Johnson and I are taking some down time at our hostel tonight, so I figured I can jot down some thoughts from the first few days of our Eurotrip. In the last four days, we’ve hopped from London to Venice to Florence, whew.
London (one day)
- From the moment I got into the city, I felt like I was in Harry Potter. The buildings, the accents, signs pointing to King’s Cross… :)
- I think London smells like formaldehyde, which is pretty random and kind of gross. Maybe it’s the gasoline they use? It just kept taking me back to 9th grade biology class.
- High street Kensington looked like NYC on the first floor and Europe on the floors above — modern shops topped by ornate architecture.
- I had my first fancy sit down Indian meal — we went to Amaya, a one Michelin star restaurant with tapas style dishes. I had the biggest prawn I’ve ever seen (the size of a lobster), an amazing oyster with cream sauce, and a great fig cocktail.
- We hung out at a pub and had some British ale, apparently it’s supposed to be served room temp. The inside of the bar looked just like Duke’s in Cupertino Village, wood panelled walls and red cushioned booths.
- Small word differences were amusing — baggage reclaim instead of baggage claim, left luggage instead of lost luggage… Different but the same.
- Generalization — British people are tall, skinny, pretty, and dress like preppy hipsters. Or they look like Simon Pegg.
- London is flat, nary a mountain to be seen. Where do people go to do outdoorsy things? If I were to ever live in London, that might be one major thing I’d miss.
Venice (two days)
- Man, getting here from London was a pain. I think it took us seven hours, and we had to take a train, plane, bus, and steamboat.
- 99% of the time when we were walking around, we were lost. It was pretty unnerving, and it felt like we were in the Harry Potter maze with tall walls lining the narrow alleys in place of big bushes.
- We stayed at a place we booked through airbnb that was pretty nice, but smelled pretty heavily of mothballs. I thought only Korean houses smelled like that.
- The first directions we received from the B&B receptionist — “Go left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right. That’s the fastest way.” I had a big laugh, but that really is the only way to give directions in Venice.
- For the first hour in Venice we were roaming around dark, empty streets. We forgot that it was a Sunday and most things were closed — I was beginning to think Venice was a ghost town.
- When we finally “found Venice,” we got to the main square, surrounded by hundreds of tourists, and right in front of the building that looks just like The Venetian in Vegas. ”That’s where Tao would be!” - Johnson
- We overheard an Italian woman speaking fluent Chinese. So cool.
- For both nights we went to hole in the wall restaurants to grab small bites and a drink. We judged a place by how many locals were standing outside with a glass of wine.
- The main drink in Venice is called spritz, which is prosecco mixed with either Compari or Aperol. What either of those are, I have no idea, but the first one is bitter and the latter is sweet.
- We met some random people while hopping from place to place, from stoners from San Diego to funny old men from Canada.
- I tried cereal flavored yogurt. It’s as bad as it sounds.
- We started using landmarks on the second day to find our way around — take a left at the second bridge before the tilted clock tower, turn right at the dragon lamp post.
- The best feeling was when we re-found bars from the previous day that we thought we’d never find again. Serendipity.
- The small dishes were mostly small sandwiches or bread with toppings, or fried pieces of seafood. Our favorite place had bread with artichoke spread, spicy chili spread, and asparagus cream with various meats and cheese on top.
- A tip I wish we had known — if you want to find an internet cafe, just look up. There are small signs on random corners with an @ symbol and an arrow. They’re all located in the smallest of alleyways.
- When one of the bars was closing, they offered us plastic cups to take our drinks to go. Love! It made our zig zag of a walk home much more pleasant, me with my cup of aperol spritz and Johnson with his cup of Paulaner.
- Every little shop is a cafe and bar mixed together, and the shop owners seem to drink all day. They’re so friendly too!
- Overall — beautiful city, kind of boring, lots of elderly people.
Florence (we just got here today!)
- The train from Venice to Florence was the nicest train I’ve ever been on. It felt like the Virgin America of the train system — new, modern, clean.
- I wish I had paid more attention in 12th grade art history. Everything we see is so vaguely familiar but I wish I remembered more details.
- Our hostel is right next to the Duomo. Pretty awesome.
- Michelle gave us a tip to jump over the wall of the Santa Trinita bridge, sit on the protruding cement triangle, and drink wine while watching the sunset. When we first walked up to it, we thought Michelle was insane because the triangle looked like a big drop from the wall but it wasn’t that bad. What a perfect spot for the afternoon :)
- We were craving gelato and made the mistake of getting it right next to the Duomo — my gelato cost 6.5 Euros. Ouch.
- Every landmark is immense, ornate, beautiful… and crowded.
- We had dinner at a small trattoria with great gnocchi, a kind of dry meatball dish with artichokes on the side, and a really good braised beef dish with potatoes. Tuscan food seems simple (in a good way) and hearty.
- Our clothes are starting to smell like a bad mix of curry, smoke, and meat. Laundry time soon…
Two more days of eating and drinking our way through Florence, then we’re off to Spain!
(sunday afternoon to monday afternoon)
I have ingested: one coconut water, one cappuccino, one mimosa, three thin slices of margherita pizza
I have listened to: gavin degraw for morning inspiration, avicii for driving fun
I have watched: the first three episodes of game of thrones. i’m officially hooked.
I ran into: kristina for a late sunday lunch, and bridgette on the streets of the marina (small world in sf)
I slept: a restless 5 hours.
I commuted: only 50 minutes! the joys of driving down to mountain view at noon.
Random thought exercise, mostly driven by the realization that I’m not paying attention to what I’m eating!
One of my favorite memories from college was when we were driving back from an ImagiCal event, and we had an impromptu dance party in a random parking lot. The cars were still running, but everyone jumped out and just went nuts. Still not completely sure how it started, but it was just one of those perfect moments in time.
Anyways, the reason I’m bringing this up is that I wanted to share two songs that have become upbeat staples on my morning commute because they make me want to prance around. I’m probably super late to jump on the Iglu & Hartly train, but here you go:
In This City: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUF-IlF1UW0
Violent & Young: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y_Op6yqpeU
Thanks to my co-workers:
- meesuny.uk
- meesunloves.tv
For some reason I’ve never felt compelled to buy a domain. Maybe one of these days.
“ You missed your soulmate cause you were napping.
— Jo, on the topic of meeting people on public transportation
Overheard, observed, etc.
“My favorite interview question to ask product managers is, ‘Tell me about your favorite product.’ And don’t say the iPhone, we’re all meant to love the iPhone.”
Q: “What is your long-term career goal? What are you looking for?”
A: “Tranquility.”
(First time I’ve ever heard that one before. One of those honest quips that make your brain smile.)
In a nutshell, we’ve been spending our time eating, watching “football,” driving, and jumping off of bridges. I was in a rush at the end of my last post, and here are a few things I forgot to mention from the first couple days:
- The British people we met at our first hostel told us that only homeless people drink Newcastle in the UK. Apparently it’s the lowest of the low, and they have no idea why we (Americans) love it so much.
- We also learned that baboons are really dangerous. The story we keep hearing from various South Africans is that a baboon once broke into a car and stole a baby. And we were told that they can break your arm with one bite. We’ve seen a few roaming around on freeways and on some mountains, and I’m definitely steering clear.
- I found a new favorite dish — it’s called “babotie,” and it’s DELICIOUS! It’s a cross between shepherd’s pie and a quiche, which is still a weird way to describe it. It’s a savory pie with meat topped with some type of custard. Yum.
- When Mighty took us canoeing, our last stop was at the Knysna Bridge. He somehow convinced us it would be a good idea to jump off of it, so we climbed up to the top and jumped 40 feet into the FREEZING Knysna River. I ended up hitting the water in sitting position, and I have bruises all up the back of my legs and on my bum. The cold plus the pain literally knocked the wind out of me, and it took me a few minutes to catch my breath. Not the smartest move, but I’m glad I did it. :)
day five
We drove down the last stretch of the Garden Route, and stopped to do a few more reckless things.
- We jumped off of the Bloukrans Bridge! It’s the world’s tallest bungee jump, and it was definitely worth it. I was completely terrified up until the moment I “jumped” off of the bridge, but it was the most exhilarating feeling. A girl before me hesitated before she jumped, and she ended up jumping in a really bad position (feet first instead of head first) that gives you whiplash. So when I went, I freaked out a bit when I got close to the edge — so the bungee guys pushed me off before I had the chance to hesitate and mess up. :) It was so much fun, I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
- They had a bunch of random remixes playing on the bridge, and when I jumped it was playing Katy Perry’s “Waking Up In Vegas.” One of my first thoughts on my way down was how much I hate that song.
- I was on such an adrenaline rush for the rest of the day, and I felt like I could do anything! Haha. We went zip lining, but after the bungee it was just relaxing and slightly dullsville.
- I feel like other countries have so many more flavors of chips than we do! Chips meaning potato chips, not fries in this instance. The winner so far in South Africa is Caribbean Onion with Balsamic Vinegar. I think it’s even better than Salt & Vinegar.
day six
We ended our trip down the Garden Route, and we flew from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg. I tried to ask if we could change our flights out of PE (if we stayed, we could’ve watched the South Korea game), but all the flights were sold out. In hindsight, I’m glad we didn’t go through the trouble because we lost anyways.
- While we were at the rental car place at the Johannesburg airport, we made the last minute decision to buy tickets to the USA vs. Ghana match that night. We got it from a British guy who was in line next to us, and a lot of British people had bought these tickets since they expected England to place first in the group.
- We made the 1.5 hour drive to Rustenberg for the USA game. It was weird to see the game in person after watching in on TV. The majority of the stadium was rooting for Ghana obviously, but it was fun to be cheering with fellow Americans.
- We got lost for a few hours after the game because there are a million shuttles to the parking areas. It took us forever to get back to Johannesburg, and it was really scary to drive around the deserted streets of Joburg at 4 AM. Really stressful night, and just added to the disappointment from the game. Rah!
day seven
And I’ve caught up to the present. So far we’ve been eating and shopping, and right now I’m half watching the Germany vs. England game and half blogging. We’re going to head out to the Argentina vs. Mexico game soon — I’m rooting for Argentina!
After flying for 24 hours with a 12 hour layover in between, we finally made it to South Africa! We’re six days into our trip, and I still find myself thinking “wow, we’re in AFRICA” from time to time. So let me begin my traveling stream of consciousness, mostly so I have my trip chronicled somewhere. I’m not sure if anyone reads posts beyond a few sentences anymore, so I’m going to do quick recaps of the day plus random thoughts and things that I’ve learned.
day one
This was actually more like a day and a half with all the time changes, but we mostly spent this time flying from LA to Dubai, then Dubai to Cape Town. We had a long layover late on Sunday night in Dubai, and thankfully one of my coworkers asked his two college friends to show us around the city. We made a quick zip around to all of the main tourist attractions (that we could see in the dark).
- The length of the flights actually wasn’t that bad because Emirates has AWESOME entertainment consoles. They had widescreen and touch screen monitors with 100+ movies, a bunch of TV shows, and even live updates on World Cup matches. The flights basically became extended marathons, which I love (note: I finally got to watch The Blind Side, and I am now hooked on Dexter).
- I didn’t realize how little I knew about Dubai until we had to go there for a layover.
- Dubai seems to be the city of superlatives (the tallest building in the world, the biggest indoor aquarium, the biggest mall). Ranjan (one of our “tour guides”) even told us that Dubai had the biggest car accident with 250 cars. This is just my first impression of the city from a very short visit, but it makes me feel like Dubai is really artificial because everything is man-made. Most of what we saw was built within the last 5 years or so, and I just feel like they build all these things just for the sake of building them. Did you know that they’ve built man-made islands in the shape of a palm tree? -_- So unnecessary.
- There’s every American fast food chain in Dubai that you can think of, including random ones that we never go to like Tony Roma’s.
- It was 100 degrees at 8 PM. -_-
- Ranjan’s mixed CD in the car: several Dido songs, Indian house music, and Jay Sean.
- People in Dubai work from Sunday to Thursday, so their weekends are usually Friday and Saturday. Ranjan has to work 6 days a week, so he only gets Saturdays off — but he gets 30 vacation days a year. I don’t think I could do it, but he really loves it. I like the way he described it though… he said that in those 30 days a year, you can really live your life. :)
- In Cape Town, we stayed at a hostel on Long Street. There was a bar in the courtyard of the hostel with shots and beers for ~$1. I discovered that I love Amarula (liqueur from South Africa that tastes like caramel Amaretto), and the “springbok” shot that Carrie told us about is delicious! It’s peppermint liqueur with Amarula on top.
- I feel a bit out of sorts because we’re so disconnected from time. It’s a mixture of the time differences and never having a watch, but it’s been interesting to realize how much I’m used to both planning and living my days around days of the week and just time in general.
- All the guys that run the hostel are friends, and it’s cute because they all have nicknames for each other. Kipper, DJ, Peaches, Putrid, Treasure, Razza — all really weird nicknames, so it’s funny to hear the names used so naturally.
- One of the most stressful situations I’ve been in: driving stick for the second time ever (and first time on the other side of the road), in the dark, and whilst lost in Cape Town.
- And last note for day one — there are almost no girls here during World Cup time, and I’m not sure why I was so surprised.
day two
Our first full day in Cape Town! We crammed as much as we could into one day — going up Table Mountain, driving down to the Cape of Good Hope and passing by Boulders Beach, and driving up Signal Hill to see the sunset.
- Thankfully Roy took over driving. We did find ourselves rolling backwards down a hill, and I thought we were going to die. But since then we’ve been okay.
- Most of the Americans we’ve met so far are from California. Although I did see a guy wearing a Warriors shirt, but he said he was from Oklahoma. Weird.
- I have a weird fascination with street signs, so it’s been a trip to see just how many street signs and road icons there are here. There’s 3 full pages in our Avis map book dedicated just to explaining all the signs. My guess is that it’s because there are so many people from different countries in South Africa at all times, and icons are much easier to understand than words.
- People here say “half past ten” instead of 10:30. I think it’s one of those “everyone but the US” things, like how fries are called “chips.”
day three
We spent the morning in Cape Town visiting a few last spots, then started our drive towards the Garden Route. We stopped by Stellenbosch to do some wine tasting, then drove about five hours to Knysna.
- I already wrote this on Facebook, but I love how South Africans refer to traffic lights as “robots.” Imagine seeing “ROBOT AHEAD” written on the street. :)
- They play Justin Bieber on the radio here too!
- Not much today, I was mostly sleeping in the car :)
day four
We spent the day in Knysna, with a little sightseeing and mostly canoing down the Knysna River. At night we drove to our next location on the Garden Route in Nature’s Valley, and it was one of the scariest roads I’ve ever been on. It was pitch black, and literally half of the road was just MISSING (as in there was a giant hole where the other lane was supposed to be).
- One of my favorite meals so far was lunch at Ile de Pain. Must post pictures when I get back, everything was delicious. We got there when they were transitioning between breakfast and lunch, so we ordered both.
- A lot of South African food has Thai/Malaysian influences (e.g. lots of curries).
- We canoed for almost 5 miles! Well, Roy rowed for most of it, but I did help on the whole way back (I was the self-designated photographer). We had an 18-year-old local boy named Mighty guiding us for the trip.
- We were talking with Mighty about how the school system works in South Africa, and it was pretty interesting. Primary (elementary) school is free, and they pay about $7/year for high school and $400/year for college. When we told him about how much public universities cost in the US, his first reaction was, “You can buy a baby!”
- He taught me a few words in Xhosa, which is a dialect that involves clicking your tongue (think Russell Peters and Xobile). It’s really hard to click and say syllables at the same time, and hearing him say strings of sentences was amazing.
- There’s been a drought in Knysna for a long time, and there are signs everywhere warning people to conserve water. Mighty’s motto is, “Drink less water, drink more beer!”
That’s all for now, more later!
