BIGmog's BIGblog

Last week I joined a cinephile group to see a movie called Robot Dreams. It's an animated movie about friendship set in 1980 New York City. It wasn't perfect but I did enjoy it. It was an ideal movie for me to see at this specific moment as I have this ongoing internal debate about my life. One side of me would like to move to an urban environment with people and social activities. The other side thinks that a quiet, stable, home in the suburbs is financially sound although lonely. The movie doesn't cover these 2 minds specifically and I don't want to spoil the ending. Instead I'll just say that it nudged me into one direction and as a result I have a new dog.

Lefty was beagle and while I love that breed still, I couldn't help but compare every other beagle to him. None were ever good enough so I changed gears to the breed's cousin: the basset hound. As a kid I remember seeing a basset hound on TV shows like the Dukes of Hazard and Colombo. Coincidently (or perhaps fated), the Colorado basset hound rescue group had an event on Saturday. I went to see some basset hounds up close and question owners about the breed. The rescue organization itself is in rough shape but I did learn a lot. The most important tip was that a basset hound was currently up for adoption at a shelter near me.

I hesitated a bit as it was super hot that day and the shelter was about to close. I already missed out on another basset hound however so instead I rushed on over just to see. Well, of course it's hard to say no at that point. Basset means "low" in French so I sat on the ground and let the dog come to me. He was friendly and the right age and weight for me. I didn't want a dog too young or too old; too big or too small. This one was just right.

He sort of reminds me of Lefty which makes me a bit sad. I'm sure as I get to know him more than skin deep, I'll see the differences and come to love him as a unique pet. We're still getting used to each other but bonding well. I'm taking my time giving him a name that's fitting. He's been through plenty of changes already in the last week. A name change can wait.

After 5 weeks and 5 countries of travel, it's time to go home. Such a long vacation is a privilege common for Europeans and I've been fortunate to enjoy the extended time off. When you have only a week or two, there is no time to waste. I ended up wasting a lot of time simply relaxing and strolling. I think I'm ready to return to the daily grind with a renewed mind. When home starts to feel like a foreign place, it's time to go.

Despite the rain yesterday, I managed to venture out and get lost in the non-touristy parts of the city. Just a few blocks from all the crowds are quiet places with reasonable prices. I'm not super price conscious in truth. This is paid time off after all and I can pinch pennies again back home. Euros are fairly simple to convert to dollars. Hungarian Forint, Polish Zloty, and Czeck Crowns, I don't even bother.

Last night I saw another stand-up comedy show in a cellar of a bar. This time the act was an American living in Britian. He has clearly honed his craft by performing for international crowds. In some places it's actually acceptable to heckle the comic a bit so they have to be great at crowd work. He didn't even do much of his scripted material. Still it was a great performance and I'm tempted to paraphrase some of his observations here.

He noted that Americans aren't stupid. We're just ignorant when it comes to the world. That's because whenever we get some culture imported, they tend to take off the edges so that Americans will accept it. On that, I will counter and offer that the same happens in reverse but perhaps to a lesser degree. American culture is valid too. It's funny to consider that, for example, Czech has centuries of history but technically America is an older country. (1776 vs 1993).

After just one day in Prague I have so much to say. Such a fantastic place. I'll back up a bit: 20 years ago. In 2004, I went to the world expo in Japan where every country has a pavilion to showcase their culture. Many countries were popular with long lines. The Czech Republic: not so such. Still, I visited their pavilion and what it lacked in splendor they made up for in hospitality. To this day I recall how special they made me feel and really encouraged me to come to their country. Well it took me 20 years but I made it.

The day I arrived I noticed that many people were walking about looking at their phones watching something. It wasn't football / soccer but the championship game of the world ice hockey tournament. I enjoy NHL so I watched the game too once I arrived at my hotel. It was a slow scoreless match but late in the game the Czech team prevailed and they wasted no time celebrating. Not to take away anything for their victory but given that the NHL playoffs are happening at the same time, I suspect the top players are competing for the Stanley Cup instead. There was a massive gathering in the city square which was not brave enough to join.

Instead I explored the city and found so much to see and do. It's nearly midnight however so I'll write more tomorrow.

My mind is a bit of a tangle as I attempt to process today and also squeeze in last minute plans before leaving Krakow. This may become incoherent.

In a town near here are several Nazi concentration / death camps. I felt that was important to experience and I'm not alone. It draws in a large number of people. It's one thing to learn about the holocaust in museums and movies but quite another to see where it happened. While I have sympathize for the victims, I also sort of felt bad for the tour guides that have to explain the horrors every day to swarms of tourists. There is no joy or entertaining aspect presented. It's all sad and somber but important history. Most every country has their own dark moments to reconcile. Only by shining a light on them can we learn and reform.

Today I arrived in the cultural center of Poland: Krakow. It made it through WW2 undamaged partially because the Polish simply forfeit it to the enemy and avoided any battles. In Warsaw, the locals resisted and the city was demolished as a result. Krakow is still Krakow because they fled but Krakow is still Poland because others fought.

With just 1 more week of vacation, I'm quickening my pace now. Luckily I've stayed largely healthy despite occasionally being in small spaces with large crowds. If I can keep my stamina high, I can finish the trip strong.

It doesn't happen often; I hesitate to bother others, but when an opportunity seems appropriate, I try to engage with new people. Here are 3 notable encounters that I've made on my journey.

On a train to Austria, I shared a cabin with a German woman of middle age on her way to teach a training course in Italy. She was eager to share her love of reading and gave me several suggestions of her favorite books. She was a multi-linguist even by European standards and we chatted on etymology. For example: uni and mono both mean 'one'. Uni is Latin and Mono is Greek. Plenty of words in English start with this prefix. She even took notes on my explanation which made me happy to be able to teach a teacher.

The next person I met was on a train to Poland. He was from Turkey and we had to use Google Translate to communicate. I explained I was from America, he asked me for a: job, visa, girlfriend, and cigarette. Sorry guy. I'm not a smoker, HR, matchmaker, that works for immigration. Perhaps he might improve his station by learning a bit of English. Sorry if that was presumptuous. I did help out by sharing my internet connection which he used to make calls on speaker phone to the annoyance of the other passengers. I shouldn't judge but he was kinda peculiar.

Lastly I met a pinball service tech while playing at an arcade pub in Warsaw. Pinball has a lot of moving mechanical components which demand frequent maintenance. A venue that takes care of their machines understands this. The technician was also an enthusiast and even owns several machines. I play for fun but he plays in tournaments and gave me some tips to improve my game. I'm still surprised that pinball has a fanbase in Europe. Now I'm on the lookout for arcades to extend my pinball pilgrimage.

When first arriving to a new place, I like to join a walking tour. These guides give an overview of the area but also provide history lessons, local trivia, and restaurant recommendations. Instead of charging a fee, they now just work for tips. You pay only what you think the tour was worth. I've been giving them about $20 regardless.

What occurs to me after going on many of these tours is that it's all a routine to the guides. They have a set not unlike a stand-up comedian. They do the same tour every day. Only the audience changes. It's show business in a sense. Some guides welcome questions perhaps because it adds some variety just like crowd work. Others don't even bother making the tour interactive. They just want to get their presentation over with so they can get on to the next tour.

Today was the first time that I left a tour before it completed. The guide wasn't so bad really. It's just that Warsaw involves a lot of walking and not a lot of interesting sights. There is hardly any of that old-world European charm. Perhaps to a European, Warsaw is great because it offers a modern western-style city.

They have some museums but they largely fail to impress after seeing museums in Vienna. While my hotel reservation is in Warsaw for a few more days, I do have my train pass so I'm thinking I'll use that to venture out for a day trip elsewhere.

I hadn't originally planned to visit Warsaw but some fellow travelers I met praised the city. My first impression was that it resembles a western city such as San Fransisco. Like many places in Europe, Warsaw was damaged heavily by wars. Some places decided to preserve what they could: street layouts remained and no new building could be taller than the church. Such rules did not apply to Warsaw. The streets here are wide in a grid and the buildings scrape the sky. This makes is not easily walkable so I may finally rent an electric scooter or a bicycle to get around easier.

What is nice is that being the capital of Poland makes it home to the national museums. Today was a special event with late night hours and free admission to every museum. That drew out the crowds however and there were wait times to enter. I would prefer just to pay and not have to fight crowds but I did appreciate the late hours. Museums often close early which leaves me little to do in the evenings. It feels like I'll have plenty to do here.

Owing to me decades of playing Civilization games, I am interested in the history of cities. I gather that many endured and prospered by being located geographically where goods could be traded and authority could be fortified.

If no costal area is near, then a reliable river would suffice. Such is the case with the Danube river that has 4 capital cities along its path. I've watched it grow from a sizable stream to a major river on my route through Europe. As I looked upon it here in Budapest, it occurred to me that I could have taken a river cruise along the same path.

From here the river goes south but my plans will instead take me north. For that I'll take a long overnight train. I had read that night trains were losing their appeal now that airfare is so cheap and fast. They aren't quite extinct yet however.