Displaying Category: Travel

Virginia's mountains are old, so by traditional standards, our mountains are more like large round hills. Still, there are some peaks to summit if you're looking for a little climbing. One of the best in Virginia is Old Rag Mountain. We parked about 8:00am and started the hike around 8:30. The linked article explains the progression of terrain, so I won't repeat all that. What I will do is post a few photos. The weather was thankfully comfortable. Not very warm and actually just a little cool given the time of day and the elevation. It wasn't quite foggy, but it was completely overcast and we could tell the clouds were hanging low over the mountains.

As you make the early climb through the switchbacks you see bunches of boulders like this.

We didn't see much wildlife like deer or even birds, but we did find this salamander right along our path. We pointed it out to other hikers passing through and then moved it off the trail to hopefully avoid being trompled.

There's a great overlook when you first transition from hiking the switchbacks to starting the rock scramble. Obviously this is just under the clouds, it's clear we're going to be climbing up into the whiteness shortly.

This shot was pretty much the best view of the day, and still a ways from the summit. There's a somewhat large open section of rock where you can look out over a populated valley dotted with farms spread out over the rolling hills. Looking out over all land made my heart feel lighter in a way I can't quite put into words.

Some of the best sights were the large boulders in inexplicable positions. Here's one of our group passing by a boulder.

It's difficult to describe the rock scramble and it wasn't easy to take pictures of most of it. It's usually about squeezing through narrow gaps or trying to hoist yourself up onto rocks in some awkward un-anchored position. I do have this photo of another group of hikers ahead of us navigating one of the open areas.

Finally, a shot from the summit toward some other part of the mountain not quite the summit. Obviously, visibility was low. Once we got to the top, we found an open area of rock and collectively collapsed and started eating lunch. It was probably a little after noon by this time, so probably just shy of four hours to get to the top. Though we couldn't see much, it was nice in a different way to be embraced by clouds. We felt like we were in our own pocket universe, cut off from everyone else. Not lonely, but kind of peaceful. We felt like we were truly away from everything else... except maybe for all the other hikers who were up there as well.

Check out the complete set to see the rest of the experience.

I spent yesterday at Busch Gardens Williamsburg with some friends, some were new, some were older. It's tough to say whether we were truly there for the rides or for the Howl-O-Scream experience, but I suppose it doesn't really matter in the long run, as we did both and had a great time with it all. The weather was fairly crappy, temps in the mid 40s to low 50s, overcast and toward the evening, constantly drizzling. The effect of this, though, was no lines to speak of. The park wasn't empty, but there weren't enough people to make anything feel crowded or to make wait times longer than ten minutes on any ride or haunted maze or food service.

I would say the haunted mazes were much better this year in terms of theme and execution (except for Revenge of Pompeii, I'm convinced anything in that space is forever going to suck ass). On the other hand, I thought the decorations around the park were pretty lame compared to last year's. Knowing what the range is, I am quite looking forward to next year's experience.

My final three days of the trip were spent in the Netherlands. By this time, I was getting tired and less interested in taking pictures, also, the weather kind of sucked and didn't really lend itself to glorious images of, well, anything. So, things I noticed in Amsterdam: A) there are canals. Actually, there seemed to be canals everywhere we went. I realize that's a pretty well known fact, and I was certainly aware of it going in, but I think I was surprised by the massive infiltration of these canals. It wasn't just in the crop fields, these canals were everywhere, even the housing developments. To put this into perspective I tried to imagine the development where I grew up being crisscrossed by these canals. Playing around or even in them as a young child. Passing over them, biking beside them. But no, I couldn't. We had a creek running through the development, but that was directed by nature (roughly) and concealed by the trees that cloaked its journey through the neighborhood. B) The weather sucks. I didn't even remember England being that gloomy, but that was remembered through the foggy distorted glass of distant childhood. C) Everyone rides bikes. It doesn't matter, kids, adults, seniors, whole families, I even saw a lady riding a bike with two child seats mounted on it. And though people here do ride bikes, the thought of the majority of the population moving on these human powered vehicles is simply incomprehensible. It's as if someone had told me that a full grown elephant weighs six and a half fluid ounces. Like, first of all, that's not a measure of solid mass, and second, I can't picture "most people" around here riding bikes. And so we're clear, I don't think that's a good thing. It would be great if the default mode of transportation around here was the bicycle, but unfortunately, things aren't laid out to support that. And also, we're lazy Americans.

I think one of my favorite pictures (and sights) was De Burcht, which is basically a defensible wall crowning a hill in Leiden where people could shelter in case of flood. It also looked pretty wicked, hunched up on the hill like that, with a really creepy looking tree to keep it company. Standing up on the wall I snapped this second picture of the inside of De Burcht, which semi-clearly highlights the large tube of toothpaste and a nearby pile of expelled toothpaste. I have no idea what's up with that, but I explicitely avoided reading or even looking for an explanation for fear of there being some perfectly rational explanation. I much preferred the rather more colorful ideas my own mind concocted. For example:

Back in the olden days, an evil witch, sore about her cat being run over by a rogue bicycle messenger and then punted into a nearby canal, cast a spell on the queen and king turning them into a tube of toothpaste and expelled toothpaste respectively. No one at the time really understood what it all meant since, you know, they didn't have toothpaste or anything. But eight hundred years later it made somewhat more sense, except for the reason behind that peculiar transformation.

See, that's much more interested than something like "Donated by Mr. Npheldigger to the town of Leiden to remind people about proper oral hygiene."

The final "new" place I visited was Delft. It looked a lot like Amsterdam and Leiden, really. We strolled around and visited "The Old Church" (which has a rather distinct lean to it) and "The New Church" pictured here. I've been told the upper section is blackened because everyone in Delft loves Cajun cooking. Though, I could have been confused, she may have said that it was damanged in a fire and never cleaned up. After that stroll around town we went back to Jochem and Tracy's and played some Munchkin and ate pizza and talked about nerdy sci-fi and fantasy books that I haven't read.

You can see the full Netherlands photoset as well as the now completed EuroTrip Collection over on my Flickr page.

Most of this next batch of photos is from our little trip to Santiponce where the Roman city Italica is located. I found all of this to be extremely cool. I like old places. Places with real history, and except for driving by Stonehenge, this is the oldest man made thing I've been around. I think. The ampitheatre was the most intact structure in the city. We could walk through and around much of it, though large sections were off limits. I found a video on YouTube that is supposed to be a 3D rendered recreation of the ampitheatre. I also recorded some video while I was there, so if you like, check out part 1, part 2, and part 3. You might notice a pattern when looking through the videos, I like tunnels. I took pictures down tunnels and into sewers. I'm actually not sure why I like these settings, especially considering I am the slightest bit claustrophobic. Something about the a tunnel, though, just makes it feel older. I can't explain it.

From the ampitheatre we walked up the road pictured to the left and found (discovered!) what basically amounts to the foundations of several buildings in the city. Several of these buildings featured mosaics like the one seen here. I was extremely impressed by these mosaics. I mean, I had heard about Roman mosaics, sure, but there really is an enormous amount of detail and craftsmanship that went into these, and when I think of them just being in people's houses... It's amazing stuff.

From Italica we went back to Seville and once again visited the Plaza de Espana in an attempt to catch it during daylight hours. Unfortunately, it was more like dusk by this time, but there were still opportunities for some very nice photos, right Sander? In the second picture here you'll notice the ceramics. This sort of stuff was everywhere. There were tiles set into the walls that gave the buildings a feeling of extremely ornate carvings (that weren't) and the railings all around the entire plaza were made of this ceramic and tile. The building itself was pretty much a facade, made only more apparent when I tried to sneak peaks through the windows on the main floor. Inside it looked just like ordinary offices and cubicles and the like. I was very disappointed.There were also these very ornate little alcove things all around the inner wall of the plaza. It looks like they memorialize various Spanish victories by providing a map of where the battle took place and some heroic scene or something or other. There are benches and little shelves for I don't know what, but it's very nice. There were also kitties, both at Italica and at the Plaza.

There are a lot of pictures in the full set, but most of them are of the same sorts of things, so I don't feel a need to explain them here individually. Enjoy!

This first picture is the view through our first hotel room window. I say "first" because there was a slight problem with the room reservation in that we explicitly requested a room with three beds (being as there were three of us guys rooming together) and they gave us a room with a double and a single. We temporarily worked that out by getting Sander into his own single and Chris and I roomed together the first night. By this time I was beginning to understand that hotel rooms in Europe are smaller than what I have become used to in the States. And yes, based on my exposure to two hotel rooms I am judging all the hotel rooms in Europe. When we eventually did get our three person room it was still quite tiny. In fact, I would say with some confidence that my own bedroom is larger than this room in which we were squeezing three men together. Almost literally given the bed configuration. The hotel itself was actually quite small by the standards I am accustomed to; more of a villa than a real hotel in the traditional sense. It was basically just one of the buildings in this alley, maybe three or four stories, built around a sort of enclosed atrium with an enclosed garden in the back. It was pretty. I know Sander's favorite feature was the massive shower head, but mine was this curious feature whereby a light outside the room door would go on to let you know the room is occupied. This is because, in order to turn the lights on in the room you have to insert your keycard into a slot above the lightswitch. Clever.

On our first morning out we wandered through the twisting, narrow, and completely incomprehensible maze of alleys to a central square in which lived the Alcazar. We only walked around the courtyard for a few minutes, so we didn't see anything represented by the pictures in that Wikipedia article, but it was still quite impressive. The Alcazar was originally a Moorish fort, and you can see that in the progression of the stonework to brickwork. I always find it fascinating when you can distinguish the age and shape of the various modifications and enhancements to a structure through careful or even simple observation. Another note I found fascinating while walking about Seville is the number of orange trees that line the streets. There were also small orange groves (orchards?) in the building insides, like the trees pictured here inside the Alcazar courtyard.

Like many things, this Cathedral has many names, I suppose the most common of which is the Seville Cathedral. I didn't know until just now, but this is considered to be the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. Impressive! It's also really big. I loved walking around it and gazing at the intricate stonework and carvings and the brickwork and all those buttresses and towers and the dome and that really big tower (called the Giralda) that seems to be prominent in all the pictures. It's a beautiful thing. Even for a church.

I took a lot of pictures while strolling around the cavernous interior of the cathedral, so the pictures I'm showing here are only a couple I found really interesting. First is the pope-looking figure. If you look closely in his right hand you'll notice what appears to be a large kitchen knife being brandished in a possibly threatening manner. In his left hand you'll notice a distinct lack of fingers. I'm just saying... The second picture is an attempt to capture a very large pipe organ. Glancing over the little pamphlet he got when he walked in... Oh look, the tomb of Christopher Columbus is here. Yeah, maybe I should have paid attention to that while I was there. Damn. Also of note, there is a "Chapel of Sorrows," that's pretty cool, and something called "The Lizard" which I photographed (badly), but have not posted because it is bad (terrible). It's basically a peculiar wooden alligator hanging from the ceiling just inside the courtyard. It really wasn't nearly as interesting as a name like "The Lizard" would lead you to believe.

Alright, just a few more quick notes for this first installment. There were some really cool gargoyles around the cathedral, this little guy with the hairy back is probably one of my favorites. Second, there were lots of mopeds in Seville. And this is something that should be noted about Europe in general (because I love insane generalizations), they know how to get around. They drive small cars, and mopeds, occasionally motorcycles, and bikes. Other than the occasional larger luxury SUV, I could not find any vehicles I would consider large by American standards. Most of the cars were tiny and European or Japanese. Oh yes, and they all drive/bike/scooter like complete nutjobs. I was ascared.

Here we are in part 2 of what seems like it will be an epic description of the things I saw and did on this trip. The next set of photos will focus more on the Gamla stan, Skeppsholmen, and Kastellholmen areas of Stockholm. I'm really just getting these names off Google Maps, so I'm really hoping they're accurate.

One of my favorite characteristics of Gamla stan are the alleys. They're narrow and colorful and reassuringly peaceful. While the alleys in Seville were certainly narrower and more colorful and busier, I didn't realy feel comfortable in them. Not that they were dangerous or anything, but somehow different. I would almost say these alleys in Stockholm felt a bit like a hug. Not warm, but oddly close. Maybe it was the feeling of solitude I liked. As an introvert, I seek out spaces away from others where I can consider my own thoughts and I felt like walking through these alleys might give me that peace. You know, if I were actually alone.

We encountered this statue outside a school, which I would assume to be for the elementary grade levels judging by the playground in the yard. What struck me as odd about this statue is A) it's outside a school, B) this is a youngish boy who is naked, C) so n aked you can see his dangly bits (not so much in these photos), D) his right arm has encountered brokenness. While A, B, and C are likely quite intentional, I am sure D was not intended by the sculptor, and yet...no less disturbing.

We walked over to these really satisfying islands, Skeppsholmen and Kastellholmen which you should be able to see in the map I'm linking to if you zoom in a bit there. You can see in this photo the view from what I think is a monument across the river. There were some interesting and fun things there like swans and odd tunnels cut into the rock that seemed to contain hundreds of garbage cans. There was a sort of castle that I believe is a tourist information building, or something. Right across from that building was the tall ship you saw docked in the ealier picture. I thought the prow was kind of nice, so I snapped that as well. Walking across to Kastellholmen we found this interesting castle-like building. You know, I don't really care for buildings that look like castles but really aren't. I mean, I don't know what the official definition of a castle is, but I just feel like these buildings don't qualify. Still, fun to walk around and look at. Walking back to Skeppsholmen and strolling around to where the boats are docked we found things like tiny herb gardens ruled over by a frog prince and fake owls perched on masts and the bad house named such for reasons that escape me.

And I think that's pretty much the conclusion of my quick overview of the Stockholm photos. There were more, of course, and I invite you to look through the complete set. There were other interesting places and occurrences that I didn't photograph, such as the "American Cookie" in the mall. This is one of those middle-of-the-mall type of food places like a Ms. Field's except they offer large chocolate muffins that might be filled with cream stuffs or chocolate stuffs or topped with soft serve. I tried for 15 minutes to buy a muffin, but they didn't seem interested in serving me. Maybe they smelled the American on me and wanted to avoid any potential conflict. I learned that "public" bathrooms cost money to use, including and especially those in the mall. A GameStop in the mall actually still has a relativeily large PC section (while the GameStops I've seen locally no longer sell PC games). Oh yes, and the really fun dinner at the Mongolian BBQ place with some Swedes and the Englishman and the Dutchies. Of course, I'm not in the picture, so no one can actually prove I was there.

Work on new features or post about the trip... You have no idea how difficult a decision this is for me... Alright, I'll write about the trip. I went through the photos from Stockholm yesterday and posted an all new set. Feel free to peruse, but the interesting notes will be housed herein.

I believe I posted about my hotel room at the Nordic Sea hotel already, but I thought it might be useful to point a few things out. First of all, "space is at a premium." I get it. I'm just not used to "small" on such a tiny scale. The shower was a simple standup shower stall that lacked anywhere to put your shower accessories. There were no windows (but I knew this going in) and in terms of floor space, about enough room to turn around if your own stuff was in order. Now all that said, I didn't mind at all. I don't need much space just for myself and I was happy to save money that I would need to save in order to spend it elsewhere on the trip. I simply bring it up to indicate my surprise at the size of the room compared to what I would be used to in a "cheap" room in the States.

These sorts of shops were everywhere, whether it was Stockholm, Seville, or Amsterdam. Of course, the character of each location was distinct. In Stockholm it was the odd knick-knacks like the creepy dolls in this picture or Betty Boop or troll figurines. In Seville it was generally related to matadors and bulls. In Amsterdam there were foam clogs and headshops.

This is one of the first impressive sights I was confronted with as we strolled through a darkening Stockholm on my first day there. An ice covered river stretching out to my right and an arch leading to the unknown ahead. Well, to me anyway. I'm trying to read the Google Map on this now and it looks like this bit is called the Helgeandsholmen and no, I can't pronounce that. These bridges lead to Tre Kronor, a castle and now the Stockholm Palace where the Swedish monarchy resides. I guess. It doesn't seem all that pretty and I pretty much just snapped the picture and moved on.

Stockholm was brimming with coffee shops. Yes, there were Starbucks and in case I recall, they were within a block of each other. However, the independent (as far as I could tell) coffee shops were by far more numerous and much much MUCH cooler. The establishment captured in these photos was easily my favorite (of the ones we visited). First of all, it was underground. From street level you had to take a flight of stairs down into the belly of the block. The ceilings were low and arched with a sort of medieval wine cellar feel (I thought). Tables, chairs, and couches were completely unmatched. There were small bookshelves here and there. There were coffee tables (natch) and end tables where you could find things like decks of cards or an old globe. The lighting was low (hence the high ISO and grainy pictures) and atmospheric. Also, there were tasteful photos of nude women adorning the walls, seen best (and still poorly) in the third picture. Seriously, I want to hug this place and hide it in my bag and bring it back with me to the States. The hot chocolate was very good although, differently. Instead of using sweet whipped cream as I am used to, they used unsweetened, which was good as well. They serve hot chocolate in tall glasses that you would normally serve something like orange juice in. If nothing else, it made holding it a tad difficult... but I didn't really care. I was too overwhelmed by awesomeness to care.

Hmmm... It looks like this is going to be a tad lengthy and the hour grows late. I think I shall have to break this up into parts... So look for the next part to be posted within the next day or two.

Home at last, home at last, thank God almighty, home at last. I really hope MLKJr. doesn't hate me too much for bastardizing that. And it's not like I disliked the trip in any way, it's just nice to finally be home. My flight actually got in around 15:00, and then an hour to get through immigration and baggage collection and customs. Dad graciously picked me up at the airport (in my own car?) and drove me back to his house. I walked him through some of the more interesting photos and then he and Martha took me out to dinner (mostly because I really wanted to avoid making dinner for myself tonight). So now I am finally home in my own house. And, of course, before I do any unpacking, I think I'll open up and set up that monitor I won in my first eBay auction.

Priorities man!

We spent much of yesterday walking around Amsterdam. As I understand it, this was a typical day in the Netherlands, gray, cold, a little windy, and sometimes rainy. Still, it's a generally pretty city. We didn't really do much as there doesn't really seem like much to do. We went to the Anne Frank House and that was interesting. It's difficult not to get emotional walking through those rooms and reading Anne's words.

There were crowded shopping streets and coffee shops, *cough* sorry, "coffee shops." We met up with Emma, Jochem, and Tracy for dinner at a Greek restaurant called Delphi in Leiden which was wonderful food and a very pleasant evening talking about all the differences between the States and Europe/Netherlands. And for those keeping count, I had two glasses of wine and three shots of ouzo with dinner. Buzzed? Yus.

After dinner, Jochem and Tracy drove Sander and I back to Sander's where we played a game called Medina in which I lost most gloriously. Sander won, though he would probably preface that with "I never win!" which I have a sneaking suspicion isn't entirely accurate.

I have to admit, at this point, I am rather looking forward to getting home. it's been a long week and I'm feeling pretty drained.

Flew into Amsterdam today. No pictures or anything, just a simple train ride and then a bus ride and then a short walk to Sander's house. We're chilling for the evening and recovering some from a day of travel. I am definitely feeling run down by everything that's been happening, so a little down time is appreciated.