Posts tagged with “Travel”
Saint Augustine declared that “the world is a book, and those who have not traveled have read only one page.” Only firsthand experience can validate or challenge our intuitions, giving us confidence about risky political decisions in a complex world of instant feedback loops and unintended consequences. During travel, perception and thought merge; a contradiction can emerge as a truth to be revealed, not some exception to be disproved. Such ambiguity is the corollary of complexity, after all. Reality is famously resistant to theories that measure the world according to what it should be rather than how it really is. Instead, exploring the patterns of the second world aesthetically, honoring the value of purely sensory judgments — this exposes characteristics that are common to the entire second world; differences are revealed to be more relative than absolute.
More Than Money
Montreal
The frigid temperatures of Montreal, Quebec set the stage for this past weekend's adventures. It all started last Friday after work when Lucas and I decided to drive five and a half hours north into Canada for a couple of days checking out what our northern neighbor has to offer. The adventure started off on an exciting note with my little car coming close to running out of gas somewhere in the middle of Vermont… at ten o’clock at night… during a snow storm!
Never the less, my little car made it’s way across the border into Quebec finally stopping in a snow-accumulated Montreal just before one in the morning. Luckily for us, we made it just in time! As the hostel where we stayed at, the Alternative Backpacker’s Hostel, locks their doors at 1am.
We did a lot of exploring in this great little city. Due to the freezing temperatures, the majority of the exploring was done via the very convenient and very much appreciated "underground city" (locals call it the RÉSO) that sprawls for kilometers and kilometers under the city providing easy and warm access to just about anywhere in the city. The downside to the “underground city” is that it feels like the entirety of Montreal is one huge shopping mall.
The Auberge Alternative du Vieux-Montréal was located in Old Montreal and was a great price for a cozy little hostel at a great location. It was a couple of blocks away from the underground city and had some great cafes near by. The for a dorm bed was CA$20 which is about US$16 a day… can’t beat that price! And I personally really enjoy the hostel atmosphere where travelers are abundant and friends are easy to make.
During the trip, we visited the spectacular Musée d'art Contemporain de Montréal, where they had a great exhibition on the ever blurring relationship of art and music in our modern times of rock and roll. The exhibition was called “Sympathy for the Devil” and included the distinct interaction of art and rock in the different scenes through out the world, such as New York, London, Continental Europe and West Coast and Midwest US, amongst others. Lucas had a field day taking pictures with his IPhone as the museum security folks followed us around.
We also got a chance to meet up with some of the “frenchie” folks from the guild at an Irish Pub where the beer flowed and the WoW references never stopped! It’s always so much fun to meet the folks behind the keyboards and see how great people they really are. I’ve met a bunch of them over the past year or so and I have yet to be disappointed by the their warm hospitality, great company and interesting conversations.
In heaven the beer is Belgian. The bread and cheese are French and the beaches are Brazilian. The waves are from Australia and the landscape from New Zealand. All the prices are Cambodian.
In heaven the soup is Vietnamese but the goulash is Hungarian. The city squares are Czech and the meadows are Irish. The bars are Irish too, but you don’t need to go to heaven to find an Irish bar.
In heaven the wine is Italian and the mountains are Nepalese. Dinner is Indian and lunch is Thai. Breakfast is Spanish and served just before going to bed. Whatever the meal, the steak is from Argentina.
The nights are short in heaven because the days are Swedish and it’s always July. The trains are German and always on time. The drug laws are Dutch.
In heaven the sun is Greek and the rivers Lao. The golf courses are Scottish. The composers are Austrian and the school children are Korean; I didn’t spend long enough in either country to nominate anyone else.