Travel Insights – 7-19-14

Posted: July 19th, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Comments Off on Travel Insights – 7-19-14

Seattle was a bit of a whirlwind, so I didn’t have much downtime in the hotel/airport to wrap up this series until now.

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26.) The Paris Metro is the only subway I’ve been on with a reliable ventilation system. Say what you want about deodorant usage, this was the only place that acknowledged we were cramming people into an underground metal tube and breathing might be required.

27.) The Louvre is the only museum I’ve ever been in that did NOT have ventilation. I’d read Everywhereist’s post about the Louvre and what a frat party it was, but I was skeptical and wholly unprepared for the realities of thousands of people in a Renaissance Era building. Frat party, pfft.  I would have thanked the lord if someone offered me a cold Natty Ice while we were in there.

28.) Since I’ve been using the gamer tag “Viktory” for about 7 years now, I was more than a little disappointed that the Athena Nike was not on display the day we were there. So much for the epic “my head on a winged god” selfie I’d imagined.

29.) Seeing the Rijksmuseum was cool, but maybe I’ve been spoiled by great museums like The Met and The V & A. Going to see what is mostly a national collection left me sorta deflated. Kudos, though, for the ballsy “Art is Therapy” currently on display. These signs absolutely multiplied my enjoyment of the place, and resonated with the conversations we’d had at Noma earlier that week.

30.) Underestimating distances in Copenhagen: adds a few minutes to your exploratory walk. Underestimating distances in Seattle: potentially fatal. Glanced at a map and thought the pub crawl for MozCon was “just around the corner”, ended up trudging up a hill for and crossing in front of traffic that couldn’t really see us as they drove into the setting sun. Next time, in Siri we trust.

31.) Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Seattle: great weather to walk in, and have a rail connections practically inside the airport. Phoenix: Pretty much walking on the surface of the sun, and rail use requires that you wait outside twice before you even get on the train. Great planning, hometown!

32.) In Brussels it honestly never stopped raining. Sometimes it slowed to a mist and made walking around completely do-able, but it never fully stopped. It actually rained on us at some point in every city we went to, but only Brussels had the chutzpah to keep it up. Sure made those jackets we bought at REI a key investment.

33.) Airport security is totally suspicious of bike locks. Had to get it checked off by no less than three people each in Brussels and Heathrow. I’ve tried to think up a joke about this, but it’s escaping me right now.

34.) Yes, it’s 2014 and some folks still have no idea how to travel. (OH: “Nobody ever told me you have to take the liquids out of your bag”.) It’s up to you to decide whether this makes you laugh or lament.

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Final Stats

Days away: 18 out of 19

Cities visited: 7

Miles walked: calculating

Different beds slept in: 7

FourSquare checkins: 21 unique (only had wifi through most of Europe)

Pairs of shoes left in Denmark: 1

Cheers!

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