eyeintim

Tag: walkabout?

  • The Japan-France-Spain-Iceland portion of my #walkabout is done. Which now means scintillating DC content like recommendations for one-purpose appliances like this magic egg steamer.

  • I’ve been back home in the States for over a week, and I still have so much I want to post about Iceland. But we need to move on with our lives here. The final day of the tour was spent on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula, said to contain examples of all of the best things…

  • I’m not a nostalgic person. So one of the things I dislike about posting every day is that it means I have to go through the 1000s of photos I’ve taken to find one to talk about. But, sometimes you come across a photo that makes it all worth it

  • One of the best things about travel, if you’ve done it right, is coming home. To friends. To calm. To familiar. But, hopefully, you see things differently than you did before

  • Wildlife time continued on our tour with a stop at a beach for seals: Mountains & ice always loom in the distance: Didn’t see many seals, but this one gave us some nice oohs & ahhhs It’s Iceland, so there’s always more to see nearby:

  • Wildlife is one thing we haven’t seen much of in Iceland. But of course it has that also – Iceland is the best! So it’s whale watching we go, from the tiny port of Haugenes, a 45 minute drive up from Akureyri, the northern capital of Iceland. There’s our boat in the fjord: We’re all…

  • As if it’s name wasn’t cool enough, Iceland brilliantly** calls itself “The Land of Fire & Ice”. We’ve seen lots of ice; it’s time for some fire. Hverir in the NW of the country, is Martian landscape that bubbles & steams like…um, I don’t know – this place was unique to me. **Iceland really does…

  • It’s called Iceland, so there are many ice adventures to be had there. We walked on glaciers before, but now it was time to go IN them in Vatnajökull National Park. To get there, everybody jumps into a “Super Jeep”: The land starts looking like the moon: Group walking on the glacier, which is covered…

  • The way I saw most of Iceland was via a small group van tour around the ring road (using fantastic https://troll.is/ – more on this in a later post). It’s lots of driving, and the money shot I always hoped to capture when on the road was the lone, red-roofed dwelling set in the stark…

  • I don’t feel like writing today, so thank goodness this stunning place came up next in my camera roll

  • I really don’t want to this become a waterfall blog, but it’s so hard to not always post about them from Iceland. It’s partially because there are so many of them, and partially because they’re all so gorgeous; so accessible; so different; in amazing settings. Skógafoss is a perfect example of this. You first notice…

  • Went hiking on a glacier. Other than getting to wear crampons & carry an ice axe, the hiking itself wasn’t too exciting. But Iceland, as always, came through with some spectacular scenery.

  • I’m telling you, Iceland does things just a little bit differently, and it’s magical

  • Iceland Bathing

    Iceland Bathing

    There’s a big bathing culture in Iceland. Public pools are everywhere, and they’re geothermally-heated complexes with lots of hot tubs, saunas, steam rooms, slides, etc. The locals go to them all the time to meetup with friends, exercise the kids, and relax, weather-be-damned. There are also lots of private ones that are a little bit…

  • Iceland is the kind of place where you can publicly declare that you’ve seen the best waterfall ever, and about 20 minutes, and 750 meters, later you see an even better one. Gljúfrabúi is special because it’s hidden in a crack in the canyon: After clinging to the side and tip-toeing across small rocks, you…

  • Everybody knows this, but Iceland is stunning. Breath-takingly, “holy shit"-sayingly beautiful. I went on an eight day small group van tour around the country, and was instantly overwhelmed with the scenery, just from inside the van. I took a bazillion pictures, and quickly learned that my photography skillz were also overwhelmed. It’s impossible to capture…

  • Reykjavik is much bigger & city-like than I expected, but it’s got a great feel. I especially like the public art they have scattered throughout. I’m most definitely not a sculpture-loving fella, but there’s something about the sculptures here that had me continually stopping, looking, and taking a pic: Hmmm – there seems to be…

  • Hello Iceland

    Hello Iceland

    Once I was done with the Camino, it was time to start heading back towards DC via another country. So I squinted my eyes a whole bunch and decided that Iceland, a place I’ve always wanted to go, was between Spain & the US. But Iceland could not be more different than Spain! • From…

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    One of the cool things that happened on my Camino is that I was lucky enough to begin when the photographer Javier Iglesias Ramos was starting a new project. He calls it “IN ITINERE”, and it consists of taking a picture of each peregrino that arrived on their first day in Roncesvalles, and then another…

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    A conversation I know I’m going to have many, many times when I get back to the States: Someone: How was the Camino de Santiago‽ Tim: I think it was the most extraordinary thing I’ve ever been a part of S: Whoa! How come? T: Well, umm, because, errr, ummm…I don’t know exactly S: Come…

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    One of the rituals of the Camino is to get an ink stamp in your peregrino credential book at every albergue you stay at. Folks also get them at cathedrals, restaurants, and other sites along the walk. The purpose is to prove that you’ve indeed walked the camino, so you can get (for €3) your…

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    I’m having a hard time wrapping up posting about the Camino. It then occurred to me…I haven’t posted a toilet in so long! Why do they have lids? Is it protocol to put them down when you’re finished?

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    The symbol of the Camino is the scallop shell. It started back in the day as a way for pilgrims to prove they made it to Santiago (which isn’t on the ocean, but whatever). It’s also a nice symbol to show that all Caminos (there are lots in Spain, and many throughout Europe) lead to…

  • Camino Stops

    Camino Stops

    Timo’s Camino de Santiago via Camino Frances: Day 1 (7-Mar-2023): Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France → Roncesvalles, Spain (25km) Day 2: Roncesvalles → Urdaniz (24km) Day 3: Urdaniz → Pamplona (16km) Day 4: Pamplona → Puente la Reina (24km) Day 5: Puente la Reina → Estella (21km) Day 6: Estella → Torres del Rio (27km) Day 7: Torres…

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    And then I was done. After an easy 30km trek from Muxia, I arrived at the 0.00 marker in Finisterre/Fisterre, “end of the earth”. It felt like the end, and I was glad I was done. Arriving in Santiago was emotional (still need to write about that — it’s hard); arriving in Muxia felt great;…

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    Muxia is a stunning little town with turquoise ocean, and booming waves, and giant rocks, and decrepit walls, and a spare-looking cathedral built right into it all: It’s got a 0.00 marker to denote that it’s the end: And it was the place that those of us who walked to the ocean (🇦🇷 🇮🇹 🇩🇪…

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    After reaching Santiago, a common extension is to then walk another 3-4 days to to the ocean. So after a few rest days in Santiago, I packed my bag again & got walking. The trail was as Galician beautiful as ever, but first seeing the ocean, after having just walked across the country to get…

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    Long-term travel is a bubble, the Camino even more so. Having to do real-life stuff like taxes is thus an extra hard burst (especially when you haven’t had any income in four months…). But my room in Santiago, though it didn’t come with a bathroom, did come with a desk & a magnificent view of…

  • * Day 1: Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France → Roncesvalles, Spain (25km) * Day 2: Roncesvalles → Urdaniz (24km) * Day 3: Urdaniz → Pamplona (16km) * Day 4: Pamplona → Puente la Reina (24km) * Day 5: Puente la Reina → Estella (21km) * Day 6: Estella → Torres del Rio (27km) * Day 7: Torres del…

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    Being in Santiago, a cathedral city, on Easter was pretty great. It’s not my thing, but even I was awed by the spectacle and the processions throughout the day Roman legionnaires leading: Masses of peeps carrying the holy ones: All congregating at the ancient churches throughout the city: I don’t believe, but I know a…

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    32 days, 779km → I arrived in Santiago de Compostela

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    One tactic to try and avoid the Easter week crowds was to get out on the Camino before the sun rose. I disliked walking in the dark — you miss all the beauty you’re walking through. But the reward was a moonlit sky A beautiful sunrise And no crowds, right?

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    The Camino started getting very, very crowded after Sarria in Galicia. It was Holy Week, and Spaniards get the week off, so they showed up in droves for the nice, easy 110km/5-day Camino Frances finale into Santiago. So normally Jesper🇸🇪, Lucia🇮🇹, Vanni🇮🇹, and I🇺🇸 would have nobody behind us in a pic like this, but…

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    You’re outside all the time on the Camino, but you really don’t see much wildlife. I think the only animals I’ve seen are farm ones, and that’s not even every day. When I do see them, however, I’m continually surprised that they speak Spanish (and I don’t). If you say “hey” or “yo” or “hi”…

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    It took me awhile to figure out my perfect order (and how to say it), but it’s pretty much now the first thing I say every morning at the magical, ubiquitous Spanish cafe/bars: “Cafe Americano, doble, grande, por favor”. They sometimes ask me something in Spanish after I order, and I never have any idea…

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    We’re always walking west, but early in the morning you always had to turn around

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    We peregrinos all leave the Albergues at different times in the morning. Sometimes you walk alone; sometimes you walk with people you know; sometimes you walk with new people. But we’re all following roughly the same schedule, and stopping in the same towns, so we see & hang out with the same folks all the…

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    The terrain & scenery changes every day on the Camino, but the change was specially dramatic after climbing and crossing into Galicia It becomes lush & green, filled with rock-wall lined paths Absurdly beautiful at times

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    Week four on the Camino. We’ll be wrapping things up soon 😔

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    Sometimes the terrain we walk through seems fake, like it’s a perfectly staged set. I think I actually said those exact words to a fellow peregrino when I took this pic.

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    The terrain gets hilly, and towns get much more rustic on the western edge of Castilla y Leon. Things are still beautiful, in a small-town Spain way, though. Until you look closer, revealing a potentially sinister undercurrent:

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    Something you see all the time throughout Spain, and on the Camino, are giant stork nests atop all the cathedrals. They very visible in this pic because the building wasn’t that tall (places get smaller & poorer West of Burgos).

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    Walking west out of Burgos takes you into the flatness of Castilla y León, where you could sometimes see your entire days walk ahead of you

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    Week three on the Camino. All weeks kinda look the same 📈

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    Walking the Camino, and Spain in general, is really cheap: • €0 = walking the Camino • €3 = getting peregrino credentials that enable you to stay in peregrino Albergues • €7-15 = bed for the night in an Albergue dorm room • €30-35 = private room in peregrino Hostal (totally needed after about a…

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    Sometimes we walk on roads. Sometimes we walk on dirt roads. Sometimes there’s a beautiful old village in the distance. Sometimes there are snow-capped mountains in the far distance. Sometimes you can see all of that in one picture.

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    One of the stories you heard a lot in the early Camino was that there was a winery on the trail that had a fountain of free red wine. It seemed mythical. It also turned out to be true, mostly. There is indeed a free tap of wine at this winery, but it’s only open…

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    I’m not sure I’ve ever eaten as much bread in my life as I have here in Spain. It’s served with every meal, and as a hungry peregrino I always want to empty the basket. My favorite are the bocadillos, $2-3 sandwiches filled with sparse amounts of ham, sausage, cheese, or, ideally, tortilla de potato.…

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    I know a common theme is me complaining about pictures, but it’s so hard. Ex: All these pics were taken within a few hours of each other. Which is best? I’ll never know.

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    Week two on the Camino

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    Rumor has it we crossed the halfway mark of the Camino Frances on the Camino de Santiago today, so here’s where I’ve walked: Day 1 (7-Mar-23): Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, France → Roncesvalles, Spain (25km) Day 2: Roncesvalles → Urdaniz (24km) Day 3: Urdaniz → Pamplona (16km) Day 4: Pamplona → Puente la Reina (24km) Day 5: Puente…

  • Untitled post 150

    We peregrinos, pilgrims, normally stay in Albergues while on the Camino. They’re hostels specifically built and/or run for us, and are much cheaper than normal places. The cheapest are the ones run by the village/town/city, normally €8-12 for a bed in a dorm. Yep, that’s cheap, but the real cost is the quality of life…

  • Every night I put off posting until “later”, and I’m having so much fun each night, that means having to post something right before going to sleep. Which means furiously scrolling through all my recent photos for something good. This also means I always totally skip over fantastic things that have happened, but that aren’t…

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    I’m taking too many pictures. I’m glad I am, but it makes it so hard at the end of each day to decide which ones to post. It makes it even harder that the iPhone takes such stunning photos, even in the evening. In support of this I present this picture, flippantly taken on the…

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    The ramen of Spain is tortilla de patata, and I’ve been eating it pretty much every day. It pairs especially well with $2 beers.

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    It turns out that northern Spain also has lots of cherry blossoms. And they were in full bloom in the morning golden hour leaving Torres del Rio. It took me hours to choose just this one photo.

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    Dad asked me today if I was hiking with people, and to take pictures of people. Fair asks, and I can see why you’d think people aren’t a part of the Camino – I take about 1000 pics of the amazing scenery for every 1 of people. People are actually one of the best things…

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    I can’t stop looking at this random picture I took

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    First seven days on the Camino. Wow. Amazing that 16 miles is the “shortest” day. And that big number on top is from today, so this next seven is looking like more of the same.

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    I’m really struggling to figure out a good way to capture the scenery & experience of the Camino without just posting a bazillion pics, none of which seem to capture it. It’s just so amazing, and breathtaking, and varied, yet consistent. This pic is as good as any to try to summarize in one image:…

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    I already have about 1000 pictures of the old town Spanish streets, and I’ll take 1000 more, which is probably not enough.

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    It’s not only humans on the Camino

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    The best way to guarantee yourself a good time in the evening (and some needed English conversations) when in any city in any country is to head to an Irish pub. When you do you’ll be rewarded by getting to hang out with bartender gems like this fella at Cerveceria Baztán in Pamplona: Please note…

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    Camino de Santiago Day 1: Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port → Roncesvalle • 25 km • 42k steps • 6.5 hours After taking the first step and passing through the final arch in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, you have to make a big choice whether to go left or right at this intersection: Alas, since it’s winter, the left route, which goes…

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    Day Two of the Camino has been amazing, but I still don’t feeling like writing, so I’m gonna slow roll this. Here’s the final arch you pass out of from the center of town, to formally start things

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    I plan on doing a post about each day of the Camino de Santiago but today’s stage that took us on a climb into the Pyrenees was wicked hard, and I’m too tired to write. So, just a picture of me taking my first step on my Camino — only 1,000,000 more to go!

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    Arriving in a unfamiliar, small, mountain town in the dark can be both the worst, and the best. The Worst: = You have no bearings or idea where you’re going, you can’t see anything, and towns like Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port shut down really early, so there’s nobody around to help, etc. The hotel receptions also close early,…

  • Long transit stops can be both the worst, and the best. The worst = A three hour train station layover in a town I had no plan to visit, Bayonne (though the station was a picturesque old thing) The best = Discovering that Bayonne is a great little Basque city, with beautiful, medieval, winding streets.…

  • Paris is sooo Paris. It’s everything you’ve heard, read, seen. Everything you expected & wanted. The sights, the streets, the food, the history, the cafes. The cafes!

  • I’m in Paris now, which means toilette pics instead of toilet pics

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    It turns out the first ramen joint I went to in Japan was also the best ramen place I went to in Japan. Which is saying a lot, as I pretty much had ramen at least every other day, and every single bowl was great. Truly – every bowl of ramen I had in Japan…

  • I flew out of Japan today and got this stunning view of Mt. Fuji as a nice departure gift. I’m flying to Paris and am then heading down to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, as I’m going to walk the Camino de Santiago across the North of Spain. It should probably take ~30ish days to get to Santiago, and…

  • I’m pretty certain my English is getting worse from disuse here in Japan, as well as from having to speak in slow one-syllable words. So, I’m going to try to not type much today. Instead, a photo journey of the shrine/temple-viewing walk I did on a chilly, foggy, atmospheric day in Koyasan in the mountains…

  • The Japanese are fastidious rule followers. If there are rules or instructions for something –and there are alway instructions for everything– you can bet that 99.99% of people will follow them. You’re not supposed to eat & drinking while out in public, so nobody does (except ignorant me when I first arrived): Everybody wears a…

  • One of the reasons to visit Hiroshima is to see and learn about the A-Bomb Dome, one of the few buildings to not be totally destroyed with the nuclear bomb dropped there: The plaque in this one shows what it looked like before: It’s a stunning sight both day & night, and the city has…

  • Heard it’s warm back in the States. I don’t feel like writing today, so here’s what February should look like: Not sure where I recorded this, but it could really be anywhere in Hokkaido — it’s always snowing everywhere up here 😍

  • My favorite “you’ve never heard of it, but you have to try it when you’re there” food has been Okonomiyaki, which roughly translates to “pull it out of the fridge & grill it up”. It’s kind of like a layered, stuffed pancake, and it’s a Hiroshima specialty. Here are the common layers used in Hiroshima…

  • My favorite sight in Kyoto was the Fushimi Inari-Taisha, which translates to “the Head Shrine of Inari”. It consists of 10,000 Torii gates painted persimmon orange, spread out on & up a mountain: With such a cool sounding Japanese name, I actually found the translation disappointing. I thus propose some alternate ones: • Shrine of…

  • I came to Sapporo because I wanted snow, and, oh boy, did I find it UPDATE: 0% chance of snow today, and there’s a cancel-school-in-the-USA blizzard going on. I love this place!

  • Most of the cars you see on the roads in Japan seem miniaturized. It makes sense, as everything here is tighter, more compact, more efficient. No giant SUVs here – even the cars that have to drive on packed/perma-snow the whole winter are cubes The fire engines all look dehydrated This isn’t a negative post…

  • Pachinko

    Pachinko

    Another big thing in Japan that I just don’t get is Pachinko. It’s like pinball mixed with plinko mixed with a slot machine (kinda). You see big parlors in cities, even bigger ones in the suburbs & outskirts, and it’s the only gambling allowed in Japan (kinda). I don’t think I’ve ever seen a young…

  • One of the street foods they say you have to eat in Osaka, and something the city is known for, is Takoyaki, or octopus balls (not THOSE kind of balls). There’s tons of places in the busy area selling them, and you usually notice those places because of the lines, or the giant octopus or…

  • Best Japan Day

    Best Japan Day

    I had my best day in Japan yesterday. Why? • After three days of no coffee whilst at the buddhist monastery, I had some mind-resetting Starbucks in Nagano (The Starbucks in Japan are fantastic – huge, with tons of seats made for computer use) • I was able to find the correct train (to Yudanaka)…

  • I really didn’t do much research before coming to Japan, and really didn’t have many things that were “must see” for me. I just wanted to come here & kinda live it. So as I’m traveling around, I end up visiting a lot of things that the books, the sites, the people say I have…

  • Super Bowl

    I think I’ve found the best toilet ever, in the same room where I had my Super Bowl party. It’s so feature-rich & perfect, this could be my last post about Japanese toilets.* Let’s have it introduce itself to you: —————– *hahaha – nope

  • I’m staying in an amazing buddhist monastery in Koyasan in the mountains outside of Osaka. Needless to say, this isn’t a party place. But I was able to buy a great NFL Network stream of the Super Bowl for only $.99, so decided to have an 8:30am blowout in my room for the big game

  • A sports post in honor of Super Bowl Sunday! Baseball is clearly the top sport here, even just based upon the number of stadiums & fields you see in the cities. This little league one was on the same grounds as the massive castle in Hiroshima: I even ended up watching the game a bit,…

  • Another short post today, as I’m too busy doing this in Osaka

  • I stopped in Nara on my way from Kyoto to Osaka, because the deer in a park there have learned that if they bow, they get food. I had no idea that the deer would be everywhere, though, nor how tame they’d actually be: They’re definitely food motivated, but the problem was that I didn’t…

  • There’s sometimes not much to do in a Japanese city/town other than eat, or go to shrines & temples, so I end up just randomly walking around a lot, taking random pics of the random things I come across. Like: Bamboo groves Graveyards Water bottle graveyards Amazing art-itecture The guys-with-birds section of the park The…

  • The toilets here beg for your business

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    Everything You’ve Heard About Japan is True (a continuing series) Example #4: Ramen is everywhere Ramen places are in every town, in every neighborhood, on every block. And turns out there’s actually tons of different types of ramen, with different broth bases, different noodles, different toppings, and different preparations. It’s mind boggling, really, as they…

  • I got tired of lugging my big daypack around all the time just to hold a water bottle & sunscreen — it’s really meant for carrying lots of weight & hiking. So I bought a cheap European carryall @ H&M in Tokyo. It’s sooo much better, but I definitely had to swallow some of my…

  • I try really hard not to make fun of any of the English translations for things here. I appreciate the effort – when was the last time YOU tried to right something in a different language? So you’re not going to see any posts from me with pics of all the hilarious names you see…

  • I finally saw Mt. Fuji, on the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto. It was hard to get a video of it without something getting in the way, but at least this obstruction looks kinda cool: You can’t climb it in winter, so expected there to be more snow up there. Speaking of winter, Japan…

  • Tim: OK, I’m not crazy about temples, but since Kyoto is known for them, I think I’ll go to just one of them while I’m here, the most famous one, Kinkaku-ji Temple. How do I get there today? Google Maps: This is easy – Bus 205 will take you right there & the stop is…

  • Everything You’ve Heard About Japan is True (a series) Example #3: Vending machines are everywhere All over every street In front of houses In front of traditional stores In parking spaces At temple entrances However, 99.9% of the machines are pretty much exactly the same, and just sell liquids – water, soda, Sweat, Boss. Here’s…

  • I don’t care, I’m going to continue posting toilet content if I continue being amazed. In this episode, we see tank filling ingeniously being used as a sink faucet. I did think I’d done something wrong the first time I flushed this toilet, as I’m constantly doing things wrong in this country. But that’s a…

  • This is not the most exciting post (no toilet!) but I paid a bunch of money to go up to the Sky Deck at Tokyo City View, so feel obliged to post about it. So, look, lots of buildings & concrete! Japan National Stadium on the left! And way there in the back, the Japanese…