The best present I ever got was a blank notebook. For 50¢ and however much a bow costs, someone told me, "I know you, I love you, and I'm certain you have marvelous ideas worth writing down."
Sunday, April 30, 2023
The Dance (2014)
Easy to read--
Nothing complicated, as we share glances time and time again.
We're both thankful for a respective friend:
A device--
Someone to talk to before locking eyes again,
Between fluid movements of trying to impress.
She disappears on the crowded floor,
But after she returns again and again, I'm no longer worried,
Each time closer than ever.
Sweat.
But not from nervousness.
Apprehensive?
Sure.
But there's too much confidence dousing the floor to be worried.
The time is cut short--
What???
The device betrays me:
It's time to go,
And this time, there will be no return--
No chance at organic reunion.
Just ask the question, then;
It'll give you something to hold on to,
A tangible connection.
Barely audible over the constant rolling sound,
Her response is the first thing that surprises me tonight;
After hours of shameless eye undressing,
The list of explanations is short:
Either one of us is crazy,
Or I asked out the wrong girl.
Nothing complicated, as we share glances time and time again.
We're both thankful for a respective friend:
A device--
Someone to talk to before locking eyes again,
Between fluid movements of trying to impress.
She disappears on the crowded floor,
But after she returns again and again, I'm no longer worried,
Each time closer than ever.
Sweat.
But not from nervousness.
Apprehensive?
Sure.
But there's too much confidence dousing the floor to be worried.
The time is cut short--
What???
The device betrays me:
It's time to go,
And this time, there will be no return--
No chance at organic reunion.
Just ask the question, then;
It'll give you something to hold on to,
A tangible connection.
Barely audible over the constant rolling sound,
Her response is the first thing that surprises me tonight;
After hours of shameless eye undressing,
The list of explanations is short:
Either one of us is crazy,
Or I asked out the wrong girl.
Saturday, April 29, 2023
What I've Been Up to Since I Quit My Job (June 2021 - June 2023)
So as many of you might know, in 2021 I quit my job as a teacher as my teaching license expired. I hope to return to the profession some day down the road when I return to get my Master's Degree. But what you might not know is what I've been up to for the past two years. Well, I did so many things that I started making a list of everything and I realized I'd have to categorize them. For the travelling, I tried to include a list of memories/cities explored/areas/things seen from what I could remember off the top of my head (this list is mostly for me to read again later). This is everything I did that I thought was worth sharing, in addition to my usual shenanigans and traditions, of course.
I saved up my money for about three years to take this kind of time off and go on all these adventures.
Travel
2. Solo trip to Ireland (Swords, Dublin, Cork, Blarney Castle, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Zoo, Immigration Museum, Phoenix Park)
3. Went on two disc golf road trips (once each summer, Idaho and Southern Utah)
4. Drove the PCH with my family (Seattle, Space Needle, Tillamook, Redwoods, Canon Beach, Glass Beach, San Francisco, Pier 39, Alcatraz)
5. New York/Boston/New England trip (Central Park, Staten Island Ferry, Yankees Game, Niagara Falls, The Met, Times Square, Pizza for every meal, Brooklyn Bridge, Green Day/Weezer/Interrupters concert, Top of the Rock, the Comedy Cellar, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Albany, Letchworth State Park, Cooperstown, Montpelier Vermont, Ben and Jerry's, Middlebury, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Portsmouth, Boston, Cape Cod, Plymouth Rock (lol), Freedom Trail, Fenway Park, cannolis, Boston Commons)
6. Dallas trip (Spring Creek BBQ, Cowboys game, Rangers Game, State fair, JFK museum)
7. Vegas wedding trip (Pat's wedding, Seven Magic Mountains)
8. Florida/Alabama/Mississippi/Georgia trip (Disney, Homestead, Everglades, Florida Keys, Key West, Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Tallahassee, UF, Miami Beach, Atlanta, Braves game, Aquarium, Coke Museum, Savannah, Fort Pulaski, Tybee Island, Biloxi Beach, Montgomery/state capitol, Auburn, Mobile)
9. Seattle/Vancouver trip (Everett, Clinton Ferry, Queen Elizabeth Park, Kitsilano Beach, Ragnar race)
10. South Dakota/Denver roadtrip with the family (Mount Rushmore, Bear country, Rockies Game)
11. Saw the Utes win the Pac-12 Championship in Vegas (twice, both times won money on bets)
12. Went to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena twice (New Years in Long Beach, then Disneyland)
13. Albuquerque roadtrip (Hot Air Balloon Fiesta, Breaking Bad sights, grandma, old town)
14. Tempe/Phoenix roadtrip (Utes/ASU game, Grand Canyon, Medieval Times, Monument Valley, Cardinals/Rams game, Mexican Hat, Hoover Dam)
15. National Parks roadtrip (Capitol Reef, worst drive ever, Canyonlands, Goblin Valley, red hill hot springs, pando, Mesa arch, whale rock, Hickman bridge, Cassidy arch, the crater, castle rock
16. Italy/Switzerland/Paris trip (Duomo Milano, Uffizi, Accadmeia Gallery, Duomo Firenze, Bell Tower, Santa Croce, Michelangelo Plaza, Ponte Veccio, Zaza, Pisa, Colosseum, Forum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Vatican museums, Sistine Chapel, St Peter's basilica, keyhole, soccer game, Naples shore, Pompeii, Mt Vesuvius, Brig, Matterhorn, funicular, Paris Disneyland, Arc of Triumph, Eiffel Tower, catacombs, Louvre, Notre Dame, Sacred Hearts, Moulin Rouge, Grand Canale, boat ride, Carnival, St Mark's, Doge's Palace, Rialto, Arsendale, Verona)
17. Went on quidditch trips to:
-Detroit/Ohio/Bowling Green (1st place)
-Edmonton (1st place... kind of)
-San Jose / San Francisco (2nd place)
-LA (twice)
-Phoenix (1st place)
-Tucson
-Las Vegas
2. Won front row seats to see Hamilton
3. Watched every episode of:
-Malcolm in the Middle
-Ted Lasso
-Avatar the Last Airbender
-Detroit/Ohio/Bowling Green (1st place)
-Edmonton (1st place... kind of)
-San Jose / San Francisco (2nd place)
-LA (twice)
-Phoenix (1st place)
-Tucson
-Las Vegas
Goals Achieved (some easier than others)
1. Wrote and edited my first book (94,000 words, it'll be out soon). This is honestly what I spent most of my time on besides travelling. I like how it turned out
2. I've also started a second book and wrote about a third of it so far. Between all my writing projects, my writing has improved much more than I expected
3. Re-wrote the old Detention mini-series (that I started back in like...2007), wrote four episodes of an internet show script, and wrote an episode of the mysteriously titled "SLC Project"
4. Retaught myself the curriculum of Calculus 1 & 2, Linear Algebra, and Differential Equations. Oh and Analysis 1 & 2 🤮
5. Increased my one rep max bench press from 240 to 310 pounds and power clean to 200 pounds (additionally developed some muscle groups I had been neglecting)
6. Dropped 15 pounds of fat, added 15 pounds of muscle
7. Climbed Mt. Olympus 😵💫
8. Climbed King's Peak backpacking (Utah's highest point, 13,528')
9. Trained all summer and ran my first Ragnar race
10. Won my fantasy football league back to back
11. Played quidditch at nationals in Salt Lake City
12. Beat Super Metroid, Earthbound (SNES) Majora's Mask, and Portal, and BOTW for the first time. And many hours on Pokemon Unite, but you can't beat that game obviously
13. Visited Horseshoe bend
14. Wrote an article about my top 100 favorite movies
Relaxing/Fun Stuff/Catching Up on Life
1. Went to a Jazz playoff game for the first time2. Won front row seats to see Hamilton
3. Watched every episode of:
-Malcolm in the Middle
-Ted Lasso
-Avatar the Last Airbender
-Legend of Korra
-Cobra Kai
-Seinfeld
-30 Rock
-New Girl
-I Think You Should Leave
-Breaking Bad
-Better Call Saul
-Reservation Dogs
-Stranger Things (twice)
-Bojack Horseman (again)
-Shoresy
-Severance
-The Rehearsal
-The Bear
-The first season of Lost (this felt the longest out of everything tbh)
-Welcome to Wrexham
-White Lotus
-Andor
-Last of Us (twice)
-Beef
-Jury Duty
4. Watched dozens of old movies I always wanted to see but never had time for (most especially every Wes Anderson movie, but also movies like the Karate Kid trilogy, Donnie Darko, Apocalypse Now/Hearts of Dakeness, ET, Mel Brooks movies, Eternal Sunshine, Tropic Thunder, Terminator, to name a few). And I rented them from my local video store the year before it went out of business for good
5. Went to the doctor and dentist for the first time in 7 years. Yeah, I had one cavity.
6. Went to nearly a dozen Twilight Concerts (Big Wild, Group Love, Bleachers, Modest Mouse, Fitz and the Tantrums, Local Natives, Beach House 😴, Flume, Chvrches) as well as a few non-Twilight shows like Lit and Green Day/Weezer/The Interrupters
7. Went through all my handwritten notes, thoughts, writings, poems, ideas, notebooks, etc. and compiled them all to be accessible and useful
8. Gave speeches at Dakota and Cameron's weddings
9. Threw Dakota a bachelor party (boating, burgers, Solitude disc golf, the Pi, poker)
10. Finally finished writing and editing that Modest Mouse article I had been working on for literally years. It's over 16,000 words long.
-Jury Duty
4. Watched dozens of old movies I always wanted to see but never had time for (most especially every Wes Anderson movie, but also movies like the Karate Kid trilogy, Donnie Darko, Apocalypse Now/Hearts of Dakeness, ET, Mel Brooks movies, Eternal Sunshine, Tropic Thunder, Terminator, to name a few). And I rented them from my local video store the year before it went out of business for good
5. Went to the doctor and dentist for the first time in 7 years. Yeah, I had one cavity.
6. Went to nearly a dozen Twilight Concerts (Big Wild, Group Love, Bleachers, Modest Mouse, Fitz and the Tantrums, Local Natives, Beach House 😴, Flume, Chvrches) as well as a few non-Twilight shows like Lit and Green Day/Weezer/The Interrupters
7. Went through all my handwritten notes, thoughts, writings, poems, ideas, notebooks, etc. and compiled them all to be accessible and useful
8. Gave speeches at Dakota and Cameron's weddings
9. Threw Dakota a bachelor party (boating, burgers, Solitude disc golf, the Pi, poker)
10. Finally finished writing and editing that Modest Mouse article I had been working on for literally years. It's over 16,000 words long.
11. Went on a crazy, several month Beatles kick and wrote an article about it.
12. Marathoned every Infinity-era Marvel Movie in order and ranked them (to be published)
13. Spent tons and tons of time at home and with my family
14. Wrote my first two songs
12. Marathoned every Infinity-era Marvel Movie in order and ranked them (to be published)
13. Spent tons and tons of time at home and with my family
14. Wrote my first two songs
15. Got to sleep. So much and as much as I wanted. This is probably the most underrated thing on this list tbh
And much more...
But probably my favorite thing of all was, for 18 months, always being able to say yes to things and spend my time the way I really wanted to. If anyone was planning a trip or having a hooky day or trying to do something spur of the moment, it was fantastic to be able to say yes to anything and everything, if I felt like it. It was absolutely wild to have the time to do literally anything that came my way.
Well, I guess I should probably go get a job now or something.
Monday, April 17, 2023
The Case Against Humility
Do you have humility?
Are you modest?
Are you humble?
I have never understood and I will never understand
Why people care more about my ego than I do.
You may laugh, but hear me out:
If you ask me, I don't have one.
Yet I know,
Keenly I know,
I've met thousands of people
Smarter, stronger, kinder, better,
More perfect,
Who put in more,
Who are less lazy.
Just name a virtue
And I'll tell you who has more of it than me.
But luckily I don't have to choose
Between respecting others
And pretending I'm better than I am
Because not everything in life
Is a competition.
I know what it's like to be the dumbest person in the room.
I know what it's like to be less attractive than you used to be--
To let yourself go a little bit, to not be skinny like you were last decade.
I know I make mistakes all the time.
I know I have good instincts,
Can be interesting to talk to,
Can think for myself,
Can be charming,
Can have some emotional intelligence.
But I also know I'm wrong about things all the time.
I know I can come to wrong conclusions.
Sometimes I take positions I'll later change--
I think things I'll cringe at someday
When I've become more patient and more advanced in my learning.
I know sometimes I hurt feelings unnecessarily,
And do things that harm others
Out of selfishness or carelessness or cluelessness.
Is forgiving yourself being arrogant?
Does asking that question mean you're an ass?
I know these things not because of some inflated sense of self-importance,
But because strengths and weaknesses alike--
They're observable, if you're willing to look and see.
Are you modest?
Are you humble?
I have never understood and I will never understand
Why people care more about my ego than I do.
You may laugh, but hear me out:
If you ask me, I don't have one.
Again, please hold your laughter until the end of the performance.
I have weakness, I have strength,
I have truth, I have insecurity--
Sometimes I lie to myself.
But this is not an ego.
I'm keenly aware of my flaws.
But I'm confident in myself and who I am,
And the work I've put in
To be smart
To be educated
To be strong
To be kind
To be better.
I have weakness, I have strength,
I have truth, I have insecurity--
Sometimes I lie to myself.
But this is not an ego.
I'm keenly aware of my flaws.
But I'm confident in myself and who I am,
And the work I've put in
To be smart
To be educated
To be strong
To be kind
To be better.
Yet I know,
Keenly I know,
I've met thousands of people
Smarter, stronger, kinder, better,
More perfect,
Who put in more,
Who are less lazy.
Just name a virtue
And I'll tell you who has more of it than me.
But luckily I don't have to choose
Between respecting others
And pretending I'm better than I am
Because not everything in life
Is a competition.
I know what it's like to be the dumbest person in the room.
I know what it's like to be less attractive than you used to be--
To let yourself go a little bit, to not be skinny like you were last decade.
I know I make mistakes all the time.
I know I have good instincts,
Can be interesting to talk to,
Can think for myself,
Can be charming,
Can have some emotional intelligence.
But I also know I'm wrong about things all the time.
I know I can come to wrong conclusions.
Sometimes I take positions I'll later change--
I think things I'll cringe at someday
When I've become more patient and more advanced in my learning.
I know sometimes I hurt feelings unnecessarily,
And do things that harm others
Out of selfishness or carelessness or cluelessness.
Is forgiving yourself being arrogant?
Does asking that question mean you're an ass?
I know these things not because of some inflated sense of self-importance,
But because strengths and weaknesses alike--
They're observable, if you're willing to look and see.
And I know what people might say
"No, no, humility is only the virtue
Of not thinking too highly of yourself."
But too often,
People use humility as a trick
To artificially lower other people's expectations
In exchange for compliments after exceeding them.
I've done it before, and it was a lie when I did it too.
And although it's better than talking a bigger game than you can play,
And perhaps we should err on the side of humility
On the humble to arrogant spectrum--
But more than either, we should strive for truth,
And we should be confident in the self we've been given
And the self we continuously create.
"No, no, humility is only the virtue
Of not thinking too highly of yourself."
But too often,
People use humility as a trick
To artificially lower other people's expectations
In exchange for compliments after exceeding them.
I've done it before, and it was a lie when I did it too.
And although it's better than talking a bigger game than you can play,
And perhaps we should err on the side of humility
On the humble to arrogant spectrum--
But more than either, we should strive for truth,
And we should be confident in the self we've been given
And the self we continuously create.
Humility is just as untruthful as arrogance.
Overestimating and understating your abilities
Are two heads of the same lie.
I think the best way to see yourself
Is how you are,
Overestimating and understating your abilities
Are two heads of the same lie.
I think the best way to see yourself
Is how you are,
With a hope of what you can become.
If it were up to me,
We'd all strive for that truth.
We'd strive for self-respect.
We'd strive to not just acknowledge our weaknesses,
But face them head on,
We'd strive to not just acknowledge our weaknesses,
But face them head on,
To discuss them freely.
Because you can point out your strengths without being arrogant,
And you can ask for help without being ashamed of who you are.
Because you can point out your strengths without being arrogant,
And you can ask for help without being ashamed of who you are.
Sunday, April 16, 2023
My Travel Log 2021-2023 (not reader friendly)
Note: all writings are first draft, unedited, stream of consciousness, often sleepy.
2021
New York/ Boston/ New England 9-day trip
Tuesday August 3
Red eye flight
Get in 6 AM
Times Square
Grand Central Terminal
Staten Island Ferry
9/11 memorial and building
Walk the Brooklyn Bridge
Grimaldi’s Pizza
Change/recharge/check-in hotel
Harlem/Washington heights
Rucker park
Yankees game (the Bronx)
Wednesday August 4
???
Korean restaurant (can’t remember the name)
Citi Field (Queens)
The Interrupters/Weezer/Fall Out Boy/Green Day concert
1 AM Taco Bell
Thursday August 5
Ellis Island
Statue of Liberty
Little Italy Pizza
Chinatown (walkthrough)
Harry Potter Store
Visit MSG
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (outside)
King Lear in the park (7 PM Battery Park, free)
Comedy cellar (fat black pussycat lounge)
Late Night Times Square
Friday August 6
Carlo’s Bakery
Shitty morning pizza
Bike around Central Park
Ice Cream
The Met
Rockefeller center tour (2:30)
Top of the rock (4:05 PM)
Rent car at JFK (mistake)
Drive to Albany (2.5 hours)
Saturday August 7
Drive across NH/VT
Crazy rainstorm
Middlebury College
-Thrift shop in town
Ben & Jerry’s
Portsmouth
Weird 7/11 guy
Back to Albany
Sunday August 8
Drive from Albany to Buffalo
Cooperstown - Baseball Hall of Fame
Sunflower bloom
Warsaw speed trap
Buffalo air bnb
Rainbow Bridge mishap
Monday August 9
American Falls
Niagara falls
-Maid of the Mist boat ride
Letchworth state park
-waterfalls
-short hikes
Drive to Cape Cod
Tuesday August 10
Cape Cod beaches
Plymouth rock on the way to Boston (lol)
Stay the night in Providence after the game
8 hour Boston to-do list
Park outside the city, take the T in ✓
Mike's Pastries/Bova Bakery ✓
Trattoria Il Panino ✓
Boston tea party (dump tea) ✓
Boston Commons / Good will hunting bench ✓
Old North Church ✓
Paul Revere house (outside) ✓
Explore Cape Cod ✓
Old statehouse ✓
Ben Franklin Statue ✓
Fenway Park ✓
Bunker Hill
Rest of Freedom Trail
Wednesday August 11
Drive through New Haven
Fly back from JFK (3 hour drive Providence to JFK)
Things I would do if I came back
Highline
Get an early start on Freedom Trail
Don’t speed through rural New York
Met’s Game
Gabe at MSG
MOMA
Trip into Toronto
NH drive/Portsmouth in the day
Hope Trinity Church isn't closed for covid
Broadway
Katz's Delicatessen
Natural History Museum
Dublin solo trip (7-ish days)
Friday October 8
After playing a round of disc golf in the pouring rain but before getting to Ireland, I had a wild mixup with my plane tickets. The top of the Gmail said the departure was the next day, so I decided to book a hotel room at the Hilton in the O'Hare airport. The flight to O'Hare was pretty uneventful, except for the fact that the in-flight entertainment didn't work at all except for the Temple vs Cincinnati football game (Cincinnati killed them). I also had trouble finding food near the airport that wasn't past security, so I got a subway pass and rode it down to the Harlem station where the Burrito King was the only place open late. I got the breakfast burrito to be safe and it was absolute shit. It was basically lettuce with sour cream on half, the other half being poorly seasoned ground beef with tiny bits of egg. I've never seen such disgusting Mexican food from a restaurant run by actual Mexicans?? The Mountain Dew was bad, too. The highlight of the night was my hearing the people standing next to me on the subway talking about Utah and wondering what the highest peak was. It turned out I was standing next to three BYU grads, one of which went to Viewmont high school just a few years after me. Anyways, I made it back to my hotel room and stayed up late texting a girl named Paige and watching TV.
Saturday October 9
Today, I planned to go see the bean, the magnificent mile, and the view from the top of the Hancock building before my supposed 8:45 PM flight. I figured I'd stop by American airlines to check in after I woke up since my hotel was at the airport. When I got there, the attendant told me my flight to Dublin was the day before and that I had an hour layover, not a 25 hour layover. He tried to send me on my way, screwed, since I had an economy ticket. I pointed out the email had two different dates on it (probably some Gmail engineer's fault) and that although I didn't get the right date it wad a reasonable mistake. After talking to his manager, the I got booked on an immediate flight to Philly to catch the only nearby flight to Dublin. It was an overnight flight so they served dinner and breakfast. When I got to my seat, there was a lady sitting in it since it was the middle seat next to her husband. In normal circumstances, I'd have loved to switch from the center seat were it not for two things: 1. This bitch didn't say a damn word to me and stole my seat and 2. My in flight entertainment screen was broken while hers was fine yet unused. Whoever thought to have people watch movies on a plane was a genius because it makes flights go by 100 times faster watching a movie. This one was destined to be a long flight. After flying for about 4.5 hours of poor sleep, my screen started working and I watched the Quiet Place. Boy did that 90 minutes go by fast. We arrived to watch a sunrise over the clouds and to a dense fog upon landing.
Sunday October 10
Arrive in Dublin 10 AM
Old schoolhouse bar and restaurant
Hotel Travelodge Dublin Airport North 'Swords'
Technically the flight was overnight, I arrived at 8 AM or so. The first thing that struck me after stepping on Irish soil (besides the fog) was the sheer number of people smoking. The second was the fact that all signs had Gaelic and English both. I knew cars would drive on the left-hand side of the road, but I was surprised at my brain's inability to understand it, especially complicated in understanding the mix-ins of one way roads, roundabouts galore, and the lack of double yellow lines separating one direction from the other. I also found it appallingly difficult to be despite the fact that I spoke English and had wifi. There's so many buses, you need euros to get on them, but there is ONE unadvertised shop at the airport that sells visitor passes you can activate and scan to ride the buses. I had to read about it on a random site on the internet. Things are not well labeled in Ireland, and the information for visitors online isn't much better.
After getting on a double decker bus eventually, I took a bus to Swords just a few miles north where my hotel was. There's a lot of redheads here-- not flaming redheads, but light brown hair with an orange or red tint. I stopped at a shopping mall and took note of how few product brands I noticed in the grocery store. The Irish accent is no joke-- with this mask on, most people can't seem to understand me nor I them on our first attempts communicating. I bought a sim card that would let me access the internet for a few weeks and went to my room to rest. I told myself the first day could be for resting and I need not feel guilty about it. The most notable thing about the room was the outlets (required an adapter to charge anything) and the toilet, which I still don't understand. After sleeping for about 5 hours, I went to a neighborhood pub to get fish and chips and a Guinness. Guinness isn't really for me, as I don't have a taste for dark beer. But when in Ireland. The place was incredibly busy and they didn't have a front door-- they liked to let the cold humid air into the building and supply some propane heaters near the tables. I suppose it was a Sunday evening and I walked back home in the dark to force myself to sleep at night as much as I could. Notably, the Irish talk show I watched didn't ever bleep out the word fuck--in fact, they said it dozens of times.
Monday October 11
Sword castle
Malahide castle/grounds tour (9:30 AM)
Coffee shop
Bus to Cork (gobus.ie)
Sheila's hostel
Shake Dog
I awoke after sleeping 6 hours or so restlessly and with waking up frequently to a headache and a remembering my promise I'd run every day in vacation, partially as a method of exploring surroundings and experiencing a different piece of the city. Morning time here was evening back home, so I always found myself absolutely starving in the mornings. I woke up in the swords hotel to another foggy, cold morning and ran north. The roundabouts are tricky to cross when they're so big and the cars are coming in so fast. I spotted a McDonald's and noticed they keep the doors open and the widows fogged. I felt especially good on my run this morning since it was it was my first time in weeks. In the coming days, my runs would feel hindered by the previous day's soreness. I then ran down to the Swords castle which was closed in the early morning. It'd be free later in the day, and as mt first castle I was impressed from the outside--but in the scope of Ireland, it was a less notable, small castle.
After getting back and packing everything into my backpack, I hit the road. I had a hostel reservation in Cork that night with no way to get there, only knowing there were busses that run throughout the country. But I had some business to take care of north of Dublin, first. I began reading about the 30,000 castles in the land and how the one at Malahide was one of the best. I took a morning bus out to the port city and confusedly stumbled into the castle grounds. I bought a ticket online on the way since this castle is supposed to be special. Well the rough history of the Malahide castle dates back to the 1400's or so. The family used to live in a tower and they'd put the animals on the first floor at night to protect their livelihood, but also to heat their house. The castle grew over the centuries and stayed in the Talbot family. It's also said to be haunted by a jester who fell asleep during his watching post resulting in an attack on the castle and he hung himself. There was a lady that haunts the stairway as well. One thing that struck at the castle was the sheer amount of land associated with it--huge gardens, lawns, even an entire cricket pitch nearby. It looked like local people frequented a walk through the gigantic block as a nice place to get outside or walk the dogs or kids.
Besides the haunting, another claim to fame of this particular castle (besides it's frequent updates for modern living throughout the centuries making it much more of a home) was the decorations, hung art, and antiques. One chair in particular was said to date back to the 1400's and there's an entire room made from carved oak. After finishing my tour and checking out the grounds, including a butterfly house and some serene gardens, I stopped by the quaint town of Malahide and jumped on a train to Dublin.
The first thing that struck me on the ride was the sheer amount of graffiti. In any city with a subway, there's always going to be graffiti following it. But the amount of graffiti in Dublin (and later Cork) was astonishing to me for a city of just a few million and a country known for its beauty-- not just around the subway, but the entire towns as well. Upon arriving downtown, I quickly saw what I assumed would be the capitol building with a green domed roof-- but no, this was simply the customs building. As I walked around, it seemed there was an astounding amount of government buildings. There were also statues and memorials galore-- mostly of people I'd learn about in the coming days as I leaned the history of the revolution, the Easter Rising, and the troubles. I stopped by the McDonald's for something to drink and saw that had something called a Millionaire donut. Come to find out, it's got a liquid caramel filling. I also noticed the upcharge for sugary drinks which must be from some legislation, but also that there's really only two kinds of soda in Dublin that are easy to find: Fanta, which is made from real orange juice concentrate, and Coke.
I looked for the bus station downtown for busses that go out of town-- but it turns out gobus is just a meeting area along the Liffey River and not a building or station at all. I was hoping to talk to someone about how to take a bus that stops at the Rock of Cashel on the way to Cork. Apparently such an option doesn't exist outside booking relatively expensive one way bus tickets. I bought a ticket online and whirred down to Cork-- about a 3.5 hour drive by bus. Although the jetlag caught up with me on the way and put me to sleep on the crowded bus, one of the best things I saw the entire trip was the Irish countryside. In Ireland, it seems all land is green with grass until someone comes along and makes it not so-- unlike the desert of Utah where the ground is generally brown dirt with yellow weeds until someone comes along with a grass transplant. I also immediately saw how there's supposed to be more sheep than people in Ireland-- the livestock through the rolling green hills was plenty as my eyes seemed more glued on our surroundings than anyone else on the bus.
We arrived to the hilly downtown of Cork with daylight to spare at St Patrick's Quay. "Quay" was an interesting word I hadn't heard before which seems relatively interchangeable with port or wharf. I found Sheila's hostel and was immediately intrigued by the idea. It seemed like an old shanty building with modern upgrades done in about half the building. I enjoyed the complex layout of stairs and was surprised to have a woman as a roommate, though I hardly spoke to any of these roommates due to sheer exhaustion and an early bedtime. I made my way to Shake Dog, which seemed to be an Ireland specific fast food chain with wildly underpriced €10 meals. I walked most of the downtown-ish area of the recommended St. Patrick's street was filled with nightlife, pub filled alleyways, and buses. I wondered how I'd get to the Blarney castle the next day, but went to Sheila's for some mediocre sleep in a squeaky bunk bed with a thin pad in place of a mattress.
Tuesday October 12
Blarney stone, grounds, and castle
Bus to Dublin 2:30 PM
Stay at Generator hostel
I awoke and took myself for a jog down St. Patrick's Street in the hopes of finding. I made a habit of getting up around 5 AM to run in the misty cold, something I'd never considered doing at home but found myself in a habit of doing simply because of how poor the sleeping quality was for the first few days and my going to bed really early. I tried to run to the nearby college in Cork but a) realized I wouldn't have the legs today to explore it b) realized it might keep it's gates closed to non-students like Trinity College does during the pandemic and c) realized I didn't study the maps well enough to remember where to go from memory. After a shower, I tried a nearby recommended cafe and one of the only places that serves food at 7 AM in Cork. The eggs on toast I got "take away" (not "take out" or "to go" I suppose) were incredibly subpar and I began to realize that perhaps Ireland isn't know for good food--there was a clear correlation on this trip between how American a meal was with how good it was. Perhaps that's just my sugary American sodium-loving self weighing in.
After a real struggle to find the bus to take me to Blarney Castle (have I complained how poor the Irish internet is at explaining literally anything, plus how poor signs are for anything in Ireland?), I found my way to the castle grounds with a lady and fella from Colorado I met on the bus. We bobbed around in the same vicinity while touring what seemed a largely authentic, unchanged medieval castle. The large open spaces, the murder hole by the front door, and the several toilets that were essentially sloped holes to the outside were especially interesting. The view from the top was a beautiful Irish countryside. I had to, of course, give the went Blarney stone a kiss-- even with hoe surprisingly scary it could be hanging upside down to do so for someone afraid of heights. I explored the grounds (does every castle have massive tracts of land with gardens?) complete with a poison garden of all plants poisonous and a serene, other-worldly waterfall. The waterfall area through the rock wall really seemed like stepping into another world, like out of a movie.
After heading back to Cork, I really regretted not allocating more time here-- but to do so would have meant to just have more time in the country in general. With my bag already packed from the morning, I found my early afternoon bus back up the countryside to Dublin. I used my week-long transit pass to find my surprisingly modern Generator hostel. I wasn't too keen on exploring Dublin at night with most attractions and shops closed seeing as I wasn't looking to get drunk. But notably, my room was filled with angry middle aged Irishmen who seemed to want to fight each other. It's here it occurred to me that although the Irish are always generally friendly, they're not always generally kind-- they don't seem the type to hold things in or leave you wondering how they feel.
Wednesday October 13
Phoenix park run 5:30 AM
Social fabric cafe breakfast 7:30 AM
PCR test 10:45 AM (Randox Travel Centre - Dublin City Centre)
Emigration museum
National museum gallery
Temple Bar
Thrift shop
St Patrick's cathedral
Dublin castle
Christchurch cathedral
I got up early, finally excited to be exploring Dublin. I started with a run at 5:30 AM up to Phoenix park, which seemed largely abandoned besides a man doing yoga next to the huge Wellington Monument I could still make out in the dark. After getting ready for the day, I looked for breakfast nearby and found a place called Social Fabric Cafe just a few blocks away. I arrived there as soon as it opened but still before the sun was up--they made a pretty good, egg-filled breakfast burrito in what seemed to be a more trendy restaurant--the burrito came cut with a slight diagonal, stacked to look fancier than any burrito I've ever seen.
Next I had to head to the easternmost part of town for my PCR test I booked.
Thursday October 14
Run to zoo
-tigers, African exhibits, boars and pigs
5 Guys
Dublin castle tour
Friday October 15
11:15 AM Dublin to Philadelphia
Bus misadventure
Saturday October 16
Philadelphia to SLC 8:55 AM
arrive in SLC 12:01 PM
(wedding 12 PM @ Le Jardin 1910 East Dimple Dell Road Sandy, UT)
Things I would do if I came back
Galway
Letterkenny
Rock of Cashel
Hike around outside Dublin
Dingle
Giants Causeway
Kilkenny/Waterford/Limerick?
Northern Ireland/Belfast/Derry
Spike island jail
Kilmainham Gaol jail
Explore rural area/road trip
Cliffs of Moher
Killarney national park
Skelligs
SkyView in Dublin
First Time traveling abroad lessons
Bring a lot of cash to exchange, you need change for the bus
Bring micro USB charger for headphones
If you have a not shitty phone, a credit card, and a passport, you'll be fine
Bring USB to C charger, often you can charge on transit
Get to long busses and flights early
Padlock, towel, flip flops for hostels
Hotels/private rooms can be nice, shared rooms are cheap
Make sure you understand and double check flight itineraries
Solo London trip (2 weeks)
Sunday October 17
I awoke just the night after returning home from Dublin on hardly any sleep. I had to finish my preliminary plans for my London trip which I hadn't finished yet for two reasons: firstly, the UK won't let you submit your documents for covid traveling more then 48 hours before, and secondly I wanted to use my experience traveling in Dublin to dictate where to stay when in England. So after staying up terribly late, we headed off to an early round of disc golf with Dakota, Matt, David, and myself. The day seemed like a perfect, cool morning for golf until it started dumping rain and discs became difficult to grip (partially because of the wet, partially because of the cold). After a quick run to Popeyes for some chicken (which was strangely overrun with missionaries), we headed to the airport for my first flight to Chicago.
The first flight was pretty uneventful. I sat in the very back row next to a kid with shockingly oversized hands in an aisle seat, and nodded in and out of consciousness for a few hours. When arriving to Chicago, I was absolutely exhausted. I grabbed some McDonald's in a hurry to my gate. While eating, the plane got delayed. It kept getting delayed in half hour to hour increments until about 10 o'clock as I crashed hard on the seats on and off, sometimes staying awake just enough to hear people complain that the flight got further delayed. Eventually it got too late for the flight and the pilot just walked out-- and even then we had to wait for official word that the flight was canceled from American Airlines corporate office. People were PISSED. Honestly, because I wasn't in a hurry and was just traveling for fun, I was just along for the ride. Anyways long story short, they shuttled us to a nearby Marriott to stay the night and catch a flight at 5 PM the next day.
Monday October 18
Fly to London (arrive 5:05 PM)
Flight leaves salt lake 11:40 AM--I wake up at the Marriott with an empty stomach and a couple of meal vouchers I have no idea how to use. Luckily, the breakfast buffet downstairs took both of them so my $35 breakfast (what????) Only cost me $10. Insane.
Well hotel check out time rolls around and everyone has to leave five hours early for the flight. As I got outside to wait for the shuttle, a man I briefly recognized from the previous night immediately approaches me. He was wearing black skinny jeans, was tatted up from fingertip to fingertip, a few facial piercings, and was wearing a punk looking suicidal tendencies hat in green lightning print. He said his name was Sean and we ended up shooting the shit for a few hours, from the wait for the shuttle to the shuttle ride to our wait at the airport. He struck me as an OG English punk rocker
Tuesday October 19
Fly in
Tube pass (accidental express ride)
Big Ben/Green Park/St James Park
Sculptures
Buckingham Palace / ambassadors
Honest burger
Hotel and sleep
Wednesday October 20
Morning run around Isle of Dogs
Giovanni and conversation (American football, West Ham vs Millwood)
Docks museum
McDonald's
London bridge
Tower bridge
Shakespeare globe (Midsummer Night's Dream)
-Standing in the cheap seats
-Absolute downpour
-Caravan of Love
Thursday October 21
Morning rain run (cold, windy)
St Pauls cathedral 9:30-10:00
5 guys
Tower of London 12:00
Lost credit card (crisis averted)
Friday October 22
Check into Chelsea air bnb
Run down king's street
Big Easy BBQ
Dune
Saturday October 23
Taco bell/Five Guys
Chelsea home game (7-0 over Norwich)
Relax
Pizza express
Sunday October 24
Kensington palace
Hyde park
Kings cross
Wombat hostel big Moe's
Monday October 25
3.5 mile run around waterfront, tower bridge to London bridge
Chinatown
Leicester square
Trafalgar square
Eye of London area
The Queens walk, Shrek store, aquarium, raining, skate park
Tuesday October 26
2 mile run east toward tunnel
Shake shack
Harry Potter tour 1:15 Victoria station (rest of the day)
Wednesday October 27
Run by hospital (awful area)
Museum of London 11:00 AM
Abby Road
Wembley stadium
Today started out a bit late, but as always with a run. I'd guess it was a little over 2 miles. I ran north to Kings Street, where I had been at night a few weeks ago and didn't love how sketchy it was. It didn't look any better during the day-- in fact, if anything, the trash was more visible when the sun was up. But there were enough people going about their day that it didn't seem dangerous at all.
After clearing up renewing my hostel reservation to add another week, I hit the road to the Museum of London. I stopped by a shop on the way for a donut and some snacks since I'd be skipping breakfast and eating a late lunch after the museum. Well the museum was absolutely packed, mostly with mother's and children. I guess 11:00 on a Wednesday has most other people busy with work and school. The museum was interesting-- not the best, but it let me learn all about the history of the city. They had countless artifacts of ancient weapons, pots, currency, etc. But there was almost too many; I didn't even know where to begin and didn't find them too interesting. Most of what I like in a museum is learning and understanding history. I did read about how the Thames used to be entirely different and much bigger until the ice age ended and that people had been living on the island (which used to be connected to mainland Europe???) as far back as half a million years ago. Besides ancient people occupying the land, modern history really begins when Julius Caesar invaded Britain to establish trade ties about 50 years BC, and then 100 years later the island was overtaken by the Roman empire. Londonium was the first city they established. For the next 400 years or so, Londonium blossomed and became a major trade city thanks to being built on the Thames--but then the Roman empire failed to protect London and it became a low priority area within the crumbling empire. Around 1000 AD, the Normans attacked and William the Conqueror declared himself the king of the land and built the Tower of London. In the 1300-1400's, the black plague killed about half of England. In the 1500's, King Henry the eighth started forcing everyone to be protestant instead of catholic. The 1600's were the most tumultuous for england-- a fifth of its population died in another plague, civil wars resulted in executed and reinstated kings, and the great fire of London broke out in a baker's house, which burned 4/5 of the city. The summer was especially dry, excessive winds fanned the flames, and entire warehouses were made of wood and filled with timer and oil and the like. They literally blew some buildings up with gunpowder to try and stop the fire from continuing to spread from building to building.
Nevertheless, the empire continued and rebuilt, becoming the biggest city in Europe and one of the most wealthy. WW2 absolutely decimated the city, about 50 years ago they had a "D-Day" where they decimalized their currency and did away with shillings, they controlled India and Pakistan before the claimed independence in the 1970's, and they had olympic cauldron portions at the museum-- which was a fascinating cauldron.
Upon leaving the museum, I went to chipotle for lunch. It was a lot spicier than back home-- the rice was flavored to be much more Spanish, they don't put beans on the burritos, and there was no queso. Kind of interesting.
Next, I planned to run out to Abbey Road to see the Beatles crossing site. My phone refused to tell me how to get there (thanks Google maps) so I looked up a metro map and figured it out myself. I see why it's such a challenge to take pictures here now-- it's right next to a somewhat busy intersection. They had a Livestream camera of the crossing, which was fun, and a small Beatles memorabilia shop next to the closed-to-the-public Abbey Road records.
I jumped on the subway further down the line to Wembley--it's a huge stadium with 90,000 seats and they've even played NFL games there. Tours were closed and I didn't really feel like paying $25 for a closed stadium, so I found myself content seeing just the outside. The nearby area was halfway decent, with clean looking shops and a grocery store. So I was finally able to buy some fruits and veggies. You know, it's tricky trying to look for healthy food while simultaneously knowing you can't refrigerate anything. But I did also find some good chocolate to take home that I think the fam will like before taking the tube back to the hostel.
Thursday October 28
Stonehenge/Bath/Windsor tour all day
I arose early this morning after a surprisingly restless night. I've been starting to stay up later and later lately, but also some new kids (a young couple) showed up around 1 AM and turned all the lights on and woke everyone up. They don't really seem to get how this place works at all. Regardless, I was up at 6 AM for my long journey I had ahead of me.
After getting up ready before the sun came up, I found my way down to the Victoria Coach station. After buying a muffin for breakfast, we loaded up our bus and took off towards Windsor Castle. Apparently it's where the Queen lives when she isn't at Buckingham Palace-- and her flag was flying, so that meant she was in residence during our tour. We only had a few hours to see everything, which really wasn't enough. The center tower seems to be where the queen actually lives, so we toured around the State Apartments building around the outside. I was especially struck with the many circular revolver and sword collages (I'm sure it has a better name, but) and the view of the long walk from within the castle. We visited rooms that used to be private for King Charles. Apparently this castle is the oldest continually occupied castle in Europe. While the rooms were ridiculously ornate and there were a few rooms with really cool decorations from around the entire world (including a piece of the liberty bell), the history and stories weren't crazy interesting outside "this is where a lot of kings and queens have had guests and here's where they used to put their trousers on." Regardless, when I saw the admission prices for the castle, I did the quick math and found the value for this £100 tour was pretty good since at least half of that must just go to admissions to what we were seeing for the day.
Regrettably, I spent too long seeing the State Apartments such that I only had a few minutes to run through the cathedral before the changing of the guards on the way back to the bus. The cathedral was pretty cool though-- I think they said 10 past monarchs have tombs there including Henry VIII (which was almost easy to miss) with his one wife that gave him a son. Our tour guide was awesome and an absolute character-- he said he'd been doing tours for 20 years and I found his stories and way of talking and describing history incredibly engaging (divorced, beheaded, died... Divorced, beheaded, survived). After the quick tour, the changing of the guard had started-- which was a LONG drawn out process with dozens of guards, all with fuzzy hats and long arm swinging motions and half of them with instruments. They played a few songs, like Happy by Pharrell Williams and the Avengers theme before finally letting us back through the very surprisingly crowded streets of Windsor back to the bus.
Next, we had a bit of a drive out to Stonehenge. We got to see some countryside and learn about the history of the rocks and how they were part of a bigger mysterious system of henges, rock formations, and old burial mounds. The site itself isn't as big as you'd expect because the rocks are clumped together and most aren't still standing--but the rocks themselves are massive. The hundreds of years and all the effort it must have taken to carve them all, transport them, and then lift them all before the Bronze Age and metal tools is unreal. I wouldn't say Stonehenge was stunning, but I found it incredibly interesting and worth seeing.
Last up was the city of Bath where Romans set up hot springs baths at the only hot spring in all of the UK. The whole museum made it out to be a little more interesting than it is, but still-- having history, artifacts, and pieces of architecture from 2 millennia ago is pretty impressive. You can't touch or go in the water at all and the water is green and dirty looking, but it's a cool historical site. I was actually pretty impressed with Bath as a whole. The architecture from a distance was incredibly alluring as all the buildings together almost looked like a giant unified castle or wall. As with everything on this tour and as a result doing 3 incredible things packed into one day trip, I wish I had more time here to explore. I did manage to visit a candy shop and scarf down a pizza with garlic bread at a seemingly authentic Italian pizza place just before going into the museum-- I was in such a hurry to be on time, in fact, but so hungry from not having a proper meal all day that I saved the crusts to get out of the restaurant faster and eat them during the tour. Finally, we headed home a few hours away and I was sure to tip my tour guide because he really did turn a decent day at some interesting sites to my favorite day of the trip so far. Now off to bed for some much needed sleep. Luckily I don't have much planned for tomorrow.
Friday October 29
Victoria and Albert museum 11:15 AM
British museum 1:40 PM
Saturday October 30
Tour8:15 AM
Leeds Castle
Canterbury (Chuck and Blade burgers, Halloween, shops, cathedral
Dover & Greenwich
Boat ride
War documentaries
Sunday October 31
Wake up to pouring rain, trains north canceled
Run by docks, get lost
Wicked Matinee 2:30 PM
Halloween, not a whole lot happens besides people out drinking
Monday November 1
Covid test at Paddington Station
Natural History Museum 12:30 PM
Back to the Future musical 7 PM
Tuesday November 2
Richmond exploration
Pack up
Wednesday November 3
Fly home 2 PM
Things to do if I come back
Oxford
Cambridge
Scotland
Hadrian’s Wall (Roman wall)
Wales/Wrexham
Warwick castle
Prime meridian/maritime museum
Camden (The Black Heart??)
War rooms museum ($)
View from the shard ($)
April 2022 Florida/Alabama/Georgia
Monday March 28
Stay in Kissimmee (star wars room air bnb)
Rental car
Late night Taco Bell
Tuesday March 29 (Miami day)
Drive to Miami
-Lunch at Pollo Tropical (grilled chicken, black beans)
Explore Miami Beach (Lincoln road)
South Beach
Check in hotel took forever
-Bayside marketplace/Bayfront park
Burger place (name??) Kinda like shake shack
Waterside hotel
Wednesday March 30 (keys day)
Drive through Little Havana (huge let down)
Lunch at Flannigans (amazing rib rolls)
Drive to Homestead hotel
The Keys
Sombrero Beach
Shopping, ice cream
Key west
-Southernmost point
-Sunset
-Duval street
-Hemingway house
-Clementes pizza
Drive back to homestead (4ish hours?)
Thursday March 31 (Everglades Day)
Venture out to the Everglades
Airboat tour canceled
Hard to rebook, hard to find someone who will take our money
Safari Park boat tour, gator habitat
Friday April 1
Drive back to Orlando
Costco
Drop off rental car
Chick Fil a
Allstar sports hotel
April 2 - Magic Kingdom
Rained like hell, line for space mountain. Sundaes, stuck on Buzz Lightyear, Matt is the dance guy at laugh floor, autotopia crashes, Winnie the Pooh buffet, george and Liam go get sodes
April 3 - Holywood Studios
Millennial falcon, long slinky dog ride, 1950's diner from Columbus Ohio (rage against the machine joke, being poor jokes, stealing macaroni), Indiana Jones cut short while eating funnel cakes, Wait forever for tower of terror end of night
April 4 - Epcot
Mission space, test track, figment, turtle talk rice balls from Japan, ratatouille, dinner in Italy $11 chicken,
April 5 - Pool Crawl
Liam backflips, Disney springs, worst sunburn ever, Lego store, BBQ place, boat ride back
April 6 - Magic Kingdom
Open until 1 AM, Thanksgiving restaurant buffet, space mountain back half is worse, last jungle cruise boat, see Thronson
April 7 - Animal Kingdom
Dumped rain again, safari in the rain (baby rhino, lady lion on the rocks, cheetahs walking around), wet shoes, lion king show, Flight of passage, nightlock drink, rainforest cafe (HUGE burger), Thronson again, rapids in rain, everest closed, kellie and James leave at 3 AM (switch rooms)
April 8 - Hollywood Studios
Show up late after going to the pool and eating pizza, do Rockin Rollercoaster, Toy Story Mania (high score 196,000) Rise of the Resistance
Saturday April 9
Rental car pickup
Drive to Gainesville/UF
See Tallahassee/FSU
-lacrosse games, football game, music festival at the park, capitol building (lame tall building)
Donut shop (all out of ice cream and donuts)
Arrive in Mobile upstairs apartment air bnb
Sunday April 10
Drive to Biloxi beach Mississippi
Eat BBQ in Mobile (Dreamland)
Lose sense of smell from being sick (bummer)
Drive Dauphin street
Cross Mobile Bay area bridge
Pensacola blue wahoos game (great beachside view)
Funny events in the game:
1.Three straight errors to give up a run, two by the shortsop
2. Three errors committed by the shortstop in three balls hit to him
3. Overthrown the third baseman on around the horn
4. Thrown bat nearly hits someone in the crowd
5. Runner dislocated pinky on headfirst slide into first
6. Different runner stole home (past ball)
7. Left early because someone wanted me to watch their table and it was awkward
Drive to Montgomery (state capitol)
-State Capitol
-first confederate white House
-wrong way one way street
Auburn
-rumble strip song
-football stadium
Drive to Atlanta
Private room air bnb
Monday April 11
Civil rights museum closed
World of Coke (40 flavors, videos, memorabilia)
Aquarium (stingray, hammer heads, dolphin show, sea lion show/rescues, belugas)
Dale Murphy's and Korean BBQ closed Mondays :(
Panda Express
Braves game (free rings, nats win 11-2 with one homer)
Weed smelling air bnb
Tuesday April 12
Wake up in Atlanta
Drive to Savannah
Tybee Island (beaches, cool beach town)
Fort Pulaski
-Named after Cashmire Pulaski (Polish American revolutionary met Ben Franklin in France, fought for America after poland lost independence)
-held by confederates, taken immediately by the union because of new rifled cannon technology (ridged barrels on the inside that shoot 5 miles instead of one mine, more accurate because of the spin on the projective and cylindrical shells)
Drive east river Street
Cross huge bridge into SC
Air bnb comfy Georgia room
Wednesday April 13
Drive to Orlando
Take rental car back by noon
Flight at 4 PM
Overall Florida observations
Roads have a surprising amount of debris
Stop lights are long as fuck
Traffic in the middle of nowhere that makes no sense
They love dollar general's around here lol
Mississippi observations
Alarming number of cars broken down on the side of the freeway
Why is every billboard for accident lawyers??
Alabama observations
Why am I constantly getting passed by semis while I’m speeding, going 10 over?
Also broken down cars
Savannah feeling
Incredibly unique. It's southern and old, the buildings look original and falling apart on the outside, but fine inside. Cobblestone road on river Street. More town squares than I've ever seen, interesting one way streets around the square. It's poor, run down, old, yet vibrant and touristy, flourishing. Sweet treats everywhere, steamboats, a huge bridge, shopping, pubs and bars, a few blocks away looks so poor and run down.
2023 Italy Trip
Entirely planned via spreadsheet
Weird things we saw
1. A dog peeing on a man's street art in Milan.
2. A seagull eating whole chicken bones in Venice.
3. A teenage girl bag snatcher on the metro in Rome get absolutely pummeled and berated.
4. A small child throwing his scooter on the train tracks at Venice station that required rescuing.
5. A couple get engaged while participating in a costume contest in St. Mark's square.
6. The stinkiest guys in the entire world: two on the train ride to MXP, two on the plane from Paris to Milan, and one in Verona.
7. A train crashed in Milan stranding hundreds of people. Everyone standing around motionless waiting for the train schedule to update.
8. Strikes in France, causing the Eiffel tower to be closed the day we were planning to go.
9. A hobo pooping down a grate in Rome.
Italy Travel Tips and Observations (non-exhaustive)
1. Always keep train and metro tickets, always look meticulously to validate them whenever possible, and assume you'll get checked for tickets when you get off. Just because you can get on doesn't mean you're good.
2. Italians like to stare, especially if they hear you speaking English, you look American, or you wear any colors besides black, gray, and tan.
3.The steak is great and leather is everywhere, but there's no cows to be found.
4. Italians don't care about having nice showers, it seems? The faucets are weak and the drains often suck; they don't even put them overhead sometimes
5.Graffiti is everywhere. It's not necessarily an indicator that you're in a bad area, though it does correlate. Just expect much, much more.
6. Don't expect to see a clothes dryer anywhere in the country.
7. Learn to completely ignore anyone talking to you on the street-- street salesmen, scammers, and aggressive restaurant hosts. Don't laugh, don't respond. If you even glance at street merchandise, people will bother you.
8. Beggars will bother you in restaurants, even fancier ones sometimes. That's fucking weird.
9. Plan your day and hydration around where to use the bathroom. Public restrooms cost money, aren't easy to find and sometimes don't exist. Museums will almost always have them, restaurants will often but not always.
10. Learn to read a train schedule - Just because you're taking a train to Rome does not mean it stops in Rome. Your train could have a different arrival time/station than where you plan to get off. It's not hard to get used to, but plan a little extra time your first ride. All times are military time on schedules.
11. I didn't use a rail pass and booked everything through the ItaliaRail app. Worked great and was very informative.
12. Air bnb hosts like to meet you. Self check-ins aren't the most common.
13. It can be hard to find general information, accurate transport information, and correct ticket vendors both online and in person. Even for a popular tourist destination, expect to have to do work and take time when booking things. Don't expect every huge tourist attraction to have it's own functional website.
14. Tourism is huge everywhere you go. You're not the only one trying to visit Italy. Expect massive crowds anywhere even kind of interesting.
15. Public transit is much more "every man for himself" and unkind than anywhere in America.
16. Personal boundaries are much smaller, especially waiting in lines. Just because someone is standing 6 inches behind you doesn't mean they're trying to rob you.
16. Don't order the wrong pasta / noodle combination. It's okay to choose a sauce and ask for help.
17. There's a lot of churches, there's a lot of art galleries. They're not all worth seeing. The less educated you are on art or the less interested in religion, the less you need to see. There's certain pieces of Christian art you'll see over and over, just dozens of different iterations (i.e. "The Ascension" or "the Coronation of Mary" or "The Adoration of the Magi"). It didn't occur to me that famous renaissance artists didn't just paint for fun--they painted for money, which almost always meant painting rich people and art commissioned by churches.
18. The longer the train ride, the more you need to book it in advance. Some rides are short enough that they're flat rates no matter if you buy them 5 minutes or 5 months before (i.e. round trip to Pisa from Florence is always $8 each way).
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