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diff --git a/_drafts/mr-worldwide-pt-1-europe.md b/_drafts/mr-worldwide-pt-1-europe.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..99d1335 --- /dev/null +++ b/_drafts/mr-worldwide-pt-1-europe.md @@ -0,0 +1,571 @@ +--- +title: >- + Mr. Worldwide, Pt. 1: Europe +description: >- + Or: How I stopped worrying and learned to love tomatoes. +--- + +## TODO + +## Outline + +- Denver + - What I had + - Why I left +- Loadout +- Road Trip + - Ibrahim notebook + - Choosing destinations +- The First Leg + - Munich + - Silence + - Relative + - Italy + - Milan + - Ostello Bello, friends + - Duomo + - Walking/Getting around (Google maps) + - Ravenna + - Currency + - Old monastaries, mosaics + - Florence + - Museums + - Celia + - Rome + - Tourism's effect on a city + - Too much to see in Italy, too little time + - Spain + - Barcelona + - La Sagrada Familia, churches + - Madrid + - Royalty, revolution + - Cordoba + - Playing things close + - Granada + - Flamenco + - Peace + - Lisbon + - Hostels + - A city where people still live + - Escher (Granada/Cordoba) +- The Second Leg + - Munich + - No more pictures, no more tourism + - Diet + - Belgium + - Brussels + - Communism and french fries + - Comic book museum + - Drawing + - Bruges + - Beer + - A fucking expensive fairytale + - So cold, so scarfed + - Camina Del Santiago + - UK + - London + - Cost of museums, theft of culture + - Dublin + - Housing problems + - Glendalough + - Edinburgh + - Reading/Writing + - Harry Fucking Potter + - Amsterdam + - Pub crawl (partying vs ...) + - Van Gogh + - Weed + - Sex (museum) + - Copenhagen + - Freedom (Christiania) + - So many chairs + - Stockholm + - Tradition + - Berlin + - History + - Movie + - Prague + - Wandering + - Planning +- The Third Leg + - Munich + - Alps, Olympics + - Passport + - Venice + - Beauty in spite of tourism + - Rijeka + - Hitchikers + - A strange beauty + - Vienna + - Riches and empire + - A day at the palace + - The Couchsurfing Cult + - Athens + - Culture + - History + +## Denver + +In mid-2015 (???) I moved to Denver, CO while continuing to work remotely at the +company I had helped to found back in Gainesville, FL. Florida had been my home +for my entire life up until that point, and it felt like a change was needed. +Denver was certainly a change, and ultimately I think it was one in the right +direction, but it turned out to not be enough. + +{% include image.html src="mr-worldwide/denver-2017.jpg" %} + +While in Denver I'd been living in a small studio apartment, which over the +course of two years I'd learned to live in. Living large is pretty easy; for +some reason we find it more difficult to throw something away than we do to +exert the effort to make space for it in our lives. It takes a non-trivial +amount of trial-and-error to figure out a smaller lifestyle with fewer things. +So minimalism is something I practice, in the literal sense of the word, and +often fail at. But I find the challenge to be worth it. + +I'd always separated my work-place with my living-place, mentally. But I +eventually realized that just because the two places were physically separate +doesn't mean they aren't a part of the same thing. At the most basic level I +work in order afford basic necessities, like food and clothing and shelter. I +have a dedicated home because it allows me to keep myself fit and healthy most +efficiently (by having my own ammenities and routines which work best for me). + +But the more I work, the more I burn out and need to recuperate at home. The +more time spent at home, the more things accumulate there and the more upkeep of +the home is needed, which in turn requires money which requires work. The one +leads to the other, and so they are really part of the same thing. I neither +want to work nor spend a lot of time at home, but that's what my life had turned +into. It was unbearable, and I had to change it. + +## Mr. Worldwide + +In early 2016 I took a trip to Japan with some friends. It was the first time +I'd been out of the US (sans a family trip to Nova Scotia when I was like 9 or +something). Going to Japan might as well have been a trip to an alien planet, +and yet it was also familiar. I learned that no matter how different our +cultures are, the individuals of the world aren't all that different at all. By +the end of that trip I felt as at home in Japan as I did in Denver, even more so +really because of how much time was able to spend exploring (rather than being +couped up working). + +{% include image.html + src="mr-worldwide/kyoto-2017.jpg" + descr="Kyoto at sunset, 2017" %} + +By the end of 2016 I knew I wanted to travel and see as much as possible, and +work as little as possible in the meantime (except on my own ideas, as they came +up and I felt like working on them). I began trimming down my life as much as +possible, with the aim of only having as many things as would fit into a +backpack. It probably seemed to everyone like I was preparing to become a +homeless person. And in one way they would have been right, and in another, not. + +My plan wasn't that I would never work again, or never live in a home again. +Vagrancy isn't a sustainable way to live. But finding a life which involved +neither spending all my energy working and being homeless is surely possible, I +knew, though maybe I wouldn't find it in the US. So I saved as much money as +possible, so I could have as much runway as I needed to find that life, wherever +in the world it might be; and in the meantime, I could see all the things worth +seeing. + +Europe seemed like as good a place to start as any. + +## Leaving Denver + +By the end of 2017 I was ready to go. I had saved nearly $20k, had put in my +notice to quit my job at the end of the year, and had given notice to my +landlord of the same. My friends in Denver saw me off, and my friend Ibrahim +gave me a small notebook to take notes in, with some helpful phrases that might +aid me in my travels. + +{% include image.html + src="mr-worldwide/notebook.jpg" + descr="Ibrahim made sure I was covered if I ever found myself in a tight spot" + %} + +I drove all my things back to Miami just before Christmas, and enjoyed Christmas +and New Year's with them. In mid-January I grabbed my single backpack, said +goodbye to my parents, and headed to the airport. It had worked out to be +cheaper to fly back to Denver before flying to Europe, so I spent another day +there saying hello/goodbye to everyone again, collecting some recommendations of +places to go while I was there, and continued on to Munich. + +## The Loadout + +(Wherein I give a summary of what I had with me throughout the trip, with +affiliate links sprinkled in, cause money. You can skip this section if you don't +really care). + +I'd already had a [40L backpacking bag](zulu) which had done me well enough on a +couple trips already, so I decided to try and only use that. Other ~~homeless~~ +backpackers tend to go a little bigger, but they risk not being able to fit +their bags in luggage overhead on planes. I also ended up needing a smaller day +bag almost immediately, since being out and about all day necessitates bringing +some things with you. The big bag/day bag combo is a classic amongst ~~the +homeless~~ backpackers. + +{% include image.html + src="mr-worldwide/loadout-packed.jpg" + descr="All packed up, one for overhead and the other for under the seat" + inline=true + %} + +{% include image.html + src="mr-worldwide/loadout-unpacked.jpg" + descr="Everything unpacked, but still rolled up" + inline=true + %} + +Most space in the bag is taken by clothes. Which clothes I actually had along +changed as the weather changed and I gained and lost things. But my general +clothing strategy consisted of a couple key points: + +* All things need to be re-wearable, 2 to 3 days at least. This is more + difficult for under layers, but wool is ideal as it's durable, warm, and it + quickly-dries (which means the fungi/bacteria, which would otherwise cause + smell, quickly-die). Wool socks were easy to find on sale for $5 a pair at the + end of winter. Wool undershirts (smart wool or merino) are findable on eBay + with some difficulty. [Uniqlo][uniqlo] makes good undershirts to fill in + when wool undershirts are too expensive. [ExOfficio][exofficio] is worth the + money in the underwear department. A pair of leggings is also super worth it + for the cold. + +* For outer layers I went with two pairs of pants, one comfy and one a bit + nicer, and a few wool shirts/sweaters. Finding wool outer shirts on eBay is + trivially easy. For shoes I went with a pair of flip-flops and a pair of + [waterproof boots][timbs] (also from eBay). The boots I chose for being able + to be used in basically any occasion where flip-flops wouldn't do (marathons + excepted). + +* I really can't stress enough how great wool is. That said, I would have died + without [this jacket][jacket], which was well worth the relatively tiny amount + of space it took up. Same can be said for my [linen towel][towel], which + struck a perfect balance of being a towel and being packable. + +* Other random things which were must-haves: rubber bands (for tying up + clothes), sewing kit, external phone battery, tape, super glue, and a small + package of baby wipes. + +* I also insisted on bringing a laughingly small and old netbook with me, cause + I get cranky if I can't code now and then. + +Even before deciding on doing this trip I had begun purging all my old clothes +in favor of a much smaller set of more durable, though perhaps more expensive, +ones. So a lot of these clothes carried over from that, and all that I just +described is really just my current wardrobe. + +[zulu]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015SBLO28/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=mediocregophe-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B015SBLO28&linkId=84ffbb4c20cf4dfcee00485312c1d5c3 +[uniqlo]: https://www.uniqlo.com/us/en/men/undershirts +[exofficio]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001M0MN0C/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=mediocregophe-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B001M0MN0C&linkId=a1a2a1fac9c23c44c0633d0e7170fb98 +[timbs]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019CVV1AK?ie=UTF8&tag=mediocregophe-20&camp=1789&linkCode=xm2&creativeASIN=B019CVW406&th=1 +[jacket]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013HAXSLC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=mediocregophe-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B013HAXSLC&linkId=44efbeb32af7cc0f303180ec70da207e +[towel]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WBC17N4/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=mediocregophe-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B00WBC17N4&linkId=dec48e5d729a51790abad2286f08fe34 + +## (Lack of) Planning + +The trip was deliberately not planned out. I knew I would show up in Munich, +because I have a friend who lives there as well as a distant relative. But +passed that I figured "show up and look around" would suffice. My motto for the +trip would eventually become "plans are just lists of things which won't +happen". From start to finish the only things I had figured out at any moment +was a general trajectory and my next destination. Rarely was my next place to +sleep booked more than a week ahead of time, or my next bus or train ticket +bought more than a day before. + +It could not have worked any other way. For a short trip it might be viable to +have an itinerary with a list of destinations/sights which will be visited and +all the traveling needed in between, but the strictness of an itinerary always +adds tension. Rather than spend some pre-allotted time at each sight, adding a +feeling of being on a timer no matter where you are, I would rather just meander +around and spend as much time as feels right at each place. There's zero chance +of seeing all there is to see no matter how much is planned, so might as well +see each thing in as much depth and detail as you feel like. + +And looking back, I don't think I _did_ miss all that much. Each city has its +notable sights, and you can know by looking around and talking to other people +which ones are right for you. Start with those, if there's time do the others, +but you won't feel like you've missed anything if you don't get to them. + +Much later in my trip someone would ask me and another backpacker (who'd been +traveling even longer than me) if we had advice for him. The other backpacker +immediately replied "Just keep your head on a swivel". As in, just look around +you, keep your eyes open, you'll see all you want and need to. My grandma gave +me similar advice before I left, when I asked her what I should do in Spain (her +home country): "Oh, you don'thave to do anything. You see something you like, +you go there. You see something else, you go there instead. There is nothing you +have to do". + +# Munich, Germany + +I arrived in Munich late at night on January 14th. My friend Caitlin met me at +the train station near her house and we walked over to it to drop my stuff off. +Jetlag hit me real good at this point, so I only barely remember her taking me +to a nearby biergarten to get some food and catch up. The next day we headed +down to the center of the city, and she showed me around the sights, like +Marienplatz and the Frauenkirche (one of many famous churches in Munich). + +{% include image.html + src="mr-worldwide/munich-victory-gate-2018.jpg" + descr="Siegestor (Victory Gate), Munich, 2018" + %} + +As we walked and ate our way through the day Caitlin told me all of the things +that are different in Europe, like how water is never free anywhere, nor are +public restrooms; like how many buildings which are still used and lived in are +older than our entire country; like how people use cash instead of card, and get +irritated if you make them break a large bill, or they just might not do it at +all; like how even in a large city like Munich everything can still be closed on +a Sunday. + +{% include image.html + src="mr-worldwide/munich-moosach-2018.jpg" + descr="Moosach neighborhood, Munich, 2018" + float="right" + %} + +The thing which struck me most about Munich was how quiet it was. The din of +traffic is so ingrained into me that I don't even hear it until it's not there. +And to not hear it inside of a city was very strange. More than sound, there was +a quietness of life. It didn't feel like people were rushed, with too much to do +and too little time. People crowded onto the subway, but not with impatience, +and people walked home from the train station after work without hurry. It was +like the priorities of the whole culture were different in some fundamental way +that I could never quite put a finger on. + +Caitlin worked during the week and so I was set free into the City for a few +days. I visited more churches, ate more food, hung out at the library figuring +out the next steps of my travels, and just generally wandered around the city. + +One snowy day I had lunch with a distant relative on my mom's side, who is an +artist in Munich. I met her at her studio, and from there we wandered around +various museums where she gave me essentially a private guided tour of the +exhibits. We talked about politics, with Trump being the main topic of course. +We talked about art, and school, and our different cultures. She told me that +Europe had always looked to the US as a kind of older brother, but now that +image was starting to fall apart, and I told her about the tiny house and +minimalism movement that is hopefully picking up steam in the US. (TODO finish +this paragraph). + +A week after arriving it was time for me to continue on. One cold morning I +hopped onto a bus, rode through a snowy Switzerland, and hopped off into a +bright and sunny Milan. + +## Milan, Italy + +My first impression of Milan was: "Wow, this place is sketchy". The streets were +dirty, old, and covered in graffiti. There were homeless everywhere, people +selling bootleg clothes in the street, scammers targeting tourists, and a +general disheveldness which Munich didn't have. But on the other side of that +coin, Milan is one of the fashion capitals of the world, and everywhere I looked +there were also beautiful people in expensive looking clothes, driving fancy +cars, and eating at fancy cafes. Where Munich was simple and wealthy, Milan was +lavish and disparate. + +My hostel in Milan was called the Ostello Bello, and was probably the best one I +could have gotten as my first hostel in Europe. The hostel's downstairs area was +a restaurant/bar, with tables reserved for hostel guests. Upon arriving they +immediately sat me down at one of those tables, where others were sitting, and +said "this is Brian, talk to him". They did this with every person who arrived, +as well as giving us free food and drinks, so that every night turned into a +small party. + +It took a while for me to fully break out of my shell and get used to meeting +people in hostels, but if it weren't for Ostello Bello it might not have +happened at all. Every night I got to hand out and make friends with people from +South Korea, Scotland, Argentina, France, Switzerland, and locals from Milan +too. So despite all the negative things I'm going to have to say about party +hostels later, I'm grateful for Ostello Bello. + +As far as Milan itself, the only thing which really impacted me was the Duomo. +And boy did it impact me, so much so that I visited it twice. It's the third +largest church in the world, but my experience of it was even better than when I +went to St. Peter's, the first largest. The interior is so cavernous that all +sounds echo virtually forever, creating a low hum which reminded me of the Hindu +Om. To think that the words of a book carried such force that, 2000 years later, +people were erecting and maintaining incredible structures like the Milan's +Duomo in their honor floored me. There's a lot of criticism which could and +should be leveled towards the Catholic Church, but damnit they know how to build +a building. + +Besides the Duomo I also visited some museums and other sights, like the Sforza +Castle, walking from one to the other as the days went on. Walking became a +frequent past-time for me during my traveling. Between Google Maps and an +external batter pack I always had with me there was never a worry about getting +lost, and with hostels generally being clustered near the sights it was rarely +more than a half-hour walk to any given thing I wanted to see. So I got used to +walking a lot, and taking public transit infrequently, and never once used a +taxi or rental car while in Europe. + +Five days after arriving in Milan I left it, having made many friends and +having learned a lot about Italy and Italians. I also learned I was spending too +long at each city: It was almost 2 weeks into my 3 month-max trip (for visa +reasons), and I'd only been to two! From then on I kept to two or three days per +city, depending on how much I cared about it, with a couple of five day-ers when +I really needed a rest. + +## Ravenna, Italy + +After the hecticness of Milan I needed something more quiet. Before leaving the +US a friend had told me about Ravenna, the once capital of the Western Roman +Empire and now small Italian city, where some of the world's oldest Christian +structures still reside. Mosaics retain their original quality over time far +better than many other mediums, and Ravenna was full of ones from as early as +the 6th century. While not as glamorous and fast-paced as Milan, Ravenna really +hit me with the depth of its history. As someone from the US I'm not accustomed +to seeing anything built before 1500, and yet here were buildings in excellent +condition which were built a thousand years prior. + +Another thing which took some time to get accustomed to was using cash. By this +point in the trip it had become somewhat second-nature, but only by way of many +mishaps previously. In the US using cash is usually a backup option, with +credit/debit cards ruling supreme. ATMs never give out bills bigger than $20, +and no establishment would ever complain about having to break a $20 except for +maybe the smallest purchases. In Europe the ATMs (or cash machines, whatever) +almost always give out €50 bills, which absolutely no one wants to break except +big chain stores. I still remember the exact location of an ATM in Munich which +gave me €10 bills, it was that exciting of a find, and I went out of my way to +go back to it more than once. + +So in addition to needing to keep an eye on your cash and get more out +periodically, you also need to keep an eye out for places which will break your +bills and plan accordingly. Before leaving the US I had gotten a debit card with +free international ATM withdrawls at any ATM, so finding places to get cash out +wasn't a problem, but breaking it always was. + +By the time I got back to the US, I missed doing everything in cash, and even +kept doing it for a while in spite of my culture. While having to find places to +break fifties was a pain, a little friction to making random purchases wasn't +necessarily a bad thing. Instead of impulsively buying whatever was in front of +me, I was incentivized to wait until a better opportunity arrose, generally by +waiting until I could buy multiple things at the same time, which generally +meant buying more efficiently because I was actually putting thought into it. +Also, by always paying in cash, I had a better sense of how much I was actually +spending day-to-day. In the US we abhor inconvenience, but in my opinion our +reluctance to use cash is a good example of how that abhorance can be to our own +detriment. + +## Florence, Italy + +The train from Ravenna to Florence (or, as Italians spell it, _Firenze_) was +uneventful. Finding the best route between cities turned out to be pretty +straightforward. There's an app called GoEuro which helps compare different +methods like bus, train, plane, and taxi/ride-sharing. There's another app +called Rome2Trio which does roughly the same thing. There's a bus company called +FlexBus which I used quite a bit; their prices are good, their buses are new, +and the UI of their site was made in the last decade. + +Florence was by far my favorite city in Italy. On the one hand it was very +trourist-friendly, and on the other it still retained the feeling of being a +historic city. I split my time there between visiting museums and churches and +finding the best cheapest spots to eat. Before leaving the US a friend had told +me to avoid any restaurant in Europe that has pictures on its menu; they're +targeted at tourists and priced accordingly. My strategy for finding food +involved marking off hole-in-the-wall spots in my maps app whenever I came +across them during the day. + +On my second day in Florence I was sitting by the Uffizi, eating a panini, and I +randomly met an art history student from Madrid who was also visiting Florence. +Together we went to a bunch of museums, saw the David, and just generally hung +out. I asked her a lot of questions at the museums, because, to be honest, I'd +never understood what to make of art in museums. + +I'd already learned that, even if I could see a picture of something online, +seeing it in person is way different. In person the colors in a painting pop out +more (many even have gold leef paint which doesn't really show up in pictures at +all, but makes a world of difference), there's a lot more detail to be seen, and +the size of some is absolutely baffling. I also enjoy learning about history, +and the history of art is effectively the history of the world. So museums had +become a meditative place for me; I could go to one and just wander, taking in +art pieces at whatever rate I liked, learning and thinking about history as I +went. + +What had always confused me, though, was how to _judge_ art. As in, what makes +one piece better than another, or what makes one artist better than another? Why +do some paintings become famous and others remain obscure? What my friend from +Madrid told me is that there's not really a metric. Some paintings become famous +for historical reasons, either due to where they were originally displayed or +some story associated with them. Same for some artists. Ultimately it's up to +the individual to judge them. There was a painting in the same room as the +famous Birth of Venus painting which I liked far more, and was happy to admire +it alone as throngs of other tourists vied for good selfies with the more famous +piece. + +I left Florence with a greater appreciation and understanding of museums, as +well as a good friend who I would be able to visit later while making my way +through Spain. + +## Rome, Italy + +Rome surprised me when I got there, though to be honest it's not clear what my +expectations actually were. The city center, aka the tourist center, is +absolutely _massive_, and all of it is completely tourist-centric. Living in +Rome must feel like living inside of Disney World. The city no longer exists for +its residents, but instead has been completely swallowed by the tourism +industry. Every street corner and storefront is filled with souvenir shops, +overpriced food, clothing stores with "I <3 Rome" shirts, gelato shops, walking +tour agencies, bike rentals, "experience" vendors (helicopter rides over the +Colosseum! Oh my!), shitty jewelry stores, and so much more, all aimed at +someone who has too much money and not enough time to spend it all. + +My hostel was one of the cheapest I could find, but since I was only staying +two full days I figured it'd be fine. Seeing all the sights of Rome in only two +days is not recommended, but I did the best I could. The first day I went +straight to the Vatican, getting there as early as possible to try +(unsuccessfully) to beat the line. St. Peters is the largest church in the +world, but being rushed I wasn't able to enjoy it like Milan's Duomo, and a lot +of it was closed off unless you wanted to pay more. I wasn't able to spend +enough time in it to enjoy it. + +The Vatican museum was more enjoyable than I thought it would be. For starters +it's huge, with tons and tons of things to see, including, obviously, the +Sistene Chapel. I took my time wandering around. After the museum I left the +Vatican and wandered over to some other sights, like the Castel Sant'Angelo and +the Pantheon. As the day wore on, and more and more tourists started pouring +out, everything became impossibly crowded. It was difficult to really enjoy +anything, what with everyone taking their phones out to capture anything and +everything the guidebook said to, without really taking the time to take in the +thing itself. + +This was something I began to struggle with while I was in Rome. It wasn't +always clear to me _why_ these people cared about these sights, with myself +being included. My pessimistic self would say that people just want the social +media points gained by a nice selfie in front of Trevi Fountain, and that the +tourism explosion which has started in the last decade is driven by narcissism. +My charitable self might say that everyone understands that the journey matters +more than the destination, and that seeing the sights isn't really the point, +but rather prefer the adventure taken with friends and/or family, and so they +snap a quick picture and continue on with their good time. + +The reason people travel and visit tourist spots is really only their business, +and I can't be one to judge. It just seems unfortunate to take an entire city, +arguably the most important city in written history, and turn it into a theme +park for the sake of people who don't actually care all too much about it. I +carried this realization with me for the rest of my trip, that tourism is a +deal-with-the-devil, taking the money of people who, ostensibly, find some place +interesting, in exchange for driving away the original inhabitants of that place +who made it interesting in the first place. + +Later on I would learn that the creep of tourism and the dreaded plague of +"gentrification" were spoken of as the same thing in popular destinations. The +problem of wealthy people driving out the inhabitants of a city in order to take +part in the city culture the original inhabitants created is a global one, and +one I'm certainly a part of. I moved to Denver because I liked the culture of +that city, and was fortunate enough to be able to afford to do so, but then left +only three years later, and was now doing the same in even shorter time periods +in cities the world over. + +I obviously didn't stop being a tourist after Rome, but I made a conscious +attempt to be a better one. I put down the guidebook (or, in my case, the guide +app) and tried to explore more naturally, taking in each sight as I found it, +and learning as much about it as I could. Rather than trying to see a little of +everything I find something which really called out to me and focus on that. +It's a tough predicament to be in; it's important to go out and see the world, +to meet people from all different cultures and see all the ways they live, but +doing so is, often, detrimental to those cultures. It was tough to find a +balance I was comfortable with, and I'm still not sure a "correct" balance +actually exists. + +My second day in Rome I spent at the Colosseum and the Palatino, but I was so +utterly exhausted and brain-melted I barely remember them. I left Rome +with a ton of things left unseen, but without any regret about it. Italy itself +had far too much for me to do in this trip, and I knew I'd be back one day, both +to Italy and to Rome itself. On the third day I hopped on a plane, flew across +the sea, and landed in Spain. |