Somewhere between Vox & Hunter S. Thompson
My experiences abroad forced me to confront unfamiliar things in a way that drastically fast-forwarded my personal growth. And as much as I hate articles like this one, I figured that it might be prudent to crystallize a few pieces of this wisdom I’ve gained and share them with you, for whatever they're worth. So what are my big takeaways after all this time?
This is Part 2 of my time sneaking around Venice, seeing everything this amazing city has to offer, and spending as little money as possible in the process. Here we'll go through extensive photo galleries, which stretch well into night time on the canals, as well as meet the infamous Plague Doctor.
With it's legendary boats and canals, few other destinations possess the same fabled mystique as this fairy-tale city. Once a powerful autonomous kingdom in its own rite, Venice is composed of 118 small islands off the coast of Northeastern Italy. Before Venice was ~*Venice*~, these islands were nothing but swampy lagoons. These lagoons are thought to have been settled by Roman refugees who were fleeing invasions of the Germanic and Hun empires. There is no surviving historical record to give us any insight into Venice's formal founding, but some ancient Roman documents place these refugee fishermen here as early as the 1st century A.D. According to tradition though, the first church of Venice was officially established in 421 A.D., so that is the historically accepted year of Venice's founding.
I arrived in Italy pretty directionless, so their vivid descriptions of discovering beautiful seaside towns along the Italian Riviera that were completely void of tourists were enough to sell me. Of course, that was the 1980s, and today it isn't quite the same, but Cinque Terre is still incredible.
Buckle in.
With places like Florence and Rome literally at my fingertips, it might be considered an odd move to choose to visit Genoa instead. Genoa had always fascinated me though. Nobody ever talks about it, but, if Google Images was to be believed, it's a gorgeous seaside city! Let's check it out...
The World Expo, or World’s Fair, is kind of like the Olympics for culture and development. It happens every 2 or 3 years, each time in a different city. The first World Expo was held in London in 1851, and since then it has been hosted be cities all over the world from Japan, to Brazil, to the good ole’ U.S.A. The next one is scheduled to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan in 2017. After that will be Dubai, U.A.E. in 2020. Every Expo has a different theme showcasing a different cultural facet or scientific frontier. The Milan Expo was about food, and I did not hate it. I actually can't think of anything I'd rather it have been about.
I flew into the airport of a city called Bergamo. From there, despite having the passport stamps to prove that I had been to hell and back, I breezed through customs. I changed my money and took a bus into Milan called Terra Vision. The bus took about 1 hour to reach Milan’s Stazione Centrale (Central Station) and cost 5.00 EUR (5.32 USD).
This is the local's guide to Istanbul, as well as a narrative of my experiences there. And it's been moved! This article has become a city guide in it's own rite, so when you click on this article, you'll be prompted to visit this guide in its new location.
(It's better this way, I promise)
This article is a brief guide to sightseeing in Istanbul, as well as a narrative of my experiences there. And it's been moved! This article has become a city guide in it's own rite, so when you click on this article, you'll be prompted to visit this guide in its new location.
(It's better this way, I promise)
I would be so racist against Indian people by now if I hadn’t taken so many trains. In a place like India, my white skin makes me a huge target because of my perceived level of wealth. As such, most of the interactions I have with locals are about money, and the unfortunate majority of them are not positive. Traveling through this kind of environment, it's easy to get cynical. My saving grace throughout my whole time in India was my time on the trains.
