My New Home and My Final Thoughts
Trip Start
Feb 16, 2006
1
17
Trip End
Ongoing
Los Angeles, United States
Sunday, December 3, 2006
From Milan I took the night train to Barcelona, arriving early in the morning. Usually a morning arrival provided me with unlimited time in finding a reasonable room. Barcelona proved the exception as I spent 4 hours lugging my bags around the city from one place to another with absolutely no success. I finally settled for the most expensive room of my entire trip, though I had a commanding view above the tree-lined Las Ramblas from my balcony. Barcelona was such a stark difference from Italy that I never felt like I fully understood it. Everything seemed more chaotic and rather wild. From the architecture of Gaudi to the assortment of tapas, it was often maddeningly confusing and a bit overwhelming, made worse by the dissappointment that my Spanish sucks. For a little taste of the familiar I decided to go to an FC Barcelona game. It wasn't much of a game, but I did get to see two Ronaldinho goals and one by Deco.
Due to limited time after having booked a flight home, I decided to confine myself to the southern region of Andalucia and make one last effort to lounge on a beach for a day or two. The towns of Andalucia were exactly what I wanted Spain to be. Each of the towns of Seville, Tarifa, Cordoba and Granada were full of charming, ancient buildings seperated by equally splendid lanscapes. Seville with its unrivalled cathedral and perfect alleyways of packed bodegas forcing patrons into the street to eat their tapas and drink their sangria. Tarifa with its endless beach and its view of Morroco. Cordoba's Mezquita and Juderia and Granada's Alhambra. I even managed to find and read Ernest Hemingway's "Death in the Afternoon", which served to highten my desire to see a bullfight only to be unable to find one to attend. After a little less than two weeks in Spain it was time to take the long trip (25 hours of straight travel) up to Paris and see my friends Richard and Natasha, and of course their baby girl Eleanor.
The euphoria of getting off the train and seeing my friend Richard at the end of the platform waiting for me was accompanied by the disconsolation of realizing that my trip was really at an end. Paris was a blur for me as I unburdened myself of nine months of travel stories in three days, putting Richard and Natasha (and possibly Ellie) into a haze of regret over allowing me to occupy the fold out couch in their apartment. My only regret was that no sound blocking door existed between the couch and their bed in the loft above (use your imagination....or better yet don't). From Paris, I flew to Dallas to see friends before heading up to Wichita Falls to see more friends and family. Other than the airline loosing my bag and the extra special immigration check in the basement (luckily my visit to Syria just prompted additional inane questions as opposed to the dreaded snap of a latex glove), I made it back to the US without major incident and was greeted by Dave and Joanie's welcome sign and a much needed bottle of crown. After my Texas tour it was back to San Francisco and the process of aquiring the stuff you think you need to resume a "normal" life. In the process I bought a car, found an apartment in LA and started refurnishing a home. Overall, I've purposely kept myself too busy to think much about being back home. That doesn't mean however that I have been able to completely escape the reality of being back in the US. If the pick-ups and beer bellys of Texas weren't enough to remind me that I was back in the land of the free and the home of the brave; then the incessant onslaught of pharmaceutical companies diagnosing my health problems over the television and retailers reminding me that Christmas is only 30 days away...would! I have already started to reflect rhapsodically about my days in the 120 degree heat of Delhi.
So here are my favorite lists, with the caveat that it is absolutely impossible to actually create a list of favorites, but I will anyway.
Favorite Countries:
They all had a special charm but these seem to stand out the most.
Turkey It has it all and if you have never been ....GO!
Vietnam I think about this place all the time.
Syria/Lebanon/Jordan Do not believe what you see on Fox News!
Croatia This should be your spot for unspoiled Mediterranean coastline.
Italy So much to see and so little time
Favorite Cities:
Istanbul Spectacular walk through history.
Budapest Beautiful place with beautiful people.
Hanoi Best city in Vietnam, please don't change.
Vienna Paris lite with great art and Austrian efficiency.
Rome and Damascus You could spend days in each getting lost, which I did.
Favorite Towns:
Obviously these are smaller than cities.
Mardin, Turkey I just keep thinking about this little hillside town
Hoi An, Vietnam Try to leave after one night...impossible!
Monemvasia, Greece Another hillside town that always creeps into my thoughts.
Amalfi, Italy There is a theme developing for hillside towns with a view.
Palmyra, Syria Watching the World Cup in a tent with a bunch of Syrians...cool!
Must See World Heritage Sites:
This list could go on forever, but I will keep it to five...I hope.
Temples of Angkor Look at the photos!
Pyramids of Giza Non original choice but it gave me goosebumps.
Amber Fort, Jaipur The Taj is amazing but this also has views.
Aya Sofya, Istanbul Maybe the greatest building on the planet.
Durbar Square, Patan So many temples that still see the daily faithful.
Mezquita, Cordoba I couldn't leave it off, it was fantastic.
Best Beaches or Sun Spots:
Hvar Island, Croatia Not really a beach, but I can't wait to get back.
Dahab, Egypt The defintion of laid back lifestyle.
Naxos, Greece This is the reason Greece is full of tourists.
Koh Tao, Thailand Imagine a hut 20 yards from the surf.
Playa de los Lances, Tarifa The finest sand you will ever see
Places I will go back to:
Himalayas I never would have imagined I would go trekking once and want to do
it again.
Italy More to see!
Spain Much more to see!
Vietnam Once should have been enough, but it wasn't.
Middle East Maybe my favorite region to travel in....forget the maybe.
When I left for my trip, my reasons for going were no clearer than just listening to myself and trusting that my mysterious inner voice wasn't a raging lunatic. At the beginning I foolishly thought this trip might provide some clarity. In truth, after about three months of reflecting on why I had thrown my life into turmoil with this trip, I just stopped considering why and enjoyed the ride. Ultimately I'm just glad I gave myself the opportunity to suspend fear of the unknown and go. I definitely learned that there is very little to fear other than unwashed produce. Did I get answers to any important life questions? Ummm....what were the questions again?
Comments
Paris with Stodg
Stodg --
You are welcome to stay with us any time.
Great final blog and a fantastic trip.