The Burné

Now that I’ve been back from Greece for almost two weeks now, I’m sinking into my regular routine. Adjusting to being seven hours ahead in Greece proved to be no problem. On the day of the flight Ricky and I woke up at 4:30am to start hacking our circadian rythms. Combined with the adrenaline and excitement of being in Athens we were ready to go when we landed. The opposite was true for returning home. I purposely stayed awake for most of the flight because we’d be landing around 8pm and I wanted to be able to sleep. I barely recall that first night at home from zonking out right away. After a few nights of getting to bed around 9pm I started to re-adjust to my normal schedule. I’m sure being back at work didn’t help!

Lets talk about getting from The Burné to Athens. Over at The Art of Nonconformity, Chris (the blog author) would probably call what I’m about to describe as “travel hacking”. From Glen Burnie Ricky and I took a short taxi ride to the airport (BWI), excited about finally starting this vacation that had been in the works for months. Once there it was simple enough to grab our boarding passes and make our way to the express flight to Philadelphia, one of US Airways hub airports with direct flights to Athens, Greece. That in itself is awesome. In the past century airplane technology has advanced from not being able to cross the Atlantic to being able to fly 5,000+ miles without stopping. The flight from Baltimore to Philadelphia (100 miles) was, not surprisingly, very quick — about 25 minutes. It’s in Philadelphia that our journey hit its first snag and things got interesting.

The flight from Philadelphia to Athens was overbooked and they were looking for volunteers to be diverted to Munich, Germany with a connecting flight to Athens. By volunteering to give up your seat, you were also agreeing to landing about five hours later in Athens. I knew that our time in Athens was already limited and that most of our trip would be on the islands of Mykonos and Santorini. What is the worth of those five hours we began to think? The airline was offering $550 vouchers towards future flights to those who agreed to give up their seats. We didn’t have anything time-sensitive planned, so why not? We went up to the counter and asked if they would also upgrade us to first class for the flight to Munich. They agreed. We agreed. All of a sudden, this flight we had booked months earlier and had been dreaming about for just as long was suddenly changing! I’ll admit, I was a little nervous. Not about getting stuck in Germany and never reaching Greece, but just a general nervousness of everything suddenly changing. But I realized that being able to change plans like that was a beautiful thing. By not planning every minute of the trip, we had the flexibility to do something like divert to Munich, get $550 vouchers each, and fly across the Atlantic Ocean in style. Curiosity got to me and I found that our original economy ticket was $400 (one way to Athens) and that a first class ticket was around $1,600, making for a grand total of $1,200 in upgrades and $550 towards a future flight. I’d do it again in a heartbeat for five hours of my time.

All the while our excitement was rising from being about to board the flight to Athens. After giving up our seats, a noticeable calm came over me. I felt relaxed. We made our way up to US Airways Envoy lounge to relax for a few hours before the flight to Germany. The first thing that struck me when we arrived at the lounge was how quiet it was. It was on a second level of the airport away from the hustle and bustle below. A receptionist greeted us and checked our passports, saving us from waiting in line with the masses. We heard another receptionist calmly announce that some other flight was boarding. It was a zen-like experience.

The lounge is huge. It’s basically two halves that are mirror images of each other. We made our way to the right and plopped down in two comfortable chairs. A buffet of fresh fruits, pastries and salads was available along with coffee and teas. An open bar was nearby as well as self-serve bottles of wine and a refrigerator of beers. We just helped ourselves! A bit of food and a couple glasses of wine while watching planes take off and land through the lounge’s expansive windows made the hours pass quite comfortably. Eventually we heard that our flight to Munich was boarding and we made our way down to the boarding area, greeted by all of the noise and commotion of thousands of travelers rushing about. We were called first to board the plane and made our way to our seats in row 1.

Now seated in row 1, we were handed mimosas and a menu to order dinner off of. It was a new experiences for me! We were sipping our drinks as everyone else was boarding. No waiting for everyone to find room for their oversized carryon bags in the overhead storage. I forget all of the menu options, but we both ended up choosing rack of lamb with brussel sprouts and roasted potatoes, a spinach salad and a gin and tonic to drink. The flight took off on time and eventually our dinner was served on real plates with real silverware and our drink in a real glass. Cheers to not fumbling with plastic-ware! Lets not forget dessert, either — for me that was a delicious apple tart. After dinner we were given personal monitors and a fancy headset to watch either a movie or tv show or listen to music on. We also got a little goody bag filled with a face mask, toothbrush and toothpaste, some chapstick, a pair of earplugs and a pair of fresh socks. I struggled to stay awake watching a movie I chose, and finally drifted off to sleep, fully reclined in the seat. I woke up some time in the morning, about an hour before landing, and was instantly asked if I wanted breakfast and coffee. Sure I said! A nice little fruit platter, yogurt and granola and an apple danish were in front of me in quick order.

Eventually our first class experience came to an end as we landed in Munich and made our way to the connecting flight to Athens. The airport in Munich was absolutely beautiful. When we go to Germany we’ll have to go there again! Free coffee and tea stations were all over the place along with free newspapers. It was clean. And we were in Europe finally! Soon enough we were off to Athens, finally heading towards our original destination.

Not surprisingly, people are open to the idea of recycling and actually put it into practice if you make it easy enough. Case in point: the Glen Burnie Carnival. In its century-long history, 2009 marked the first year that recycling containers were dispersed alongside regular trash containers at the carnival. I didn’t make it doown there this year, but it’s nice to know that there is another event I won’t have to carry recyclables back home to dispose of properly.

One comment in the article linked above that was both surprising and gratifying is the mention that people were actually using the clearly marked recycling bins for recycling materials. As I’ve mentioned before, people don’t always get the recycling concept. But denizens of The Burné apparently do understand what is and what is not recyclable!

Although the carnival is a good step towards increasing awareness about recycling, still more can be done. In Anne Arundel County, recyclables are not picked up at condominiums and other shared living environments. Ricky and I have both brought this up to our home owners association to no avail. The monthly HOA fee would have to increase to accomodate pick up for recyclables and fee increases are not a very favorable subject. Until then, we make due with weekly or bi-weekly trips to the nearby recycling center. Ricky has even gone one step further to contact our county executive, John Leopold, also to no avail.

So clearly more work needs to be done to make recycling more common place here in The Burné. Its success at the carnival shows that people are open to it when they don’t have to go out of their way to do it. One could argue that a little effort should take place and let people take more responsibility for themselves. I agree, effort is not a bad thing and more people should take action. Realistically though, convenience is king and a more established recycling program is the only way to get the majority of the population involved.

Greece update: I’m making my way back to Baltimore today. Today’s post is about possible future trips, though!

Traveling is something that I would like to do a lot more of. This list of places that I’ve been is far too short! I’d like to add space travel to my list, but for now I’m focusing on this world we call Earth. Even narrowing down my travel bug to one planet is difficult. It’s expensive to get places! And now I have a job with only a handful of vacation days along with other responsibilities.

As I wind down my journies in Greece, I’m beginning to set my sights on future destinations. One obstacle I keep encountering when researching travel destinations is not the airfare, but is instead how to stay somewhere for an extended period of time without breaking the bank. My logic is that if I’m going to spend a day getting somewhere, I should try and spend more than a week there and hotels get expensive much too quickly! I’m not a fan of couch surfing, so here is what I’ve found.

The first option I came across is referred to as WWOOF’ing, otherwise known as World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. The premise is that you work on an organic farm (duh) in exchange for room and board as well as meals. Kind of an I’ll-scratch-your-back-if-you-scratch-mine situation. The time committments for a lot of the WWOOF locations is a little off-putting for me, but you really can’t beat the number of locations within the WWOOF network. Plus, you’d get to get in some exercise and work on your tan at the same time! However, the manual labor that farming entails may not be quite what you envision. Lets look at my favorite option.

Voluntourism. The word is kind of kitschy but the meaning behind it is very substantial. There are so many opportunities to volunteer in your travels, just make sure your arrangements are through a reputable charity. The basic premise is the same though — you pay your own airfare along with a fee that goes towards the organization. The fee varies depending on your length of stay, but is an order of magnitude less expensive than a similarly lengthed stay at a hotel. The fee generally covers lodging, meals and local transportation, though programs do differ. Once at your destination, you are partnered with the charity to volunteer your time doing any number of things that you’re suited to do. Day care, elderly care and teaching English seem to be common. Perhaps the biggest benefit to volunteering is the length of time committment. Programs range from two weeks to one year and on.

There are even more options out there to stay abroad without breaking the bank. Maybe I’ll give them a write-up in the future, but I wanted to focus on these two that allow you to give back to the community you visit. You’ll not only save money compared to traditional vacation lodging, you’ll get to experience the local culture in a way no tourist ever achieves.

Greece update: Today is my last day in Greece! I’m back in Athens for the night before flying back to Baltimore tomorrow.

The purpose of this visit to Philadelphia was to have an early birthday celebration for a friend since I will be away during her actual birthday. Britney Spears was performing and seeing her was a dream come true for my friend.

Throughout the day, Britney was posting Twitter updates with clues about attractions in Philadelphia. Get to the correct attraction quick enough and you could score two ringside seats to her Circus tour that night. We didn’t go after the tickets, but I thought it was a great way to promote the tour and get fans involved.

Let me just say that traffic getting into and out of the Wachovia Center was horrible. I don’t know what genius thought of putting multiple arenas next to each other but they clearly weren’t thinking about traffic. We finally got in and made it to our seats with one minute before the show started. Talk about timing! There were oxygen tanks nearby because our seats were so high, but the view was spectacular. I’m not a big fan of Britney but I absolutely loved the show. It’s part of her Circus tour and there were acrobats, a trampoline, gymnasts and karate. It was more like a circus show with Britney Spears songs playing than it was a Britney Spears concert.

The concert ended and we were making our way out. It was kind of like Otakon for Britney Spears fans, with lots of people dressing up in various outfits she’s been seen in. Kinda crazy! While waiting for traffic to die down there was a man literally running around the parking lot with a shopping cart full of cold water and also cold soft pretzels. Two for $5 he yelled. What a rip off and kind of illegal, but he made a few sales. We eventually made it out of the parking lot and started our journey home. Goodbye for now Philadelphia.

Greece update: Today is my last day on Santorini. Perhaps a sunset overlooking the caldera while on the cliffs of Ia?

Their website isn’t much, but Caffeination made for a great post-museum pit-stop. It’s fairly similar to the majority of coffee shops out there; standard fare is available. Their drinks are named after local streets. I opted for a Chestnut St. (cappucino). It was nice and foamy, yet not too much like some other companies do.

I noticed a line of power strips adjacent to a long table with a couple people using their laptops. I like places that do this! The barista also asked us if we wanted our drinks “for here” without our prompting. I thought we were going to grab drinks and run so we got our drinks “to go” but we ended up sitting down anyway to enjoy the comings and goings of people on the street. I’d like to see more local coffee shops pop up!

Greece udpate: Today is my second day on Santorini and first full day. Maybe I’m taking a tour of the volcano on the nearby island of Nea Kameni?

After lunch in Philadelphia, we headed to the Mütter Museum. This was our original destination, hence the parking situation. The Mütter (pronounced “mooter”) is a museum unlike any I’ve ever been to before. It’s pretty small, just three rooms, but houses a large collection of skeletons and human body parts. Good thing we ate beforehand!

Upon entering the museum, the first object you encounter is a female pelvis, the skull of a baby and a pair of forceps, depicting how child birth has been performed in times past. Shortly after that is a display titled “Moist gangrene of the hand”. Picture, if you will, the Hand of Glory from Harry Potter.

One thing I really liked about the Mütter is the cell phone tour that is available. Instead of charging for a stupid wand or headset to hear a guided tour, you can use your cell phone to dial a dedicated number to hear about a particular display. How cool is that?

There were many, many more skulls and bones and organs on display that I won’t get into here. Okay, just one more. One display had a number of bezoars! Yet another Harry Potter reference for the enthusiasts out there. Upon leaving we stopped in at the gift shop which fittingly had Hasbro’s Operation game for sale.

Greece update: I’m leaving Mykonos today on my way to Santorini. You may have seen Santorini in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants!

When I arrived in New York City, I wasn’t too hungry and opted for sushi at Yoshiono. When I arrived in Philadelphia, I was hungry. We walked around where we parked and found a nice looking restaurant called Mix. The place is clearly a hangout for college kids and nothing on the menu was too expensive. A pretty good find I think. The interior was lit by red fluorescent lights in the ceiling. I’m not sure how I felt about them, but the sun was shining brightly in through the windows when we were there so I didn’t notice them too much.

The selection on the menu looked great. Being in Philly, I chose a Philly cheesesteak with peppers and onions. It came served with hot fries that I topped with garlic salt and parmesan cheese. Yum. Maybe it’s me, but it tasted pretty much like any other cheesesteak I’ve ever had. It did come on a freshly baked roll though that was nice and soft. Ricky got a cheesecake for dessert. I tried a bite and it was pretty good. The only thing I’d change about it is the chocolate sauce it was topped with which tasted like Hershey syrup to me. It lacked the richness and depth of real chocolate sauce. I did leave Mix feeling quite full and very content, though.

Greece update: Final day on Mykonos. Maybe some windmill sightings. Or am I still at Super Paradise beach??

Just a few hours after returning from New York City I was on my way to Philadelphia. For a friend’s birthday, Ricky and I got tickets to see Britney Spears. More on that later in the week. Today I’ll cover some thoughts on the city of Philadelphia in general.

It’s been a couple months since my last trip to Philadelphia. Not much has changed that I could see. One recurring feature wherever I go in the city is that it’s pretty clean! Solar powered trash compactors are commonplace here and are directly next to dedicated recycling containers. The compactors claim to save space in landfills and fuel transporting waste. The space issue I can agree with, but I’m not sure about any fuel savings. Trash is going to weigh the same no matter how compacted it is. In fact you could fit more trash and more weight into the same collection truck. Maybe that enables them to take fewer trips?

We were making our way to the Mütter Museum and ended up driving around the Amtrak station building twice to get onto the right street. Like any city, Philaedlphia has it’s fair share of one-way streets. We ended up finding a parking lot next to an erotic book store. Perfect! Another interesting tidbit is that Philadelphia seems to have a great deal of valet parking garages where you drop off your car at the front of the garage and an attendant goes to park it. We saw the valet literally take the car and drive it about 20 feet into an open space. Kind of crazy.

Finally parked and able to stretch our legs, we made our way out into the city.