9/17/06 - Palermo, Italy

Klaipeda - Schwerin (Germany) - Rostock - Güstrow - Wismar - Schwerin - Berlin - Nürnberg - Obergriesbach - Modena (Italy) - Ravenna - Modena - Monterosso - Vernazza - Firenze - Perugia - Spello* - Assisi* - Orvieto - Mondello - Palermo
* - day trip

Highlights, Observations, Rants, etc.

• From Altstaedte to Zuege - Back in Germany: Almost exactly 5 years after leaving Germany, I finally made it back. Before visiting my former host family in Berlin and family friends in Bavaria near Augsburg, I spent almost a week traveling through the northeastern region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It's a region rich in history and cultural significance, above all from the 1300-1500's, when cities like Rostock, Stralsund & Wismar were among the richest in Europe thanks to their role in the Hanseatic League, the association that dominated northern European sea trade. But this cultural legacy had been somewhat neglected under the East German government, and the cities are only just now really coming into their own. 15+ years after German reunification, there's still a noticeable difference between east and west, but the gap is definitely narrowing (if also slower than everyone expected/hoped). After another 15 years, apart from the regional differences so prominent in Germany, I don't think there will really be any more visible remnants of the divide that has plagued the country for the past 60 years.
  But apart from the sightseeing (and after 5 days of churches & museums, I'd had enough) it was really good to be back in Germany. Of course staying with people I knew and being able to speak the language (at least somewhat -- see below) had a lot to do with this, but there are other reasons I've always felt very much at home in Germany. It's not easy to put a finger on, but the best I can do is that in Germany there exists a sort of balance between approaching life with a cool practicality & efficiency (the stereotypical Germanic traits), but also with enjoyment and an often self-deprecating sense of humor. Probably the best example of the former is the excellent public transportation system; unless you're trying to get to a very specific place in the middle of nowhere, you can get pretty much anywhere in Germany without a car, and you also very rarely need someone to explain how to get there, because everything is very clearly and efficiently organized. And yet despite their reputation for dourness, the Germans like a good time as much as the rest of us and are generous and gracious hosts, something which hopefully became more obvious through this summer's World Cup (the aftereffects of the tournament were still markedly visible a month after it had ended). The German fondness for good beer needs no explanation, and although German food traditionally takes a knock for being bland and heavy, I've generally found it to be neither, especially in summer. And there's nothing quite like a proper German breakfast: a vast variety of different types of fresh bread and rolls, cheeses, ham and wurst, preserves, and fruit. If you're not hungry, you don't eat much and that's fine; if you are, there's always something new to try, and you can eat enough to last you for the rest of the day.
• Under the Umbrian Sun: After a few hours in Pisa and a few days in Florence, surrounded by people from seemingly everywhere in the world except Italy, I couldn't take much more, and headed for the hills...of Umbria. Yes, Florence is packed with amazing things to see (turning a corner and seeing the Duomo for the first time does really stop you in your tracks) and I'm sure the Tuscan countryside is magnificent, but Umbria is plenty charming as well. The same warm late summer sun rains down from cloudless azure skies (almost exactly the same color as the Italian national soccer team's famous jerseys, at least through my sunglasses - without them it's just a little bit lighter). Cyprus trees and sunflower fields abound, and the hills are interspersed with olive groves and vineyards. And atop some of those hills, overlooking the valleys and plains below, are ancient, beautiful, tranquil but also cosmopolitan cities and towns like Perugia, Assisi, Spello, and Orvieto. And because there's far less world-famous sights to see (the basilica of St. Francis in Assisi and the Duomo in Orvieto being the only main draws), the other tourists are refreshingly less concentrated and pervasive than in the Tuscan hotspots.
  My only regret is having to rely on public transport and my own two feet to get around, as my original plan to buy/rent a Vespa and really see the countryside up close fell through for a variety of reasons (mostly because I lack an Italian residence).
• Fun With Languages: I'd forgotten what a humbling and frustrating experience learning a language can be, and how often the brain (at least my brain) functions seemingly arbitrarily with respect to linguistic capabilities. I got to Germany fully aware that I had forgotten some German in the past 5 years, but pretty confident that I would be fine, and hopeful that after a short period of time everything would start to come flooding back. After all, throughout the previous 3 months I had met plenty of Germans, was able to make small-talk with only a few very minor difficulties, and had received a fair amount of complements to boot. I picked up a copy of Hesse's Siddhartha and the occasional newspaper, and could still read in German just fine -- so far, so good. The fact that the word for horse was just off the tip of my tongue for almost 2 full days before randomly popping into my head was a little strange, but not terribly disconcerting. It ws only when I got to Berlin that my confidence took a major blow; ordering in restaurants and exchanging pleasantries was one thing, but holding extended conversations on specific or abstract topics (or at least trying) was something else entirely, and it was immediately apparent exactly how much I had forgotten. Expressing myself was like stumbling through a maze: I'd start to say something, only to realize I lacked a word vital to completing my train of thought, and then would have to backtrack and try another approach only to soon find myself in another, different dead-end. Interestingly, my accent also started to suffer, because this new mistrust extended to how to pronounce even the simplest words.
  But I muddled through, and being a sucker for punishment, decided to sign up for Lessons in Linguistic Humility 102: a 2 week intensive Italian class in Modena, to try to recover / build on the 2 semesters of Italian I took my senior year at Penn. This time, my expectations were lower, but that didn't completely alleviate the frustration of studying hard and still making a total mess of trying to use what you've learned (or think you've learned). It's not much fun to say something and know it's wrong as soon as it's escaped your lips, or to stare blankly at someone, mouth agape, when they rattle something off at full speed. And just when you think (or even know) you're making progress, there's always another humbling experience lurking just around the corner to remind you how much you don't know.

Random Tidbits

• Don't come to north-central Italy in the summer without packing a gallon or so of insect repellent -- Italian mosquitos are fierce. And clever: they bite and fly away before you feel anything, meaning you don't even get the marginal satisfaction of making sure you're their last meal...
• It never occurred to me before, but Mr. Belvedere, the English butler of late 80's TV 'fame', actually has a very Italian last name: "Bel" is a conjunction of bello = beatiful, and "vedere" = to see, so "belvedere" signifies any place with a good/scenic view.
• I love that the comments section has become a forum for DU shenanigans (not that I'm surprised). I can't wait to read what Worth Groome or Eric Smolen have to say in future comments. And Jones, it's probably time you stop drinking your own pee -- for god's sake, you're about to be a father...
• Before taking a break from reading to concentrate on learning Italian, I finished 3 interesting books: "Fear and Trembling" by Soren Kierkegaard, "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse, and "Hector's Journey, or the Search for Happiness" by French author Francois Lelord. I'd highly recommend all three, although with a separate caveat for each: Kierkegaard requires effort to get past the sometimes heavy philosophical polemics, Hesse loses something in the translation out of German, and for some unknown reason Lelord hasn't been translated into English (it's available in French & German, not sure about Spanish).

Photos (coming soon - have to upload & organize them)

Misc

• In Lithuania, I met one of the cofounders of travbuddy.com, a website designed specifically for travel blogging. I finally had the chance to play around with it, and while the structure is a little rigid, one of the cool features is that it let's you map your route through an interface with Google Maps. So I've done that (and pretty much only that) - you can see a map of my travels through Germany & Italy here.

Next Stops

• Roughly two weeks in Sicily, then southern mainland Italy, & on to Greece