Rome: some pictures

The usual Roman shots:


The Forum


Yesterday we went to St. Peter's, and tried to avoid the swarming crowds of digital cameras. This photo is only a small sampling (<0.00000001%) of the tourists in Rome right now.


Yummy cannoli! I'm in heaven! And it made up for the microwaved pasta TV dinner at some place nearby... our first rip-off of the trip. But all the other restaurants have been fantastic!

Rome

I think I have a food crush on buffalo mozzerella. We arrive in Rome 2 days ago and are busy negotiating the crowds (note, next time come in October!) and eating pasta.

Monument, 1949 - Part 1

Today we visited a monument worthy of the name: the massive memorial for the Soviet victory over the Nazi regime in 1945. This design was huge!

Monument, 1949 - Part 2

More pictures of the monument:

The street as history

The history of this city is present in the streets. Our friends happen to live on Karl Marx Street!

Too much time looking at maps

The Jewish Museum

Today we visited the Jewish Museum in Berlin. It chronicled the experiences of Jews in Europe from the time of the Roman empire to the present. The exhibit did a very good job of weaving together issues of class, culture, religion, nation, economics, and gender. The museum structure was designed by Daniel Libeskind, the same architect who designed the new addition to the ROM in Toronto. Libeskind dubbed the design 'Between the Lines,' a title which reflects the tensions of German-Jewish history. The building takes the shape of two zig-zagging lines, which intersect at various points in the form of wide, empty voids and criss-crossing pedestrian pathways. In taking this form, the design contributes to the history of Jews in Germany being told inside.

Potsdam: Sanssouci Park

Today we wanted to get out of the city, so after a breakfast of weisswurst (white sausage) and pretzels provided by Mikiya, we took the train to Potsdam, where there is a very large park and several old castles and palaces. We spent the day walking amongst the trees, enjoying the fresh air, and avoiding crowds.

German History Museum

This museum was great and highly recommended if anyone comes to Berlin! But I spent too much time on the Reformation and we were chased out by staff at closing having only reached about 1935. Of course, a lot more happened in Germany after that... Jerome particularly liked the stuff on the German labour and communist movements. Below is a painting of a Marxist propagandist talking to the workers while some 'agents of the state' (police) look on in the background.

And here is one of a workers' strike, apparently an early example of 'socialist art':

Berlin

After some of the worst turbulence ever, and an aborted landing on an Easyjet flight, we thankfully arrived in Berlin on Tuesday. We are here for the next week, staying with our friends Mikiya and Anne. Yesterday we visited some of the tourist attractions pictured below, and sampled some local beer and sausages, including the 'currywurst,' a local delicacy consisting of sausage, curry powder, and ketchup!

The Reichstag

'The philosophers have interpreted the world; the point is to change it.'

-- Karl Marx, 11th Thesis on Feuerbach

This famous quote by Marx is located in the front hall of Humbolt University in downtown Berlin. The whole display is powerful: it is anti-fascist because the quote is written on marble taken from Hitler's bunker; and it suggests that the whole point of education is to change the world.

Jerome and Mikiya at the Concert Hall and one of many downtown squares.



The Brandenburg Gate

Shisha Cafe in London with Bader

Today we went to the British Museum, saw the loot of Empire, and then met up with Bader, a friend from Toronto, for shisha and tea at an Iraqi cafe.

How Jerk Chicken Should Be Prepared

After walking along the Thames we found this incredible outdoor jerk chicken rack. Caroline ate a whole bird.

Tower of London

We're staying in London with our friends, Franck and Natasha. They took us on a Thames river walk to see a few sites, including the Tower of London, Big Ben, Parliament, and Tower Bridge. We also caught an organ recital at Westminster Abbey, where we also saw the graves of Charles Darwin and Caroline's favourite physicist, Isaac Newton. Caroline's great-great-great-great-great uncle is buried somewhere in the Abbey, but we couldn't find him.

The Cotswolds

We arrived in England and are having a great time. We've been staying with Caroline's cousins in Fairford in the Cotswolds, a beautiful area known for its rolling hills, stone houses, walled-in fields, quaint villages, church spires, pubs, narrow roads, medieval forests and movie stars such as Kate Moss and Elizabeth Hurley who happen to live down the road from us!

Today we had a drive around the countryside, ate lunch in a small-town pub, and checked out a few old churches. Tomorrow we're off to Oxford for some site-seeing and to meet a few friends from Toronto. On Saturday we ride to London for the remainder of our time in England.

Now that we're here, the travel bug is really taking hold of us, and we're excited to carry on. More soon -- and maybe some pictures -- when we get to London.

Halifax Airport

Here we go! Check out our small bags Mum!

Packing

In case anyone is planning their own around-the-world adventure, here is a list of everything we brought with us, or purchased along the way (excluding souvenirs, which we mostly mailed home). Keep in mind that many of our choices were dictated by geography and time of year: it is always hot in almost every country we visited. We found the site Independent Traveller useful for getting organized and for suggesting some handy items we hadn't thought of originally.

JEROME

1. Luggage

• 1 MEC 60L backpack
• 1 MEC day pack

2. Clothes

• 1 wool socks
• 2 light socks
• 1 hiking socks
• 1 light fleece jacket
• 1 cotton pants
• 2 linen pants
• 1 shorts
• 1 swimming suit
• 4 hankerchiefs
• 1 long-sleeve button-up shirt
• 1 T-shirt
• 1 polo shirt
• 2 undershirts
• 3 short-sleeve button-up shirts (2 linen, 1 cotton)
• 1 belt
• 5 underpants (lost one along the way)
• 1 hat
• 1 extra prescription glasses
• 1 prescription sunglasses
• 1 pair hiking shoes
• 1 pair sandal Birkenstocks
• 1 pair plastic flip flops
• 1 watch

3. Toilettries (items replenished along the way)

• 1 medium size bag
• 1 toothpaste
• 1 cream shaving lotion
• 1 small shampoo
• 1 razor (3 blades)
• 1 toothbrush
• 1 toothbrush cover
• 1 deoderant
• 2 small bottles hand sanatizer
• 1 plastic soap container
• 1 bar soap
• 1 floss
• 1 lip balm
• 1 nail clippers

4. Wish list (should have brought...)

• 1 light sweater
• MP3 player

CAROLINE

1. Luggage

• 1 MEC 48L backpack
• 1 MEC shoulder bag

2. Clothes

• 4 pairs socks
• 1 fleece jacket
• 3 skirts
• 2 linen pants
• 1 shorts
• 1 summer pyjamas
• 2 swimming suits
• 1 long-sleeve button-up shirt
• 1 cardigan
• 5 T-shirts
• 3 bras
• 3 sleeveless shirts
• 8 pairs underwear (lost three along the way)
• 1 hat
• 1 pair hiking shoes
• 1 pair sandal Birkenstocks
• 1 pair plastic flip flops
• 1 watch
• 1 glasses
• 1 sunglasses

3. Toilettries

• 1 toilettries bag
• 1 toothpaste
• 1 2-in-1 shampoo
• 1 small conditioner
• 330 ml SPF30 sunblock (all used and replaced as we went!)
• 120 ml Oil of Olay SPF15 face cream
• 70 ml hand cream
• 3 disposable razors
• 1 toothbrush
• 1 toothbrush cover
• 1 deoderant
• 1 plastic soap container
• 1 bar soap
• 1 floss
• 1 lip gloss
• "ladies" supplies
• 10 hair elastics
• nightguard for teeth grinding
• 180 pairs daily disposable contact lenses

4. Wish list (should have brought...)

• 1 long linen skirt

SHARED ITEMS

1. First Aid (some items were included in a MEC Plus first aid kit)

• 36 wet wipes
• 16 Benadryl tabs (anti-histamine)
• 12 immodium
• 8 gravol pills (motion sickness)
• Malarone antimalarials (6 week supply)
• 10 Exlax tablets
• 2 prescriptions Ciprofloxacin (antibiotic)
• tension bandage
• first aid tape
• 20 bandaids
• moleskin
• Polysporin anti-septic tube (small)
• 4 anti-septic wipes
• 5 gauze pads
• Advil (ibuprofen, not enough!)
• Pepto tablets (antacid, not enough!)
• Halls
• gauze bandage
• tweezers

2. Accessories

• 2 sandwich-sized tupperware containers for storing accessories
• 2 MEC silk sleeping sacks
• 2 travel towels
• mosquito spray
• 1 mini-umbrella
• ziplock bags (various sizes)
• 2 journals
• 2 pens
• 1 camera
• 2 camera batteries
• 1 unlocked mobile phone
• 1 keychain compass
• 2 LED pen lights
• 2 small combination locks for bags
• adaptors (various)
• 1 phone recharger
• 1 universal sink plug
• 1 suction cup laundry line
• 1 sewing kit
• 1 Swiss army knife
• 2 ear plugs
• 2 phone batteries
• Tide laundry soap in small plastic container
• 1 USB camera cable
• 1 travel alarm clock

3. Guide books (mainly purchased along the way)

• Turkey Lonely Planet (very good)
• Middle East Let's Go (horrible)
• Egypt Lonely Planet (good enough)
• India Lonely Planet (OK)
• Thailand Lonely Planet (OK but has many mistakes)

4. Other

• $300 USD emergency cash (didn't use much, as there are ATMs everywhere)
• 2 novels
• passports
• mini photo album with pics of our friends and family for lonely moments
• spare passport photos
• photocopies of essential documents + vaccination records
• Visa, AMEX, and Mastercard credit cards
• ATM cards for both Plus and Cirrus (IMPORTANT!)
• ISIC Card
• Drivers' Licenses
• Health Insurance

*** each pack weighed around 11 kg, with room for souvenirs

First Stop Halifax

On Sunday we're heading to Halifax to catch our first flight to London. We plan to see some friends, eat some fish, and go to MEC one last time for socks. And to hopefully find the newest album by Amelia Curran, which as far as Jerome can tell is only available in Halifax. We leave for London on Tuesday night and will post an update from the Cotswolds in a few days. Can't wait for tea time.