Great trip, but it's also good to be home. I'm not sure what I'm going to blog about next!
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Bookquest: The End
12/2/2013 - Milwaukee, WI
It was like an early Christmas unpacking all the boxes I had shipped home, and seeing all the books I'd bought in a single place. I've got a lot of reading to do!
Bookquest: Chicago, IL
11/23/2013 - Seminary Co-Op Bookstore
Native Son by Richard Wright
My last book of the trip is Native Son by Richard Wright. I had a few Chicago classics in mind, but Native Son is most on theme with the rest of the "bookquest" books. I probably should have read it a long time ago.
The Seminary Co-Op Bookstore is well-known by University of Chicago undergrads. I always liked it as a student, and I still like to check out what books are required reading for the courses that students are taking. I'm probably biased, but I think it's selection is one of the best in the world. It skews heavy on classics, academic books, and books about Chicago, but it still has a good selection of contemporary fiction.
Bookquest: Milwaukee, WI
11/22/2013 - Boswell Book Company
Heroes in the Night by Tea Krulos
I found Heroes in the Night at Boswell. It's by a Milwaukee author, and it's about "real life superheroes." I like reading about strange subcultures (see also, my book from Portland).
I hadn't been to Boswell before, even though I grew up in Milwaukee. I'd typically go to the Barnes & Noble by Southridge Mall or in Mayfair Mall, or the Half-Price Books by Southridge. I wanted to see a Milwaukee touristy bookstore (if there was such as thing), and Boswell held up. It had a few good local sections: one featuring local authors, and another featuring local history. The rest of the store had plenty of good options too. I was tempted to get Stephen King's 11/22/63 since it was exactly 50 years ago.
Bookquest: New York City, USA
11/19/2013 - Strand Bookstore
Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon
At Strand, I picked up a new release by a famous New York state author, Thomas Pynchon. I knew it would be the book I'd buy in New York after seeing the online trailer for the book. It's a detective story that includes an internet billionaire, so it should be a fine novel for today.
The bookstore, Strand, is probably New York's most famous bookstore. It has a great selection, great staff, a nice selection of rare books, etc. I don't think it's a local favorite, but it's a must-do for a bookish tourist in New York.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Epilogue in Manhattan
11/19/2013 - New York City
I spent the day as a tourist in New York. I walked through Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty. I visited the National Museum of the American Indian, walked past a crowd of tourists at the Charging Bull statue in Bowling Green, saw the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Hall, and finally made it to Central Park.
In the evening, I met my friend who has lived in the city for the longest, She took me to an excellent restaurant and bar. We had a lot of small plates, including some of the best food of the trip (some really good oysters) and some of the most exotic (sea urchin with pomegranates). It was the last meal before flying back to Milwaukee.
Pictured: Central Park
Banks and Broadway
11/18/2013 - New York City
My first stop in New York was Times Square. It was a practical stop: I needed to find a place to buy a new phone. I got a bagel and a phone, downloaded my favorite New York album, and listened to it as I walked through Manhattan. I passed familiar sights: Rockefeller Plaza, the Empire State Building, and the New York Public Library. I felt at home.
I met a few friends from Chicago who had moved to New York. For lunch, I met a friend from college outside of his investment bank and had my second bagel of the day. In the evening, I met a friend who works at an off-broadway show. I saw the show, met her backstage, and we made it out in the city. A good team to welcome me back to the U.S.!
Pictured: The Empire State Building
Over Iceland
I had a nice layover in Iceland on the way back to America. I landed in New York pretty late. I took trains and subways to a hotel in Brooklyn and was too exhausted to celebrate being back in the U.S.
Pictured: View from the airplane window, maybe 100 miles east of Iceland.
Wanderlust
11/16/2013 - Paris
My last full day overseas. I took it slow: I bought some last-minute gifts for friends and family back home, strolled into the National Library, and walked one last part of Paris that I hadn't seen yet (along the docks).
Paris was a favorite city of the trip. I thought that I'd be ready to go home by this time, but I could have easily spent another week in Paris. I hope I can find an excuse to come back!
Pictured: View of the Seine from the docks above the "Wanderlust" bar
Versailles
11/15/2013 - Versailles, France
I joined mobs of tourists at Versailles for a tour through the French palace. Like so much in France, it's both historic and a fantastic work of art. The only surprise was the gift shop: France has embraced Marie Antoinette. I would have thought they'd consider expensive merchandise to be in poor taste if it featured Marie "Let them eat cake" Antoinette.
Outside of the palace, Versailles's gardens are open to the public. I enjoyed walking the gardens for a few hours.
Pictured: A bust of Marie Antoinette in the queen's room, with a door she once used to escape the revolutionary mobs
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Each Brick Historic
11/13/2013 - Paris
Today I went to the historic Montmartre neighborhood, and into the Louvre in the evening. Either one is reason enough to visit Paris by itself.
Just past the Moulin Rouge in Montmartre, I stopped at the Cafe des Deux Moulins, where the titular character worked in the film Amelie. Another couple hours strolling through Montmartre, I saw Montmartre's great cemetery, then artists at work in the touristy Place du Tertre, and finally great views of the city.
I had been looking forward to the Louvre since arriving in Paris. I had a couple quick disappointments: both Winged Victory and Liberty Leading the People were out of view, under restoration. But I wasn't disappointed long. The other famous works are as great as their reputations, and I met treasures I'd never heard of around every corner. I even ran into a friend from Chicago after my second hour in the Louvre, and we walked to the apartments of Napoleon III and the dungeon. Every step through Paris takes you through somewhere historic: I hadn't realized the Louvre was an extremely important historic building, not just a museum.
Pictured: Cobblestone road in Montmartre Cemetery
Ville Lumiere
11/12/2013 - Paris
Today I walked through the Jardin des Tuileries on the way to the Musee d'Orsay. The museum, a fantastic building with French art from the 19th century, would have been enough for the day.
I kept going, and made it by the Bastille to visit Victor Hugo's home in the Place des Vosges. Past the Place des Vosges, I walked through the streets admiring the old buildings, the cafes, and especially the lights. Paris is the City of Lights (Ville Lumiere), and nowhere else looks like it.
Pictured: A wall painting at the Bastille train station.
Lutetia
After a short Armistice Day celebration, I toured a section of Paris's underground sewers. This was one of my main to-do's in the city; the sewers are legendary from Les Miserables; the book's author Victor Hugo named them Lutetia after the ancient city that once sat at Paris. The afternoon and evening were spent with Paris's illustrious dead: a walk through the famous Pere Lechaise cemetery, then to the Pantheon to see where France's greatest heroes are buried.
Pictured: The sewers of Paris
Plus ça Change
11/10/2013 - Paris
I'm writing most of these less than a month later, after getting back and having a phone / computer again. Better late than never!
Today, everything was about how Paris has changed and how it's changing. In the morning, I sat in the Jardin du Luxembourg and read in Paris, Paris that critics of Pompidou's changes in the 1970s pronounced Paris dead. An article in today's New York Times declared that hipsters ruined Paris. And one of the last sights of the day was the historic La Samaritaine building, an Art Deco / Art Nouveau department store that is now closed. La Samaritaine was shown empty in a sad scene of the 2012 film Holy Motors. I expect I'll return to Paris someday, and I wonder what will be gone when I come back.
Pictured: La Samaritaine, viewed from the oldest bridge in Paris, Pont Neuf (translated: New Bridge)
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