Exploring and Sharing the World!
Visiting Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou in St. Julien was a neat experience since we got a private tour. But, of course, my eyes go to the grapes and the vines. Thinking how these little round things will produce a wonderful liquid for us humans to enjoy… This picture is to not me about perfection in photographic technique but about the grapes, full of color, full of pulp, and ready to be taken…
I loved Chile from a 3-month stint there 20 yrs ago before I went back in Dec 2009. I have written about what I saw, did and felt in other entries in my blog so I won’t repeat myself, but I continue to long to go back even after spending all of 2010 in Chile… Why? Well, take a look below and read my other entries about Chile (https://ilivetotravel.me/tag/chile/)
Someone suggested on a blog I read that reading a blog about a place written by a local can be better for a visitor than a blog about the place written by a visitor. I agree that a local can give a unique perspective though I still like hearing a visitor’s perspective about a place. Regardless, I thought I’d give my hometown, Atlanta, a crack in my blog though these entries will not be about a trip for me. Well, it was the first time I got here as a teen in the 80s…
Back then, Atlanta felt sleepy. Everything closed at 10PM including McDonalds. One or two shopping malls within my reach. Taking the subway (MARTA) to the Arts Center station and from there connect to a bus to get to Lenox Mall or Perimeter Mall. Boy, how things change: the subway now goes to those places and beyond. MARTA does not have a great metro network unfortunately due to small-mindedness and the high cost of digging into solid rock. But at least it does cover a good distance in the lines it does have. The best part was when they finally extended MARTA to the airport. Brilliant. But stay tuned, there is a project called the Beltine (www.beltline.org) which promises to add a circular route, intown, connecting at 5 places with the various MARTA lines. That long-term project will begin to impact how we rely on public transport, at least for those of us who live intown for whom the Beltline may be just a walk away.
Or that’s the hope in this car-loving city. Because if you come, I’d strongly recommend right now to rent a car. Else, you are stuck to downtown and the MARTA line or hard-to-hail taxis.
Atlanta is a wonderful place to live but I would not place it in a top 5, perhaps even top 10, places to visit in the U.S. if you come from abroad (my fellow locals may kill me for saying that… or do I just want a good secret kept secret??). However, there is a lot of charm and things to discover in and around the city for those who can forgive it for not having the scale and worldliness of NYC or the beautiful natural setting of San Fran… Nightlife is pretty limited in downtown proper unless there are a few conventions concurrently taking place. But I define downtown as a very small part of the city. A few blocks away begin neat parts of the city!
Despite all that, it has some cools to see and do.
In this part of town, you must definitely see the Aquarium – an impressive colossus best seend during a weekday (www.georgiaaquarium.org). Right next to it is the new Coca-Cola Museum (www.worldofcoca-cola.com) (true Atlantans know to put the dash between Coca and Cola!). I haven’t seen the new one but the old one was on the fascinating side so this must be too. CNN is located on the opposite end of Centennial Olympic Park and its tour can be interesting. Finally, the MLK Memorial is on the opposite end of downtown and an important historical site (http://www.nps.gov/malu/index.htm). Underground Atlanta unfortunately became a massive souvenir shop SLASH smaller crime center so it is hard to recommend except you can see what are old buildings for Atlanta and imagine how it used to be end of 19th century which is of some value.
Oh, one more thing. If you like a good view, go up to the rooftop bar at the Westin Peachtree for a phenomenal set of views of the city. But no need to walk around, just plop down, have a drink and the place will rotate for you. ‘Cause that’s how we roll.
Just outside of downtown, a few gems to check out.
Fox Theater
If you have children and all this sounds too adult, the Children’s Museum (www.childrensmuseum.org) right near the Aquarium could give the kiddos a good target place. So mix the Aquarium and this museum (which is very much about hands-on activities and perfect for kids up to 7 years old) in on your schedule for the kids’ sake!
Rock city (photo from http://roadsidegeorgia.com/site/rockcity)
Within the metro area, going to towns like Decatur with its diverse scene and great places to eat and Marietta with its old style town square and shops are great places to discover on your own.
It is all fine and good to list all the things that can be done but how to package it and get it organized for execution? Well, I can provide a strawman of how I would package up all the things to see and do. Maybe a topic for a future blog if that is of interest!
In a later installment, I will discuss food and try to identify places near the stuff I have mentioned here so you can plan. This will be my favorite section for sure! But I must do LOTS OF research so it may be awhile 🙂
Other thoughts on things to do in Atlanta? There is plenty more especially right outside the city. Pipe in and help inform others on your recommendations!
While I am not obsessed with chandeliers and the like, I noticed after getting home from visiting St. Pete (as I call it), how many pictures of chandeliers I took at The Hermitage (and of the ceilings). They are definitely elegant but their designs were not too stuffy. Not being a connoisseur, but still having opinions, I would say they were made to be interesting not over-bearing. (Click on the picture to see a larger version.)
Any experts out there who can enrich the readers??
Old world charm in the new world. Streets that have seen a lot of history and major empires fighting for them. Old San Juan’s charm lies in its setting by the water, in its history, and in its well-preserved architectural jewels (including the “adoquines“, the cobblestone used to pave the streets a few centuries ago). The wavey adoquines resemble the sea around Old San Juan, reminding us of its place in the Spanish Empire as a key port.
Cobblestoned streets with their modern load
My trip to Copenhagen involved 9 people from three different starting points. My aunt and uncle from Miami drove to Tampa to meet the rest of the group (minus me) there. Then the group was flying from Tampa to Atlanta to then connect with me at Hartsfield to catch the flight to Copenhagen. Needless to say, everyone was excited and eager to get the show on the road a few months after the trip was first conceived.
The flight over to CPH was mercifully very smooth. Not so the reception by the Danish immigration official who, for some strange reason, threw my 68-yr old Mom’s passport back at her so that it went all the way to the edge of the counter and fell to the floor (she had not said anything to him so he could not have taken issue with her on anything she said). That must have satisfied some power trip or, we hoped not, given us a first glimpse how we would be treated in Denmark. Fortunately, the latter did not seem to be the answer. But, Denmark, those first impressions count… In any case, after some initial confusion for some family members as to currency conversion and the ATM machine, we proceeded to load 9 of us in 3 taxis and head to the hotel – the Copenhagen Marriott where my points took care of the rooms (!!).
The hotel is beautiful and has a good location along the canal which gives it great views over to Christianhavn and, on the opposite side, to the city. The area where the hotel is does not have restaurants or shops right there, though they are a 10 min walk away which is not too bad.
The red “M” is the location of the Marriott
After settling in and a quick break from all the traveling, we opted to do a Hop-On/Hop-Off (the yellow route) the first day to orient ourselves and take it relatively easy for my parents, aunt, and uncle (less walking). It was a great way to get our bearings as well as see some of the city. As we got off the bus after having completed a loop, the green route bus was about to leave on its last run of the day so we jumped on it to get to see other parts of town like Christiania and Christianhavn. The ticket for the bus was valid for 2 days which was perfect as we then took it the next day as a way to move between the attractions that were furthest from each other. I normally would walk everywhere but given the group, it made tons of sense to use the bus to our advantage.
One of our first stops was the Little Mermaid. I personally do not quite see it as something worth all the attention – there are so many statues in most cities – but because it is so famous, I agreed we had to see it. I expected to be further from land that it was. Mercifully, the bus made a 15-min stop there since there is not much else to do right there and saved us standing waiting for the next bus… Our next stop was to see the Anglican Church , the Resistance Museum (http://www.copenhagenet.dk/CPH-Map/CPH-Resistance.asp), and the Gefion Fountain . All this was next to the Kastellet or citadel dating from 1662 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kastellet,_Copenhagen) which we did not get to explore to my chagrin. The Resistance Museum was free, as were other museums in the city, and was very well laid out to present the story of Denmark during WW II. I enjoyed learning about WW II from the perspective of a country other than the big ones (Germany, France, the US, the US, and the USSR) and to learn about the courage of those who tried to resist and fight.
Copenhagen does have a few current and former palaces all in relative close proximity. Amalienborg is the one where the current monarch resides. It is one of 4 buildings placed around a plaza that is open to the public. Another of the 4 buildings is where the crown prince lives. We got there, by coincidence, when the change of guard was taking place. It was unique in that there are guards at each of the 4 buildings so the change of guards was longer than I am used to.
Amalienborg Palace
After walking around Nyhavn, a canal lined with colorful and beautiful buildings (though maybe too crowded), we walked down the Stroget, the pedestrian shopping street in the city center. As it turned out, Carnival was being celebrated (though it was June!) so the walk became much more interesting than originally expected!
Our most memorable meal in Copenhagen was a small place called Restaurant & Cafe Nytorv, sort of hidden away in the middle of things, fairly close to the Stroget. I had a fried pork place that was delicious. And the decor felt more like a smalltown eatery than a restaurant in a European capital, which was exactly what I was hoping for so big thumbs up.
It is worth noting that exploring the opposite side of the Stroget from Nytorv gets you to where a church and a university are. The residential streets in that area are worth walking around as they give a different feel for the place.
Other key sights were the City Hall Square, the Tivoli Gardens (which we actually did not visit), the Danish Museum, Rosenborg Palace, and Christianborg Palace. Lots to see in this city and, unfortunately, not enough time…
As I wrote in other entries about the trip to Bulgaria, the main purpose of my visit to Sofia was to attend a wedding. Around the various events, though, I had time to check out the city, of about 1.2 million residents (15th largest city in the European Union as of this writing) by walking around a lot and stopping at key sites based on my travel guide and curiosity.
Sofia was a Roman capital, which belies my ignorance as I didn’t realize the Romans got to this part of Europe. It also was home to a Celtic tribe before that. And about the 7th century BC, it was home to the Thracians. All this followed by probably gazillions of tribes, peoples, empires given its strategic location in southeastern Europe. I did not realize how old this city was in its history! But there was a lot of learning and discovery for me as I spent time in Bulgaria’s capital…
Churches and Religion
I guess the main type of site to visit is churches. There are a lot of churches in Sofia and out in the country. In Sofia, I visited the Saint Nedelya, Saint Sofia, Saint George, Alexander Nevski (the Bulgarian Orthodox cathedral), and perhaps a few other lesser known ones.
I began to see that while each church is unique in its own way, they tend to be quite dark and austere. I imagine this is as intended but being new to visiting Orthodox churches, that was a new piece of “data” for me. The iconostasis, or what to be is the back of the altar area, was always unique and beautiful. There were always icons placed around the church; the faithful would walk to each, bow, perhaps kiss it and say a prayer. The faithful would also buy candles upon entering the church and light them as they prayed. It was moving to see the display of faith.
My mind wondered how religion and its public expression may have changed since the fall of communism (a religion of its own in my opinion but of a darker sort…). Regardless, it is good to see that it is alive.
Reminders of the Communist Past
Walking around town, you see a fairly modern and free society – and then you run into sights that remind you of the serious communist past of the country. I recall reading somewhere that Bulgaria was more Soviet than the Soviet Union itself (well, the communist leadership anyway; not sure that all Bulgarians shared that preference!).
Rain, Rain on My Face
It rained most of the time I was in Sofia, except during the weekend which was perfect since that’s when the wedding events were taking place – I can only imagine the bride’s concern at all that rain right before her wedding day! The worst part was that water didn’t clear fast enough from the curb so when walking in narrow-sidewalked streets, you played a game of dodge of sorts… Most drivers slowed down, if not for the common potholes, for us as pedestrians. But there were one or two drivers who saw opportunity in the convergence of curb water and pedestrians… Evil! 🙂
While it was common to see potholes on the streets, I may add that the sidewalks weren’t much different! You really had to watch where you stepped. In some places where the sidewalk was made up of square tiles, you had to mind that the tile could be lose and, if so, there was water under it, so stepping on it could also mean getting splashed even if a little bit, by oneself! The rain did not deter me -or the locals- from venturing out.
Vitosha is the name of the main shopping street where only the tram and buses travel the roadway and which sort of ends at the church of Saint Nedela. I enjoyed walking it and seeing the shops – and the folks. I wondered if people thought I was a local given my looks…
Because of the rain, there was not much available in terms of open-air cafes. I don’t recall seeing many places with that type of facilities, except maybe in Vitosha street. Because it is still a heavy-smoking culture and because I am no longer used to being around smoking, I was longing for an open-air cafe but the rain pretty much killed that possibility even where such cafes existed. I did manage on the weekend to sit at Flo-cafe across from Saint Nedelya and enjoyed a beer sitting outside. It was cool enough that I wanted to be inside but not too much that it was going to be intolerable so I opted for “fresh air”.
The weather did not allow for the best of photos but some of the views were still worth a picture!
I visited the Archeological Museum (across from the Presidency) which was as impressive a building as it was in terms of its contents. It was well labeled in Bulgarian and English and I recommend it if you are interested in artifacts from a long time ago.
There were other museums that I did not get to visit (National Art, Natural History) as I wasn’t feeling too museum-bound in spite of the rain which invited one to find indoor entertainment/activities. Some key places offered info via your mobile phone and were so identified with signs like the one below.
Bulgarian and the Cyrillic Alphabet
I walked around the Presidency, the Party building (former home of the Communist Party), and many non-descript sidestreets that allowed me to see more about real life in Sofia. One key challenge at the beginning was figuring out where I was on the map. Most street signs, not all, were only in Bulgarian.
As you may know, they use the Cyrillic alphabet which often but not always looks like the Greek letters we used in my science/math classes in college. I finally figured out the value of studying engineering when one does not work as an engineer: it is easier to sort through Cyrillic/Greek alphabets when traveling abroad!! I would like to say that I can finally justify my engineering degree as it was going to help me in my travels!
Having said that, it was not cake to sort through Cyrillic but, I like puzzles so I kept looking up the letter “conversion” to my alphabet and kept trying to read signs phonetically. I think that helped me a lot as I was able by the 4th or 5th day to pronounce most words I read. Now, that did not mean I knew what the word meant! But since my map used English street names, it helped me at least learn to find my spot on the map and then get to learn how to move about the city. In about 3 days, I didn’t need a map to navigate around my part of the city as my sense of direction and memory allowed me to get rid of the dependency on the map.
Some words in Bulgarian are similar enough to words in languages I speak so being able to read the Cyrillic helped me out. Of course, I also made an effort to learn a few words in Bulgarian (to read menus, for example) so that helped. I did notice some French influence and I wondered how that came about and if it had always been like that or if that was a post-Communist thing. For example, the word for “thank you” in Bulgarian is quite long so people just say “merci”. Another example is that one can say “aerogara” to refer to the airport. If you are curious on the Cyrillic alphabet and how it came about, check this link out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrillic_alphabet
Impressions of Sofia and Bulgaria
I could clearly tell that Sofia was a capital city given all the government buildings around the area where I stayed. The former influence of the Soviet Union was felt in some of the architecture though there is enough of other architecture that I didn’t feel like I was drowning in state-planned architecture (mercifully).
I was sad to see the state of some of the buildings and infrastructure. Bulgaria is now in the EU but that is also an expensive proposition for a country recently escaping from communism that may not have had the pre-communism experience of capitalism other ex-Soviet bloc countries may have had (like the Czech Republic). I could see that the country is moving forward but I didn’t feel unbridled energy. A local told me that Bulgarians don’t like to see others “get ahead”, that they want everyone to be the same and that such mentality keeps the entire country from exploding in growth and new ventures, things needed to help lift a country to the next level. I wondered if his viewpoint was skewed in any way but what he said made sense to me knowing that the country had been under a stern Stalinist model for close to 50 years.
I think the country is blessed with great natural beauty, a perfect setting for trade (it is at the crossroads of Europe and the Middle East/Turkey), great climate, and a rich history. It is a great destination should folks be willing to go somewhere different where the sights and “feel” of the city are not exactly those of the major European capitals or even towns like Tours, Toledo, Siena, Salzburg, or Krakow. I wish I had had more time to explore other areas of the city and more of the countryside and smaller towns to experience it more fully. But I am glad I got to get at least a peek at it and finally get a real picture of that country that seemed so inaccessible and remote in my childhood…
I went to Gatlinburg to spend a week with family touring the area. By far, it is the Great Smoky Mountain National Park (GSMNP) that has been my favorite part of the trip. The towns around here are geared to tourists, which makes sense, but they seem to cater more to the tourist shoppers or folks attracted to wax museums, believe it or not museums, etc. Not necessarily bad things but, having seen some of those in the past, that is no longer what I seek to experience when seeing a new area. I could come to this part simply to enjoy nature and skip the towns happily.
The GSMNP, however, is exactly what I seek to experience. As in my trip to Tasmania, discovering “new” types of nature is something I enjoy, even if on this trip I am not able to go on longer hikes than 30 minutes would fit. As my parents are with us, they can only do fairly flat hikes and nothing that takes more than 45 mins round trip (or so). Fortunately, the GSMNP can be enjoyed by everyone as there are many types of stops, short hikes, scenery along the road, and even great history.
As a lover of history, getting exposed to that along with great scenery is a fantastic combination and use of my time (if I focus on efficiency for a sec!). The Cades Cove area and the Roaring Forks area show great examples (real, not built for the purpose) of how people lived 80-150 yrs ago in this wilderness.
The Bales farm, the John Oliver cabin, the Cable Mill, the various churches in Cades Cove, etc. are all great examples of the type of life that took place here in times long gone. Life here was hard though one can over-romanticize it in these times of concrete cities, 100mph lifestyles, etc. Everything seems very peaceful – yet these folks had to work day and night to survive. I especially enjoyed looking at how the structures were constructed following methods no longer in use, even in wooden frame houses. These structures still stand today as witnesses to a not-too-distant past that seems ages ago…
Besides seeing these testaments to a life long gone by, the area is loaded with trails, picnic areas, streams, and places in nature to explore. A good map from the National Park staff will do you a lot of good, trust me!
From the house we rented on a mountaintop overlooking Gatlinburg, we can see the GSMNP and it is amazing how at every time of the day, we get a different view as the sun moves across the sky and hits the mountains at different angles. It is simply breathtaking.
And if you look carefully around the deck of the house, you may even get to see a rabbit… or a black bear.
I am fortunate to have visited Cairo two times: once in 1998 and then in 2007. The first with friends and the second for work. However, while we hit some of the key places to see in Cairo in the first trip, one grave mistake was not to explore Old Cairo… Old Cairo is the way to feel the real Cairo!
Let me take a step back and tell you about the first visit to Cairo. For that trip, I joined 4 friends about 2 weeks before they were to depart due to an opening in my work schedule in between projects. There were no pre-defined itinerary or arrangements except the plane ticket and the hotel for the first night in Cairo as we were landing at night. I didn’t fly with them as I was using miles to get there so I flew from Atlanta via Newark, Paris, and Istanbul to get to Cairo (I was going to visit Istanbul after Egypt). The first thing that struck me as I got off the airplane and walked the steps was the smell of burning wood, followed quickly by the sense of being in a dry place!
My friends and I were supposed to meet at the airport (I was arriving after they did) but, when I got there, my friends were nowhere to be found. Eventually, I was taken by a customs (or was it immigration?) official eager to take me to his cousin’s taxi business (funny how that works…). I got his “cousin” to let me use his phone to ring our hotel in Cairo – my friends were already there! What happened? The airport had 2 different terminals and we had landed on opposite ones so they ended up going to the hotel. I ended up riding with the customs official’s cousin who, try as he did, could not hit a pedestrian…
I will admit that I was uncharacteristically anxious being there my first time. It was the year after the massacre of tourists at Queen Hatshepsut’s temple in Luxor where many were gunned down execution style. It took the first full day of being in the city to get past this initial anxiety. People’s friendliness made me feel welcome and comfortable and pretty soon I was back to normal mode: ready to explore!
We decided to not spend too much time in Cairo but did want to see the essentials. As happens to most tourists, we were offered a camel ride to see the Pyramids “from behind” by first being taken to someone’s store or house (hard to tell the difference) where we were swayed to hire them with tea and plenty of smiles and friendliness. Riding the camels was a fun ride but they ride differently than horses… However, we did not see the Pyramids up close so we were left still wanting to do that. We tried again the next day to get close to the Pyramids by hiring horses to get us there. I emphasized to our guide that if I didn’t touch the Pyramids, I would not pay – I really wanted to make sure we didn’t get cheated again from seeing them up close. So he made my horse gallop super fast either to pay me back for being demanding or to make sure he could get us further than he had planned in the time he had!
Next on the list: The Mohammed Ali Mosque in The Citadel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo_Citadel) which was spectacular (as was the Citadel itself). For sure, one of the best places to see!
We visited the Egyptian Museum which, as you can imagine, have some neat things to show from pharaonic times for those who enjoy the topic. We also hired a car to drive us to Saqqara, a step pyramid south of the city. The site was worth the trip but the drive to it also allowed us to see life outside of the city (e.g., bread being made on a wood burning “stove” by the side of the road).
The end of our stay in Cairo came quickly and we took the overnight train which would take us to the southern city of Aswan. So ended my first visit to Cairo back in 1998…
I returned to Cairo on business to attend a conference with colleagues from around the world. Having gone once and checked out the main sights, it was actually very nice to return and not feel the pressure of visiting a must-see list of places. Instead, we discovered hole-in-the-wall places to eat at, hired a boat for a group of us to cruise up and down the Nile at night, visited Khan el-Khalili (the bazaar or souk), etc. It was a very nice way to enjoy Cairo and just be. In fact, we return to el-Khalili another day not only to shop but, again, to sit and watch life go by – so enjoyable!
I did add to my list of visited sites the Old City which I missed the first time there. What a tremendous miss on a visit to Egypt! The Old City is a phenomenal corner of the large metropolis and full of neat architecture and history… I am glad I got to “re-do” Cairo so I could correct my rookie mistake from 1998!
We first visited the Amr Mosque (Mosque of Amr ibn al-As), first mosque built in Egypt (and Africa) initially built in the 7th century but built-on and expanded over the centuries.
…then the Church of St. George (originally built in the 10th century but completely re-built in 1904)…
… then the Hanging Church (St. Virgin Mary’s Church, largely rebuilt in the 10th century but originally built on the 7th; the main nave is built over a passageway, hence the name “hanging”)…
and the Ben Ezra Synagogue. However, this was not a matter of just visiting important sites as I had always been curious about Coptic Egypt. I really liked the Old City as it was loaded with history and meaning: just about anywhere you look, there is an interesting site or alley!
My second trip differed significantly from the first in many ways. However, Cairo offered me great experiences both times. The city itself awes you (or intimidates you!) as it teems with so many people, so many cars, and so many sounds (and do watch out for those cars!). Some of my favorite images are those of the people I interacted with or saw in their day-to-day life.
Taking a load of fresh bread from a bakery around the suk in Cairo, Khan el-Khalili
Sipping tea while watching others play a game in Khan el-Khalili
It can be initially daunting but then, if you let yourself wander a little and soak life in, say, at a local tea shop, you can begin to see beyond the main things that draw us to go there in the first place – really get a feel for the tempo of and life in this ancient and fascinating city.
Well, by southern I mean “geographically”. It was the southernmost city I visited in New Zealand and I was expecting it to be frigid but, mercifully, it was not. In fact, we had some really beautiful days though one morning we had minor rain.
Dunedin with about 130,000 inhabitants is quite a pleasant town to explore. Not far from Christchurch, it does feel very different. Dunedin has Scottish roots but, never having been to Scotland, they were not as easy for me to identify (Christchurch is said to be more English). However, I enjoyed the town as it was quite walkable – except for the steep hills! Dunedin sits by the water but it is surrounded by hills. The city’s area includes the slopes of these hills where many neighborhoods are located. It is a nice drive to go up to higher ground and see the old houses as the road curves along, while looking down on the city.
But having walked a few of these streets, I can certify they are steep! In fact, Dunedin does lay claim to the steepest street in the world and I am not surprised.
During my visit, I explored the Otago Museum right by the university. It is a very nice museum (and free to boot!). It is an excellent place to take the kids. http://www.otagomuseum.govt.nz/
I also took tours of the Cadbury factory (also good for the kids) where they kept giving us different chocolate bars along the way (not all were to my liking as they were mainly milk chocolate based and I am a dark chocolate fan) as they showed us how chocolate is made (very interesting) and of the Speight’s brewery (where, of course, we sampled their beer – very nice! sure, why not, also good for the kids! lol ).
Dunedin’s railway station is a piece of art onto itself, both the exterior and the interior, and a must-see if you visit. The style is such that its architect, named George, became better known as “Gingerbread” George!
Finally, the main street itself has a good number of places to eat as well as places to shop so walking it up and down a couple of time is certainly worth it.
I found Dunedin to be quite charming and the people friendly. I got there after crossing the Southern Alps and exploring majestic fjordland I am not sure how cold it gets in the winter being so far south but I counted my blessings of not finding out in person!
When I planned my trip to New Zealand, I decided based on my interests and what was on offer to spend more time in the South Island than in the North Island. However, this does not mean the North Island lacks places to explore. I left the visit to the North Island for the last 4 days of my month-long trip down under making Auckland my base and then traveling around the center of the island to visit places like the Waitomo glowworm caves (incredible!), Rotorua, Taupo, Huka Falls, and the geothermal fields. There was so much to see that even 2 days for these sites was a bit rushed.
I noticed a few differences between the two islands during my visit quite easily: two different worlds. Clearly, the North Island is more densely populated (this does not mean it feels crowded) and there was more evidence of human presence along the roads traveled in that part of the North Island whereas the South Island felt more vast and empty. Also, the presence of the Maori culture was much more evident in the North Island than it was in the parts of the south Island that I visited. Finally, the North Island also seems to have more going on in terms of volcanoes and geothermal activity but the South Island has the more extreme mountain scenery (the Southern Alps, glaciers, fiords). Here is a bit more of the North Island…
One of the highlights for me of the north island was to get a small peek at Maori culture by visiting the Auckland Museum (I highly recommend it) and one of the cultural visits in the Rotorua area. It was great to understand better the songs and dances of the Maori, including the scary “haka” that I was familiar with only through watching the All Blacks rugby team in action!
Sample Maori meeting hall – being greeted when we arrived
Maori dance performance
Another highlight for me was visiting the geothermal fields and understanding why those fields exist and are so active – the area is a very “alive” volcanic area. I visited a few sites where I saw geysers and thermal pools. The Artists Palette and the Champagne Pool were my favorite among the various famous sites near Taupo. But everywhere you looked, you could see a column of steam coming off the ground, not only in the areas set up for visitors but just about anywhere you looked. I have never seen anything like that before! Of course, along with all this comes a strong “aroma” of sulfur.
Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating too much so I did not get a good view of the lakes in the area. It rained a good bit the weekend I was in the North Island so I am sure that kept me from enjoying some nice views.
In Auckland itself, I limited myself to the Auckland Museum and the Maritime Museum, and to do a very long walk around the central business district (“CBD“), Ponsonby (where I stayed) and “K” road (Karangahape is the proper name). While the central business district had some neat architecture that I assume is early 20th century, it was the districts of Parnell and Ponsonby that seemed to have more of the charming feel. I did not explore beyond this central core of the city so there is likely more than I got to see. For instance, the central business district waterfront area is only a fraction of the coastline that is available to the city, which is bounded on one side by the Pacific Ocean and on the other by the Tasman Sea.
Auckland definitely felt very different than everything else I had seen in NZ in the trip. It is the most populous city in NZ (around 1.3 million residents out of the 4.something in the entire country). By comparison, the next largest city I visited, Christchurch, has about 350,000 residents. Dunedin, a charming southern town, even less. After spending a week in the southern half of the South Island, coming to Auckland required a bit of an adjustment for sure.
Among the many things I did not see but heard were worth seeing were the Coromandel Peninsula, the city of Wellington, islands off Auckland like Waiheke, the areas on the north of the North Island, etc. It seems, therefore, that I need to return to NZ to complete my visit 🙂 GLADLY!
Distances in Australia are enormous and, perhaps, they feel more so because there are a lot of vast empty lands in the middle (as opposed to us in the US where we have Kansas in the middle!). Yet my trip to Melbourne from Sydney felt short indeed as it does not require traversing the country. I wanted to get a good feel for Melbourne and no better way than visiting people who actually live there.
My friends in Melbourne lived in a penthouse pretty much in the central business district of town, enjoying a view of the Yarra river and the Crown casino. I think my friend Matt chose this apartment for a reason…
The next morning after my arrival I made my first stop the information center in Federation Square, a relatively new and modern square next to the Flinders train station by the river. There I found way more information than I needed but that would have been very helpful had I decided to spend 2 months in Victoria, the state where Melbourne is… I wish I had had all that time!
The information office was very well organized and the folks there were extremely helpful. My first objective was to see the Great Ocean Road that heads out west from outside Melbourne by the ocean so I scheduled it for the following day.
The tour on the Great Ocean Road ends at the Twelve Apostles which are remnants from the mainland that water has eroded over time so they look like massive columns of rock coming out of the water, no longer connected to land. The number 12 is just used ’cause it sounds cool but now there are <>12 (I don’t even remember how many they said). In fact, 2 days before I went, one collapsed so I missed ever seeing it – well, I saw it in a pile of rocks. Hence, it is safer to say <> 12 since the number could change any day!
I decided that a neat way to see the apostles was to get in a helicopter for a 15 minutes and fly around. I had NEVER been in a helicopter so the exhilaration went beyond seeing the Twelve Apostles. I soon found out how hard it was to admire the view and take pictures at the same time while trying to look around fellow passengers and also not blocking their own view!
An unexpected surprise in the drive along the Great Ocean Road was seeing kangaroos, koalas and birds.
After booking the Great Ocean Road tour, I took advantage of the free bus the city has for tourists to hop on and hop off at the various important sights in the city. Taking a bus is a great way to orient oneself in a new city, to see some places that one may have decided “check, don’t need to come here”, and to actually get off and visit places that seem interesting or make a note to come back another time. With this, I discovered the Victoria Market which sold just about everything but, unfortunately, as closing right as I got there. I did manage to get a couple of souvenirs and fruits and made my way back to the city center proper.
I did not get to visit the art gallery in Federation Square which I was hoping to see but got to see the Immigration Museum where I gained a good understanding of the Australian immigrants’ story. What a long-ass and possibly horrible journey to make it to Oz through the roaring 40s!!
Other things I did was enjoy chocolate at the chocolate stores in the Arcades (the city center has this beautiful arcades from early last century with shops and that’s where this chocolate shops are). I also, based on my friends’ recommendations, enjoyed great soup from a little chain store called Blue Bag – the red lentil soup was excellent.
On my final night in Melbourne (and Australia), I got to go to a football/soccer match at the MCG between Australia and Japan. It was great to be able to watch such a match with the local crowd though that required being careful on leaving as we had to walk through a minefield of a kind… Let’s just say, there seems to have been over-drinking during the match 🙂 I got to try one of the famous meat pies during the match which was good but by the time we were done with the match, I was hungry again – should have had 2! That’s when I tried vegemite – on the salty side but the butter made it better.
Anyway, I have struggled in my mind to compare the cities of Sydney and Melbourne but can’t find a way to properly explain how they felt. Sydney has the harbor right there which was more in your face than Melbourne‘s proximity to the ocean. Sydney felt fast-paced, Melbourne more laidback. I enjoyed them both and feel like I need to go back to keep studying what makes them different – how conveneeeeenient! 🙂
Barranco Wall – A Great Challenge | Kilimanjaro Day 4
Preparing to Hike Kilimanjaro: More than Training & Gear
Descending from Kilimanjaro’s Summit | Kilimanjaro Day 6 and 7
Jordan’s Wadi Rum: Not Just for Lawrence of Arabia
On the Machame Route | Kilimanjaro Day 1
Tanzania’s Lake Manyara: A Cool and Easy Safari
Gear for Climbing Kilimanjaro | Clothing
A Fourth of July Celebration – Atlanta’s Peachtree Road Race
A Few Good Things to Do in Willemstad, Curacao
Photo Essay of the Center of Moldova’s Capital: Chisinau
