What should you do in New Orleans?

You should go to New Orleans, and there you should...

...take a guided tour of a cemetery... 

...which are arranged, among others, by Save Our Cemeteries.

...listen to jazz...

...while sipping a cocktail.

....walk in the French Quarter (and Marigny, and Treme, and elsewhere).

...go paddlewheeler-watching on the riverfront.

...eat gumbo, eat red beans & rice, eat po'boys, eat beignets, and, well, eat. Recommended places include Dooky Chase's, Gumbo shop and Coop's place, but it seems that there is no way to get bad food in the city. We ate everything before thinking of taking pictures, so this bowl of gumbo is from Wikimedia Commons. Picture by Elliot Lowe (CC BY 2.0).

...stay in an old New Orleans house, like in Olde Town Inn as we did.

...ride streetcars.

...and go to Bourbon Street like everyone else, at least briefly.

Me kävimme New Orleansissa 22.-26.5.2017.

Driving in Clouds

If you're headed from, say, Atlanta or New Orleans towards Washington DC or New York (or vice versa) you can, instead of boring Interstate Highways, drive almost a thousand miles of beautiful and slow mountain roads. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is in the Southern end of the route, the  Shenandoah National Park in the North. They are connected by a scenic mountain route known as the  Blue Ridge Parkway.

When within the clouds, you don't really see the scenery, but it may still be beautiful.

We drove about half of those mountain miles in early June 2017. As you can see from the video above, the weather was not really favorable, except towards the end of the journey. We had also planned a tight-ish schedule. We occasionally headed down from the mountains to the Interstates in the valleys, where it's possible to travel a lot faster. It was also a matter of safety: the winding mountain roads are a little scary if the visibility is poor, especially considering the abundant wildlife. We saw deer, wild turkeys, opossums (we suppose), and one rattlesnake. When darkness falls, it is better to drive on an illuminated highway than in the dark mountain roads - an even better idea is to reach your destination before sunset.

Deer in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

As usual in the USA, things have been made easy for a car tourist. There are vantage points every few miles, and a lot of differnet sights to see, so many that even the most duty-conscious tourist can't possibly visit them all (and some of the sights are, how should I put this, questionable). We recommend Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee, North Carolina, just south of Great Smoky Mountains, and the Mabry Mill, a cute open-air museum in southern Virginia, as well as Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States and the author of the Declaration of Independence (I'm planning on writing more about Monticello later). There are hiking trails and other opportunities to experience the Great Outdoors, but we drove past them, because of the schedule and couch potatoness.

Like many Native American peoples, the Cherokee smoked tobacco in this kind of stone pipes, often in their ceremonies.

The Cherokee played a ball game they called the "Little Brother of War" with sticks like this. The exhibition in the Cherokee Museum is quite impressive, including a presentation of the "Trail of Tears" (or, literally, "The Road on which They Wept"), the forced transfer from the traditional Cherokee lands to Oklahoma, where most of the Cherokee still reside.

The green Mabry Mill is fairytale-like, at least in June.

We do not recommend Pigeon Forge, Tennessee at the southern end of the route, not to travelers like us anyway. There are most bizarre Las Vegas-like plastic tourist traps, such as the half-scale half a Titanic, including the Iceberg. Traveling on mountain roads may be slowed down by not only weather but also traffic jams, especially during the holiday season and on weekends. The route is quite popular and tens of millions of people live nearby.

Titanic. Well, half a Titanic. And the Iceberg.

Huge motor homes, towing "rescue boats", are frequently seen on U.S roads. Many are much larger than this one seen at a Blue Ridge Parkway picnic area.

Like most US National Parks, Shenandoah charges an admission fee, but there are no road tolls or charges on the Blue Ridge Parkway and The Great Smoky Mountains National Park is free of charge. Practically, the only way to experience the route is a car (or, of course, a motorcycle or such), your own or rented. At least in the summer season, it is possible to reach some places in the The Great Smoky Mountains National Park by public transport.

We drove on the Blue Mountains from June 4th to 6th 2017.

People in Israel

I like to take pictures. I also like people-watching. However, I generally do not enjoy people photography, and I seldom get very good results. Surprisingly, in Israel I did get a few pictures that I consider pretty decent. Maybe it was because everywhere, especially Jerusalem, was so crowded.

A woman looking out of her window in the "White City", Tel Aviv.

Hard-working cooks in a popular Tel Aviv lunch joint. The food they made was tasty.

Birdman, Dizengoff square, Tel Aviv.

Garbage haulers, Jerusalem.

Holy selfie, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem.

A Sniper, Damascus Gate, Jerusalem.

A Camel and a Tourist, Mount of Olives, Jerusalem.

A tourist on Masada (click on the picture for a bigger panorama).

Old Man and a girl and a boy and the sea, Acre.

Three travelers on the Acre Sea Walls.

April-May 2016.

Acre, five millennia of battles

The walls of Acre provide great views over the Mediterranean Sea. 

Acre is a relatively small city on the Galilean coast, in northern Israel. As far as we know, people have lived in the area since approximately 3000 BC. The city and its inhabitants have been cursed with a strategical location. Acre has been conquered, besieged and bombed:

• by Alexander the Great, about  332 BC
• by Caliph Umar's army in  636
• by the Crusaders in 1104
• by Sultan Saladin in 1187
• by the Crusaders again in 1191
• by the Mamluk sultan's troops in 1291
• by Napoleon in 1799
• by English, French and Austrian navies in 1840
• and by many others

Acre is probably most famous for Crusaders, at least in the so-called Western World. The biggest attraction in the town is the Crusader Castle, known as the Citadel. To be precise, only the underground parts date from the Crusaders' time. The Ottoman Empire, who ruled Acre from the 16th Century until the First World War, had a more modern fortress constructed on the foundations of the crusader-built Citadel. The bloody, noisy and gunpowder-smelling history of the city is presented to the visitor by means of modern technology: a device and earphones are given to every visitor, and it automatically explains the history of the site on a chosen language. Films explaining life (and death) in Acre are projected to old walls, and sometimes floors.

The system works, but in my opinion it controlled the visitor's experience maybe too much, limiting curiosity and spontaneous interest. My device worked well, but it seemed that some others experienced malfunctions, which causes annoyance and frustration. That said, I'm sure the museum staff is happy to help and, if needed, exchange a non-functioning device to a working one. The audio clips themselves are well executed. A highlight for me was the story of Napoleon's siege of Acre, presented as a dialogue between a French and an Ottoman soldier.

The king of Jerusalem with his entourage.

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The Crusaders' bathroom was known as the latrine.

There are many other historical sights in Acre, in addition to the Citadel. A Crusader-built tunnel runs under the city center, a small but charming local history museum is situated in the wall fortifications, and there's a restored hamam spa from Ottoman times. The visitors to the hamam are provided with similar guide devices as in the Citadel. In my opinion, here the application is not as good as in the castle: the deluge of stories and information may feel overwhelming, and the video screens divert attention from the beautiful building and interesting objects.

Bathers in the hamam.

The masseur at work.

Acre is not only about museums. It is fun to get lost on the bazaar alleys, and walk on the city walls, taking in the views of the Mediterranean and the city of Haifa over the bay. The historic center of Acre is surrounded by the sea from three sides, and the breeze often keeps it nicely cool - the Israeli climate is a bit too hot for our northern tastes.

The Blue Mediterranean.

Napoleon's army (if I remember correctly) left this cannon on the Acre walls.

In Israel, nothing is ever far away. It's easy to take a day trip to Acre from Tel Aviv or Haifa by local train. The city is completely different from modern Tel Aviv or sacred and chaotic Jerusalem. One of the fascinating things about Israel is that a different reality is always just around the corner, or not more than a 30-minute train ride away.

The Acre Railway Station is a short walk away from the Old Town. On the way there are, among other things, some eccentric artwork, like these disco deer and storks.

The warlike past of Acre is very visible in the town, as are the tensions of today - there's no escaping them in Israel. But, when sitting in a waterfront restaurant, looking at the turquoise water and an old man teach fishing to his grandchildren, it is easy to forget unpleasant things and, for a moment, to concentrate on the beautiful.

We visited Acre on May 3rd 2016.

Sintra, Castles in the Clouds

Pena palace covered by clouds.

I have visited quite a few castles, and even worked in one. It would be fair to say that I like castles a lot. In Sintra, just outside Lisbon, there are no less than three castles, so I obviously had to go there. In the end I only had time to visit two of them, as their opening hours are limited, less than 12 hours a day.

The Castle of the Moors, Castelo dos Mouros, is the oldest and, to me, most wonderful of Sintra's castles. In fact it's one of the most interesting castles I've ever visited, and it says a lot. It was, as the name implies, built by Arabs, known as moors at the time, who ruled medieval Portugal and Spain, They build their stronghold on top of a steep mountain, to a position easy to defend. The oldest walls are some 1200 or 1300 years old.

The walls of the Castle of the Moors.

In 1147 AD the Moors surrendered to troops commanded by Afonso Henriques, whom the Portuguese consider a national hero. The Portuguese flag has flown over the castle ever since - however, the design has changed several times. Now, many different historical flags fly in the flagpoles. The castle lost its military significance already on the 15th century, and an earthquake damage it on the 18th century. The restauration work started on the 19th century, first paid personally by the king of Portugal. The remaining structures of the castle are very interesting, but best is the dramatically beautiful setting on top of a mountain, above Sintra town. Pictures do no justice to the views.

It's not easy to dig a well in a castle on a mountain top. The crafty Moors solved the problem by building an underground cistern to collect rain water, so that the defenders of the castle would have something to drink even when under siege.

Near the Castle of the Moors, on a slightly higher mountain top, stands the Pena Palace. It is not nearly as old, the palace was built in mid-19th Century, but it incorporated some structures from an earlier convent building. It was originally the king's summer residence. It is quite a patchwork of architectural styles, and the richly decorated rooms create an impression of a castle in the clouds - and the palace is indeed frequently covered by clouds. When the 1910 revolution deposed the last king of Portugal, the palace was converted to a museum.

There is one more castle in Sintra, known as the National Palace, Palácio Nacional de Sintra. It, too, is originally built by the Moors, but the present appearance date from 14th and 15th centuries when the Portuguese kings resided there. Unlike the Castle of the Moors and Pena Palace, the National Palace is situated in the center of Sintra town. One day would probably be enough time for most visitors to visit all three castles, but I spent so much time in the two mountain castles that the National Palace closed before I got there. I admired it from the walls of the Castle of the Moors.

Kansallinen palatsi.

There's more to Sintra than the castles. It may not be a bad idea to spend two days there. Travel time from Lisbon is about an hour by suburban train, and tickets are very affordable. The mountain castles can be reached from Sintra station by bus or taxi. It is possible to walk, too, but it cannot be recommended to day-trippers whose time is limited. A budget traveler who stays in Lisbon should either eat in Lisbon or come equipped with a picnic lunch: Sintra is very popular among both Portuguese and foreign visitors, and that shows in cafe and restaurant prices.

I visited Sintra on July 3rd 2014.

The world's best snack booths

Sausage in Vienna.

I am not what you would call a culinarist. I like good food as much as the next person, but as a rule, I concentrate on other things when travelling, and do not like to invest a lot of time in finding places to eat. Consequently, I often end up eating some kind of fast food, That said, I try to avoid international chains and eat at places ran and frequented by locals, when at all practical.

However, this does not (always) mean that the food I eat is bad. On the contrary, often fast, affordable and tasty are served on the same plate. Here are a few highlights I've encountered.

Tima-Irma, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
The hungry of Mostar, locals and tourists alike, have found their way to Tima-Irma ever since the days of Marshal Tito, and been hungry no more. As always in Herzegovina (and Bosnia, as well as in Croatia and Montenegro), Čevapčići is excellent, and so is everything else. Prices are reasonable. Tima-Irma also serves tasty local beer, which is not easy to find.

Look for this sign on  Onešćukova street, east from the Bridge.

Tima-Irma may be my favorite of all, and I have recommended it to many fellow travelers. They all have loved it and spread the word. I may have accidentally started a cult.

We have eaten at Tima-Irma in 2009 and 2012.

El Farolito, San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
This place, situated in the corner of Mission and 24th, serves burritos that may change your life. As a lot of other people want to eat there too, prepare for queues and chaos. The process of ordering and serving at El Farolito may be confusing for first-timers. First, one queues to the counter, where the orders are placed and paid. There one receives a slip of paper with a number on it, and beverages (I recommend one the Mexican fruit sodas), Then one tries to find a seat, or, if all seats are taken, remains standing wherever there is room. Soon, a waiter will be walking up and down the aisle, shouting numbers in Spanish and English. One should listen for the two last numbers on the slip received at the counter (it's a 5-number code but the first three don't matter). Note that there is no logical connection between the numbers and the order in which the food is served: if one has, for example, a slip ending in 56, the previous one may be 33, 48 or 71.

Somehow I failed to take any pictures in El Farolito, so this is from Wikimedia Commons, by Rick Audet of San Francisco.

Any inconveniences are forgotten when the food arrives - it is indescribably good. San Francisco is in general expensive, but Farolito's prices are reasonable. It serves some exotic (for North Europeans) specialties, like tongue burritos. The uninitiated, like me, may find some Mexican foods extremely spicy. I recommend Quesadillas: the cheese balances the burning chili peppers nicely.

It should be mentioned that the waiter in El Farolito is, at the time of writing, only person who has ever addressed me as "bro".

We ate in El Farolito in June 2015. Twice.

The sausage stand with the green bunny, Vienna, Austria
We visited Vienna very briefly. We were tipped by a local about a sausage stand behind the Opera House. It was a good tip.

The green bunny  is easily recognized .

There are about a dozen different kinds of sausages. We tried Waldviertel and Red Bratwurst. Both were excellent. I recommend local märzen beer, but you can splurge on a bottle of real Champagne if you feel like it. Prices are reasonable: we paid less than 10€ for two sausages and two beers.

We ate sausages in Vienna in August 2016.