Monday, June 18, 2007

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon is fascinating city with lots of maritime history to be proud of. It rained most of the time - so no sweeping shots of the city.. instead I give you, Lisbon locals.


Man looking down at all the tourists trekking by in the rain.



This is a man and his wife at the local mall. Sort of like a multi-story department store only with no shirts required. "Honey, I need a shirt." "OK, grab some pants, let's go to the mall."



Just another local.



Local transportation that looks a lot like San Francisco.



So OK you can't just take photos of anyone you see. This lady gave me stink eye and then put some kind of Portuguese curse on me.



Sooner or later you will see the tag team street performers. Sometimes the dog is just perched in front of the hat waiting for money (sans accordian). And.. sometimes they offer you hash.

Segovia, Spain

Segovia is a small town north of Madrid with a 4-star hotel and a 1-star price. Great place to recooperate.


The town is famous for this amazing aquaduct built by the Romans. No mortar was used! Just gravity and know how. 1900 years old!



So I didn't eat this (at least I hope I didn't). But I ordered "suckling pig" at a restaurant. I assumed it would be cuts of young pig. A head arrived, cut in half, looking at me with a tag in it's ear. It wasn't the meat around the jaw that bothered me, but rather the crunchy teeth.

Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona is a heck of town. We hated it. Wasn't necessarily the town. It was the really horrible hostel we stayed in with all the 18 year old girls. Well..



Shot from the ship museum. What, are you surprised I went to a ship museum?



The Spanish eat freakin' everything. I had been thoroughly grossed out last year in Taiwan and thought no one could top them. The title is now firmly held by the Spanish.



The Spanish have a wierd eating schedule. Breakfast, not really. Then lunch from 1:30-3:30pm. Tapas (snack and beer) at say 6-7pm and then dinner from 10-12am. Don't bother showing up before 7pm for dinner. They'll think you are there for lunch.



La Sagrada Familia. Strangest Christian church in the world. Still being built. Looks like a bunch of melted candles.



This guy has that look of "Oh shit, someone catch me wearing this outfit."



"Let's see I'll just walk through this here cactus. OH WAIT. The sign here says I can't! Damn!"

Friday, June 15, 2007

More of Paris

A few more shots to finish off Paris. Our last days were spent at the Louvre and the Musuem D´Orsay. Both of which are just outstanding.

Paris is getting stranger by the minute.



Museum D´Orsay has more famous paintings than you can shake a stick at. It is exhausting work looking at them all.



The Realism paintings are my favorites.



Had to throw this one in for all the fans of Dan Brown´s Davinci Code novel. The Louvre even has a ´Davinci Code´ audio guide tour.



I´ve been eating a lot this trip. I´ve gained 20kg in weight and 6inches in height. And Tara shrunk!

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Paris, France

There isn't much about Paris that didn't live up to it's reputation. It's all true. It is an incredible city.

Tara at the train station. We really love the transport now. No more crappy buses. No more dirty, urine smelling platforms.



It took 3 hours to go to the top and return. It is impressive at over 1000ft. 6.5 million people visited it last year. I think 1 million were there when we visited.



This is hands down the finest ship musuem I have ever been to. I have been to 5 this trip so far. I estimate I'll see another 6 before the trip is up. Tara estimates she'll see maybe one more.



Notre Dame. The first church I've been to where they actually were having a service. Probably 90% of the people in the pews were tourists.



I love the metro in this city. Efficient, clean, cheap...

Nancy, France

4 glorious days of pampering with the Quémener family in Nancy, France. They are our good friends that did a similar stint in Sydney. We have been looking forward to this for a long time. We are 60 days into our trip and need a break!!

And so.. What I learned about the French in 4 days.


The French are hospitable people. They take you to dinner. Cook fantastic meals and let you use their internet.



The French eat tremendous amounts of really good cheese (and wine). I now understand why the French ruefully shake their heads when discussing 'American' food and wine.



The French women are great cooks. Baking and cooking yet somehow mysteriously do not gain any weight.



The French go 350MPH on their trains. They also keep large dead bug collections on the front of their trains.



All French babies are happy and above average.



And finally. All French people eat brains. All the time. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Like a zombie would.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Murren, Switzerland

We LOVED Switzerland and will be coming back. The skiing here must be outrageous. We planned to stay a few days in the mountains and stayed 5. It started snowing (May 23!) and we had to stay to see the views when things cleared. We are here to see the famed Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau.

On the right side is a huge rock that drops sharply into the valley. On top of that on the far right is some snow - that's Murren. To get there you take a gondola! Thats where we stayed for 4 nights.



The valley down below was just as dramatic and picturesque as the top.







This is what we came to see. This is the view from out hotel room. Payed for the view, one which we'd not have for the next 3 days.



We awoke the first night to this. 2 feet of snow. Hardly what we expected or were prepared for. I've got a light jacket and no boots. Tara has less.



The cog train to take you to the top of the Jungfraujoch. It's takes you to the highest train station in Europe. Top of the world.



Well we made it with clear skies. We got really lucky, one day later it was raining. I'm standing in the saddle between the Jungfrau and Monch. To climb higher you'd need mountain gear and brass balls.



It was -10°C at the top. About an hour later all this had melted off.



The view down the valley (glacier) with the visitor center on the left.



That's the top of the Jungfrau behind us (4158m, 13642ft).



These last shots are of a tiny town called Gimmelwald. This is a slice of heaven. 130 locals, no hotels, no cars, no stores. Just a little farming community way above the valley floor and well outside the modern world. It's some kind of magical land and the locals fight to keep it that way.









Salzburg and Innsbruck, Austria

One night in Salzburg and two in Innsbruck. The world is starting to become very expensive. If the cost of accomodation is an indicator, 3-4 times as expensive.

The view from the train. Tiny little farms with luscious green pasture and enormous mountains as a backdrop.



The town in Salzburg is full of endearing shots like this one.



After sharpening his sythe he put on a black robe and started mowing the grass. Took him hours to get the edging just right.



All towns have to have a castle and king. Salzburg is no exception. I really need to get one of these.



My father always said that when I open my mouth my face disappears. I never realized that it wasn't a joke. I look like some kind of Japanese animated character.


The famed ski jump at Innsbruck (1976 and 1984 Winter Olypics). It's a long way down and if you look just past the green at the bottom of the jump there is a cemetery.



I'm out of things to say. Austria was very nice. But after the culture shock of former Yugoslavia and further east, it was kind of boring. (Sorry Governor Arnold)