European vacations

Voluntarily, people come to Liechtenstein for 3 things-a stamp in the passport, a stamp for the postcard to send home, and the right to say, "I’ve been there!" I came to Liechtenstein for no other reasons.

Liechtenstein, one of the smallest countries in the world, is sandwiched between Austria and Switzerland. It has no airport (the closest one is Zurich), and very few trains stop within its borders. Its capital, Vaduz, is nothing more than a little village with one street turned into a tourist trap where you will find a few restaurants and several gift shops.

Anything can happen on the Spanish Steps, as indicated by the recent onslaught of plastic balls. (Google it if you don’t know what I’m talking about.) I can’t think of another set of steps on earth anywhere near as famous as this Roman must-see. While you’ve probably seen the steps in dozens of movies, advertisements, and tourism brochures, nothing compares to seeing them in person. I was lucky enough to do so last summer.

What would you expect to find in the Vatican Museum? A vast collection of religious artifacts? Paintings by famous artists depicting the life of Christ? Statues and other representations of Bible stories? What would you really expect to find in the museum that is located at the heart of the Catholic religion?

I have visited the Vatican Museum twice. The first time was in 1996, and the second in 1998. I am not Catholic, but I have respect for all religions. And, out of this respect, I was eager to visit this museum. I know that with the passage of time, my memories of all the exhibits has faded, but I surely will never forget the sense of wonder and awe the place inspired. It is this sense that I will attempt to convey in this review, the best I can.

In 1998 I spent 5 months living in Athens. I was a junior in college (Lafayette College, PA) and a group of about 20 students and one professor went to live for a semester and attended (the professor taught) at College Year in Athens. The school was pretty comprehensive, and they offered a great Greek Language course study as well as loads of archaeological and Greek History courses. We lived in rented apartments in an area of Athens called Kolonaki. This area was described as “the Manhattan of Athens.” I would have to disagree with this description as it was very misleading… Athens is a large, sprawling city that is nested between the peaks of several mountains…the first thing that you notice upon arriving in Athens is a) everything seems to be built of concrete, and b) it is dirty. There are no emissions standards on Greek automobiles, so the air itself is pretty muggy and polluted and there seems to be a perpetual grime on everything. This is not to say that Athens was in the least bit disgusting or unattractive…by far the contrary. The grimy-ness was just a condition that one got used to (fairly rapidly) much as you grow accustomed to the prevalant smell of the country and it’s people. I loved Athens…I found the people to be either enthusiastically gregarious (most speak some English) and helpful or just aloof. The food was fantastic, the culture was illuminating and the country outside of Athens was breathtaking. Be sure to see the islands if you go…it’s very inexpensive on the off-season and well worth the ferry ride. I don’t think that I would describe Athens as a great city to visit for a few days…a longer stay is merited before you are really able to absorb what this city is about and how it operates. I fear that a short stay would leave a traveler weary and disdainful of this place. It takes some getting used to, but after that it is glorious. I look forward to returning very much.

I actually went to the Netherlands on a visit to the University of Groningen, a two and a half hour train journey from Amsterdam. But on my onward and return journey from Groningen I got to spend half a day each in Amsterdam.

Now in Amsterdam I wanted to book a package tour of the city (I swear I will never in my life do it again), found out the name and address of the tour operator from internet in India itself. What made me decide in their favor was they are close to the Amsterdam Centraal Station and taxis are a big no for a broke student like me.

San Gimignano has been often been referred to as the Manhattan of Tuscany. No, not because the taxi drivers don’t know their way around and can hardly speak a word of English, but because of the resemblance of their respective skylines due to the many soaring towers. Personally, on approaching the town, I was reminded more of Cumbernauld (without the grey concrete and the grey weather).

Actually, thinking about it, San Jimmy has more of a fairy-tale-like appearance with its tower-bedecked hilltop setting. Whatever, it’s an impressive vista and is visible for a good few miles distant.

Section 1: Windermere and the Northern Lake District

Introduction:

The Lake District is the best known National Park in England. It is popular for both English holiday-makers, backpackers and tourists visiting from all over the world. It was made famous by the English Poet William Wordsworth, and more recently by Wainwright - who wrote many beautifully illustrated publications about the area.

So - what do I know:

I lived in England for 32 years, and visited the Lake District hundreds of times, both for sightseeing and hiking. I count myself lucky to have visited all the famous lakes on many occasions, and climbed every major hill (or mountain) in the Lake District.

Heidelberg is a very nice city with fantastic scenery. It’s drawback is that because it is so nice it visited by thousands of tourists and tourist groups. Everyone speaks English in this town. There is a large US military presence in the area.

The castle is a must do stop on your visit there. The views are fantastic of the city below and of the Neckar Valley. They do have English speaking tours in the summer months of the castle.

Like few places in the world, the Cyclades Islands are really only worth the effort if you go during tourist season. This technically means April to November, and I would even shorten that to April to September. I went in the beginning of November, and while the sights were still breath-taking, the restaurants still quaint as ever, the empty hotels, closed shops and cold weather kind of detracted from the experience. It’s a gorgeous chain of islands with great beaches (even better when it’s not 50 degrees, I’m sure!) but the experience depends heavily on the crowd around you. I’m sure this hold true mostly for young people, but honestly, it’s like a ghost town in November. We tried to rent mopeds (one of the best thrills ever for a non-extreme sportswoman!) and could only get them one day because all the shops were closed by our second morning there. But even with my one huge caveat about the time of year you plan your vacation, these islands are beautiful and definitely worth the trip.

After having the total tourist experience on Santorini and Mykonos, I was looking for a little bit of authentic Greece before I left the Greek islands. On the advice of friends, we headed off to Naxos. Naxos has only recently, and reluctantly, climbed onto the tourism bandwagon having been successfully self-sufficient from agriculture and marble for eons. We had asked for real but after the beauty of Santorini and Mykonos, we looked out at the raw and desolate landscape with sinking hearts as we drove from Naxos harbor to our hotel. To cheer our spirits after we checked into our hotel (really nice), we headed down to the beach and promptly walked on tar, which had been (illegally) spewed out by passing cruise ships and washed onto shore. Our spirits finally improved tremendously when we realized we were walking through a nudist beach with some very interesting views.