VirtualTourist Member Trekki
| Page Views: 65,280 | Paths are being created by taking them :-) by Trekki - last update: Sep 7, 2008  |
Travels and beyond | Detail of Orvieto's most magnificent duomo |
Hello and welcome to my contribution to Virtualtourist :-)
So I am expected to write about me and my travels ? Let me quote Albert Einstein, as these his words describe it better than I can do in my humble English :-)
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.
The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvellous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose the holy curiosity.
This was my way to travel, this is my way to travel and this will always be my way to travel. I am not made for tour group travel, I would scream the whole time. I am also not made for masses, I would get claustrophobia. I am not made for discos and nightclubs, I would get deaf and blind.
Since years, my preferred travel style is to pack my backpack (80 l), hop in a plane or bus or train and explore. For me exploration means to immerse into a country or location, feel what it is all about, breathe the spirit it emanates, talk to the locals (or not talk at all), learn as much as I can from whatever surrounds me and enjoy the atmosphere of a town, region our country. This implies that I try not to race through a country or destination but stay there for a couple of days to get an idea of where I am. Luckily I have 30 plus vacation days to spend (as most of my compatriotes).
Maybe it has developed this way, as I used to stay in 5 Star hotels during business travels; so I simply couldn’t stand them on my private tours. And wherever I have been on business trips, I was dragged to the famous places, taken to first class restaurants and dropped back to the hotel. So even if I was in Rio de Janeiro for example, I never was really there, as I could not spend time just to wander around and get a feeling of city and people.
But whatever - my best meals are those, cooked somewhere off the crowds with the best cinema on earth: nature and the surroundings. Or at the food stalls or where locals go in cities or villages. And the best spot to place my bed is somewhere, where I can listen to the sounds of silence or the night, smell the flavour, nature emanates at night – or simply sleep in what I call 3 million stars hotel :-)
This doesn’t mean that I never travel in or into cities. Well, this is the ever-present contradiction in or of me, as I also love to see cities, towns, and villages. But they need to have this special atmosphere, which for me is connected to anything that beams with harmony, peace and serenity. This can be special architecture (I adore Gaudí for example and could hang around for ages in Barcelona), rural little towns with just the right amount of wildflowers or scrub growing in gardens or on walls, and also a church which is out of the “norm”, and the grand architectural treasures of Romanesque and Gothic of course.. And cities, towns, villages with rivers are also something special, as they tell even more stories about what happened there over the ages. Like... yes, like my very much beloved Venezia.
You can imagine now that you will never find records of countries I have visited on my pages, no counting of famous sites, no listing of UNESCO heritage sites I have visited. Even if I was at UNESCO sites, I mostly have realised this later and it was never part of my trip planning. I define my personal heritage on our planet myself (and let not others do this). I don’t need to see the 7 wonders of the world. I define my personal wonders of the world. |
| Venezia La Serenissima (Campo S. Maria Nova) :-) |
|  | You might find hikes in windy and rainy regions, when browsing through my writings here.
Patagonia, the southern part of South America, will be my all time favourite, although by now it is more of a destination to remember, as it is a bit far from where I live. I love the weather there, always unpredictable, sometimes wind as much as 150 km/h in El Chaltén for example, and makes me feel the microscopically tiny part of this planet that I really am (and not the "super" business person I am in the daily shark pond or zoo, haha…). This is where you still can find thick and pristine mountains, where it is easy to imagine that no one crossed them since millions of years. And this is where you can spend ages, counting the stars in the night, as in a radius of often 300 km; no other human being is living there.
Other places you will find here are rocky or partly desert areas, such as US Southwest. I like the colours there, and how they change in daylight or in heavy weather. I also love the wonderful stories, each of the rocks and colours tells about the history of all of us.
Maybe you find locations here, which you want to add to your personal heritage sites, like I found some of mine here as well :-)
That's why I like VT - its inspiration to travels into the unknown.
Einstein wrote about the awe when contemplating the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the structure of reality. This is what I find in all my travels now - and even if it is from home to the office :-)
Sometimes it is a tiny bud which announces spring, sometimes it is the light in the sky during a heavy storm, sometimes it is a tiny weathered stone bridge over a little creek, partly covered with moss. And sometimes it is the fresh and home made goat cheese, which local farmers offer, when you stop by.
Once, it was a night of full moon, miles and miles off civilization, in PN Cerro Castillo in Chile.
Once, it was a days' horseback ride deep into Monument Valley, in December, with beautiful stormy weather and unforgettable light settings.
Once, it was a clear and crispy cold winter day in Sweden ,
And once it was the overwhelming friendly and warm hearted people in a yurt deep in the Pamirs, where I got the best food I ever had in my life.
And there is much more which partly appear hidden here in my writings and pictures.
My list of dream locations might be a bit out of the norm, but well....
Parque Pumalin in Chile, but this will need to wait until I am ready to cross the equator again;
Barcelona of course to see Gaudí’s work,
Iceland and the geothermal activities,
Scotland's lochs and hills and haggis :-),
Italy and Spain again and again (I will never ever get tired of these countries), mostly the Spanish Picos de Europa and in Italy for now Emilia Romagna and for later Sardegna, Sicilia, Umbria, Marche, Basilicata, Calabria, Veneto and… Venezia again and again :-),
and Sweden again, in summer or in winter with hopefully much snow again :-) |
New Year, new ideas, new horizons & travel Well, let's see what the New Year will bring.
It brought me already serious insights into my black soul when I was forced to lie in bed for 3 weeks with a pertinacious virus. These are maybe the most precious moments in life when something throws one down and stops the participation in this “game” to leave time to sort out thoughts. Life is submitted to changes, a lot of changes. Often these changes are caused by events or by people who cross one’s way, be it short encounters or longer ones. Often it is also only later that one realises how encounters have influenced thoughts or even brought new thoughts to develop. I am very much grateful to several encounters I had during the last years (and yes, also to have encountered you, “sweet” peeping Tom, be sure that I know that you continue to read what I write here. It was also you and your "hunt" for life to bring me to my actual insights). What I realised is that many of my travels in the past and also plans I had until just recently are nothing but fleeing from the necessity to confront myself with my oh-so-protected world and my oh-so-semi-intelligent babbling when I praise the countries and people I have met in Central Asia and the Pamirs and Latin America and whom I praise so much for their friendlyness and helpfulness. Where I planned to go back again and again to be in a friendly and warmhearted environment and learn from these people. Yes, learning, good point. Are my travels worth any cent if I continue to babble how lovely the people are and how nice it is elsewhere and how much I can learn from them if I don’t transfer it to my actual life, attitude and behaviour? It would be not worth any cent, it would be a grand and sustaining self-delusion. That’s what I realised recently, this running to somewhere just to be happy is the most idiotic as it makes one to deny that happiness is in one self and cannot be found elsewhere.
Conclusion? I have already started and will continue to implement what I thought to have learned from other cultures. Open my eyes in my own country and culture and act in the way I so much admire in the people of other countries. Helpfulness – how much of an ignorant am I if I admire people’s helpfulness in Central Asia and want to help others outside of my country and culture if I am not even able to be helpful here in my own country and culture ? Hospitality, friendlyness, giving without taking, the list is endless. I don’t need to travel to India or to Pakistan for spring Joshi or to Wakhan before I haven’t understand our own spring festivals and found “my” Wakhan in my country and culture.
My country and culture – this is not necessarily Germany but Europe, as our countries are very much interweaved with each other.
So I will concentrate my travels to European destinations and to my inner black soul and will try to make use of what I have learned outside of Europe.
2008 is a bit of a crazy travel year. Usually, I am not very much fond of making detailed plans, but just get ideas, find out more about a destination, book a flight, go and... find my own jewels and gems. I am lucky to be independent when it comes to the travel time and so I could go whenever the masses don’t go. I still can do this in this year, but my boss wanted all of us to add our holiday plans into our work calendar already in January. I made some funny jokes about this, but realised that it makes life much easier to know at least roughly when I go and where. It does not cut my independence at all and does not change my travel habit to go at very slow pace and explore surroundings rather than race through countries. At least I do know that I want to explore more of Italy and that London is calling and that Venezia keeps calling again and again. Plus, setting up the dates early makes it easy to book my preferred European 88 € return flights (including taxes) with Lufthansa. And if I am honest to myself, to know a date does not necessarily take surprising discoveries out of a travel. | | | Venezia La Serenissima (Dorsoduro, R. Malparga):-) |
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| Venezia La Serenissima (Campo Vidal) :-) |
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So this year will bring me to Emilia Romagna, an Italian region I wanted to explore since some time. There is Ravenna and the magnificent Byzantine churches. Emilia Romagna is known as Italy’s granary, for their famous food and ingredients, like aceto balsamico, parmigiano reggiano, prosciutto di Parma, it is the birthplace of ragú alla bolognese and so many more famous dishes which made their tour around the world. Just read the list in the Italian Wikipedia about traditional Italian dishes and I guarantee that you get hungry. I did. And I'll go to Umbria, which is said to me more magic than Toscana. I might be a bit early for fioritura in Piano Grande, but this is a perfect excuse to go back in May or June :-)
Then this year’s summer will find me in London to finally hug some dear virtual friends I have contact with since some time. And I will find out how much the city has changed since I was there last time. I will explore museums and sit in the library forever and maybe need to hire a plane to bring all the books back home I intend to buy. My wishlist is already ridiculously long but I will cut it to a point that I my little heart ribbon won’t disrupt (we have this saying in German if someone does just too much in a short time).
And as I can never resist the call of a special and magic city, early December will bring me to Venezia La Serenissima again. I want to smell the city while it prepares for Christmas (I have heard of special and very delicious cookies which are sold during Advent time) and see the famous magic fog and a more quiet La Serenissima. And I plan to take enlarged photos of several houses with me, as a gift for the people living in these houses. But well, I need to learn a bit more Italian....
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New contributions
I am happy to announce that I managed to finish the write-up of the first and second part of my April trip to Italy - Milano Marittima & Cervia, the tiny hilltop village of San Leo and the most magic San Pietro in Valle abbey.
I am currently working on Umbria, but it is not yet ready. Please wait and don't spoil the fun by reading an unfinished page!
…. and updates
If you happen to see the little green update icon somewhere on my travel pages, please take a look on the corresponding intro first. Usually I make little notes at the beginning of the intros what is new. Often I only exchange youtube links or update websites.
I have decided to bring an end to this chaos on my pages and finish before I start new things. By end of August 2008 I have counted 14 pages with "new" tips with photos but no text (apart from "soon", whatever soon means...). And as this all leads nowhere, I will first finish Umbria (see above), then Marche. Then all other "soon"s will be filled with descriptions.
Thank you for your patience :-) | | |
| Venezia La Serenissima - L'Arsenale |
| | General comments: my destinations, pages, tips and photos
My destinations:
My preferred travel style is off the paths, I already described this before. And I already wrote that this does not necessarily exclude popular destinations (like Venezia and soon London) as they also held many gems for the curious visitor who leaves the trotten path. But usually I like to be more off the crowds also in terms of my travel time. Luckily I can travel whenever I want, so I don’t need to set off during school holidays. I am not made for extreme heat, so I most probably won’t travel in hot summers anyhow (Central Asia was an exception and I paid the price...). My preferred time is spring and autumn, when blossoms are all out on meadows and parks and in forests or when the leaves turn into magic colour. Usually I only book the flight and depending on my destination from time to time also a car. This definitely gives me more independence to go to places which are hardly or difficult to reach by public transport. And of course I can stop whenever I want to take photos. However, in regions like South America or Central Asia I never rented a car, but fully relied on public transport.
VT pages:
It is difficult to keep up writing about my travels and I cannot stick to my original intention to write about one trip before I start the next one. I will most probably never have the time to write my old stuff like South America in a proper manner, so I just leave it as it is. If you have questions about Patagonia, just ask.
In the process of time here on VT I seem to have developed a habit to write a bit more logical and in sequences. I think my tips can be used as stand-alone ones but I prefer to give an overall aspect and my impression of places in the page as such. I have found myself writing “complete” pages with e.g. warning tips saying “there is no danger” for destinations which are not much travelled, like Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. And for destinations like Venezia (and others) which became very dear to me I find myself writing and writing and suddenly end up with quite much descriptions and suggestions to see. Well, readers who prefer short descriptions should better look elsewhere then, skip tips or read in “blocks”.
Tips on the pages:
In terms of accommodation, it might be obvious already – 5 star hotels are not my places. This not because of the prices but because of the flair. I don’t need luxury around me when I travel but prefer cute hotels, B&Bs, farmstays or my tent – any place that has its specific atmosphere to me. So if I rate or judge an accommodation with 5 stars (or points) then it means that it has atmosphere, a lovely location, friendly hosts and a firm bed. It might not have hairdryer or fridge or TV with all channels or room service or chocolate on the pillow – these things don’t mean anything to me. I need a bed, because I am out of the room during the day and sleep during the night.
When I write about restaurants, then these won’t be 5 star cuisine either. I prefer local food and restaurants with a flair. Often, the setting is not important to me, however it is nice to have my meal in a nice environment to look at (mountains or cities or landscapes or a river).
You won’t find many nightlife tips on my pages, and if it is also only atmospheric ones like exceptional sunsets or walks or boat tours (as in Venezia), but definitely no nightclub.
Now to the old question what is off path ? As I prefer to wander around in the less travelled streets and regions, I most likely will add sights I found there to the to-do section (and not to the off path one). |
Photos:
Sometimes I get questions about my photo equipment, so here is the story: I started taking photos in 1985, when I bought a Minolta 7000 with wide angle and tele lens. But I only took printed photos, hardly ever slides. When the first digital cameras appeared on the market, I was torn between getting direct access to my photos or still having the possibility to enlarge my favourite photos. In 2005 I finally arrived in digital age, but only with a compact (Olympus Camedia 500). It was meant to get myself used to digital and to play a bit but in the progress of time I was very much satisfied with the result – all my photos of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have been made with her. But… my Minolta lenses were still there waiting to come to life again. Luckily, in mid 2006 Sony bought patents and came up with the Alpha 100. A person very dear to my heart had the similar “problem” (old Minolta lenses waiting for a camera) and she finally got it. When she came back from a special trip and I saw the photos, I knew that my lenses will soon have the body to go with. So it is the Alpha 100, together with an old but perfect 70-210 mm lens (called the Beercan, lol) and since recently a Sigma 10-20 mm lens who join me now on my travels. I found myself taking more detail photos than ever before, and my favourite tele lens is doing better than ever. Just recently I got my first prints (30x45 cm) and the result was breathtaking: On the photo to the left (L’Arsenale wall in Venezia) even the small grains of the bricks were clearly and sharp. Amazing where technology brought us to.
For day-to-day processing I use PhotoImpact but for the prints I switch over to Photoshop (CS). Processing means that I correct the horizon when necessary and that I add clarity and sharpness to them. Occasionally I also “change weather”, which is when I took photos of beautiful environments on a rainy or cloudy or misty day. I don’t see this as cheating, as I am not always at the right time at a special place. |
All pictures have been taken by me, if not marked otherwise.
Please do not use any of them without my permission.
The same applies for my writings here.
Thanks.
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 Comments for Trekki | | | | |
sim1 Sun Sep 7, 2008 10:59 UTC
Gooood afternoon sweet Ingrid :-) Oops.... only 10 months to write it all?? PANICCC!!!! lol ;-) Didn't visit all 6 of them, just this one. Wanted to spare a few for a next visit :-) Tons and tons of afternoon hugs! | toonsarah Sun Sep 7, 2008 09:17 UTC
Good morning Ingrid :-)) I hope all's well with you! London is being drenched with rain and is very dismal :-( But next week we are off to New York - YIPPEE!!! | Russell_the_Wombat Sat Sep 6, 2008 10:34 UTC
Hi Ingrid, I wish you and the bears a very cuddly Saturday! Russell | tiabunna Sat Sep 6, 2008 06:16 UTC
Guten morgen, dear Ingrid. Thank you for visiting my Tasmanian pages - more I should add... (one day)! Thank you also for your kind comments - you should plan on a visit to MI some day - be the second VTer there! :)) Hugs. |
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