>
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6. <span style="font-size: large;">Creepy Child Riding Unicorns</span></div>
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Let's be real, here. I saw a lot of Europe. But I didn't see enough unicorns. Unicorns are awesome. So Montpellier gets some major props for Fontaine aux licornes.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dBa7WUnL5bg/U4FPrjgLOrI/AAAAAAAACYk/NMTIiwE3FAA/s1600/IMG_1002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dBa7WUnL5bg/U4FPrjgLOrI/AAAAAAAACYk/NMTIiwE3FAA/s1600/IMG_1002.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">but it looks like they're doing it wrong.</td></tr>
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</div>
Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-63073633921959692632014-05-24T21:59:00.000-04:002014-05-24T22:07:11.733-04:00Nice is nice<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-umUxjnBUILM/U346mTRzgYI/AAAAAAAACYA/EzcImOTk66w/s1600/IMG_0812.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-umUxjnBUILM/U346mTRzgYI/AAAAAAAACYA/EzcImOTk66w/s1600/IMG_0812.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Nice boats.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Let's take a quiz: Why do you want to go to France?<br />
<div>
<ol>
<li>Drink all the wine? </li>
<li>Take in some culture?</li>
<li>Go swimming in the Mediterranean? </li>
</ol>
<div>
In Nice, you can do all of those things. Well, not so much the culture part. But you go there anyway! Since 4 million tourists visit each year, statistics indicate that you probably already have. </div>
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<div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jEsRq5LMygI/U346f7s-SHI/AAAAAAAACXI/PgAeu7KlG00/s1600/IMG_0721.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jEsRq5LMygI/U346f7s-SHI/AAAAAAAACXI/PgAeu7KlG00/s1600/IMG_0721.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Azure Coast? More like the Gris Coast.</td></tr>
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<br />
On the Auzure Coast, Nice is Cannes' and Monaco's less glamorous neighbor. If you are looking for gorgeous old buildings and quintessential French feel, there are a few things to see in the old town. (It is a very old town--people have been living in Nice since the Lower Palaeolithic age!) But most of your wandering is going to be looking at the ocean of hotels and what appears to be a less than fully vibrant economy off tourist season.<br />
<div>
<br />
But let's face it. You're not here for the buildings. You're here to drink wine and go swimming.<br />
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xeD4z8u56bs/U346g-hhpKI/AAAAAAAACXQ/AD17K-kwsyY/s1600/IMG_0739.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xeD4z8u56bs/U346g-hhpKI/AAAAAAAACXQ/AD17K-kwsyY/s1600/IMG_0739.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Or, in the shoulder season, stick to reading on the beach.</td></tr>
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<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In Nice, you'll find a large expanse of beach with many many pebbles. Fortunately for your feet, the sea smooths all stones.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cmzRW_uDQ8M/U346hRiaJ6I/AAAAAAAACXU/Y5UQ5A5aBg8/s1600/IMG_0740.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cmzRW_uDQ8M/U346hRiaJ6I/AAAAAAAACXU/Y5UQ5A5aBg8/s1600/IMG_0740.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">They put <a href="http://katzantow.blogspot.com/2013/07/brighton-royal-pavilion-beach-and-tiny.html" style="text-align: start;" target="_blank">Brighton</a><span style="text-align: start;">'s</span><span style="text-align: start;"> Fruity Pebbles </span><span style="text-align: start;">to shame!</span></span></td></tr>
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The Mediterranean is warm late into the season when eastern Europe is frigid. I <i>did </i>successfully manage to go swimming in the middle of October, and I do not tolerate cold. But stand warned: the Mediterranean is very, very salty.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8lxTfU2-DtE/U346iaLIoAI/AAAAAAAACXg/oEIJcV4cFQ4/s1600/IMG_0746.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8lxTfU2-DtE/U346iaLIoAI/AAAAAAAACXg/oEIJcV4cFQ4/s1600/IMG_0746.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you look back you will turn into a pillar of salt.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I feel sure it would look vibrant on a sunny day. You could admire the boats!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OnGWNuYXLLo/U346jjU2LdI/AAAAAAAACXo/yl-ABsUiDmc/s1600/IMG_0769.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OnGWNuYXLLo/U346jjU2LdI/AAAAAAAACXo/yl-ABsUiDmc/s1600/IMG_0769.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boats! Located, predicatably, in water.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And you can climb Castle Hill to see some archaeological nonsense, and see some fine views of the port and city.<br />
<br />
Admire the complete homogeneity of the government mandated color of rooftops in the city:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xZBP4bRuRxY/U346kE0fnRI/AAAAAAAACXs/wsTr_js-C7o/s1600/IMG_0775.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xZBP4bRuRxY/U346kE0fnRI/AAAAAAAACXs/wsTr_js-C7o/s1600/IMG_0775.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Except for that one rebel yellow.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
So drop by Nice, it's a fine place to spend a beach day if you are heading east or west. Because pro-tip: it takes a lot longer to get from <a href="http://katzantow.blogspot.com/2014/05/florence-non-machined-statues-of-death.html" target="_blank">Florence</a> to Barcelona than you plan for.</div>
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<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F-xeD4z8u56bs%2FU346g-hhpKI%2FAAAAAAAACXQ%2FAD17K-kwsyY%2Fs1600%2FIMG_0739.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xeD4z8u56bs/U346g-hhpKI/AAAAAAAACXQ/AD17K-kwsyY/s1600/IMG_0739.jpg" -->Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-57878843473418672412014-05-14T10:45:00.001-04:002014-05-14T10:45:20.096-04:00Florence & the Non-Machined Statues of Death & Stuff.In Florence, there is a dome.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0PYf-C7Atxs/U2wvQMnIZnI/AAAAAAAACTM/ezAo_A3FqTc/s1600/IMG_0487.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0PYf-C7Atxs/U2wvQMnIZnI/AAAAAAAACTM/ezAo_A3FqTc/s1600/IMG_0487.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="font-size: 13px;">
Size matters.</div>
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<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zb97vgJmuIU/U2wvW73qXyI/AAAAAAAACUQ/D_JYG1f689o/s1600/IMG_0686.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Zb97vgJmuIU/U2wvW73qXyI/AAAAAAAACUQ/D_JYG1f689o/s1600/IMG_0686.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">So do art skillz.</td></tr>
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Florence values art. Some people visit and wax poetic about the ambiance for years to come. And they build it up. A lot. They'll tell you over and over just how much you'll love it.</div>
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And you will! Just as soon as you can get people to shut up about how great the city is.</div>
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<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q61_2jVqLoE/U2wvUnYk3LI/AAAAAAAACT4/4THZTY0Rcc0/s1600/IMG_0675.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q61_2jVqLoE/U2wvUnYk3LI/AAAAAAAACT4/4THZTY0Rcc0/s1600/IMG_0675.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">but we'll burn that bridge when we come to it<br />
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If you happen to go to Florence, sooner or later you're going to see Michelangelo's <i>David. </i>But if you don't want to pony up some cash to see the original, there are two fine copies around the city. One of the copies overlooks the city. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3vTEMCIGwvE/U2wvNlH3jII/AAAAAAAACTA/1iLJ7cFOpuQ/s1600/IMG_0482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3vTEMCIGwvE/U2wvNlH3jII/AAAAAAAACTA/1iLJ7cFOpuQ/s1600/IMG_0482.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And he has a pretty good view.</td></tr>
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The other copy lives in the <i>Piazza della Signoria.</i> The Piazza is so full of statues you'll wonder if Medusa walked around checking out very active guys with sixpack abs. </div>
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But then you'll see her severed head is looking at tourists instead.</div>
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Consequently, they stand frozen, taking pictures of statues. Especially the David.</div>
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No matter how you feel about David's weak crumbling ankles and souvenir sales of his anatomically correct boxer shorts, the statue says something. And that something is: <i>hey Goliath, who's got five stones and is about to cut off your head? This guy.</i></div>
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But that's just one statue. Every statue in the Piazza tells a story. And pretty much all the stories are about brutal murder or rape. </div>
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And thus is the true joy of Florence revealed: <b>stone statues tell you stories instead of stoned tour guides!</b></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">And now we turn to...</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Top Five Violent Stone Statue Stories of Florence as Told by a Drunk Tour Guide!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">1. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyxena" target="_blank">The Rape of Polyxena!</a></span></b></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v7ggaXK7buc/U2wvNdjr08I/AAAAAAAACS0/xmGPbfEeRtQ/s1600/IMG_0435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-v7ggaXK7buc/U2wvNdjr08I/AAAAAAAACS0/xmGPbfEeRtQ/s1600/IMG_0435.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Because one Xena isn't enough...<br />
Pio Fedi, (1865) <i>Rape of Polyxena</i>, or, PG version, <i>Phyrrus(Neoptolemus) and Polyxena</i></td></tr>
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So there's this chick named Princess Polyxena, daughter of King Priam of Troy. (<i>That Troy?</i> Yeah, Italics, that Troy.) So one day, during this foreverlongwar, she's fetching water with her brother Troilus, when they run into this hot goldenboy Achilles, who is busy being the Great Hero of the army besieging Troy. Whoops. So Achilles promptly KILLS her brother and then starts moping around about the death of his bunk buddy/very close male friend Patroclus, who was also recently killed in battle. Polyxena pats him on the back and says, <i>Oh Achilles, I, too, know what it is to lose people you care about, like, I dunno, maybe five minutes ago when you killed my brother? I get it, it sucks.</i> Admiring her wisdom, and realizing he is down a lover, Achilles decides his best move is to convince Polyxena that he is a sensitive dude, so he tells her the sob story of his one true weakness. So she says <i>oh, you're so deep and sensitive! Let's do next Tuesday. </i>So then she goes home and has a chat with some of her other brothers:<br />
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<b>Polyxena:</b> <i>You'll never believe it! A flaw! Achilles' heel--!</i><br />
<b>Paris & Deiphobus:</b><i> Duh. He killed our brother and is besieging our city. We </i>know<i> Achilles is a heel.</i><br />
<b>Polyxena:</b> <i>He's not a--shut up. Achilles' heel is his Achilles' heel! You can KILL him with a poisoned arrow</i> in his heel!<i> </i><br />
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So they do that.<br />
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Needless to say, ghost-Achilles is pissed, so he tells his son Neoptolemus that he is a failure of a son if he doesn't make the funeral a party. And to make it a party, all he has to do is sacrifice Polyxena on top of corpse-Achilles' grave. Neo says <i>'k, </i>and he steals her away, because the Trojans are too accepting of horses. Since most of Polyxena's family is dead by this point anyway, she's all, <i>fine, if you must. </i>And her chastity is SAVED because, sitting on top of Achilles' tomb, she strategically rearranged her dress to make sure she won't flash the audience when they slit her throat and her corpse falls over. <br />
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<b>The moral of this story is: you can bring a horse to water, but you can't prevent a bunch of Greeks from climbing out in the middle of the night and killing everyone.</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">2. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Beheading_Holofernes" target="_blank">Judith Beheading</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holofernes" target="_blank">Holofernes</a>!</span></b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't worry, Holo-man, you won't feel a thing, you drunk!<br />
Donatello (Ninja Turtle) (1988 copy of 1460 work) </td></tr>
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So this Assyrian General, Holofernes, is roving about the countryside occupying the sea coast and destroying local gods on behalf of Nebuchadnezzar. Now, Holofernes has been warned against attacking the Chosen people that live in a city called Bethulia, so he immediately decides to attack the Chosen people in Bethulia. Holofernes rolls up to the town and says: <i>If you're so chosen, how did I just cut off your water supply? Mwa-ha-ha-ha, motherfuckers!</i> Consequently, the leadership of poor Bethulia gets together and has a council meeting along the lines of <i>oh shit, we're going to run out of water in five days. Friends and neighbors, sorry, we're probably going to have to surrender. Unless we have a hero. </i>The townspeople look awkwardly around for a hero. Judith, a beautiful widow of the city, stands up and clears her throat. The men roll their eyes and keep talking: <i>And that will suck, because we'll have to bow to Nebuchadnezzer, who thinks he's a god. </i>Judith rolls her eyes, and interrupts: <i>come on guys, think outside the box. Or think inside the box. Or just about boxes, if you know what I mean. And we can put this General in a box. </i>Council: <i>What? </i>Judith: <i>Nevermind. Just calm down. I got this.</i></div>
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So Holofernes spends a day checking out the city to decide if it is worth capturing, crushing, or grinding into flour to make bread. But, being a well-rounded individual, the general is not too distracted by crushing to notice this hot chick making eyes at him. So Holofernes looks at Judith and he says <i>hey lady, you should come by the camp later. I can pitch a tent if you know what I mean wink wink. </i>And Judith is like, <i>Oh, yes, Holofernes! But I hope you plan to pregame this thing. I know I will! </i>So she spends a good half an evening putting on makeup and checking her watch to make sure she's arriving good and fashionably late, leaving poor Holofernes pregaming sad and alone in his tent until the moment she walks in, sex appeal up to her eyeballs. She instantly challenges Holofernes into a drinking contest with himself, and he readily agrees. Hours later, Holofernes is wobbling on his feet, and he turns to her and says <i>Hey hottie, is that a sword in your skirt or are you just happy to see me? </i>Then he promptly faceplants onto the bed/floor. So Judith heaves a huge sigh of relief that he was too drunk to get all handsy and compromise her honor. <i>What a gentleman/drunk,</i> she murmurs. Then she takes her sword out of her dress and cuts off his head. She gives it to an old woman servant to carry it to city council in a handbasket. And the city is saved! </div>
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<b>The moral of this story is: there's more than one way to get a head in life. </b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">3. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseus" target="_blank">Perseus</a> Beheading <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medusa" target="_blank">Medusa!</a></span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5tM9wXtW1_Q/U2wvRE97I_I/AAAAAAAACTU/Vm7np68MMVA/s1600/IMG_0608.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5tM9wXtW1_Q/U2wvRE97I_I/AAAAAAAACTU/Vm7np68MMVA/s1600/IMG_0608.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bad-idea soccer ball.<br />
Benvenuto Cellini, <i>Perseus with the Head of Medusa </i> (1545)</td></tr>
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So there's this woman, Danae, who's cast into the sea with her Zeus-spawn son, Perseus, and they wash up on some island. Fast forward to Perseus being big and strong, and Polydectes, King of the island, demanding Danae to be his wife. Danae is all <i>no, you're ugly and you smell</i>. So Polydectes tricks Perseus into promising him the head of the Gorgon Medusa. And Perseus is like <i>fine, whatever, I know you're just trying to get me out of the way, but my pride is too big to do anything about it. Now what is a medusa?</i><br />
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(Good question, Perseus. Basically an ugly chick with hair made of snakes and eyes that turn you to stone. There are some stories that Medusa and the gorgons sprang into being out of hate. Ovid prefers the more problematic version, in which Poseidon rapes the gorgeous Medusa in Athena's temple, which enrages Athena, so she turns Medusa's face stone-ugly and her hair to snakes. One might consider this victim-blaming and a misplaced punishment. However, this negative interpretation disregards how cool it would be to have hairsnakes.)<br />
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So Perseus goes out and quests and finds three old women with only one eye between them, and steals it when one is handing it to another. And he's like <i>Listen up witches! Lead me to some nymphs that will give me stuff to defeat Medusa, or it's Ping-Pong.</i> And they're like <i>fine, we'll take you there, but seriously how can we see to walk?</i> Somehow they all manage to get to the nymphs. He lets the old ladies go, and it's Christmas for Perseus. The gods got his memo, and he has to sit around for hours, unwrapping gifts from the gods. From Athena, a mirror-polished shield, Hermes, some cool shoes that fly, Zeus an adamantine sword and Hade's helmet of invisibility. Oh, and a bag to store the gorgon's head. </div>
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So Perseus walks through a field of stone statues of men until he gets to the gorgon lair. He thinks a lot about what pose he would like to be as a statue, then wises up and starts walking backwards, using Athena's mirror. Perseus follows the sounds of snakes snoring to find Medusa sleeping, and decapitates her. Success! Win! And after this great act of heroism,everything continues to work out for <strike>male privilege</strike> Perseus. </div>
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<b>The moral of the story is: there's more than one way to get a head of snakes.</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">4. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_the_Sabine_Women" target="_blank">The Rape of the Sabine Women!</a></span></b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This was one block of marble.<br />
Giambologna, <i>The Rape of the Sabine Women </i>(1574-82)</td></tr>
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So there's this king, Numitor, who has a daughter named Rhea Silvia. Unfortunately for Rhea, her brother, Amulius, is a jerk, and kills all the king's male heirs and forces her to be a vestal virgin. But the god of war doesn't care, and bam! She's knocked up and gives birth to twins named Romulus and Remus. Unfortunately for Rhea, Amulius finds out. So Rhea's like <i>but really, the gods made them you can't kill them. </i>And Amulius is all <i>watch me, I'm throwing them in the river! </i></div>
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Unfortunately for Amulius, the babies wash downstream where they are picked up and nursed back to health by a lactating she-wolf and a friendly woodpecker. Then some shepards. But you can't keep royalty down, and the brothers decide they need to found a city. </div>
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<b>Romulus</b><i>: Hey, let's found a city on Palentine Hill. </i></div>
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<b>Remus</b><i>: That's stupid. We should found it on Aventine Hill. </i></div>
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<b>Romulus</b><i>: It seems like I'll win this argument if you're dead. </i></div>
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<b>Remus</b><i>: </i>*dead*<i> Yeah, probably.</i></div>
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So Romulus founds the city and Rome flourishes into being! Male refugees come from all over to join his army and glory in the burgeoning republic! But deep down, Romulus realizes that something is missing. </div>
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<b>Romulus</b>: *sigh* <i>Oh ghost-Remus, something is incomplete in my world. </i></div>
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<b>Ghost-Remus: </b><i>Oh, what ever is the matter brother? Do you feel like you're all alone in the world. Like your other half is missing? I wonder why that could--</i></div>
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<b>Romulus: </b><i>You're right! I need a lady-friend. </i></div>
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<b>Ghost-Remus: </b><i>Not really what I was getting at. I think you should admit you were wrong to--</i></div>
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<b>Romulus: </b><i>Yes, a lady-friend. I need a lady-friend. My citizens all need lady-friends. We'll steal some lady-friends from the Sabine tribe nearby. Thanks for your advice Ghost-Remus!</i></div>
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<b>Ghost-Remus: </b>*sigh*</div>
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And so Romulus and his posse of Romans abduct all these women from the Neptune Equester festival and offer them all the chance of honorable marriage. And everyone is happy, except for everyone that didn't really want to be abducted, and everyone that dies in the ensuing war.</div>
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<b>The moral of this story is: nutritional deficits in wolf-milk just might leave children with some developmental impairments. </b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">5. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nessus_(mythology)" target="_blank">Hercules Breaking Nessus!</a></span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8dhy9rCCmQY/U2wvTPAnmoI/AAAAAAAACTs/OXW7MZWk90w/s1600/IMG_0612.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8dhy9rCCmQY/U2wvTPAnmoI/AAAAAAAACTs/OXW7MZWk90w/s1600/IMG_0612.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A great example of "Torso Torsion" which would be a great band name.<br />
Giambologna (1599), Heracles and Nessus</td></tr>
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So...as near as I can figure, this fight didn't actually happen as seen above. It would have gone a whole lot better for everyone involved if Hercules had killed Nessus with a blunt object in single combat. Bloodless coup. But that's NOT what happened.<br />
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The problem was...so there's this Centaur, Nessus, who's kind of a jerk. One day Hurcules and his second wife Deianira decide to cross a river. Nessus, chillin nearby kindly offers to give them a ride. So he picks up Deianira and takes her across a river. And then tries to take her, across the river, if you know what I mean. Seeing this about to happen from the other bank, Hercules says <i>nope, whole lotta nope, </i>and shoots Nessus with an arrow tipped in poison from the Hydra. </div>
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With his dying breath Nessus turns to his would-be victim and whispers: <i>hey girl, I know I was about to ravage you and all, but you can trust me. As a reward for all of this, you can use my blood to make Hercules love you forever.</i> And Deianira says: <i>well, I guess it can't hurt to just keep some centaur blood around forever just in case. And that's not weird, because Hercules did the same thing with that Hydra poison. </i></div>
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So they go on with their journey and the centaur's dead and everything's great. Fast-forward years or something. So Hercules is hot stuff, and Deianira knows this. So when she sees him making eyes at some other woman, she thinks, <i>hey, I'd better put some Centaur blood on his shirt when he goes and hangs out with his friends today</i>. And when he puts on the shirt he burns with poison and jumps into a fire and dies. </div>
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<b>The moral to this story is: Don't wear shirts. Shirts will kill you. </b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">6. <a href="http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clet_Abraham" target="_blank">The Common Man takes His Last Step</a>!</span></b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JnxQZKntjM0/U2wvNbpYDmI/AAAAAAAACS4/Tq-7-ISTt90/s1600/IMG_0476.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JnxQZKntjM0/U2wvNbpYDmI/AAAAAAAACS4/Tq-7-ISTt90/s1600/IMG_0476.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One small step for mankind...<br />
Chet Abraham (2011) <i>Common Man</i></td></tr>
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Ok, this is on a nearby bridge, not in the Piazza. But a suicide statue seemed to fit the list.<br />
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So once upon a time, there is a very common man who is full of angst and vandalizes street signs into clever pictures that make you rethink signs and symbols and space. But one day he decides, in a cubist and abstracted sense, that life isn't worth living, so he cleverly put this statue on a bridge without the permission of authorities, in a cry for help. Fortunately for him, the statue is rescued, because suicide and unwanted statuary are against the law. But everyone loved it, so the statue went right back up about to take that fatal step.<br />
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And to this day, the common man has failed to complete his suicide.<br />
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It's probably the only thing in Florence not based on myth.<br /><br />
<b>The moral of this story is: contemporary art is too postmodern to convey narrative, which sucks for storytelling. </b><br />
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So go to Florence. Enjoy the statues. It's an idyllic location to mull over this subtext of brutal history and death while you subsist on a diet of cannoli and gelato. Maybe, maybe, Florence can win you over despite the hype.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m4J5JFKAd4g/U2wvVO00beI/AAAAAAAACUE/0axe0vMqIhk/s1600/IMG_0679.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m4J5JFKAd4g/U2wvVO00beI/AAAAAAAACUE/0axe0vMqIhk/s1600/IMG_0679.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Afterall, it does have a river of fire.</td></tr>
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Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-68460433611156692642014-04-09T10:26:00.002-04:002014-04-14T09:27:58.578-04:00Rome & The Vatican: Whatever you do, DON'T BLINK.Ahh Rome, the heart of Italy.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">The Mediterranean Cyprus are the national veins if the sun hits them right.<br />
Otherwise they're just the national tree.</td></tr>
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Dear reader, </div>
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I know you. You are like me. We know the danger that winged statues pose.</div>
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You and I, we know <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1000252/" target="_blank">Weeping Angels</a> are terrifying. </div>
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Under no circumstances can you ever turn your back on a statue or blink around these horrific creatures, or you will find yourself lost in space and time and cut out of existence and you'll never see your friends or loved ones again! They live in many cities around the world, but there are no cities as dangerous as Rome and The Vatican. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DlYT3QnnMSw/UzDU8nv3KvI/AAAAAAAACOQ/tnF-WH9vb2Q/s1600/IMG_9391.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DlYT3QnnMSw/UzDU8nv3KvI/AAAAAAAACOQ/tnF-WH9vb2Q/s1600/IMG_9391.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shit. This one's got a sword.</td></tr>
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Most everywhere I went in Europe, I felt safe. I walked freely in the street, day or night, without a care in the world. But not Rome. I faced unholy legions of statues, and stood immobile, paralyzed with fear, afraid to blink, knowing that to turn my back on one of these creatures meant a fate worse than death. </div>
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In Rome, you are not safe. You cannot cross a bridge without testing fate. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4h_xUqxjPzI/UzDVFSE4xFI/AAAAAAAACPo/Ai8lg1Or3ko/s1600/IMG_9881.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4h_xUqxjPzI/UzDVFSE4xFI/AAAAAAAACPo/Ai8lg1Or3ko/s1600/IMG_9881.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't blink. Recommended: 360 degree vision.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Unfortunately, Rome and the Vatican are pretty unmissable if you ever even thought the words "art history." You might see it from afar and think you want to visit St. Peter's Basilica.<br />
<div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rYH1hn6IiVY/UzDVGYDT9hI/AAAAAAAACPw/YG_VfGij-yA/s1600/IMG_9890.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rYH1hn6IiVY/UzDVGYDT9hI/AAAAAAAACPw/YG_VfGij-yA/s1600/IMG_9890.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Bright Lights, pope city.<br />
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<br /></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Little could you know, it's guarded.<br />
<br />
You aren't getting anywhere near that dome.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xRwfaUPyKcM/UzDVHSYnIPI/AAAAAAAACQA/kOU48-Hq72I/s1600/IMG_9904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xRwfaUPyKcM/UzDVHSYnIPI/AAAAAAAACQA/kOU48-Hq72I/s1600/IMG_9904.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't Blink.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And I do mean heavily. Guarded.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aNbTetLoA54/UzDVGpi6q8I/AAAAAAAACP0/wJVrF_06KmY/s1600/IMG_9897.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aNbTetLoA54/UzDVGpi6q8I/AAAAAAAACP0/wJVrF_06KmY/s1600/IMG_9897.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I SAID DON'T BLINK.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
But if you do get inside...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s952sDo0HRw/UzDU6ATCdII/AAAAAAAACOE/rxsG5Y3niTo/s1600/IMG_9178.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s952sDo0HRw/UzDU6ATCdII/AAAAAAAACOE/rxsG5Y3niTo/s1600/IMG_9178.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">It's safe, they're not paying attention to you.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Still, be careful inside the Basilica. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iPZajIg_1BM/UzDU7kEs5oI/AAAAAAAACOM/1OYIasUdApk/s1600/IMG_9241.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iPZajIg_1BM/UzDU7kEs5oI/AAAAAAAACOM/1OYIasUdApk/s1600/IMG_9241.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't trust anything that looks like a Dove ad.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It's a shame that the place is so dangerous. No tourist vacation is complete without a trip to Rome. Some very old and formative history happened in Rome. If you can manage to get past the weeping angels and sentinels on pedestals, you are in for a very classical experience.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QxDB4v84hIA/UzDU_3WOALI/AAAAAAAACOw/-JiuIAFUElw/s1600/IMG_9800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QxDB4v84hIA/UzDU_3WOALI/AAAAAAAACOw/-JiuIAFUElw/s1600/IMG_9800.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not-quite-friends in high places.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So much history has happened in Rome, since it was built, March 17th, 753 BC. Much of it still exists in ruins that are beautiful and mysterious.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_YMUv-w5Eko/UzDUxUf4zVI/AAAAAAAACM0/VU0sKJfiZdY/s1600/IMG_0243.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_YMUv-w5Eko/UzDUxUf4zVI/AAAAAAAACM0/VU0sKJfiZdY/s1600/IMG_0243.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Again, watch for hidden dangers and don't blink.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Your primary mission in Rome is to eat gelato all day every day. I guess you could also visit the Colosseum. There were some fights there once upon a time. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PAicqzIa2qU/UzDVJjF20sI/AAAAAAAACQU/Dv5xuNEpErc/s1600/IMG_9997.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PAicqzIa2qU/UzDVJjF20sI/AAAAAAAACQU/Dv5xuNEpErc/s1600/IMG_9997.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gladiator? Hannibal hardly knew 'er!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Most importantly, in Rome, you see the foundations of Neoclassical architecture, by looking at crumbling classical architecture!<br />
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Some of it looks straight out of Washington DC.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--3bpR7c4bSI/UzDVAlJ4eHI/AAAAAAAACO8/YPdy8fIU6jI/s1600/IMG_9805.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--3bpR7c4bSI/UzDVAlJ4eHI/AAAAAAAACO8/YPdy8fIU6jI/s1600/IMG_9805.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Weeping Chariots?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But Washington DC did <i>not </i>originate this art style, funny enough. Rome did. And if you go to the Forum, you can see where Democracy began! With the very first ever incidences of land-owning males voting as the ultimate expression of freedom, and failing to see a double standard for women/slaves/everybodyelse/etc.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cpr3RkfKmgA/UzDU2C0ZvJI/AAAAAAAACNc/ADWztPpgsV0/s1600/IMG_0308.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cpr3RkfKmgA/UzDU2C0ZvJI/AAAAAAAACNc/ADWztPpgsV0/s1600/IMG_0308.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The very pillars of democracy!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The experience is a rich and patriotic one, visiting the crumbling remains of a marble dome-and-column-filled empire that was once the most powerful in the world. In a way it is the democratic spiritual mother of America, the dome-and-column-filled empire that still has roofing material.<br />
<br />
As a member of the dominant civilization, you look around and wonder if there is a lesson to be learned about the rise and falls of civilization and power. Then you go buy some gelato and think about other things.<br />
<br />
Of course, if you ask the ancient Romans, Rome's spiritual mother was a she-wolf who nurtured Rome's founders. I guess that makes Shakira America's spiritual grandmother?<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BjkQDKQNZT8/UzDU2biqbBI/AAAAAAAACNg/6b0xUU9W3F0/s1600/IMG_0324.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BjkQDKQNZT8/UzDU2biqbBI/AAAAAAAACNg/6b0xUU9W3F0/s1600/IMG_0324.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Romulans and Remus.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
</div>
Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-71472193720603810062014-04-01T12:05:00.002-04:002014-04-01T12:05:39.132-04:00DO NOT TRAVEL ABROAD: IT'S UN-AMERICAN AND THE WORST<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Unv4jKpr_h4/Uzrauw2373I/AAAAAAAACQw/UoSnkVBkjNY/s1600/IMG_0476.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Unv4jKpr_h4/Uzrauw2373I/AAAAAAAACQw/UoSnkVBkjNY/s1600/IMG_0476.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Goodbye, bridge in Florence!<br />This is how traveling makes you feel.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Dear readers,<br />
<br />
I have seen a pernicious rumor going around the internet lately.<br />
<br />
There are people suggesting that "going to foreign countries" is "good" or "broadens your mind" or even qualifies as "fun".<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, this is not true. I know young, impressionable Americans have the best of intentions, but really, it's un-American to imply that any country has things that America doesn't.<br />
<br />
AMERICA HAS EVERYTHING AND THERE IS NO REASON ANYONE SHOULD EVER NEED TO GO ANYWHERE ELSE. EVER.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KYmDiRicvsA/Uzra3dTuykI/AAAAAAAACQ8/ICrk0I4lMp0/s1600/Cardiff+3000x4000-007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KYmDiRicvsA/Uzra3dTuykI/AAAAAAAACQ8/ICrk0I4lMp0/s1600/Cardiff+3000x4000-007.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Unique? Come on! <br />Where <i>don't</i> you see these in America?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />I was duped into going to several foreign locations last summer, and I am surprised I made it out alive.<br />
<br />
As a female traveling alone, it's a miracle that I was not KIDNAPPED IN THE FIRST 30 minutes of walking around in a foreign country, and sold into an Eastern European brothel in some scary place like Budapest.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z1jGmH_eZYw/Uzra5mLWvwI/AAAAAAAACRg/hgsEiUIFdLE/s1600/IMG_8513.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z1jGmH_eZYw/Uzra5mLWvwI/AAAAAAAACRg/hgsEiUIFdLE/s1600/IMG_8513.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Budapest: literally contains nothing but illegal brothels<br /> full of kidnapped American travelers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />I didn't see one bit of hospitality from anyone at any point. Nor did I meet a single person who made me laugh or smile the entire time I was in those horrible places. ALL FOREIGNERS HATE ALL AMERICANS, AND YOU ARE LIKELY TO BE BITCHSLAPPED BY STRANGERS ON THE STREET.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S2uh89CeZEI/Uzra4MNlGlI/AAAAAAAACRU/fhZnLMuv-SY/s1600/IMG_1794.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S2uh89CeZEI/Uzra4MNlGlI/AAAAAAAACRU/fhZnLMuv-SY/s1600/IMG_1794.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Contains un-American script.<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Some countries DO NOT EVEN HAVE ENGLISH AS THEIR FIRST LANGUAGE. *A few* and I do mean a very few people had a marginal understanding of English. But really there was no way for me to make myself understood or to get around in any of these un-American places. I nearly starved.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UGDZ-fJ1Qjg/Uzra3qH8QjI/AAAAAAAACRE/1Q9fcar-NVY/s1600/IMG_1459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UGDZ-fJ1Qjg/Uzra3qH8QjI/AAAAAAAACRE/1Q9fcar-NVY/s1600/IMG_1459.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No English here either.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Please believe me, it's not worth going anywhere outside of the US.<br />
<br />
THE USA HAS EVERYTHING EVER, AND THERE IS NOTHING WORTH SEEING IN ANY OF THE LESSER COUNTRIES. <br />
<br />
Some places in Europe have some things that are attempting to be "new" or "different" but really look like every American street corner.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BwxxovUc0ak/Uzra4wp3O_I/AAAAAAAACRQ/DiTvOu-3qv4/s1600/IMG_2573.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BwxxovUc0ak/Uzra4wp3O_I/AAAAAAAACRQ/DiTvOu-3qv4/s1600/IMG_2573.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yawn. We have ten in my town.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Others will tell you that the history of foreign countries goes back farther than American history. This is patently false. God created the universe in the seven days it took Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence. SO PLEASE DO NOT BELIEVE THINGS THAT FOREIGN COUNTRIES SAY ARE HISTORICAL. <div>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eU1zHwjjpLU/Uzrh2LpUVII/AAAAAAAACR4/vUsX2cdi26Y/s1600/IMG_0049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eU1zHwjjpLU/Uzrh2LpUVII/AAAAAAAACR4/vUsX2cdi26Y/s1600/IMG_0049.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Only falling apart due to poor construction.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
So please don't travel. YOU WILL BE KIDNAPPED AND MURDERED IF YOU TRY. And there's nothing worth seeing either. America has everything of value.<br />
<br />
Stay safe, stay AMERICAN.<br />
<br />
Happy April,<br />
Folks.</div>
Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-25935286808944704362014-03-14T13:24:00.003-04:002014-03-14T13:24:47.157-04:00Top Three Ways to See Through your Venetian BlindersHeading to Venice? Lucky you! I hope you like water.<br />
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<div>
Pretty much everyone goes to Venice to see a beautiful, romantic, unique city. Unfortunately, it's a challenge to get past the tourist-centered everything to find the true soul of the city. Yet it still feels, to some extent, like a city in transition from old to new.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cGJTwdzwr5k/UyJoMsxxUVI/AAAAAAAACLc/0EWY21lvLNw/s1600/IMG_8857.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cGJTwdzwr5k/UyJoMsxxUVI/AAAAAAAACLc/0EWY21lvLNw/s1600/IMG_8857.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A city with half a facelift.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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Trust Venice. Allow yourself to get lost wandering the streets (not like you have a choice) and you learn to appreciate Venice for what it is now. Look around long enough, and you will realize that catering-to-tourists <i>is </i>the true soul of the city! </div>
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<b>1. Rain on that Parade</b><br />
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Venice has an intriguing climate that will completely alter your idea of Italy as an arid, warm place. It is said, at least by people with a solid two days of experience with the city, that the sun never shines through the oppressive overcast.</div>
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The puddles that form miniature canals through the streets of the city could drown a small child...so watch your small children if you bring them. Fortunately for any tourists walking around,<span style="text-align: center;"> vendors will sell you Disposable Neon Plastic Bags For Your Feet </span><span style="text-align: center;">so you can maintain your dignity.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SfgsBkaPUuM/UyJoCLLDoYI/AAAAAAAACLQ/oEvdkILI5OY/s1600/IMG_8923.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SfgsBkaPUuM/UyJoCLLDoYI/AAAAAAAACLQ/oEvdkILI5OY/s1600/IMG_8923.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Get your feet wet in Italian culture! ...or not.</td></tr>
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Despite the clear and bewildering lack of drainage in a canal/boat based city, the city-planners have their game down for making sure the tourists are not tempted to leave the round-the-block lines for St. Mark's Cathedral.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WWDmXp9hkwk/UyJoB9HlisI/AAAAAAAACLM/k6kOuXVqeC8/s1600/IMG_8793.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WWDmXp9hkwk/UyJoB9HlisI/AAAAAAAACLM/k6kOuXVqeC8/s1600/IMG_8793.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tourists are raised up to justify the fees and queues.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>2. Turn an Ear to the Canals.</b><br />
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With tourists producing standard tourist volume levels, it takes a while to notice the quiet. But if you happen to walk through the city late at night, you will realize quickly that something is missing. The drone of cars is gone. It's silent in a way they reserve for meditation on high mountain top. Silent in a way they reserve for horror films. Silent, except for the relaxing sound of the water gently lapping against and eroding the crumbling foundations of the Venetian buildings.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CLUVWG8TDxo/UyJnSeEaHvI/AAAAAAAACK0/Lg2nVdnR92I/s1600/IMG_8777.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CLUVWG8TDxo/UyJnSeEaHvI/AAAAAAAACK0/Lg2nVdnR92I/s1600/IMG_8777.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still, water runs deep.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The novel approach to transportation is an amazing concept to ponder, as you walk and re-walk the maze-like streets looking for that one bridge that google maps assures you is there, but does not exist. Hint: go back three island chunks to get forward one island chunk.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VV3yxyz_s1k/UyJnSytpezI/AAAAAAAACK4/7JafFtijGfw/s1600/IMG_8818.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VV3yxyz_s1k/UyJnSytpezI/AAAAAAAACK4/7JafFtijGfw/s1600/IMG_8818.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">without a car in the world...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Admittedly, a lot of the places around Venice are pretty beautiful. Or they would be, if the sun ever existed in the sky.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HGQj5E9FuY0/UyJnVWUIAOI/AAAAAAAACLE/IsWTNTHQark/s1600/IMG_8938.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HGQj5E9FuY0/UyJnVWUIAOI/AAAAAAAACLE/IsWTNTHQark/s1600/IMG_8938.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every time you see something cool, <br />
you will find you can't get there from here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>3. Window Shop. </b></div>
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As you wander through Venice, you may find it to be a cold, overcast city that is half-sinking, half-painted, half-touristtraps, and half-masked. Just kidding about the half-masked part. There are approximately 347,941 masks for sale per Venetian resident.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QxVog1msjBU/UyJmNX_pJJI/AAAAAAAACKI/yfsiNqcIw-E/s1600/IMG_8764.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QxVog1msjBU/UyJmNX_pJJI/AAAAAAAACKI/yfsiNqcIw-E/s1600/IMG_8764.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pick your plumage.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I confess, I love window shopping, and masks are kind of cool. Most of these would not do for every-day wear, but I'm glad, artistically, that they exist.<br />
<br />
Venice's long history with masks began when there was a terrible fire in an Opera House, and Gerard Butler was horribly burnt...<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HYN4qgvQnBc/UyJmOORgkpI/AAAAAAAACKU/7bgFqp6J6jA/s1600/IMG_8918.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HYN4qgvQnBc/UyJmOORgkpI/AAAAAAAACKU/7bgFqp6J6jA/s1600/IMG_8918.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What a load of croc. And bull. And frog.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Ok, that's not true. Maybe it's something about the Carnival of Venice, aka Mardi Gras. Which, by the looks of things, would be an event worth attending:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x1Bi_MPDGs4/UyJmOaPMYXI/AAAAAAAACKQ/DnpxERsqaFA/s1600/IMG_8931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x1Bi_MPDGs4/UyJmOaPMYXI/AAAAAAAACKQ/DnpxERsqaFA/s1600/IMG_8931.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But really. A headless mannequin in a mask-shop window is about as useful as a...<br />
life-size unicorn in a mask-shop window.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Whelp, that's it. That's all there is to do in Venice besides buy overpriced food and overpriced drinks and stay in overpriced hostels. But it's an intriguing place, and worth a trip to see the perpetual overcast that shrouds the city in mystery.</div>
</div>
Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-47409584854882177952014-03-05T11:00:00.004-05:002014-03-05T11:02:48.619-05:00Zagreb: Croatia's Cool Capital. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Budapest is a tough act to follow, but if you are heading back west, why not stop in Zagreb? It's a place with a synthesis of old and new--a tough city with edge. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W0vkNOTS4xk/UxaDckh9CtI/AAAAAAAACIM/WaW5oYCmsFQ/s1600/IMG_8582.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W0vkNOTS4xk/UxaDckh9CtI/AAAAAAAACIM/WaW5oYCmsFQ/s1600/IMG_8582.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tough Kitty?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Croatia is a country renown for the natural beauty of their lakes and beaches. I strongly encourage you to visit in Summer, or at least sometime before September, to enjoy these nice nature-bits. I didn't, and it was literally freezing at night. But there is still much to enjoy in Zagreb!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4FdJlPpwYrM/UxaEVJGGJUI/AAAAAAAACIY/QHwt82YorOw/s1600/IMG_8677.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4FdJlPpwYrM/UxaEVJGGJUI/AAAAAAAACIY/QHwt82YorOw/s1600/IMG_8677.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unnatural Beauty.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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Great people! Cheap alcohol! It's part of that region of Europe that you can hang out for a while and not worry about all of your money disappearing via cost of living osmosis. So you can hit the town and try quite the range of Croatian drinks, which involve several brewed with honey and other berries, and a variety of artificially flavored beer! And any place where alcohol flows cheap is a good place to keep an eye on the pulse of Europe.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yM2l8sq5ULE/UxaD0bgvsOI/AAAAAAAACIQ/0bcLpToUwXo/s1600/IMG_8668.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yM2l8sq5ULE/UxaD0bgvsOI/AAAAAAAACIQ/0bcLpToUwXo/s1600/IMG_8668.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You make my heart beat-beat, beat-beat<br />
like a drum for you-oo-oo </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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And cemeteries! Do you like cemeteries? </div>
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As far as free things to do, Mirogoj Cemetery is a beautiful place to walk around and tell ghost stories. Note: it is especially <a href="http://phoenixfoundry.com.au/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Mirogoj-Cemetery-Zagreb-Croatia.jpg" target="_blank">Pretty</a> during the day, and less creepy. Definitely <a href="http://sharonandphilsbigadventure.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/10.jpg" target="_blank">pretty</a> with better light levels. </div>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dAfn88QXv68/UxaEpNhM2eI/AAAAAAAACIg/Wwp2eWPIPsg/s1600/IMG_8702.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dAfn88QXv68/UxaEpNhM2eI/AAAAAAAACIg/Wwp2eWPIPsg/s1600/IMG_8702.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Insert plot here.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
And if you happen to go when it is dark you can see tons of blinking led lights left on the graves. A traditional electronic touch.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0TCxtZZMFs4/UxaFsdxRBlI/AAAAAAAACIs/O-FDZiFLOx4/s1600/IMG_8696.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0TCxtZZMFs4/UxaFsdxRBlI/AAAAAAAACIs/O-FDZiFLOx4/s1600/IMG_8696.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flowers are so last century.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Don't like cemeteries? Surely you love churches. Zagreb's got that.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tRHZmd7kMJQ/UxaF_QOgFcI/AAAAAAAACI0/M6kDf371K_8/s1600/IMG_8632.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tRHZmd7kMJQ/UxaF_QOgFcI/AAAAAAAACI0/M6kDf371K_8/s1600/IMG_8632.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">8-bit style, <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.200000762939453px; text-align: start;">∞-life tile</span></span>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<div>
And there's a cathedral, but don't expect to see more than half of that.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oQF7StP2JCQ/UxaGPA4UXyI/AAAAAAAACI8/dH2sK1nqFR4/s1600/IMG_8605.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oQF7StP2JCQ/UxaGPA4UXyI/AAAAAAAACI8/dH2sK1nqFR4/s1600/IMG_8605.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scaffold scoff.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
But it is a lovely church.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rm_rPEhcHVY/UxaGdajki5I/AAAAAAAACJE/88IBdWDK5x0/s1600/IMG_8610.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Rm_rPEhcHVY/UxaGdajki5I/AAAAAAAACJE/88IBdWDK5x0/s1600/IMG_8610.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't mean to be arch.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
What else can you possibly want out of a city? </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Yellow. </i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That's a weird request, Italics, but no problem! Zagreb's got that.<br />
<div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FUK8nE_HVyw/UxaGqW_UzQI/AAAAAAAACJM/kmrj6AVuKls/s1600/IMG_8590.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FUK8nE_HVyw/UxaGqW_UzQI/AAAAAAAACJM/kmrj6AVuKls/s1600/IMG_8590.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arts and Crafts Museum!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3YXoNOScYnA/UxaG4XF3VXI/AAAAAAAACJU/ViqFlZdAK9I/s1600/IMG_8593.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3YXoNOScYnA/UxaG4XF3VXI/AAAAAAAACJU/ViqFlZdAK9I/s1600/IMG_8593.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">National Theatre!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-26prwJAm7Fg/UxaHLD9eYAI/AAAAAAAACJg/MebMWz3Qgo0/s1600/IMG_8604.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-26prwJAm7Fg/UxaHLD9eYAI/AAAAAAAACJg/MebMWz3Qgo0/s1600/IMG_8604.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Horse-statue backdrop building!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S7VE_A8Qw3Q/UxaHLFJI_II/AAAAAAAACJc/e3M9GJzvDbE/s1600/IMG_8660.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S7VE_A8Qw3Q/UxaHLFJI_II/AAAAAAAACJc/e3M9GJzvDbE/s1600/IMG_8660.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arts Pavilion!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zGGsijs6oTo/UxaDcBzKIoI/AAAAAAAACII/nIebNVaMskE/s1600/IMG_8578.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zGGsijs6oTo/UxaDcBzKIoI/AAAAAAAACII/nIebNVaMskE/s1600/IMG_8578.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bonus yellow. Trams!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
So check out Zagreb! Croatian hospitality can't be beat. And be sure to try the ajvar. Have a drink or three. It might set you back $5. Go thrift store shopping, and try to find a leather jacket for under $3 (I know I did!). Eight dollars well spent! Tour the city and take in the inspiring architecture above, and the inspiring architecture below!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SI6J0BYfhnQ/UxaHsbytecI/AAAAAAAACJs/hwaI5hOOd6Q/s1600/IMG_8670.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SI6J0BYfhnQ/UxaHsbytecI/AAAAAAAACJs/hwaI5hOOd6Q/s1600/IMG_8670.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe less inspiring. Cubist, cubist.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
</div>
Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-63948027076804924752014-02-25T14:55:00.003-05:002014-02-25T15:05:38.364-05:00Hungary? Grab a Budapest.If you're traveling Europe, you should really make time for Budapest. Why? For the awesome.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DbGIZ6P9__E/UpLso2s26SI/AAAAAAAABiw/PsjL2PCnrJM/s1600/IMG_8461.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DbGIZ6P9__E/UpLso2s26SI/AAAAAAAABiw/PsjL2PCnrJM/s400/IMG_8461.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Budapest: obligatory Hungarian Parliament Building Shot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<i>Oh is it awesome? Thanks for the advice, Kat! I love awesome places! But why should I go all the way to Hungary? </i><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Good question, Italics! I trust you know I don't exaggerate. This city has significant cool points.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QiDuEv7rb4k/UpLsi0EjKPI/AAAAAAAABiE/eySiYqZQ2uU/s1600/IMG_8404.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QiDuEv7rb4k/UpLsi0EjKPI/AAAAAAAABiE/eySiYqZQ2uU/s400/IMG_8404.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I ain't lion!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
But really, it's up to you. You just have to ask yourself a couple of questions: do you like artistic hipster night life? The answer is yes. Explore the Pest side (East of the river). So get yourself to <a href="http://bebudapest.hu/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/szimpla41.jpg">Szimpla</a> if you like having a drink while staring at bright trippy graphics or while sitting in a <a href="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/d48b88fec6aea26bd0a0053f9e2b948e24a80f75/c=0-0-3264-2454&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/USATODAY/dispatches/2013/09/23/1379972343000-IMG-8361.JPG">thing formerly known as a car</a>. If you like techno and raving, get to <a href="http://www.lesortard.com/pictures/clubs/118/Otkert2.jpg">Instant</a>, where you can dance under a hoarde of flying rabbits. And once you've done that, check out all the rest of <a href="http://ruinpubs.com/">the less heavily tourist ruin pubs</a>. </div>
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<div>
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What's that you say? You don't care about nightlife? No problem! Budapest has other things too. <i>Like what?</i> Like, (not pictured) <a href="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/076/cache/budapest-thermal-baths_7607_600x450.jpg?01RI=0C7E5B989ED7FE7,cm:akamai.mathtag.com%2fevent%2fimg%3fakam_state%3d0%26akid%3d3MBwnNKU0mgeenG1t5TiaK3zCok-6sMAmLYkFgTkUNpQRWXanWMB7bA%26no_log%26mt_nsync%26mm_bnc&01NA=ck&">really sweet Thermal Baths</a> that you can experience as daytime therapeutic relaxation or nighttime hardcore bikini parties. Like, (not pictured) really great second hand shops and used book stores where you can find sweet finds like an old copy of Jurassic Park for 300 Forint! Like, enormous markets with literal tons of paprika and peppers for sale.</div>
<div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yR2Io_09HyY/UpLsmQcFAyI/AAAAAAAABic/K_ImyFL46FA/s1600/IMG_8317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yR2Io_09HyY/UpLsmQcFAyI/AAAAAAAABic/K_ImyFL46FA/s400/IMG_8317.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I hope you like paprika. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And if you go to the Buda side (West of the river) there are plenty of interesting looking buildings to look at.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LMgrzvq17B0/UpLsifz7m-I/AAAAAAAABiA/IYNcJ-Z1Rgs/s1600/IMG_8394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LMgrzvq17B0/UpLsifz7m-I/AAAAAAAABiA/IYNcJ-Z1Rgs/s400/IMG_8394.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">World's most underwhelming picture of the very whelming St. Stephen's Basilica.</td></tr>
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On the Buda side of the river, you can see all kinds of churches and old stuff.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nU6PwdwzYTg/UpLskdnuYHI/AAAAAAAABiQ/oC9HThvIVWg/s1600/IMG_8436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nU6PwdwzYTg/UpLskdnuYHI/AAAAAAAABiQ/oC9HThvIVWg/s400/IMG_8436.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a roof with scales! Like Music! Or Justice! Or fish!</td></tr>
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Speaking of Fish, right by the church is the Fisherman's Bastion. Which is pretty.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LKY6lFhdg80/UpLsmSlw7-I/AAAAAAAABig/HGe3kCfJFTE/s1600/IMG_8445.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LKY6lFhdg80/UpLsmSlw7-I/AAAAAAAABig/HGe3kCfJFTE/s400/IMG_8445.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty Bastion.</td></tr>
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It's pretty, from whatever angle.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-My5cUOIUcxI/UpLsmXAtsHI/AAAAAAAABiY/OV7mOj1Ambo/s1600/IMG_8456.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-My5cUOIUcxI/UpLsmXAtsHI/AAAAAAAABiY/OV7mOj1Ambo/s400/IMG_8456.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of pretty.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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At night, you can either hit up those sweet Ruin Pubs back in Pest, OR you can look longingly at the beauty that is Buda. Which contains remnants from many different time periods.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-33Fq6jL33gM/UpLspqiwMBI/AAAAAAAABjA/A4ZO4oWfbe8/s1600/IMG_8487.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-33Fq6jL33gM/UpLspqiwMBI/AAAAAAAABjA/A4ZO4oWfbe8/s400/IMG_8487.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The once upon a time castle.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OqXlT6Wii4c/UpLsrQYt5uI/AAAAAAAABjQ/omIRh-f1T7Q/s1600/IMG_8555.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OqXlT6Wii4c/UpLsrQYt5uI/AAAAAAAABjQ/omIRh-f1T7Q/s400/IMG_8555.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still a castle.</td></tr>
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A great place to get a good view of the city is by hiking up to the Liberty Statue, which was originally put up to honor the Soviets for liberating (in a manner of speaking) the city from the Nazis. It was later re-branded, but lost none of that blocky Soviet chic.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I4jViKK2m58/UpLspKlltjI/AAAAAAAABi0/MHe8Lt0K7gc/s1600/IMG_8522.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I4jViKK2m58/UpLspKlltjI/AAAAAAAABi0/MHe8Lt0K7gc/s400/IMG_8522.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The rebranded communist statue</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S7cHICPbunM/UpLsqTTyGeI/AAAAAAAABjE/liATWHJsFwo/s1600/IMG_8537.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S7cHICPbunM/UpLsqTTyGeI/AAAAAAAABjE/liATWHJsFwo/s400/IMG_8537.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Classic yoga pose.</td></tr>
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One thing you will notice about Budapest: It has bridges. And a river. Like many European cities.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xo7e6v9Hqm8/UpLssY_0xlI/AAAAAAAABjY/HA5g0-mN_Do/s1600/IMG_8566.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xo7e6v9Hqm8/UpLssY_0xlI/AAAAAAAABjY/HA5g0-mN_Do/s400/IMG_8566.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back on the chain bridge.</td></tr>
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And a huge range of architecture, some of which looks like Prague, and some of which looks like sand castles.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-54vatnphbc4/UpLssvG7VnI/AAAAAAAABjc/Yk8VonuzXuw/s1600/IMG_8567.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-54vatnphbc4/UpLssvG7VnI/AAAAAAAABjc/Yk8VonuzXuw/s400/IMG_8567.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And general old things.</td></tr>
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<br />
In short, it's a cool city with a thriving night life and some pretty old things to look at. And if you go there during the shoulder season, it won't have the tourist overload vibe of many European capitals.<br />
<br />
So go to Budapest. Come back from Budapesht.*<br />
<br />
<br />
*You'll learn to say it like a local. And you won't suffer anyone to mention the city in standard English for a good six months.</div>
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Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-39328832503848004142014-02-18T09:56:00.002-05:002014-02-18T09:56:32.752-05:00Vienna: More than a Palace! But mostly a palace. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R-imA6wVtg0/UwLIf0Tj08I/AAAAAAAACF4/isLo5Ry68HY/s1600/IMG_8109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R-imA6wVtg0/UwLIf0Tj08I/AAAAAAAACF4/isLo5Ry68HY/s1600/IMG_8109.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Neoclassical? Pretty Classy.</td></tr>
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Vienna is a beautiful neoclassical city. It's a great place to take the time to get lost and wander down unfamiliar streets. You will find lovely buildings wherever you look. And if you want to get lost, you're in luck! The free maps for this city were the worst I encountered anywhere in Europe! </div>
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There are a lot of amazing facts about this city that you will definitely learn if you spend more than a day there and don't waste it getting lost.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uDsj3grCYvk/UwLIgQ7V3jI/AAAAAAAACF8/c60IpegRZTc/s1600/IMG_8117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uDsj3grCYvk/UwLIgQ7V3jI/AAAAAAAACF8/c60IpegRZTc/s1600/IMG_8117.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awww, horse hug.</td></tr>
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Vienna is renowned for its Lipizzaner stallions (not carriage horses), which are trained from birth to death to prance and dance. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-44zRWGxZK0I/UwLKFn2yBmI/AAAAAAAACG0/nEdiCF12e_E/s1600/IMG_8079.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-44zRWGxZK0I/UwLKFn2yBmI/AAAAAAAACG0/nEdiCF12e_E/s1600/IMG_8079.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not the training process. I hope.</td></tr>
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It's a beautiful city, though it seems cold around the edges at first glance. However, hipsters will find it full of boho-chic undertones. If you know someone that knows someone that isn't a tourist, you'll have fun. There are awesome bars full of board games, friendly people, and if you look around, you might be able to find a pay-what-you-want buffet! What more can you need? </div>
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I have a lot of respect for the cold stone side of Vienna. By the looks of things, they have traditionally allocated the resources to libraries that libraries deserve. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h2d0kREilqA/UwLIhaXyvEI/AAAAAAAACGM/XScvc0AFO0E/s1600/IMG_8067.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h2d0kREilqA/UwLIhaXyvEI/AAAAAAAACGM/XScvc0AFO0E/s1600/IMG_8067.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forget the books, check out this library!</td></tr>
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The other thing you can't avoid in Vienna is the deep and abiding influence of the Hapsburg dynasty. I'm not talking inbreeding and chins the size of a lesser man's head--I'm talking palaces! Big ones!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZZ-V_HhK02A/UwLIh0CJQwI/AAAAAAAACGU/V2ZZB2A_KZg/s1600/IMG_8170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZZ-V_HhK02A/UwLIh0CJQwI/AAAAAAAACGU/V2ZZB2A_KZg/s1600/IMG_8170.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not actually pure gold.</td></tr>
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<div>
This is th<span style="font-family: inherit;">e <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 37.20000076293945px;">Schönbrunn Palace. I</span></span>f you think it looks impressive on the outside,<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=sch%C3%B6nbrunn+palace&espv=210&es_sm=122&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=vMICU4CoN6bZ0QHf4ICwDQ&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=675#q=sch%C3%B6nbrunn+palace+inside&tbm=isch&imgdii=_" target="_blank"> just wait until you see the inside</a>! They didn't allow photography, so I respected their wishes, and stuck to exterior photography. I only cried a little.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VWvKxDptPdE/UwNzOw0YjJI/AAAAAAAACHE/zAijtGZQM48/s1600/IMG_8169.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VWvKxDptPdE/UwNzOw0YjJI/AAAAAAAACHE/zAijtGZQM48/s1600/IMG_8169.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The outside is ok, too.</td></tr>
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The other great thing about this place: if you're not into seeing palace rooms or spending money, you can check out their sweet gardens for free! (Though if you want to check out the hedge mazes, you'll have to pay a couple euros.)</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LgVJik1yYNs/UpLq0EgsZ2I/AAAAAAAABhQ/hzIhMqMJwHg/s1600/IMG_8125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LgVJik1yYNs/UpLq0EgsZ2I/AAAAAAAABhQ/hzIhMqMJwHg/s320/IMG_8125.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not a maze. But pretty impressive.</td></tr>
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But wait! There's more! You can also walk through the gardens all the way up to the mostly-useless building on a hill!<br />
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<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-zmKO-q-Nk/UwLIhK5GD6I/AAAAAAAACGI/GiNC7eRVfjM/s1600/IMG_8146.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-zmKO-q-Nk/UwLIhK5GD6I/AAAAAAAACGI/GiNC7eRVfjM/s1600/IMG_8146.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Palace gardens don't grow plants, they grow buildings.</td></tr>
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But if palaces don't float your boat and you don't want to meet the friendly inhabitants of Vienna, you can always turn to the antisocial joys of night photography!<br />
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It's a thing! Yet another house of rats.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8AczJFsbTfI/UwLIjesAXUI/AAAAAAAACGo/SO-lqHfagww/s1600/IMG_8198.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8AczJFsbTfI/UwLIjesAXUI/AAAAAAAACGo/SO-lqHfagww/s1600/IMG_8198.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16.1200008392334px; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; line-height: 16.1200008392334px; text-align: left;">Rathaus: where politicians spend their days.</span></td></tr>
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And another thing!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FliqMU9z25Q/UwLIi7Q-zLI/AAAAAAAACGk/gVfJ8ImxQD8/s1600/IMG_8175.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FliqMU9z25Q/UwLIi7Q-zLI/AAAAAAAACGk/gVfJ8ImxQD8/s1600/IMG_8175.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Karlskirche! It's a church! <br />
Where politicians claim they spend their days!</td></tr>
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Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-36867582970910035882014-02-06T10:46:00.000-05:002014-02-07T16:12:43.301-05:008 Questions to Answer While Planning a Big Europe Backpacking Trip<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KY1hwA3VAFc/UvLJ0l4yrSI/AAAAAAAACEQ/nPeCunFY39c/s1600/IMG_1574.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KY1hwA3VAFc/UvLJ0l4yrSI/AAAAAAAACEQ/nPeCunFY39c/s1600/IMG_1574.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I WANT TO GO TO THERE. again.</td></tr>
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If you've never done it before, traveling on your own to another country can be exciting and terrifying. A couple of you have asked me for advice on how to get started planning your own monster trip across Europe. The best advice I can give you is to<i> plan to be flexible</i>, because things can/will/should change as you go!<br />
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So here it is! A starting-point guide to planning your traditional grubby train-riding backpack-carrying Eurotrip! How <i>do </i>you get started? (And that is a question for all you veteran travelers out there--what did <i>you </i>do to get started?) At the very minimum, here are seven questions that you need to answer for yourself before you hop a plane to gawdnosewhere.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dHZeNGJXuOg/UvLJpUvnrtI/AAAAAAAACC8/In8oPY5y5Vk/s1600/Cardiff+4000x3000-005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dHZeNGJXuOg/UvLJpUvnrtI/AAAAAAAACC8/In8oPY5y5Vk/s1600/Cardiff+4000x3000-005.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daleks need tourist visas, too.</td></tr>
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<b>1. Getting In: What about Tourist Visas?</b><br />
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Prerequisite to international travel: have a passport that will be valid for the duration of your trip.<br />
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Ok, I can't make blanket statements on visa things. If you are a citizen of not-America, I did not do research on your country, but I am sure Google can answer your questions. Americans: just remember <i>you can't just rock up to every single country in the world, and even if you can rock up, you can't stay there forever either</i>. Do your research. Some have fees on arrival, some require visa approval in advance, some require vaccinations. The most useful resource on the planet for understanding visa requirements: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_United_States_citizens" target="_blank">A Wikipedia breakdown of visa requirements (for Americans) by country</a>.<br />
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Backpacking Europe? You're in luck. You can pretty much rock up and stock up on awesome memories. But don't plan to stay more than three months in Western Europe/Central Europe/Scandinavia/Other. The EU countries, more or less, have an area covered by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Area" target="_blank">Schengen Agreement</a>. It's slightly confusing, but what it means to you is that after you enter the Schengen Area, you won't have to get your passport stamped traveling between Schengen countries. Along with the big downside: you can only spend 90 out of 180 days combined in the whole Schengen Area. So once you've spent 90 days there, you gotta stay <i>out </i>of the zone for three months.<br />
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And if you overstay your welcome? I don't know, I assume Europe puts a price on your head.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hostels: pretty street.</td></tr>
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<b>2. Staying in: Hostel territory. </b><br />
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For the classical Eurotrip, you are going to stay in <i>hostels</i>. They are a great place for making friends with other travelers and backpackers with similar interests (looking at old buildings and going on pub crawls). Most people you will encounter are between 18 and 30, though you can find outliers of that-one-Kiwi-who-was-seventy and twelve-year-old-French-school-groups. Of the people staying in hostels I spoke with,<b> 100% reported they had not been murdered, </b>though .05% reported a stolen laptop. If you are traveling on the cheap, you stay in dorm rooms with between four and thirty people, so you will make friends or enemies quickly. Prices vary by country and city, in general Western Europe is more expensive than Eastern Europe. Go figure. You can book hostels in advance via <a href="http://www.hostelworld.com/" target="_blank">Hostelworld</a>, <a href="http://www.hostelbookers.com/" target="_blank">Hostelbookers</a>, and probably some other sites. I used Hostelbookers, because they don't have booking fees and their footprint logo perfectly illustrates the dirty hippies that stay in hostels. Kidding.<br />
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Hostel tips:<br />
<ul>
<li>On the hostel websites mentioned you can check out hostel ratings and comments so you will know whether to expect lockers in the room or not, kitchen access or not, and mushrooms in the showers or not.</li>
<li>If you know <i>for sure</i> you will be in a city (ie flight you aren't changing) you can book your connecting cities in advance so your jetlagged ass can settle in.</li>
<li>In general, it worked best for me to book a hostel shortly before I got on the train to the next city so I could load a Google map on wifi and figure out where the hell I was going without stressing.</li>
<li>There are random weekends, especially in big cities, everything is booked to hell. If you know where you will be, try to book or plan your weekend accommodation earlier in the week. </li>
<li>Places with a rating above 70-80% tend to be preferable. If you go below 50%, you might find a mouse gnawing through your reusable grocery bag (aside: some places in Europe will charge you for plastic grocery bags).</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Things not to pack: Medusa's severed head.</td></tr>
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<b>3. What are you packing (backpack)? </b><br />
<b><br /></b>I packed/shopped for a bag that would allow me to fit everything into an airline-carry-on sized backpack, because a) I didn't want to check a bag, and b) I wanted to be able to put everything in one backpack. I went with a 40 liter Osprey thing. It mostly worked, until the end when I decided I had to start stocking up on winter coats in Eastern Europe.<br />
<ul>
<li>DO pack a backpack. Some people swear by wheely bags. They have never met the ubiquitous cobblestones that is Europe. </li>
<li>DO NOT pack a really huge bag. I know you want to put in everything you could possibly need. But instead view packing as carrying the bare minimum. It's going to be on your back for a long time.</li>
<li>If you are going camping, you will will need a bigger backpack and have a lot more gear to carry. Good luck with that.</li>
</ul>
No matter what, your rule is to go as light as possible. You don't need more than five shirts, and you don't need more than two pairs of pants. Above all else, make sure you can walk forever in the shoes you pack, because you will.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Instead of counting dollars, we'll be counting...Euros.</td></tr>
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<b>4. How will you access your Money?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Debit cards + ATMs are currently the easiest way to get money around the world. Why? Not every place you go will take credit cards, and credit cards without chips can be problematic. Also, sometimes retail clerks will run the transaction in American dollars, and you will end up with a much worse conversion fees/exchange rates than your bank will give you. This happened a couple times, which was annoying, so I mainly stuck to withdrawing cash from ATMs. Not too much cash. Rumor has it there are pickpockets, but I didn't see any.<br />
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DO plan ahead and check out your bank's fees for 1) ATMs in general 2) Overseas ATMS 3) Foreign transaction fees 4) Currency exchange 5) whatever other random fees you have to worry about. I found a lot of charts online about fees and what card to use, but couldn't figure out a clear winner. I ended up using a <a href="https://r.capitalone360.com/qyCu99doy3" target="_blank">Capital One 360 Checking Account/Debit card</a> and I didn't seem to end up with any fees ever, so I was happy.<br />
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Before you travel, CALL YOUR CREDIT/DEBIT CARD COMPANIES, and tell them you plan to travel between certain dates. Otherwise they may kindly freeze your card to stop the obvious case of identity theft from happening. You should also bring some kind of backup card in case your gets frozen/stolen/broken. Mine didn't. But if you do have issues, dealing with them is highly inconvenient from a foreign country.</div>
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Highly important tips:</div>
<ul>
<li>DO plan a budget, and remember to plan for transportation, accommodation, food, attractions, all the beer you are going to drink, etc.</li>
<li>DO pack a wallet with a compartment for coins, because a lot are much more valuable than quarters. Remember that.</li>
<li>DO NOT mentally equate dollars 1:1 with pounds or euros. Dollar is not strong. </li>
<li>DO watch your wallet. Pickpockets are a thing. I didn't see any, but you should keep your purse close and your passport closer. Or somewhere safe. Whatever. </li>
</ul>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Travel via space port.</td></tr>
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<b>5. How do you plan to travel once you get there?</b><br />
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Really, you can do whatever you like. Find people to roadtrip with, stick to trains, stay on the cheap with buses, or take budget airlines all over. Within cities, public transportation and walking are your bffs. I used a Eurail pass, and regretted it because I realized that there were opportunities like roadtrips that come up that can be fun.<br />
<ul>
<li>Buses are certainly cheaper than trains. I plan to incorporate much more bus travel on my next trip. </li>
<li>The roadtrip segment of my trip was super fun. Pro tip: remember that the UK drives on the wrong side of the road, and mainland Europe does not.</li>
<li>If you decide you want to do a lot of travel by train. If you are You can consider getting<a href="http://www.eurail.com/eurail-passes/global-pass"> Eurail passes</a> which are a 50% like saving you money while letting your schedule be flexible and 50% making you pull out your hair while you try to sort out their reservation fees and caveats. </li>
</ul>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keep in touch. Just don't get stuck there.</td></tr>
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<b>6. How are you staying in contact?</b> </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I boycotted the smartphone idea, and brought a tablet instead (and a netbook). It's kind of like bringing a banana to a gunfight, but honestly, it's really all about the Google maps. You'll either pay for the convenience of a phone, or do technical gymnastics to work within the limits of free wifi. It is super useful to bring some kind of device to access the internet, to you know, book hostels and tell your parents/friends that you haven't been murdered yet. Besides, you may well get bored once in a while, and a quick flip through facebook can cure homesickness. </div>
<div>
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<div>
If your phone is on contract with a US carrier, read up/be prepared for a wide range or roaming and data fees. Better yet, don't be on a contract. With an unlocked phone, you can get plenty of sim cards around Europe. ...And good luck researching that.</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>DO Copy any really important cell numbers onto a paper something, in case you dive into the ocean with your phone in your pocket and find yourself in a bind.</li>
<li>Get International Phone Codes, and emergency numbers for whatever country you're visiting.</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W1_tLA_hCSQ/UvLJxBNMRyI/AAAAAAAACD0/3mjzA1uDDrw/s1600/IMG_1424.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W1_tLA_hCSQ/UvLJxBNMRyI/AAAAAAAACD0/3mjzA1uDDrw/s1600/IMG_1424.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mentally, you're never quite coming home.</td></tr>
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<b>7. When are you coming home?</b><br />
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If you have a firm deadline and a strong necessity to be home again at a certain time, you can save a lot of money by buying round trip tickets or cheap point to point tickets far in advance. Also, if you are the type that wouldn't save enough money while traveling to afford your return ticket, you're better off investing in a return ticket in advance to avoid getting trapped in gawdnosewhere.<br />
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But if you don't have a strong necessity to be home immediately? Maybe don't get a return ticket yet. Sure, there's a limit to how long you can stay in (most of) Europe, but you might want to boomerang off somewhere else. Once you start traveling, you will realize there are a whole lot of places to travel to, and you're going to want to see all of them. (Good luck.)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long distance travel? Better fly.</td></tr>
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<b>8. Do you actually want to do traditional hosteling?</b><br />
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You can really travel however you like. Hostels are a nice way to go to meet other travelers and never be lonely. Making friends to stay with can lead to really amazing experiences with more depth than hostels, which can result in you learning more about your roommates' cultures than the one you are visiting. Not that that's a bad thing.<br />
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What kind of trip do you want to take? Some people used <a href="https://www.couchsurfing.org/" target="_blank">Couchsurfing</a> to stay with strangers. A full 90% of Couchsurfers told me about positive experiences, and <b>100% reported they had not been murdered</b>. If you are traveling not-solo, you might consider private rooms in hostels or <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/" target="_blank">Airbnb</a> for apartmenty-places. A few other travelers used alternative travel/work methods like exchanging farm labor for room and board, or working at hostels for room or money. One guy even told me that it was perfectly reasonable to sleep under bridges, but he may have been a troll.<br />
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I am not an authority, so, blatant disclaimering: if you find yourself stranded some small town in gawdnosewhere, I am<i> not</i> accepting responsibility. Google thoroughly about the places you are going. Google is your bff resource.</div>
Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-33121747256421361282014-01-21T12:53:00.000-05:002014-01-21T12:53:17.629-05:005 Things to Czech out in Prague<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prague Castle!</td></tr>
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For years, I wanted to go to Prague. One of my favorite artists, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_Mucha">Alphonse Mucha</a> (who designed the window below), is from Prague. Ever since some chick told me about a bunch of great Mucha exhibits she saw in Prague, I've wanted to go there and do that. That made Prague a definite plot point in my trip. Besides, I'd seen pictures. I knew it was an un-bombed masterpiece of a city. Before I ever got there, I knew I was in grave danger of falling in love with the city.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Window with an Art Nouview!</td></tr>
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Thanks to a couple of scheduling decisions, I visited Prague in mid September. Now, September is a very nice month in many places. In Prague, September is a cold drizzle that just won't quit. Did I fall in love? No. Will you fall in love? Maybe. Here's a five step guide to enjoying yourself, despite the cold:<br />
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1. <b>Bundle up super warm, and look at the buildings at night!</b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Vatican, according to Eurotrip.</td></tr>
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Did I mention that it's cold? There's no denying that the place has a cold beauty. A very cold beauty. Especially at night.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Random towers everywhere!</td></tr>
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And the art nouveau influences on the buildings are really a great feature of the city. Take some time to wander around aimlessly in the streets and look at the needlessly pretty detail on the faces of the buildings. You won't regret it, unless you hate things that are pretty.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sd2eckyofZk/UpLpWSDZyRI/AAAAAAAABek/xHBkzQU-k8g/s1600/IMG_7648.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sd2eckyofZk/UpLpWSDZyRI/AAAAAAAABek/xHBkzQU-k8g/s400/IMG_7648.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mucha more art inside</td></tr>
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<br />(That particular building, the Municipal House, even has some interior decorating by Mucha. And a huge gift shop of art nouveau stuff.)<br />
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2. <b>Bundle up super warm and look at buildings during the day!</b><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a5qyOZQgOe4/UpLpW3-98sI/AAAAAAAABes/BmVNOuJgoOI/s1600/IMG_7676.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a5qyOZQgOe4/UpLpW3-98sI/AAAAAAAABes/BmVNOuJgoOI/s400/IMG_7676.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not domed to disappointment.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Really, there are a ridiculous number of overly ornate buildings.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nxBsSwoS4TE/UpLpcLRWGiI/AAAAAAAABfM/InmVgZJJnN8/s1600/IMG_7731.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nxBsSwoS4TE/UpLpcLRWGiI/AAAAAAAABfM/InmVgZJJnN8/s320/IMG_7731.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All agog at a synagogue.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There's also a castle. Did I mention the castle? Most of it is pretty standard castle. But the cathedral is kind of impressive. And that's where you can find the stained glass Mucha artwork from above.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a3QNkCdbQJU/UpLpcO3DA_I/AAAAAAAABfI/RULUHk9o0oM/s1600/IMG_7783.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a3QNkCdbQJU/UpLpcO3DA_I/AAAAAAAABfI/RULUHk9o0oM/s400/IMG_7783.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yep, pretty much like a Cathedral.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And there are more nice churches. If you're into that sort of thing.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0KGNuqWJiao/UpLpe2-s62I/AAAAAAAABfg/HCng_Aa7rAE/s1600/IMG_7901.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0KGNuqWJiao/UpLpe2-s62I/AAAAAAAABfg/HCng_Aa7rAE/s400/IMG_7901.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<br />
3. <b>Make Fun of the lame, but pretty, Astronomical Clock!</b><br />
<br />
One attraction that is universally panned is the Astronomical Clock.<br />
They say it's on par with the Munich clock. This one seems an even more effective snoozefest. On the bright side, it does have a pretty cool Astrological motif.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ny_e9YyTtfM/UpLphlHOR_I/AAAAAAAABfw/BcFOiVfeJTg/s1600/IMG_7971.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ny_e9YyTtfM/UpLphlHOR_I/AAAAAAAABfw/BcFOiVfeJTg/s400/IMG_7971.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Technically, it's an Astrological Clock...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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4. <b>Listen to Classical Music in a place with great acoustics and pretty!</b><br />
<br />
If you happen to walk by places when performances are about to start, you can get some very cheap tickets. This was the Mirror room, and they played music like Vivaldi four seasons. The sound quality was pretty great. It was civilized. Maybe too civilized.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6ov00fwLqhI/UpLphxeyCVI/AAAAAAAABf0/vfc8mFC-IM0/s1600/IMG_7974.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6ov00fwLqhI/UpLphxeyCVI/AAAAAAAABf0/vfc8mFC-IM0/s320/IMG_7974.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entirely too civilized.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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5. <b>Go look at bona fide bone church!</b></div>
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If you get really tired of the civility and class of the beautiful city, take a short train ride to Kutna Hora, a small town outside of Prague. </div>
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Do you ever stop and think to yourself "Hey, self, I wonder what they did with all the bones after everyone died in the plague?" If you went to the Paris Catacombs, you would know that some people developed a femur-stacking hobby. If you make it out to the Sedlec Ostuary, you can see that skeletons are art supplies plus. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UNz6uNUajY4/UpLpjNcPs8I/AAAAAAAABgA/OFAobCjFFYQ/s1600/IMG_8019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UNz6uNUajY4/UpLpjNcPs8I/AAAAAAAABgA/OFAobCjFFYQ/s400/IMG_8019.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coat of Arms, Legs, and other Bones.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The whole chapel has a bare bones approach to interior decorating.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L5lSZY2piF8/UpLplfADaSI/AAAAAAAABgQ/EErr0aMHmvM/s1600/IMG_8039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L5lSZY2piF8/UpLplfADaSI/AAAAAAAABgQ/EErr0aMHmvM/s400/IMG_8039.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's nothing humerus about a Skull Chandelier.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-6446765083496097592014-01-16T17:12:00.000-05:002014-01-16T17:12:14.671-05:00Facebook Friendships with Travel FriendsSo you've been bouncing around somewhere in the world on a massive trip. Your Facebook newsfeed is now in several different languages. (This is awesome, though it sometimes means a sidestep to Google translate to have any idea what your friends are talking about.) Can your new friendships withstand the complicated world of Facebook and internet etiquette across cultures?<br />
<br />
<b>There are some very awesome perks of being Facebook friends with the friends you make traveling: </b><br />
<ol>
<li>You get to hear The Fox song before anyone else. </li>
<li>You get linked to news stories that are different from those your home country's media is fixated on. </li>
<li>You can practice your foreign language skills and get called out when your Spanish grammar is awful.</li>
<li>You can share memories with the people you experienced them with instead of annoying your friends. </li>
<li>You can watch their humor styles conflict with other friends.</li>
<li>You can plan future trips to visit each other. </li>
<li>If you are both traveling to a place you can maybe meet up again and explore a city together!</li>
<li>They might even read your awesome blog! </li>
<li>They remind you that you didn't dream the whole trip. (As soon as you get home and into a routine, this is a clear and present danger.)</li>
<li>They're awesome. You're awesome. That's why you're friends. And Facebook makes it official.</li>
</ol>
<div>
The people I've met have entirely revitalized my interest in Facebook! It's the easiest way to keep in touch with everyone ever, all at once!<br />
<br />
But, you won't see these people in person for, at least, quite some time.<i> How do you ever go about keeping in touch? </i>Everyone is starting from a different cultural context, here.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
No matter what your cultural context,<b> </b></div>
<div>
<b>Here's Some Basic Guidelines on How to Keep in Touch with your travel friends: </b></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Be genuinely interested in what's going on in their lives. </li>
<li>Be awesome to each other.</li>
<li>Make sure you can remember in which city you met and generally what you did together. </li>
<li>Remember, when making jokes, that it is a little harder to convey tone in a Facebook message. </li>
<li>When you remember an awesome place and the awesome people, take the time to drop your friends a line and remind them that it was awesome and so are they. </li>
</ol>
<div>
Easy! Done and done. What could ever go wrong?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Usually, nothing. And it's awesome. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But sometimes--sometimes--you catch up with people and realize that you knew them, really, only for a few hours, and that despite a previously pleasant exchange, their version of an online friendship is fatally different from yours.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Here's some Basic Guidelines on How NOT to keep in touch with your travel (or indeed any) friends:</b></div>
</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Do not confuse them with other people and reminisce on the wrong memories. (This will not make them feel special.)</li>
<li>Do not post how much you hate a country, just because you had a bad day the one day you were there. (People from other countries can see you.)</li>
<li>Do not post nationalistic/anti-immigration drivel about how foreigners are bad. (Again, PEOPLE CAN SEE YOU.)</li>
<li>If someone is talking about travel plans, do not go into one-upping mode and talk down to them as if their plans or experiences are invalid and yours are in any way superior. (Yes, everyone is impressed you've been everywhere. No, it actually isn't all about you.)</li>
<li>Do not scream "I've been there!" any time a reference to a place you've been comes up, even if it's a joke. (It's only funny to you. To everyone else it's a little bit braggy.)</li>
</ol>
<div>
The best thing about new far-flung friends is that you are reminded to stay open to different ways of thinking. However, as openminded as you want these communications to be, be aware that, regardless of cultural context, there are some lines you should consider not crossing.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Here's some Basic Guildelines on How to REALLY, SERIOUSLY, NOT keep in touch with your travel (or indeed any) friends:</b></div>
<ol>
<li>Look at the messages you are sending, and consider, before you send it, would it be considered wildly inappropriate if communicated in person? If not, do not send it. (It won't go well.)</li>
<li>Do not message them just to tell them that they are super hot. (They're aware.)</li>
<li>Do not ask about your new friend's sex lives out of the blue. If an acquaintance wants talk about their personal life, they will bring it up. (Facebook is not <a href="http://jezebel.com/man-poses-as-woman-on-online-dating-site-barely-lasts-1500707724">OKCupid</a>.)</li>
<li>If someone tells you they don't want to talk about whatever subject, respect their wishes and let it go. (Persistence is a virtue. Except when it's not. Then you're annoying)</li>
<li>If someone does not want to talk about what you want to talk about, do not bait them and insult them. (It makes you look really mature.)</li>
<li>In brief, don't be a <a href="http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/08/09/an-incomplete-guide-to-not-creeping/">creeper</a> in person. Don't <a href="http://pervocracy.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-to-not-be-creepy.html">be creepy</a>. Don't be <a href="http://www.today.com/tech/how-not-be-creeper-social-media-1C9912901">creepy online</a>. It destroys friendships. (Unfortunately, there is no complete guide to internet etiquette. But come on.)</li>
<li>Do not message people every day when they do not respond. (See above.)</li>
</ol>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
There you have it! A complete guide to cross-ocean friendships. Travel is broadening, and introduces you to new people and new modes of thought. Staying friends with people from far off places remind you to keep a broad and open way of thinking. But there's a line between broad and open and creepy. It's not even a fine line. It's easy to see, and easy to avoid. Don't be creepy.</div>
Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-68167657815623664852014-01-06T12:43:00.000-05:002014-01-06T12:43:10.132-05:00How to Avoid Being in Munich, in Munich<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8cBHE4X67BQ/UpLnL8a2rWI/AAAAAAAABc8/3RmFwU_Flqc/s1600/IMG_7342.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8cBHE4X67BQ/UpLnL8a2rWI/AAAAAAAABc8/3RmFwU_Flqc/s400/IMG_7342.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All year long, it kinda looks like Christmas.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: right;">
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Chances are, if you find yourself in Germany, you'll stop in Munich sooner or later. </div>
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You may be the kind of person that will walk into the old town and discover a beautiful quaint city of eternal Christmas and fall over from excitement. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ohmmtsUW7VI/UpLnM01KHdI/AAAAAAAABdE/UofKobyRmiU/s1600/IMG_7345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ohmmtsUW7VI/UpLnM01KHdI/AAAAAAAABdE/UofKobyRmiU/s400/IMG_7345.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every year, The Glockenspiel scores just below Prague's Astronomical Clock<br />
as "most underwhelming attraction ever."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Traditions are rampant. You can wander around a very traditional food-market, and find all kinds of bratwurst--even horse sausage! But wait, there's more! Like really big May poles!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aVOO6ffehJs/UpLnJlxROGI/AAAAAAAABcs/5prYp-CH5nw/s1600/IMG_7360.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aVOO6ffehJs/UpLnJlxROGI/AAAAAAAABcs/5prYp-CH5nw/s400/IMG_7360.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">May Poll Question: do we need a May Pole?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And after seeing all that, chances are you might want to change things up a little and see something interesting. You're in luck! There are things to do near Munich.<br />
<br />
<b>1. Visit Neuschwanstein castle!</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Located in F<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15.828125px;">ü</span>ssen, a couple hours train ride from Munich, you can visit this lovely castle that inspired Disney's logo. There are some surrounding lovely mountains that you can stroll through. And a lake. Though I'd advise to to stroll around the lake rather than through it.<br />
<div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XiWsx_LC41M/UpLnOLl2OFI/AAAAAAAABdM/jEVA3F1ht3c/s1600/IMG_7557.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XiWsx_LC41M/UpLnOLl2OFI/AAAAAAAABdM/jEVA3F1ht3c/s400/IMG_7557.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View f<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">rom <span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; line-height: 15.828125px; text-align: left;">Marienbrücke: aka tourist photo bridge.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It's a magical place. You can take horse carriages or a bus to the top of the hill. But if you take the time to walk, you might get a chance get swept into a fairytale.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DB53wcjTOR0/UpLnQS7_43I/AAAAAAAABdc/Us4Nl_Lbklc/s1600/IMG_7473.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DB53wcjTOR0/UpLnQS7_43I/AAAAAAAABdc/Us4Nl_Lbklc/s400/IMG_7473.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And meet your toad prince!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b>2. Visit Dachau!</b></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
For less of a fairytale, visit a concentration camp! You can get photos and ammunition against any Holocaust deniers you meet. And it's only a 20 minutes bus ride from Munich. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zWYBWdbYROI/UpLnUTWIAJI/AAAAAAAABd4/3xS5juOZ4n8/s1600/IMG_8260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zWYBWdbYROI/UpLnUTWIAJI/AAAAAAAABd4/3xS5juOZ4n8/s400/IMG_8260.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Legally prohibited from inserting a witty caption.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<b>3. Oktoberfest!</b><br />
<br />
Ok, this one is inside Munich. And there's nothing I can tell you about Oktoberfest that you don't already know.<br />
<br />
Unless you do not already know the following key points:<br />
<ul>
<li>It starts in September, not October. Next year the first event is Sept 20th, and the last is Oct 5th.</li>
<li>If you want to get inside a beer tent and drink, make a reservation and/or get there stupid early.</li>
<li>People watching is awesome: the lederhosen is pretty funny and the dirndls are super cute. </li>
<li>Accommodation is super expensive, but you can find a way to make it work.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-27l9JZ__8BA/UpLnRpcDRbI/AAAAAAAABdk/xq7ICb2sXbs/s1600/IMG_8210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-27l9JZ__8BA/UpLnRpcDRbI/AAAAAAAABdk/xq7ICb2sXbs/s400/IMG_8210.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oktoberfest is in tents.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And if you've had too much to drink and feel the need to get rid of your alcohol, there are a huge range of roller coasters, drop zone rides, and spinning teacups to choose from! <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Ey_IfwyjRw/UpLnR7kSVmI/AAAAAAAABdo/UeZwrSvHKfU/s1600/IMG_8212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Ey_IfwyjRw/UpLnR7kSVmI/AAAAAAAABdo/UeZwrSvHKfU/s400/IMG_8212.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's like a monster county fair.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>4. The Olympic Stadium</b><br />
<br />
It's something like 20 minutes from the central Munich station on public transit.You can pay to do some stuff, like zip line or whatever. But if you are feeling cheap, it's also a nice place to walk around and relive the glory of sports.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--zr09J-3Gzk/UpLnUV6AdjI/AAAAAAAABd8/IPleu4TiDf8/s1600/IMG_8275.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--zr09J-3Gzk/UpLnUV6AdjI/AAAAAAAABd8/IPleu4TiDf8/s400/IMG_8275.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's like a miniature Mount Olympus!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A stroll on a lovely day is highly recommended, to take in the sun and sit on the grass, and admire the retro-futurist design elements.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Live your Olympic dreams and sit around in a park!</td></tr>
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Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-17581317169666359552013-12-30T14:52:00.000-05:002013-12-30T14:52:01.397-05:00Nine Ways to Love Paris<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't miss this obscure monument!</td></tr>
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How not to fall in love with Paris: Get a really cheap hostel with ratings as high as 50% on Hostelworld. (Unless, of course, you are looking for a mouse to chew through your baguettes. Then please <i>do</i> go for it.)<br />
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How to fall in love with Paris: Stay somewhere that does not involve mice chewing through your baguettes. Head out into the city, grab a beret, and blitzkrieg culturehop through the city!<br />
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And fair warning: you will see at least three cheesy crowd-setting marriage proposals as you wander around the city. Try not to let it get you down.</div>
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<b>1. Photograph Fontaine St. Michel!</b> </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is it just me, or is his arm about to go?</td></tr>
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This is not only a beautiful area to walk around, the crossroads of the Latin quarter, but also the meeting point for some free walking tours! And when I say free, I mean, you really should tip, or the tour guides are legally permitted to judge you.</div>
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The walking tours tend to be very good. But even if you're not into walking or tours, stop by this fountain to check out the really sweet lionbirdfish.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You don't want to meet that in a dark alley.</td></tr>
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<b>2. Lock your lover to a bridge!</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Locke bridge: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding<span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"> of Boltcutters.</span></span></div>
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Er, lock your love, rather. Because if you've got a love you are clinging to desperately, there's no better place to put it than on a bridge over troubled water.<br />
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Locking lover-padlocks to bridges is a common hobby in Europe, but the popularity of this particular bridge only boomed post some plot-point in <i>Sex in the City</i>. You can write your names and a date on a lock, and lock it to the bridge, and it will stay there forever, or at least until the six-month cleaning crew comes through with boltcutters and releases all those metallic commitments.<br />
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<b>3. Look at the Louvre!</b> </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">People in glass pyramids shouldn't throw stones.<br />
Unless you want to get arrested.</td></tr>
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Day time, night time, the building is one impressive monument to rich people filling space with expensive things. The museum is a must-see, if only to take pictures of forty people taking pictures of the tiny Mona Lisa, which is behind excessively reflective glass. </div>
The collection is huge and varied, but if you like art, you will prefer L'Orangerie and d'Orsay.<br />
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<b>4. Gaze upon Centre Georges Pompidou!</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When you feel Art is a pipe dream....</td></tr>
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Merely looking at the exterior of this ultracontemporary beauty will irrevocably alter the way you view the world. The building stands in bold defiance to the traditional "aesthetically pleasing" or "attractive" or even "remotely acceptable" buildings that exist all around it. The Pompidou writhes in dialogue with the cultural normativity of the way we, as a culture, feel compelled to hide every aspect of ourselves. It is a vigorous NO to the established norms judging physical beauty. It does not permit you to park your privilege at the door, but rather encourages you to let your preconceptions flow down one of the many available drains. It is a building without skin, and without skin, are we not all pipes and rectangles? The elegant simplicity...[etc. etc. no pomo]...<br />
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<b>5. Saunter up to Sacre Coeur!</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We're domed!</td></tr>
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Climb that mountain, up from the dodgy neighbourhoods, and march up to the very posh area that makes up Amelie's stomping grounds. But before you explore Montmartre, take a moment to check out Sacre Coeur, which is pretty cool if you like domes.<br />
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<b>6. Mosey by Moulin Rouge!</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can-Pan a Performance?</td></tr>
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Sure, it's all lit up and pretty. But once you see the ticket prices, you'll realize that you can have much more fun anywhere else in Paris. Of course, you have to drop by for an obligatory photo so you can realize exactly how strongly the cool factor was exaggerated for the movie.<br />
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<b>7. Tour the Arc de Triomphe!</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traffic Circle of Triumph!</td></tr>
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First built so Napoleon could feel like everyone in his army was tiny when they rode through, the arch is now a very fine centerpoint to a thriving traffic circle. Head to the Arc around sunset to see some really spectacular sunsets that don't photograph well!<br />
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<b>8. Catch the Catacombs.</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seriously? Graffiti? Seriously?</td></tr>
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Come to terms with the fact that you are going to have to wait in line for an hour or more to see piles of femurs and a few skulls. You are also going to see a lot of plaques of mortality-meditative French poetry, and you will really wish you could read French poetry.<br />
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Pro tip: load up a translation onto your smart phone first, because ain't no one got the time to stand around and translate it for you.<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">9. But seriously, DO go to <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">Musée d'Orsay and </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">Musée de l'Orangerie if you like art at all.</span></span></b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In France, Impressionism impresses you!</td></tr>
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By all means, go to the Louvre. But if you want to enjoy art, go to these two museums. There is a lot of Impressionist stuff. (You may have thought you've seen Impressionism before, in other museums. You are wrong. This is so Impressionist it's the Impressive-ist.) They also have some other art styles. Doesn't matter. It's all going to rock your socks.Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-82634893674060972412013-12-24T13:47:00.003-05:002013-12-24T13:52:03.207-05:00Calais on a Monday: Not Quite Hopping.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Town hall: like walking by a postcard.</td></tr>
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In Bruges? Tired of Bruges? You might decide to take a roadtrip to Paris. </div>
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It happens. And if you are heading to Paris, you might think it's a good idea to stop in Calais. A grand plan!</div>
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Just, you know, stop for a hot minute and remember that the days of the week do have an impact on what you can do. Are you stopping in Calais on a Monday? Yes? Oh, good! You didn't want anything to be open, right? </div>
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Of course not! Because it won't be. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Possibly open. But they wouldn't tell me in English.</td></tr>
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Hotwheels and I went all over the town, looking for anything fun to do. All we found were closed doors, closed restaurants, and open flowers. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ok, they were pretty flowers.</td></tr>
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So we decided to look at everything the city had to offer. And we found some super cheap amazing wine. And so we bought lots of super cheap amazing wine and planned to picnic on the beach. (This sort of activity is a good idea any day of the week!)</div>
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There were statues.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Suspiciously tilted...</td></tr>
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For another prominent building, you can also go see Eglise Notre-Dame. On the scale of Notre-Dames, this is not the most impressive Notre-Dame in France. If you have to pick one, I'd probably recommend the one in Paris. It's, you know, a little fancier.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Not so much flying buttresses.<br />
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And for an unexpected find in Calais: a plaque dedicated to my neighbor and close personal friend, Thomas Jefferson.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hey homeboy.</td></tr>
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The beach is quite nice, and proved an excellent picnic location. None of that pebbly nonsense you find in Nice. It's real sand. The kind your toes dream of burying into.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">Beach: contains sunsets. </td></tr>
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We did eventually find the one restaurant that was open in the town. It did not disappoint. Raw oysters. Fish. Wine. Perfect. </div>
Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-25523407549210926662013-12-18T12:23:00.002-05:002013-12-18T12:23:39.899-05:00In Bruges: It's like a Dream<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">It's like a dream. Good luck cutting the tourists out of your pictures.</td></tr>
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The film, <i>In Bruges,</i> featured two primary characters with differing opinions of the city. </div>
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Colin Ferrell just wanted to be back in Dublin while Ralph Fiennes reminisced about how magical the city was. Like a dream! </div>
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I read somewhere these characters were based on the writer's first and second days in the city. And I knew exactly what he was talking about. </div>
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How can it not be charming? There is a dog that has spent most of its life in this window.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-79o8pUZNiPk/UpKCo6UUzYI/AAAAAAAABZQ/Zy0Mo79SOqw/s1600/IMG_5982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-79o8pUZNiPk/UpKCo6UUzYI/AAAAAAAABZQ/Zy0Mo79SOqw/s400/IMG_5982.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Window dog is Windog.</td></tr>
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<br />The first day you spend in Bruges, you can walk around and see all the tourist stuff. Everything is charming. You can probably find a nice charming tour to take you around the city, and give you a rosy view. I enjoyed the <i>Can You Handle It!?</i> tour, which points out film locatoins and has a roster of snarky cynical sailor-cursing guides that will show you around the nice charming city.<div>
<br />The city is undeniably beautiful, and features unnecessary quantities of decoration everywhere all the time.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ixrd16VjZyA/UpKCnpZOsnI/AAAAAAAABZM/6XxlVoNAdU4/s1600/IMG_6006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ixrd16VjZyA/UpKCnpZOsnI/AAAAAAAABZM/6XxlVoNAdU4/s400/IMG_6006.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">IT'S LIKE A DREAM.</td></tr>
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<br />And everywhere you look you can see quaint old stonework. And canals, of course, that make the place reminiscent of Amsterdam, minus the heavy drug use.<br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-90tPxKnk7UQ/UpKC7F1iDaI/AAAAAAAABZo/qTY3j18TBsE/s1600/IMG_6039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-90tPxKnk7UQ/UpKC7F1iDaI/AAAAAAAABZo/qTY3j18TBsE/s400/IMG_6039.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A FEUDAL DREAM!</td></tr>
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There is a central square which you should not, and, in fact, cannot miss, because it is the center of everything ever. Between the cute buildings and carriages, there is nothing to remind you that you are in the modern era.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EUEviTm8VCY/UpKCxuLGKiI/AAAAAAAABZY/Xzoy9XIc1Gw/s1600/IMG_6053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EUEviTm8VCY/UpKCxuLGKiI/AAAAAAAABZY/Xzoy9XIc1Gw/s400/IMG_6053.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Except for photobombing tour buses.</td></tr>
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There is a very tall, very impressive bell-tower in the square. It's very hard to miss, and you may remember from the film, <i>In Bruges. </i>If you haven't seen the movie, I said nothing. Nothing!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mQcRqEsC1-8/UpKC2_jW9OI/AAAAAAAABZg/XMj0r9noFlE/s1600/IMG_6055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mQcRqEsC1-8/UpKC2_jW9OI/AAAAAAAABZg/XMj0r9noFlE/s400/IMG_6055.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yeah. THAT belltower.</td></tr>
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<br />It's worth a climb, you can see a top view of the quaint city. There are cathedrals and stuff.<br /><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uMQkPho5LvU/UpKC_dA2ruI/AAAAAAAABZ0/zasY_9aBHMM/s1600/IMG_6081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uMQkPho5LvU/UpKC_dA2ruI/AAAAAAAABZ0/zasY_9aBHMM/s400/IMG_6081.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cathedrals. And stuff.</td></tr>
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The city makes a beautiful place to walk around for a day. The risk is strong, for any city that size, that if you stay much longer than a day you are going to get restless fast. If you're there on a Sunday, you will find stores closed at unexpected times, and a choice of maybe two restaurants.<br />
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There is a lot to like about a day in Bruges. And if you are coming from Amsterdam, especially, the city will feel like a dream. Hopefully with better dream sequences than that movie within a movie.</div>
Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-66671508799214190962013-12-11T12:31:00.001-05:002013-12-11T12:34:43.503-05:00Amsterdam: Things to do include Anything.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WMCiryXA_UM/UpJ8gRA3LiI/AAAAAAAABYE/s9BrdWX5GJY/s1600/IMG_5893.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WMCiryXA_UM/UpJ8gRA3LiI/AAAAAAAABYE/s9BrdWX5GJY/s400/IMG_5893.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Covering up the typo sign that reads Hamsterdam.</td></tr>
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If you talk to people who have visited Amsterdam, they'll all tell you the same thing: AMSTERDAM WAS THE BEST I LOVED IT YOU SHOULD GO THERE! I DON'T REALLY REMEMBER WHY OR ANYTHING THAT I DID BUT IT WAS THE BESSSSTTTT. </div>
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And that is the secret of Amsterdam: it's got the reputation as the Vice City capital of Europe for a reason, and your options are limitless! Everything is legal! Except violence/murder/other-things-that-are-not-legal, so don't get it confused with GTA: Vice City, and stay cool. Remember, the locals have to deal with at least one spacecaked-shroomed-out-drunk tourist screaming and running naked through the red light district every day, so don't be that guy.</div>
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Anyway, within the parameters of anything, you can probably find something to like in Amsterdam.</div>
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Like Art? Do yourself a favor and go see the Van Gogh museum. You'll see lots of pretty colors, and looking at his take on scale and perspective, you may even feel better about yourself as an artist!</div>
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Like History? See the highly minimalist Anne Frank House! It's guaranteed to cheer you up about as much as a concentration camp!</div>
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Like old buildings? Walk around! </div>
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Pro tip: <b>watch out for bikes</b>. They don't break for tourists.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O3xnaDnPvnw/UpJ8XSb0RtI/AAAAAAAABX8/705rgTwL2wk/s1600/IMG_5870.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O3xnaDnPvnw/UpJ8XSb0RtI/AAAAAAAABX8/705rgTwL2wk/s400/IMG_5870.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You , too, can go Tourist watching!</td></tr>
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Like really skinny buildings? Well, someone does.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-43Rbk7iknqI/UpJ8wY7R2tI/AAAAAAAABYk/nwPdsDXiwlc/s1600/IMG_5910.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-43Rbk7iknqI/UpJ8wY7R2tI/AAAAAAAABYk/nwPdsDXiwlc/s400/IMG_5910.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">One of the many thinnest buildings in Europe. Rationale? Tax loophole.</td></tr>
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Like making fun of monuments that are compensating for something?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-chh5TWJjgzs/UpJ8WbextvI/AAAAAAAABX0/Pb_RIJsfGDQ/s1600/IMG_5871.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-chh5TWJjgzs/UpJ8WbextvI/AAAAAAAABX0/Pb_RIJsfGDQ/s400/IMG_5871.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meeting place for the walking tour.</td></tr>
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Speaking of compensating, you can visit a condomerie, and buy your friends a bewildering array of bad-idea protection!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lQC5nOdgwqk/UpJ8hZ9ZKqI/AAAAAAAABYM/OyZBesl_qhQ/s1600/IMG_5945.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lQC5nOdgwqk/UpJ8hZ9ZKqI/AAAAAAAABYM/OyZBesl_qhQ/s400/IMG_5945.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Insert joke here.</td></tr>
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Like cheese? Go to the Cheese museum, or better yet, just eat a lot of free samples upstairs and skip the museum!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fhniKMtJ5cI/UpJ8oMo1EbI/AAAAAAAABYU/bjpDorMoI4Q/s1600/IMG_5952.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fhniKMtJ5cI/UpJ8oMo1EbI/AAAAAAAABYU/bjpDorMoI4Q/s400/IMG_5952.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This museum isn't cutting it.</td></tr>
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Like pimped out rides? This one shouldn't be hard to find.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GTq6uQMFAtE/UpJ8suO38LI/AAAAAAAABYc/RzMxc9tx47I/s1600/IMG_5962.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GTq6uQMFAtE/UpJ8suO38LI/AAAAAAAABYc/RzMxc9tx47I/s400/IMG_5962.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You wish your car had rims like that.</td></tr>
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Like sitting around and relaxing? Amsterdam has many very chill parks. Sitting and taking in the nature on nice sunny days comes highly recommended. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bDJmuvRMTWA/UpJ83LjcD3I/AAAAAAAABY0/TofEP2A5FKI/s1600/IMG_5964.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bDJmuvRMTWA/UpJ83LjcD3I/AAAAAAAABY0/TofEP2A5FKI/s400/IMG_5964.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I hear ducks can be really interesting.</td></tr>
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<br />Like boats? Take a canal tour.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gJtlTOlIC50/UpJ80iIL23I/AAAAAAAABYs/28zdMSJHgVc/s1600/IMG_5973.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gJtlTOlIC50/UpJ80iIL23I/AAAAAAAABYs/28zdMSJHgVc/s400/IMG_5973.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canals: less confusing to navigate around than Venice.</td></tr>
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Like Red Light Districts? You can walk around and see the ladies displaying their wares in windows, but while it is legal and regulated except for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_the_Netherlands">problematic problematic human trafficking problematic.</a>Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-813969591773653494.post-2245370211201521542013-12-04T14:11:00.002-05:002013-12-04T15:00:46.982-05:00Berlin: Historically Interesting.<div>
People go to Berlin for two reasons: </div>
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1. History. Between the World War II history and the Berlin wall, the city is swimming in history.<br />
2. For that all-night/all-day techno club that doesn't close between Thursday and Sunday.<br />
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Because I like to do things like sleep occasionally, I went for the first reason. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kDyZR5EDw6Q/UopGYUtqK3I/AAAAAAAABWY/V_P2-BcD778/s1600/09-26-IMG_5703.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kDyZR5EDw6Q/UopGYUtqK3I/AAAAAAAABWY/V_P2-BcD778/s400/09-26-IMG_5703.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Japanese Art Inspired BERLYN wall.</td></tr>
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There this thing about big cities where when they get all gentrified and ritzy, the creative art scene utterly tanks. Fortunately for Berlin's artistic integrity, rent is still super cheap! You can find vibrant art things and some communist buildings crumbling into bleak ruin bars. And of course you have to visit the very nice East Side Gallery to see the most complete and bemuraled section of Berlin wall sitting around.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t59LzIG3ITI/UopGblECLDI/AAAAAAAABWw/_nxLFP4ChQk/s1600/10-28-IMG_5708.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t59LzIG3ITI/UopGblECLDI/AAAAAAAABWw/_nxLFP4ChQk/s400/10-28-IMG_5708.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amsterdam Substances Inspired Berlin Wall.</td></tr>
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Unfortunately for tourists, Berlin is a confusing city to visit. It has many disjointed sections and an initially confusing public transit network, so if you go in unprepared, you lose a lot of time figuring out what you should be doing and where.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KagZzAxlXXQ/UopGadKuktI/AAAAAAAABWk/cSQU2cfAka4/s1600/12-37-IMG_5744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KagZzAxlXXQ/UopGadKuktI/AAAAAAAABWk/cSQU2cfAka4/s400/12-37-IMG_5744.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Museums: not quite the center of night life.</td></tr>
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If you want to skip any sense of being in a vibrant, living city, stay in the museum district! It has all kinds of mostly reconstructed buildings to look at. Note: any really dark statues are old enough to be dirty. That's how you know they're original!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vt0R0oRDdTc/UopGXDB4jQI/AAAAAAAABWI/_LupefJT36k/s1600/06-15-IMG_5661.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vt0R0oRDdTc/UopGXDB4jQI/AAAAAAAABWI/_LupefJT36k/s400/06-15-IMG_5661.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not quite hopping.</td></tr>
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However, it is highly recommended to walk through this district at least once: you can find a really great flea market of old stuff.. Especially if you are collecting steampunk: there was one guy who exclusively sold old binoculars. Or, if you're feeling cheap, you can settle for some communist pins.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SX4auITTvNk/UopGctRu0kI/AAAAAAAABW8/PYo-9bP01xc/s1600/13-39-IMG_5752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SX4auITTvNk/UopGctRu0kI/AAAAAAAABW8/PYo-9bP01xc/s400/13-39-IMG_5752.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Museum District! Vibrant! Young! Calcified!</td></tr>
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<b>WWII: Plenty of stuff to see.</b><br />
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In Hamburg, I had first encountered WWII history as told by Germans, which tended to be very carefully neutral and factual. Unfortunately, the free walking tour I took in Berlin was guided by an Englishman. Sure, it was factual and interesting, but it was more of the same history written by the winners.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SvZqijA_IeQ/UopGVKuF_oI/AAAAAAAABVs/CzjADEzGCPU/s1600/03-08-IMG_5636.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SvZqijA_IeQ/UopGVKuF_oI/AAAAAAAABVs/CzjADEzGCPU/s400/03-08-IMG_5636.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Memorial to the Murdered Jews: will not cheer you up.</td></tr>
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Actually, the walking tour in Berlin is totally worth the three hour tromp. You can, without any research, see where the museums are, and get a sense of which ones you want to visit. You'll pass the Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews, and even get to stand on top of the parking lot that covers the bunker where Hitler did his famous double suicide thing!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r5rWi9LzsUM/UopGdmjicUI/AAAAAAAABXI/vhoAKDIIQrM/s1600/15-44-IMG_5785.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r5rWi9LzsUM/UopGdmjicUI/AAAAAAAABXI/vhoAKDIIQrM/s400/15-44-IMG_5785.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bleak Blocks</td></tr>
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In school, I know at some point or another, you studied WWII history, and whether you fell asleep during lectures or not, every corner you turn in Berlin becomes an "oh right, that happened" moment.<br />
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Decorative elements around the city sometimes give you pause.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6uFHilYsKNk/UopGVvDtkdI/AAAAAAAABV0/BFHfG2y0IHU/s1600/01-01-IMG_5616.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6uFHilYsKNk/UopGVvDtkdI/AAAAAAAABV0/BFHfG2y0IHU/s400/01-01-IMG_5616.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eagles, huh? What exactly are you locking your love to?</td></tr>
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Well, those Eagles: they have old roots in Germany, and have been a part of their coat of arms as long ago as Charlemagne. But in a city that has such strong WWII history, it can't quite avoid reminding visitors of that period of national socialist repurposing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RlcZFLu6Tzk/UopGVXTCdMI/AAAAAAAABVw/ljeW-dwCrPo/s1600/02-04-IMG_5625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RlcZFLu6Tzk/UopGVXTCdMI/AAAAAAAABVw/ljeW-dwCrPo/s400/02-04-IMG_5625.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note: Not a swastika.</td></tr>
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There are also tons of museums that talk about the run-up to the war. If you want WWII content, they've got lots.<br />
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<b> Berlin Wall: Also some History</b></div>
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There is a Checkpoint Charlie museum, which some locals warned me away from. The East Side Gallery (see above) is highly recommended if you like art. But really, you can't go anywhere in the city without seeing the marks of the wall on the ground, or sections flung up as a reminder of the way things were. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t6g1VKxU8ZI/UopGW0TEiBI/AAAAAAAABWE/hO65d8wCItE/s1600/04-10-IMG_5645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-t6g1VKxU8ZI/UopGW0TEiBI/AAAAAAAABWE/hO65d8wCItE/s400/04-10-IMG_5645.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wall Remnants: often less pretty than East Side Gallery.</td></tr>
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The wall went up overnight, and changed everything. It came down almost 25 years ago, and is still being milked for tourist dollars!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qUoAJMqI7uY/UopGYKWNBAI/AAAAAAAABWU/oMlYVggrpys/s1600/05-11-IMG_5652.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qUoAJMqI7uY/UopGYKWNBAI/AAAAAAAABWU/oMlYVggrpys/s400/05-11-IMG_5652.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big Brother's Rosetta Stone</td></tr>
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<b>Potsdam: land of palaces. </b><br />
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If you get tired of the Berlin post-communist aesthetic, take the train out to Potsdam, and see all the fabulous palaces that rich people built a long time ago!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BCMpyLjhRNE/UopGd2Lov1I/AAAAAAAABXM/GKvUcQfWdpM/s1600/16-52-IMG_5841.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BCMpyLjhRNE/UopGd2Lov1I/AAAAAAAABXM/GKvUcQfWdpM/s400/16-52-IMG_5841.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pots-dayum!</td></tr>
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Pro Tip: Take the time to actually check to be sure that these places are open! You can also see the Other Brandenburg Gate.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lweVtPo6BT4/UopGe7gx1HI/AAAAAAAABXc/v5hP56xZCv8/s1600/17-54-IMG_5844.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lweVtPo6BT4/UopGe7gx1HI/AAAAAAAABXc/v5hP56xZCv8/s400/17-54-IMG_5844.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More like a Brandenburg Cake.</td></tr>
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Most importantly, there is a building in Berlin that was clearly designed by a crazy cat-lady.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a3C3Ll8heIw/Up99dRq-fcI/AAAAAAAACBA/X4bGE9sWoBc/s1600/Catdoor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a3C3Ll8heIw/Up99dRq-fcI/AAAAAAAACBA/X4bGE9sWoBc/s400/Catdoor.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crazy</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lsTwVUN5pv4/Up99cWpY8aI/AAAAAAAACA4/gBMw4YZoO6g/s1600/catdoor2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lsTwVUN5pv4/Up99cWpY8aI/AAAAAAAACA4/gBMw4YZoO6g/s400/catdoor2.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cat</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4U2xl2SRyU4/UopGdsk192I/AAAAAAAABXE/bdbJHpxCGwg/s1600/14-41-IMG_5759.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4U2xl2SRyU4/UopGdsk192I/AAAAAAAABXE/bdbJHpxCGwg/s400/14-41-IMG_5759.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Lady</td></tr>
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Kat Zantowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12479540149899066557noreply@blogger.com0