For our last night in Iceland we stayed in a hotel that had no wheels and a shower that doesn’t require quarters. Van camping is an experience worth having but so are showers without timers. We had two proper meals while we were in Reykjavik (oh wait, I do know Read more…
Here are a smattering of random photos from our way back home. We stoped in San Luis Obispo for lunch (another very cool walkable downtown) and also dropped in on The Madonna Inn, which is an old hotel with the kitsch turned up to 11. We saw some lazy otter Read more…
We spent our last day checking out Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. Truth be told, this stopover was really just our way of getting near the airport for a 6 AM Friday arrival (sorry, Zagreb, nothing personal). But as it turned out, we were pleasantly surprised. Zagreb is a really Read more…
Overlooking the island of Hvar is a fortress built in the 1500s (see placard below). From our hotel, it was only about a 10 minute walk to the base of the hill upon which is sits and then a leisurely 30 minute hike up paved switchbacks to the top. I Read more…
Besides waling the city walls we took some time to wander the streets of Dubrovnik. Not surprisingly, there’s something vaguely Venetian about them – or perhaps to my untrained American eye all European cities are equally unlike American cities. They’re old, narrow, exquisitely detailed, and best of all they beg Read more…
On our last day, we finally got to see the Colosseum. It was the only site we visited at which we took a guided tour. This got us access to areas we would not otherwise have seen. We started the tour on the floor of the stadium, which is a Read more…
The Roman Forum was the birthplace of Rome. In its day it housed government buildings, lively market squares, temples, a house of women condemned to virginity until the age of 30 lest they be buried alive (true story) and the place where Caesar’s body was burned. Also a Chipotle. Side Read more…
Pompeii was a long hot sweaty disgusting trek to, though and back. As such I was exhausted and am now a day behind so Imma keep this brief. For a civilization that predates Christ, they were surprisingly advanced… plumbing, basic machines, drainage systems, brothels… lots of brothels, ovens, advanced street Read more…
We set out this day with very little planned and ended up all over the place seeing all kinds of wacky old crap. We learned that forums are like drugstores, there’s one on every corner… or at least what’s left of them, which isn’t much. You’d think at some point Read more…
Day Eight was all trains and napping… possibly still more interesting than the job at which you’re likely reading this but still a bit of a stretch to make interesting on my end. We pick up our story with Day Nine. Today we saw the Pantheon, which was a weird Read more…