Make credence recognised that on Mon, 28 May 2007 20:06:05 -0700,
VainGlorious has scripted:
>As you Europeans know, central Europe was in the grip of a heat wave
>in May. This was good for my cold, rainy Washington state ass, but the
>heat proved oppressive after a while.
Damn, you shoulda come down nearer to the equator!
>Next day, it was an early start to Budapest. We had a stop for early
>lunch in Bratislava. It's a worthy day tour, with well-stocked tourist
>junk shops, a neat, compact central platz and plenty of nice folks.
>Being the Czech Republic's needy younger brother can't be fun, but
>Slovakia has potential. The people seemed bright and hard-working. The
>primary monument downtown is that of poet Hviezdoslav. Beats the hell
>out of some long-dead tyrant. Slovakia, you are a worthy country.
>Don't let lousy horror film directors get you down!
Haven't seen Hostel, but Slovakia ain't gonna be discovered anytime
soon, I hope.
>After Budapest, we drove along windy Lake Balaton to Zagreb. This city
>was a complete surprise. Most travel sites regard Zagreb as a dreary
>burg worthy of a quick visit only. How wrong they were! Yes, the
>Soviet-style architecture of the central platz is less than inspiring,
>but the downtown scene of Zagreb is fantastic. A weekday night found
>hundreds of locals happily mixing with dozens of tourists on the
>cobblestone streets. Mike and I ate like kings and drank like sailors.
>The atmosphere was convivial and electric. We wandered all about,
>sampling the pubs and falling over the ladies.
It's on the list.
> You'll want to rest afterward, so
>stay the night at one of the hotels. (The only negative aspect of our
>trip to Pltvice Lakes was the ferry full of elderly Israelis we were
>stuck with. They were noisy and argumentative and irritating. Even
>though I'm 1/4 Jew, I was tempted to re-kindle the ovens myself).
Hitler had the right idea.
>But Miramare was just a quick stop on the way to Venice. Ah, fabled
>Venice. Like a beautiful woman, you are shapely and seductive and an
>enormous pain in the neck. While nearly everyone advises travelers to
>stay in Venice proper, we bucked the trend and stayed on Lido. I'm
>glad we did. Our Hotel (Villa Stella) was a welcome oasis from Venice
>proper, and was incredibly affordable. Furthermore, our ferry ride to
>Lido gifted us with a front seat to the gondola races. I scored a
>couple priceless shots of the action. We spent two days in Venice.
>Mike has been there 7 or 8 times, so he knew where to lead me and also
>where to escape for some peace and quiet away from the crowds. We
>visited Cemetery Island, but not Murano. I don't really give a crap
>about glassmaking. Yes, I'm a Neanderthal. But after being culturally
>pummeled with Dave Chihuly's organic muck for years and years, the
>next large glass display I see will likely be bashed to shards with a
>baseball bat.
>
>Sorry, no more on Venice from me. If you have been there, you know. If
>you haven't been there, you have a galaxy of guides, websites and
>reviews to inspect for yourself. It's a beautiful, unusual city. Go
>see it. But for me, it was far from the highlight of the trip.
Venice is Venice. It's been brutalised by tourism, but is still worth
visiting. I'd go back.
>What a glorious view! The mountains loomed around us, folding
>themselves into carpeted rolling hills on the pass.
Just where are the photos?
>It was nice to get back to Vienna. We met up with Mike's girlfriend
>for dinner at a beer garden. We then walked around the armory and
>returned to Mike's flat for cheesecake. Next morning, I flew home,
>enduring the bullshit associated with re-entering the US from abroad.
>It's no wonder foreign visits are down 17%. What I go through as a
>natural born citizen was outrageous. What a foreign visitor endures is
>nothing short of Soviet. If I was a European, I would never visit the
>US. Who needs the hassle? Spain is better than Florida. Paris is nicer
>than New York. The Alps are as awesome as the Rockies. If we are going
>to convince people to come to America and spend their funny-looking
>money here, then we need to make them feel welcome. Our current
>terrorism hysteria is not conducive this end, and it is helping the
>terrorists realize their goal of making America a fearful giant.
Just focus on getting rid of your idiots in power. It works elsewhere.
Oh, and . those democrat losers off. They are piss weak.
>In sum, it was a great trip. Next time, I will likely forgo the car
>altogether and limit my stops. This is the mantra on RTE, and it is
>advice I often give to others. In retrospect, it didn't really feel
>too rushed. But I would have preferred exploring more of the Croatian
>coast. And even though Venice is a "must see", I think I could have
>died happily without having seen it. Just MHO.
But you did see it.
A million words couldn't sum up what I have seen.
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
-- |