Things you do in foreign countries that you don't do at home

1. Visit museums!
Sure I go to see special exhibitions. I like museums in general. But it's different to have, say, 90 minutes between meetings and go pop into some super random space for a looksee when in places with modest collections like Zagreb. When in Vienna or London or Paris you go for the big stuff. The Great Museums of the World stuff. But when in Croatia, skip the national art gallery's Raphael show and go to the decidedly quaint - and empty - Croatian Museum of Naive Art. (photo to follow...see previous post as to why not here now...but I don't want to spoil the then-Yugoslavnain interpretation of the Jonestown Massacre...in naive art style. creepy and amazing).

When you are done there, head back down the hill to the Technical Museum with its timeless tribute to the fire extinguisher and planetarium that seriously looks like a high school science project made of dry wall and leftover timber from the last tree house project. Yeah, Griffith may have its fancy observatory and telescopes that you can actual see Stars and Planets and Spacey Things through, but do they have this:

1.5 Experience environments in which OSHA doesn't exist
Also at the Technical Museum is all things Tesla! Where you get to watch the curator demonstrate their Tesla Coil without benefit of safety glass and sound proofing (who knew they were so loud?! well, I know someone who might), and place an audience member inside a metal cage whilst pounding said cage with Tesla coil currents which amounts to a whole lot of electricity ala Dr MegaVolt at Burning Man!!! Take THAT Griffith!

2. Eat alone at restaurants!
One of life's weirdly enjoyable pleasures, but only when out of town. And better when you can't really communicate your needs and wants but it doesn't matter cos you are a women dining alone, indulging in an array of idiosyncratic dining behaviour and writing in a journal. Eavesdropping on everyone around you!

3. Write in cafes!
I can only manage to do this productively when in foreign cities. I'd like to think I'm the kind of person who can stroll on into a cafe, laptop in tow, and write like Carrie on Sex and the City. But it never happens. I have tried, but I fuss, I procrastinate, I over order. And I have to get up and pee so much more then if at home where the security of my possessions is assured. I tried writing at the downtown Los Angeles library but something about the pipped in air being the antithesis of the pro-oxygen pickmeup in Vegas that I actually curled under the desk with my laptop and took a nap. I was in the DIY engineering and automotive section I think.

4. Watch tv in bed!
Oh this is by far my favourite hotel activity! I often lament that I am out and about so much when traveling that I don't get to enjoy this ultimate pleasure. And you learn a lot about a place from it's tv offerings. Der, I study the media! Don't bother me, I'm working! In Jordan, I learned that the Arab satellite space is filled with on demand video channels with racy, largely Egyptian pop music videos with all the women in hot pants one could ask for. In Ghana, I learned that the best way around low budget public affairs show production is not to pretend to be something you are not. I fully appreciate that the talk show sets had much more of an African flavor than as if they were trying to recreate the staid backdrop of the NBC nightly news. In Croatia, I learned that soft core is alive and well on terrestrial tv in the Balkans. The first thing I get when I turned it on was Kalifornication. David Duchovney and Charlotte's bald husband from Sex and the City talking about getting fingered up the ass (their words, not mine!). I was actually a bit taken back. It seemed all shades of wrong but mostly because that show sucks and seeing it with Croatian subtitles didn't make it any more entertaining. Oh, I also learned that while Hungary, Spain, Greece and most of Europe love the dubbing, Croatians are clearly a far more sophisticated (or cheap) people and actually have written subtitles. Which is like tv heaven for me here.

5. Order unfamiliar liquors! Go to the same restaurant two nights in a row!
I'm of the 'try it!' variety when it comes to food and drink when traveling. And the homemade honey schnapps I had one night is a taste I will not soon forget. Yum! At the same time, I am also of the 'if you find something you like, why not get it again?' cos really, the search for the perfect restaurant gets a bit old. And I really wanted those incredibly affordable grilled squid just one more time! Hungary doesnt' have much seafood except for a few lake fish on their menus. I think it reminds them of the ocean view they once had.