User:(WT-en) DavidCary Voyage Tips and guide

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I am fascinated by maps, especially the process of making maps.

Feel free to ask me to take photos of specific locations in or near Oklahoma. If you think it's interesting enough to take a photo, I'll probably also find it interesting.

... someday, no specific plans right now (2004-12):

• The Oosterschelde dam in the Netherlands (where, exactly ???). I hear that it is one of the most amazing dams in the world (is it that obvious that I'm an engineer ?). (This related to the Wikipedia:Zuiderzee_Works, right?)

• Berlin

• Luxembourg ?

• Instead of taking a plane from Belgium to Italy like my aunt, get a Eurail pass (or a Eurail/drive pass ???) and take the train, stopping at interesting places along the way -- Luxembourg, a few cities along the France/Germany border, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and other cities in Italy.

Things I'm wondering if they are worth taking a major detour to go see:

• Other places in the Netherlands ?
• Paris and other things in France ?
• Berlin and other things in Germany ?
• London and other things in England ?

In 2004, I spent several weeks in Europe.

Other questions:

• What's this about automobiles being banned in some cities ? I grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and I drive a car *everywhere*. Should I try to buy a bike when I get there ? Or can I rely on busses and other local transportation ?

Yes, I found the trains were very reliable for city-to-city transportation. Even when I missed a train, there was practically always another train leaving for the same destination every hour. --(WT-en) DavidCary 18:11, 16 Dec 2004 (EST)

• how do I learn more about hostels ?

• What's this about "Internet cafes" ? I've never even seen one in my entire life. (I've heard of 2 of them in Tulsa, but they are miles from where I live). Is it reasonably cheap/ hassle-free to post my travel-log from a Internet cafes to Wikivoyage ?

I've only been in Europe once before. Even that hardly counts since it was so long ago -- it was the year the Berlin wall came down. I'm sure many other things have changed since then.

Several members of my family will be in

• Retie, Belgium, on Saturday, September 18 2004 and Sunday, September 19.

for a ceremony celebrating the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Retie, Belgium.

My uncle, Robert Allen Cary, is apparently going to be on that stage and say a few words about his uncle, U.S. Air Force pilot Carl Allen Cary. See http://CarlAllenCary.com/ for details.

I still haven't found Retie, Belgium on any map, but I'm told it's within 10 miles of the Netherlands.

After that, I'm pretty much free to do whatever I want. I plan to meet up with a couple members of my family in

• Rome, Italy for a few days sometime around Sept. 22-23.

Then I'm on my own again.

Things to do before the trip:

• Buy walking shoes
• memorize the PIN numbers on my credit cards
• Plan itenerary
• Get "world phone" (1900 MHz for the US, 900 MHz for Europe and Asia) (or do I just want a 900 MHz phone ? I don't mind swapping the SIM card once as I leave and again when I get back). My current service provider claims that such a phone will work in Belgium and Italy ( http://www.t-mobile.com/products/worldclass.asp )

I got such a phone, and it worked fine. Of course, I panicked a little when I got back and I couldn't call anyone from the airport -- until I remembered I had to manually go through the menus and switch from the Europe frequency to the US frequency. -- DavidCary

• Learn a few words of Flemish.

What else am I missing ?

Things I've already done:

• Get new passport
• visit AAA for travel information. (They gave me a stack of tour listings, which some people would consider useful; but very little of the information I was looking for)
• Check library, used bookstores, and if all else fails new bookstores for relevant travel books.

Feel free to leave comments on my talk page.

Feel free to leave comments at the Visual Language wiki. (I am one of the 2 founders of that tiny little wiki).

USA: Oklahoma Oregon Hawaii

USA: Ohio Missouri California and many other states.

Germany: ... several cities, but that was many years ago.

Canada: Niagara Falls

Many good friends in Oklahoma and Kansas and Oregon.

I still occasionally correspond with one who went to high school with me, and now lives in South Africa.

I'd be happy to learn about friends elsewhere; I regret losing track of far too many people.

Dear Sarah,

i've enjoyed my trip so far and am looking forward to the rest.

Tell everyone there I wish they were here.

Love, David Cary.

p.s.: I can't read my email with the dutch version of Microsoft Internet Explorer. http://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/article/User:DavidCary seems to work fine.

2004-09-22: First time I've been able to check my email since I left Tulsa. Finally able to check my email from the Carlton Hotel in Haarlem, the Netherlands. (That hotel has 2 internet terminals for guests to use gratis.)

2004-09-22:

Dear friends and family,

I've had a wonderful time in Retie, Belgium.

The ceremony was lovely.

We saw the castle at Ghent and stood on the balcony near the top of the bell tower in Brugges (Bruge).

I should have some photos Real Soon Now.

2004-09-27: Monday

I've decided not to go to Luxembourg after all. Yesterday I went to the "Engelskerk" in inside the Begijnhof attached to the Dutch Historical Museum. I was surprised to hear they still preach in English (the pastor has a bit of Scottish accent). I was lucky enough to show up on a day they had a potluck after church.

After I checked out of the "Shelter City" hostel in Amsterdam, I took the train to Frankfurt Germany and had a Bratwurst, then took the sleeper train to Rome. I had a bit of a panic attack when the conductor asked for my train ticket and passport, then walked off with them, and then another conductor asked for my ticket and passport. At first I thought the first conductor was an imposter and had stolen my passport. But the second train conductor and I found the first one, he was perfectly official, and we got everything straightened out. The sleeper trains were pretty nice. Each room had 3 bunks and a small sink and mirror. The WC at the end of the car included a shower.

The train actually only went to Milan, but it was daylight by then and easy to find a train to Rome. That took a few hours, but the countryside was beautiful.

Someone at Shelter City recommended Colors Hostel in Rome, but I ran into 2 people loaded with backpacks (one from England, one from New Zealand) at the train station that said the Yellow hostel was the best one in Rome, and it was much closer to walk. (Claire and Sarah).

I'm at the Yellow Hostel in Roma. It has 3 internet terminals; free unlimited internet unless someone is waiting.

I'm glad my sister left a note here at WikiTravel, since my regular email doesn't seem to like these terminals either.

(WT-en) DavidCary 11:30, 27 Sep 2004 (EDT)

2004-09-30: Thursday

Tuesday I saw the Pantheon. It's ugly on the outside, but very impressive on the inside. Bob and Cathy and I met at Piazza Di Spagna and had lunch nearby. I had (small little peices of) swordfish on spagetti, Bob had some large shrimp on spagetti, and Cathy had a lobster with a collection of other seafood.

Yesterday (Wednesday) about 15 people from the Yellow Hostel went on a tour of the Vatican. Every Wednesday the Pope addresses the people in the ___ (big circular area in front of St. Peter's Basilica), and we got there in time to see the jeep drive up with the pope, circle the __, and drive up the stairs. Then the Pope gave an address in a few different languages.

Then our tour guide led us through one of the Vatican museums, and then left us at Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel. It takes a long time to take that in. Afterword I saw another museum. I rented an audio tour of Saint Peter's Basilica. Photos were OK in there, so I took a photo of the statue of the pope who gave us the Gregorian calendar and many other snapshots. There's so many things to see in the Basilica. After I though I'd seen it all, I found the stairs that lead under the floor of the Basilica, on a level with the tomb of Saint Peter.

One the guards thought I was a bit too interested in the statue of Constatinus I (the Emperor Constantine, the first Christian emperor), and asked me to back away from the glass in front of it.

It was sunset by the time I got back to the hostel.

2004-10-01: Friday Leg cramps last night. I'm a little surprised I haven't had any before now.

Did laundry.

Saw the castle of Sant Angelo. There are a lot of little rooms to look at. The view from the "top" is great. There's even a sketch at the top of the view you see, labeling all the major buildings in Rome. (The huge statue of the archangel Michael sheathing his sword is one level higher, but I couldn't go there).

2004-10-02: Saturday Saw Pompeii.

A few days ago (Thursday?) I enjoyed pizza at an outdoor table talking to Joy and a couple from England.

2004-10-03: Went to a church service at the closest church to my hostel. It was huge compared to churches I'm used to at home. But it looked like the priest did almost everything himself -- gave a message, read responsive reading, led the singing, etc.

Reserved a room (with https://www.ratestogo.com/ d.cary+ratestogo.com ) at Amadeus Hotel Milan for the night of the 4th, 5th, 6th. https://www.ratestogo.com/common/voucher.asp?rid=6220949&pwd=3826384410 https://www.ratestogo.com/common/invoice.asp?rid=6220949&pwd=3826384410 . How annoying -- at the end of registering, ratestogo wants me to print something out, and there's no printer here at Yellow Hostel.

OK, I've been home for a while now. I intend to get some pictures up Real Soon Now.

While I was in Bruges (Brugge), I visited

Bruges Diamant Museum http://www.diamondmuseum.be/

.