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)
Monday, November 11, 2013
CERN
11/9/2013 - Geneva, Switzerland
With little time in Geneva, I woke up early for a stroll along the lake. As I reached the lake, I saw a street commemorating Woodrow Wilson, then headed up a hill to a few of the international buildings. First were two UN buildings: UNHCR and the UN's European headquarters itself (formerly the seat of the League of Nations). Past the UN buildings, I saw the headquarters for the Red Cross.
The main event for the day was a tour of CERN, the Center for European Nuclear Research (the acronym works in French). Our tour guide showed us a few videos and the control room above the Large Hadron Collider. We heard abut the Higgs boson. Many of the tourists with me asked complicated questions about experimental subatomic physics to our tour guide, and I was impressed that he could answer them. Last, in a small museum with artifacts from CERN's research, I saw one of the first servers for the world wide web.
Pictured: View of desks for the ATLAS experiment at CERN.
Notre Dame
11/8/2013 - Paris
I sat for a mass in French at Notre Dame. I don't know the language well enough to know what was going on, but the Catholic mass has the same rhythm everywhere. During the mass, tourists walked along the edges of the cathedral. After mass, I joined them, seeing the statue of Joan of Arc, the chapel of Saint Genevieve, etc. I even bought a commemorative coin celebrating the 850th anniversary of the cathedral.
Outside, it was surprisingly easy to get away from the tourists. I walked to a park named for Pope John XXIII and around the back of the cathedral. From there, I crossed to the island where the old blue blooded Parisians live: Ile Saint-Louis. I walked along the Ile Saint-Louis and Notre Dame's island before heading for an overnight trip to Geneva.
Pictured: Notre Dame, viewed from the Ile Saint-Louis.
Bookquest: Paris, France
11/8/2013 - Shakespeare and Company
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
There are countless options for books about Paris. I had a few in mind when I reached Shakespeare and Company and discovered new ones inside. I chose a back-up plan, even if it's a cliche. Hemingway's A Moveable Feast is the book where he wrote: “If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”
Shakespeare and Company was one of the best bookstores of the trip. In addition to a great selection of English language books downstairs, the upstairs is a lounge where visitors can sit and read the store's collection of old books (not for sale). The bookstore is catered to tourists, but still manages to stay classy and casual.
Bon Soir Paris
11/7/2013 - Paris
I planned to give me the best first impression. At the Place de la Concorde, I got a baguette and walked down the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. There was a surprise for me: I didn't knowit was big enough to go inside, let alone to climb to the top. I did both. Then, I walked to the Eiffel Tower, met some Americans at the top, and had a glass of champagne. I saw even more of the city, including Notre Dame.
I'm on the last leg of my trip, and it's a good thing. My phone, iPad, and other things were stolen, so it has been a bit more challenging. Fortunately, I've learned a few things along the way. In Europe, streets change names along the way. My hotel's street name changed at least once before I reached it. Stuff like that.
Pictured: The Eiffel Tower
Friday, November 8, 2013
Gaudi Town
11/5/2013 - Barcelona, Spain
After yesterday's Park Güell, I saw two more places designed by Gaudi. The first was La Pedrera, an apartment building designed by the Spanish architect. Its rooftop is pretty remarkable. Like much of yesterday's park, it has a very curved and modernist design. The second place I visited, Sagrada Familia, was outstanding and a highlight of the trip. I didn't know what to expect: a friend from my tour group in Turkey gave it her highest recommendation, and I went without reading any descriptions of it. It was nice to go in blind, it made it all the more interesting when I arrived.
In the afternoon, I visited a post office to ship some of my bookquest books back home. I finally had a chance to use my Spanish, translating for a girl from Singapore who needed to know if she needed air mail stamps to mail something home from Barcelona. Later I took a stroll down La Rambla to the beach and around the park of Barceloneta.
Pictured: A glimpse between two chimneys on La Pedrera's rooftop
Bookquest: Barcelona, Spain
11/5/2013 - BCN Books
No Word from Gurb by Eduardo Mendoza
I picked up No Word from Gurb. The back cover made it sound like a silly story about aliens in Barcelona. Later in the day, a local saw that I was carrying the book and asked me, "Is that Eduardo Mendoza in English?" I said yes, and he said "That's one of my favorite books. I didn't know it was translated into English." He told me it was like Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Sounds promising.
The bookstore, BCN, had a good, up-to-date selection of contemporary and classic fiction. I'm not sure how large their selection of Spanish books translated into English is. They were included among the rest of the fiction, so I had to look for Spanish-sounding names. I scanned a few others before picking up No Word from Gurb, so it's probably a pretty decent selection.
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