Travel for Love

Unconventional, maybe. But visiting the Chernobyl site and surrounding area is definitely on my list of dream trips.

Luckily, my dad is a nuclear physicist and can get me government issued documents so I can enter the Chernobyl area. That way I can ride my Kawasaki Ninja all over the radioactive zone because I’m special. I’ll bring my very own personal Geiger counter and everything!

Just kidding!! Everyone’s favorite Chernobyl internet hoax aside (google ‘Chernobyl motorcycle lady’ if you’re one of the 5 people who haven’t seen this website), many people are surprised to learn that it’s now possible to take a tour of the Chernobyl area and the nearby deserted town of Pripyat.

drmonowsky via Flickr

For those of you who don’t know me in real life, I work in the nuclear industry. My particular engineering discipline actually requires a lot of understanding of how accidents can occur and progress in power plants, and which safety systems are needed to mitigate them. We’ve studied the Chernobyl accident and the sequence of events that caused it, although not in super great detail because we don’t work with that type of reactors.

Here are a couple facts about the accident.

1. The fuel did not explode. The Uranium-235 is not enriched enough to sustain a fusion-like explosion. What did happen was a large steam bubble formed due to the uncontrolled heatup of the cooling water, reacted with the core, and blew up due to the intense heat and pressure.

2. This accident could not happen in the US. All US plants (and most other plants around the world) have a reactor containment building of 3 foot thick concrete that would have prevented the release of fission products in the event of a meltdown (as with Three Mile Island).

3. “Fun” fact: the accident was not discovered internationally until a worker in Sweden entered a nuclear plant and set off the on-site radiation monitors due to low levels of airborne radiation in the air from Chernobyl. The Soviet government has been accused of trying to cover up the incident.

Given my background, I definitely want to visit the site.

stuckincustoms via Flickr

Here are some reasons a someone who’s not a nuclear engineer might want to visit Chernobyl.

It’s a Historical Site

Many of us remember hearing about this when it happened. I was only 3, but I definitely remember learning about it when I got a little older. It’s always interesting to visit a place we’ve seen on TV and heard about so often. It would definitely be neat to see the site in person, learn more about the history, and meet the people who were impacted by the incident.

Visiting the area would also afford an interesting glimpse into the former Soviet Union. Reportedly old Soviet propaganda was left (planted?) in the buildings, and the town of Pripyat is a good example of a planned “nuclear-city.”

See the Nuclear Ghost Town

The tours also include a visit to the nearby town of Pripyat, which was evacuated after the accident. I can’t think of too many places in the world you can tour a town that’s basically been abandoned as-is. While many areas around Pripyat are reportedly contaminated, some of the abandoned buildings of the community are included in the tours. It seems like the old school, ferris wheel, and swimming pool are very popular. Plus, the tours do offer an opportunity to meet “resettlers,” people who moved back to their homes in the exclusion zone to continue living as they always have. I think this would make for a memorable experience like no other.

drmonowsky via Flickr

Way off the Beaten Path

I’m sure lots of people have no interest in seeing this old beat up reactor or abandoned town. Ukraine certainly isn’t on the list of your typical Europe vacationer and many people don’t even know a tour to the Chernobyl site exists. It’s definitely a destination off the beaten path. Plus, it’s a bit tough to get to and not really easily accessible. There’s just a certain travel “street cred” associated with going here. I don’t know anyone who’s been on a Chernobyl tour.

Here are some specifics of the Chernobyl tour that I found through SoloEast Travel. They’ve been doing it since 1999.

It’s $160 per person (if you have a big enough group), they’ll pick you up in Kiev for a full day tour.

They have several selected days of each month that they’ll conduct tours.

The website even offers a special package that allows you to spend 1 or 2 nights in the Chernobyl hotel!

After writing about a place I’ve never been to (the Balkan Peninsula), I thought it would be fun to write about a place I’m an expert in: my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. I’ve lived here all my life (aside from 4 years at Penn State) and most of my extended family is here as well.

Pittsburgh’s been getting lots of attention lately that’s hopefully making more people consider visiting here. We had the G20 summit last September, in 2009 the Steelers won the Superbowl and the Penguins won the Stanley Cup, and quite a few movies have been filmed and set in Pittsburgh in the past few years. We attract major conferences and events, have world class universities, and are one of the few US regions with steady housing and job markets.

Overview

Downtown Pittsburgh is situated where the Allegheny and the Monongahela Rivers meet to form the Ohio River, in the hills of western Pennsylvania. The region is full of coal mines which helped Pittsburgh develop a huge steel mill industry earlier in the century. Pittsburgh’s population is made up of many European immigrants, including large populations of Italians, Russians, and other Eastern Europeans which afford good opportunities for ethnic food and music in the city and suburbs.

Medical and technology industries and many universities are taking over Pittsburgh’s economy since the steel industry all but disappeared during the 80s and 90s. Pittsburgh is busy turning old steel mills and other industrial buildings into shopping and entertainment complexes, as well as building new stadiums and arenas and opening a casino.

Cultural Attractions

The suburb of Oakland houses several universities including Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh, along with several hospitals. It can be fun to wander around this urban area, visiting the college campuses, college bars, local ethnic restaurants, and chapels and cathedrals. Don’t miss the Nationality Rooms in Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning. Oakland also offers Phipps Conservancy with some great indoor and outdoor gardens, the Carnegie Library (a great old library to wander around), and the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History.

Pitt University’s Cathedral of Learning

Downtown you’ll find the Carnegie Science Center complete with a submarine to visit in the river, the Andy Warhol museum (he was born in Pittsburgh!) and the Mattress Factory museum of contemporary art.

Neighborhoods of Interest

The North Shore of Pittsburgh is where you’ll find the football stadium Heinz Field and PNC Park baseball park, as well as the Science Center and Rivers Casino. Across the river on the other side of the point is Station Square, an entertainment complex built around a converted train station right on the water’s edge. There are lots of touristy restaurants here like Hardrock, Hooters, and Melting Pot, as well as several big nightclubs and bars. Catch the incline from here to get an unforgettable view of Pittsburgh’s skyline from Mount Washington.

Upriver from Station Square is the Southside neighborhood, which is where the locals hang out at the hundreds of bars. There are lots of gritty dive bars and also some nice upscale restaurants. Southside works is a relatively new outdoor shopping area with some good stores and restaurants, including the super popular Hofbrauhaus, right on the riverfront, modeled after the original in Munich.

Hofbrauhaus Shot Ski on my Dad’s birthday

One of my favorite neighborhoods is the Strip District, so named cause it’s a strip of land down by the Allegheny river right downtown. This area is famous for it’s ethnic food stores and restaurants, fish market, and several great coffee shops and bakeries. It’s really busy on Saturday mornings when locals come out to get their shopping done, and you’ll find a good blend of Pittsburgh’s ethnic groups shopping there. The Strip also has lots of fun street vendors and street food stalls. My mom and her friends go down here every Saturday morning, and they are certainly not alone.

Further Afield

There are some great areas up in the mountains 1 or 2 hours away from Pittsburgh that make good day trip destinations. The town of Ohiopyle is famous for its whitewater rafting on the Youghiogheny River, as well as hiking, biking, natural waterslides, and beautiful mountain streams and waterfalls. This region is also the location of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, as well as another design of his, Kentuck Knob. Nearby Nemacolin Woodlands is a lavish mountain resort with tons of things to do, and ski resorts Seven Springs and Hidden Valley offer good skiing in the winter.

Kayaking in Ohiopyle

Downtown Pittsburgh and the surrounding regions offer some great attractions. The city has a lot of character and there really are some fun things to do and there are great outdoors areas within an hour of the city. Pittsburgh is definitely more than an old “rust belt” city – it’s really been revitalized!

Oh yea and, Go Pens!

I’ve been meaning to make a list of “dream trips” to include on here to figure out the top places I want to visit. Instead of just putting up a list I thought it would be nice to write a little more about each destination and why I really want to go there. I think I’ll include them together in their own page once I’ve written about them (I’ll try to limit it to 10 or so). Hopefully then, as I continue to cross places off the list, I can compare my trip to my expectations. I think that will be fun!

So, I thought I would write about Bali first. I’ve been intrigued by this Indonesian island for a long time now. It all started with this photo:

It’s a plunge pool (or some kind of water feature) at the Four Seasons Bali at Jimbaran Bay. I saw this picture years ago on some website and decided I wanted to go to Bali. Even though it was just a resort picture, the architecture It seemed to be so exotic and far off, so different from anywhere else.

I still feel this way, but as I learn more about the island I continue to find new reasons to want to go there.

Bali is a small island in the archipelago of Indonesia. Just south of the equator, it’s a volcanic island surrounded by coral reefs. It’s largest industry is tourism, with agriculture (especially rice cultivation) also very important.

So why do I want to visit Bali?

The Balinese culture sounds so interesting. The island is nearly all Balinese Hindu, a minority in mostly Muslim Indonesia. Bali is famous for its art of many forms, including paintings, handicrafts, and performance arts. Balinese dances look amazing, with choreography down to the fingertips and eyeballs. There are also many beautiful celebrations and rituals throughout everyday life in Balinese culture. There are interesting-looking temples throughout the island.

There is something just, well, exotic about Bali. It’s far away from here. I don’t know anyone (in real life) who’s been there before. There are beautiful beaches and rolling rice patties, Hindu temples and religious shrines. The Balinese Hinduism seems to encompass so many aspects of life there that ritual and tradition are found everywhere, surely creating an exotic setting for any visitor.

It also seems like a good combination of scenery and culture. A trip to Bali would have to include some nice laying on the beach and snorkeling time. But, at least as I envision it, there are also plenty of opportunity to see traditional performances and visit shrines and temples.

So why haven’t I gotten there yet? The main reason is it will be a long and expensive flight. I don’t want to know how many stops it would take to get there from Pittsburgh, or how many hours flight time. I would probably want to combine a stay in Bali with a visit to other places in the region, and that’s just not possible with 3 weeks of vacation.

It is starting to sound like Bali is becoming more and more popular with Western tourists. Apparently it’s also a popular international conference spot. All the more reason for me to get there sooner.

A couple more random tidbits about Bali: Anthony Bourdain almost decided to stay there permanently on an episode of No Reservations (or at least that’s how they staged the episode), and Bali is where Elizabeth Gilbert met her Brazilian husband in Eat Pray Love. That fact alone was enough to get Roberto to read it. In English.

While it’s kind of hard to write about a place I’ve never been to, it’s fun to think about why I want to go there and organize my thoughts about those “I’ve always wanted to visit!!!” places. I’ll continue to write similar posts about other places “on my list” in the future.

During my upcoming month-long visit to Brazil, Roberto and I decided to spend a week in Buenos Aires (BsAs). We’re in the process of researching things to do there, but we also found some good deals on flights to a few different areas in Argentina out of BsAs. We want to take advantage of the opportunity and spend maybe 2 nights in Patagonia from our “base” in BsAs, so we narrowed it down to 3 options in Patagonia. We will travel with backpacks for the whole trip and try to camp in Patagonia (staying in a hotel in BsAs).

El Calafate

This area is on Argentina’s border with Chile in the Andes and near the famous Torres del Paine national park. Different attractions to this area include the Puerto Moreno glacier, Fitz Roy mountain, and the Argentine Lake District. Activities include hiking, glacier trekking, and taking boat rides in the lake to view the glaciers. While it’s possible to see some wildlife, it seems that the reason to go here is to enjoy the beautiful mountain and glacier scenery. It looks absolutely spectacular.

Peninsula Valdes

This Peninsula on the Argentine Atlantic coast is home to a nature reserve and UNESCO world heritage site. Sea lions, elephant and fur seals, right whales, orcas and *squeal* penguins can be found on the coast, with guanacos, giant rabbits, and ostrich-like birds called rheas. The nature looks fabulous here, but there aren’t any of the glaciers or mountains.

Ushuaia

Set in the state of Tierra del Fuego, Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world. It’s a decent sized city for all it’s remoteness, and the main jumping-off point for expeditions to Antarctica. In Tierra del Fuego national park it’s possible to see penguins and sea lions, with good opportunity for hiking in the mountains. Boat tours of the Beagle Channel and around the Horn are popular despite the notoriously rough waters. Ushuaia combines nature and majestic scenery, but not the best of either. The flight is also considerably longer from BsAs than the other two destinations.

So where shall we go?