Best of Europe
July 17, 2004
Today I will present the mattbelcher.com best of awards to various countries/cities in Europe for whatever random categories I choose.
Best Public Transportation: London, but it barely wins out over Paris. London's subway, "The Underground" is consistently clean and comfortable, has good coverage of the city, and includes a voice that says "Mind the gap" every time you come into a station. Paris was great too, but you can't beat catchy phrases.
Worst Public Transportation: Rome. The Roman subway is dirty, broken, crowded and full of pickpockets. My friend Dave caught a guy grabbing into his pocket. One time, while getting on a train, the plastic panelling above the door fell off and hit a woman in the head.
Best Food: Rome. With Gelatos for lunch, two course dinners with white wine, and all the bread you can eat, Italy wins any European food contest. Just make sure you always go to a restaurant or pizzeria.
Most Interesting Food: Chowki Indian food of London. I had an appetizer of friend banana balls. Yum.
Best Stores: Toledo, Spain. Every store in the city sells swords for ridiculously low prices. Of course, they are all made in that town, so it isn't much of a surprise. They also have lots of Damascene jewelry.
Biggest Surprise: The beach in Barcelona, Spain. Apparently, Spanish women prefer to go topless on the beach. We were just walking along the Mediterranean Sea and suddenly realized everyone around us was naked from the waist up.
Best Castle: Caerphilly Castle, Caerphilly, Wales. Granted, we didn't see that many castles, but Caerphilly was everything we imagined a castle would be.
Best bookstore: Waterstone's in London. While we were there, Bill Clinton was signing copies of his autobiography.
Best Art Museum: The Louvre in Paris, although the Musee D'Orsay, also in Paris, is a close second. We spent 12 hours in the Louvre. My feet still haven't recovered.
Worst Art Museum: The Accademia in Florence. $10 a piece and a 2 hour wait just to see the David? What a ripoff.
Worst keyboards: France. Was it really necessary to switch the Q and A keys?
Best hospitality: Casa Marco and Laia in St. Cugat, Spain. Marco makes a delicious Spanish Tortilla. Thanks a lot for letting us stay!