Emotional Ambivalence

I hate this feeling that I am experiencing at the moment, that is, of emotional ambivalence. It feels like I don't really know what I feel, I feel like I should be happy and at the same time, I feel like it's the other way around. I suppose I missed the routine that much, that when I got back here and found out that there isn't a routine yet, I get disappointed.

Or maybe it was travel fatigue. The fact that I was on the road for the past month maybe took a toll on me.

Maybe I should start with a recollection of my trip. So yesterday, at around 5:30 AM Central European Summer Time, I woke up, took a shower, and an hour and a half later, found myself sitting inside a cab being transported to the airport. I suppose no matter how much experience one has in traveling, traveling still is a stressful endeavor.

The first stressor was in the airport check-in itself, when my second checked bag was a kilogram overweight, and the first checked bag, which was actually a few kilograms underweight, was already sent to the conveyor belts so I couldn't transfer a few items from the second bag to the first bag. I ended up putting some things into my bookbag which I was carrying in the flight. My flight to Paris was ok, I got a good seat in Business Class (well, the plane had a business class section, but they were only operating First Class and Economy, so I had the same service as the rest of the passengers behind me, but I had a slightly bigger seat), and the plane departed and arrived on time.

When I got to Paris, I thought I would not have to get out of security since I was only in transit, but no, that was not the case. I had to get out of Terminal 2B of Charles de Gaulle International Airport and walk over to Terminal 2A. I found the airport very poor in signage. If a traveler did not know what terminal his airline departed from, he would be in deep trouble. Good thing I did preliminary research and so I knew which Terminal American Airlines was operating out of. And due to the fact that my first leg was operated by Malev Hungarian Airlines, I had to get a new boarding pass, even though I was already checked all the way up to Buffalo. So American Airlines took my old boarding passes issued by Malev and gave me a new one.

The bad thing was that I had to queue up along with all the passengers originating from Paris. And the line was long. I suppose there would be this equation: Fly to the United States = Long Lines wherever you are. There were so many people checking in, and I spent a good thirty minutes just waiting for my boarding pass to be taken and issued a new one. There was extra security too: they asked whether I was the only one who packed my luggage, they asked whether my laptop was recently repaired, they asked whether which countries I visited during this trip, and so on.

Then I cleared Paris security and had my passport stamped, thus exiting the Schengen zone. Charles de Gaulle Airport was very hot, I suppose the French had either very poor air-conditioning systems or their bodies are simply wired differently. I was sweating all morning.

Finally, I was in the duty-free lounge, and I had the intention of buying a new fragrance for myself. There were plenty of choices in Paris, but I already bought one in Budapest. That turned out to be a good thing, because the duty-free area in Paris was packed; it seemed that everyone wanted to buy a bottle of cologne that day.

I finally boarded my second plane, and I ended up sitting in an aisle this time. My intent in doing so was to get off fast, and line up on the Immigration line faster. But that proved to be futile. Anyway, while in the plane, I ended up sitting next to a Lebanese guy who was a permanent resident in the United States. Apparently, it was his first time to travel alone (he was pretty young, and when I took a glance at his papers, he turned out to be two years younger than me). He asked me plenty of questions about immigration procedures, where to claim the luggage, where to drop them off again, and so on. He was a little worried that he may not make his connection in Chicago. I told him that he is a resident, and the lines for citizens and residents are faster than those for visitors.

So we got to Chicago, and it turned out that our plane parked at the very end of the terminal. So we had this long walk from the gate to the immigration area, and we had to wait two hours just to have our passports stamped and our fingers scanned. It was so ridiculous. There were so many booths, but there weren't any people manning the area. Why design a huge airport with that capacity when you won't put people to process them? I suppose the United States still is a very famous destination, since a lot of people are still willing to put up with the procedure, including myself. Oh, but that is for another topic.

Anyway, I cleared immigration, and when I went to the luggage carousel, I already found my bags on the floor, since the staff took them off the belt already and another flight was using the belt by then. That was how long it took me to enter the country. Good thing the customs agent didn't single me out for secondary screening; he just let me through.

So, I exited the area, and dropped off my luggage to have them re-checked finally, to Buffalo. I then took the shuttle that took me to Terminal 3, where the domestic American Airlines flights leave. Good thing I knew about the lay-out of that terminal; I've flown out of Terminal 3 quite a few times before. So, instead of queuing up at the security line that was right in front of the shuttle stop, I went all the way to the end of the terminal building. I already had my boarding pass, so that was not a problem. I already put my passport in my bag, since I had a state ID which also acts as an identification for flying. So, like I said earlier, instead of queuing at the very first security checkpoint that people see, I went all the way to the end of the terminal, and cleared security. I was the only one there in the security checkpoint, and I took all the time I needed. I therefore avoided the long line waiting for me had I taken the first checkpoint.

So, I was in, and I found my gate. Then I found out that my flight was delayed for thirty minutes. By this time, I was already so sleepy, but I was fighting the urge to go to sleep. By the time I was in the air, I was dozing, but I still felt that I had the urge to sleep when I got home.

However, when I got home, I was sweating, and so I figured I might as well unpack. I was sweating, the house was so hot, and there was no air. When I got tired, I took a cold shower and went to bed, but surprisingly, I couldn't sleep, and when I finally got to sleep, it might have been around 3:00 AM Eastern Daylight Savings Time.

I woke up earlier today all sweating, my sheets were soaked. I don't know why. I checked whether I had a fever, but that was negative. I finished unpacking my things, and since there was no food in the house, I took a shower, got dressed, and went to school. There I ate breakfast.

Now back to the ambivalence thing. It was weird; I am back here, however, it seems that there are times that I am not looking forward to the upcoming semester. However, there are also times that I am. I hate this see-sawing thing that is occurring in my head. I did some errands, like paying my Fall semester bill and my August rent, and when I went to this one building in campus, I sensed a certain smell, which somehow took me back to the very first time I set foot in this campus, three years ago. That was the same smell I remembered smelling back then. A smell of paint and air-conditioning.

I just don't know; I have already set up the times in which I will be working in the lab for next week, so that is already done, and I am actually looking forward to running subjects. However, at the same time, I realize that I am entering my fourth year as a student here this August, and that means that a new page is going to be turned in my book pretty soon.

I hate changes, people know that. That's why I develop coping mechanisms for it with regard to relationships and all that jazz. And perhaps the fact that a change is in the horizon, regardless of how far that horizon might be, is a bit disconcerting at times, even though I may be looking forward to that change. Just like traveling: I like to travel, but at times, it can be stressing.

(Fall Foliage, from my Letchworth Park Series)

Time to Say Goodbye Version 2.0

Two weeks ago, I alloted some time to say goodbye to Wonderful Copenhagen. This time around, I will be saying goodbye to Beautiful Budapest.

I've been here for almost two weeks. And I have to say that I was impressed with the things that I have seen. The idea that every country is different and has unique features never cease to be true; there are things here in Hungary that I have never seen outside. Every place I visit has its national flavor, and Hungary has one as well.

I've taken almost 2 gigabytes worth of photos during my whole trip in Europe. Of course, I will be featuring them one by one here in my blog. I suppose I should blog regularly, at least once a day, so that I don't have a large backlog of photos. Right now, I am still uploading photos I took last October 2007, with this post being the start of my Letchworth Park Series.

I have to admit that I am getting a little bit of travel fatigue. I am after all, an INTJ, and the fact that I do not have a routine at the moment sort of kills me. I do like to travel, but I have been living in a suitcase for almost a month now, and it is a little bit too long for me. I miss the regularity of my work, my research, my routine of heading to the office and lab at precisely the same time every workday, among others.

Well, tomorrow, I will be flying back to the United States. I suppose I have work waiting for me when I get back; I already have some email correspondence hinting at that; letters to write, bills to pay, and a lab to run. I have mentioned before that I prefer having something to do than having nothing to do. I live for the thrill that I am beating a deadline; I hate a flatline, since my brain would simply stop functioning if I have nothing to do.

Anyway, I didn't realize that 2008 would be a very fruitful year for my travels. I have visited 5 new countries, bringing my country count to 17. Who knows what 2009 would bring?

So, I suppose I will see you all again on the other side of the Atlantic. I have a flight to catch in a few hours from now.

(Letchworth Park Overview, from my Letchworth Park Series)

Gel Soles are Awesome

I suppose that Budapest is a city made for walking. The fact that the size is just right, and the sights are strategically placed next to each other in different neighborhoods emphasize this point. So, for the past two days in which I went out sight-seeing, I just walked and walked. I was wearing my hiking shoes; I travel light, and only brought formal dress shoes in addition to the hiking shoes that I had. Of course I wouldn't use my black shoes for sight-seeing, so I used my hiking shoes that I purchased for my Peru adventure two months ago. Good thing I had gel soles which enabled me to go on and on.

Last Friday, we started by taking the streetcar and underground to the Szechenyi Baths. That was our starting point. We took photos of the famous thermal baths, and then moved on to Heroes Square, which was filled with statues of ancient heroes of the Hungarian people.

This is a small castle in the park nearby, which now houses the Hungarian Agricultural Museum. Due to the fact that I had no interest in seeing ancient farming techniques, I decided not to visit the interior.



This is Jak Chapel, a small church in front of the castle.



Nearby is the Anonymous Statue, a statue of a chronicler who had no name. The shiny pen is touched by plenty of writers and writer-wannabes here in Budapest, seeking inspiration.



Then, we strolled along Andrassy Avenue, which was full of mansions, some of them acting as embassies of other countries. And when we got hungry, we took the underground until we reached a shopping street, and found a restaurant that was serving Hungarian fare.

Now this made me realize that Hungarians serve food in huge quantities. Perhaps this is the reason why I find more obese people here than in other European countries. Some people theorize that it is because parents feed their young copious amounts of liver pate while they are still babies, but I presume that the people are used to eating huge portions, and this is the reason for the obesity of many people here. It is reflected in the portions in the restaurants I suppose, like having a big bowl (or rather, pot) of soup, having plenty of side dishes accompanying two lamb shanks, among others.

After eating, we went to Margaret Island. This is a strip of land in between Buda and Pest right on the Danube. The whole island is like a park, and there are two swimming pools inside, and a number of recreational facilities. We strolled the whole island, from south to north, and that took us about three hours. It was a rather strenuous walk.

Yesterday, at night, we strolled next to the Danube, and took photos of the Chain Bridge, and other architectural marvels of the city. Budapest is prettier at night, when the darkness hides the gritty aspect of the city, and highlights the beautiful parts instead.

For example, what do you think of the Chain Bridge, as shown in this photo?



Now earlier today, we strolled on the Castle Hill district. We started on the Fisherman’s Bastion and took photos of the panoramic view below the castle. Then we proceeded to the palace, but opted out of entering it, which now houses the Hungarian National Gallery. I suppose the place is just too big, and so after reaching the end of the castle, we decided to call it a day.

I still have two full days remaining here in Budapest. I am planning to visit some more sites, and do an excursion on the last day, before I fly back to cross the Atlantic and be busy again in academia.

Pork Knuckles and Walking Over to Slovakia

Yesterday, me and my folks took the long-distance bus to Esztergom, Hungary. This is a town on the edge of the country, on the Danube Bend. This town is famous for the location of the Esztergom Basilica, which is the location of the archbishop of Hungary, the direct representative of the Holy See in the country.

The bus ride was about an hour long, and we had to go the bus station in Arpad Hid to take it. Once there, we bought tickets in the bus station, and my Hungarian phrasebook was put into use, when I requested three return tickets for Esztergom.

Once there, we walked a little bit in order to reach the citadel and the church. It was a short walk from the bus station, and we saw the towering structure immediately. Of course I took plenty of photos.

This is a shot of the exterior of the church.



The interior of the church was very much impressive, and so was the crypt. I have the say the church looked rather different from all the other churches I have visited so far; it looked like a UFO that landed on a hill.

This is a shot of the dome inside.



This on the other hand is a shot of the crypt.



After visiting the church, we were already hungry and so we went to this guidebook-recommended restaurant, whose specialty was pork knuckles. We each ordered something different, and it was really indeed recommendable. I noticed that Hungarian restaurants differ from other European restaurants in the sense that the servings are larger than usual. Aside from pork and lamb knuckles, I also ordered butcher's soup, which had some rather exotic cuts of meat in it.

After that, we decided to cross the Maria Valeria Bridge and cross over into Slovakia. The bridge links Hungary with Slovakia over the Danube River. It was rather fun crossing a national border by foot; I only did that once before when I entered the Vatican City from Italy. I don't know, because I come from an island nation, international border crossings for me somehow need to consist of air travel, so even the train ride to Vienna that I took last week was rather bizarre.

I took the following picture on top of the bridge, when we crossed over to Slovakia. This was Country No. 17 for me.



We spent an hour in Sturovo, Slovakia. However, unlike Esztergom, this wasn't a tourist town. There weren't things to see and do, so we headed back to Hungary after strolling the main square. I suppose the best thing I saw was the Holocaust Memorial in Sturovo, tucked in a quiet part of the square.



Anyway, that was yesterday, and it tired us out, after the long day. When I got back home, my feet were very glad that they got out of my shoes.

Rain in Budapest

It was raining all day yesterday. It wasn't good for a tourist, like me. So, what I did instead was I went and visited the indoor attractions of this city. At least, that was the plan.

However, it didn't turn out to be a long day still, since the rain is rather depressing, and the dark clouds weren't just camera friendly. I did visit the Museum of Fine Art in Andrassy Avenue, but after spending more than three hours in there, I headed back home. I figured I would just take a rest and conserve my energy instead, hoping that the next day would be a better one, so that I could go to some towns out of Budapest.

I did take plenty of pictures in the Museum, however, I do not intend to exhibit it here except when I finally get to posting them as an appendage to my blog entries. Well, I do like taking pictures, but I do not find the pictures I took exceptional enough to give a preview. I suppose after one sees plenty of paintings, things start to look the same.

On a separate note, I made some changes in blogging policies here. I am now moderating my comments. That means that every comment will pass through me, regardless of whether it is anonymous or not. I am not concerned about spamming, but what I am concerned about is the fact that some people have not-so-good intentions and post annoying comments anonymously. I have to remind my readers that this is a subjective means of publishing; I do not have to be politically correct here. If you don't like what you read, then don't read it. Go somewhere else. And if you want to criticize me, go ahead, but show your face. Don't do it cowardly by posting anonymously. Therefore, to add a deterrent, I am moderating the comments to this blog.

Oh, and if you're just posting to stir some trouble, at least learn to spell!

There, there goes my rant. Now it is over, I'll leave you for a while and head to Esztergom and shoot some pictures.

(The Overlook in Geneva, from my Watkins Glen Series)

Frolicking in Budapest

Yesterday, I finally got out and saw parts of the city. And so far, so good.

I have mixed feelings about this city. For one, there is this very beautiful and amazingly romantic part of the city that one can see, especially if one strolls along the Danube and face the hilly Western side of the city. The Castle Hill is simply imposing, and the scenery is rather majestic.

There is also this side of the city where I feel as if I am time-warped and sent back at least 20 years. The buildings are all grey and I feel that I want a water hose to take off the dirt and soot. Not that I am saying that Budapest is dirty, but I suppose the infrastructure hasn't been maintained as well as other cities, like Vienna for example.

I had the opportunity to visit a Budapest flat yesterday. I saw that there were still bullet holes in the walls while walking the streets in Pest.

I feel stupid here in Budapest. I feel stupid in the sense that my knowledge of Germanic and Latinate root words are useless here. Of course, Hungarian is in a totally different language family, so they do not share the same cognates as German and French. However, unlike Danish (which I was also frustrated due to the invisible letters), everything is pronounced in Hungarian. There are obviously exceptions but at least they are predictable and there is a rule for it.

So, yesterday, I visited the Castle Hill. This is a huge imposing block situated on a hill in Buda. This is not the "castle" in the brick-and-moat sense of the word, rather, this is similar to Prague Castle, which is a collection of buildings within a fortified structure. The compound is so big I wasn't able to reach the other end of it.

This is how the streets look like.



I also visited the Budapest Labyrinth. This is a rather interesting site underneath the castle, so I went in and explored the labyrinth, giving way to my caving tendencies.

The following picture gives an impression of the place, although it was unusually bright, and the labyrinth was darker than what I have here.



There even was this fountain of wine, which I thought, smelled awful. It looked more like blood flowing from the tap.



That already took me the whole mid-morning and afternoon. And due to the fact that I had some other appointment in the evening, I called it an early day.

Back in Budapest

So, I am back in Budapest. I suppose I have nine days ahead of me where I won't be traveling big time. Then I head back to the United States.

I just got back from Vienna this afternoon. I wasn't there mainly for tourism, but for something else, so I didn't get to see plenty of sights. However, I have seen some acquaintances and friends that I haven't seen for the last three years (when I last visited Vienna) so that was fun too.

I suppose the main thing that was enjoyable while I was in town was the fact that I got to experience authentic Filipino hospitality. Food is a communal thing for typical Filipinos. Obviously not for me, but being shown this type of hospitality was a rather enjoyable experience.

Earlier today, I went to the Zentralfriedhof, and visited the graves of famous composers such as Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, the Strauss brothers, and Schoenberg. Of course I took pictures.

Anyway, I suppose the best thing I like about Vienna is the fact that it is very livable. I like that city, and if I were to have the choice as to where to live in Europe, I would have Vienna in the top of my list. It doesn't dwarf me, unlike New York City. And it has the culture, the nice international restaurants, the order, everything I like. Obviously there are bad parts of the city as well, but every city has that.

Anyway, not a lot has happened recently, so I won't make this entry long. I don't think blogging about me feasting on proschiutto is an interesting topic. So I will leave it here, and let you go for the moment.

Tomorrow, I finally get to see the city of Budapest. I will bring my camera and shoot away.

(Seneca Lake, from my Watkins Glen Series)

Country No. 16

The Philippines, United States, Japan, Guam, Qatar, Austria, Greece, Italy, Vatican City, Taiwan, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Denmark, and now Hungary. 16 countries visited as of yesterday. 84 to go!

Yep, I landed yesterday in Budapest Ferihegy International Airport. I basically spent the whole afternoon flying all over Europe, first catching a flight from Copenhagen to Brussels, and from Brussels to Budapest. Due to the fact that I flew a Belgian airline, I was again impressed at the fact that the announcements were done in at least three languages, English, French, and Dutch.

Anyway, the first impression I had about Budapest is that it is large. The trip from the airport to my parents' house was rather long even though we took a taxi. And first there was the flat and not-so-beautiful Pest, and then we crossed a bridge and entered the hilly Buda. Unlike Copenhagen, where everything is compact and walkable, I do think that I need to make use of public transportation here.

Oh well, not a lot of things to blog about for today. I have to say my travels don't end yet. Me and my parents are heading to the train station later today and will be catching a train to Vienna. I've been to Vienna before 3 years ago, and I am kind of excited to see it again, even for just the weekend. The bad thing is that since it is by train, I won't be earning miles, but the good thing is that I won't have to turn off my équipements électroniques.

(Water Meets Gravity, from my Watkins Glen Series)

Time to Say Goodbye

So it's time to say goodbye to wonderful Copenhagen. I spent my last day today walking, walking all over the city. But surprisingly enough, I didn't take a lot of photos today.

So first, I walked over to the northern part of the city to visit the Assistens Kirkegaard, or the city cemetery. I went to see the graves of famous Danish people, like Hans Christian Andersen, and Niels Bohr. I like this cemetery due to the fact that the graves were wide and spaced from each other, not like the one in Prague where I visited two years ago.

After the cemetery, I went to the National Museum of Denmark. This took me a while to finish. It was free admission, and the visit was highly educational, but not photogenic. Well, there are plenty of bones, tusks, prehistoric men in Denmark, bog-excavated skeletons, and other artifacts. But these aren't really good in photos, don't you think?

But, two hours later, I have learned all that I can learn about the history of Denmark, and then I moved ahead. I had lunch in the train station, and then I tried to buy a ticket for the airport trip that I will be taking tomorrow, but apparently, unlike other routes, they don't sell tickets to the airport from the central station ahead of time, you must buy them when you are already traveling. So I will just buy them tomorrow when I check out of the hotel I am staying.

After lunch, I went ahead and took a walking tour of the parts of the city that I haven't seen yet. So I went ahead and took a stroll at the Latin Quarter, which is a huge section of the city that is pedestrianized, and converted into shopping areas. This is the only part of the city where I felt that there were so many people. The rest of the city wasn't like that; I didn't feel like everyone was there, unlike in the Latin Quarter.

I also visited the Royal Library, which is this huge imposing building next to the waterfront. It is nicknamed the "Black Diamond" due to its black shape. It is another example of Danish functionalism. I liked the building, very modern.

Anyway, I bought a couple of souvenirs for the family, since tomorrow I fly to Budapest to see them. So there, I am ending my visit here in Copenhagen. I suppose this is one of my favorite cities that I have visited, some place where I can see myself living here and actually liking it. Hmmm, let me see if the University of Copenhagen has an opening.

So, I will be sleeping my last night away in my hotel, and tomorrow morning I will check out and head to the airport in Kastrup. I have a flight at noon to Brussels, and from Brussels I change to a flight to Budapest. Ah, the joys and pains of travel. I suppose it is tiring, but I still like it. Travel is exciting, the concept of being in an airport and flying to anywhere in the world is simply mind-boggling.

(Crossing the Glen, from my Watkins Glen Series)

Hunting for Mermaids and Herring Buffets

First things first. I changed my time settings to Central European Summer Time while I am here. That meant that the time posts for my previous entries are messed up, shifted six hours ahead. But that also meant that when I finish writing a post, it would be published immediately, and not six hours later. I was just annoyed with it and couldn't deal with it anymore. Ok, on to the real entry for the day.

I find it rather bizarre to not be reading a book. The last time I was reading something was on my way here, I was reading a Stephen King novel. And when I finished it, I simply left it on my hotel in Helsingør. Anyway, I got myself a new book today, but I will explain about that later.

Today was my second day in Copenhagen. They say that Copenhagen is an expensive city, but there are ways to circumvent that. Case in point: yesterday I visited the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek for free, since it was a Sunday. And today, I made an itinerary that didn't involve an entrance fee at all.

So, I woke up, had breakfast in the hotel, and headed out around 9:30 AM. I woke up earlier than that but most of the attractions of the city open up at 10:00 AM, so there was no point in going out earlier.

Anyway, today, I headed northeast from my hotel, with the Little Mermaid statue as my destination. First, I reached Statsholmen, which is the seat of government of Denmark. The main feature of this is Christiansborg Slot, which houses the Parliament.



This is the building. It has some ruins underneath it, which I wanted to visit today, but I arrived about fifteen minutes before it opened, so I got distracted and went somewhere else. I continued walking northeast instead. So I bumped into the stock exchange building, the Børsen, which is seen below.



After that, I found myself inside Holmens Kirke, which is the church where Queen Margrethe II took her marriage vows. It was a beautiful church, full of intricate carvings inside. Take a look at this detail of the side pulpit.



After that, I walked further and found myself crossing the canal at Nyhavn, the district where you can find colorful houses lined next to each other. I will be here later on for lunch, but in the meantime, I went further and walked next to the waterfront, until I found the statue. Here she is.



Then, I went back southwest, and entered the Marmorkirken, which is a huge marble church imposing against the Amalienborg Palace. After taking pictures inside the church, I went back to the palace courtyard to watch the changing of the guards. Here is one of the shots I took.



I wonder how heavy that head-thingy is.

Afterwards, I went back to Nyhavn, and found this Lonely Planet-recommended restaurant, which offered a herring buffet. There were ten different dishes featuring herring, and I tried each one of them. Some were sweet, some were salty, some were just right. I downed them with dark Carlsberg beer. Of course, after all, I am in Denmark, why wouldn't I try Danish beer?

After lunch, I slowed down, and went to the Botanisk Have, which is another green area in the city. The thing I notice with Copenhagen is that there are plenty of greenery around. And people like spending time in them.

After taking some photos, I found a Danish bookstore with English books. Since I wasn't reading anything, I bought a book entitled The Search for the Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart. It looks exciting, so I will let you know how that would turn out. After all, I have a four-hour connection in Brussels this Wednesday, and I need company.

Copenhagen is Sexy

So, I arrived in Copenhagen this morning. I woke up at 6:00 AM and took my last shower in Odense. I then packed my things, and together with my former adviser who turned out to be a good friend of mine, and another student who happens to be from Russia, we walked to the bus station to board the bus that would take us to Odense train station.

Due to the fact that it is a Sunday, the buses do not run as frequent as the weekdays. So there is only one bus every hour, since it was still an early part of the day. So the three of us wasted the time away by comparing each other's passports, laughing at the weird photos we had.

Anyway, the bus finally came, and we got to the train station after about fifteen minutes. We had breakfast in the station's bakery. And then we proceeded to the platform, and boarded the train. We took some funny photos of each other, and after an hour, we arrived in Copenhagen Central station. Vera, the Russian student, didn't join us since her flight was earlier than my former adviser's. So Vera proceeded to the airport, since the same train would head there.

My adviser and I on the other hand got off, and we headed to my hotel. It was still early, about 10:00 AM, and I wasn't able to check in yet. So we instead stored our luggage and then strolled around the city.

We went to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. This is a huge museum full of ancient antiquities, mummies, statues, and so on. And the good thing was, it is free on Sunday.

So we spent two hours inside the museum, taking photos of Horus, Anubis, Nero, Hadrian, and other people. My adviser enjoyed it a lot. I have taken a lot of photos, but you all will see it in good time. In the meantime, let me give you a preview.



This is one such sculpture inside the museum. I suppose this is one of the best museums I have been to; the lay-out is very good for photographs, due to the contrasting colors of the walls against the exhibits.

After spending two hours in the museum, it was time for my adviser to go to the airport and catch her flight to Stuttgart. So we went back to my hotel, and she took her stuff from the luggage room. I then walked with her to the main train station and bid our goodbyes. I haven't seen her in three years, and so it was good that we saw each other again.

I then had a quick lunch at the train station, and then took a stroll. I went to Vor Frue Kirke, the national cathedral of Denmark. This was the venue of Denmark's largest wedding, that of Crown Prince Frederick and Mary Donaldson. This is a rather unusual church, not like the ones I have seen in Cuzco, Prague, or Rome. This was of a rather different design, rather subdued, and just simply different. It doesn't have an intricate design, but it was full of angles. Look at this photo of the interior.



Anyway, after taking photos of the inside of the church, I noticed that there was music emanating from the windows. I then went out, and realized that there was a music performance of the Copenhagen Jazz Festival. I later learned that today was the last day, and I was fortunate to watch one performance. This festival is an event that is held for ten days, in different locations. This one location featured Thommy Andersson and his band. I never was a jazz fan, but this one was just different. It was superb and hypnotizing. I stayed for about thirty minutes and then I went back to my hotel, and finally I was able to check in.

This was one photo of the event.



I suppose I was too tired after all the late-night statistical crunching that I did the past week, so I decided to take a nap for a couple of hours. Then, I woke up at around 5:00 PM, and got out of my hotel again. The nice thing about Copenhagen is that everything is walkable from the city center. I had a quick supper, and then I proceeded to a park to take pictures again.

I headed to Ørstedsparken, a park located north of the main train station. This is a small park with a lake in the middle, and it was a rather good place to take pictures. Here is one I took.



After that, I proceeded back to the hotel, and now I am writing this entry.

I noticed that Copenhagen is a sexy city. People are happy, and they look content. People walk around smiling, and they do not look like they have plenty of worries in their head. Tall blonde women walk the sidewalks strutting their stuff, while talking on their mobile phones. Guys stroll the streets walking confidently, with a definite sense of style. I have to say that I do see the reason why international surveys rank the Danes as the happiest people on the planet.

However, it also did not take much for me to realize that there is more to that story. That is just the surface, and one can see what is underneath as well. There are some homeless and drunk people sitting on benches. The Danes may feel safe enough not to lock their bicycles when they leave them on the street (and this is more true in the countryside, like Odense), but there are signs here and there reminding people to be vigilant against pickpockets.

And one should not forget the foreign population of Copenhagen as well. Taxi drivers are for the most part, immigrants, coming from North Africa and the Middle East. And due to the fact that it is a Sunday, I noticed one foreign population so much I could spot them even from a few meters away out in the open: Filipinos.

I was surprised at the number of Filipinos inhabiting Denmark. And the weird fact is, most of them look alike. As if they are one big family, and they are all siblings. What would they be doing here? Domestic helpers, baby-sitters, maids, among other things. I was surprised at the fact that they all looked small, as if they were a good one foot smaller than me, who happen to be five foot eight. They dress alike, they act alike, and they talk alike. One can be sure that they come from the provinces back in the Philippines, and they are here because they cannot find a job in the Philippines, and the lack of education just prevents them from taking anything but menial jobs.

And since it is a Sunday, they have the day off. I see them shouting in the streets, smiling to each other. In the back of my head, I wonder what kind of impression these people give the Danes with regard to the Filipino population. These are the people who take care of their babies, who wash their dishes, who clean their toilets and baths. The Filipino is much more than that, but I am afraid that it is the only impression that the Danes get from the current situation.

I suppose it was an opportunity for me to be grateful. To be grateful that I wasn't born into a family of eight or ten children, in which the parents couldn't support the family, in which the children would not go to school, in which the children would simply head overseas and find jobs serving other citizens of other countries, taking care of their babies and washing their shit, only to send back money to the younger children in the hometown. It is indeed a large divide, between me and my other compatriots. I suppose it made me grateful that I had the opportunity to munch on Danish blue cheese and beer the other day, while for these people, they would be happy if they simply gathered together in the nearest McDonald's.

I do not want to sound elitist, and I am not being one. I simply am noting the divide between the middle class and the working class. Although I would not want to trade places with them, I do admire them. I recognize that without them, societies would have a hard time. The reason why Copenhagen is sexy is because it has this working class population supporting it from beneath.

Boot Camp Exit

So, it is Saturday, and finally, my workshop here in the University of Southern Denmark is over. I have to say that it is rather intense, and the week seemed to go by so fast. It felt like I was in an experimental linguistics boot camp, which in some ways, it is.

After all, one spends one week, figuring out a hypothesis on language, designing an experiment that would test that, run it on subjects, code the data, and run statistical tests on it. It is a lot of work, and one week is barely enough to cover the task for 6 people.

In the end, I felt like I got what I wanted. I came here with a statistical background, having taken a year-long psychological statistics class in graduate school. My main objective was to learn how to apply those skills in my discipline. Of course, I have been talking about experiments here in my blog; I have conducted one last year myself, but I needed more ideas as to how to test one theories in language. This gave me rather varied things to ponder about.

So, given the fact that I am done with my task here in Odense, I will spend one final night here. And tomorrow, I will take the train to Copenhagen and shift into tourist mode for the moment. I got the feeling that I would want not to use my brain for the moment. Especially the part of the brain that deals with numbers. I had been crunching numbers all day yesterday, since we had about 5,700 data points in the model.

So, as much as I enjoy Odense, I will be leaving. Odense rocks, really.

(Hidden Cemetery, from my Watkins Glen Series)

Curl Lips Downward and Hit Palate Immediately

The workshop's third day has just finished. So far, so good. We already have our experiments designed, and hopefully, by tomorrow afternoon, we can run it to the people here.

Today was supposed to be a day off. So all we did was meet as a whole in the morning and give an oral progress report. After that, I was a participant in a group's experiment, and after that, I headed to the university and had some lunch.

Then, I headed off to the country.

After lunch, I went to Odense Central Station to catch a bus. I wanted to go to Egeskov Castle, which is a very pretty sight south of where I was. I needed to ride Bus 801, but unfortunately, the bus that was there wasn't stopping at Egeskov. Some 801 buses stop, some don't, and it happened that the one that was there didn't. But the bus driver, who didn't speak English, still helped me. We were conversing with gestures, and given the knowledge of German that I have, I was able to understand a bit.

He basically instructed me to take his bus, and then transfer to another one, Bus 920, at a certain bus stop. He gave me a timetable, and he also showed me the bus that I could take when I would be going back. And he smiled when I said "Thank you" in Danish.

My goodness, to say "Thank you" in Danish is funny. The Danish word is "Tak", like thumbtack, or attack, or intact. Same syllable. So I always have this imaginary thought that I would attack or tack the person to the wall, whenever I say thank you. And guess what? They tack me back.

Danish is frustrating, and by that, I mean the language. I suppose there are so many unspoken letters and so from a learner's point of view, it is rather hard. You never know when to pronounce a letter, and when not to. There are also some sounds that are pronounced weirdly, like this one alveolar sound where it seems that one needs to curl the tongue backwards, and hit the palate once it is accomplished. But there are plenty of other stuff that I like about the country, the people being one of them.

Anyway, I have to say that it would be nice being in a university here in Denmark. Why? Because they sell beer in the cafeteria! Yes, you can be a student, have a class, drink beer for lunch, and attend class once more in the afternoon! That is just ultimately unthinkable in the United States.

Well, so I did go to Egeskov. I took plenty of photos again. They had mazes which lost me for about 20 minutes. They had plenty of museums of antiquities as well, and the castle alone was a great setting.

So, I went back, and then we decided to hold a barbecue. We had sausages, vegetables, meat, fish, among others. And, best of all, Danish beer. Best evening here in Denmark ever.

(The Indian Trail Continues, from my Watkins Glen Series)

Brain Workout

So today was the first day of the workshop. It was nice, and it was great to be working with people who share the same ideas. In my opinion, it wasn't the perfect workshop, but I couldn't complain.

We started rather late; we grouped at around 10:30 in the morning, when in fact, I have been awake since 4:30 AM. I don't know, maybe it is because sunrise is so early here, because it is so up north. I suppose this is the northernmost place I have been to. I get woken up by the sunrise, even though I have the blinds closed.

Anyway, we get started, we had an opening lecture, and then we grouped into our own topics. I belong to a group of 6 students, and although I feel that some in the group don't really know what's going on, the others are a good bunch. I have a feeling that I am the youngest in my group. Which is fine, no problem with that.

I suppose the fact that I already have some sort of experimental background sometimes makes me a bit impatient. I tend to think from the point of view that we needed to have a project to be done by the end of this week, and it should have an experimental flavor to it. I tend to think that we should think what experiments we can conduct given our subject pool, and from there, think of the theoretical question that can be addressed. However, the standard research procedure would be that there is a theoretical question first, and then from there, we would design the experiment. However, we are in not-so-ideal situations, we only have a week. So that makes things a little different.

Anyway, aside from that, things are turning out well. After the first day, our group proceeded to the nearby super to buy something to eat for dinner. I realized something about this: that Danes do not know how to do pasta. Of course, I am not in Italy, so why would I expect that? Well, I grabbed this plate of lasagna with fresh fish and shrimp. The fish was good (even though my breath turned fishy), but the lasagna was rather tough. I guess Danes do not know how to do it al dente.

(Tree Stump, from my Watkins Glen Series)

Pickled Herring is Addictive

So, yesterday was my sight-seeing day that I alloted for myself. I took the train to Helsingør a day before, and yesterday, I trooped all the way to the castle that was located at the corner of the town.

The castle opened at 10:30, but I was there an hour earlier. I used the time to stroll around the battery, take pictures of the sea shore that the castle had, among other things. The castle was not a romantic location as Shakespeare's play alluded, rather, it was an imposing block of architecture sitting on the Øresund, whose primary task was to collect Sound Dues from passing ships back in the days. Still, it was a good subject for taking photos.

So that was my day yesterday. I ate out, tasting fine Danish fare. I liked their salmon pate, their pickled shrimp, their rye bread, and yes, the pickled herring. It was the most amazing thing I ever tasted. I suppose I could eat that as a staple, and I really do not get why other people are grossed out by it.

Anyway, today, I set out from my hotel early to take the train to Odense. Now here is the piece of advice that I have for people if they are traveling by train within Denmark. If you know your travel days in advance, try to buy a ticket in advance if you can, since the ticket station is not always open in your convenient hour. There are vending machines for the tickets, but they may not sell the ticket that you want. My experience emphasizes that point.

I needed to buy a ticket from Helsingør to Odense. It was long-distance, and the whole trip needed about 3 hours. However, when I got to Helsingør station at around a few minutes past eight in the morning, the ticket office was closed. The vending machine was working, but the instructions were in Danish, and no English. And they were only selling tickets up to Copenhagen. The ticket office opened only at 10:00 AM, so it ended up that I waited in the station for about an hour and a half before I was able to buy a ticket.

Now I remember the lady who sold me the ticket to Helsingør a few days ago when I was still in the airport. She asked whether I only wanted a one-way ticket to Helsingør. I said yes, because I don't want round-trip, I did not need to get back to the airport after Helsingør, I needed to get to Odense instead. So I didn't buy extra tickets back then.

But, if I had known that I could buy tickets for other days, for other directions, then I could have taken my trip to Odense this morning earlier, and that would have made my life easier.

But, there is a first for everything. That is simply how life is. Anyway, I am here right now in Syddansk Universitet, and tomorrow, the workshop will commence. I am experiencing dormitory living for the first time, and surprisingly, I think I like it.

With two other students, we explored our surroundings this afternoon. Like most universities, this university is located in the middle of nowhere (yes, Buffalo is like that too, except that this one is more dramatically nowhere). But, the scenery is nice, and given the nice weather, I would not mind the long walk from my dormitory to the school. My only challenge is avoiding the tons of horse shit that is scattered around the walkways. After all, I am staying at the dormitory of the agricultural school, so what can I expect?

(The Indian Trail, from my Watkins Glen Series)

LIW Invades Scandinavia

Finally, I suppose I got rid of my jetlag by now.

It is a bright and nice morning here in Helsingør, I am in my hotel room, and I am about to take a shower at the common shower and then eat breakfast. But before that, I need to write this entry.

So, what happened yesterday? Well, I was in transit. It started on the morning of July 3, when I was picked-up by my friend and we headed to the airport. Well, nothing about that was special. I reached Chicago O'Hare International Airport after a ten-minute delay, but since I had a three-hour lay-over, nothing was compromised. My one checked luggage was checked all the way through to Copenhagen, and so that was fine too.

I boarded my Chicago to London flight, and nothing special happened there too. But somehow, this flight was weird, time-wise. I knew that I should sleep in the flight, since we would be arriving in London Heathrow Airport in the morning of the next day. However, I tried and I tried but I couldn't. We left Chicago at 6:00 PM and we scheduled to land in London at 15 past seven in the morning. I was wide awake the whole flight. I tried closing my eyes but I cannot lull myself to sleep.

Anyway, so we landed in London, and I have mixed feelings about this airport. Well, I like it because there were just so many airlines operating out of it. That made me feel excited. But, I was transiting from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5, and there were just so many long walks, and there isn't any people movers that are around. One boards a bus to transfer between terminals, and it seems that you pass through the bowels of the airport in order to do so. The security did not seem too strict, either that, or it may be the case that the US security is over-reacting.

But, the most disconcerting thing about London Heathrow Airport is the fact that there are an immense number of CCTV installations. Every two or three meters, there is a camera. Every glance here and there, there is a camera. I felt naked transiting the airport, being watched here and there. Reminded me of "Big Brother is watching you."

However, once I reached Terminal 5, things were nice. I like the new British Airways Terminal, and things look sleek and ergonomic.

One other thing I noticed is the difference in how American travelers and European travelers dress. European travelers just have style. American travelers in the airports sometimes look like they just got out of bed. But then, most of the European travelers fly internationally, while Americans don't, given the immense size of the country. So that might play a part.

Anyway, my flight out of London was delayed for fifteen minutes. So we boarded when it was already time, and this time I was so sleepy. My flight was supposed to leave London at 10:05 AM and arriving at Copenhagen at 12:55 PM. In Chicago time, this would be early morning. And since I didn't sleep earlier, now I am so tempted to sleep. So I caught a few minutes of sleep, ate the in-flight food, and landed in Copenhagen.

Now, Copenhagen is weird. It is a silent airport, so there are plenty of signs, but no announcements through the speaker. I immediately had my passport stamped, and then I was in the Schengen area. Apparently, the flights going out of Schengen were on the far-most end of the terminal, so I had to walk some distance again. I then spent quite a while waiting for my luggage to come out. It was one of the last luggage who came out of the carousel.

Again, I had the impression that security in Schengen airports are weak. I had that impression in Vienna as well. If I compare that with security in Manila or in any US airport, it would be easy. Or perhaps they have security measures that are set up behind the scenes.

So my first impression of Denmark is that everything seems flat. Even from the airplane window, their land seems so flat. No mountains whatsoever. I saw some windmills installed in the sea, and that was cool. People smoke a lot.

I boarded a train from the airport to Helsingør, where I am right now. I decided to spend two nights here, because I wanted to visit Hamlet's castle. I will visit it today, after breakfast. Yesterday, however, I strolled the quaint nice little town, bought myself a sandwich and a yoghurt drink in the super, and ate my supper next to the sea, watching the ferries bring people through the Øresund. The Øresund is the narrow strait that separates Denmark from Sweden. I could actually see Sweden on the other side, and shops in this town both have prices in Danish and Swedish kroner. I didn't do much yesterday in terms of sight-seeing, since most of the stuff are already closed by 6 PM anyway. So I went to bed early, and slept all the way.

Now, I will whip out my camera and shoot away, but before that, I will take a shower and eat breakfast. Then tomorrow, I will take the train to Odense, because my workshop, which happens to be the main reason why I am in Denmark in the first place, will begin the day after.

(Forgotten Bridge, from my Watkins Glen Series)

Europe Third Time Around

I suppose if I were to pick a place where I would want to live and settle down, perhaps I would pick a city in Europe. The aura is just different. Weighing all of the things that one considers when deciding these things, I suppose European cities win over other cities around the world.

I first set foot in the European continent in spring of 2005. It was basically my graduation present, traveling in Austria, Greece, and Italy, visiting sites of those three countries. I have to say I loved every bit of it. The cheese, the gelato, the trams, the old buildings. The few things that I didn’t love were few and far between, such as the dog turds you find in Vienna, and the sometimes very presumptuous citizens of these cities. However, the other stuff easily trump those complaints.

My second visit to Europe was during the spring and summer of 2006. I spent two and a half months in Prague, after living for a year in Buffalo. I basically toured the whole city, and I visited other places around the Czech capital as well, such as Terezin, Beroun, Kutna Hora, and other places. I also had fun here. I liked the Czech beer, and I liked the easy-going attitude of the Czechs. I couldn’t really think of any not so desirable memory in this one.

So here I am, about to embark in my third visit to the continent, again, flying from the Atlantic. My bags are packed and ready to go, I am standing here, outside your door. Oops, I suppose that isn’t my line. That was from some song back in the days, back even before I was born. Scratch that. But yes, my bags are packed, and I am just waiting for my friend to pick me up and give me a ride to the airport. I have a flight to Chicago, and after that, to London, and after that, to Copenhagen. I will be in Denmark for two weeks, and after that, I will proceed to Hungary.

I have to admit, I am excited. This will be my first visit to Scandinavia, and this will also be my first visit to Hungary as well. I must say I am excited to be surrounded by people speaking Hungarian. Although I have this impression that Danish is much harder, even though it is a relative of German (which I somewhat know) and English (which I speak fluently). The reason is because Danish words are not pronounced as they are spelled, unlike Hungarian. Admittedly, there are digraphs and even trigraphs in Hungarian, but those are pronounced in just one way, and exceptions are few and far between, as far as I know. However, Danish, of my, I hear sounds that are not spelled, and I see letters that are not pronounced. The good thing is that the Danish population have a rather good command of English. But, I’ll try and see how I fare.

So there, I will let you go for a while now, as I have a flight to catch.

(Lost in the Glen, from my Watkins Glen Series)

Grand Orchestration

On hindsight, I sometimes am amazed at my planning abilities, that I sometimes wonder why is it that my brain is wired this way. Well, today was such an example.

But, let me backtrack a little bit to a few days earlier.

I am scheduled to depart for Europe on Thursday, July 3. This happens to be tomorrow. Before that, there were quite a few things to do. First, there was the paper revision. I initially planned it to bring the job with me, but I figured that it would be easy for me to just finish revising the whole thing while I am still here, and so that would be one less thing to carry and worry about. I actually turned it in Monday, and e-mailed my adviser that it is waiting for him in his mailbox. Now, Tuesday morning, I get his e-mail, asking me whether I am really sure that I have already fixed the things that I was supposed to fix. He said that he knew that I was fast, but he said that it would be better for the two of us if this was the final draft, so that there wouldn’t be a fourth draft.

I was quite confident that the thing sitting in his mailbox was a good revision, but, because he e-mailed me, I picked it up and read it once more. Of course, there were a few things that I thought would be better if I fixed it. So I deleted a paragraph here, reworded a few here, and printed it again. Then I replaced it in his mailbox. This was Tuesday.

There was also the issue of the haircut. My Iranian hairstylist was on vacation; I called her shop last week to see if she was around, and apparently, she was not going to be back until next week. So I said that I would just walk in on Tuesday. However, when I did walk in around half past twelve, the shop was rather full. Technically, it was not, but there was only one hairstylist there, and she had appointments all through the day. So she suggested that I make an appointment the following day (Wednesday). So I did that, and picked 4:00 PM as a time. So today was Wednesday, and indeed, I went there at four, and had my hair cut.

I was also supposed to help a friend move. That was earlier today. That’s why I scheduled my haircut later in the day because I knew that by that time, I would have taken a shower already, after coming back from the move. So at 9:00 AM, my friend swung by and picked me up, and then we headed to his old apartment. The good thing with this move is that his new apartment is just across the street. So me, a German girl who happens to be a common friend of ours, and this American guy are carrying mattresses, boxsprings, desks, chairs, and sofas across the street. It was quite an adventure and a workout.

We finished at around noon, and because the German girl and me helped the guy move, we got a free lunch. My American friend bought us lunch in the Lake Effect Diner, which is a few blocks away from where the German girl and I live (we live in the same neighborhood). After that, I headed home and took a shower, and then headed to my hairstylist.

Now what? Oh, yeah, right now, I am waiting for my laundry to dry. I had this last load of dirty clothes, and I didn’t feel like leaving it here for a while as is, while I am gone. Yes, I have scheduled this laundry to happen. Besides, there were a few things that I wanted to bring with me and were dirty. So, yes, I am in the middle of packing, and as soon as this laundry is done, I will iron some of the ones that are in need of ironing, and fold the rest, and pack the ones that I needed to bring with me.

So far, things are on schedule. It feels like a grand orchestra, you know, things should happen here, now this is next, and then this one, and then that one. I really hate spontaneity, I rather have a schedule. If not I probably would go crazy.

(Rocks, from my Watkins Glen Series)

Itchy Feet Version 3.0

I cannot believe that I have been writing this blog for the past three years already. I started this blog in July of 2005, with the primary intent of chronicling my adventures as a graduate student in a foreign country. Since then, it has taken a traveling flavor, due to the fact that I find myself in different countries once in a blue moon.

So, what can be better than to begin my fourth year of blogging with my yearly (yes, it is a yearly series) update of the latest wish, powered by my itchy feet. I have blogged about future travel plans twice. Once here, and one year later, here. I have asked readers to identify where the locations are in the second version, and the answers to those are the following:

1. 1. Marrakesh, Morocco


2. 2. Easter Island, Chile


3. 3. Grand Canyon, USA


4. 4. Hue, Viet Nam


5. 5. Istanbul, Turkey


6. 6. Mammoth Caves, USA


7. 7. Salvador, Brazil


8. 8. Samarqand, Uzbekistan


9. 9. Stavanger, Norway


10. 10. Yerevan, Armenia

So those were the previous ones in my list. As you have noticed, I haven't been to any of those recently, so it still is in my list. And just so you know, my latest trip to Peru was from the first list, so by now, I have crossed off two destinations from my original list, namely, Ecuador and Peru.

For my third supplement of this list, I am taking a rather different turn. Instead of asking the readers to identify where the places are, I would state them myself. However, there is a major difference to the following destinations that you would see.

When I was in Peru, I discovered the joys of overland travel. You know, the tour that doesn't consist of just staying in one city and lodging in one hotel. Instead, you land at an airport, stay in a city, and then continue on, by land, traveling inside the host country. So yes, the following trip ideas all involve overland travel, sometimes, even crossing international borders.

Oh, by the way, all the pictures here are NOT mine. And I never claim ownership to them.




Following the Steps of Buddha - Bangkok to Luang Prabang

This trip starts in Bangkok and ends in Luang Prabang. One can start in the Thai capital, exploring the temples and the other sites that Bangkok has to offer. You can for example visit the temple of the reclining Buddha. Then you can go overland and visit the Ayutthaya complex of ruins and temples, all reachable by bus or train from the capital. Then one can proceed north, visiting cities like Nakhon Ratchasima and Udon Thani. Then one crosses the river and then enters the country of Laos. The capital, Vientiane, is very near from the border. One can explore the Buddhist stupas and other structures in the capital. From there, one can proceed to Luang Prabang, a rather calm and peaceful town north of the capital, with plenty of hidden temples to explore. But before heading there, one can take a detour to Xiangkhouang and wonder about the gigantic jars that are scattered among the fields.




Unearthing the Nile - Cairo to Luxor

This trip takes one from the Egyptian capital and ends in Luxor, another major city in Egypt. One can start in Cairo, and explore the plenty of tourist sites that the city has to offer. The city happens to be the largest Arab city, complete with mosques, bazaars, and opera houses. A trip to the Egyptian capital is not complete without an excursion to visit the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx as well. These archaeological sites are very near the capital and can be visited as a day trip. From there, one proceeds southward to Luxor, where most of the Egyptian diggings are concentrated. The tomb of Tuthankhamun was discovered in the early 1900's in this city. So this is the best city to satisfy your Egyptian fever. Finally, one should visit the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. Most of these are excavations that yielded plenty of Egyptian artifacts. So one should visit this if one is really into archaeology, or even if one simply wants to pretend that he is Indiana Jones in real life.




Ultimate Uzbekistan - Tashkent to Moynaq

This trip takes one across the stretch of the Uzbek territory. It starts from the capital, and takes one across the country to visit the cities designated as World Heritage sites. One can sight-see in Tashkent, seeing for example the statue of Amir Timur, and then visit the museums that the capital has to offer. Then, one can take a flight to Nukus, and from there, head to Moynaq, the town that used to be on the shores of the Aral Sea. Then, one can head eastward, to Khiva, which houses the World Heritage Site of Itchan Kala. There are a number of other buildings of Persian architecture here, including madrassas and mosques. The next stop would be Bukhara, which used to be one of the centers of Turkic civilization back in the days. This city has a historic center which is again, listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Finally, one heads to Samarqand, which, according to some, is the most beautiful city in Central Asia, with Registan, the square that has three Persian-inspired buildings standing right next to each other, and a square in the middle of it. One feels that one is in the middle of a surreal world if one stands in the middle. Finally, one heads back to Tashkent and the trip ends. I am not sure whether this trip can be done independently, since as far as I know, Uzbek authorities are not too reluctant to open up their country yet, so one might need a travel agency to do this trip. However, I am pretty sure that the experience would be more than amazing.




Traversing the Baltic States - Vilnius to Tallinn

This one begins in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. The city is a unique one, due to the fact that it has Soviet histories and modernist tendencies as well. One can spend a few days here, before proceeding to Kaunas, which is another major city in the country. The major thing to visit here is the castle, and if one wishes, one can make a detour westward to see the Curonian Spit. Afterwards, one can head north, passing through Siauliai, which is famous for its Hill of Crosses. Then, one proceeds to Riga, whose historic center is a World Heritage Site, like the one in Vilnius. After spending a few days in the Latvian capital, one can head to Cesis to visit the castle there. And then, one crosses the border again, and this time, visits the Estonian city of Tartu. This city is considered the cultural center of Estonia. When you get tired of this, then proceed to Tallinn, which is the capital. Visit the historic center, and explore this northern European city. This trip takes you into three different countries, each of them reachable by a superb network of trains and buses. I suppose one can do this within two to three weeks.




Irresistible Iran - Tehran to Shiraz

I understand if Iran may not be the topmost entry in anyone's destination list; after all, some country's president called it a member of the "axis-of-evil". However, evil or not, there are plenty of things that can be seen in this beautiful country. One must start in the capital, Tehran. There are plenty of architectural wonders to be seen here, including the Azadi Square. Aside from that, one can visit plenty of fire temples, mosques, and other places. One then proceeds to Qom, which is Iran's second most sacred city after Mashhad. Plenty of mosques and shrines abound. After enjoying the city, one can then proceed to Isfahan, which has one of the largest squares in the world, the Naqsh-e Jahan Square. Plenty of buildings around the square were built in the Safavid era. One can see plenty of Persian buildings, and observe how intricately they were constructed. Finally, one can head further south to Shiraz, which is another beautiful city, and nearby Persepolis. This happened to be the capital of the Persian empire, and plenty of beautiful ruins abound.




Ultimate Rajasthan - Delhi to Udaipur

I suppose this is the most traveled itinerary within India, exploring Delhi and Rajasthan. One starts in the Indian capital, where plenty of temples and forts are present. Of course, Taj Mahal in Agra is nearby, and one shouldn't miss the opportunity of visiting it. One then travels by train to Jaipur, which is filled with breath-taking temple