Category Archives: Being Active

More physical than mental, more active than sedentary, but generally done for the fun of it.

Ah plans – such great plans we had for St. Pete’s


When I was doing my research on St. Petes – the best hostel for our purposes seemed to be the MIR. It is extremely well located – 2 minutes to a metro station, 4 minutes to the Hermitage – and it offered private rooms. I carefully took 2 rooms – one for the Intrepid Traveler and I to share, and one for MP and her suitcase. And they were extremely helpful and efficient at getting us the papers needed for our Visas.

In Russia – in order to get a visa – which is required before you leave home – you must know where you will be staying, and of course you must have your tickets to leave. No problems if you are using a travel agency based in Russia – but if you are an independant traveler like MP, IT and myself – well – not that easy. So while in Canada, I had relied on the wonderfully efficient folks at MIR to get me the necessary paper work – and do it again when we realized I’d given them the wrong names.

So – we arrive at the airport and must admire the size of MP’s suitcase – it literally dwarfs both IT and my tiny carry ons (MP is travelling for 10 days, we’re travelling for 4 weeks – go figure). To get to St. Pete’s – you have several choices – Taxi for around 900 ruples and bus/metro for 68 ruples. We choose bus/metro! What we don’t know is that MP’s suitcase needs it’s own ticket. One for her – one for the suitcase – on the bus, and on the metro too! Hence the nickname!

We quickly realize that there is a HUGE difference between the metro’s in Berlin and those in St. Petes. In Berlin, every station has an elevator – plus escalators. And they are all well signed and easy to find. Not so in St. Pete’s. Ignoring the issue on Cyrillic – which since it’s their language, one expects them to use it – the Russian Metros just don’t have elevators. We did find some escalators in the biggest and deepest stations, but certainly not everywhere – and often they are connected by stairs.

Since both the Intrepid Traveller and I have issues lifting our suitcases – tiny as they are – and MP is dragging Mrs. P, well the lack of elevators is going to be a problem.

Only it turns out – it’s not!

MP tells IT to just wait at the bottom of the staircases until she carries Mrs. P up the steps – she’ll come back for her suitcase. But before she can get back down – and often even before she gets to the top – a young Russian gentleman has noticed IT’s issue – and has grabbed her bag and is carrying it up – or down the steps. Over and Over again! We’re impressed. Is it her white hair? IT says she thinks it’s her bewildered expression!

In any case – we navigate the Metro – figure out fairly quickly how to recognize the first few letters in Cyrillic for each station name – and get where we are going – the front door of the MIR hostel.

As advertised – it’s perfectly located – right on Nevsky Blvd.

Unadvertised – it’s also up 5 flights of stairs – with no elevator.

Ensuite bathrooms or not – this won’t work. The Intrepid Traveller and I stayed in a 5 floor walk-up in Sicily – it almost killed us. And we’re older now. We can’t stay here.

MP and I walk up and up and up, go thru security to enter the hostel (video ID required) – and I throw myself literally on the feet of the hosts. Fortunately the hosts speak excellent English – and they take pity on us. They will both cancel our reservation (no refund on the deposit however) – and find us somewhere else to stay. They call around while I search the internet. It’s a challenge. We can’t find any where that has space, 2 rooms, and ensuite bathrooms – and under 3 flights of stairs. It’s impossible in the hostel world of St. Petes.

Finally – the MIR folks find one that can give us the 2 rooms – but we will be sharing the bathrooms. And the reviews aren’t great – noisy, and small and not well located. But at least it’s a bed for the night. MP and I drag our suitcases and our tired bodies back down the 5 flights – and together the 3 of us head back towards the Metro.

My nose suddenly does a sharp left turn. What is that delightful smell? It’s a Pastry shop – and what a wonderful pastry shop it is too! Traditional Russian Pies – some with meat, salmon, onion and egg – and some with Strawberry, Cherry, Cranberry, and Apple. And coffee. Good coffee.

No lunch – little breakfast – and 5 flights up and down have me feeling completely drained – it’s time to stop. So we do. And it’s delicous. And the lovely young waitress speaks excellent English. Sigh – things are looking up in St. Petes.

The name of this haven – Stolle – and afterwards I look it up in Tripadvisor – it’s #88 of 8,034 restaurants in St. Pete’s. Pretty good nose, eh?

While MP and the Intrepid Traveller relax over their tea and crumpets – I search the net for another option – and I find one – the Suricata Hostel

It’s about 7 minutes walking from where we are – only one flight of stairs to navigate – the half-a-dozen reviews are all positive – and at this point. I’m ready to try anything that doesn’t have a description that includes noisy. But how to make sure they have room? And we have reservations elsewhere. It’s back up the 5 flights of stairs to the only people I know in St. Pete’s that a) speak English and b) have a phone that isn’t calling Canada first.

The folks at Mir come thru again – they reach the owner of the Suricata – and we’re booked into a 4 bed dorm – holding all 4 beds for just the 3 of us. Yes we’ll have to use a shared bathroom – but there’s only one short flight of stairs – and the reviews are good.

We’re off.

The Suricata is a brand new hostel – I think we are the 2nd guests – and everything still has it’s IKEA labels attached. We are the only guests – so it’s really a fairly large apartment for 3. The bathrooms aren’t en-suite – we have to walk past the extremely friendly security and front desk and consierge all rolled into one very pleasant young Russian man – to get to the bathroom or the showers – but the beds are nice, the room has a huge window, and there’s a washer! The kitchen is tiny by hostel standards – and if they ever get the dorm rooms (there’s one with 8 beds and another with 10) filled – there won’t be enough room or toilets for everyone – but for us – for now – it’s perfect.

We’re home.

For dinner we wander the streets, eventually finding what turns out to be the most standard of designs for ‘low-cost’ eating in St. Petes – a cafeteria. But it’s a nicer cafeteria – with friendly helpful ‘chef’s’ behind stations – and prices clearly posted. I have a chicken dish, The Intrepid Traveller feasts on a version of a sauage roll and MP enjoys veggies and chicken dish as well. We’ll actually probably coming back – the combination of easy to understand what you’ll be eating – even if the seasoning – while delicous – is surprising at times, and the low cost is hopelessly appealing!

Bed time for bunny rabbits – tomorrow will be a busy day

The Soup Lady and her traveling companions – the Intrepid Traveler and Mr. Piatgorsky signing off.

Palaces of Tears, of Queens, and of Famous Paintings – ah, it must be Berlin!


Day 3 in Berlin dawns bright and cold – given our plans for the day – more museum visits – it’s perfect.

Our first stop is a brand new ‘museum’ – called the Palace of Tears. It’s located right behind the Main Train Station in Berlin – and it served as the ‘Border Station’ during the days of the iron curtain. It has been carefully restored to look just like it did during the Cold War – where it was the main crossing station between East and West. Thru a combination of interactive exhibits, free audio guide, multi-media displays, and written text – the conditions facing people who wanted to travel between East and West were explained.

At the end of the exhibit – there’s a brief section on the events leading up to the falling of the wall – and I will admit to leaving the museum with tears in my eyes. Very very moving.

We now head for one of the two major palaces open to the public – Most go to Potsdam to see San Souci – but not us! Nope – we’re going to see the Sophie-Charlotte Palace (aka Charlottenburg Palace). It’s a bit closer to Berlin – and reportedly has far fewer crowds. And is just as big. We figure if we can do it quickly – we’ll try for Potsdam too – but that is a pipe dream.

The trip to the Sophie Charlotte (aka Charlottenburg Palace) is fast and easy – I admit to a love affair with the Berlin Metro. So well signed – every station has elevators and lifts – and the stations, the stair cases – even most of the elevators are wonderfully clean. Most importantly are the multiude of pre-warning signs. As you leave a line heading for the next line at a transfer station – there’s a sign telling you when the next train at that future line will be leaving in each direction. Consider how handy that is – you know before you start the hike whether or not to rush. Cool.

Anyway – the Sophie Charlotte Schloss is huge. And it was totally ruined during the war. The roof was gone, the insides essentially gutted. And it has been completely rebuilt. Most of the moveable interior funishing and paintings were safely stored during the war – so those are the originals, it’s the incredible flourishes and swirls on the ceilings, and the glorious wall paper (not to mention the walls, floors and ceilings) that are ‘new’. Fortunately, the Sophie Charlotte had been well photographed prior to the war – it was already a museum – so there was lots to work with for the restorers.

And the results are wonderful.

There are 2 huge sections to the building, the older more intimate section that was built before she became Queen, the wing that was added by her grand-son – Alexander the Great, and of course the magnificent garden. Most beautiful room – the ball room with it’s high ceiling, green paint carefully chosen to make the dancers feel they were dancing in a garden – and in their day – mirrored windows so as you danced, you could see the reflections of other dancers. The impact is amazing.

There were 2 paintings that particularly caught my eye. One I’ve seen copies of many times – Napoleon on his horse crossing the Alps by David. As per Wikipedia – source of all knowledge – The version produced for the Château de Saint-Cloud from 1801 was removed in 1814 by the Prussian soldiers under von Blücher who offered it to the King of Prussia. It is now held in the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin. So this time I was seeing one of the 5 existing originals.

Glorious.

But even more intriguing – in the next room is a strikingly similar painting of Blucher – also on a rearing horse. According to the audio guide – Blucher – fresh from the win at Waterloo – commissioned an artist to create a painting of him that mirrored that famous one of Napoleon – and for many years – the two paintings hung side by side. Today they are in seperate rooms – but easily close enough to be admired one after the other. Also in the room with David’s Napoleon is one of the famous one’s of Napoleon as Emperor – clearly also spoils of war!

Another fascinating fact – when Napoleon conquered Berlin – he slept in Queen Luise’s bedroom in the new wing – which has been redone to look as it looked when he was there. When she returned to power – she refused to sleep in that room – so her darling husband – the King – created a new bedroom for her – closer to his own. Nice, huh?

After walking our feet off at Charlottenburg Palace – we checked out the three other famous museums that are clustered at the entrance – the Berggruen Museum, The Collection Scharf-Gertenburg, and the Brohan Museum. We carefully tour all 3. My clear favorite was the Berggruen – color me pink, but any museum with 85 Picasso’s is going to make me happy. I loved it. The Brohan Museum was much smaller – and featured a lovely collection of Art Deco objects. I would happily take any of the tea sets if you want to get me a birthday gift. The Scharf-Gertenburg was much more difficult to appreciate. It’s collection of works by Surrealists like Max Ernst and friends is interesting – but hardly joyous. Most intriguing to me were the series of etchings on a Lady’s Glove – and the glorious Egyptian Arch that just happens to share space in the Museum. Overall, however, I ended the visit feeling sorry for artists that suffered so much for their passion.

Clearly 6 museums in one day – at our speed of travel – is a challenge. To describe us as exahusted would be an understatement. We slowly dragged our bodies back into rush hour on the Berlin metro, made our way back to our hostel – and while Jill rested up (and set up plates and silverware for dinner) – I bravely went out to hunt down food.

The Cat’s Pajama’s Hostel is located in a funky area of Berlin – lots of inexpensive options – including the omni-present Doner establishments. I spot one that not only has a Donner machine – it has a chicken rotisserie – and there are 3 chickens on the spit. I order one (wait 10 minutes please), find a bottle of Spanish red wine for 2.5 Euros, and hunt down some pastries. Back to my chicken restaurant – for my chicken and a huge salad. We feast well tonight!

We are joined for conversation by a young Australian, our quiet but passionate male Argentine friend, and the young Pole who was defending Democracy against the Russian the night before. Tonight our conversation is mostly about walking tours – they had all taken different ones and were comparing notes.

Tired, full, happy – we tottle off ‘early’ at around 10:30 for bed.

Tomorrow is another day.

Signing off – The Soup Lady and the Intrepid Traveller.

The Pergamon, the DDR, and the Jewish Museum – Such a busy day!


Tuesday is serious Museum day

We opt for an early start – grab breakfast at the Cat’s Pajama’s and head out for the Pergamon Museum. Even though we know that the name sake exhibit – the Pergamon Altar – is closed for re-hab until 2018 or so – there are still stellar things to see at this museum – most notably the gates to Ninavah – or Babalyon – depending on your reading text. Guide books and fellow travellers have warned us about long – long – long lines – so an early start is pretty key.

We end up arriving just 10 minutes before opening time – and the line is very short. We didn’t opt to buy tickets on line – we have student passes to present – and since they will get us a 50% reduction – we’re keen to use them. Note to other traveller’s – we bought the 50 Museum pass option – for 12 Euros. It’s good for all the Museums on Museum Island – plus 45 other Museums scattered across Berlin – including our 3rd stop of the day – the Jewish Museum. We’ll pay it back in savings by tonight.

So – after waiting in line, buying tickets, doing the mandatory leaving of the backpacks in the locker routine – at about 10:45 we’re finally standing awestruck in front of the gates.

These are the smaller gates – the larger ones being too big for the museum to display – and still they are massive. They tower over the crowd – and while we are hardly the visitors of yore – and there is nary a camel to be seen – it’s easy to imagine walking across the hot sands – seeing these gates raising like a mirage in the distance. Incredible.

There are several other highlights in the museum – an intact market gate from an ancient town in present day Turkey, a guest room from a house near Mecca, and parts of the wall surrounding a palace. Massive pieces of art – carefully dug in pieces out of the ground, shipped to Berlin to be lovingly put back together in rooms dedicated to their display. The Pergamon well deserves it’s reputation as a place not to miss.

From the Pergamon we walk slowly back past the Berlin Dom to the DDR museum. This tiny independantly run museum was one of the highlights of my last trip to Berlin – and it didn’t disappoint this time. Hours later we surface – having learned a ton about what life was like in East Germany – what clothes people wore, what rules they had to follow to get ahead – and just a tiny bit about how hard it was to leave.

We make our way back to the Metro – and from there we go to the last museum of the day – the Jewish Museum.

We arrive there at 4:30 – thinking we have tons of time since the museum closes at 8:00. Wrong. So Wrong.

This Museum recently added a new wing – twice the size of the original museum – and the architect created a space that is entirely unique in the world. You know you are in for a visual treat from the moment you see the Museum. There’s the Baroque original (If it’s not Baroque – don’t fix it), and seemingly completely separate is this massive steel structure that appears to have slashes across it’s face – as if it were attacked by a giant beast. This is the new wing – from above it looks like a lightening stroke, from the ground it looks and feels tortured. Stunning.

You enter the museum just as you would any other – thru the Baroque section. But after you get your ticket and do the mandatory stowing of the back-pack – things change. You are directed to start off by descending a long, fairly dark staircase and find yourself at the bottom in a space with 3 distinct paths – the Axis of Continuity, the Axis of Exile, and the Axis of the Holocaust. The Axis of the Holocaust is a dead end of course.

The Axis of Exile ends in the Garden of Exile – another masterpiece of architectual design. Walking in this space makes you dizzy and dis-oriented – exactly the feeling that the designer intended – since that is how many refuges feel when they arrive in a new land where they know no-one, don’t speak the language – and must survive.

Following the third axis takes you to another seemingly endless staircase up leading to the start of the main exhibit.

The theme of the exhibit is Jewish life in Germany in the last 2000 years – and it starts of course in Isreal with the disaspora. The exhibits follow the experiences of the Jews – thru the inquisition, the Black Death, the good times of acceptance, the bad times of rejection. It is fascinating – and big.

We are just at the 1/2 way point when they close the museum around us – offering us tickets to come back the next day. We are stunned. Where did the time go? But they are closing – and so we head home for left over Fried Chicken, involved and detailed conversations with our fellow hostel guests – including a rather serious for the circumstances lecture on the future of socialism from an intense young Russian. Exhausted but pleased – we head up stairs for bed.

Signing off too tired to think… The Soup Lady and the Intrepid Traveler.

Whit Monday is a holiday in Berlin – Another surprise!


All the stores are closed – as are the banks, the post office, most offices – and I’m guessing government buildings. Good news for the tourists – at least most restaurants are open – and museums normally open on Monday are open today too. Whew – for a minute I thought I was back in Bali celebrating Nyepi – only with less preperation!

We’d planned to do the Berlin Basics today – Check-point Charlie and the Topography of Terror Exhibit being first and foremost on our list. Check-point Charlie is silly – 2 guys dressed up as soliders – posing with any tourist willing to tip them. I guess the good news is they are being nice about it – smiling or being serious as the tourist requests. But it’s really silly stuff.

More interesting – and well worth reading – are all the official signs talking about where the wall was – and tracing the route down Zimmerstrasse thru the carefully placed cobble stones. We walk the Wall to the Topography of Terror – a free exhibit that traces the history of Hilter and the SS from 1933 till the end of the war. Stunning, informative, horrifying, intriging, alarming – and unforgetable. The mood in the large space is somber – as befits the topic – and the timeline starts off like Hilter did – slow and careful – picking up speed and horror as time moved on. A must see exhibit.

We leave there to check out the Gropius House – but the special exhibits on this month don’t appeal to us. Next stop – a quick peak into Potsdammer Plaza – and then a stroll towards Brandenburg Gate.

A wildly unique building attracts our eyes – that plus a sign that says free Science Museum. Even better – it’s open. So we stroll on in. It’s a display put together by Otto Bock Inc. – famous for prosthetics. And it’s all about the human body and how our brain controls our legs and hands. It’s fascinating. I particularly found the beam walk simulaton intriguing. It’s really easy to walk a beam that appears to be flat on the ground – another story altogether to walk that beam when the visual tells you that you are high above a city scape.

Walking on – we admire the Brandenburg gate – and the crowds of tourists admiring the gate. Been there – seen it. We move on.

Our next stop is a fabulous mini art museum – The Guggeneim – Deuche Bank Museum. It’s a modern art exhibit space – free on Monday’s – that this time is featuring an artist who asks questions and then attempts to get the audience involved in his answers via video footage.

One stunner – he goes to a flea market and displays a collection of palm tree branches for sale. Full sized palm tree fronds. Eventually – after a lot of curious looks from the passers by – the organizers ask him nicely to leave. Granted the palm tree branches are used – but hardly the stuff of yard sales. He morfs this experience into a discussion on group definitions. What is – and What isn’t – a flea market appropriate item.

Another challenge has 5 people trying to play one piano at the same time. In another video – 4 potters try to make a single pot together – with strange results. I’m not going to describe the rest of his work – but you get the idea. Challenging questions – with probably no really good answers.

Moving on – we opt to collapse into “The Digital Eatery”, which kindly gives us hot water for free to go with our slice of cake. They have a virtual reality simulator – which of course I must try! The first program is a jet fighter in outerspace – Once I put on the glasses – I can see my body wearing a space suit, my arms manipulating the controls of the space ship – and of course my surroundings – a meteor shower with targets to hit.

I loved it – even if I couldn’t actually hit any of the targets – in fact – I never even found them! But it was still very very cool.

We continue our walk – ending the day at the Haut Banholf – and eat a surprising great dinner at the Tex-Mex Cantina. 6.90 Euro (about $8 Canadian) for a fried chicken dinner large enough to feed 2. But we didn’t know that – so I ordered Pork Chops – same price – same huge size. Well – it’s going to be left overs for dinner tomorrow.

We drag out tired bodies back to the metro and head home to the Cat’s Pajama’s. Tea, Blog and Bed for Bozo….

Signing off – The Soup Lady and the Intrepid Traveler

On the road again…


Travel is one way to discover who you are when you are not at home!

This time the Intrepid Traveller and I are doing a city tour. For those who have faithfully followed our adventures around the world – you will know that this is a tad unusual. Generally we are more ‘country’ centric – rather than ‘city’ centric. But I can easily explain the difference.

Reason for city tour #1 – we’re getting older. I hate to admit it – but it’s much harder to visit a country than a city. More short stays are hard on old backs and tired knees.

Reason for city tour #2 – we really, really wanted to see one city in particular – St. Petersburg. I know tons of people who’ve been there – and I’ve never heard one of them say – we stayed too long in St. Petersburg. So we figure – 2 weeks is just about a minimum for a city that large, that unique, that different! We shall see of course.

Reason for city tour #3 – I will never be the only driver of a rental car again. Never. I’m a bus, metro, train kinda gal – renting cars with the expense and responsibility involved – nope. So moving between cities is going to be public transit – and in this case – plane!

So – our city tour is centered on 4 cities.

City #1 – Roissey en France. Yes – lowly little Roissey – hard by the Charles De Gaul Airport, and primarily known for it’s zillions of cheap bedrooms for tourists in transit – it’s our first stop. Ok – it’s really a transit city for us too – but we’re taking a full day to explore it before we move on.

City #2 – Berlin. Ah – the sausages – the pretzels – the beer. Well – since the Intrepid Traveller doesn’t ‘do’ beer – perhaps we’ll have to work around that highlight. And of course the Berlin Wall. Our real reason for including Berlin this time – it was on the Intrepid Traveller’s Hit List – and who am I to not want to fulfill her wishes?

City #3 – St. Petersburg. The point of the trip – the highlight, the raison d’etre. 2 weeks here to savor the sights, visit the museums, and go to the Theatre.

City #4 – Brussels. Why Brussels – well, we needed a city that Air Transact flew from non-stop in order to get the Intrepid Traveller back to Montreal. And we needed a city worth visiting, and we really didn’t want Paris. Option – Brussels. Besides – I hear Napoleon might be massing his troups to the south – who am I to avoid good battle?

So that’s the plan – let’s see how it all plays out.

Signing out to fly to Roissey en France (aka Charles De Gaul Airport) – The Soup Lady and the Intrepid Traveller.

The Basics on Getting Out and About – Pre-Planning matters!


How do you start planning a trip? Do you decide when, pick a place – and then find out what’s going on there? Or do you do the reverse – decide what you want to do – find out when it’s happening – and then move foward?

I take a combo approach.

First step – Pick some place interesting to visit. That’s the most random part for me – because basically anywhere I’ve never been – and sometimes places I have been – are on the hot list. Budget matters too of course – we’re very restricted – $3000 for 4 to 5 weeks of travel – including air fare – doesn’t leave a lot of room for places to sleep and food to eat. So Cheap places tend to perk up to the top of our list – seriously expensive to visit places – like London – tend to perk down. But there are other concerns besides value for our Canadian bucks.

We love interesting places – historical places – places off the more beaten paths. While that may explain China in 2007 and Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam in 2005 – it doesn’t explain Berlin, St. Petersburg, and Brussels in 2015. Nope – this next trip is not off the beaten path – but it will deviate from the norm in terms of how long we’ll be staying in each city.

Unlike most of the folks I’ve chatted with – we’re spending 2 whole weeks in St. Petersburg. Our inital thought was to have enough time to do the Hermitage slowly – 4 days felt right to us based on our inital reading. This contrasts with the more normal visit of 1/2 day if you are off a cruise ship – or even 3 days as is described in many guide books – including Tripadvisor.com. Honestly – how can you possibly see anything in 3 days in a city as complex as St. Petersburg? On tripadvisor – the 3 day plan puts the Hermitage, the Faberge Museum, and the State Russian Museum – all in one day. Are you supposed to run thru the museums? Just find the greatest hits and go?

Not my style.

Berlin was a must do for the Intrepid Traveller – she’s never been – and historically it’s a really interesting place. Great museums too – so win win as far as we’re concerned. A week there is the minimum. But then – for us – a week in a city is pretty much a minimum regardless of the city!

And last but not least – Brussels. We’re cutting that one short – just 5 nights – but the Battle of Waterloo looms large – and I hear the trumpets calling me to battle! (More on Waterloo and fighting for the Emperor in another blog).

So on to inital planning.

Once The Intrepid Traveller and I had agreed on where – it was a question of when. I first check weather, and then check for when a place gets crowded. I want to avoid the worst weather, and I definitely want to avoid high season. Shoulder seasons work best for budget travellers – restaurants have better specials, theatre offerings are more geered towards locals, lower cost housing is easier to find.

High season is definitely to be avoided!

So – St. Petersburg in late spring sounded perfect. And we totally lucked out with that option – because low and behold – there’s the ‘White Night’ Festival. We here in Montreal know all about ‘Blanc Nuit’ – but for us – it’s held during our coldest month – an attempt to cheer us up during the doldrums of winter. In St. Petersburg – it’s about 24 hour long days! And even better – it’s all about theatre – the major ballet troops (at the Marlinsky and Mikhallovsky Theatres) are performing one outstanding ballet after another. By shopping early – I scored center seats in the 3rd tier – I could have paid a lot more and been on the partiere – but hey $20 to see ‘Sleeping Beauty’ – I’m so on it!

Even better – the opera troops are also performing almost nightly – for similar prices if you are willing to buy early and sit in the 3rd tier. Tickets to Aida and La Travaita – here I come.

So – take advantage of what’s happening when you are there – don’t berate yourself for not being in New Orleans for Mardi Gras – plan ahead.

Planning to Feed the Mind. The Intrepid traveler and I adore going to Museums. 42 museums in 5 weeks in Italy is probably our record – spurred on by free museum week in Florence. So before a trip – I research. What is happening in all the major muesums. How do I get tickets? Are there senior prices? Are they closed on specific days – are they super busy on other days? Knowing this information helps prevents standing forelornly in front of locked doors. And more importantly – when you hit the ground in your city of choice – read the signs, get the newspapers – even the touristy ones, and chat up your host. What happening this week that’s special? How do we get to see it? You never know until you look around and ask.

For St. Petersburg – I’ve already bought my passes to the Hermitage – and for Berlin, I’m pricing out the Berlin Museum Card. The options can be overwhelming – which feels frustrating – but the results are generally worth it.

Some more ‘beaten path’ options I tend to avoid include tour buses. I’ve had great experiences on tour buses – the trip in South Korea to the temples springs to mind – but more often than not – bus tours are about the common denominator. You rush past stuff so fast, you can barely read the signs, let alone see things. And too often your fellow tourists are – well – tourists! So generally we avoid the bus tours – considering them expensive and too fast paced. Instead we opt for the slower, more patient route of simply walking a city – or riding public transit! Never underestimate the joys of public transit. Bus routes in most cities are clearly explained in pictorial fashion, so our lack of language skills doesn’t kill us. And they are cheap. You can spot stuff that looks fun – and hop off if you feel like a visit. With no time contraints – and no herding into pricy lousy restaurants for mandatory rest stops.

Ok – enough for this blog – Next up – feeding the Body – so do follow me – I love followers! Signing off to create a blog on eating in strange and wonderful places… The Soup Lady

Planning to feed the body

Ah restaurants! One of the intense joys, and most frightening aspects of extended travel in an unknown city is deciding where to eat. I’ve picked winners so good I was blown away – and losers so bad, I feared for my digestive system. But along my culinary journey into the unknown – I have learned some important lessons – which I happily share.

Choosing the Healthy Option


Since when is choosing the ‘healthly option’ showing Off?

I mean – if you opt to take the stairs rather than the escalator – as every single health expert and on-line column advices – why are you guilty of showing off.

Case in point – the Pork Whisper and I were in Montreal. The metro (aka underground) has 3 access methods – escalators, stair cases (often quite long as they depend on how underground the ‘Underground’ actually is), and occasionally elevators.

I always opt for the stairs – up and down – if I’m not feeling too tired. It’s basically good exercise. I don’t even think about it really – stairs – take them.

So – 2 days ago – the Pork Whisper and I were taking the metro and I opted for the stairs up. And she suggested I only did it because I wanted to show off. Apparently she had spotted an older woman who was gingerly walking to the elevator and decided that I had seen her too. So suddently what I was doing for exercise became showing off.

Hmmm.

Do I sometimes make the same mistake? See someone doing something and assume reasons for their behavior that actually have no basis in reality? I’ll bet I do!

Case in point – just now I was walking to get in line for the bus – and clearly wasn’t moving fast enough for a young man behind me. He scooted around me – and got in line ahead of me. So Rude.

But is that what really happened? Did he even see me? Did he just see the line forming and realized he needed to hustle to make the bus? Is my ‘he cut me off’ assumption as empty and unrealistic and as ungrounded in truth as the assumption that my taking the stairs was showing off?

Well – either way – I’m still taking the stairs as long as time and health permit.

Show off – or not!

Signing off – The Soup Lady

Suggestion 3 – How to Travel far from the ‘Madding Crowd’


Be a cultural Chameleon

This is a lot tougher than it sounds at first because the idea here is to do as the locals do. And sometimes that’s – well – scary.

Chopsticks for example. The Intrepid Traveller isn’t that great with chopsticks – she’s a lot better today than 10 years ago – no question – but still – they are a challenge. So doing as the locals do when it comes to eating with chopsticks – a challenge. And I’m rarely comfortable eating with my fingers out of a common pot – color me food cautious. But I do try.

Using public transit. I actually love taking public transit – that’s what people do you know – normal people – the kind without tour guides and money for taxis and private drivers. But the idea of getting on a bus when you don’t understand where the money is supposed to go, exactly what the bus route is, and who is going to be sitting next to you – scary – just plain scary. Metro seems easier somehow. The routes are easier to read, and if you get confused – just get on a train heading the opposite way. But Metro isn’t nearly as much fun, or as good a way to see a place – as an old fashioned bus. And in many countries – buses are cheap. Dirt Cheap. So – take a risk the next time you travel – try the bus. Go to the end of the line and stay on. The bus will turn around and take you back home (you hope) – and you’ll get a very different view of the city you are visiting.

Eat in restaurants where locals go to dine. Oh – this is another easy to say, hard to accomplish task! The restaurants that I look for when I’m traveling have locals inside – but often that means no English menus – and maybe even no typed menus. I’ve gotten by with a combination of smiling hard – and pointing at what looks good on someone else’s table. Restaurants to avoid – ones with no customers, ones with people standing outside to usher you in (nothing says tourist trap like that move), ones with English/German/French – but no local language on the menu listings outside, ones with pictures displayed prominately out front, and buffets. Definitely avoid buffets – that’s food posioning heaven! Restaurants to savor – ones with lots of customers who look and sound local, ones with meals that look interesting on other customer’s plates, and ones with table-clothes. I’m a sucker for table-clothes. (Ok – those probably aren’t for locals – but they always look so appealing!) I am also found of restaurants that have grills visible – so you can see your food cooking while you wait.

One cavet on food – I’m always a bit iffy on food sold from stands on street corners. I know that those are often the most local of places – but I want to see them cooking my food before I’m going to eat it. Pre-cooked food that is just sitting there is a buffet – and I always avoid buffets!

Have an open door policy. If a door is open to a church, a museum, a public space – I tend to walk in. Why? Because I’m not sure what I’ll find – but sometimes it’s amazing. I’ve walked into weddings, funerals, baby events, kids choir practice, organ rehersals, and yes church services. And I’ve never ever been sorry. Locals do churches – and so should you. Best local church event – ever? In Florence we happened on the 200th birthday part celebration for the founder of one of the main churches. All the local kids were dressed fit to kill – they had a full high mass (insense burners etc.), the priests were all wearing their full dress outfits – and the kids were performing. It was so so beautiful. The other guests – family and friends of course. A truly local happening – right in the center of one of the worlds most touristy cities.

Be curious when you see a crowd – be really really curious if they seem happy. I’ve seen coq fights in Bali because I couldn’t figure out why a bunch of men were gathered so tightly around an open space (give the birds room, eh?) – I’ve watched people creating art on the street while people gawked – and I’ve enjoyed showy events like bands, singing groups and the like. If people are gathering – there’s a reason. Don’t be crazy – but don’t turn around and go back to your hotel either. There’s always someone around to ask. Case in point – we were in Korea and noticed that people were getting cushions and sitting on seats surrounding an open stage. Hmmm – they looked local – so worth checking out. It was a Korean version of a Gong Show – a school was show casing the work of their students – and the crowd were mostly parents and friends. It was great fun! And more importantly – real. Naturally, we attracted interest – only foreigners in the crowd – so after the show, two young students approached us to ask if they could interview us for their teacher – in English.

The moral here – be comfortable about joining in – particularly if you see groups of locals as compared to groups of foreigners. You’ll might be surprised at how much fun unplanned to you, but highly planned to the locals – happenings can be!

Signing off to check out that group of youngsters all dressed in white in front of that church…. The Soup Lady

Suggestion 2 – How to Travel far from the ‘Madding Crowd’


Connect with people, and try to understand them.

Oh – interesting. How do you ‘connect’ with people in general – and with people who live in a different place and speak a different language in particular.

This is a pretty important question – I have issues meeting my next door neighbors – how do I start up a conversation with someone in Bali? Berlin? St. Petersburg?

Well – in my case – it’s actually easier to meet people when travelling then it is when I’m at home. This is particularly true when I make itinerary decisions that put me out into the public eye – staying in youth hostels for example.

When you stay in a youth hostel – you might not qet quality time with locals – other than the hosts of the hostel – but you can be sure to get quality time with travellers who come from radically different backgrounds and parts of the world. I’ve meet and become friends with families from Polynesia while in Korea, chatted with people from Australia when in Rome, and memorably spent time avoiding Americans in almost every hostel I’ve been in! So – youth hostels, home stays, temple stays, Air BnB – staying anywhere other than a name brand hotel is going to put you in a position of getting to know other people. There is nothing quite like sharing a toilet and a kitchen to force conversation!

Another idea – do a group tour with a company that doesn’t cater to your kinda of folks. I know – it’s hard to break away from just booking with someone based in your country of origin – but the rewards can be huge. We have friends – really really good friends – in Germany and Switzerland because we booked our Botswana Safari thru a tour group based in Europe.

But neither of these ideas will net you local connections. The best way I’ve found to met locals is to smile. Ask Questions. Be interested in what they are doing. My travel partners sometimes get annoyed at me because this slows me down – but the net results are sometimes so amazing! I had dance lessons in Bali because I asked how to bend my fingers just so. I met a bride and groom on their wedding day (and have the pictures to prove it) because I wanted to know why there were fancy decorations outside of their home.

I wandered into a wedding in Vietnam in similar circumstances. Just color me curious – but if I see something interesting – I don’t rush by because I’m on a mission to get somewhere else – I slow down, look, watch, listen, admire, act interested. Language barriers amazingly drop away when your actions say – I’m curious!

Companion advice – don’t be judgmental. This is their world – admire it!

Another – well, let’s call it a trick – I photo-bomb. Seriously. If I see someone taking a picture of someone in their group – I’ll either offer to help – or I’ll join the photo. This is a huge ice breaker for most folks! They laugh – and then we do a group shot – and then logically start sharing our experiences – where are you from, where are you going. I’ve bonded with all kinds of people this way – and had people do the same with me. One memorable experience – in Japan on top of Mt Fuju. We saw people eating eggs with black shells – and were curious. We bought some too – and sat down to figure out what next. And here’s the fun part – people around us noticed our attempts – and immediately came over to offer advice, to give help – and to have their picture taken. I don’t speak Japanese – in those days few people in Japan spoke English – but we had a blast. Made our day!

Similar experience in Bali – we offered to help 3 gals get a group shot – and ended up learning that they were friends from Java – celebrating their 50th birthdays by taking a trip to Bali! We chatted for a few minutes – exchanged email addresses – and moved on. Surprise – a day later – a photo of us, taken by them – just to say hi.

And my last, but not least, piece of advice. Talk to the kids. Smile at them, chat with them, pick easy words and see if anyone knows them. Often there will be one kid in the group that is a bit braver than the rest – and they will at least try to speak to you! Kids are the best hosts in a new (to you) country – and they don’t worry so much about what you are thinking of them. Just a smile works wonders. Hand bumps, high 5’s, even low 5’s all act as ice breakers with kids. They are generally thrilled to know they can relate to someone so foreign – so strange – and yet willing to smile with them.

So – Connect with people – new people – when you travel. Your travel experiences will be richer for the time spent seeing what it like in their shoes. And often the fit is surprisingly great.

Attached is my favorite group hug from Bali – the boys and I spent a good 5 minutes trying to chat – and ended up only knowing each other’s names. But that was enough to ensure that these young men will always have a place in my heart!

Signing off to go smile at someone – The Soup Lady

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Suggestion 1 – How to Travel far from the ‘Madding Crowd’


I’m been thinking a lot about different ways to travel – and I have some suggestions on how to make your travel experiences different (if you want it that way) – so head’s up These suggestions are coming your way.

Suggestion #1 – Pick an interesting place to go!

In other words – Get out of your comfort zone.

I once attended a lecture on Eco-Travel – and the speaker suggested that there are 3 ways to travel – The Accidental Tourist, The Eco-Traveler, and The Adventure Traveler.

To his mind – the Accidental Tourist wants home in some other place. Same pillows, same bed, same AC, same food – just a different local. Not my way of travelling of course, but I admit to a touch of envy of those to whom this method works. It’s so easy! Cruise Ships are the ideal for this of course – one room that is yours for the entire trip, a different place to quickly check out each day – but no fear. Nothing really surprising is going to happen – well, maybe the restaurant on board you want that night is booked – but nothing truly annoying.

The Adventure traveller is also not quite ‘me’ anymore. I’m too old to take serious chances – I’m not going to climb Everest, I’m not likely to want to kayak up the Amazon, and I’m certainly not going to sleep on the ground if I can help it. Nope – I draw the line at not having my own toilet. The days of climbing ladders in the middle of the night to go to the oh so public bathroom are behind me – I’m a fan of ending the day in a place I can call my own. But again – I envy those who are willing and able to do serious adventure travel – 24 hours on a train in 3rd class sounded like a lot of fun when I was 55 – but it’s not going to work now that I’m 66. Nope – train travel, while huge fun, is no longer on my bucket list.

Which of course leaves the 3rd option – Eco-Travel. Going off the beaten route a bit – for longer – but not crazy. I chatted yesterday with a gal who hated Bali. She had taken a cruise ship that included Bali – and spent 5 hours on the island. Long enough to find out that the main city is just a big main city – and not nearly enough time to experience any of the magnificent culture, see any of the real rain forest (it’s about 4 hours inland from the port – trust me – she didn’t get there), nor even enough time to decently visit a museum or eat a good meal. 5 hours on an island isn’t even enough time to walk past the touristy shops that clog the area near the port. I don’t blame her for not loving Bali – but I do think she should have realized that the issue isn’t Bali – it’s the result of being an Accidental Tourist!

Ok – so where to go, and how long to stay. The 2nd question is the easiest to answer – as long as possible of course. But I’m guessing like me, my readers have lives outside of travel – and there’s a limit to what you can and can not do. So my suggestion – a week is a bare minimum. If there’s a guide-book to your destination that’s thicker than a 1/2″ – you are going to need a week. If the guide-book runs over an inch in thickness – 2 to 3 weeks is a much better plan.

The guide-book for Bali was about 3/4 of an inch thick – but the culture was so unique and wonderful that 3 weeks was really cutting it short.

So – optimum – 1 week to 3 weeks if work schedule allows. Per city. Not per trip. Don’t try to see a city in a day. Impossible to meet anyone in under a day – isn’t going to happen. And it’s meeting people who live where you are the tourist that makes fun stuff happen!

Now – as to the where… Ah – the Where. My next trip is to 3 cities – none of which are on the ‘unusual’ list – but all 3 of which offer tons of things to see and to do. I’m going to Berlin for a week, St. Petersburg, Russia for 3 weeks, and then Brussels for a week. Not as adventuresome as Bali perhaps – but giving these 3 cities enough time will, I hope, result in interesting experiences.

Time will tell

Signing off – The Soup Lady