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diff --git a/_posts/2018-09-20-mr-worldwide-pt-0.md b/_posts/2018-09-20-mr-worldwide-pt-0.md index 508030a..882b047 100644 --- a/_posts/2018-09-20-mr-worldwide-pt-0.md +++ b/_posts/2018-09-20-mr-worldwide-pt-0.md @@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ title: >- Mr. Worldwide, Pt. 0: Bailtrain to Bailtown description: >- Wherein I quit my job and prepare to leave the country +series: mr-worldwide --- ## Denver @@ -198,4 +199,4 @@ have to do". ## Bailing -In the next post I will actually leave and begin my _adventure_. Stay tuned! +In the next post I will actually leave and begin my _adventure_. diff --git a/_posts/2018-09-29-mr-worldwide-pt-1.md b/_posts/2018-09-29-mr-worldwide-pt-1.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c51591 --- /dev/null +++ b/_posts/2018-09-29-mr-worldwide-pt-1.md @@ -0,0 +1,682 @@ +--- +title: >- + Mr. Worldwide, Pt. 1: Europe +description: >- + Or: How I stopped worrying and learned to love tomatoes. +series: mr-worldwide +--- + +# Munich, Germany + +I arrived in Munich late at night on January 14th. My friend Caitlin met me at +the train station, and walked me over to her house 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 + dir="mr-worldwide" file="munich-victory-gate-2018.jpg" width=4048 + descr="Siegestor (Victory Gate), Munich, 2018" + %} + +As we walked and ate our way through the day Caitlin updated me on all of the +things that I should expect to be 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 + dir="mr-worldwide" file="munich-moosach-2018.jpg" width=3036 + 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 a private guided tour of the exhibits. We +talked about politics, and about how immigration is affecting it, and about +Trump (of course), and about art, and school, and our different cultures. She +told me that Europe had always looked to the U.S. 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 U.S., +and about my friend who is living in a van and traveling around the country. I +learned a lot that day, and when I headed back to Caitlin's afterwards I felt +much more at home in the country and continent than I had before. + +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. + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="milan-street-2018.jpg" width=4048 + descr="The streets of Milan, 2018" + %} + +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 some 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 hang 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 thing which impacted me the most 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 would +go to St. Peter's, the first largest, later on. 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. + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="milan-duomo-2018-0.jpg" width=1292 + descr="Milan's Duomo. In the lower left, tourists being scammed by a dude with pigeon food, 2018" + %} + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="milan-duomo-interior-2018-0.jpg" width=4048 + descr="Interior of Milan's Duomo, 2018" + %} + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="milan-duomo-interior-2018-1.jpg" width=727 + descr="Milan Duomo's creepy ass statue of Saint Bartholomew, 2018" + float="right" + %} + +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 the +external battery 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 cities! 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 +U.S. 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 U.S., 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. + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="ravenna-mosaic-2018-0.jpg" width=4048 + descr="Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, 2018" + %} + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="ravenna-mosaic-2018-1.jpg" width=727 + descr="Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, 2018" + float="right" + %} + +Something else which took some time to get accustomed to was using cash (what a +segway!). By this point in the trip it had become somewhat second-nature, but +only by way of many mishaps previously. In the U.S. 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. It's a giant pain. 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 U.S. 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. + +But by the time I got back home, 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 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 U.S. 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. And 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 home, a friend had told +me to avoid any restaurants with pictures on their menu; they're targeted at +tourists and priced accordingly. So 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, and returning later when I was hungry + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="florence-2018-0.jpg" width=4048 + descr="Florence's Duomo near sunset, 2018" + %} + +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. + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="florence-2018-1.jpg" width=2688 + descr="River Arno, and the houses which still stand on it, Florence, 2018" + %} + +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. + +<div style="text-align: center;"> +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="florence-painting-2018-0.jpg" width=2688 + inline=true + %} + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="florence-painting-2018-1.jpg" width=2688 + inline=true + %} +<p><em>Not pictured, the crowd of selfie-ers behind my trying to get a shot with +The Birth of Venus, Florence, 2018</em></p> +</div> + +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 I was only staying two full +days so it was fine. Seeing all of the sights of Rome in only two days is not +recommended. 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. + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="rome-2018-3.jpg" width=4048 + descr="Pope for the day, Rome, 2018" + %} + +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 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. + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="rome-2018-2.jpg" width=4048 + descr="Did you know that Rome has more Egyptian obelisks than any other city in the world? That's a rock fact. Rome, 2018" + %} + +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 that +narcissism. My more 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; it takes 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, which 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 would 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. + +<div style="text-align: center;"> +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="rome-2018-0.jpg" width=4048 + inline=true + %} + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="rome-2018-1.jpg" width=1920 + inline=true + %} +<p><em>All that said, the Colosseum was pretty baller. Rome, 2018</em></p> +</div> + +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. + +## Barcelona, Spain + +Barcelona definitely made my list of favorite places I visited. Having come from +a city which didn't feel like much more than a playground for tourists, it was +refreshing to be in one which felt more real. Spaniards seemed to be friendlier +than Italians as well, and my hostel was filled with characters from the UK to +Brazil to Russia. + +There was an architect in Barcelona named Antoni Gaudí, who died in 1926, but +left an indelible impression on the city. If I hadn't known when he lived and +died I might have thought he founded the place, he's that ubiquitous. His style +is completely strange; his exteriors look like something out of Candy Land, +while the interiors seem to come from a utopian sci-fi. + +What blows my mind is that, for whatever reason, they let him build a church. + +La Sagrada Familia isn't actually completed yet. Gaudí took it over in 1883, a +year after it had been started, and worked on it until the day he died. He knew +he wouldn't live to see the completion of the project, and so laid out the plans +such that it could be completed without him. The church has been slowly +constructed using private funds and donations since then. + +<div style="text-align: center;"> +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="sagrada-familia-outside-2018-0.jpg" width=1080 + inline=true + %} + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="sagrada-familia-outside-2018-1.jpg" width=1080 + inline=true + %} +<p><em>Outside faces of La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, 2018</em></p> +</div> + +The outside presents two faces, one a mishmash of sculpture which resembles +melting ice-cream, and the other highly geometrical, both filled with biblical +scenes and small details. Neither really prepares you for what the inside will +be like. + +<div style="text-align: center;"> +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="sagrada-familia-inside-2018-0.jpg" width=1080 + inline=true + %} +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="sagrada-familia-inside-2018-1.jpg" width=1080 + inline=true + %} +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="sagrada-familia-inside-2018-2.jpg" width=1080 + inline=true + %} +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="sagrada-familia-inside-2018-3.jpg" width=1080 + inline=true + %} +<p><em>The incredible interior of La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, 2018</em></p> +</div> + +I'd been in a lot of churches and cathedrals up till this point. Even when they +were as mind blowing as Milan's Duomo, they all followed a similar pattern: +gothic, brooding, ornate, almost dark in a way. + +La Sagrada Familia is none of those things. It shirks the gothic style almost +completely, instead adopting one inspired by natural shapes and patterns. It +feels more like being under a canopy of trees than being in a building. There's +light, and color, and organic shapes, like the tree-trunk-like columns and the +flower ceiling. And yet there's also a geometric pattern-ness to everything, +which hints at an order and intent for everything in sight, so your eye is drawn +in to investigate every detail without needing ornamentation to grab it. + +It's lucky that I hadn't made any other plans for that day, because I spent +nearly two hours at that church, walking around, taking it all in, sitting +and contemplating, holding back tears a lot of the time, not being successful at +it the rest. This might have been the first building I'd ever felt gratitude +for. Where the traditional catholic building has, as a foundation, a call to +authority, this one had a call to nature and humanity. And rather than being the +crackpot dream of a single person, it had been carried on and supported and +built by many others long after he had died. It was a reflection of an ongoing +change in a society which I was grateful to see. + +I left Barcelona with a new understanding of churches, and what they might +represent, even for someone who's not catholic. They're a space that's been set +aside with the fundamental purpose of sitting quietly and thinking about things +larger than oneself. Thinking about one's place in society, or in nature, or in +the universe, and thinking about how that affects one's actions. Every society +on earth has these spaces, though they go by different names, and have lots of +different decorations. Each one of these spaces carries a message about what +that society has ascribed importance to, and the message La Sagrada Familia +carried with it was refreshing. + +## Madrid, Spain + +Originally I hadn't planned on going to Madrid at all, but in Florence I met +someone who lived there and so decided to spend a couple nights hanging out. +Going on a tour of a city is one thing, but going with a local is something +completely different. We saw some of the things a tourist is supposed to see, +like the opera house, the palace, and whatever this building is: + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="madrid-2018.jpg" width=3036 + descr="This Schweppes building is called the Edificio Carrión, and is famous for reasons. Madrid, 2018" + %} + +But more than that, I got to see what it was like to actually live in a city +like Madrid, as a normal person. A fancy tapas restaurant is too expensive +there, so we went to a local bar that did it more simply and cheaply. We also +ate kebab, which is the European equivalent of the corner mexican or chinese +joint in the states; a place with cheap, good food, open late, run by +immigrants. + +Mostly, we walked around and talked. We talked about colonialism, and oppression +and guilt, and about the Spanish Civil War and fascism, and about Catalan and +its desire for independence, about capitalism, and the pain it causes, and about +tourism and gentrification, and about royalty and aristocracy, and about +language and culture. Like in Munich, I learned a lot, and felt a lot closer to +Spain than I had when I arrived. + +I only spent one full day in Madrid, and afterwards took a bus, continuing +south, down to Córdoba. + +## Córdoba, Spain + +It was on the bus to Córdoba that I remembered to actually book a place to stay +there. I quickly grabbed an AirBnB in town, though, as it turned out, messed it +up and it didn't get reserved. So there was an hour there, waiting at the +Córdoba bus station, where I was trully homeless. I spent it booking another +AirBnB, properly this time, and eating some bread and cheese from my backpack, +and watching some birds fight over a loaf someone else had dropped. + +This was the first AirBnB I'd gotten in Europe so far, up till this it had been +only hostels (and one hotel, in Ravenna). While I'd enjoyed hostel life +initially, especially my first taste of it in Milan, it had begun to wear on me. + +What I'd found is that, first and foremost, hostels were trying to hit a certain +feel. _Good vibes_ were words which I saw in many a hostel description and +review, though didn't often actually experience. It's in the public +consciousness that backpacking through Europe, going from hostel to hostel, is a +journey filled with new experiences, new people, and lots of partying. And while +that is _true_, a lot of hostels ignore hospitality in favor of playing up to +that fantasy, to their own detriment. + +A hostel's primary goal, like a normal hotel or AirBnB or whatever, shouldn't be +to provide you with experiences, or help you meet new people, or enable your +drinking and partying. These are certainly secondary goals it might have, if it +wants. But the primary goal should be to make you feel comfortable and at home. +And while the conceit of a hostel is that you are exchanging some physical +comfort for cost, by having shared bunk rooms and common bathrooms and all that, +comfort can be established through more than a fluffy bed. Some hostels I stayed +at got this, most didn't. + +If someone feels comfortable in a hostel they'll open up on their own, and +naturally want to meet the people around them, go out partying, and have cool +experiences. Or not. They'll do whatever the fuck they want to. But if a hostel +is too focused on being cool and hip and showing off how good its vibes are, +it's neglecting the basics, and then there's no partying, and the vibes aren't +good. + +So I was tired of party hostels, as I began calling them, having just been in +one in Barcelona a few days prior, and instead spent the night in what turned +out to be a brutally cold old building which had neither heat, sealed windows, +or cooking device with which to make a hot meal. Which is what I get for being +a snob, I guess. + +In the morning I visted the Mosque/Cathedral of Córdoba. This site has had the +odd history of having originally been a church, having then been converted to a +mosque when the Moors took Spain in the 700s, and then converted back to a +christian church in the 1200s when the catholics took Spain back, and has since +been designated a cathedral. It retains much of the Moorish architecture, but +with a church in the middle, and is an utterly fascinating place which I +neglected to take any pictures of. + +## Granada, Spain + +This was probably one of the most interesting places I visited while traveling. +Granada was once one of the most important Moorish cities in Spain, then briefly +became a Jewish state, and then the seat of the Nasrid dynasty (the last Muslim +dynasty in Spain), and then eventually went back to being a part of the Catholic +empire. During this time it also had a large influx of Romani, and out of this +mishmash of culture it became one of the birthplaces of flamenco. + +My bus got in at night, but I was lucky enough to catch the last public bus from +the bus station towards my hostel. It dropped me off in the Albaicín, an old +Muslim quarter in the city, where the houses retain the old architectural style +and the streets are narrow and winding. From there I walked uphill a ways to +the Sacromonte neighborhood, the traditional home of the Romani in Granada. Here +the people had dug out caves in the side of the mountain, and made them into +homes. My hostel was in one of these caves. + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="granada-2018-0.jpg" width=1329 + descr="The view from my hostel, Alhambra on the left. Granada, 2018" + %} + +The hostel was small and quiet, overlooking both the Alhambra (the castle on a +hill, built by the Nasrids) and the rest of the city. The guys running it +were chill; the owner was Dutch, and the other was Scottish. The Scott had come +to Granada to live and study flamenco, and it was obvious from how he spoke +about it that he was completely in love with the art and the people. On one +night they took me out to a "real gypsy bar", as they called it. + +The flamenco artists in town, the singers and guitarists and dancers, make a +living performing for tourists, but this bar is, according to my guides, where +they go after the shows to hang out. There was no music in the bar, but, as the +night went on, three or four cliques formed up naturally, each around a guitar +player and singer, with dancers circling around, the rest clapping to an +indecipherable rhythm. The Scott knew the names of a few of the people playing, +and told me that it was at gatherings like this that the musicians tried out new +things and pushed the art further. It was the "real" flamenco. + +After that we got kebab and went back to the cave. + +Sacromonte is situated on the face of a valley, with the Alhambra being on the +opposite side. So to get to the Alhambra I had to venture down to the valley +floor, where Granada proper is, and found a very familiar tourist district +filled with all the crap I'd seen in every other city. The Alhambra itself was +interesting, but also packed, and I hadn't realized they only sell a limited +number of tickets per day to get inside the castle, so I missed a lot of it. So +I went back to the peace and quiet of Sacromonte. + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="granada-2018-1.jpg" width=1329 + descr="Sacromonte and the valley below. Granada, 2018" + %} + +Being uphill and difficult to access by car, the Sacromonte was, in many ways, +warded off from the wave of tourism which has swept the world and sucked the +heart out of its cities. Only those willing to carry their bags 20 minutes +uphill could disturb it. I found the absolute best spot possible, with benches +overlooking the Alhambra and the city and the sunset, sitting and drawing for +hours, and was only disturbed by one or two couples sharing the view in all that +time. + +I had originally planned to head back to Munich after Granada, but after talking +with a lot of people who told me I _had_ to go to Portugal, I booked a bus to +Lisbon at the last minute and set off. And damn I'm glad I did. + +## Lisbon, Portugal + +Sometimes called the San Fransisco of Europe, Lisbon is a city with beaches, +historical buildings, perfect weather all-year round, earthquakes, and a large +orange-red suspension bridge across a bay. Unlike San Fransisco, it's an +affordable place to visit and the people who live there haven't been priced out +by tech companies ([yet][google-lisbon]). + +Part of why I liked Lisbon so much is that, while tourism is an absolutely huge +industry, it didn't really feel that way. The Baixa district, where my hostel +was, was certainly an area just for tourists. But it wasn't very big, and once +outside of it you find yourself in somewhere like Alfama, which has been a +blue-collar district since the Moorish invasion, and retains its winding +cobblestone streets and narrow alleys. If you look at the skyline of Lisbon you +won't find any highrises or office buildings, just 4 to 5 story apartment +buildings and churches. It's a city meant for people to live, first and +foremost, with business being secondary. And so, despite being the biggest city +in the country, and 9th most visited city in Southern Europe, it still feels +quiet and cozy. + +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="lisbon-2018.jpg" width=1772 + descr="The facade of a museum I was too poor to go in. Lisbon, 2018" + %} + +Another part of what made Lisbon stand out to me was the hostel I stayed in, and +the people I met there. The hostel was _homey_. There was a small dining area +with a single long table, a small living room with couches and chairs +arranges in a circle, a decked out kitchen that anyone could use, and free +sangria every evening. Rather than focus on partying and yolo and whatever, the +owners focused on making it a home, where people would cook and eat and talk and +hang out together. So that's what we did, every night, and in the mornings we'd +meet up one more time to eat unlimited free pancakes from the kitchen. It was an +amazing time. + +While I was there, a museum had an exhibit devoted to M.C. Escher, the Dutch +artist known for his tesselations, fractals, and generally paradoxical work. +Escher had always been an artist I was aware of, and a year prior to this I had +read the book _Gödel, Escher, Bach_ by Douglas Hofstadter and become even more +interested. So I couldn't pass up the chance to see his work in person. And boy, +did it leave an impression on me. + +Having traveled to Córdoba and Granada in his early twenties, Escher was +impressed by the Moorish architecture, specifically the tesselating tile +patterns they used in decoration. He began trying to replicate their work, and +ended up following what amounted to a mathematical investigation of geometry, in +the context of art. The museum presented his work in largely chronological +order, and, in seeing the progression of his ideas over decades, it really +struck me both what a genius he was and how dedicated he must have been to have +spun his wheels on the same problems for most of his life. + +<div style="text-align: center;"> +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="lisbon-escher-2018-0.jpg" width=513 + inline=true + %} +{% include image.html + dir="mr-worldwide" file="lisbon-escher-2018-1.jpg" width=341 + inline=true + %} +<p><em>Tesselations, paradoxes, and tricks of perspective, Lisbon, 2018</em></p> +</div> + +For the rest of my trip, even through Asia, I would spend my time doodling +tesselations of my own, trying to find the tricks that Escher found which let +him make such complex images. I would find some, but certainly Escher still has +the leg up on me. + +Having traveled most of Southwest Europe at this point I flew back to homebase, +Munich, to recuperate and figure out what my next steps would be. I left Lisbon +promising myself that I'd be back, even considering finding a way to live there +one day. While my life plans have since changed, it's not something I've totally +ruled out. + +[google-lisbon]: https://econews.pt/2018/01/29/from-google-to-amazon-technological-companies-are-moving-to-portugal-why/ + +## To be continued + +In my next post of this series I'll tell the story of the second, and longest, +leg of my European tour, where I go to Belgium, the UK, Scandinavia, Prague, and +Berlin! |