Archive for June, 2004
A beach by any other name
Italians call it spagglia, the French say it as plage, but the word beach seems to mean different things. In its putest form I suppose the word means the interface between land and sea, but there wasn’t much interface at the spagglia in Chinque Terre in Italy. The sign for the spagglia pointed directly toward […]
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Italy: The highlights package
To give a brief run-down about where I’ve been, here is Italy in four snapshots.
Venice by gondola: I admit that before I even set my eyes on Venice I thought a trip around the canals of Venice by gondola was purely a trip for tourists, and for 62 euro for a 50 minute ride, there […]
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I’m cured
I think I fixed the addiction to gelatti tonight. Even when factoring in the conversion rate, and the fact that I bought it on one of Florence’s main tourist alleyways (think of a price then add some), $A13 is still a lot of ice cream. Or maybe it was the combination I chose, and it […]
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Museum break
No man can live on museums alone. Going on a bike tour up into the Tuscan hills outside of Florence was my way of escaping. Out among the olive groves and vinyards there were no Roman statues, no Botticellis, no Titians, no Carravagios, no Madonnas col bambinos, and no one selling leather belts or fake […]
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A lesson from the master
It’s not often you come across sheer perfection, but Michelangelo’s David would have to be a fine example. The way this sculpture made from a single block of marble (one mistake and the whole piece would have to have been redone, not just an arm, or a leg) shows the fine details of the human […]
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I can’t help it, I’m addicted
I’ve tried, but the will was weak and I’m now an addict. I canot last an afternoon now without a gellato. The Italians know how to make ice-cream, and they know how to sell it too. On every corner around the main tourist traps, and between each of these corners is a store selling the […]
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World’s dumbest tourist questions 1
How downright ignorant can tourists be? Well here’s a selection overheard while in Venice.
Can you take me to the Rialto in Venice?
Tourist asking a taxi driver to be driven to the Rialto. The only trouble is that Venice is covered with canals (now that’s a surprise) and the streets are too narrow for a […]
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It’s a small world
What are the chances of seeing someone from the other hemisphere? Pretty high these days, but what if that person happens to be from the same city, and from the same workplace? When I dragged my bags up to the room at the hostel in Prague I looked at a man lying on the bed […]
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Key phrases for Prague
It took me two hours to find my first night’s lodgings in Prague (which is a long time with a backpack), and when I did, the owner met me to say that he would have to drive me to a different B&B because they had no rooms left with water. It made the trip longer, […]
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Four seasons in one day
In keeping with Prague’s weather (it rained, it was sunny, it was hot, it was cold, and all in one day) I listened to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and a concerto by Corelli by the Bohemian String Orchestra.
On just about every corner of Prague hawkers ply you with pamphlets about concerts in Prague’s churches, museums and […]