Montenegro

Budva

The town of Budva from a beach outside the city

• Budva is a beautiful but overcrowded beach town, the old town in beautiful, but I really wouldn't recommend staying in the city of Budva for more than a night or two, or if you could, try and stay inside oldtown even if it is a bit more expensive.   The water is crystal clear like in Croatia, but there is an overcrowding of Serbian and Russian tourists and they like to throw food and stuff in the water so there are lots of orange peels floating around.   This may have changed in the past three years of course. 
• Sveti Stefan: a really beautiful walled city built on a tiny little island with an isthmus connecting it to the land.   This is only about a 10 minute bus ride from Budva and you should go. 

• The coast north of Budva has amazing fiord-like sides (they actually are fiords, the farthest south in Europe).  Kotor is the town that is easiest to stay at around there, and there is a very cool monastery on an island in the middle of the inlet that its on which you can take a boat to. 

Mountains near Kotor

Books and whatnot

War and Peace, Pevear translation (Tolstoy)
Best new translation, supposedly very close to the original flow / wording of the Tolstoy text.  I thought it was much better than the old translation I read a few years ago, but I'm sure that was published before people really regarded translating an art form and not just an attempt to get the plot across.   If you haven't read War and Peace, its about the way war affects a few different families and russian society during the Napoleonic wars.    It is incredibly long, but is really not bad to read since it keeps you interested the entire time.  My only complaint is the intense amount of military strategy that he goes off about, but this is all necessary to show how people act under pressure and how history moves forward as a force that cannot really be shaped by individual actions or people.

The Moon is Down - Stienbeck
About the reactions to the Nazi invasion in a small town in Norway.  Very short but good book I thought.  Its very typically Stienbeck, and I love his writing style so I kind of knew I would enjoy the book before I started.  It is kind of a Cannery Row in another country, just a tiny snapshot of a town by briefly following tiny bits of the town peoples' lives.

The Once and Future King - T. H. White
Retelling of the Arthurian saga.  I knew nothing really about this legend other than that Guinevere had somehow managed to screw everyone over, so I really enjoyed reading this.   It was very well written, and despite being a long book it was never a struggle to get through it.  All the characters are very well developed for a book about a legend, I feel like a lesser author would have made them very one dimensional because they are not completely invented from imagination.

Outliers - Tipping point guy
A short read a la Freakenomics, Hidden Order, etc.  Tries to disprove the "naturally gifted" idea by analyzing the circumstances surrounding the rise to prominence of many "outliers".  For clarification, an outlier is not just someone who is good at something, it is people like Bill Gates and the Beatles.  Good fast read.  Probably not completely accurate all the time, but gives you a few good things to think about.

Cousin Bette - Balzac
About mean people and the revenge that a marginalized old spinster has on her rich relatives.   I liked the book, but thought that the ending was not the best it could have been.   One of the most interesting/shocking features of the book is that it treats as completely normal 50 year old men offering patronage for girls as young as 13, which other books of the time period also mention but they never throw out specific ages like this one did, which make it sooooo much more wrong and shocking.

Croatia

Dubrovnic

• Dubrovnic is touristy but definitely and unquestionably worth it.  Despite the fact that you will probably be elbowing tourists out of the way on the main street, it is one of the most beautiful places I have seen.  All the streets are marble and after centuries they have been worn completely smooth and shiny by the foot traffic.  The alleyways are tiny and exciting and the outer wall is impressive to say the least. There are also little islands you can take an hour or so ferry to and explore is the "big" city gets to frenetic for you (it wont).

Above: main street, below: one of the alleys

• Mela Culpa is still the best pizza I have had pretty much ever in my life.  Right off the main street and just ask people, its well known
• There is a REALLY cool bar outside the walls on the cliff side facing the sea, I don't really even know how it stays there, its a bit hard to find, but there is a tiny door in the outside wall leading out to it.
• Lopud is a very "picturesque" island you can take a 1 hour ferry to.  It has an amazing sand beach that is about a half mile walk from the dock. 

• Dubrovnic Backpackers hostel was where I stayed, a very nice clean safe hostel where the mother of the family cooks everyone dinner and the son sometimes takes people out on the town with him. I thought it was an exceptionally good hostel but it is a bit out of town so you need to take the bus or a cab, both of which are doable but kind of a pain. 

Below is a picture of the sunset at the Montenegrin / Croatian border

Split

• Split is kind of the jumping off point for many of the islands, and so many times people do not spend enough time in this verrry beautiful and cool city.  Islands you can get to: Hvar and Brac, which are both most definitely going to!  I got stranded on Brac and had to stay at this old lady's house and she fed me boulibase and tried to talk to me in hand gestures since she spoke no english.

Above: crystal clear water on Brac at sunrise

• The main promenade is a palm tree-lined marble bit of amazingness, dotted with with coffee shops  backed by the original walls of the fortress.  

• Wandering around the insides of the fortress is good for quite a few hours of entertainment, and sometimes there are even plays etc that go on in the main section (below).  I was lucky enough to come while they were putting on a show of Romeo and Juliet

Oslo and Bergen

We didn't spend much time out and about in Oslo and Bergen due to our lack of funds but below are some pictures and a few of the things we did which we thought were fun/worth it.

Oslo:

• Everything is EXPENSIVE.  We ended up becoming best friends with 7-11, which actually had pretty good food, not just the shitty sandwiches you can get elsewhere, the ones in Norge actually have many different options of hot food.  Doing that, a container of pasta is only 7 dollars instead of 20.  I would also stick to supermarkets, deli's and eat tons for lunch, when you can usually get lunch specials at restaurants. 
• The sculpture park is amazing, I can't remember what part of town it was but as long as it is not pouring or snowing its probably worth a visit. 
• Walking down by the harbor to look at all the fish boats etc is also entertaining, we went down there one night.
• There's really good shopping on the walking streets (I think there are two or three?), and contrary to what you would expect from the price of food in restaurants its actually not prohibitively pricey. 

Below are a picture of the Palace? at the end of a main street, and of a park near the palace

Bergen

We took the train from Oslo to Bergen, (I think about 8 hours but I can't precisely remember) and it goes through some really beautiful scenery, especially if there is snow on the ground!  We went in late October, which I'm not too sure about because it was a bit cold, but I'm sure there were less tourists then and I bet you can get better deals if you actually plan things out a bit.

Bergen is a very cute old fishing town on the west coast (I guess there isn't another coast..oops), that is the "gateway to the fiords".  Unfortunately Jess and I never got to make use of this gateway since we didn't wake up early enough and were too cheap to pay for the cruise, one of the main reasons why I must go back at some point in my life.    Below is the most typical touristy picture of Bergen.

                               

Another attraction is to go walking in the hills above the town, which you can take a cable car to.  You get a good photo opportunity, and also there are some really pretty walk/hikes you can do.  Jess and I didn't see another person the whole time we were walking around up there; I think most people just ride the cable car up, take a few pictures and then turn around and ride it back down.  Below is a picture of one of the lakes and the view of Bergen.

Sidenote: When we were in Bergen I saw these rain boots that I LOVED. They were solid colors with white laces all the way up, and they came in pretty much any color you could possibly imagine.  Three years later, I am kicking myself that I did not buy a pair especially since I live in Seattle.   If anyone knows where I can get them, please, please, tell me, I will love you forever and then my feet will be warm and dry this winter.

Helsinki.. the land of blonds and coffee

    Helsinki, Finland

If you read the last few posts, I feel that I should clarify that I am not in europe, but I realized that I have a decent quantity of information from quite a few different places in the area and would like to share everything I've got, in the hope that through my suggestions maybe I can improve someone's trip.  

Moving on.

Finland is known for its.....COFFEE!!  They drink more cups per day per capita than we do in Seattle! (and also more than anywhere else in the world).   They are also known for the Moomintroll books, which I loved when I was a kid.   From Abby and my short weekend visit I came away with a few conclusions: Everyone in Finland is blond, everyone is part of a couple, and everyone drinks coffee and looks happy all the time (this isn't to say they are, but they looked it).  Below is a picture of a coffeehouse in downtown helsinki, most are very beautiful and have outdoor areas.  

Below are some pictures from the park along the harbor, a very tranquil place to spend you afternoon walking and sipping coffee.

Church thats the centerpiece of town

You can take ferries out to an old fortress in the mouth of the harbor, Abby and I did this and though it was a great way to get out and see something other than the city for the day.

Freiburg, Munich, Baden Baden

Freiburg, Munich

Freiburg is a nice small university town in Southern Germany. Its not a normal tourist stop but if you do end up there here are some things to do:

• The Munster platz (church square) has great sausages and there is a pretty farmers market there some days of the week that has lots of good edibles and produce. You can also climb to the top of the church spire
• There is a REALLY nice beer garden above the town with great beer, great food and a great view of the church

Munich, Germany

• Obviously much more on the tourist path, Munich is probably my favorite city in Germany. I went to Oktoberfest when I was studying abroad in Prague and then went back a few more times afterwards.
• The main attractions in my opinion are: beautiful churches, tasty beer and beautiful gardens.
• You can climb the spire in some of the churches which is worth the money and the stair climb at least once to get an ariel view of the city.
• Don't just go to the Hofbrau house in downtown munich, make sure you go to some of the beer gardens farther outside the center (we found an amazing one on a river bank), or the ones in English Gardens is very nice too, right on the central lake.
• Munich is a very "arty" city, so if you have time check out some of the museums or galleries.
• Two day trips that you can take, one to the black forest to go to Castle Norswanstien, and the other to the nazi prison camp Dachau are both very good. I'm more of a castle person and had already suffered through Aushwitz so I did not go to Dachau but my other friends that did said it was depressing but worth it.
• Another interesting historical place to visit in Munich is the building that Hitler gave his first official speech from

Baden Baden, Germany

I only went to Baden Baden for the day, but its a cute spa town. Probably more for the luxury vacation set, but there were some really nice parks and old roman baths

Praha, Dobry Den

Prague, Czech Republic

Best things to see: old town, petrin hill, the church in the castle is pretty, mucha museaum is cool if you like Art Nuveu, the jewish quarter is very interesting.

Clubs:

Disclaimer: all my information is at least a year and a half out of date, but most of these clubs are institutions so they are not likely to go anywhere.

Château: probably our favorite spot; not the best but really good location right behind the big church in old town, and lots of really fucked up people are always there and it has really cool walls in the basement and apparently a whole different floor we never discovered under the basement.

Old Town Square

Radost: considered the best club (oldest), much bigger, good restaurant upstairs (vegetarian, but still considered exceptionally good food in Prague by carnivores). They charge cover, but girls get in free on Thursday night till 11, it’s only 5-ish dollars for guys.

Tram stop: I.P Pavlova

Mecca: we went every Wednesday, top floor is house music, bottom floor is hip hop & there are lots of nice couches. It’s out of town but there is a free bus that leaves from the first McDonalds in Wenceslas square which runs till 1 every 10 minutes, then a cab back is only about 5 a person. You can get a table for dirt cheap.. like 50 I think, and then you get to have a table all evening and a handle of absolute and red bulls.

Duplex: we only went once, really big flashy club, there is a 10 dollar cover and drinks are more expensive. They have good go go dancers and lots of cool lights though, but when we went there were lots of middle aged British men… so maybe go when girls get in free.

On Wenceslas square.

Lucerne: We went on Fridays – 80s night. really big club, with a stage that most people dance on that plays music videos on a big screen behind, lots of concerts are here.

Just off of Wenceslas.

Nebe: Might be closed now... Underground cellar / bar/ lounge. There might be cover on the weekends.

Near Tesco, Tram stop: Narodni Trida

Karlovne Lazne: the five story club.. Really trashy but you have to go just to see it… cover and line to get in… then really dirty inside but there are five levels and bars on each one.

Riverfront

La Klan: After hours. Apparently really good when the downstairs is open, but I’ve never seen it open.

Studio 54: Another after hours

Bars:

Dogs Bullocks: British pub, good beers & the waiters speak English

Near Tesco, Tram stop: Narodni Trida

Ultramarin: Restaurant / Bar. Really good gin & tonics that they put cucumbers in .. live music too

Near Tesco. Tram stop: Narodni Trida

Usudu: could be spelled wrong… really good wine bar near Tesco square… huge jugs of wine for really cheap and literally miles of underground rooms and passages.. usually filled with Czech people.

Near Tesco, Tram stop: Narodni Trida

Pivovarsky Dum: on the 22, 23 or 6 tram line from tesco, the stop before I.P pavlova, really good , 64 kinds of beer, and the beer on tap they bring to you in an elephant which is a giant cylinder with its own tap on it.

Kamotra Pizza: just a resturaunt… but is the best pizza.

Near Tesco/ Ultamarin / Nebe

Riverfront

Old town square at christmas

Casa Buenaventura

Salta Area, Argentina

When most people retire and feel the need to re-invent themselves they buy a Porsche, get a bad haircut or have an affair. My dad decided to be a farmer, in South America. In high school I hated this because all of my friends joked that he was a drug lord so I eventually just avoided mentioning it at all costs.

My dad spend a large chunk of his early life between Uruguay and Argentina, (mostly Uruguay) and later when he worked in the fishing industry he helmed the South America operations so the whole family moved down to BA for a short period of time. We returned to Argentina for two-ish months when I was 9 and we were traveling.

It was during this last trip that my dad met a young argentine guy who was looking for partners to buy a farm with. After a few years of looking, they had two other partners, one argentine and one american who were interested as well. In 1998 they bought the farm and embarked on organic production. The focus crop is soy, but they also produce corn, safflower, wheat and some other crops in rotation to keep the quality of the soil. Irrigating in very uncommon given the sizes of argentine fields and lack of water, and so all moisture comes from capturing rainfall in terraces and dikes to spread it around the fields evenly.

There have been rocky points in this enterprise such as the crisis and Christina's wonderful retentions last year, but I think on the whole it has been a sound investment. Three years ago we began to build a house, because there was nowhere to stay at the farm and you had to drive 40 minutes to the nearest town. This house has caused my parents a million headaches since every aspect of it is a pain in the butt. Its built up on a ridge, so it was necessary to drag all the building materials up a steep twisty road, there is not cell service or internet, water has to be piped in, there is no electricity in the area, etc, etc.

After three years of hell for them, the house is finally done. The garden still needs to go in and the problems of power and internet need to be figured out, but other than that, its good to go.

Interior courtyard from the library patio

Front of the house (main entrance side)

Secondary Zaguan (entrance)

Interior courtyard at night

Living room

Dining room

View from the main galleria

Main galleria

Pool

Wine Tasting, Cafayate, another pathetic attempt

Cafayate, Argentina

Cafayate is in the north west of Argentina, about a three hour drive from Salta. This area does produce Malbec and Cabernet like Mendoza does, the wine that Cafayate is known for is Torrontes, a very fruity white wine. Tourism has EXPLODED in the past six or seven years and now the place is kind of a tourist trap, but a very beautiful tourist trap. The drive up from Salta is almost half of the reason for the trip, you go through amazing red rock formations that are incredible and that my camera wasn't quite able to translate into photos of the same quality.

Crazy Aussies!

There are really amazing kind of "caves" in the rocks that you can get out and walk around. The whole area was shaped by water erosion thousands of years ago and when you are standing inside of one of these things you can almost feel the water rushing down on you.

Cafayate

My parents had stayed in Cafayate for a weekend before the whole wine craze really got off of the ground. They stayed at the Patios de Cafayate for 75 dollars, now it is 500 to give you some perspective (although that was also at the hight of the crisis so everything was much cheaper). They said it was Amazing, so we tried to go this time, and they wouldn't even let us through the gate since we weren't staying there.. kind of ridiculous. It looked beautiful from afar though.

Like the time before in Mendoza, we were pretty much thwarted from tasting much wine. Since we were planning on driving up and back in one day (really stupid) we didn't get to Cafayate until one-ish, at which point all of the wineries close apparently. The best way to do it is to drive up in the afternoon, spend the night, and then go wine tasting in the morning / late afternoon.

Photo from Bodega Vejesa Secreta or something like that

Above: pictures from Finca de Los Nubes (only open in the morning)

Beautiful church in the main square, Cafayate

Lowdown: 3 hours from Salta

Patios De Cafayate: ridic expensive but also ridic beautiful hotel, there is a vineyard you can visit but it is only open on certain days / in the morning

Vines de Cafayate: My padres stayed here a different time and said it was also very nice

Bodegas: Bodega Colome, Etchart, Las Nubes, El Esteco, Nanni, Domingo Hermanos