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Europe Trip Report (2000)

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People have been asking for details on our trip so here I'm presenting you
with far more information than you _ever_ wanted to know.
This document is long... and I've sort of written it in a "travel-guidish"
sort of way to help any of y'all planning to travel to these areas in the
future.

City's Travelled: Florence, Venice, Paris, Amsterdam.

When: 2 Weeks during Thanksgiving 2000.

Travel Companions - Brandon (buddy from college and work), Dwight (Brandon's
friend from grade school). Basically 2 computer geeks and a MD.

• Best Florence Cathedral - Duomo. However the Notre Dame and St. Chappelle in Paris
  are also standouts.
• Best Museum - The Louvre. I frankly thought the Uffizi and Pitti Palace in
  Florence were over-rated.
  
• Best Palace - Versaille. But then there's the Louvre - why did Louis the
  XIV ever feel the need for a _larger_ pad??? The Louvre is HUGE.
  
• Best Eats - Paris.
  
• Best Church Bells - Amsterdam. At least the church bells here play short tunes
  rather than the onerous gong we kept hearing at odd times in Venice and
  Florence - what the heck is up with that anyway? They certainly don't play
  them based on any quarterly/half/hour schedule...
  
• Best Local Cuisine - Raw Herring Sandwiches in Amsterdam!
  

• Get a TiVo. Not to travel with silly! Instead of having to blackmail
  Palmer this year to record all my television shows, my TiVo faithfully
  recorded all my favorite television shows while I was away for two weeks.
  So when I came back from Europe I was able to catch up with all my fave
  shows.
• Internet Cafes are readily available in each city. Venice has a list of
  Cybercafes that is available at any tourist office. For the rest of the
  cities we just walked around till we found one - usually not too big of a
  problem.
• Guidebooks are invaluable. Especially for good eats. A few days we were too
  hungry so ate at the first place where the menu looked good. This usually
  turns out to be a mistake as we were situationed around tourist areas that
  had crappy tourist (read: food for home-sick Americans) food. This was
  especially true in Paris (food near the Notre Dame on Saint Michele sucked),
  Venice, and Florence. However following suggestions from our guidebooks
  (Frommers and TimeOut) managed to never disappoint.
• Pack light if at all possible - having not to check-in baggage saves quite a
  bit of time. International flights have strict carry-on restrictions so
  make sure your bag conforms. And if you're Brandon - bring deoderant.
• To use your ATM card change it to a 4 digit PIN. This actually screwed me
  since I've never had any issues with my 9 digit PIN in Asia. But those
  European ATMs suck. I was pissed, but thankfully I had a ton of cash (not
  really suggested BTW). Just switch your pin.
• Rick Steve's phrasebook is pretty damn funny. Make sure you read up on
  sections titled "Protection For Women". Practice saying "I have veneral
  disease" in 3 different languages!
  

Europe Winter Travel Tips

• Pack a raincoat. Paris and Amsterdam got windy enough that an umbrella was
  useless. Unfortunately I had packed my wool overcoat instead of my Gore-Tex
  raincoat.
• Europe is great in the winter! Going through the guidebooks there were
  suggestions of booking museum tickets ahead to avoid 3+ hour lines at some
  museums, but travelling in the Winter has been a blessing in terms of
  avoiding lines. For most attractions we did not have to wait or had a very
  short one (no line ever longer than five minutes). There were some
  exceptions though:
• The Louvre in Paris. Since you'll probably be getting a museum pass in
  Paris, you can avoid the line here by making sure you get your Museum
  pass somewhere else (at any other Paris Museum...). Then enter through
  a side entrance, NOT the pyramid which had a huge line in front of it.
  Use the Richlieu entrance located to the left of the pyramid if you're
  facing the Louvre.
• Climbing to the top of Notre Dame. There is a limit to the number of
  people who are able to climb to the top so we weren't able to do this
  cuz we weren't willing to wait.
• Eiffel Tower. However this was a blessing in disguise cuz Brandon and
  Dwight insisted that we walk to the second section. I thought we were
  just going to walk up to the first section and ride up but the stair
  tickets means you walk to the _second_ level and then right the elevator
  up to the top. BTW this walking the stairs experience is highly
  overrated - if the lines are short, by all means TAKE THE FUCKING
  ELEVATOR.
  

Venice

• If you are taking the train into this city, when you get to the _first_
  Venice train station you may have to transfer. There are no announcements
  in English for you to do this - but a train conductor will probably come
  kick your ass off the train so you can catch the one that goes across the
  bridge to Venice.
• Perhaps this is the city for lovers but after being to Venice twice my
  strongest memory is that it's the city of mosquitoes. Those things will EAT
  YOU ALIVE - even in the Winter. We made the mistake of leaving our window
  open the night before we left, and we got eaten alive. And also mosquitoes
  in Venice are quick... I never managed to nail one with just my hands in my
  sleep deprived state - however the guide book proved to have a large enough
  surface area that I could splatter their blood bloated bodies with.
• IMO all the sights of Venice can be taken care of in a day or two.
  Basically all the action centers around Piazzo San Marco...
• Despite persistent eCircle rumors to the contrary, Brandon and I did not get
  married on a gondola. He did ruthlessly take advantage of me though.
  

Paris

• parlaaay vous englay? Do you speak English (you damn French snot)?
• Actually it wasn't that bad. It's true that not many people speak English
  compared to the other countries we travelled to, but luckily we had Brandon
  with us who spoke flawless French and communicated perfectly with everyone
  we met. Ok - it wasn't _that_ good, but he could order us food, get us
  around, and get tickets for us so what more could you ask for?
• Those pesky French have to do everything differently. They even have their
  own pesky keyboard despite using the same alphabet we do! Anyway most
  Internet cafes have two different keyboards so when you ask for a computer,
  make sure you ask for an English keyboard.
• Predictably we had the best food in Paris. Look for food reviews in the
  "Good Eats" section below.
• Don't miss Saint Chapelle - this church currently sits in the Palais of
  Justice so you have to pass stuff through an xray machine but this had a
  great series of stained glass windows.
• The Louvre - This place is just tooooo big. Here are some things you want
  to see - Delacroix, Mona Lisa, and Assyrian section. Also catch some of the
  Dutch Masters stuff (unfortunately the day we went, this section was
  closed). Go to the information desk the first thing to see which sections
  are closed off. Oh BTW - if you have the time and it's free, stop by the
  CyberLouvre (near the museum shops) - they provide a virtual tour and
  history lesson of the Louvre. Not to be missed if you want to understand
  why certain works are important (this will give you historical art history
  perspective). BTW the Mona Lisa is important because of Da Vinci's use of
  "sfumato". Just in case you cared. What's "sfumato" you ask?
  sfumato - subtle gradations, without lines or borders, from light to dark
  areas; the technique was used for a highly illusionistic rendering of facial
  features and for atmospheric effects.
• Palace of Versaille. All you have to do is see this place from the outside
  and understand why the French peasants revolted during the French Revolution
  in 1789.
• Cathedral of Notre Dame - You know I was here when I was six or something,
  but after watching Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" this place somehow
  looks "smaller" than you would expect it to. Go look at the flying
  buttresses and weird looking gargoyles. What's a flying buttress you ask?
  
  flying buttress - semidetached curved pier connects with an arch to a wall
  and extends (or "flies") to the ground or a pier some distance away. This
  design increased the supporting power of the buttress and allowed for the
  creation in masonry of the high-ceilinged, heavy-walled churches typical of
  the Gothic style.
• Musee D'Orsey - Great Impressionist stuff and in a converted train station
  to boot.
• Musee Rodin - Great Rodin Stuff.
• Eiffel Tower - FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SKIP THE STAIRS. Dwight and Brandon were
  on this sick sick mission to kill me with stairs. You can get stair
  tickets to get to the second level and then take the elevator up to the
  top. However the stairs are highly overrated. Also keep your group
  together. We managed to lose Dwight here for the better part of an hour
  after he stopped to take a picture but we kept walking.
• Why are there so many Chinese people (from China) around? Well - the French
  have a left leaning socialist government - they are chummy with the Chinese.
  Took me a while to figure this out but I finally read up on some French
  history that was conveniently in Brandon's Paris guidebook.
  

Amsterdam

• Everyone speaks English! This is the only place we travelled to where we
  never had to bother with a phrasebook. Everybody speaks English here.
  According to our guidebook this is due to the fact that English is taught
  along Dutch in grade school here. As the Dutch are shrewed traders this was
  probably a wise decision.
• Anne Frank's Museum. This place is depressing, but for those of you who
  read Anne Frank's diary in grade school, skipping this place would be a
  crime - especially if you're in Amsterdam already.
• Rijk Museum. Go see the incredibly detailed dollhouses, Rembrandt's
  amazing etchings (prints are made from a copper plate etching), and
  Rembrandt's "The Night Watch". Also they have a couple of Vermeer's works
  which are important (basically portraits of women standing beside windows).
  Vermeer liked to play with sunlight coming through a window and how it
  affects color in the room.
• Van Gogh Musem. Hmmm they built 4 floors of museum for one floor of
  Van Gogh's works (BTW fans of "Starry Night" should be aware that this work
  is at the Met in New York). Famous works here include Van Gogh's Sunflowers... (which
  of course on the day we went was not there... those fuckers).
• You must try a raw herring sandwich (or just raw herring) - a Dutch
  specialty. Or if you're a wuss, you can try the smoked herring sandwich.
  It's basically served in a a hot dog bun and topped off with chopped onions
  and pickles. Yum! Not to be missed.
• Otherwise Dutch home cooking involves a lot of stewed meats. Prepare to eat
  a lot...
  
• French Fries with mayonaisse are good for the first few bites, but then the
  mayonaisse gets to be a little bit too much. Oh don't forget those wooden
  forks. Don't try to use your fingers or you will be covered with sauce.
• There are tons of Chinese restaurants here. So if you somehow get sick of
  all the European food you can stop off in one of the many Chinese
  restaurants in the city for some home cooking...
• Brandon molests his last cat in this city.
• Look at all those friendly coffeeshops! And what's that odd smell in the
  air? These Dutch people must drink some damn strong coffee! Hmmm certainly
  doesn't smell like coffee, maybe you should give it a try to be sure? :)
• What makes a mushroom magic? What makes a magic mushroom?
• And hey look at all those friendly bikini clad women standing in the
  windows! How come they aren't cold? It's freezing outside! And why are
  there so many men around here? Hey what's going on? They can't be <gasp!>
  doing something naughty?!?! But they look so _cute_? Surely they must be
  upstanding Amsterdam citizens. I'll just mind my own business and walk on
  by... but smiling at them couldn't hurt could it?
• The FOX channel in Amsterdam broadcasts hardcore porn late at night.
  Viewers be warned... (or keep your eye out for it).
• Bottomline - In terms of picturesque beauty and ability to get around in
  this city, this was probably my favorite city. Which means if I had to live
  somewhere in Europe, I'd live here. Dutch is a bridge language between
  German and English (again according to my guidebook) so it probably wouldn't
  be too difficult to pick up. And there are a lot of Asians here as well.
  

Good Eats

• Florence - Il Magnifico Lorenzo Ristorante De Medici Pizzeria (Via del
  Giglio, 49/51/r, Via del Melarancio, 10/r - this building faces two streets
  hence the two addresses. Tel 055.218778). Not great but this restaurans
  made a strong impression on us on how much Italians can eat... This was
  where we dined the first night we got into Florence / Europe. Our waitress
  spoke a little English but we here quickly learned that we shouldn't leave
  our hotels without our phrasebooks handy for menu translations. Attempting
  to do what the locals do, I ordered an antipasti, a seafood salad and then
  an entree (fiorentino bistecca - the local specialty - Florence Beefsteak).
  Our waitress reassured us that the steak was tiny - only 800 g. I still
  hadn't mastered the grams -> ounces conversion so I took her word for it.
  Big mistake.
  800 grams = 20 ounces which is a rather hefty steak. At the end of the
  dinner we questioned our waitress who exclaimed "800gram small. 1600grams
  big!" I guess.
• Florence - Gelateria Vivoli (Via Isola Delle Stinche 7R, near Santa Croce).
  This place evidently has the best selection of Gelato. It produces the
  gelati for most of Florence's restaurants. Buy a ticket first and then
  select your favorite flavor. Most popular are almond (mandrola), meringue
  (marengo), eggnog (zabaglione). Otherwise I'm partial to melon (melone).
• Florence - Trattoria Garga - Highlights - are the cheesecake here (go figure!
  but it was yummy!)
• Paris - Tan Dinh (60, Rue de Verneuil - 75007 Paris. Tel: 01 45 44 04 84) -
  Highlights - A very large wine celler and some really high end Vietnamese
  cusine. It was good food but I got way too drunk on my two glasses of wine
  here.
• Paris - Cafe Fontaine - Highlights - a beet salad and a beefsteak
  with foie gras sauce. You know this place is good cuz a cloud of cigarette
  smoke rushes out to envelop you as you open the door. Those French
  certainly smoke a lot! The waiters do not speak English (but we had
  Brandon so no biggie).
• Paris - Buddha Bar - Highlights - a bigass buddha. And the Peking Duck!
• Paris - Les Bouisson Ardent - Highlights - quail salad and a steak with
  capers/rosemary. Avoid the creme-brulee with breadfruit. Our waiter
  thankfully spoke fluent English to help us decrypt the French menu that even
  Brandon has problems with.
• Amsterdam - Old Holland (on NZ Voorburgwhaal). Homestyle Dutch cooking.
• Amsterdan - Kantjil en de Tijger - Get the Indonesian rijsttafel (minimum
  for two people). This is a fourteen dish feast that the Dutch invented when
  they colonized Indonesian. They complained that a bowl of rice and entree
  just wasn't enough for hungry Dutch people. As a result they invented the
  rijsttafel. Make sure you're hungry because even then you'll have trouble
  finishing.

Bad Eats

Plenty to bad places to choose from. I only highlight the one below because the owner saw
fit to give us one of his cards. So since I still have it I can still warn
you away...

• Venice - Ristorante Laguna Blue (Campo della Guerra San Marco, 523 - some
  100 meters from San Marco Piazza). This place is awash with blue lighting
  that it might make you slightly queasy looking at your food. The food here
  is incredibly uninspired. Despite the number of tourists they seemed to be hard-up for
  business despite being in a fairly central location. The empty seats should
  have been ample warning for us to stay away but what can I say? We were
  stupid Americans.
  

Accomodations

Note these rates are probably off season rates... Spring/Summer rates can be
substantially higher. For our first 10 nights our individual hotel rates came
out to $30/night/person. Amsterdam sort of blew that average out the door.
But hey - a man has got to live life.

• Florence - Hotel La Noce (2 stars), Borgo La Noce, 8 - 50123 Florence,
  055-292346. Located 5 minutes from the Duomo and you walkable to all the
  main Florence attractions.
  Triple $68.39 / night.
• Venice - Hotel Diana (2 stars) on Canto Spechieri (right behind Piazza San
  Marco). Except for those pesky mosquitoes this place would have been great.
  Just keep your windows closed and you should be ok.
  Triple $122.32 / night.
• Paris - Hotel Cujas Pantheon (2 stars), 18, rue Cujas - 75005 Paris, Tel: 01
  43 54 58 10. Livable... Not much bathroom shelf space but the shower was
  decent. No tub though. Walkable to Notre Dame - take the Metro everywhere
  else. Triple $95.15 / night.
• Amsterdam - Victoria Hotel (5 stars), Damrak 1-5, 1012 LG Amsterdam, (from
  the US: 800.670.PARK, otherwise: 020/623-4255). I'm not sure I understand this star
  rating system, but this doesn't feel like "5 stars". Anyway our budget
  conscious friend left us in Paris to be home for Thanksgiving so Brandon and
  I splurged for the last four nights of our vacation. This is your standard
  business hotel that probably most of you are familiar with. I was getting
  tired of "roughing" it and wanted a shower with a tub so made reservations at
  this hotel from Paris. You can't beat this hotel's central location - it's
  facing the Centraal Station where the trains come in and all the city's
  buses/trams eventually end up at.. Furthermore your room rate includes the
  ticket to Schiopol International Airport - 20 minutes via train from
  Centraaal.
  
  Double around $160/night. Expect to pay close to double in the
  spring/summer for the same room.

Online References

http://www.cnn.com/TRAVEL/
CNN has these city guides that are useful to keep on your PalmPilot for quick
referencing.
http://www.frommers.com/
Online Travel Guide Information
http://www.louvre.fr/
Yes, they have an English version of this site.
http://www.britannica.com/
Has some valuable art history information if you're interested in terms like
sfumato, flying buttresses or what not.
http://www.artchive.com/
Many of the works mentioned here can be seen online at this online art
archive.

Other References Used

Frommers / Lonely Planet Books