Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
When I was young I never had the wish to go to the United States. I grew up with presidents like George Bush sr. and jr. at the Oval Office. And even Bill Clinton didn’t make it better for me, having all those military operations of the U.S. and the numerous CIA interventions in South American in mind. But after Barack Obama came into the White House, I thought I should change my mind.
Continue reading “As seen on TV”
What I really found odd about New York is that people always seem to live at a neighborhood according to their origin. At first it is nice to have Little Italy where you can walk from pizzaria to pizzaria (and of course also from ice cream parlor to ice cream parlor) or to have China Town which you would visit to get some good Chinese food.
Something I’ve so far only seen in New York is this vast amount of food carts, selling soft drinks and hotdogs. You can find them in front of every major sight and they are mostly run by veterans, proudly showing their rank and unit. But this is not only about a coke and junk food – some carts really have the product range of a normal eatery.
Using credit cards in New York City is really common. You can pay nearly everywhere by card, only if you want to buy some food from a food cart on the street it would be very useful to have some money in your pocket. The best way to get George Washington into your wallet is to use your credit card at one of the ubiquitously available Atomatic Teller Machines (ATMs).
Travelling throughout the city that never sleeps is pretty easy – because it has one of the best subway systems in the world. You just need a network map (Google is your best friend) and a city map – pick the next metro station close to your destination and find a path through the jungle.
Normally I try to travel to nearby countries by train. But this time I chose to go by long-distance bus the first time of my life. I went to the Hackerbrücke in München, the bus terminal of the Bavarian capital. I took an IC Bus from Deutsche Bahn that was not really comfy and I didn’t get too much sleep. But therefore I arrived in the early morning at the bus terminal of Zagreb (Agram) and could immediatly start to explore the capital city of Croatia.
Continue reading “Non-touristy, uncommon, incomparable”
A traditional Croatian dish I got to know in Zagreb, Croatia and immediatly fell in love with is Štruklji – cooked dough with various fillings. I found it throughout all of former Yugoslavia. It was once reserved for special occasions but is nowadays an everyday meal.
The decision to visit Budapest, Hungary was nothing coming from the heart. I just couldn’t remember of ever having been at Hungary. And it was easily reachable by train – using the Keleti pályaudvar / railway station. Everybody seems to have been in Budapest already. It is quite touristic and maybe famous as a place for lovers. I was unsure whether this was a good choice.
Continue reading “A visit to cloudy Budapest”
After visiting the wonderful island of Cuba I wanted to see countries in South American and put some places in Bolivia and Colombia on my list. My friends were not really happy with this choice and telling me that there are cheaper ways to kill oneself. As I am always recognizing concerns of friends and didn’t know too much about the region yet I selected a very well developed and secure country: Chile.
The Panamericana – or short Panam – is a network of roads going down from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. You can cross the whole continent on this 25.000 km long route, you can see wonderful landscapes and visit up to 19 countries. The plans to create the Carretera Panamericana were agreed on in 1936; only a small part of 90 km length next to Panama is still missing (even 80 years later).