Whistle Stop Europe: 2.5 Days in Berlin

[posted after getting to my Prague hotel tonight, but written earlier in the day]

10:46 a.m. I have just bid adieu to Berlin and am writing this on the train to Prague. I thought that this nearly-five-hour train ride would be a good time to write about my last few days in Berlin.

Getting to Berlin. I took a Norwegian Air red-eye from JFK Tuesday night — the cheapest flight I could find run by a reputable company. I had a great experience flying Norwegian Air (Dreamliner).  I watched The Imitation Game, which was entertaining but nothing amazing. Forgoing sleep, I arrived in Berlin Schoenfeld Airport at 2 p.m. local time after a brief layover in Oslo.  I took a taxi for 40 euros to the Generator Hostel in the Mitte neighborhood of Berlin (very clean and safe, and the location was perfect for exploring the city). In retrospect, I wish I had taken Berlin’s excellent public transportation to get to my hostel, which would have been significantly cheaper (3.3 euros) and probably even faster.

Berlin Itinerary.  I knew very little about Berlin before I started planning for this trip, other than its place in the history books. I ended up enjoying the city very much.  I thought that two and a half days — which included a half-day trip to Potsdam — was the perfect amount of time to see all of the main sites and get a good feel for the city. My itinerary for these two and a half days is below.

Day One (Half-Day):  The first thing I did after landing in Berlin was to take a free walking tour of Berlin with Sandemans at 4:00 p.m., which I highly recommend. I find walking tours to be a great way to get oriented in a new city, especially when there is limited time to explore. The tour lasted 2.5 hours. It started at Pariser Platz and the iconic Brandenburg Gate, commissioned by Frederick II of Prussia in the 1790s. Among other historic events and speeches, the Gate formed the backdrop of President Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” speech.

We then walked to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe — a vast field of towering gray monoliths hammered into the ground at slightly different angles and different heights, through which visitors could walk and interpret in their own way. The Holocaust museum lay underneath. The tour guide led us to the next street over to a car park and apartment complex — which she revealed sat on the site of Hitler’s bunker.  A few more streets down, we saw the austere former Luftwaffe headquarters (one of the very few Third Reich buildings still standing and now home to the Finance Ministry) and caught our first glimpse of a standing portion of the Berlin Wall next to the Topography of Terror museum (sitting on the site of the former Gestapo and SS headquarters).  We passed by Checkpoint Charlie, one of the most famous crossings between East and West Berlin (and tourist trap) and the beautiful Gendarmenmarkt public square.

The tour concluded at Bebelplatz, where Humboldt University stands on one side and the State Opera House (currently under heavy construction) stands on the other. Most infamously, Bebelplatz is the site of the book burning of May 1933, when 20,000 books went up in flames. An 1821 quote from German playwright Heinrich Heine is engraved on a plaque in the square: “Das war ein Vorspiel nur, dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen.” (in English: “That was only a prelude; where they burn books, they will in the end also burn people”). Near the plaque, a window on the floor of the square opens into a white room below containing rows upon rows of empty bookshelves — large enough to hold 20,000 books.  I returned to each of these sites on my own over the course of the next two days.

Following the tour, I walked up the Unter den Linden (think German Champ-Elysees) from Bebelplatz to admire the Berliner Dom (Cathedral of Berlin) and then back in the other direction to the Brandenburg Gate to watch it light up after dusk.  For dinner, I had a delicious Kalbsroulade at Lokal, near my hostel.

Day Two:  In the morning, around 8 a.m., I headed to the Reichstag — the seat of the Bundestag (German Parliament) — to see whether there were any last-minute tickets to tour the dome (normally, you need to book months in advance).  I got lucky!  They had ample tickets for the next day, and I booked a visit for the very next morning (note:  you must bring your passport with you to book tickets).  I then took a day trip out to Potsdam and Sansoucci Palace, the summer residence of Frederick the Great (also known as the “Versailles of Potsdam”).  (Tip:  Get an all-day ABC Zone ticket for 7.80 euros).  The train took about 30 minutes — I got off at the Park Sansoucci stop (with the help of a graduate geology student at Potsdam University). The stop was a short walk from the Neues Palace, which stands at the opposite end of the park from the Sansoucci Palace. From there, I took my time meandering through the park (which is made for meandering — a myriad of rambling paths criss-cross the park, dotted with the occasional bust or gazebo) until I reached Sansoucci Palace.

Following lunch, I went to Cecilienhof Palace, which was the site of the Potsdam Conference in 1945, attended by the Big Three – Churchill (later Attlee), Stalin, and Truman – and took a short tour there for 6 euros. The highlight of the tour was definitely the conference room in which the leaders sat to hammer out the Potsdam Agreement.  I got back to Berlin a little past 4 p.m. (so I spent a total of seven hours in Potsdam, which included the travel to and from).

Back in Berlin, I walked through Potsdamer Platz, where the few skyscrapers in Berlin are clustered, to the Topography of Terror museum, where I spent two hours reading up on the chilling history of the SS and how the Nazi party came to wield such total power and control. I had a currywurst dinner (one of the foods Berlin is known for) at Curry 36 and ended the night walking up Friedrichstrasse (the equivalent of Fifth Avenue) and seeing the Gendarmenmarkt lit up — though, inconveniently, all while attempting to dodge and wait out the intermittent pouring rain going on all evening.

Day Three:  I began the day with a self-guided audio tour of the Reichstag dome, which I thought was absolutely stunning (there needs to be a Mission Impossible or James Bond scene set there!).  It also afforded some great views of the city.  After an hour there, I walked over to the Bundeskanzleramt (the personal office of Angela Merkel) and cut through Tiergarten, the big park in Berlin. I particularly enjoyed the Beethoven-Haydn-Mozart memorial and Lowengruppe monument. Emerging on the other side of the park, I walked a short distance to Bendlerblock and the courtyard in which Claus von Stauffenberg and the other conspirators of the July 20, 1944 attempted assassination of Hitler (Operation Valkyrie) were shot. It is now the site of the German Resistance Museum (free), which I browsed briefly.

I walked back through Tiergarten to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and spent 1.5 hours in the museum portion underground. The exhibit that hit me the hardest was a room containing excerpts of correspondence from Holocaust victims to their loved ones, inscribed and lit up on the floor. One postcard was from a 12-year-old girl, Judith Wishnjatskaha, to her father — apparently written moments before she was murdered. “Dear father!” she wrote, “I am saying goodbye to you before I die. We would so love to live, but they won’t let us and we will die. I am so scared of this death, because the small children are thrown alive into the pit. Goodbye forever. I kiss you tenderly. Yours, J.” I had to take a few moments to compose myself after reading this one.

After this sobering visit, I headed to Museum Island (Museumsinsel) and the Pergamon Museum, where I saw its awe-inspiring reconstruction of the Gate of Ishtar and Processional Way. (Note:  The main attraction of the museum, the Pergamon Altar, is closed to visitors until 2020). Following the museum, I continued my way up Unter den Linden to the Cold War-era TV tower (constructed by East Berlin to demonstrate prosperity) at Alexanderplatz to rent a bike from Fat Tire. For 7 euros, I got a bike, helmet, and lock for 4 hours. I biked down to the East Side Gallery, a 1.5 mile portion of the Berlin Wall covered in graffiti art.  Artists from all around the world were invited in 1990 to paint on this portion of the wall, the most famous painting of which is that of U.S.S.R. leader Brezhnev kissing East German leader Erich Honecker (based on an actual photograph, I learned; I actually always assumed it was satire). From there, I biked across the Oberbaumbrucke bridge — great view of Berlin at sunset — to the Brandenburg Gate and then back up the Unter der Linden to Alexanderplatz to return the bike. Biking was a fantastic way to explore the city, and I’d highly recommend it!

I spent the rest of my final night in Berlin writing postcards. I slept in the following morning, had a delicious traditional German breakfast at a nearby cafe in the Mitte, and headed to Hauptbanhof (the main Berlin station) to take a 10:46 a.m. train to Prague.

Whistle Stop: European Edition

Today, I embarked on a four-week train trip of Central Europe, which seemed to me like a good excuse to resurrect Stone Soup. Three years earlier — almost to the day — I took a six-week train trip around the United States, which I also blogged on this site. Like then, I’m blogging now to capture memories for myself and to share practical advice to aid those planning their own trips to these regions.

I’m beginning my trip in Berlin, where I arrived earlier this afternoon. From Berlin, I will journey entirely by rail, staying primarily in hostels. My itinerary will take me slightly behind the former Iron Curtain, through Prague and Budapest (I’ll save Russia and the former U.S.S.R. for another day), to the one-time seat of the Habsburgs in Vienna, the hills of Salzburg, Munich (in time for Oktoberfest), followed by Milan, the French Riviera, Provence, and Paris. I’m particularly looking forward to visiting key locations from World War II, opera, Mozart, and (of course) the Sound of Music, among other personal areas of interest. But I am also acutely aware of the fact that while I tour Europe for my own edification, tens of thousands will be making their way through these same cities driven by necessity and hope for a better life. I arrive at the Budapest Keleti station next Monday, September 14, where our paths will likely cross for the first time.

Whistle Stop: Coda (Itinerary for Days 1-25)

As I dust off this blog for my upcoming train trip around Europe, I discovered half a dozen never-published posts from my Amtrak train trip around the United States three years ago.  I’ve now collected these half-written posts into two posts detailing my itinerary for that trip, which has made for a wonderful trip down memory lane.  While a lot of the itinerary is personal to me, I also make a special effort to include useful information such as the time frame for activities, my hostel experiences, and transportation options for the benefit of those trying to plan their own trips to these regions.

That six-week trip — which turned out to be one of the most amazing experiences of my life — took me through seven national parks and seven major cities: NYC –> Toronto –> Niagara Falls –> Chicago –> Glasgow, Montana –> Glacier National Park, Montana –> Seattle, Washington –> Olympic National Park, Washington –> Crater Lake, Oregon –> Lassen Volcanic National Park, California –> San Francisco –> Los Angeles –> Grand Canyon / Flagstaff / Petrified Forest / Painted Desert, Arizona –> Independence / Kansas City, Missouri –> St. Louis, Missouri –> Chicago –> NYC.

Day 1 (Thursday, Sept. 6):  I kicked off my trip by taking a super-cheap Megabus out of NYC around noon.  (The Amtrak USA Rail Pass doesn’t cover Canadian segments of Amtrak train routes).  After eleven surprisingly painless hours, I arrived in TORONTO.  I’d been to Toronto before, so this visit was less sight-seeing and more friend-seeing.

Day 2 (Friday, Sept. 7):  My friends and I spent the day walking around downtown Toronto, including St. Lawrence Market (once named the world’s best food market by National Geographic in April 2012 — the Montreal bagels and Peameal Bacon sandwich are must-tries!).  [Note: Closed on Mondays.]  We then took the ferry ($7 RT, 15 mins one-way) out to the Toronto Islands, which afforded great views of the city skyline.  For more on Toronto, see my previous post.

Day 3 (Saturday, Sept. 8):  We visited Pacific Mall, located in neighboring Markham, Ontario, which holds the distinction of being the largest indoor Asian mall in North America.  While I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit this mall, it could be a good rainy day activity if you like Asian food.

Day 4 (Sunday, Sept. 9): On the way to NIAGARA FALLS, we stopped by some wineries on the Niagara Peninsula (or Niagara-on-the-Lake). We reached Niagara Falls State Park (U.S. side, $10 state park entrance fee for vehicles) at around 3 p.m., where we did the Cave of the Winds tour, which fits you with a poncho and lets you walk right up to Bridal Veil Falls.  Following the Cave of the Winds, we enjoyed an evening stroll around Goat Island along the illuminated rapids. I boarded my first Amtrak train at BUFFALO Depew station at 11:59 p.m. for Chicago. For more, see my previous post.

Day 5 (Monday, Sept. 10): After arriving in CHICAGO a little before noon (on the first day of the Chicago teachers’ strike, incidentally), I walked from Union Station to Chicago Hostelling International to drop off my stuff. The hostel was only $33/night and, for my first hostel, exceeded expectations — it’s very professionally-run and secure, with 3-4 levels of swipe access required to access your room; the staff was extremely friendly and provided invaluable tips on exploring the city.  I spent the entire day on foot, hitting up Buckingham Fountain (much better at night though!), Millennium Park, and the Loop area (architectural landmarks at every turn — pick up a guide first!).  I had a an early Chicago deep-dish pizza dinner at Giordano’s before walking across the Michigan Avenue Bridge to see the Centennial Fountain (nothing special, but the riverside walk was nice), Chicago Tribune Building (its facade contains pieces of famous structures from all over the world, e.g., the Great Wall of China, Hagia Sofia, Berlin Wall, etc.), the Magnificent Mile (Fifth Avenue equivalent), and finally John Hancock Tower for the sunset (tip: skip the pricey observation deck and go straight to the Signature Room to enjoy the same view over a drink).  After nightfall, I lounged around Cloud Gate (the Bean), watching security guards zoom around on segways.  For more, see my previous Chicago post.

Day 6 (Tuesday, Sept. 11): I spent the morning at the Art Institute (the setting for one of my favorite movie montages and home to one of my favorite paintings, Nighthawks) then headed across the street to the Chicago Cultural Center.  [Tip: Visit this first!  It’s both informative for tourists and a beautiful attraction in its own right.]   Then I took the Metra (which I’m told is preferable to the Green Line, safety-wise) down to the University of Chicago to see the campus and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House.  At night, I enjoyed a Chicago-style hot dog at Portillo’s and walked down La Salle Street (which ends with the Chicago Board of Trade building) while recalling the Dark Knight scene.  I ended the day by admiring the Chicago skyline from Buckingham fountain, where I was treated to light shows accompanied by cheesy renditions of patriotic songs on the hour.  At around 10 p.m., a crowd of Chicago teachers swarmed the fountain in protest. I wandered the Lake Michigan waterfront area for a bit before calling it a night.

Day 7 (Wednesday, Sept. 12):  To kill time before my early afternoon train, and at the suggestion of one hostel staff member, I rode the Brown Line ‘L’ train from Adams/Wabash to Armitage for a view of the city and back again. The round-trip took a little less than an hour. [Tip: Ride in the last car so you can look out the back window.]  I departed Chicago Union Station at around 2 p.m. on the Empire Builder line for Glasgow, Montana.  This was my first major train ride of the trip: a whopping 24 hours from Chicago to Glasgow, a small town of 3800 in eastern Montana where my cousin lives. I passed the time chatting with Mennonites and other rail riders.

Day 8 (Thursday, Sept. 13):  I arrived in GLASGOW, MT around noon, where my cousin picked me up.  One thing that struck me immediately about Montana: everyone has so so much land.  And horses.  Everyone has horses.  My cousin took me to the pastures where her family keeps their two horses — left behind by a family that had moved a few years back.  After spending over an hour tracking the horses down on the land, I rode the tamer one bareback while my cousin led me around.  She also took me down to Milk River, named by Lewis and Clark, who followed it for a portion of their journey.  For dinner, I had wild elk that my cousin’s husband shot last year. .

Day 9 (Friday, Sept. 14):  My cousin’s husband, a professional hunter and writer, took me out for an abbreviated round of dove-hunting in the morning (the only kind of hunting permitted in mid-September; only bow-and-arrow hunting was allowed for everything else).  No luck finding any doves, but I shot at cans with a .14 caliber rifle.  We then visited Fort Peck museum, where I learned about the trove of dinosaur fossil discoveries in Montana (home of the Tyrannosaurus Rex) and the Depression-era PWA construction of the Fort Peck Dam to channel the Missouri River.

Day 10 (Saturday, Sept. 15):  I departed Glasgow at noon for Glacier National Park, located in the western part of Montana and part of the Rocky Mountains.  The trip was eight hours.  I arrived at the WEST GLACIER stop (the western entrance to Glacier National Park) at around 9 p.m.  Montana is more or less flat, open space up until the Rocky Mountains, which shoot up out of nowhere.  Aboard the Empire Builder, I enjoyed commentary from a Trails & Rails volunteer about Glacier National Park.  The railroad and Glacier National Park share an intertwined history, with Glacier marketed by the railroad as the “American Alps” and also advanced for national park status by the railroad.

Day 11 (Sunday, Sept. 16): I took the eight-hour Crown of the Continent” Red Bus tour, which starts at West Glacier, traverses the entire length of the famously scenic Going-to-the-Sun Road (featured in the opening scene for The Shining and Forrest Gump’s run across America) and loops back around.  Glacier National Park was actually the reason I moved my trip up by two weeks, as Sept. 16 marked the last day that all of Going-to-the-Sun Road was open.  [Tip: Check on the accessibility of Going-to-the-Sun Road — and all national parks in general — before you visit.  One thing I learned on this trip was that most national parks are essentially only open in their entirety for three months of the year — mid-June to mid-September — due to snow.]

As with the railroad, the Red Bus company, which dates back to 1938, has a long and storied history intertwined with the park’s.  I enjoyed the tour very much and would highly recommend it, as I imagine it would be difficult to drive the winding mountain roads and appreciate the views at the same time.  After enjoying a slice of huckleberry pie with huckleberry soda (huckleberry is the big thing here), I departed at 11 p.m. for Seattle.

Day 12 (Monday, Sept. 17):  I woke up when my train was deep in the Cascades.  After reaching the coast, the train followed Puget Sound all the way down to Seattle.  Shortly after arriving in Seattle, I took the Olympic Bus Dungeness Line — the only transportation to the Olympic Peninsula that I could find ($69 RT, 3.5h) — to PORT ANGELES.  I arrive in Port Angeles at around 4:30 p.m., rent a car, check into my Super 8 motel, and drive up to Hurricane Ridge (a 17-mile, mountainous drive for a stunning vista of the mountains) just in time for the sunset.

Day 13 (Tuesday, Sept. 18):  I wake up early and manage to hit up Lake Crescent (where I do the popular and short Marymere Falls hike), the Sol Duc Falls hike, Hoh Rain Forest (Hall of Mosses Trail), and the First Beach at La Push (the westernmost point of the contiguous U.S. — a classic Pacific Northwest beach complete with driftwood, fog, and rock outcroppings) all in the same day.  The Hoh Rain Forest — a primeval rainforest — was my favorite part of the Olympic Peninsula.  I check into a Forks motel for the night (see previous post on Forks).

Day 14 (Wednesday, Sept. 19):  In the early afternoon, I boarded a bus back to Seattle from Port Angeles.  After checking into the Seattle Hostelling International, I took the Bainbridge ferry out and back for sunset views of the city.

Day 15 (Thursday, Sept. 20):  From my hostel, I walked to the Seattle Public Library, Pike Place Market, Olympic Sculpture Park (great view of the Space Needle), and the Seattle Center (where the Space Needle is).  From the Seattle Center, I walked uphill to Kerry Park for a magnificent view of the Seattle skyline.  After that, I took the Seattle Monorail back to downtown Seattle and my hostel.

Day 16 (Friday, Sept. 21): I took an early morning train out of Seattle for KLAMATH FALLS, OREGON, the closest Amtrak station to Crater Lake National Park.  Two Trails & Rails volunteers between Seattle and Portland talk about Mount St. Helens and the Cascades mountain range.  I arrived in Klamath Falls at 10 p.m. and checked into Maverick Motel, a 7-min walk from the station.

Day 17 (Saturday, Sept. 22):  I took the 9:30 a.m. shuttle provided by Crater Lake Trolley up to Crater Lake ($25, boarding from the Amtrak station).  Once there, I decided to do the two-hour Crater Lake Trolley ranger-guided Rim Drive tour as well (another $25).  After the Rim Drive, I hiked Garfield’s Peak, an easy trail that alternated between stunning views of the lake and of the Cascades (highly recommend!).  At 10 p.m., I departed Klamath Falls via Amtrak for REDDING, CA, where I would meet up with a friend to explore Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Day 18 (Sunday, Sept. 23):  I arrived in REDDING at 3 a.m. and walked 7 minutes to Thunderbird Lodge to join my friend.  In the morning, we took a quick detour to see Calatrava’s Sundial Bridge (the most notable attraction in Redding). Then we made our way to Lassen, where we first hiked Lassen Peak before going down to Bumpass Hell for geothermic activity.  We ended up stargazing in the parking lot to Bumpass Hell before heading to a hotel in Chico.

Day 19 (Monday, Sept. 24):  We stopped by Sacramento on the way to San Francisco, where we wandered around Old Sacramento and toured the State Capitol building.  We arrived in San Francisco in the early evening.

Days 20-25 (Tuesday, Sept. 25 to Sunday, Sept. 30):  I spent the week in San Francisco with friends.  This was my halfway recharge point.

Part 2 coming shortly…

Whistle Stop: Train Culture

After tonight, I will have spent 146 hours of the past five weeks on a train. But though that may seem long and exhausting to some (not any more tiring than a road trip, I’d think), the unique culture of long-distance train travel has turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the overall experience of traveling the country. I thought I’d take a moment to share my experience with train travel here as I wait to board my final train of the trip: from Chicago Union Station to New York Penn Station. Incidentally, look for more updates in the upcoming week as I make up for the lack of blogging during the trip!

A guitarist entertains a small group of rail riders in the cafe.

One thing I learned very quickly was that on a train, everyone is family. People walk around in slippers, clutching stuffed animals, blankets, and pillows. Striking up long conversations with your neighbor is the norm rather than the exception (though if you don’t like your neighbor, you can always sit out the ride in the lounge car). “Where are you traveling to” and “where are you traveling from” are the standard opening questions when you make eye contact with someone. And everyone has a story.

There are several options for those wishing to mingle with passengers beyond their immediate seating area: head to the observation deck (the upper floor of the lounge car), the cafe (the lower floor of the lounge car), or make a meal reservation, where you’ll be seated at a table with strangers in the dining car if you’re traveling alone (though for a price — dinner options start at $15 and run to upwards of $25). Amtrak, in conjunction with the National Parks Service, also runs Trails and Rails during the summer, where volunteers come into the observation car to talk with passengers about the regions the train is passing through (I was able to catch these programs during the first half of my trip — for Glacier National Park, the Cascades, Puget Sound, and between Seattle and Portland — but by the time October rolled around, Trails and Rails had concluded for the season). Sleeping car passengers (those who get their own beds and showers) get additional opportunities to mingle with each other at Amtrak-hosted wine and cheese tastings and movie nights.

I learned to head to the observation car if I was in a talking mood.

Passengers also find ways to provide their own entertainment. Playing card games or board games on the observation deck of the lounge car is the most common. On the night that I was traveling from Glasgow, MT to West Glacier, MT, I hung around the lounge car after a Cup Noodles dinner (that and the hot dogs were the only two items I found palatable from the cafe) and watched Amish children run amok on the observation deck. On the lower level, a guitarist entertained song requests from a small group of rail riders. I left shortly after stumbling upon the impromptu live music scene to pack up all of my belongings in preparation for my 8:23 p.m. stop at West Glacier, MT. When I came back to the cafe, bags in tow, I was surprised to see one passenger beam at my return and raise his glass to me. I was able to stay for “Cover of the Rolling Stone” (Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show) and “I Will Always Love You” (Dolly Parton) before my stop came up, and it was with a tinge of regret that I left the merry scene to disembark the train.

Chris, a full-time paralegal who’s been moonlighting as a  Trails and Rails volunteer since 2006, talks about Glacier National Park.

A significant portion of rail riders are retirees, but there is also a surprising number of young people and of families with small children. And, as I’ve previously noted, Amish and Mennonites also comprise a significant portion of rail passengers (as air travel is forbidden to them, while cars, though technically permissible where they ride with an outsider driver, are discouraged). Trains tended to be surprisingly packed for the most part, and it was rare for me to get two seats to myself (though when I did for an overnight ride, I was grateful for the opportunity to sleep in a sprawled out position).

Of the dozens of people I chatted with on trains, a few have stayed with me: Ruby, a primary school teacher from Colorado who’s been battling breast cancer for three years and who was returning to Colorado after visiting her son and grandson in Riverside, CA; Paulie, a 24-year old from Missouri who’s worked part time as a bail bondsman, and with whom I chatted late into the night in the cafe car of the Southwest Chief, comparing notes on our different upbringings; Rick, a legally blind sailboat salesman who considers it a success when he manages to hide the fact of his blindness from people (I didn’t realize it myself until the very end of the conversation — and this was after the train derailment, mind you, when the scene was one of general chaos); the three Mennonite women from Lancaster County who were traveling to Wisconsin to see family; Sonnet, an Oregon law student with a passion for water rights who filled me in on the big water rights disputes in the U.S. today; Adam, a stressed 23-year old father of a two-year old relocating from NoCal to Springfield, Missouri in hopes of facing a better job market, whom I chatted with while balancing his toddler on my lap — quite conscious the whole time of the fact that he was younger than myself; and an Oneida woman and primary school teacher from St. Louis en route to the Wisconsin Indian reservation on which she grew up to get tested for throat cancer (the reservation would cover her costs). The stories I heard were both humbling and empowering, and I hope to talk more about the overall impact this trip has had on me in a later retrospective post.

Whistle Stop Update

Sorry for the long hiatus: too many legs of my trip have been without Internet, without my laptop power charger (which I inadvertently left at my Forks motel, but which has since been shipped back to me…and then lost again, see below), or simply completely packed.

But here’s a quick update on a major event today, which still has me a bit shook up: the Amtrak train I took today from Emeryville (SF Bay Area) to Bakersfield (where I was to board an Amtrak bus to LA) derailed near Fresno after being struck by a big rig. I am fortunately OK, and I’ll be sharing the experience in a future post. However, that post could take a while, as my current priority is tracking down my one piece of carry-on luggage, which contains ALL of my clothes and recharging equipment (camera, laptop, cell…).

Whistle Stop: Forks, Washington — The Twilight Zone

Tues, Sept. 18: After a full day of exploring and hiking the beauty of the Pacific Northwest (including Lake Crescent, Marymere Falls, Hoh Rainforest, Sol Duc Falls, and First Beach at La Push — possibly a later post on this), I made my way to Forks, WA, where I would be spending the night.

Now, Forks, WA was once primarily a logging town. Until 2005, that is. In 2005, the first book of the Twilight series — which author Stephenie Meyer had decided to set in her hometown of Forks — made its appearance in bookstores, and a small town was forever changed. The following is an account of my brief brush with . . . the Twilight Zone:

“You want the non-Twilight-themed room, right?”

When I got this question over the phone, I knew this would be an interesting stay. I apparently got into town two days after the annual Twilight convention — Stephenie Meyer Day a.k.a. Bella’s Birthday, from Sept. 14-16, 2012 — wrapped up. A few banners celebrating the day still adorned the town when I drove in, but they were gone by the following morning (so no pictures, unfortunately).

The Twilight themed specials didn’t stop with hotels (every single lodging seemed to have a sign with something like “Edward Cullen would stay here!”). Every single store and restaurant in the town was trying to cash in (even the few shops that appeared to stubbornly resist Twilight decor — I ate at a coffee shop this morning that went with a Forks’ logging history theme — had small “Welcome, Twilight fans!” signs). One firewood store marketed its firewood as “Jacob Black’s Firewood.” I wondered whether any teenage girl would be persuaded by the sign to buy a log. But then again, the phenomenon wasn’t just limited to teenage girls — I saw a middle-aged man sign a Twilight guestbook at Three Rivers Restaurant, which I stopped at for dinner.  I confess that I stopped at that restaurant — midway between the La Push beaches I was visiting and Forks, WA — purely because of its Twilight decor. “Treaty Line,” a conspicuous sign outside read, “No vampires beyond this point.” (I would learn later — from the motel receptionist, an older man who looked to be about 65 — that La Push was werewolf territory). I got the werewolf burger, which was pretty delicious. The restaurant had a Twilight seating section in the back and a Twilight menu. Outside, they had converted a “Fire Threat Level” sign (present everywhere on the Olympic Peninsula) to a “Vampire Threat Level” one. After dinner, I made my way back to vampire territory and checked into my Forks motel.

As I had a few hours to kill before catching a bus back to Seattle, I spent the following morning exploring the town, taking photos, and chatting with a few of its inhabitants. Eventually, I came across Leppell’s Twilight Central, “The best selection of Twilight merchandise in town!” I went in.

I was the only person in the shop at the time, and there were two employees working the counter — one woman who looked to be in her 30s and an older man who looked to be in his early 70s. I struck up a conversation with them.

“What did this store used to be? Before Twilight?” I inquired. The woman led me upstairs, where she flipped on the light switch, revealing an assortment of home decoration items and various trinkets. “Leppell’s Flowers and Gifts. This is what the lower floor used to look like…and this is where our customers go when they want to escape the Twilight Zone,” she smiled.

“Have you read the series and seen the movies yourself?” She had. But she was quick to add that her favorite books were Kafka’s The Trial and Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. The Twilight series wasn’t quite her cup of tea, she said, but she thought the phenomenon was fun.

“How many people tend to visit the store when it’s not Stephenie Meyer weekend?” I asked, glancing around at the empty store. I was shocked by her answer: “oh, we average about 100 a day, except for the winter season.” The older man chimed in, “we had 75,000 people sign our guestbook last year alone, from all over the world.” Whoa. The woman mentioned that she had 200 people in the back room this past weekend for Edward and Bella’s wedding reception — just one of the many events that take place on Stephenie Meyer day. “Before 2005, the owner had one part-time employee helping her out. Since 2005, she’s hired three permanent employees.”

A lot of the merchandise in the store is made by local artists, the woman mentioned, and the store owned most of the trademarks and designs that were sold. The official marketing company supplied a few items, but most of them were unique to the store. I have to admit that the items I saw on the lower Twilight level were, on a whole, much more creative and unique than the items upstairs that they used to sell.   

“Are you tired of this at all?” “Not at all!” the older man responded. “I love talking to all these people. I’ve met people of so many different nationalities and from all over the world. How else could you have that chance when you live in a small town?” he asked. He added that Twilight was exposing a lot of people to the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. “Many of these people — they don’t know about the beautiful forests here, so they’ll come for Twilight and then keep coming back to visit the forests.”

And though Stephenie Meyer day is over, the store employees won’t be getting much of a rest; they’re already preparing for the release of Breaking Dawn Part 2 in a few months. “Most of the fans, as they left, were already saying ‘see you in November!'” she laughed.

Whistle Stop: An Unexpected Conversation With Mennonites

[Note: I’m posting this from Seattle, Washington, where I’ve just arrived on the Amtrak train. Just hours earlier, I was passing through the Cascade Mountains and Puget Sound. I’m catching up on Internet in a Starbucks (though not THE Starbucks) while waiting for a 1:10 bus that will take me to the Olympic Peninsula, where I’ll be spending the next two days. The bulk of this post was written on the train.]

On Wed, Sept. 12, I boarded the Empire Builder from Union Station, Chicago at 2:15 p.m. and settled in for a long 24 hour ride to Glasgow, Montana, where I would be staying with my cousin’s family for three days. The first thing I noticed was that a great many Amish and Mennonites use the Amtrak train system. I had a chance to chat with three Mennonite women for nearly two hours in the Observation Car. It was a very interesting conversation, and I jotted down what I could remember following the conversation:

The group (six of them, though I met only three) was traveling from Lancaster County, PA to visit relatives in Tomah, WI. According to them, Tomah had been settled roughly 35 years ago by Lancaster Mennonites seeking better farmland; as a result, most Lancaster Mennonites had friends or relatives in Wisconsin. I talked primarily with one woman, who looked to be in her late 50s, while the other two were engaged in their own conversation (in Pennsylvania Dutch — which they described as being very similar to the Swiss German dialect) but jumped into ours from time to time.

This woman (we never exchanged names) was the oldest of eleven; she had four brothers and six sisters. She worked in a greenhouse, growing flowers and arranging hanging floral baskets. There was great demand for them, she told me when I inquired—they always sold off their entire supply and sometimes could not even meet demand. They had just finished with “mums” (which I learned was short for chrysanthemums) and when she returned from Wisconsin, she would be tending to poinsettias for the fall season.

On the Amish

So what are the biggest differences between Amish and Mennonites, I asked her. “Aside from dress and appearance.” (I had originally mistaken her for Amish, and she explained the differences in their dress to me). She paused at my question. “Is there a major difference in belief?” I offered. But she continued to mull my question over.

“Shunning,” she said finally. When a member of the Amish community stops heeding the Church, they’re shunned by the entire community—all ties are cut and the family completely disowns that person. But when a Mennonite leaves the Church, she explained, you’re still allowed to interact with them—to “sit with them and eat with them.” For example, she recounted—in a disapproving tone of voice—how her brother had left the Church. It was “a shock to all of us,” she recalled. He was already married to a woman in the community, had children, and had a farm. “None of us realized how unhappy he was.” Now he drives cars, watches television, and uses computers. She still talks to him and eats with him; but — she added — she can’t ride in a car that he drives (whereas she is allowed to ride in cars driven by non-Mennonites) because that would implicitly condone his decision.

Our conversation would later reveal many other differences between the Mennonite and Amish, so I found it interesting that she found the practice of shunning to be the most significant.

On Civic Participation

At one point, I asked her if members of the Mennonite community tended to vote in elections.

“Oh, we pray,” she told me in a matter-of-factly tone of voice.

“I’m sorry?” I asked blankly, unsure if that was a response to my question.

She elaborated: the Mennonites believe that God will put the right person in office — so instead of voting for the person, they simply prayed to God. They did not believe that it was for man to choose who would lead them, but for God to decide who would lead. We are all mere men, was the way she put it—and how could man profess to know better than God what is best for us?

She also added that Mennonites did not approve of the vitriolic mud-slinging in these elections. “The way they drag each other down…” she murmured with strong disapproval. She told me of a Mennonite saying that love and hate belong in same box (or something to that effect)—the idea being that both emotions were unproductive and dangerous, and that each person’s words and actions should be considered objectively and equally. I briefly wondered how aware she was of cable news networks, but I just let her talk since she seemed to be quite animated on this subject.

Finally, she went on to express sympathy for Obama, unprompted: “It seems to me that he’s tried to do right but just keeps getting blocked.”

“It seems so hard to get anything done in your system.”

On Cameras

They had spent a few days in Chicago, and I asked if they had seen the Cloud Gate sculpture. “That bean-shaped mirror sculpture in the park?” I elaborated. She still wasn’t sure what that was, so I took out my camera to show her a photo of the Bean. She appeared to flinch somewhat when I slid the LCD screen under her eyes.

“Oh! Uh- is this OK?” I asked stupidly. She responded in the affirmative. But she said that they weren’t allowed to use the cameras.

“Is this just digital cameras only, or even the old film kind?”

Both, she replied—this particular rule had nothing to do with the technology being used but rather, stemmed from the commandment prohibiting making an image or likeness of God or of anything of His creation.

“And it encourages vanity,” she added. I couldn’t help but think of how “this would make a great Facebook profile photo” was so often on people’s minds.  I wondered how much she knew of the social network phenomenon, but didn’t get a chance to ask. However, I’m guessing not all that much since I later learned that  she considered the greatest “evil” of the Internet to be…scammers.

Mennonites Play Oregon Trail, Too

“Can you imagine what it was like to make this trip in a wagon?” she murmured, as we passed miles and miles of vast open plains. At one point during that conversation, I mentioned playing Oregon Trail as a kid and started explaining what it was. But to my surprise, one of her traveling companions—the youngest one—excitedly jumped in the conversation. “Yes! We have that game, too!”

“What? The computer game? You can play that?” I asked in confusion.

No, it’s not a computer game, but it’s the same game, she insisted. And as she explained it, I realized it was indeed the same game. For example, she said, children try to toss a dime into a cup to determine the outcome of choosing to ford a river. If it goes in, you make it across; if it doesn’t, then your oxen drowned. Or you flip a coin to determine whether a team member dies of dysentery. Or how cold the winter is and how much damage early cold does to your team. It sounded like all aspects of game play are  reduced to event cards and mini-games of chance or skill. All the kids absolutely LOVE that game, she exulted.

Oregon Trail: a truly universal game!

Upcoming: Day 2 of Chicago, rural life in Montana, Glacier National Park, and train culture.

Whistle Stop: Day 1 of Chicago

[Note: Posting this from Glasgow, Montana. I’m typing up fragments of posts as I travel (so what you see isn’t all retroactively written), but I’ve been a lot more occupied than I had anticipated, so please bear with me as I try to catch up!]

Sunday, Sept. 9: After a nighttime hike on Goat Island (which is part of Niagara Falls State Park), my friends drove me down to Buffalo, where we enjoyed a very Buffalo meal of wings and roast beef on weck at Duff’s before they dropped me off at the Amtrak station. It was a small station, but a surprisingly packed one. I took the midnight train going to Chicago and dozed off shortly after clambering on.

Monday, Sept. 10: I arrived in Chicago a little before noon. As I walked from Union Station to my hostel, I was immediately struck by how immense the city felt. I’m not sure if this was illusory because of my lack of familiarity with the city, but Chicago buildings simply seemed, on average, more massive and monolithic compared to the buildings in NY. I’ll continue to mull over why this was; I think the sprawled nature of the city may have contributed to it.

Now, I normally do a lot of research on a city before arriving so that I have a pretty good idea of the places I want to check out when I arrive. This was not the case for Chicago — I was going into it nearly blind. I confess that most of my knowledge of the look and layout of Chicago comes from the Nolan Batman films and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. And the musical Chicago didn’t help at all. After setting my things down at Hostelling International, I grabbed a free tourist map and set off for a day of exploration.

Striking teachers at Cloud Gate.

Studying the map, I quickly realized that just about every building in Chicago was an architectural landmark of some sort. Unable to discern how each enumerated building on the map somehow contributed to the development of the skyscraper, I decided to start with the parks. And instead of seeking out all those notable buildings, I decided I would just read up on them if I happened to pass them (which worked out well in retrospect since I did so much walking). With a vague plan of attack in mind, I headed east from my hostel to Buckingham Fountain (more on this place in a later post), then north to Millennium Park. I stopped to people-watch at Crown Fountain (I had never heard of this sculpture before — it’s an interesting concept, but overall I found the faces a little weird — I did like the setup otherwise though), and then continued onto the iconic Cloud Gate, which has become one of my all-time favorite sculptures. I spent over an hour looking at the bean from every angle, experimenting with various camera angles, and then just sitting back and watching everyone else explore the sculpture. It’s simultaneously interactive and social (for example, you can’t help but capture photos of other people in your own photos) while allowing for personal exploration of the sculpture and private contemplation.

“Chicago Special” from Giordano’s

I had an early pizza dinner at Giordano’s (hot gooey goodness). By that time, the sound of news helicopters covering the downtown teachers’ rally was permeating the entire city. After dinner, I continued north past the Michigan Avenue bridge over the Chicago River. I paused at the Chicago Tribune building to inspect the Aesop Fable-themed archway and the pieces of various famous buildings on its façade. I then turned east to walk along the riverfront to the Centennial Fountain, which shoots out a jet of water every half hour to the other side of the river (nothing special, but the river walk was nice).

As sunset approached, I started making my way up the “Magnificent Mile” portion of Michigan Avenue (the equivalent of NYC’s Fifth Avenue) to the John Hancock Center, the fourth tallest building in Chicago. Taking the advice of the receptionist at my hostel, I went up to the Signature Room bar and lounge on the 96th floor instead of the observation deck — so instead of paying $27, I enjoyed the same view over a reasonably-priced (and tasty) $7.50 Raspberry Fizz. Even the view from the Signature Room’s woman’s bathroom, with windows so large that they were practically glass-paneled walls, was stunning.

After nightfall, I left the tower and headed back over the river. On my way back to the hostel, I revisited Cloud Gate and hung around for a little while. Even at 9pm, the plaza was relatively busy. Cops on patrol comically zoomed around on segways and photographers fiddled with their tripods and positioning around the sculpture. After an hour or so, I headed back to the hostel.

Coming soon: Day 2 of Chicago, the Amtrak ride from Chicago to Montana (during which I have some interesting conversations, including with a group of Mennonite women), and farm life in Montana (where I’m staying for 2 nights at my cousin’s). Unfortunately, I won’t have Internet for the next 2-3 days, which is Glacier National Park. The next time I update will probably be from Seattle!

Whistle Stop: Toronto, Niagara Falls

Downtown Toronto from the Toronto Islands. Super-vivid color mode.

[Posting this from Chicago, where I just arrived on an overnight train from Buffalo]

I visited Toronto a little under two years ago and managed to get most of my whirlwind sightseeing in then (whirlwind sightseeing is my favorite form of travel, but I find I have to explain/defend it a lot, so maybe a topic for a future post). This visit was shorter and at a more relaxed pace. I met up with two friends, and we hit up St. Lawrence Market, where I finally got to try Canadian peameal bacon at Carousel Bakery (soon to be featured on Anthony Bourdain) and Montreal-style bagels at St. Urbain Bagel Bakery — both delicious. I enjoyed the street vendor poutine I got last time I was in the city so much that I tried an actual poutinerie this time around, Smoke’s (poutine is a Canadian concoction of fries, gravy, and cheese curds…yeah, I know). We also took the ferry out to the Toronto Islands, which provided some beautiful views of the city skyline, and was a nice, serene place for a boardwalk stroll. Finally, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) (which is a way bigger film festival than I thought it was — described by some as second to Cannes) was in town. I was surprised by how high-profile many of the films were (I was expecting indie stuff) — Anna Karenina, On the Road, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing. We were unable to get tickets for either of the two days I was in town; we did, however, catch a glimpse of Alex Skarsgard from True Blood being interviewed on the red carpet.

Other places we hit up: the Niagara Peninsula wineries on the way to Niagara Falls (where we did the Cave of the Winds tour on the U.S. side — you get to hike right up to the falls for $11, ponchos and sandals provided — really a great price for an awesome experience, and I highly recommend it!).

Cave of the Winds experience

Fun Fact: Classical Place Names in Central New York

On the way up to Toronto (a surprisingly pleasant 11-hour Megabus ride, much of which I spent reading a photography guide and experimenting with my camera), I noticed a lot of Greek-inspired city names in Central New York. Now, I had been vaguely aware of this trend before — Ithaca, Syracuse, and Troy — but my curiosity was piqued after passing a Marathon, NY. I turned to Google and learned that there is, in fact, a book on just this subject: Classical Place Names in New York State by William R. Farrell. Apparently, we have two people to thank for this: Simeon DeWitt, New York State Surveyor General from 1784-1834, and his clerk, Robert Harpur. They oversaw the carving up of the area of Central New York once known as the Military Tract (land set aside to compensate New York’s soldiers after their participation in the Revolutionary War) and both happened to really enjoy the classics. So there ya go. For more on this, check out this blog.

Niagara Falls

Whistle Stop: Eve of the Trip

All packed and ready to go!

In the morning, I will be kicking off my trip across America with a ten-hour Megabus ride up to, ironically, Toronto (because how better to truly appreciate America than to first spend a weekend in Canada?…kidding). I thought I’d briefly map out my planned route here:

After a weekend in Toronto that will conclude with a trip to Niagara Falls, I’ll board my first Amtrak train at Buffalo and head to Chicago, the heart of the Amtrak rail system. From Chicago, I’ll take the Empire Builder line westward to its terminus in Seattle, with two stops in Montana along the way (including Glacier National Park). Then, after taking in the Pacific Northwest, I’ll swing down the West Coast on the Coast Starlight line, hitting up Crater Lake, Lassen Volcanic National Park, and San Francisco on the way to LA. From LA, I’ll hop on the Southwest Chief heading back east, with extended stops in the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff and St. Louis — and possibly more, depending on my energy level by week 5.

Still, given the sometimes unpredictable nature of train travel (in 2011, flooding knocked out significant portions of the Empire Builder line for over a month), I’m trying to keep an open mind and maintain flexibility.