Travel

It’s All Greek To Me

/ Terry Heck / 4 Comments

Sorry for the delayed posting of this. I’ve been back home for a few weeks now and have been dealing with a large amount of personal issues that have made it difficult to concentrate on other things.

We left Greece three days before they closed the banks this time around. I had no idea there were any further issues until we were already out and in Germany. While there however, you almost couldn’t tell there was massive debt, a high unemployment rate or that people were struggling. We spoke to a fair number of people that said the issues Greece had to face were no where near as bad as the media makes it out to be. Granted one person was a jeweler that likely was doing pretty well for himself regardless. Another was the artist that did my tattoo. He told me that the problems were essentially caused by people under twenty five to thirty years old. Basically, they want to complain about the situations but they don’t want to work. He said that there are jobs if people want them but the youth of Greece have a very large sense of entitlement and refuse work when it is presented.

We got to Frankfurt and heard about the bank closures, the limitation on ATM withdrawals as well as lack of ability to pay by credit card and how this affected travelers on holidays. I’m glad we had the time in Greece and just as happy we didn’t get stuck there due to the issues.

Despite all of the nay-saying people have been doing over the course of this whole problematic relationship between Greece and the European bank the people of Greece were awesome, friendly, accommodating and all around pleasant to meet and speak with about anything from the issues themselves to just small talk (they do it well). The Grecian people we spoke with seem to be taking be everything in stride. It’s a mantra I can relate to given the issues I’m dealing with right now myself.

Most of our time was spent in Athens proper. Our hotel (Hotel Attalos) was small but nice and the hotel staff was great. The shining jewel of this establishment was that the roof top bar they have gave a direct view of the Acropolis on the hillside. Speaking of which, guess where we went? That’s right, the Acropolis. The attraction was busy but I didn’t feel crowded like it was in Rome. Once again, however, the other attractions that were associated with the ticket price seemed to have been overlooked by the general public. There were a total of ten or so attractions you could see and most of them had just a handful of people partaking. It reminds me of the people that go to the Louvre only to see the Mona Lisa, which is a shame and does not make a lot of sense to me. There is so much more to see and do outside of the “top” attractions in each city you visit.

We did end up taking a single day island trip to Hydra. This place was a gem, so let me tell you about it. You see, there are only two motorized vehicles on the island. One is the Ford F150 with a small water tank on the back that serves as their fire truck and the other is the garbage truck. Other than that there are boats but nothing else on land. The silence was astounding. You can hear yourself think there, which was quite refreshing.

Hyrda is filled, and I do mean filled, with roaming cats. No one owns them and everyone owns them all at once. The town as a whole takes responsibility for these animals. They are allowed in all the shops that line the coast. It was pretty nice to see something like that. Unfortunately I did not get to my camera in time to take a photograph of a man, bags in hand, calling out to the cats and the cats running to him from every direction. Out of houses, shops, alleys, bushes or whatever else they were in/on/around. Seeing a dozen cats all running at him from different directions then following him home was pretty great although for a moment I had horror movie speculations about what would happen to him as they were lunging at the bags he was carrying to get at the food.

Our seven hours in Hydra were over after a small meal at one of the many restaurants then we were back on the hydrofoil jetting back to Athens.

We only had three days or so in Greece but I would like to go back. Perhaps more island hopping or staying the entire time on Crete (which is ultra cheap by the way). I don’t know if it was because the end of the trip was fast approaching or if it was just because Greece is well, Greece, but I really liked the country as a whole. Laid back, fun, inexpensive, impressive and friendly among other things would be words to describe the form and function of Greece and how I felt while there. There are other places I need to see in my life, but Greece is on the short list of spots to revisit.

I’ll be writing about Germany next, our last stop in Europe, which had an intensely personal meaning for me to go there. It will be a very emotional post for me and likely the longest one I will write. I should have it out within the next five days or so. Bear with me, will ya? Thanks, I appreciate it.

Until next time, keep your eyes on the horizon.

When in Rome?

/ Terry Heck / 3 Comments

This is an open letter to Rome, Italy.

Dear Rome,

Why have you fallen so far from what I remember as an eleven year old kid?
I remember you being spectacular, wonderful, exciting and bigger than life. I came to see you again recently and noticed how little you care about yourself anymore. I remember being able to walk around without hordes of people coming up to me trying to sell me selfie sticks, umbrellas and light up toys you throw in the air. Not to mention the massive amount of other tourists, many more than when I was there last. I remember being at the Colosseum courtyard and actually having to walk up to vendors to purchase things and having to haggle with them and enjoying the experience. When did you get so expensive? Was it the Euro that did this to you? Nearly thirty Euros for two bowls of soup, bread and water? This is ridiculous to me! Also, we should talk about the rampant commercialism of places like the Vatican. I realize that there has always been money involved but do you really have to shove two thousand people at once into the Sistine Chapel? We used to have to be silent and respectful in there, now it’s pretty much a farce. The one thing I still found amazing was your Colosseum. It is one of the most impressive structures I’ve ever been in. This is the image of you that I will keep, the one where I still remember you as wonderful and awe inspiring.

How did you fall so far? Maybe it’s because of a wider spread ability to travel globally, perhaps it’s just that you no longer care about anything but the almighty dollar. I found you dirty, rude, obnoxious and disappointing overall. Definitely not the way I remember you. I’m sorry Rome, you and I can no longer be friends. I won’t be coming around again, unless it is during a layover at your airport. I can’t see you the way I used to. Don’t get me wrong, I know you have had a long life and have an impressive history, but you’ve lost my respect. I enjoyed our time together twenty years ago and will always cherish those memories. Take care of yourself, I hope you can remember who you used to be and get back to that point.

Best wishes for the future,

Terry

Prague, my Favorite City so Far.

/ Terry Heck / Leave a comment

We got in at six in the morning by train from Krakow. We got to the hotel by tram and from the moment we stepped off the tram and crossed our first bridge I knew Prague would simply be magical, purely and truly. The area we stayed in was filled with colorful and ornate buildings. Each door was custom and different. Art was everywhere you turned, whether it was being sold by people on the street and on the Charles bridge or on the buildings and structures themselves. We were essentially outside of the main tourist area, but close enough that it was a medium length walk to the center square. Performers are everywhere, from classical instruments to side show type spectacles. One Irishman was doing a show that involved whipping his volunteer and ended with him laying on broken glass which happened to be smashed in front of us and created from the beers he was drinking all afternoon while doing his show.

The city is alive and there is a buzz in the air at most times of the day. It’s not just tourists, it’s locals too. Granted most places, even coffee shops surprisingly, don’t open until eleven in the morning. Even with that there were people out as early as six or seven jogging, commuting, talking with friends on the street. Its very active even though you would assume it wouldn’t be given the opening times. Our first days were spent walking around, sampling the Czech food, drinking beers and Cecile shopping for art and jewelry, which was great. After the hustle of Paris and the emotions of Auschwitz it was nice to just chill out for a bit.

We stayed at a hotel in the Mala Strana district. It was a pleasant, clean, well kept hotel. We had a suite instead of a regular room and it was really spacious and comfortable. The receptionist at the hotel, Eva, was simply a dream. She made phone calls for taxi’s and rental cars, got our room ready early, and made arrangements for a great many things. She was the single greatest hotel receptionist that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

Truthfully the car rental we got was in order to head over the Vienna, Austria for a day, which turned into getting a hotel and staying the night. Vienna was less awesome than expected. In fact I don’t really know what I expected. I was in Austria when I was a kid and we were in the Alps back then. I figured Vienna would remind me of that. Old school houses, nice scenery and the like. It didn’t. It had almost zero old world charm and granted we were only there for twenty four hours but I expected more of it. The saving grace of Vienna was St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Now, if you’ve been keeping up with my site and blog then you already know I’m a sucker for Gothic architecture. This is the reason that this church was the highlight of this particular city for me. We left Vienna with a sense of wishing there was more to it. Again, we were there for a single day, these are my impressions based on old memories that I wish were more prevalent and the fact that we didn’t explore much other than city center. Take my take on Vienna with a grain of salt, I’m sure it’s awesome when you have more time.

The drive back to Prague however was crazy! We decided to take some back roads instead of the main highway. This was great, really great. It was like being in a rally car. I was navigating and calling the upcoming turns and whether they were sharp or not while Cecile was driving. Keep in mind that some of these roads were single lanes and you had two way traffic. It was pretty intense and absolutely fun!

We were both really happy to be back in Prague and we decided to go to a musical performance that was part symphony and part opera. It was held in an old church in the tourist district, a few minutes from the Charles bridge. The acoustics were impressive and the voice of the soprano was amazing. She had a very large range and actually managed to make me tear up a couple of times. It was overall a great and moving performance on all fronts. The same day we went to a theater show, which broke my brain. It was kind of an Alice in Wonderland story, but not actually a retelling. It was a show about how the author of the books was telling a dying child the things Alice was doing after the books, but again, not really. It was done in black light and interpretative dance. It had clowns and Jewish ghosts, was based in Prague as a setting and confused the hell out of me. I had no idea what was happening, nor did most of the others there, from the reactions I saw. It was kind of about Alice’s maturation and finding love, but again, and I cannot stress this enough, this is coming from a person that had no clue what was going on. I would recommend you stay away from shows named Aspects of Alice and for those that have seen is and can tell me what I watched please comment and tell me because I’d like to know.

Our last day was spent going through the exhibits and buildings at Prague Castle. Again, a massive Gothic Cathedral that took my breath away, more than any other Gothic structure yet. The stained glass was crisp and colorful. The architecture itself was stunning and was everything I hoped for when we stepped in the doors. Other parts of the Castle included an exhibition on the history of the area as well exhibitions on torture devices, palaces and treasures. Overall, an impressive collection of activities that took us about six hours to go through. A pleasant way to spend our last day there.

I would recommend Prague to pretty much anyone I can. It’s a great city, filled with many characters, many stories and many fun and exciting things to do. It’s fast paced and slow all at once, depending on you and what you want out of the city. It quickly became my favorite city I’ve visited due to the culture, diversity, art and sense of life you can feel there.

I’ll be posting pictures later on, as it have thousands to sort through. I will create a gallery and update you guys on it.

Next up will be Rome and just a heads up, I hated it there. More on that later.

Keep your eyes on the horizon!

Krakow to Auschwitz

/ Terry Heck / Leave a comment

This post will be split in two parts. The first will be about Krakow and happy and the second will be about Auschwitz and quite sad.

I will not be posting pictures of Auschwitz as I personally believe it would be in poor taste and not appropriate to do so on social media. Those that want to see the pictures can either e-mail me directly, or wait until I get home and I can show you in person.

So that being said, Poland was not what I expected at all. When I thought of Poland as a destination I assumed it would be a drab, cold, grey place where no one smiled. I landed and was immediately taken aback. There was color everywhere, happy people, green landscapes and rolling hills. It was not what I envisioned in the slightest. I was extremely grateful that my previous assumptions were incorrect. Now granted, I did not do a lot of research on Poland (Krakow) as we were only going to be there for thirty or so hours. I broke my own rule about lack of understanding a place before I got there. Shame on me I suppose but maybe you don’t need to completely research places, as that may just ruin the surprise when you get there.

We had a fantastic meal at a restaurant about a block from the hotel. The equivalent of fifty dollars got us beers, cider, two appetizers and two mains. At home a similar meal at a similar restaurant would have been three to four times that much. This was the first indicator we had about the cost of things here, and it was looking like an inexpensive place to be. Again, quality of food versus cost was astounding. We liked it so much we went back the next day to try other things. Total food we had in two visits there: boar sausage, cold beet and hot rye soup, rabbit loin wrapped in bacon, ribs, pork knuckle, many beers and drinks. All of the food was great and I would recommend Straka (name of the place) to anyone going to Krakow.

Auschwitz, a one hour or so drive from Krakow. I know quite a bit about WWII history and what went on there however my primary reasons was to see what it felt like to walk the same paths that the prisoners did, to see the actual places that people were lined up in front of a German officer and separated from friends and family and either be put to work or sent to die. I could read about the things that happened and learn about them but to actually be there definitely threw me for a loop. The second we entered the main gate of the small camp, Auschwitz I, you could see it in some people’s faces, and I’m sure you could see it in mine as well. It was sadness. The part of this section of the tour that I lost it in was seeing two thousand kilograms of hair, sitting in a glass enclosure, that spanned an entire room. This was the hair of approximately seventy thousand women that entered Auschwitz but never got to leave. It was heartbreaking to see this as well as other rooms filled with confiscated shoes, thousands and thousands of shoes. Hundreds of suitcases and luggage, in another room, that they brought to these camps without realizing what was happening to them. They packed their lives away, one suitcase per person, and everything was ripped away from them. Approximately one and a half million people were murdered in Auschwitz before the end of the war and many children were sent to Germany for re-education and to become Germanized. Seeing the temporary gas chamber that was still standing there was tough to deal with as well. You could see what appeared to be finger nail marks in the walls where people were trying to claw their way out. They used a poison delivery system that could take up to twenty minutes to suffocate the people inside. It was genocide at it’s worst. Thinking about the panic and sheer terror that people must have gone through trying to survive an impossible situation is almost unbearable.

The second part of the tour was a short distance away at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of the three camps at Auschwitz. The others dwarfed in comparison. The concentration camp here was housing one hundred thousand prisoners at a time. This was the site that had multiple large gas chambers that the Nazis used to kill up to two thousand people at once, per chamber. They also had crematoriums situated close by to use as disposal methods. All of these buildings were destroyed when the camp was liberated. There is a monument there that serves as a reminder that we should not repeat the past and to let it be known that this was the location of one of the most tragic and unthinkable things to happen in human history. You can see rows upon rows of barracks that housed these prisoners. They were often made to work over ten hours a day in whatever weather was present, given two meals a day that served as perhaps one third of their needed intake and allowed to go to the bathroom only when instructed (they were counted down from thirty seconds, then removed from the latrine). This was brutal, daily life for these people. If they weren’t starved or worked to death, they were killed systematically by a group of people that viewed them as cattle, not people.

Even thinking about it while writing this nearly brings me to tears. I did end up feeling many emotions throughout the day. Anger, sadness, empathy and maybe even guilt. It was hard to differentiate between what I was feeling at times, because I didn’t always know what I was feeling. It was a lot to take in and caused a lot of emotions all at once. I still find myself having difficulty with processing everything I saw and felt, and likely will have trouble for a long time to come.

I think everyone should go here once in their lives, regardless of religion, historical background or racial heritage. It’s a tragic part of history that I think everyone needs to experience and witness and learn about.

Next up, five days in Prague and a bit of time to relax, maybe. Keep your eyes on the horizon!

Paris…..C’est la vie

/ Terry Heck / 3 Comments

Before I get to what we did and what we saw I want to start off by saying that the bad rap that Parisians get in regards to being rude or smug couldn’t be farther from the truth in my opinion. Each of the people I had interactions with were friendly, kindhearted and genuinely willing to help.

/Begin Rant
I’ve come to the conclusion that the reason they get this bad rap is because of us, North Americans. We expect service a certain way, the servers to be ultra attentive and nothing to go wrong. Meanwhile when the person serving you comes even one too many times you immediately think they are infringing on your god given rights to be left alone at dinner. We (North Americans, and not all of us) created this paradox for ourselves. Yes, service is important, but unrealistic expectations are of no help to anyone. For this, I will provide an example.

This is eyewitness testimony of a situation that occurred yesterday at a cafe. I’m the eyewitness, in case that was not immediately evident *wink*. Picture this, a square near the Opera House in central Paris (more on this later, I have my rant to finish, be patient). A single cafe on that particular side of the block. The outdoor seating, as with most cafes in Paris, have small tables, cramped spaces, and chairs all facing towards the street. Cue the single, solitary server that has been assigned to the twenty or so tables outside, by herself. She is visibly flustered, trying desperately to clean tables while taking orders and getting people their bills and make change. Next, cue two women from the southern United States (accent guaranteed this, not hating on the US or their splendid women) who crammed their way into the last two tables in the corner to my left. The tables were not cleaned yet, so they grumbled about that immediately. Meanwhile I ordered my salami and bread and espresso from the same server, who also had yet to clean my table. I told her not to worry about it as I knew that she was working her ass off and hell, its a coffee and sandwich, how much room did I need?

She started to clear a table directly behind me and dropped a wine glass, it shattered and the previously mentioned women scoffed about it in her general direction, calling her clumsy and such. The server likely noticed this as she went right over to them without dealing with the glass situation. They asked for the two tables they were at to be pushed together and cleaned as soon as possible and told her that they were getting tired of waiting. She apologized, left to get her clearing tray and was caught on the way back by someone wanting coffee. These two women weren’t having that, it would seem. They waited for her to clear the two tables by about ninety percent, got up, told her she was terrible at her job and squeezed their way back out of the seating area. My mouth was agape and I was stunned. How could these women, seeing the shit storm this girl was in, be anything but understanding? It was crazy. We made sure to give her some kind words and a good tip, she was earning her pay that day, and likely most others.

Why tell you this story? Because it lends itself to what I was saying before, about expectations. We have expectations that things will be like they are at home, that we will have all of our creature comforts, that we don’t need to adjust how WE are in another country. That’s bullshit to me. When you go to another country have the courtesy and wherewithal to learn some basic words and phrases, some common customs, do some research about where you are going and gear your expectations to meet the things that are the norm there. Paris, and much of the rest of Europe so far, has slower service. This isn’t to screw with you or make your life harder it’s just the way it is. Guess what? You do some of the things I listed previously and you won’t be disappointed and the people of the place you are visiting might just appreciate it.
/End Rant

Now, on to the non-ranty portion of our program.

Paris, is confusing at times, huge, overwhelming at first and great all at once. We stayed at an apartment in an area called Montmartre.Paris
This was apparently the usual hangout of artists, poets and musicians back in the day. Today it’s a trendy spot full of cafes, bistros, small fruit and vegetable stands as well as seafood and butcher shops. Its quaint, while busy and small but feels massive. Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart), a splendid, white stoned, Gothic church is a short distance away and was pretty busy. We also visited the Dali museum in the area. The art was beautiful and thought provoking.

We arrived at the catacombs under Paris around nine in the morning, coffee in hand, and waited until it opened at ten to go in with our tour group. These underground tombs hold approximately six million people’s remains. I was awestruck while walking through the hallways made of bone.
We then made our way to the military museum that houses Napoleon’s tomb and a ridiculous amount of weaponry and armor from the twelfth century to World War II.
I’m big fan of anything from the middle ages, so I thoroughly enjoyed this visit. We were both pretty tuckered out after doing these two things so we came home and enjoyed a small nap (these are way easier to have in Europe) then headed off, once again, into the void that is the Paris subway system. As a side note, the subway here is amazing, fast, and well planned, not a bad thing to say about it. We arrived at the docking point of our boat ride around the river. We were served food, which was terrible and had a warm beer, equally terrible. The real treat here was getting to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night.
Cecile and I had no desire to actually go to the tower itself, as crowds are horrendous, but we got to see it in all it’s glory from our sparsely occupied boat. With the day and night complete we hopped back on the train and headed home to a peaceful sleep.

The next day we headed over to the Arc de Triomphe, snapped a quick picture then went right back down the stairs to the subway in order to make our appointment to see the Paris Opera House (told you I’d come back to it). The opera house was fairly busy and everything appeared normal. Marble stairs, some sculptures and things of that ilk. Then we walked in to it, the single most opulent, shiny, gold, silver, art filled room I have ever witnessed in my life. The sheer magnitude of wealth of this room both in history and objects actually made my jaw drop and say, “Holy shit”. A first on this trip. This was another place I desperately wanted to see in Paris, and it did not disappoint or fail to impress.

After the Opera House we went to the Luvre. The crowds here were super intense, which I half expected, but it was difficult to get in to see any of the obligatory things such as Venus De Milo and the Mona Lisa. We did get there eventually though, through a sea of people all cramming in to get a look (thank you zoom lens, you saved me).

The museum is gigantic and it is unlikely that you can visit it all in a single day. We managed to see some of the Italian painters, some Greek and Roman sculptures, a myriad of trinkets, baubles and artifacts from the 1700’s. There were egyptian relics we were able to discover and eventually we made our way to the Napoleon apartment displays. After being there at that point, approximately four hours, we decided to head home after a long day. I must say that the crowds were huge to see the two famous objects I mentioned above and barely anyone was around in the other wings. It’s kind of sad really, that so many people that enter the Louvre don’t seem to care about the other wonders you can see in its vast collections.

Paris is certainly an experience and a half. It has things to do to suit the tastes of anyone that visits this city. We only had three full days here, and accomplished a lot. I think I would have liked to slow it down a bit and explore maybe one exhibit per day over a longer period of time, perhaps a week instead. It was really great today, after the Dali museum, just walking around the streets in the area, getting lost, having to ask directions and then recognizing something we had seen before while wandering another day. It was fun to wander and I liked it.

Au revoir mes amis!

Next up is Poland where we will be for only one day to go to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Keep your eyes on the horizon!

Spain and Relaxation

/ Terry Heck / 3 Comments

We touched down in Malaga, Spain and immediately I felt the difference in climate from Ireland, which was expected but still pleasant. Our cab driver pointed out landmarks and points of interest on the way to the hotel and explained how to get around on the transit system. He was very helpful. The language barrier is a little difficult to circumvent here however you can pretty much get by with a mixture of strange gestures, body language, pointing and rudimentary Spanish. I expected Malaga to be sort of a relaxing portion of my journey. It did not disappoint.

Out hotel was in a local neighborhood, outside of the city center, so when we woke up we decided to explore our immediate surroundings. Immediate surroundings ended up being walking around for 2 hours aimlessly in order to locate various things, see sights and get the lay of the land. We stopped in at a small eatery for a beer and a small reprieve from the Spanish sun. Business hours are odd in Spain, like really odd. People close up shop from noon or one o’clock until four or five in the evening daily. Lunch doesn’t take place until later afternoon and it seems as though people don’t eat dinner until after eight at night. This is ultimately very strange for someone who comes from a much different way of timing their days. So when we stopped at this small restaurant I ordered two beers, one for me and one for mum. I went back for a second one for me and I guess they closed during this time, or at least weren’t serving but were still letting people use the patio. I was ridiculed in Spanish after pointing at a beer and asking for one. She was pointing at me while talking to her family that worked there, they started laughing and then she gave me shit. Regardless, I got my beer, she got her money and everyone left happy and satisfied. Oh! Did I mention beers were only 1.50 euros here? Mental!

We decided to walk a few more blocks and came upon a small open set of doors, the smells coming from it were awesome. Apparently we found a place that sells fresh made sandwiches, whole rotisserie chickens, liquor, beer and random premade tapas. The bill for 2 sandwiches a beer and a water came to 7 euros. Once again, mental! This is such a change from Ireland and Sweden. The cheapness of Malaga got me super excited. What other deals could we find?

After eating half of our giant sandwiches we hopped on the local bus to go to city center, which also happens to be a touristy walking/shopping/eating plaza the equivalent of about six or so city blocks, squared. The main city of Malaga hosts three hundred thousand permanent residents, and within this space are over 1300 restaurants. Beers in this area are double that of an outside neighborhood, boo I say!

We went to a huge Spanish Catholic cathedral, it was amazingly decorated and the architecture was phenomenal. After that we took a horse drawn carriage tour from city center to the port area and back, all the while being told about what we were seeing, in Spanish of course. I managed to get the names of most things but not much else. Thus concluded day one.

Today we were supposed to go to Morocco, this did not happen. After doing a little more research we decided against it. The day tours you can take are mostly filled with being hounded by merchants that have deals with the tour operators. As per reviews these same merchants are at each location you stop at, I personally did not want to deal with the bullshit and waste my time and money. I’ll get to Morocco one day, but on my own terms and likely farther inland than Tangier. Instead of Morocco we opted for continuing with Spain as a relaxing, laid back, slow walk kind of visit. We visited both a Moorish castle from the twelfth century and a Spanish castle from around the same time. The Moorish castle was magnificent, filled with old relics, original building layouts and many many viewpoints that overlooked Malaga. The Spanish castle was a trip and a half to get to. We walked up thirty five degree inclines for about a kilometer to get to the entrance. This is the highest point you can get to within city limits. The castle itself was pretty bare, which was disappointing, however the views from the top were amazing. This kind of killed the relaxing part but it was good to do non the less.

I’ve noticed the longer you spend here the easier it is to adapt to Spanish time. I think tomorrow I’ll sleep until noon then have a further lazy day to end off Spain.

After that we are flying to Paris which will be another whirlwind of a stop, jam packed with a ton of things we both want to see and do. I’m glad Spain was more of a gentle rest of a destination as it let us recharge our batteries for the upcoming craziness that is Paris.

Until next time, keep your eyes on the horizon!

Ireland….Simply Awesome

/ Terry Heck / 2 Comments

Right after getting off the plane yesterday, I was hit with a vibe. The vibe I got was one of kindness and relaxation and friendship. It was immediate, starting with the taxi driver, one Mr. Brendan Murphy. From the amount of times he joked with us, said “shite”, gave us helpful information, or the directions he gave us. All when he didn’t have to.

I’m used to sitting in complete silence when in a cab, minus the obligatory “Hello, I’m going to *insert destination*, ok?” This cab driver was different. I wanted to talk to him, wanted to know about him, it was very strange to me at the time.

The next morning it hit me, it was plain as day. People here are genuinely nice, genuinely interested in talking with you, it’s like a completely different social situation than back home.

All of the other drivers we met, same thing. Willing to help, just because. Willing to shoot the “shite” with you for the sake of doing so. A hostess (we did not interact with her at all until after dinner when she came to clean up the table) at the steak house we ate at tonight gave us the names, street addresses and directions to other restaurants in the area as well as one in Belfast for when we are there Wednesday.  She even gave us one for while we are in Paris. She was pleasant, thoughtful and kind. She spoke to us about her daughter and the travels she has done and places she loves. It was a solid ten minute conversation with someone we had just met. She didn’t need to do all of those things, but she did and it wasn’t to get a tip, or phony in any way. It was refreshing.

Now I may be a bit cynical because in Winnipeg, my home, that kind of thing just doesn’t happen much, if at all. Servers put on fake smiles, and feign interest. They seem to just want you out the door as soon as they can so they can fill the next table and get the next tip. Disclaimer : this blog post is in no way meant to offend, harm or otherwise make any person in the service industry feel like less of a person, or that I am roping them into some large group of assholes. You guys have it shitty sometimes, needing tips to live. I get the problems and I acknowledge them. These are simply differences that I have observed personally.

Another thing I noticed was peoples’ genuine interest in the others around them. No cell phones, Ipads or Ipods were out at the tables during any of the meals we had. I looked around and saw these people engaging in very odd behaviour. They were actually talking with one another as a family. It was both refreshing and unnerving. In North America we see the exact opposite so many times in so many situations. How did we fall so far from the values of the time before cell phones, before social media, before the internet?

I realize the irony of my spouting these thoughts while blogging on a social media platform on the internet. It is not lost on me. I think I need to make some changes when I get home. I need to make more of an effort to be attentive to those around me. I need to make more of an effort to see my friends and family on a more regular basis.

Ireland, hands down, has been one of the best places I have visited in my life. I will find it difficult to find another place on this trip to be more inviting and welcoming than this island has been to us. If it happens, I would be very surprised. I just wish I could spend more time here than the currently allotted number of days. I’ll be back Ireland!

Next post, hopefully tomorrow, will be about the sights we saw and things we did over the last couple of days and what tomorrow will offer, in more detail. So far we have gone to the Kilmainham Gaol, the obligatory Guinness Storehouse tour, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Dublin castle. Meeting up with a friend of a friend tomorrow (hopefully) and he is going to show us around his city for the day.

After that will be our trip to Belfast in Northern Ireland on Wednesday, and I will get to see one of the sights on my bucket list. The Giant’s Causeway. I’m super excited about what we have done and what is in store over the next two days and I cannot wait to share my Irish experiences with you.

Keep your eyes on the horizon!

My First Steps into Strange Lands

/ Terry Heck / 3 Comments

As I sit here in my dark hotel room, as my mum is sleeping a long day away, I wanted to reflect on the first twenty four hours of our journey. The flights we had were hardly unbearable, almost pleasant actually.  Winnipeg to Toronto was the portion of the flight that I had taken countless times before, no surprises there. However once we were on the plane out of Toronto my nerves started up, thinking about possibilities and the things that could go sideways really quick. Missing our connection, losing or forgetting something or trying to remember how to communicate with people again when you cannot speak the same language. Lack of incident on the whole series of flights made me think that, just maybe, nothing would go wrong.

Fast forward a short while and we step off of the train in Uppsala. While walking to our hotel, a church, yes a large religious building, decided to jump out at me and slash the arm of my leather jacket. So that bit about nothing going wrong, right out the window. On the plus side I was immediately directed to a tailor one block away and they will have it fixed by the morning. Silver linings and all that.

Getting situated at the hotel we are at was uncomplicated and the location itself could not be better. We are very centralized, the train station is one block over and there are plenty of bars and eateries within a short stroll across the street. Which brings me to this….

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My first beer in Sweden and likely not the last. I’m attempting to only drink local beers and local craft brews while in Europe. It tends to be cheaper and gives you a taste of the area.

The amount of green landscape and vegetation in the area (even for being in the downtown district) is astonishing coming from where I live.

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This section of street was only three minutes from our hotel and was right next to a river that ran between two other streets. Now yes, there are
many places in the world that have green areas and rivers. My amazement was how green the people are here. Most are in great shape, bicycles are the preferred mode of transportation and the streets were a lot cleaner than I am used to. In fact to stress how important cycling is to these folks I will illustrate with the following:

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These massive bike racks and rows of bikes were everywhere we went. Some seemed like they charged you parking fees akin to that of a car but much cheaper. Others at the train station, pictured above, were free.

So far the first day has surprised, shocked and pleased me greatly. The differences between the environmental concerns of Sweden and home are like black and white. Their transportation systems are incredibly efficient and reliable. Food, drink, transportation costs (train tickets and bus fares), all appear to be far more costly than they are at home. I came into this country knowing that things were a bit pricier so it was not a huge shock to me, but I can see how visiting here for a week can rack up costs pretty quickly.

Tomorrow we are heading out to Gamla Uppsala which is the old town just north of here. We will be visiting some viking burial mounds and seeing the countryside for the day. Afterwards, a short trip to Stockholm to visit with a friend of mine and have dinner with her family.

Leaving on a Jet Plane with a Fresh Start

/ Terry Heck / Leave a comment

Good Morning!

It is currently 8:30am and my flight for Sweden leaves in seven hours. I am beyond nervous, beyond excited, but also somewhat worried.

You see, my place of employment agreed to give me the time off for this trip, had me work extra days to bank time to make up for some of it as well as had me train someone as my temp while I was gone. Then last Friday happened. The HR lady called me and asked me to come to her office. “I knew it” I thought. I had my suspicions about the honesty and integrity that my boss decided to show in regards to the time off request as he barely showed much integrity at all in the past and very rarely kept his word. You see, two weeks previous I decided to ask him if my job was secure, if I had nothing to worry about. He looked at me straight faced and told me that everything was fine and that I didn’t need to worry. The one time I took his word about a serious matter, the one time I did not have my guard up when speaking with him, was the time that it came back to bite me.

I was let go due to “restructuring” of the company. I couldn’t believe the audacity of this man. He and I never got along, but I didn’t think he would do something like this. How can it be restructuring if the person I trained now has my job? Essentially he took the opportunity of a system change while I was gone to get rid of me because they had no other way.

Now, I will say this, losing the job did not bother me as much as being lied to (I work in transportation and the field is fairly specialized), so I did what I needed to do. I asked him why he lied to my face, how it could be called restructuring, how he could sit there with a smug look on his face and if he had it planned from the time that I requested the vacation? His response, “You no longer work here so I don’t need to explain anything to you”. Can you believe that? After five years of blood, sweat, determination to succeed and putting up with his intolerable bullshit, that is the answer I get. It’s a shame really, and I hope the person that got my job can deal with what is to come for him, more of the same.

All that aside, I’m excited to be leaving, I’m excited to explore, and I’m excited to look for a new job when I get home. One that treats people, well, like people. One that does not look at you like an ass in a chair.

I’m all packed and ready to go. Five shirts, three pairs of pants, five pairs of underwear and socks. My camera and related gear, my laptop, my journal. I’m all set to have a great experience and put all this nonsense behind me. I’m going to worry about the road ahead and what lies in front of me. The past is the past and you just keep going, keep dreaming, keep learning. I’m looking forward to it.

The next post will be once we land in Sweden and get situated, providing I can snag some WiFi at the hotel. You will be hearing from me more often, I apologize for the delays so far.

Keep your eyes on the horizon and never stop dreaming.

Life Is What You Make It….Or Upcoming Changes To Myself

/ Terry Heck / Leave a comment

I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching lately and I have come to a conclusion. I need to make some changes, for myself, and for those around me. Hopefully I don’t come across as a bad person but I am going to share with you, my friends, relatives, random readers, the thoughts I have as of late, and what I intend to do to change myself for the better.

Now I realize that this is a travel blog, but I think that some or all of these things will help me in some way while travelling and it may also give some insight into the person I was, the person I am and the person I want to be.

Stop Gambling: First and foremost, I have been known to gamble, high stakes, high rewards type of stuff. I’ve never committed a crime to further my gambling, nor have I lied about my gambling to those that I deem close or those that I love. I am, however, noticing a pattern developing. I have stopped caring when I lose, and I get the same sick to my stomach feeling when I am not playing. It’s the same feeling I got when I was on meth, back in the early 2000’s, and didn’t have any or couldn’t find anything to keep me high, the jones, as it were. I feel the addiction coming on and it needs to stop. Now. I have cancelled my online casino accounts and have closed all sources of credit available to me in an effort to curb this habit before it truly takes a grip on my life and before I get to a point of no return. My family and friends know what I went through with drugs and I know what I put them through. Not something I want to do to them, or myself, again. So as of today, I am no longer going to gamble.

Hobbies: I have given myself a goal of finding new hobbies to fill the time when I would normally gamble (initially started when I was bored, it has developed into more than that now). I need to fill the gaps. I realize blogging, travel, and half the other things on here could be classified as hobbies however I’m thinking of something a little more active like learning to fight with a sword or learning a martial art. I don’t know exactly what it will be quite yet but I have given myself until July 31st of this year to find it.

Travel More:  Pretty self explanatory. I just want to do it. All. The. Time.

Quit Smoking: When I get back from Europe I have decided to quit smoking. (attempt # 1 million by now, I’m sure). I’ll get there eventually. Never quit quitting, as they say.

Be A Better Person: I want to try and be a better person. I don’t consider myself evil or anything like that, it’s just that I could be doing more to help people or to make a difference in the lives of those around me. I think once we return I may start volunteering somewhere, a soup kitchen or a food bank maybe. I don’t know how much this will really help others, but I’d like to think it would, at least somewhat.

Work Harder: I want to work harder, both in my professional life, and my relationship with Lisa. Work will always be work, unless you are doing something you really love. That’s partly why I started this blog. Maybe one day I can make a career out of travel but if not I’ll still having fun trying. I’ve pledged to myself to be more active in my passion for making a life out of travel. Work harder towards that goal, and realize the dream. As for my relationship, it can feel as though, sometimes, it takes a back seat to the other things in both of our lives. I think some things need to change in both of our minds to come together as more of a unit. This will take time, patience and understanding, from both of us. No relationship is perfect but you should at least try and get as close as you can.

Get Married: The date for the wedding is November 16th 2016. If all goes well this date will stick and Lisa and I will be married. I look forward to spending a life together with her, through the good and the bad times, working through whatever gets thrown our way.

Blog at Least Once Per Week: This one will be pretty easy I think. I like to write and I like spilling my guts about anything I think people may want to read. Basically, I can write forever and not get tired of it. Did I mention I like to write? Also to tie in with this I have purchased a fancy leather bound journal for more personal thoughts. Don’t worry, most of my thoughts aren’t really personal, I have no filter, you’ll hear about all of it at some point I’m sure.

Learn a Language: Whether that be HTML/HTML5 (links in to the above about working harder) or a verbal language, it doesn’t really matter to me. I may even try to do both. If so, I have given myself 2 months to learn, at least the basics of HTML. The spoken language I will likely attempt to learn will be German. I have given myself a year to accomplish this.

So far this is the short list of the goals I have. Some are new goals, others are old ones that need to become current ones again. I think, if I play my cards right and accomplish what I’ve set out to do, I will be happier, healthier and more focused on the things I want and need in my life.

Next post will be more travel related, I promise. I just wanted to get some things off my chest. I think blogging about them will help, because I can always go back and read this to remind myself of my aspirations for a better me and a better life.

Until next time, keep your eyes on the horizon and never stop dreaming.