flying – Michael Rappa

My First Eurotrip, A Look Back

June 6, 2014 Michael Rappa2 Comments

This series is a look back at my very first Eurotrip in 2007, during which I visited Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. I never kept a journal during that trip so I am writing this mostly from memory. All photos were taken with my old pocket camera.

In 2007, as I approached my 36th birthday, I was given the opportunity to travel overseas for the first time in my life. Prior to that, I had never done much traveling outside of some long drives up and down the East Coast to places like Maine and Florida, and parts in between. I hadn’t been on an airplane since my high school senior trip when I was 18, and the only foreign country I’d ever visited was Canada, but that had just been a road trip over the border to Niagara Falls, so I’m not sure that even counts. The thought of traveling the world had never really crossed my mind. I did not understand what it means to be bitten by the travel bug, but that was about to change.

My uncle, Kipp, invited me to join him on a trip with his high school German class to Europe during spring break. It was a trip he made with his class every couple of years. On this occasion he had an open slot for a chaperone and asked me if I’d like to be one. My trip would be completely free except for the surcharge I would pay to guarantee a private single room. I jumped at the chance. I mean, how many times do you get offered a free trip to Europe? For me it would turn out to be twice, but I didn’t know that at the time.

At the pre-trip group meeting I met the students and other chaperones. Among the advice given was to bring a small suitcase since you would be lugging it around everywhere. I took that to heart and crammed my entire 10-day trip into a suitcase roughly the size of a carry-on with no room to spare. So of course when I got to the school on the day of the trip, everyone else had giant suitcases. 🙂

When we went through security at the airport in Philadelphia I was pulled off to the side and searched—it would be the first of three times on this trip I would be specially searched at an airport. I can only surmise that I resembled the profile of what they deemed to be a suspicious person worthy of extra scrutiny—maybe it was the goatee.

Eventually we got on the plane for a short flight to Boston, where we would connect to Germany. I had the window seat. The man sitting in the middle seat next to me decided that it was more important for him to spread his newspaper out over three seats with his elbow hanging half over my seat than it was to give me the courtesy of my personal space. It was a short flight so I just pressed against the window and endured it, though nowadays I would probably say something.

We reached Boston and boarded a Lufthansa flight for Germany. This time I had an aisle seat, which was key for an 8.5-hour flight during which I was unlikely to sleep. It was my first experience flying international and I couldn’t believe all of the food and drinks were free, so I indulged plenty, perhaps hoping that alcohol would numb the smell of the bad B.O. guy in the seat in front of me. The in-flight movie was Rocky Balboa (this was right before they started letting you choose the movie you wanted to watch on your own screen).

When we landed in Germany I had a much easier time getting through customs than in the States. I walked around for most of the first day without being able to hear properly—I hadn’t yet mastered the art of getting my ears to pop during landing. We met up with our tour guide, a British fellow named Tom, who guided us to our bus. Our group was just large enough to warrant our own private bus, but small enough that we each had an entire row of seats to ourselves—a very comfortable way to spend nine days on the road. This trip spoiled me because when we returned in 2009, the bus was filled to the brim with three groups and everyone battling for seats during the entire trip.

Before long we were on the Autobahn headed for the city of Munich. After navigating a traffic jam we arrived at the main square in Munich, known as the Marienplatz. We were unable to check in to our hotel until later that afternoon, and I hadn’t slept on the plane, so by this point I was running on fumes. In the end, I would be awake for 32 straight hours on my first day, but none of that mattered because I was standing in Europe! I honestly never thought I’d see another continent. I had never even owned a passport until this trip. Being here was sublime.

We arrived just in time to see the famous Glockenspiel spring into action like a giant cuckoo clock.

After the Glockenspiel our group split up. Uncle Kipp and I had lunch at a nearby cafe, where I enjoyed my first Euro-beer, plus sausage and sauerkraut. The next day for lunch I would have essentially the same thing, except with fries instead of kraut (the fries were so tasty; they were more like crispy fried potatoes). Besides beer and water, the drink I enjoyed most on this trip was Fanta, a popular beverage over there, which tastes a bit different than in the States–not as sweet, more refreshing and natural tasting (well, as natural as soda can taste, anyway).

After lunch we did some sightseeing.

The Feldherrnhalle (sight of the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, Hitler’s unsuccessful first attempt to seize power).

Munich has some amazing cathedrals. Here are a couple of them:

One of the massive stained-glass windows inside the Frauenkirche.

Theatinerkirche
I couldn’t fit much of the cathedral into this shot, the downside of only having a pocket camera.

Later we climbed 300+ steps to the top of the Peterskirche tower to enjoy some spectacular views of Munich. The inside of the tower, with its winding steps and dark, narrow corridors, really makes you feel like you’ve traveled back in time to the medieval era.

The photo at the top of this post was taken from this vantage point. Here are a few more:

I was too lazy to straighten this out. 😉

The Olympic Tower. On a clear day you can see all the way to the Alps.

While up here we also got a birds-eye view of the Glockenspiel in action. A little later we met up with the rest of the group and headed back to the hotel to finally check in before heading out to dinner. All dinners were included in the tour, but the best meals were in Munich because we went to actual restaurants (dinner was served in the hotels of the other cities we visited).

The first night also happened to be my birthday, so Uncle Kipp arranged for the waitress to bring out a steak with a firecracker in it and the group sang Happy Birthday. My other recollection about that first restaurant was that they served the best tomato soup I ever had, almost like eating spaghetti sauce.

After dinner we headed to the famous Hofbrauhaus for drinks and I had my first Mas beer, which is a draft beer served in a full liter mug. The beer in this region is very easy to drink; it goes down much more smoothly than beer in the States (I’m not a big drinker, so it only took 2 1/2 of these Mas mugs on the second night to give me my first hangover since college).

Later that night we returned to the hotel for a much-needed night of sleep. In the morning we would be taking a tour of Munich followed by a visit to the Dachau concentration camp, which will be covered in the next installment.

View more photos from this trip.

Down in Mexico, Day 1: Getting Acquainted with Mexico City

December 21, 2013 Michael Rappa12 Comments

Flash Forward: Teotihuacan (click to enlarge)

October 29, 2013: The time had finally come to embark upon my first ever solo trip to another country. I chose Mexico because I’ve always wanted to visit the pyramids of Mesoamerica, and I found a tour that would take me to several pyramid sites across Mexico. I’d come a long way in just a few years—before my first Eurotrip in 2007 I had never visited another country (unless you count Niagara Falls, Canada) and I hadn’t flown on an airplane since my senior class trip to Disney World in 1989. Three Eurotrips and a trip to South America later, I had developed the confidence to not only fly solo, but to travel solo in a foreign country, so I was not nervous at all about my trip. My wife and family, on the other hand, were concerned about me being alone in Mexico City because of its reputation, but in reality, it is no less safe than any major American city as long as you stick to the good parts (hell, there are plenty of U.S. cities in which I would feel considerably less safe than in Mexico City).

For this trip I decided to try packing for the entire nine days in just a carry-on. I liked the idea of being able to breeze through check-in without having to wait in the baggage-check line and, after landing, not having to wait at the luggage carousel for my checked bag (not to mention eliminating any worry about lost luggage). It was tough to fit everything in the carry-on and personal item tote bag (especially with the size of my camera bag) but I managed. The hardest part was cramming all of the 3 oz liquid items into the tiny quart bag the TSA allows you (don’t even get me started on how ridiculous the whole liquid restriction rule is). Normally I would check most of my liquid items, but that was not an option this time, so I had to get creative, and also leave some items behind like sunscreen, which I figured I could buy down there, though that was not meant to be (more on that later).

Another downside to the carry-on strategy is that it doesn’t leave a lot of room for souvenirs, though I’m not a big souvenir buyer anyway, so it didn’t really impact me. Overall, I think the carry-on was the right decision for this trip—it forced me to pack lighter but also allowed me to travel leaner. For a longer trip, or one that would require more different types of clothing, I would still bring a larger checked bag.

I had booked a very early flight because I didn’t want to waste my first day in Mexico City. Unfortunately, this meant waking up just a couple of hours after my usual bed time to catch a 5 a.m. train to the airport. It was worth it, though, because the train was mostly empty and I breezed through check-in and security at the airport. Like last year, I chose to fly out of Newark. It’s a very convenient location if you live near a train station because the train takes you to a monorail that drops you off directly at your gate. It’s so much easier than trying to get to JFK (and the security lines are ten times shorter).

For my United Airlines flights I sprung for the premium economy seats with extra legroom (an extra $70 for the flight down and an extra $40 for the flight back). Some people might not think the extra fee is worth it for a relatively short flight, but I was glad I did it—both of my flights were very comfortable. On my flight down I sat right behind first class, and the middle seat was unoccupied, giving me even more room to stretch out. On a side note, it’s an interesting feeling when you’re sitting right behind first class and the flight attendant closes the curtain in front of you—I tweeted at the time that I felt like Kay at the end of The Godfather.

When I arrived in Mexico City, the driver affiliated with my tour company was waiting for me holding up a sign with my name on it. He watched my bags so I could exchange some cash and then we were off to my hotel. I chose the deluxe package for my tour (a treat to myself after spending four days in the wilderness on the Inca Trail last year), so my hotels were pretty nice. The first one was the Galeria Plaza, one of the taller buildings in the Zona Rosa section of the city, complete with doormen and a pool on the roof.

When I checked in there was a bit of a problem with the staff claiming that my breakfast was not included (all breakfasts were supposed to be included with my package). It took some time and back-and-forth communication with my tour company, but it eventually got straightened out (though I would only end up eating one breakfast anyway). Because of the mix-up, however, I didn’t want to end up with any unforeseen charges on my bill, so I chose not to leave a credit card number with the front desk. The downside of this was that they would not give me a key to the mini-bar in my room. I wasn’t planning on using it anyway, but I usually like to place drinks I purchase in the fridge to keep them cold. Oh well, not a huge deal. A slightly bigger deal was the fact that they did not have a key for my room safe, so I either had to leave my valuables with the front desk or take my chances by leaving them in the room (I chose the latter, with a locked suitcase).

Anyway, after settling in I went for my first walk around the city. One thing I noticed off the bat was the ubiquity of VW bugs. I knew they had a lot of them in Mexico, but I was still amazed at the sheer volume. If you were to play the famous ‘punch the buggie’ game here, someone would end up in the hospital. 🙂 Another thing I realized was that New York City has nothing on Mexico City when it comes to drivers leaning on their horns. It’s a constant cacophony of horn blowing, and not for any particular reason; just sitting at a light the horns frequently blare away.

My first order of business was to look for something to eat, so in a pedestrian mall down the street from my hotel I had my first authentic tacos at an outdoor café, drenched in hot salsa and cilantro (Mmmm) and accompanied by a large beer.

After lunch I walked around some more and came across the monument pictured below. I decided not to venture up to the monument because traffic at the circle was insane and there was no apparent pedestrian crossing, so basically you take your life in your hands if you choose to cross to the monument.

Following this detour I made my way back to the hotel, first stopping at a convenience store right across the street to buy some bottles of water (I would return to this store several times during my stay because the water was so much cheaper than what they were charging at the hotel). I decided to check out the hotel’s rooftop pool. It was pretty cool, but I never ended up using it since it closed at 6 p.m. and I was usually out on excursions all day.

View of the monument statue from the roof of my hotel. (click to enlarge)

That evening I went to dinner at a charming restaurant called El Refugio, which had been recommended on the Wikitravel web site (I’ve gotten some good tips from that site for my various travels; it’s a valuable resource). I had a nice steak dish with an interesting lemonade drink that had a bunch of chia seeds in it. The waiter warned me about the hot peppers that came with my dish and then seemed stunned that I ate all of them without blinking an eye—I guess he thought I was one of those wimpy Americans who consider mild Ortega taco sauce too spicy. 🙂

After dinner I returned to the monument on the circle. I figured since it was now later in the evening I would have a better chance of crossing to it. Little did I know that traffic in Mexico City never dies down. I managed to get across but getting back was an ordeal. I thought I had judged when I could cross, but suddenly when the light changed, all of the cars started coming from the opposite direction! A traffic circle that goes in both directions? Definitely the wackiest circle I’d ever seen. Here are a few photos from my treacherous journey to the monument:

From this angle the cherub seems to be pointing at the building. (click to enlarge)

I finally managed to cross back over from the monument and returned to the hotel. I was pretty beat after being up since 4 a.m. and I had an early pickup the next morning for my guided tour around the city (which would include visits to Xochimilco and the Museum of Anthropology), so it was off to bed, visions of floating gardens and ancient relics dancing in my head.

View more of my photos from Mexico

Mexico City lights viewed from my hotel room.

Countdown to Mexico

July 22, 2013 Michael Rappa2 Comments

I’m just about three months away from my Mexico trip: got all of my booking vouchers for the hotels and transportation, my new camera, and my Timberland low cut trail shoes for climbing those pyramids (at least the ones they let you climb). Now it’s time to start playing those Spanish learning CDs again.

I’m considering just bringing a carry-on suitcase for the trip, but I’m not sure about the practicality of doing so in light of how restrictive the TSA is about what you are allowed to bring. I’ve always done checked luggage in the past, but I’m thinking it would be nice to just hop off the plane and head to my destination, especially since I will be traveling by myself. It would also be convenient to not have to check a bag during my in-country flight from Mexico City to Merida, and to not have to lug around a large suitcase in between other destinations. I guess the big question is whether I will be able to fit everything I need into one small suitcase.

Have any of you ever traveled overseas for roughly a week with just a carry-on? How did you make out?

Below are a few of my destinations. I will have a little bit of free time in Mexico City and Merida, and a lot of free time in Cancun. If you have traveled to any of these cities and would like to share some tips about things to do, I would be most grateful. Thanks!

Three months is still a ways off but it will be here before I know it!