Just Like Uchicago

8/31/2013 - Oxford, UK

A big tourist day through Oxford. I visited the Ashmolean Museum, the Bodleian Library, Merton College, Christ Church, and Magdalen College. The museum and library were most impressive: England has been holding out on the rest of the world, keeping its best artifacts for itself. The museum had amazing pieces from Egypt, and the library's books were incredibly old.

The colleges reminded me of my own college experience, with a bit of Harry Potter thrown in. Christ Church's interior and Magdalen College's exterior especially looked like Chicago. One thing was missing: I saw few students, except for those who worked at the ticket counters. One of them greeted me with a "Hello, governor," which I didn't think people actually said anymore. 

Pictured: The dining hall at Christ Church, the model for the University of Chicago's Hutchinson Commons. Also seen in the Harry Potter movies.

Old Oxford

8/30/2013 - Oxford, UK

After four days in a row of heavy travel, I was exhausted when I arrived in York. I pulled myself together and walked the 3 miles to J.R.R. Tolkien's gravestone and back. By the time I got back to the main university campus, it was mostly shut down. I spent the night hanging out in the hostel's lounge.

I was surprised to see that York, Hay-on-Wye, and Oxford are all filled with tourists. I had thought York and Oxford were real cities were people did things, and that Hay-on-Wye would be in its off season. Instead, they were just as filled with British, German, and Japanese tourists as anywhere.

Pictured: Radcliffe College, the "most photographed building" in Oxford.

Bookquest: Hay-on-Wye, UK

8/29/2013 - Richard Booth's Bookshop

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

Robinson Crusoe is a classic I've never found time to read. I thought it was appropriate for a solo traveler to Hay-on-Wye, the Welsh mecca of used bookstores. I found an old version that was only 5 pounds. 

The bookstore, one of 50 in the small town of Hay-on-Wye, was nice but not as great as I was hoping. I wanted Hay-on-Wye to knock me over with inviting titles I'd never seen before. Instead, it was thorough at being old: just in "W," I saw used early editions of classics by Waugh, Wodehouse, Woolf, etc. 

Medieval Walls

8/28/2013 - York, UK

I went to York for the history, and I wasn't disappointed. I explored York while walking around the city walls. City walls are becoming a theme of the trip; I have visited them in Xi'an, Istanbul, and now York. My last stop in York took me past a political protest ("Don't bomb Syria!") on the way to a pub for a Yorkshire beer. 

York is surprisingly touristy. It has jumped on the popularity of Game of Thrones by playing up its War of the Roses history (supposedly, the York and Lancaster feud in England's War of the Roses inspired the Stark and Lannister houses in Game of Thrones). 

Pictured: A view of York Minster from the city's walls.

Schedule note: I had planned to visit the Moors from York, but I made a mistake in my plans. No Moors on this trip.

Peace Center

8/27/2013 - Oslo, Norway

My last day in Oslo was improvised; I had planned to visit Rjukan to see the site of the covert operation in World War II.

Instead, I visited the Nobel Peace Center and the Edvard Munch museum. The Nobel Peace Center was inspiring (more controversial than I would have expected though). I didn't know much about Munch beyond The Scream, but I walked out of the museum a fan of his work.

Pictured: Aung San Suu Kyi in the "Nobel Field."

http://www.nobelpeacecenter.org/en/exhibitions/peace-prize-laureates/

More Scandinavian Heroics

8/26/2013 - Oslo, Norway

A long day in Oslo. I walked to the alternative bookstore, the royal palace, the royal park, embassy row, one of the fjords, the Viking Ships Museum, the Kon-Tiki Museum, Oslo's main park, and the famous Vigelandsanlegget sculpture garden. 

The Kon-Tiki Museum stood out, mainly because I didn't know much about the story. The museum contains artifacts from Thor Heyerdahl's near-impossible voyages across the ocean on papyrus boats ("maritime experimental archaeology"). Incredibly, he wasn't the most heroic person among his crew: with him was Knut Haugland, Norway's most decorated soldier from World War II, who helped stop Hitler from getting atomic weapons at the raid in Rjukan, Norway. With the Nobel Museum from Stockholm still on my mind, I ended the day with an impression of legendary heroism in Scandinavia.

Pictured: One of the more famous statues at the outstanding Vigelandsanlegget sculpture garden

Bookquest: Oslo, Norway

8/26/2013 - Tronsmo Bøker & Tegneserier

Tramp by Tomas Espedal

Tramp is about walking around the world. It is the fourth book in a row that I've picked up with  traveling as its subject. Again, I went with a staff member's recommendation. Reading the description, it sounds like a combination On the Road and A Time of Gifts, but with more poetry, less drugs, and Norwegian.

Tronsmo is a nice "alternative" style bookstore, described by Allen Ginsberg as "the best bookshop in the world." I don't know if I'd go that far, but it certainly had a good selection. The staff had a few good recommendations, including some books written by a former employee. It is also the first bookstore in a while where I haven't been greeted by Sheryl Sandberg's smiling Lean In and Dan Brown's latest novel, Inferno.

Bookquest: Stockholm, Sweden

8/24/2013 - Hedengrens Bokhandel

The Saga of Gösta Berling, by Selma Lagerlöf

Among many good choices, I picked up Selma Lagerlöf's book. The woman behind the counter had read all three of the books I was considering, and she recommended Selma Lagerlöf's as her favorite. It has a "great story," "deep characters," and the writer was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature. Hard to go wrong.

The bookstore was one of the best I've visited so far. It was hard to choose among its English language options. It had a deep nonfiction section in English. It had 5 books on Ingmar Bergman, so I couldn't even choose which of those looked best.

Vacation Day

8/25/2013 - Oslo, Norway

My goal is to do at least one awesome thing every day. Some days are so awesome to make up for the others. This was one of the down days. I didn't do much beyond a train ride from Stockholm to Oslo, and sit in a hotel room sketching out the next week of my trip.

In other words, I was taking a vacation from my vacation.

Pictured: View from the last car on the train from Stockholm to Oslo. We had just entered Norway.

Among Giants

8/24/2013 - Stockholm, Sweden

My main destination in Stockholm was the Nobel Museum. It was as inspiring as I hoped it would be: honors to the Nobel laureates that I knew and introductions to impressive people that were unfamiliar. Each laureate that I read about could have their own museum dedicated to them: Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, Watson & Crick, Marie Curie, etc.

After walking through the hall of political and intellectual powerhouses, I stumbled onto the Vattenfall World Triathlon going past the Royal Palace. It made sense that, after the awesome people in the Nobel Museum, I'd see awesome athletes on the streets of Stockholm. Even the random people in the city seem casually beautiful, athletic, wealthy, brilliant, and friendly. I saw humanity at its best.

Pictured: View of the triathlon in Stockholm

Scandinavia at High Speed

8/23/2013 - Stockholm, Sweden

I took an afternoon train from Copenhagen to Stockholm. I spent the morning wandering around Copenhagen looking for the Niels Bohr Institute and the Arnold Busck Bookstore. I also couldn't resist visiting the Lego store, since Denmark is the home of Lego.

When I boarded the high speed train (124 mph), I didn't know what the landscape would look like. It was very nice. I had expected to get a lot of work done on the train (blogging, planning my next destinations, etc.). Instead, I watched the Swedish landscape go by: vivid green forests, bright blue lakes, and the occasional farm.

Pictured: View from the train. 

Bookquest: Copenhagen, Denmark

8/23/2013 - Arnold Busck Bookstore

Out of Africa, by Karen Blixen

Out of Africa is a Danish baroness's memoirs of her time in colonial Africa. It's supposed to be a sad book; the author recalls Kenya as a lost world. 

I wasn't surprised to see that the bookstore had many good English language options. Everywhere I went in Copenhagen, the locals spoke very good English. Unfortunately, like other cities, there aren't many contemporary Danish books that are translated in English. 

Destination Mermaid

8/22/2013 - Copenhagen, Denmark

I arrived in Copenhagen just early enough for a walk from my hostel downtown to the famous Little Mermaid statue, and back. I knew the statue istelf might be underwhelming, but looking at the map, I thought that the 45-minute walk through Copenhagen would provide its own interesting sights.

It was a pleasant walk. Copenhagen is quiet and peaceful. Along the way, I saw some of the city's main parks, shopping areas, and historical sights. I saw a sand sculpture festival on a beach. That's really what I was hoping for from my Europe trip: not much rushing to important destinations, but seeing things along the way.

Pictured: Sunset while walking back to the hostel in downtown Copenhagen.

Pavilion Politics

8/21/2013 - Venice, Italy

My second day at the Venice Biennale, I visited the main row of national pavilions and the other main exhibit hall. By the end of it, I was moving pretty quickly. I could not comprehend any more art. My brain was full.

Yesterday's art had universal messages, but these national pavilions were more specific to their countries. Japan and Greece both had artwork about recent crises in their own countries (Fukushima and the EU monetary crisis). I was surprised to see that some pavilions seemed to comment on other countries' problems. Russia, for example, used the Greek crisis to make a statement about greed and corruption. The British, as if in response, explicitly mentioned the Soviets in some of their Cold War art. Most predictably, the Venezuelan pavilion had a street art exhibit asking "Quienes son los terroristas?" implying that the U.S. is a terrorist nation. 

Pictured: The U.S. pavilion, one of many with environmental themes.

Bookquest: Venice, Italy

8/20/2013 - Liberia Marco Polo

The Travels, by Marco Polo

I've been looking forward to reading Marco Polo's records of his travels for a while. Since he is from Venice, it was an easy choice.

I bought it, fittingly enough, at a bookstore called Libreria Marco Polo. It was the second bookstore I visited with English language books. It was well-stocked, and I could see that they were adding new English titles to their shelves. The other bookstore, Libreria Acqua Alta, had nice ambience (a gondola, ancient books, and so many cats), but its English language literature was lacking.

A Small World

8/20/2013 - Venice, Italy

The Venice Biennale is one of the biggest art festivals in the world, featuring art from 88 countries. It inspires the same feelings of optimism and brotherhood as the Olympics. A huge part of Venice is devoted to the festival: there are two sections devoted to it, and other art pavilions are squeezed into buildings scattered around the city. 

By the end of the day, I felt I had walked through a version of Disney's "It's a Small World" for adults. Before I even bought a ticket, I had stumbled upon art from New Zealand, Taiwan, Zimbabwe, and China. As I entered one of the two main exhibit halls, I kept a list of the nationalities of the artists. Here it is, with most of my notes deleted: 

Nigeria. Italy. USA. China. USA. France. Switzerland. France. Romania. Belgium. Russia. USA. Turkey. Portugal. UK. China. USA. Vietnam. USA (Wisconsin! Von Bruenchenhein). USA (Chicago! Jessica Jackson Hutchins). UK (Steve McQueen). Poland. UK. USA (R Crumb). Japan. Senegal. Italy. Brazil. Ivory Coast. Czech Republic. USA. Belgium. Germany. Denmark. Poland (Pawel Althamer, above). USA. USA. USA. Greece. USA. USA. USA. USA. Greece. USA. Belgium. USA. USA. Italy. USA. USA. Sweden. Switzerland. Poland. Italy. Germany. France. USA. Italy. Germany. Germany. Poland. USA. USA. UK. USA. Germany. New Zealand. UK. India. USA. UK. UK. USA. Germany. Italy. Germany. USA. Argentina. UAE. South Africa. Lebanon. Chile. Kosovo. Turkey. Bahrain. Indonesia. Latvia. "Latino American." Netherlands. Bahamas. Italy. China. China. Georgia. Brazil. Germany. Morocco. Kenya. China (the outstanding Ai Weiwei exhibit, in a beautiful old Venetian church).

Pictured: The popular exhibit featuring the work of Pawel Althamer of Poland.

No Cars

8/19/2013 - Venice, Italy

I got lost a few times on my way to my hostel in Venice. I ended up taking a detour to the wrong island, which set me back for about 2 hours. Except for shopkeepers, there was nobody to ask directions from. It seems like everyone in Venice is a tourist.

Getting lost wasn't really a big problem: I pack pretty light, and Venice is a great city to get lost in. The old streets, buildings, and canals make for a fun maze. Before arriving, I didn't realize the extent to which it was a collection of islands, with no cars or even bicycles. When eventually I gave up and called a taxi, it was a boat that I called, not a car.

Pictured: View of Venice as I finally sat down for my first Italian dinner.

Revised Schedule

Based on weather, friends' travel, and recommendations, I've changed my schedule around a bit.

Revised, likely to be changed again:

5: Biennale and Scandinavia: Venice (8/19-8/21), Copenhagen (8/22-8/23), Stockholm (8/24-8/26) Oslo* (8/27-8/28)

6: England: UK (8/29-9/19) London*
7: Benelux and Oktoberfest: Amsterdam* / Brussels / Luxembourg / Munich (9/20-10/1)

8: To the East: Stuttgart (10/2-10/3), Halberstadt (10/4-10/5), Dresden (10/6), Berlin* (10/7-10/9), Vienna* (10/10-10/11), Prague (10/12-10/13), Krakow (10/14-10/15)

9: Paris* (10/16-10/29)

10: South France (10/30-11/15): Bordeaux, Toulouse, Avignon, Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Cannes, Nice (possibly cancel this and go to Barcelona* or Croatia)

11: Italy: Rome (11/16-11/22), Florence (11/23-11/27), Milan* (11/28-11/29)

11: Eastern US: (New York 12/1-12/3. Washington DC 12/4-12/6, Chicago 12/7-12/10, Milwaukee 12/11-12/13)

Previous:

1: Western US: (Seattle 6/29-7/1, Portland 7/2-3, San Francisco 7/4-11)

2: Korea and China (Seoul 7/13-15, Beijing 7/16-18, Xian 7/19-21, Suzhou 7/22, Shanghai -7/23-24)
3: Japan (7/25-8/7)

4: Turkey and Italy: (Istanbul 8/9-16, Rome 8/17-21, Florence 8/22-26, Milan 8/27-8/28, Venice 8/29-8/31)

5: Central Europe: (Croatia 9/1-5, Krakow 9/6-9, Vienna 9/10-13, Prague 9/13-15, Dresden 9/16, Berlin 9/17-20)
6: Northern Europe: (Copenhagen 9/21-23, Stockholm 9/24-26, Oslo 9/27-28), Germany (Munich 9/29-10/1, Stuttgart 10/2-4, Halberstadt - 10/5)
7: France and "the low countries" (10/6-10/31)
8: UK (11/1-11/30)

9: Eastern US: (New York 12/1-3, Washington DC 12/4-6, Chicago 12/7-10, Milwaukee 12/11-13)

Taksim Farewells

8/18/2013 - Istanbul, Turkey

My last day with a tour group on this trip. It was full: Gallipoli, Hagia Sofia, Istanbul's Spice Bazaar, Taksim Square, and a celebratory dinner.

I haven't written much about food, but that's just because I'm not very good at writing about it. My food has been good through pretty much the entire trip. It is easy to find good recommendations, either from word of mouth, Wikitravel, hotel staff, guide books, or other sources. Just today, we visited a "wet burger" place by Taksim Square that was featured on TV personality Anthony Bourdain's show. Still in the mood for burgers, a New Yorker with us demanded that we try Istanbul's Shake Shack (the only American food he ate on the tour). After dinner, we split the bottle of quince wine that we picked up in Selçuk.

Sad to see the tour group split up; I will be traveling alone for a while now.

Pictured: View from Taksim Square at dusk.

Aegean Road Trip

8/17/2013 - Çanakkale, Turkey

We drove about 6 hours today along Turkey's Aegean coast, from ancient Ephesus to ancient Troy. We saw a lot of Turkey along the way.

First, we saw Izmir (Smyrna) from the bus. I was curious about the city, having read about it in the Bible, Middlesex, and Giles Milton's Paradise Lost (the other Paradise Lost, by the other Milton). Our Turkish guide was fair about presenting both sides of Izmir's recent history, telling both the Turkish and Greek versions of the events.

Later, we passed by the island of Lesbos, and our eager tour guide asked us, "Do you know what the word 'lesbian' means?" We heard the story of Sappho.

Last, we stopped at the alleged site of Troy. We were skeptical; I didn't think the evidence was overwhelming that we were at Troy. But as one of us on the tour said, "SOMETHING was here." It was an impressive old city, with altars for both Augustus and Alexander still in tact.

Pictured: Roman and earlier ruins at the site of Troy.

Sublime Artemis

8/16/2013 - Selçuk, Turkey

The best part of a great, full day in Ephesus was the Temple of Artemis. The Temple, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is mostly ruins. Hardly any people were nearby. A few dirty dogs ran around the overgrown ruins. Unlike many ancient sites in Ephesus, we did not have to pay to see it. 

Despite how little was left standing, it was still a sublime experience to walk through it. The story of the Temple of Artemis is incredible. Oddly, its story is similar to a book I was reading earlier in the day: Yukio Mishima's Temple of the Golden Pavilion, about the Kinkakuji temple in Kyoto. Linking Ephesus's Temple of Artemis with Kyoto's Kinkakuji gives them both a more personal connection to me.

Pictured: The Temple of Artemis sits in front of a great mosque, church, and citadel, showing off milennia of history.

Pillars and Pottery

8/15/2013 - Avanos, Turkey

Our last day in Cappadocia, we saw a few more sights on foot. We climbed the castle and went to the "Monks Valley," where St Simon sat on the tall rock pillars. We could not visit his chapel in the rocks because, as I overheard a tour guide say, "the German lady fell from there." 

Later, we saw a Turkish pottery master at work. I hadn't really thought much of pottery before the visit, but it's impressive to see the craftsmanship and to think of how much history we know from pottery.

Pictured: Fairy-chimneys in Cappadocia, an unlikely natural rock formation.

Cappadocia Dreams

8/14/2013 - Göreme, Turkey

Half awake, we got into a hot air balloon around 6:00 a.m. to see the sun rise over Cappadocia. With the sleep deprivation, the otherworldly landscape, and the quiet of the balloon, it was a dreamy experience.

Later in the day, we visited the Göreme Open Air Museum, saw how Turkish carpets are made, hiked through the Cappadocian mountains, and saw a Turkish dance show. The belly dancer pulled a few people from the crowd to dance with her, and of course I was among them. I got some cheers.

Pictured: Cappadocia, viewed from a hot air balloon

The Heart of Anatolia

8/13/2013 - Lake Tuz, Turkey

From Istanbul, we flew to Ankara. We visited the mausoleum of Ataturk, which includes a museum on 20th century Turkey history. After that, we visited a museum containing pieces from all the historic civilizations on Turkey's land mass (Anatolia).

We drove from Ankara to Cappadocia, which is close to the center of Turkey. Along the way, we stopped at Turkey's great salt lake. Like the Dead Sea, it is thick with minerals. We could walk across it. The whole day was interesting, but the sea was a nice surprise. None of us had heard of it before we stopped. One of us said it looked "like heaven, everything white, with people just black dots far away."

Pictured: Lake Tuz, covered in salt.

STORKS

8/12/2013 - Istanbul, Turkey

A huge tourist day. With my tour group, we all saw the Hippodrome area, went into the Blue Mosque, walked past Hagia Sofia and the hamams nearby, spent hours in the Tokapi Palace and its harem, drank Turkish coffee, and headed down to the Cistern. A long, rewarding day in the oldest part of the city.

Early in the day, we stopped at the Hippodrome and saw the oldest artifact in Istanbul, an Egyptian obelisk from 3500 years ago. I examined it while our tour guide described it. He said something like "This obelisk, from 1500 B.C., was originally three times as tall, but in order to be transported, it had to be- STORKS!" I looked at him, and he pointed to the sky. Sure enough, countless storks flew overhead, migrating south to Africa. That's the best kind of tourist luck: being wowed by an ancient artifact when suddenly today's world jumps in your face.

Pictured: Storks fly over the Hippodrome, with an obelisk and minaret in view.

Looking for Bridges

8/11/2013 - Istanbul, Turkey

Today I tried to walk from Europe to Asia across the Bosphorus Bridge. I made it to the bridge, but it turns out you can't walk across it. You can only take an automobile.

A little research would have been a good idea. I wasn't too disappointed though; Istanbul is a good city to get lost in. The city still had a festival atmosphere. People are still celebrating after Eid. 

Pictured: The Galata Bridge at night. You can walk across this one.

Bookquest: Istanbul, Turkey

8/10/2013 - Book Shop Galeri Kayseri

The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak's The Bastard of Istanbul is a "shocking, ambitious, exuberant" novel about a family in contemporary Istanbul. Among all the books by the most respected Turkish authors, the clerk recommended The Bastard of Istanbul as the best picture of contemporary Istanbul.

Though clearly catering to tourists, Book Shop Galeri Kayseri was the best of 3 English language bookstores I visited. The other two bookstores were either "sold out" of the major works of Shafak and Pamuk, or it looked like they hadn't added any new English language book to their shelves in the last 20 years.

Welcome to Europe

8/9/2013 - Istanbul, Turkey

A great tourist day. I walked from my hotel in the Old City across the Galata Bridge to the Istanbul Modern art museum. I went to a couple bookstores, walked through Asmali Mescat, got lunch, saw Galata Tower, viewed the city from a hotel rooftop, and took the long way back to the Old City.

Istanbul was full of people; I had to check to make sure it wasn't still an Eid festival (it wasn't). Every time I turned a corner, there was a new impressive crowd, building, street, or panoramic view.

I was worried that I would be unimpressed by Istanbul after how much I enjoyed Japan. Instead, it might become one of my favorite cities. I am getting very excited about my plans for Europe.

Pictured: View from the Istanbul Modern art museum.

Rising Sun

8/7/2013 - Mt. Fuji, Japan 

Not much to say... we watched the sunrise from the top of Mt Fuji. It was amazing; no matter how I say it, it will be an understatement.

It was our last full day in Japan, and also my birthday. We celebrated later by getting sashimi, tempura, and going out for karaoke. A pretty memorable birthday.

Pictured: The sunrise, viewed from Mt Fuji

Climbing Fuji

8/6/2013 - Gotemba, Japan 

Today was the most strenuous physical activity I have planned for the trip: climbing Mt. Fuji. We started the climb just after 4:00 p.m. on the Subashiri trail, hiked for 5 hours, then stopped at a station to sleep for 4 hours before moving to the top.

Every hour of the hike provided new scenery: we started in the woods, then moved into the open air to see the clouds roll off the mountain top. Our next station coincided with sundown, which occurred as the clouds moved off the view of the city. Then, our last phase before bed was a starscape over the mountain.

Pictured: The clouds move off Mt Fuji.

Wondrous Ghibli

8/5/2013 - Tokyo, Japan 

In the outskirts of Tokyo, we visited an animation museum for Miyazaki's films (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, etc.). Miyazaki's films all celebrate childhood and wonder. It was part art museum, part playground, part science museum, part movie theater. One of our first impressions walking in was, "This is like Hogwarts!"

Pictured: A robot statue on top of Studio Ghibli from the film Castle in the Sky.

Kabuki and Koons

8/3/2013 - Tokyo, Japan 

The kabuki show started with actors squeaking Japanese, wearing kimonos with their faces painted white. They used precise hand and body motions in their performances. A man narrated with expressive song. We had no idea what was going on.

Later in the day, I visited the Mori art museum on the 52nd floor of a tower in the Roppongi district. Its theme was "love." That broad theme included portrayals of passionate love from the Tale of Genji, familial love in Frida Kahlo's paintings, God's love in a work by Dali, and packaged consumerist love by Jeff Koons. 

It was an interesting contrast. Kabuki, the old Japanese form, was precise and enigmatic. The new global art museum was anarchic.

Pictured: The Kabuki-Za Theater in Tokyo's Ginza neighborhood

Swallows Vs Carp

8/2/2013 - Tokyo, Japan

We had fun at a baseball game in Tokyo. We learned that Japan's baseball games have even more rituals than American games. Every time a hitter comes to the plate, he is welcomed with a drum, a horn section, and chanting fans. I joined in to cheer for one of the Tokyo Swallows, Shingo Kawabata. The chant was easy to learn:

Clap clap clap-clap-clap. 

"Shingo! Shingo!" 

Clap clap clap-clap-clap. 

"Shingo! Shingo!" 

Clap clap clap-clap-clap. 

"Shingo! Shingo!" 

Clap clap clap-clap-clap. 

[Pause]

"Hey!"

Pictured: Fireworks over the Swallows' cheering section at Meiji Jingu Stadium. On the big screen (left to right): the Swallows mascot, a smaller mascot, the Hiroshima Carp mascot, and another small Swallow.

Bookquest: Tokyo, Japan

8/1/2013 - Book-Off (Shinjuku location)

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

Kitchen is an award-winning Japanese novel from 1988. It is short, simple, and very popular. Some say it is TOO simple: it has been dismissed as simplistic and superficial.

I was disappointed by the English language books at this used bookstore. The foreign language section was a random assortment of English and French best-sellers. None of the Japanese authors I've been looking forward to reading were there: no Murakami, no Basho, no Mishima, no Soseki. Yoshimoto's Banana was the only English-language book I saw by a Japanese author. 

Russian Layover

8/8/2013 - Moscow, Russia

My 6 hour layover in Moscow was the worst part of my trip. I have nothing good to say about it.

On the plus side, I had entertaining company for my 10 hour flight to Moscow. I sat next to two 20-something Russian girls, who must think the English language is hilarious. They laughed and repeated just about any English they heard. "Fasten your seatbelts ha ha ha!" "Welcome to Moscow ha ha ha!" I laughed after overhearing one of their conversations:

Girl A: [speaking Russian]

Girl B: [speaking Russian]

Girl A: [in perfect English] "One day, I will return to Russia and find a bride." Ha ha ha!

Girl B: Ha ha ha! [continues speaking Russian] Ha ha ha!

Girl A: Ha ha ha!

Pictured: One of many duty-free stores in the Sheremetyevo International Airport (SVO).