Travelling in True Backpacker style, Almost!

This post is coming a little late as I had a very special visitor this past weekend in Metz. This special little visitor is actually my 'love interest.' Not to mention, the weekend that began late Wednesday night with her arrival and lasted all the way through Monday night, was absolutely wonderful! This past week has been absolutely beautiful; just the way Spring should be; Sunny and warm. On Friday we ended up renting bikes and riding around Metz along the Moselle river that actually joins the Rhine in Germany. I hadn't realized how pretty Metz was until I saw it glowing in the sunshine the other day. Streets bustling with people of all ages, birds chirping, the sun reflecting off the river and the smells of fresh patisseries and boulangeries.

As much as I would like to write about my time with my 'love' this weekend, this post is rather about the weekend before in Italy and the French South coast. Before I begin I need to introduce a character. A true traveler from the far east. How do I describe this man. Holder of an American passport,mom who lived in Cuba, a dad who was Italian, and raised in the Philippines. Having petted exotic snakes and monkeys as a kid, 'Jungle boy' is his middle name! This is one man that is thirsty for adventure and will do anything to survive. Since the first trip we made to Reims early in the semester, we at once had a third world connection. We both hail from busy and hectic cities. We both know what it takes to get around; what it takes to survive as a matter of fact. The name was Mangiamelli. Josiah Mangiamelli!

With him being a forth Italian, and me just an adorer off food, it was inevitable that a trip to Italy needed to happen. After having experienced the flava and the colour of Spain, I knew I had to go to Italy soon. We readied ourselves. I reached the station in a huff as usual, leaving my class early and just getting on the bus that would get me to there just in time before a nice long 12-14 hour train journey, but it was not to be. As has been the problem with the Eurorail all throughout my time here, is that most of the times the Eurorail seats on the trains you want our booked. I wonder how many seats they have, because it is really annoying especially after you have paid top dollar (or Euro) to get this train pass, which you thought you could freely travel with. In the case that the lady behind the counter, sags her head, and with a very solemn face tells you, "Je suis desole, les trains sont occupent."(I am sorry the trains are occupied). At first I used to be dejected but I have come to learn that you are not to give up and ask them to get you to your destination any which way possible.
It might take a good 10-12 hours to get you there, but heck how else am I going to abuse my train pass.
We were supposed to take a train to Milan overnight and be in Florence by mid afternoon, but we could only manage to get ourselves overnight sleepers to Nice, which is on the south east coast of France. As long as we are going somewhere we said to ourselves. We made another pact before we boarded the train, we were not going to get any hostels and spend less than 60 euros.

The thing about overnight trains is that they somehow move at speeds, that lull you into sleep right away while chugging away through the night. After being comfortably asleep for about 10 or so hours, as I got down my bunk and opened the massive window in our compartment, my jaw dropped! Outside, all I saw was the 10am sun shining on the Mediterranean as the waves gently hit the coast. On the other side were hills with houses on slopes. We had a connection from Nice to Ventimiglia, the border town on the Italian side. The train ride from Nice to Ventimiglia was by far the most beautiful one I have been on. The ocean on one side and the mountains on the other, the train made it's way though rock cut tunnels and small towns as we entered Italy, just like that! Now completely up, and with a smile on our faces because of the weather and the scenery, the adventurers in us started to surface. This small Italian town looked ideal. Local crowd, quiet beaches and beautiful weather. We decided to stay put and spend the day there before heading to Firenze(Florence). After cleaning up a little, and roaming around a bit in the small town, we decided to go to Monaco or Monte Carlo for a few hours before we would explore Ventimiglia. It was a 30 minute train ride back to France.

I have grown up watching Fomula 1. Every other Sunday afternoon, sitting with my dad in our living room, we would have our eyes glued to the screen as the Schumacher's and Hakkinen's and Alonso's scorched even our measly TV screen. Every season, there was one Grand Prix that I would anxiously await all year long; The Monaco grand prix. What made this track so special was the fact that it was the only street circuit, with people packed into houses, hotels and shops, while cars zoomed past narrow roads at around 300kmph. The room for error was minimal.
Walking out of the station in the Principality of Monte Carlo(It's under French laws but not French) all I wanted to do was walk the track. The track I had watched and raced on in video games countless times. Monte Carlo is a Tax Free 'Country' so as a result the whose who of France and the world end up buying property or yachts here. All of Monte Carlo fits in a valley! Small, posh and luxurious is how I will describe this mountain 'country.' No wonder the richest sport in the world, F1, has been coming here for years.
To actually walk the track was a dream and I actually did. It wasn't too hard to find it as I just went towards the coast and followed my instincts at first. Though it looks very different from during race time, some things our undoubtedly Monaco. The Rascase turn, the hair pin turn at the hotel and the tunnel. We leisurely walked the little under 4km track, while seeing the other sights of Monte Carlo. Expensive stores, hotels and casions is all that lined the narrow and up and down roads. After having walked the whole track, and pretty much seen the whole place, we walked up to the castle of Monte Carlo, that gave us a stunning view of the whole valley. At a distance you could see the valley end, and maybe another town and on clearer day's you could probably see Italy in the distance.

We left Monte Carlo to go back to Ventimiglia. It was around 3pm when we got back and we were starving. We still had some boiled eggs and cheese we had carried from home. There was a local farmers market, and we decided to buy some fresh bread and meat to make some sandwiches. After using my French to buy two different kinds of fresh sandwich meats and a loaf of fresh hearty bread, we sat down on the rocks facing the Mediterranean, prepared ourselves scrumptious sandwiches and sat there eating! At that moment and a few more on this trip, I felt like nothing could be more perfect!
As I mentioned earlier, we are crazy adventurers, and for some reason we had decided to bathe in the Mediterranean. Now when we had decided that, it was sunny and warm in the day, but by the time we actually got to doing it, the temperature had dropped to below 10 degree Celsius and sun was nowhere to the see. The same waves that had seemed to be inviting and gently hitting the coast, now seemed to be vicious and unforgiving. We had to do it, after all it was a question of our wild spirits. And in that wild spirit, we took of our clothes and plunged into the icy cold salty waters of the Mediterranean. I will only say this; there is a lot we can control with our minds! In the moment I was in the water, I was like a beast, taming the waves, but it's when I stepped outside and started to dress again, that I felt the chill down my spine! Absolutely content with our decision we moved on to walk a trail on the mountain.

The day ended the way it started. Wandering, and going wherever seemed worth going. From the most heavenly blues to the greens I have only seen in movies like the Lord of the Rings, it was a complete feast for the senses. The sun came down on the Mediterranean and the the sky erupted into a myriad of colors. What a simple day it had been, yet how perfect it was!

The next leg of the journey was to be as interesting as the first day and we were ready to flow in the directions are hearts lead us. We were to take a train from Ventimiglia to Genova and then on to Pisa where we would arrive at about 2am. Since we hadn't planned to go to Pisa even though we wanted to, we were happy that we would have 2 hours to roam the city and actually the see the world famous tower. It was cold and the streets were deserted when we came out the station at Pisa. Looking at a map once, we just started walking in the northward direction and after about 45 minutes of walking through dead silence we came up to it.
There is stood, at the most unnatural angles that my first reaction was to look away. It is really that bent and they say it's getting worse with time. The leaning tower of Pisa was a magnificent tower, more so magnificent because of the unusual bend. With it illuminating the night sky, we could now say that we had seen the famous tower!

At 4am freezing, we stood outside waiting for our train to Firenze. Somehow we missed the train as it left from some magical hidden platform far ahead. After another gruelling hour that soaked all the energy from within we caught the hour or so long train to Firenze. The air was still cold when we arrived at Firenze and we were still tired. We ended up sleeping in the waiting lounge for an hour or two. When we finally got up, we were rested, not cold, and ready to tear the city down. Walking out the station that morning, with the sun at about a 60 degree angle up to the east, we soaked in the first sight's of a big bustling Italian city. Firenze at once reminded me off home with cars and busses and other means of transport bustling around honking away, while human beings continued to cross roads in random zig zag manners deliberately avoiding the zebra crossings. I knew this was going to be fun. There were a few things that were on the agenda, and eating some gelato and pizza were up there.
It was still early and people the open markets were still being set up, as the sellers tried to get their first catch of the day by immediately getting into selling mode on seeing us. It was a very charming market in one of the stores, with everything from wallets to ties and shirts being sold. I ended up buying a pure black silk slim tie for 3 euros. I would like to think it was a good bargain!
Though a little messy in parts, one thing there wasn't going to be a dearth of was of art and culture and history. Every building looked more beautiful than the other with classic renaissance architecture.
Michelangelo's famous sculpture 'The statue of David' is housed in the Academia di Belle Arti in Firenze. The museum also holds some other of his works and other renaissance sculptures. I consider myself to be quite an illiterate when it comes to art, but one look at the statue and I knew it was special. There was something about the nakedness of the statue and the beauty of the form that held my gaze in raptures. As the hundreds of people in the gallery looked at the statue in awe, shock and amazement, I understood what the fuss was all about. This huge structure was carved out of a single piece of stone, with each vein on each muscle crafted to perfection. Without even exaggerating the slightest, that was 12 euros that I do not regret spending.
By the time we got out, the sun shone brightly and we had started to feel a little hungry. The Ponte Viccio is a bridge that crosses over the Arno river and is extremely unique as there are hundreds of shops on this bridge. Mostly goldsmith's and artists that replaced the butchers, tanners and blacksmiths back in the day, and brought prosperity to Firenze. On crossing over to the other side we arrived at a quieter more quaint part of town. Old shops and small restaurants run from houses. We found the cutest pizza place. I had to bend to get in the door and the 4 person table barely fit 3 of us. But the Pizza was amazing. Maybe it was because we were starving or maybe because it was Italy, but that pizza tasted incredible.
What we did after this was the defining moment of the trip, of Italy and of our wild spirits. We climbed the fleet of stairs to the top of Firenze. (I am forgetting the name of the plaza). The view from there of the city was absolutely breathtaking. All of Firenze including the famous Duomo with its circular dome was distinctly visible. What made it perfect was the open amphitheater whose steps people sat and lay on while a group of guitarists and violinists performed. We lay down, seeing nothing but all of Florence. All of the magic, all the color. Listening to the strum of the guitar I fell asleep. It was the best 30 minutes of sleep and it was because that moment was perfect. The wind blew at the right speed. The temperature was just right. Nothing could have made it better!

Florence was a town teeming with art and musicians. Everywhere you looked there were stunning sculptures and extraordinary beauty in the simplest of designs. Why be surprised though!? Italy alongwith France was the center of all things art back in younger days! If I ever wished to be transported in time, at that moment in Florence I wished I could be transported to an Italy of the past. To a time when the magic was being created!

The mind has been enriched by such beauty, that it would be a shame if it can't retain it long enough for what I saw I want to imprint in my heart forever!

A wild journey! A great Journey! Ciao Firenze!

Let's talk about a place where they take their Beer damn seriosuly!

After a thoroughly enriching and exciting time in Spain, I was very happy to be in Metz! Though being back to freezing temperatures wasn't the best thing coming from the warm sunny days of Spain, but at least it was home. The local Boulangerie and the Ca Va's and Saluts, it felt good!

A regular week of school, mostly filled with all of us exchanging stories from our travels, passed by rather quickly. Little did I know, that the weekend I was expecting to be a calm and relaxing one, would turn into another great experience in another great city.

As I woke up on Friday afternoon, I had already missed the opportunity to go to Munich with a bunch of people that left early in the morning. After the initial short lived disappointment, I was indeed happy to be staying back. I thought I would catch up!
Soon I found myself running out the door, with 10 euros in my pocket, a banana in another pocket, and a hurriedly packed backpack on my shoulders; I was going to Munich! Now I know you're probably thinking, so what's the big deal, you were just a little rushed that's all. Well here's the deal; For those of you who may or may not know, I had been pick pocketed in Barcelona a mere 6 days ago, losing all my id's, credit cards, money everything. When I barged out that door, I literally left with 10 euros, a passport and a Eurorail pass. To make matters better(worse), I had no clue where the others were staying, so hopes off borrowing money from them were contingent on finding them.

Alright now that the picture has been painted, lets talk about the journey and the city as such. Having been on the TGV's, then the AVE's in Spain, I didn't think it could better. The ICE's or the fast trains of Germany actually did exactly that! They went a step further. Beautiful, fast and comfortable trains zipping through German towns and cities. My train ride to Munich was uneventful as such, but I did manage to read a good amount of the book, 'A child called 'it'!'
After about a couple of train changes standing on cold windy platforms, 6 hours and 2 naps later, I got off at Munchen HBF(Munich Central Station). Now Germany to me drew a blank in my mind. For some reason, I had no idea what to expect. Expect for a few basic things I knew about the country I really felt dumb getting off at the station. The thing I realized at once was that Germans unlike French and the Spanish, neither hesitate in speaking English nor our offended if you approach them not speaking their native tongue. Quite the contrary to the French I would say.

The train station was very impressive, and for some reason had a wide array of food stalls. People might have just come from outside to eat at the station. Looking around, I knew my first task was to find my friends, so at once I decided to start looking around. After having talked to someone on the phone I had found out a cheap hostel close by. After searching through a good 5-6 hostels and calling another 4, my luck hadn't struck. I was stuck. After a little help from an Aussie behind the desk at a youth hostel, he agreed to take my girlfriend's credit card details to book a night there. So that was it I thought, I had 10 Euros to do whatever I could and get back too. I roamed the streets, cold, yet excited at the prospect of discovering my first German city. I had heard they called it the Beer capital of the world; Oh was I in for a pleasant pleasant surprise!

I awoke early the next morning to find it snowing outside. Considering I had just been in the most gorgeous weather just a week ago, I wasn't really looking forward to this. Nonetheless, with an enormous appetite to discover the city and with an even bigger thirst to taste the Beer, I walked into the snow with one of the Free tours. The tour assembled at a place called the Marianplatz, where other tour leaders also joined, and all the different groups were to go from here. As I was standing in this regal square, I am tapped from behind and to it is none other than my friends. After telling them how I had tried to locate them the previous night, and how I was saving every penny to survive the day, we split up into different groups heading for different tours. They were on the Third Rite tour, which talked about the rise and fall off the Socialist Nationalism in Germany. I was but obviously on the free city tour. We decided we would meet at the Square again at 2.

The 3 or so hours with the guide Sonja(An American Masters student in Germany) were one of the most entertaining, informative and useful I have ever spent in an unknown city. From the funniest drinking stories off the Hofbrauhaus and the Beer revolutions of Munich, to the rise of Hitler and the strides Germany has made to educate its youth about its past; dark or not, we talked about it all. We started off at the Glockenspiel. A famous site in Munich, the Glockenspiel is a mechanical display on a massive clock in the Marianplatz, that is actually quite anticlimactic. At 11, 12 and 5 every day, there is a loud noise, and then two mechanical scenes are enacted on the tower. It wasn't the most exciting thing, but it was however entertaining to see the hoards of people gathered to see it go off. The snow had picked up by now, and there was a constant fall. It was getting colder, but our guide was just getting in the groove. We made past alleys and lanes, talking about the history and culture of the city, while almost always ending up with a beer story. It sounded like the Bavarian's were very serious about their beer. A very interesting fact about Munich is that though it does look like an oldish city, it was actually almost completely destroyed in the world wars. What was very interesting was that the people knew this and took pictures of the building beforehand and were able to rebuild them. The churches had very interesting myth's and legends surrounding them. One allegedly was ordered to be built by the devil while the other had a story of a man who dropped a beer glass from atop one of the towers while affixing the cross, and it did not break. The more we walked and saw, the more stories Sonja pulled out. But every now and then, she would talk about serious stuff. She moved the crowd. She made us feel, what Munich and Germany went through, after the first world war, with hyper inflation and the country in heavy debt. She invoked in us an inquisitive feeling towards Hitler and his doings! And she damn sure made us realize how important Beer was to the people of Munich!

Mid way through our tour, we stopped at a local beer garden, named Augustinar. Allegedly the last pope's favorite beer is from here! Heck if the pope loves this beer, God loves the beer! As our guide told us more and more about beer norms like as to how you need to look into the other person's eyes while doing a cheers to how you hold the glass, I saw a my first half liter in Germany being brought to me. Beautiful color, an amazing frothy head and an absolutely magnificent taste! As I gulped my beer, I was content! Oh I love beer!

As we moved on, the beer helping keep warm a little, as the snow fell and fell, completely engulfing everything and everyone. I sight that was close to perfect! I have never seen this much snow in my life. If it was not for my numb toes and fingers, I would have thought it was heaven. We walked past the Hofbrauhaus, the world renowned beer garden of Germany. More a 'touristy' attraction than a true Bavarian beer garden, the sheer amount of tables, people and beer indoors said otherwise! Walking further, we were shown something very interesting. Munich unlike cities like Berlin, believed in paying their respects to the Martyrs and lost lives through subtle honorary mementos like a golden strip on the ground in one of the alleys. The conversations were a mix of important moments in Munich history to interesting knick knacks about everything Beer. One of my favorites was the story that went with the Maples. Now Maples are these tall poles which are found in every german town, village city etc. They showcase the regions traditions and attractions. Since centuries there has been a tradition where people from other regions would come and steal the maple and not return it until they were given a party. One of the best such incident happened in 1995 at the Munich airport. Now the Munich Airport had it's own maple, showcasing to the tourists some of the traditions of the city. One day in 1995, the airport securities arrived to find their beloved Maple gone. Now this was very unsettling as something as huge as a maple was stolen from under the nose of the Airport security! Any guesses as to who took it?... It was the local Munich police, and they actually got a party from the Airport officials. True story! I think it was at this point I realized that I loved these people! They loved their beer more than anything else, and I loved them for that! As we stood next to the town hall building with the snow falling in front of us, I joined in as Sonja used my favorite quote to end the tour. "Life is Like a book and those who don't travel, read only the first few pages."

Still cold but warm from the emotions our guide had evoked in us, I arrived back at the Marianplatz, the decided place to meet my friends. Unfortunately our tour had gotten really late and to my horror, I lost my friends again. At this point I hadn't eaten anything and all my money was over. The next hour or so, I thought of all possibilities. I didn't even have enough money to get a reservation on a train home. As I sat in my hostel, running through all my options, I decided to go to my friend's hostel and wait! 10 min, 20 min, 30 min, they came! They actually came back, and I wasn't going to leave them this time. As we exchanged stories, the first thing I did was borrow some money and eat something. As I was feeling rich now, I decided even to get a haircut, which I got from an Iraqi man. Night rolled by soon, and I was supposed to take a train at 10:30 but I knew I had to have a big glass of beer and have some sort of sausage! I just couldn't go without! We picked up a pork sausage in a bun from a roadside vendor, savoring every bite of it, I wanted a beer to cleanse the taste! What better place to end it than the Hofbrauhaus! Table after table, full of people, drinking copious amounts of beer, served by girls in absolutely adorable Bavarian outfits and obscenely big glasses. We saw our liter glasses of beer come in and I couldn't help but salivate! As I mentioned earlier I have started LOVING beer. There was nothing that came to mind at that moment. A pure liter of unadulterated, purely delicious beer and Me! I drank it all! I felt like a man!

I told myself I was going back as I boarded the night train home!
Burp!!! I dozed off to sleep!