Wednesday, April 28, 2010
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Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Ok! We're home again! It was really, really hard to find internet access during the last week of our trip. Weird, I know. I guess most people in Europe have ways to get to the internet that don't involve paying $0.10/minute in an internet cafe, because they were hard to find and extremely crowded/expensive when we did find one.
After Innsbruck, we drove to Salzburg, home of Mozart, but more relevantly the home of the 2006 UCI Road Cycling World Championship race. We stayed in a very small town outside of Salzburg (in Germany, actually) where the owners wore Bavarian garb. We didn't have the guts to ask them if they did it for tourism purposes or if they really wore that stuff on a daily basis, so we gave them the benefit of the doubt and assumed the latter. They were really kind to us - we had a very hard time finding their inn, because the town was so small that Mapquest couldn't find it, and even once we were there, the roads were not marked well and it was dark. Fun. I finally found an open pub and managed to get some help with directions. I love German people :)
The race was soooooo fun! It was like being at the Tour de France without the crowds or the mountains. Definitely a European cultural event - there were fans from all over Europe - patriotic Dutchies wearing orange jumpsuits and clogs, throngs of chainsmoking Italians,
people wearing their countries' flags as capes. There were teams from Africa, Kazakhstan, and Iran and Japan - places I've never known to have a big cycling interest There were a few American riders and a lone Canadian who used the Swedish team's support car since he didn't have enough of a team to justify one of his own. Shane and I walked part of the course for a few hours and then stopped at a little pub to have a beer and something to eat. We could not have picked a better place to experience the event - it was full of old Italian men who were festively drinking and teasing the waitresses. We ended up in the Italian cheering section at the finish line, which was awesome because the cyclist who won is Italian (Bettini) and the fans went bizerk. We had more fun watching them than any part of the race!
We drove through many tunnels and mountains to move on to Verona, Italy. Beautiful city, but we were both kind of in bad moods by the time we got there. Way too much time in the car. The city is gorgeous, though. It's the setting for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and is perfectly Italian - disorganized and elegant at the same time. The HI hostel there is outstanding - set high on a hill overlooking the old part of the city, in a 500 year old church. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! We ate pizza at midnight and left early the next morning for a day at Lake Garda.
Shane rented a downhill bike at Garda, in a town called Malcesine. There is a gondola that takes you to the top of Monte Baldo, and he spend a few hours of bliss riding down, while I climbed the tower of a castle built in 509 ad, went to a museum, and window shopped. That night, we drove to Milan and spent the next two nights with our friends/relatives Mario and Roberta, whose wedding we attended that weekend.
Milan was much better than I ever experienced. It helped that we stayed with locals, who had good ideas of how to spend our days and who live in a very central and hip part of town (Ticinese). We found a fanastic shop owned by a Vietnamese-French clothing designer, and spent about 2 hours talking to her - hearing her opinions about life in Milan, her history, her business. We went out for more pizza in the evenings - can't quite say I prefer it to Philly pizza, but then again, your hometown pizza is always the best, no matter where you're from. We didn't go to any museums, but rather spent our time window shopping, people watching, and quite a bit of time inside a bookstore. It was excellent to have time to spend with our friends, who I haven't seen in 4 years.
On Thursday, we drove to the Ligurian coast of Italy, and stayed outside of Cinque Terre. The first night we stayed in Le Grazie, where we had excellent local wine which was reminiscent of Lambrusco with the most awesome seafood I've eaten in my life. We walked around ancient Roman ruins and watched a local soccer match. We spend the next 3 nights in the town of Portovenere, which is beautiful beyond words. The hotel owners were great and indulged me by letting me speak Italian even though they spoke English (Italians generally don't let me do that), and our hotel had a balcony and was right on the water with a view of the island of Palmaria. I had the interesting experience of spending 3 hours in a small-town Italian emergency room on Friday. I didn't actually have an emergency - just a big scare - but it was an interesting experience nonetheless. And get this - it was FREE. I almost didn't believe them when they told me that. You get what you pay for - the hospital was old and run-down with slow service and old equipment - but I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything. Rather wild!
We ate more perfect seafood, a local bean dish called mesciua, insanely awesome foccacia, and drank more local wine. We stayed in a little family-run restaurant on Friday night after they closed the doors, and the owner broke out a guitar and sang songs for us for about 45 minutes.
What can I say about the wedding? It was magical and elegant and breathtaking, as Italian weddings manage to be. There were only about 70 guests, which is small for an Italian wedding, and we took a boat from Portovenere to the small town of Vernazza, in Cinque Terre. The wedding was on the coast in a church built in 1318. The bride looked gorgeous and the ceremony was flawless. Really breathtaking to be at an event like that! We all took the boat back toward Cinque Terre and had the reception at a seafood restaurant on Palmaria. NOW it is the best seafood that we've ever had -- I lost track of how many dishes they brought out, but it was all seafood with a little bit of pasta or sorbet in between. Our friends' guests were all lovely people; very charming and easy to talk to. I'm so glad that Shane was with me to experience it because it's hard to describe!
The next day, we got up early and went for a long hike on an ancient trail that connects the towns of Cinque Terre. The guides all say that the entire hike takes about 5 hours, but that's B.S. because we only did one town-to-town section between Corniglia and Vernazza and it took us almost 3! You could probably do the whole thing in 5... if you ran the whole way, didn't look at anything, and didn't stop in any of the towns, which seems preposterous to bother doing it at all using that method. Both towns of Corniglia and Vernazza are worth spending several hours in, and the other towns are equally beautiful, from what I'm told. The only complaint is that there are gobs of tourists, but I guess we aren't in much of a position to groan about that, are we?
Our last day, we drove through Tuscany and stopped in Pisa and Florence. Well, I should stay we stopped in Pisa and drove in and out of Florence - it was so jam packed with traffic that we didn't even get out of the car, but rather drove around for about an hour trying to get to the city center, then decided to save it for another trip as we still had to drive to Milan for our last night. The drive was gorgeous, though - rolling hillsides, tiny towns situated on top of the mountains, agriculture and nursery farms. Lovely!
Our flight was at 7am today and now here we are. Will deal with the photos tomorrow!
After Innsbruck, we drove to Salzburg, home of Mozart, but more relevantly the home of the 2006 UCI Road Cycling World Championship race. We stayed in a very small town outside of Salzburg (in Germany, actually) where the owners wore Bavarian garb. We didn't have the guts to ask them if they did it for tourism purposes or if they really wore that stuff on a daily basis, so we gave them the benefit of the doubt and assumed the latter. They were really kind to us - we had a very hard time finding their inn, because the town was so small that Mapquest couldn't find it, and even once we were there, the roads were not marked well and it was dark. Fun. I finally found an open pub and managed to get some help with directions. I love German people :)
The race was soooooo fun! It was like being at the Tour de France without the crowds or the mountains. Definitely a European cultural event - there were fans from all over Europe - patriotic Dutchies wearing orange jumpsuits and clogs, throngs of chainsmoking Italians,
people wearing their countries' flags as capes. There were teams from Africa, Kazakhstan, and Iran and Japan - places I've never known to have a big cycling interest There were a few American riders and a lone Canadian who used the Swedish team's support car since he didn't have enough of a team to justify one of his own. Shane and I walked part of the course for a few hours and then stopped at a little pub to have a beer and something to eat. We could not have picked a better place to experience the event - it was full of old Italian men who were festively drinking and teasing the waitresses. We ended up in the Italian cheering section at the finish line, which was awesome because the cyclist who won is Italian (Bettini) and the fans went bizerk. We had more fun watching them than any part of the race!
We drove through many tunnels and mountains to move on to Verona, Italy. Beautiful city, but we were both kind of in bad moods by the time we got there. Way too much time in the car. The city is gorgeous, though. It's the setting for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and is perfectly Italian - disorganized and elegant at the same time. The HI hostel there is outstanding - set high on a hill overlooking the old part of the city, in a 500 year old church. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! We ate pizza at midnight and left early the next morning for a day at Lake Garda.
Shane rented a downhill bike at Garda, in a town called Malcesine. There is a gondola that takes you to the top of Monte Baldo, and he spend a few hours of bliss riding down, while I climbed the tower of a castle built in 509 ad, went to a museum, and window shopped. That night, we drove to Milan and spent the next two nights with our friends/relatives Mario and Roberta, whose wedding we attended that weekend.
Milan was much better than I ever experienced. It helped that we stayed with locals, who had good ideas of how to spend our days and who live in a very central and hip part of town (Ticinese). We found a fanastic shop owned by a Vietnamese-French clothing designer, and spent about 2 hours talking to her - hearing her opinions about life in Milan, her history, her business. We went out for more pizza in the evenings - can't quite say I prefer it to Philly pizza, but then again, your hometown pizza is always the best, no matter where you're from. We didn't go to any museums, but rather spent our time window shopping, people watching, and quite a bit of time inside a bookstore. It was excellent to have time to spend with our friends, who I haven't seen in 4 years.
On Thursday, we drove to the Ligurian coast of Italy, and stayed outside of Cinque Terre. The first night we stayed in Le Grazie, where we had excellent local wine which was reminiscent of Lambrusco with the most awesome seafood I've eaten in my life. We walked around ancient Roman ruins and watched a local soccer match. We spend the next 3 nights in the town of Portovenere, which is beautiful beyond words. The hotel owners were great and indulged me by letting me speak Italian even though they spoke English (Italians generally don't let me do that), and our hotel had a balcony and was right on the water with a view of the island of Palmaria. I had the interesting experience of spending 3 hours in a small-town Italian emergency room on Friday. I didn't actually have an emergency - just a big scare - but it was an interesting experience nonetheless. And get this - it was FREE. I almost didn't believe them when they told me that. You get what you pay for - the hospital was old and run-down with slow service and old equipment - but I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything. Rather wild!
We ate more perfect seafood, a local bean dish called mesciua, insanely awesome foccacia, and drank more local wine. We stayed in a little family-run restaurant on Friday night after they closed the doors, and the owner broke out a guitar and sang songs for us for about 45 minutes.
What can I say about the wedding? It was magical and elegant and breathtaking, as Italian weddings manage to be. There were only about 70 guests, which is small for an Italian wedding, and we took a boat from Portovenere to the small town of Vernazza, in Cinque Terre. The wedding was on the coast in a church built in 1318. The bride looked gorgeous and the ceremony was flawless. Really breathtaking to be at an event like that! We all took the boat back toward Cinque Terre and had the reception at a seafood restaurant on Palmaria. NOW it is the best seafood that we've ever had -- I lost track of how many dishes they brought out, but it was all seafood with a little bit of pasta or sorbet in between. Our friends' guests were all lovely people; very charming and easy to talk to. I'm so glad that Shane was with me to experience it because it's hard to describe!
The next day, we got up early and went for a long hike on an ancient trail that connects the towns of Cinque Terre. The guides all say that the entire hike takes about 5 hours, but that's B.S. because we only did one town-to-town section between Corniglia and Vernazza and it took us almost 3! You could probably do the whole thing in 5... if you ran the whole way, didn't look at anything, and didn't stop in any of the towns, which seems preposterous to bother doing it at all using that method. Both towns of Corniglia and Vernazza are worth spending several hours in, and the other towns are equally beautiful, from what I'm told. The only complaint is that there are gobs of tourists, but I guess we aren't in much of a position to groan about that, are we?
Our last day, we drove through Tuscany and stopped in Pisa and Florence. Well, I should stay we stopped in Pisa and drove in and out of Florence - it was so jam packed with traffic that we didn't even get out of the car, but rather drove around for about an hour trying to get to the city center, then decided to save it for another trip as we still had to drive to Milan for our last night. The drive was gorgeous, though - rolling hillsides, tiny towns situated on top of the mountains, agriculture and nursery farms. Lovely!
Our flight was at 7am today and now here we are. Will deal with the photos tomorrow!
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Guten Tag!
We are outside of Innsbruck Austria right now. You cannot believe the view we have in this hotel, in a town called Pasch. It really stinks that I can,t find a place to transfer my photos, but ah well. Most of the computers we,ve used have been crappy without USB ports, but it,s not worth taking the time to find better ones, especially since internet cafes are few and far between where we,ve been staying. With the exception of Koln/Cologne and Amsterdam, we,ve been staying in tiny towns without much tourist facilities (on purpose). It,s awesome for practicing our language skills since most of the time people don,t speak English, but we have gotten frustrated a few times in German-speaking regions because our best attempts at German are met with puzzlement. I feel as though I do a pretty decent job with proper pronounciation, but people still have a hard time understanding us. We had better luck in French speaking regions, but then again, I spent many years studying French, even though I previously disregarded formal classroom training as the most effective way of learning a language - I guess I should give it more credit.
Anyway, since we last spoke, Shane and I have driven through Luxembourg and the Rhine and Alsace regions of France. Believe it or not, one of our highlights there was visiting... a French version of Home Depot (named Leroy Martin). It really puts the US to shame - this place was like a Lowes and Ikea rolled into one, with a fantastic Crossainterie. I know... seems like a weird thing to do when traveling through countries with amazing history, but I like seeing how people live, and Shane was interested in seeing their design stuff.
We spent a night in Freiburg Germany, which is an absolutely gorgeous little town outside of the Black Forest. We would have stayed IN the Black Forest, but as usual, we were travelling without hotel reservations and it was getting late. You can,t just roll into town at 10pm and expect to find an open hotel with a staffed reception, so we typically try to settle in by 7pm or so, especially since restaurants seem to shut their kitchens by 9pm. We had wonderful local food in Freiburg - trout, vension and mushrooms are in season and the people here seem very proud of all three. Have I mentioned how much I love Germany? People here are so friendly if you approach them respectfully and with interest.
The Black Forest is amazing - rolling green hills, beautiful babbling brooks, and picturesque towns. This is definitely the place you,d want to live if you were a cow. TONS of bike riders -- the geared-up type on slick road bikes, as well as bike commuters on clunkers and tourists on hybrids. You could travel anywhere in Germany (or Belgium, or France, or Netherlands for that matter) on your bike and never leave a bike path. They simply go everywhere, from town to town. Lovely fields of pick-yer-own flowers, too, with payment based on the honor system.
We spent the next night on the Bodensee (Lake Constance), in a GORGEOUS town called Uberlingen. Screw the Napa Valley - this is where it,s at! Acres of vinyards surrounding a gorgeous lake bordering Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. We rented a paddleboat, which seems pretty lame but let me tell you that it felt terrific after spending days in the car. Kinda romantic, too, I must say. Fabulous dinner - house-made cheese spatzle and beef stew. We spent the next day doing some logistical stuff - laundry and shopping - before continuing on through the Austrian Alps to Innsbruck, which I,ve already described.
The tunnels in the Alps are really unbelievable. I,ll have to ask my dad how they accomplished building them.
Now my job is to find a place to stay in Salzburg for tonight. We,ve already completely blown our budget, so at this point all we,re trying to do is avoid bankruptcy. The plan originally was to stay in hostels (hostels in castles, no less) but what we didn,t count on was that hostels are completely booked on weekends, as are many pensions and 1-2 star hotels. The hostels that aren,t booked are youth hostels, which, alas, I am too old for. Bummer. So, we,ve only stayed in one castle, but the 2-star hotel where we are now (Hotel Baer) is a 700-year-old building on the first road that ran from Rome to Germany. Pretty frigging cool.
Ok, gotta go. No point in spending all day inside. Off to Salzburg to watch the bike race!
We are outside of Innsbruck Austria right now. You cannot believe the view we have in this hotel, in a town called Pasch. It really stinks that I can,t find a place to transfer my photos, but ah well. Most of the computers we,ve used have been crappy without USB ports, but it,s not worth taking the time to find better ones, especially since internet cafes are few and far between where we,ve been staying. With the exception of Koln/Cologne and Amsterdam, we,ve been staying in tiny towns without much tourist facilities (on purpose). It,s awesome for practicing our language skills since most of the time people don,t speak English, but we have gotten frustrated a few times in German-speaking regions because our best attempts at German are met with puzzlement. I feel as though I do a pretty decent job with proper pronounciation, but people still have a hard time understanding us. We had better luck in French speaking regions, but then again, I spent many years studying French, even though I previously disregarded formal classroom training as the most effective way of learning a language - I guess I should give it more credit.
Anyway, since we last spoke, Shane and I have driven through Luxembourg and the Rhine and Alsace regions of France. Believe it or not, one of our highlights there was visiting... a French version of Home Depot (named Leroy Martin). It really puts the US to shame - this place was like a Lowes and Ikea rolled into one, with a fantastic Crossainterie. I know... seems like a weird thing to do when traveling through countries with amazing history, but I like seeing how people live, and Shane was interested in seeing their design stuff.
We spent a night in Freiburg Germany, which is an absolutely gorgeous little town outside of the Black Forest. We would have stayed IN the Black Forest, but as usual, we were travelling without hotel reservations and it was getting late. You can,t just roll into town at 10pm and expect to find an open hotel with a staffed reception, so we typically try to settle in by 7pm or so, especially since restaurants seem to shut their kitchens by 9pm. We had wonderful local food in Freiburg - trout, vension and mushrooms are in season and the people here seem very proud of all three. Have I mentioned how much I love Germany? People here are so friendly if you approach them respectfully and with interest.
The Black Forest is amazing - rolling green hills, beautiful babbling brooks, and picturesque towns. This is definitely the place you,d want to live if you were a cow. TONS of bike riders -- the geared-up type on slick road bikes, as well as bike commuters on clunkers and tourists on hybrids. You could travel anywhere in Germany (or Belgium, or France, or Netherlands for that matter) on your bike and never leave a bike path. They simply go everywhere, from town to town. Lovely fields of pick-yer-own flowers, too, with payment based on the honor system.
We spent the next night on the Bodensee (Lake Constance), in a GORGEOUS town called Uberlingen. Screw the Napa Valley - this is where it,s at! Acres of vinyards surrounding a gorgeous lake bordering Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. We rented a paddleboat, which seems pretty lame but let me tell you that it felt terrific after spending days in the car. Kinda romantic, too, I must say. Fabulous dinner - house-made cheese spatzle and beef stew. We spent the next day doing some logistical stuff - laundry and shopping - before continuing on through the Austrian Alps to Innsbruck, which I,ve already described.
The tunnels in the Alps are really unbelievable. I,ll have to ask my dad how they accomplished building them.
Now my job is to find a place to stay in Salzburg for tonight. We,ve already completely blown our budget, so at this point all we,re trying to do is avoid bankruptcy. The plan originally was to stay in hostels (hostels in castles, no less) but what we didn,t count on was that hostels are completely booked on weekends, as are many pensions and 1-2 star hotels. The hostels that aren,t booked are youth hostels, which, alas, I am too old for. Bummer. So, we,ve only stayed in one castle, but the 2-star hotel where we are now (Hotel Baer) is a 700-year-old building on the first road that ran from Rome to Germany. Pretty frigging cool.
Ok, gotta go. No point in spending all day inside. Off to Salzburg to watch the bike race!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
bonjour !
this will be short too; we are in Bastogne Belgium (near the border of Luxembourg) and the keyboards are different, making typing difficult.
We stayed in Amsterdam an extra night, but moved out of our 185/night hotel into a super crappy hostel (obviously NOT an HI hostel, btw... that'll teach me to stray, or more accurately, not to make reservations in advance) which still set us back 80 clams. Still worth it though.
From Amsterdam, we drove southwest to Brugge, Belgium. MAN, Belgium is gorgeous. Brugge was fantastic - this is a seriously rich country, so even though we were in a fairly small town in the middle of farmland, the restaurants and shops were very glam. We ate very well - mussles, of course, but also a local fish stew that was awesome, and grilled sardines which were also a local specialty. Can't say enough about Brugge - we left the next morning, but have definite plans to go spend more time there. Did I ever tell you my travel strategy? Birds-eye view while I still have energy to zip around from one city or country to another, but am making notes of where I plan to go spend a month or two when I am older. Brugge is definitely on the list.
We stopped through Brussles today on the way here. As last time, I wasn't into it - it's a big noisy city with overpriced tourist restaurants. We did drive through what seems to be the longest under-city tunnel ever built - does anyone know? We ate an awesome lunch despite the prices (have I complained enough about the prices yet?) - sole meuniere and Shane had some 'country' sausage with some kind of mashed carrot/parsnip deal. We have to figure out how to make it - serious comfort food.
Shane is supposed to be looking up places to stay in the Black Forest for tomorrow, but instead just happened upon an idea to be in Salzburg on Sundayt to watch an international professional road bike race. So maybe we'll do that, but I want to be in Milan on Tuesday.
Miss everyone :)
this will be short too; we are in Bastogne Belgium (near the border of Luxembourg) and the keyboards are different, making typing difficult.
We stayed in Amsterdam an extra night, but moved out of our 185/night hotel into a super crappy hostel (obviously NOT an HI hostel, btw... that'll teach me to stray, or more accurately, not to make reservations in advance) which still set us back 80 clams. Still worth it though.
From Amsterdam, we drove southwest to Brugge, Belgium. MAN, Belgium is gorgeous. Brugge was fantastic - this is a seriously rich country, so even though we were in a fairly small town in the middle of farmland, the restaurants and shops were very glam. We ate very well - mussles, of course, but also a local fish stew that was awesome, and grilled sardines which were also a local specialty. Can't say enough about Brugge - we left the next morning, but have definite plans to go spend more time there. Did I ever tell you my travel strategy? Birds-eye view while I still have energy to zip around from one city or country to another, but am making notes of where I plan to go spend a month or two when I am older. Brugge is definitely on the list.
We stopped through Brussles today on the way here. As last time, I wasn't into it - it's a big noisy city with overpriced tourist restaurants. We did drive through what seems to be the longest under-city tunnel ever built - does anyone know? We ate an awesome lunch despite the prices (have I complained enough about the prices yet?) - sole meuniere and Shane had some 'country' sausage with some kind of mashed carrot/parsnip deal. We have to figure out how to make it - serious comfort food.
Shane is supposed to be looking up places to stay in the Black Forest for tomorrow, but instead just happened upon an idea to be in Salzburg on Sundayt to watch an international professional road bike race. So maybe we'll do that, but I want to be in Milan on Tuesday.
Miss everyone :)
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Greetings from Amsterdam! I have to keep this short - Europe is so insanely expensive that we can't even afford to sit in this dang internet cafe for very long!
Tuesday 9/12 - arrived in Frankfurt. Changed the plan, and instead of staying in Frankfurt, rented a car and drove to our first and probably only castle in Europe. We stayed at Hotel Schloss Wolfsbrunnen in Meissner, Germany, about 3 hours north of Frankfurt. Gorgeous! Had a terrific dinner after a much needed nap/shower. The cicada-like bugs were horrifying - one flew into my hair - but the location was fantastic - very rural, green, peaceful. I would stay here again in a heartbeat.
Wednesday 9/13 - spent the morning in Eschwege, close to the castle. Then, took a long drive toward (not "to") Koln. Didn't make it - lots of the local roads were under construction and it took a long time to go short distances. However, the slow drive was completely worthwhile - the German countryside is gorgeous - green green green with bike paths that connect the towns. Lots of cows and horses. We loved it. However, we had nowhere planned to spend the night, and got worried after the first two places were booked (and we're talking RURAL areas). We ended up in an awesome guesthouse called... um, thinking... will have to get back to you on it. The town was Netphen. Middle of nowhere, but we had a great dinner in a biergarten, and had more drinks in the pub of the guesthouse. Nobody spoke even a word of English, which was just fine with me so we could practice our German (and as you can see, we survived on it just fine!). The buildings in this part of Germany are much different than in Eschwege - not only slate roofs, but also very elaborately carved slate siding. Really cool.
Thursday 9/14 - got up early and drove to Bonn. En route, stopped at Ikea, just to see if it's any different than in the US. It's not. I actually walked out of there spending less than $3 (bought some cat toys). Arrived in Bonn mid-afternoon. Bonn is Beethoven's birthplace, if you didn't know. We really enjoyed ourselves there - it is a beautiful small city. But... we left and went on to Koln (Cologne) and... ick. Can't say I am a fan of Koln. Without reservations, we ended up at a small hotel with a shared bathroom (shared with 5 other rooms) for... get this... about $150. ACK. We did have an excellent dinner - great seafood - but had a heck of a time finding somewhere that wasn't packed and either touristy or full of wasted Germans.
Friday 9/15 - actually had a great time in the morning. Spent some time in the magnificent Dom [http://www.koelner-dom.de/], and then walked along the Rhine for an hour or so. Then, back in the car to head to... Amsterdam!
Saturday 9/16 - so far, so awesome is Amsterdam. We went to a flea market nad did a lot of window shopping (not in THOSE windows!). Went to only one museum so far, but we decided to stay a few days here so we'll hit more before we leave. There is a design convention in town, so we're going to do some research for Shane's new career.
Here is the tentative remaining itinerary:
Monday - leave for Belgium
Tuesday - Luxembourg, part of France (Strousburg, maybe?)
Wednesday - back into Germany - Black Forest?
- Lake Konstanz, Germany?
- through Switzerland, from NE corner down to Lake Lugano, hitting Luzern
- Milan, to visit my brother-in-law Mario and his fiancee Roberta. This will probably be on Monday or Tuesday of the following week
- cruise around Italy (Tuscany? Florence?) until Saturday
- Friday 9/29 - Portovenere, Italy for Mario and Roberta's wedding
- Tuedsday 10/3 - leave to go back home to Portland
Hope everyone is doing well! Miss you all!
Lee Ann and Shane
(I'll deal with the pictures when I get home!)
Tuesday 9/12 - arrived in Frankfurt. Changed the plan, and instead of staying in Frankfurt, rented a car and drove to our first and probably only castle in Europe. We stayed at Hotel Schloss Wolfsbrunnen in Meissner, Germany, about 3 hours north of Frankfurt. Gorgeous! Had a terrific dinner after a much needed nap/shower. The cicada-like bugs were horrifying - one flew into my hair - but the location was fantastic - very rural, green, peaceful. I would stay here again in a heartbeat.
Wednesday 9/13 - spent the morning in Eschwege, close to the castle. Then, took a long drive toward (not "to") Koln. Didn't make it - lots of the local roads were under construction and it took a long time to go short distances. However, the slow drive was completely worthwhile - the German countryside is gorgeous - green green green with bike paths that connect the towns. Lots of cows and horses. We loved it. However, we had nowhere planned to spend the night, and got worried after the first two places were booked (and we're talking RURAL areas). We ended up in an awesome guesthouse called... um, thinking... will have to get back to you on it. The town was Netphen. Middle of nowhere, but we had a great dinner in a biergarten, and had more drinks in the pub of the guesthouse. Nobody spoke even a word of English, which was just fine with me so we could practice our German (and as you can see, we survived on it just fine!). The buildings in this part of Germany are much different than in Eschwege - not only slate roofs, but also very elaborately carved slate siding. Really cool.
Thursday 9/14 - got up early and drove to Bonn. En route, stopped at Ikea, just to see if it's any different than in the US. It's not. I actually walked out of there spending less than $3 (bought some cat toys). Arrived in Bonn mid-afternoon. Bonn is Beethoven's birthplace, if you didn't know. We really enjoyed ourselves there - it is a beautiful small city. But... we left and went on to Koln (Cologne) and... ick. Can't say I am a fan of Koln. Without reservations, we ended up at a small hotel with a shared bathroom (shared with 5 other rooms) for... get this... about $150. ACK. We did have an excellent dinner - great seafood - but had a heck of a time finding somewhere that wasn't packed and either touristy or full of wasted Germans.
Friday 9/15 - actually had a great time in the morning. Spent some time in the magnificent Dom [http://www.koelner-dom.de/], and then walked along the Rhine for an hour or so. Then, back in the car to head to... Amsterdam!
Saturday 9/16 - so far, so awesome is Amsterdam. We went to a flea market nad did a lot of window shopping (not in THOSE windows!). Went to only one museum so far, but we decided to stay a few days here so we'll hit more before we leave. There is a design convention in town, so we're going to do some research for Shane's new career.
Here is the tentative remaining itinerary:
Monday - leave for Belgium
Tuesday - Luxembourg, part of France (Strousburg, maybe?)
Wednesday - back into Germany - Black Forest?
- Lake Konstanz, Germany?
- through Switzerland, from NE corner down to Lake Lugano, hitting Luzern
- Milan, to visit my brother-in-law Mario and his fiancee Roberta. This will probably be on Monday or Tuesday of the following week
- cruise around Italy (Tuscany? Florence?) until Saturday
- Friday 9/29 - Portovenere, Italy for Mario and Roberta's wedding
- Tuedsday 10/3 - leave to go back home to Portland
Hope everyone is doing well! Miss you all!
Lee Ann and Shane
(I'll deal with the pictures when I get home!)
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Above is the log of Lee Ann and Shane's European trip Sept-Oct 2006
Below is Lee Ann's trip to South America Jan-April 2004
Below is Lee Ann's trip to South America Jan-April 2004
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Thursday, April 29, 2004
I'm home!
My last day in Costa Rica was great. We got picked up at 6:30am, and went to a coffee plantation, volcano with a stunning lake in its crater, to see some hummingbirds (and a tarantula!), to a rainforest, where we heard howler monkeys, saw crazy little colorful frogs and lizards, and took a riverboat ride, where there were more monkeys, caimans, and some bats.
My trip was absolutely fantastic, and I met some great people along the way. I'm trying to figure out when I can go back. But.... glad to be home, though!
Thanks again for reading my Blog!
Lee Ann
My last day in Costa Rica was great. We got picked up at 6:30am, and went to a coffee plantation, volcano with a stunning lake in its crater, to see some hummingbirds (and a tarantula!), to a rainforest, where we heard howler monkeys, saw crazy little colorful frogs and lizards, and took a riverboat ride, where there were more monkeys, caimans, and some bats.
My trip was absolutely fantastic, and I met some great people along the way. I'm trying to figure out when I can go back. But.... glad to be home, though!
Thanks again for reading my Blog!
Lee Ann
Monday, April 26, 2004
Still in Costa Rica. Went diving again yesterday, and although the sting rays were not as prolific, I did see several sharks! Wasn´t as scary as I was expecting it to be - they really weren´t very interested in us. I was more amused by the fact that you know that there is a shark in the area because everyone I was diving with all of a sudden would make the shark sign (hand on top of head, sticking up like a fin).
Last day in Playa del Coco. Heading back to San Jose tonight to do my 11 hour "highlights of Costa Rica" tour tomorrow.
Last day in Playa del Coco. Heading back to San Jose tonight to do my 11 hour "highlights of Costa Rica" tour tomorrow.
Saturday, April 24, 2004
Okay, Costa Rica is great! The beach where I am, Playa del Coco, has the best reputation for diving in the country, and fortunately I got to go today! Am going tomorrow, too! We saw a shark (actually, I didn´t see it - I saw the rock where it was hiding, but I was afraid to look - it was between 4'-5- long), lots of humongous stingrays, an octopus, enormous eels, a starfish, 2 seahorses, and countless schools of fish. It was awesome. I am just counting the hours until I can go again tomorrow! I also walked 3 km to a black sand beach, and along the walk, there were lots of monkeys in the trees lining the road, making lots of noise especially during the walk back. I also saw an anteater!
I have to take a bus back to San Jose on Monday afternoon, and on Tuesday I am doing an all-day tour of the Costa Rica highlights, including a rainforest, a volcano, a coffee plantation, and a hummingbird/butterfly observatory. Then flying home on Wednesday morning!
I have to take a bus back to San Jose on Monday afternoon, and on Tuesday I am doing an all-day tour of the Costa Rica highlights, including a rainforest, a volcano, a coffee plantation, and a hummingbird/butterfly observatory. Then flying home on Wednesday morning!
Friday, April 23, 2004
By the way, for my Philly friends, I will most likely be back in Philly for the 2nd and 3rd week of May, but it isn't confirmed yet. But if so, I'd love to meet for dinner, so please send me an email or call after Wednesday if you'll be around!
Love,
Lee Ann
Love,
Lee Ann
Greetings from Costa Rica!
But since I just arrived, I don't have much to say about it. I will tell you about Panama instead. I spent 2 days and 3 nights in Panama City. The first day, I went to the Panama Canal, which was actually pretty cool. Interesting to see something of such historical and commercial importance. I also went to Casco Viejo, which looked something like a shabby New Orleans in terms of the architecture. The next day I went scuba diving on the Pacific side. It was kind of weird weather and I could only see a couple of feet, but it was cool nonetheless. I saw lots of huge oysters or scallops (jury is out as to which they were - I received conflicting reports), lobsters, schools of butterfly fish, sea slugs (they sound horrid but they were actually really pretty), and some really cool neon blue fish. There was a really strong current, which was hard to swim against but really fun to let yourself be picked up by the drift. Strange to swim under water and not to be able to see, but it was definitely an interesting experience. Had dinner at the Causeway Amador, which is a stretch of road/bike path that was built using rocks excavated during the building of the Panama Canal. The public buses were painted to inspire a charming ghetto aesthetic, and my hotel was something special - security guard who held a 50+ year old musket (for lack of better word) and I witnessed the arrival of only 6 prostitutes, which was very comforting. There were some really cool indigineous women with beaded arm and leg bands. Other than that, not a whole lot to report on Panama City. I had a great time, but 2 days is enough.
Am now in Costa Rica, in a town called Playa del Coco. I had to take a 5 hour bus ride from San Jose to get here, and so far it is really cute. I hope to go diving this weekend, but the only dive shop that was open when I arrived said that they are booked until Tuesday, so it might not be meant to be. But, there seems to be tons to do in Costa Rica, so I am sure I can entertain myself.
More later!
But since I just arrived, I don't have much to say about it. I will tell you about Panama instead. I spent 2 days and 3 nights in Panama City. The first day, I went to the Panama Canal, which was actually pretty cool. Interesting to see something of such historical and commercial importance. I also went to Casco Viejo, which looked something like a shabby New Orleans in terms of the architecture. The next day I went scuba diving on the Pacific side. It was kind of weird weather and I could only see a couple of feet, but it was cool nonetheless. I saw lots of huge oysters or scallops (jury is out as to which they were - I received conflicting reports), lobsters, schools of butterfly fish, sea slugs (they sound horrid but they were actually really pretty), and some really cool neon blue fish. There was a really strong current, which was hard to swim against but really fun to let yourself be picked up by the drift. Strange to swim under water and not to be able to see, but it was definitely an interesting experience. Had dinner at the Causeway Amador, which is a stretch of road/bike path that was built using rocks excavated during the building of the Panama Canal. The public buses were painted to inspire a charming ghetto aesthetic, and my hotel was something special - security guard who held a 50+ year old musket (for lack of better word) and I witnessed the arrival of only 6 prostitutes, which was very comforting. There were some really cool indigineous women with beaded arm and leg bands. Other than that, not a whole lot to report on Panama City. I had a great time, but 2 days is enough.
Am now in Costa Rica, in a town called Playa del Coco. I had to take a 5 hour bus ride from San Jose to get here, and so far it is really cute. I hope to go diving this weekend, but the only dive shop that was open when I arrived said that they are booked until Tuesday, so it might not be meant to be. But, there seems to be tons to do in Costa Rica, so I am sure I can entertain myself.
More later!
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Buenos dias amigos!!!!
Lee Ann hit the vacation JACKPOT in Colombia! I really didn't know what to do here other than walk around the city, so on Saturday morning I ended up on an island of the Islas de Rosario and got my scuba open water certification!!! It was really REALLY cool! The island was gorgeous - crystal green Caribbean water, a beautiful hut (with just two other guests; fun couple from Holland), private instructor, and it would have been amazing just snorkeling there... but the diving was incredible! I did 4 dives, and saw tons of colorful fish, 2 barracudas, crabs, a flounder and absolutely beautiful coral. The food was fantastic and the sunsets stunning. 3 days was not enough!
Everything else from here on will stink in comparison. But now I hope to go diving in Costa Rica too!!!!!
I'll need a little time to post the pictures, but will do so hopefully this weekend. I'll be back home next Thursday anyway, so at maximum, the pictures will be up by the end of April.
But... Shane and I are planning to go to British Colombia when I get home, so the adventure continues!!!
Lee Ann hit the vacation JACKPOT in Colombia! I really didn't know what to do here other than walk around the city, so on Saturday morning I ended up on an island of the Islas de Rosario and got my scuba open water certification!!! It was really REALLY cool! The island was gorgeous - crystal green Caribbean water, a beautiful hut (with just two other guests; fun couple from Holland), private instructor, and it would have been amazing just snorkeling there... but the diving was incredible! I did 4 dives, and saw tons of colorful fish, 2 barracudas, crabs, a flounder and absolutely beautiful coral. The food was fantastic and the sunsets stunning. 3 days was not enough!
Everything else from here on will stink in comparison. But now I hope to go diving in Costa Rica too!!!!!
I'll need a little time to post the pictures, but will do so hopefully this weekend. I'll be back home next Thursday anyway, so at maximum, the pictures will be up by the end of April.
But... Shane and I are planning to go to British Colombia when I get home, so the adventure continues!!!
Thursday, April 15, 2004
Greetings from Ecuador!
My arrival into Cuenca ended up being a bit hairy. I flew into Guayaquil, and the taxi driver, en route to the bus station, completely scared me from taking the 3 hour bus ride, saying that there are tons of bus jackings and that he wouldn´t take the bus because of the danger. So I flew instead. However, when I actually got to Cuenca, I learned that it´s a pretty popular taxi driver scam to try to get you to pay them to drive you to Cuenca instead (yes, he offered, but not that I´m going to trust him any more than the bus driver). Cuenca was cute, kind of sleepy. You know the pictures you see of the South American women wearing the big colorful skirts and the panama hats? Well they really do wear that stuff here. My hostal (Macondo) was really cute, and the town is very colonial. I took a day hike in Cajas National Park... didn´t expect the altitude (4100 meters) so it was difficult for that reason, but otherwise not all that exciting compared to the other hikes I´ve done on this trip. Yesterday I took another day trip to Ingapirca, which is a set of ruins about 2 hours outside of Cuenca that originate from the Cañaris (pre-Inca) and from the Incas themselves. There is an Inca Trail that originates there as well. Today I went to Cuenca´s "Baños" (hot springs) but it was kind of lame - really, just swimming pools filled with hot spring water, so I didn´t go in. I took the bus back to Guayaquil... probably ranks as one of my favorite experiences in Ecuador so far. I was a little nervous being the only gringa on the bus, and the bus rides here are something you really should experience - rickety bus, dodging the boulders that regularly fall from the mountain sides due to terrible erosion, latin music blasting from the cheap bus speakers. But, after the obligatory hour-long sales pitch by vendors selling cheap junk on the bus, some romantic song came on and most of the people on the bus started singing along. It was really cute. The scenery was really cool ... winding out of the Andes, then the landscape changes to banana and rice fields. Very picturesque. In Guayaquil, I am staying at a beautiful hostel in the outskirts of the city. The owner set me up with a 1.5 hour city tour, which I have to say was incredible. Guayaquil appears to be a beautiful city, despite having the worst reputation out of all cities I´ve been to so far. Everyone I have talked to has said to skip it, but after the tour I took, I now wish I was staying a day longer to see it during the day, because it was really pretty by night.
Off to Colombia tomorrow morning... actually, in just a few hours.
My arrival into Cuenca ended up being a bit hairy. I flew into Guayaquil, and the taxi driver, en route to the bus station, completely scared me from taking the 3 hour bus ride, saying that there are tons of bus jackings and that he wouldn´t take the bus because of the danger. So I flew instead. However, when I actually got to Cuenca, I learned that it´s a pretty popular taxi driver scam to try to get you to pay them to drive you to Cuenca instead (yes, he offered, but not that I´m going to trust him any more than the bus driver). Cuenca was cute, kind of sleepy. You know the pictures you see of the South American women wearing the big colorful skirts and the panama hats? Well they really do wear that stuff here. My hostal (Macondo) was really cute, and the town is very colonial. I took a day hike in Cajas National Park... didn´t expect the altitude (4100 meters) so it was difficult for that reason, but otherwise not all that exciting compared to the other hikes I´ve done on this trip. Yesterday I took another day trip to Ingapirca, which is a set of ruins about 2 hours outside of Cuenca that originate from the Cañaris (pre-Inca) and from the Incas themselves. There is an Inca Trail that originates there as well. Today I went to Cuenca´s "Baños" (hot springs) but it was kind of lame - really, just swimming pools filled with hot spring water, so I didn´t go in. I took the bus back to Guayaquil... probably ranks as one of my favorite experiences in Ecuador so far. I was a little nervous being the only gringa on the bus, and the bus rides here are something you really should experience - rickety bus, dodging the boulders that regularly fall from the mountain sides due to terrible erosion, latin music blasting from the cheap bus speakers. But, after the obligatory hour-long sales pitch by vendors selling cheap junk on the bus, some romantic song came on and most of the people on the bus started singing along. It was really cute. The scenery was really cool ... winding out of the Andes, then the landscape changes to banana and rice fields. Very picturesque. In Guayaquil, I am staying at a beautiful hostel in the outskirts of the city. The owner set me up with a 1.5 hour city tour, which I have to say was incredible. Guayaquil appears to be a beautiful city, despite having the worst reputation out of all cities I´ve been to so far. Everyone I have talked to has said to skip it, but after the tour I took, I now wish I was staying a day longer to see it during the day, because it was really pretty by night.
Off to Colombia tomorrow morning... actually, in just a few hours.
Thursday, April 08, 2004
I did it!!!!!
Man, the Inca Trail was cool! And tiring! I need new feet now. But we had a great time. It wouldn´t have occurred to me to do an organized hike, but if you didn´t already know, it´s no longer possible to hike the Inca Trail without hiring a guide, and I´m actually really glad that we did. Our guides were the best, and we had a fun group. I learned a lot more about the history of the Incas than I would have on my own, and it made the entire 4 day hike much more magical. They were really a very sophisticated society in terms of engineering. It´s really a shame that so much of their knowledge and society were wiped out.
I have all of my pictures, but have to go through them to pick out some to post here. I have about 500 just from Chile and Peru, and I´m sure you all don´t want to wade through all of them, so in a day or two I will post them.
Man, the Inca Trail was cool! And tiring! I need new feet now. But we had a great time. It wouldn´t have occurred to me to do an organized hike, but if you didn´t already know, it´s no longer possible to hike the Inca Trail without hiring a guide, and I´m actually really glad that we did. Our guides were the best, and we had a fun group. I learned a lot more about the history of the Incas than I would have on my own, and it made the entire 4 day hike much more magical. They were really a very sophisticated society in terms of engineering. It´s really a shame that so much of their knowledge and society were wiped out.
I have all of my pictures, but have to go through them to pick out some to post here. I have about 500 just from Chile and Peru, and I´m sure you all don´t want to wade through all of them, so in a day or two I will post them.
Friday, April 02, 2004
Hi Gang!
Well, Valparaiso and Viña del Mar were nice, but 2 days were enough there. I flew to Lima, Peru on Wednesday morning and met my friend Katie. It was great to see a friend from home! AND, she brought some stuff for me, including my battery charger, so I´ll be back in a few days with my pictures from Chile and Peru. Lima was pretty fun. I didn´t realize that there is a beach there. We stayed in a hostel in the Miraflores neighborhood, and we went out for Pisco Sours (YUMMY) and dinner with some other girls that are down here. We had a really good time. The next day (yesterday/Wednesday), we flew to Cusco to get acclimated for our Machu Picchu hike. Cusco is WONDERFUL. It has great architecture, huge history, but the restaurants and crafts are really spectacular. We got hit hard with the altitude when we first arrived - it was really strange. I don´t think I´ve ever been affected by altitude before, but we´re at almost 12,000 feet. We couldn´t complete our sentences and felt kind of drunk and dizzy. They gave us some Coca Mate (tea made with Coca leaves, which is the plant that cocaine is made from, incidentally), the leaves of which the indigenous people used for centuries (they say) to combat altitude sickness, then we slept for a few hours. We had an easy day today - just walked around the town, went into a few churches, and did a short hike to some Inca ruins that are above the town. The pictures are pretty good. There are a lot of beautiful little kids, llamas, and excellent indian clothing/styles here.
We will leave on Sunday morning for the big hike, and I will upload my pictures after that, probably on Thursday.
Wish me luck!
LA
Well, Valparaiso and Viña del Mar were nice, but 2 days were enough there. I flew to Lima, Peru on Wednesday morning and met my friend Katie. It was great to see a friend from home! AND, she brought some stuff for me, including my battery charger, so I´ll be back in a few days with my pictures from Chile and Peru. Lima was pretty fun. I didn´t realize that there is a beach there. We stayed in a hostel in the Miraflores neighborhood, and we went out for Pisco Sours (YUMMY) and dinner with some other girls that are down here. We had a really good time. The next day (yesterday/Wednesday), we flew to Cusco to get acclimated for our Machu Picchu hike. Cusco is WONDERFUL. It has great architecture, huge history, but the restaurants and crafts are really spectacular. We got hit hard with the altitude when we first arrived - it was really strange. I don´t think I´ve ever been affected by altitude before, but we´re at almost 12,000 feet. We couldn´t complete our sentences and felt kind of drunk and dizzy. They gave us some Coca Mate (tea made with Coca leaves, which is the plant that cocaine is made from, incidentally), the leaves of which the indigenous people used for centuries (they say) to combat altitude sickness, then we slept for a few hours. We had an easy day today - just walked around the town, went into a few churches, and did a short hike to some Inca ruins that are above the town. The pictures are pretty good. There are a lot of beautiful little kids, llamas, and excellent indian clothing/styles here.
We will leave on Sunday morning for the big hike, and I will upload my pictures after that, probably on Thursday.
Wish me luck!
LA
Sunday, March 28, 2004
In Santiago right now. Pretty cool town - it´s a relief to be in a city again! I treated myself this morning to a real AMERICAN breakfast at a 4-star hotel. I really don´t miss anything from home (except my family, friends, and cats)... except breakfast. I can only take so much toast and Nescafe.
General observations of Santiago include the fact that they just can´t eat enough mayonnaise here (you should see the enormity of the mayonnaise section of the grocery store), and that this isn´t a good place to go if you are a single gringa and can´t deal with catcalls. But, for the most part, people are really friendly and I have had some great seafood. Other than that, it seems much like a small New York.
I killed my battery recharger during my last day in Torres del Paine, so I won´t have any pictures of Santiago, sadly. But, my friend and hero Katie is meeting me in Peru this week with a new recharger.
I´m going to Viña del Mar and Valparaiso for the next two days, so won´t be back in Santiago until Tuesday night!
General observations of Santiago include the fact that they just can´t eat enough mayonnaise here (you should see the enormity of the mayonnaise section of the grocery store), and that this isn´t a good place to go if you are a single gringa and can´t deal with catcalls. But, for the most part, people are really friendly and I have had some great seafood. Other than that, it seems much like a small New York.
I killed my battery recharger during my last day in Torres del Paine, so I won´t have any pictures of Santiago, sadly. But, my friend and hero Katie is meeting me in Peru this week with a new recharger.
I´m going to Viña del Mar and Valparaiso for the next two days, so won´t be back in Santiago until Tuesday night!
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Yeee haaaa! I just completed a 4 day solo hike in the Torres del Paine national park in the southern Chile Patagonia! It was really wild - I´ve never hiked that much in my life, let alone by myself and carrying a backpack. The park is a 3 hour bus ride from Puerto Natales, the nearest town. The first day, I hiked 4 hours up to the "Torres" (towers), where there is a glacier-fed lake at the top, then hiked back down for 4 more hours. Met some very fun Israeli guys - the travelers you meet on a trip like this are usually really interesting. I also met a really cool rock-climbing, bike-riding, Catholic priest, and a guy who rode his bike from Alaska to Ushuaia (southern tip of Argentina). Next day hiked 4 hours to the next "refugio" (basically, a hut with dorm-style rooms). Met a very fun Dutch couple, ironically, one was an SAP consultant (can´t escape them), who I hiked with the following day, also 8 hours up to a great lookout point near a mountain glacier. The last day was short - a 3 hour hike up to the viewpoint of the biggest glacier. I´ve never seen a glacier in the water before - it was beautiful. The icebergs that had broken off were a brilliant blue. The wind was insane. Anyway, it was an awesome experience. I saw a condor, which was cool, but no other interesting animals. They have some cool llama-like animals which I saw from the bus, as well as Ñandus, which are similar to emus. Pumas apparently feed on the llama-like animals, but fortunately I didn´t see any.
I´ll be in transit to Santiago until Friday afternoon. Pictures to be uploaded sometime this weekend!
I´ll be in transit to Santiago until Friday afternoon. Pictures to be uploaded sometime this weekend!
Thursday, March 18, 2004
Okay - I never made it to Villa La Angostura. I went paragliding instead. It was awesome! Pictures attached (above)!
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
I love Bariloche! I have so many pictures that I will have to spend a few hours getting them ready for the upload, which I will try to do tomorrow night. This is how my week has been:
Sunday - arrived, and took bus to the center of town. So cute - just like a little Swiss village.
Monday - went on an all-day hike and saw some pretty epic scenery. The weather is perfect - maybe in the upper 60´s. Completely exhausted, we (another traveler who is staying at the same hostel as I) and I finished the night at a fondue restaurant. Very yummy
Tuesday - rented a mountain bike and rode around Lake Gutierrez and then up a dirt/rock road 18 km, up to Villa Catedral, where there is a ski resort and little ski village. Really beautiful. I can only imagine what it´s like when there is snow. Road down the same road, then into a national park, where there is a trail leading to a waterfall (which, of course seems like nothing compared to Iguazu Falls, but still pretty). Italian restaurant in town for dinner
Today - I went.... rock climbing! It was pretty insane. A small adventure company ran it - basically 3 young guys and some gear; I´m sure they don´t have insurance. We had to hike about an hour up to the place where we climbed, then did an initial climb, which is much harder than it looks, then went to another place and did 2 rappels. It was really crazy. The excursion was called "Adventures and Wine", because after our first rappel, we got to the bottom of the cliff to find an awesome picnic with wine, cheese, smoked trout, pate, fruit, etc. We relaxed for an hour, then did our second rappel. I´m so tired now, but some people from the hostel (which is really REALLY cool, by the way) and I are going into the town again tonight to celebrate St. Patrick´s Day.
Tomorrow - taking a bus to another town called Villa La Angostura, which my friend Mariel from BsAs recommended to me. It´s about an hour and a half away, so I´ll go for the day only.
Friday - taking a boat across 4 lakes to the coast of Chile, so that I can catch my flight down to the southern end of the country on Saturday morning!
Pictures tomorrow night!
- LA
Sunday - arrived, and took bus to the center of town. So cute - just like a little Swiss village.
Monday - went on an all-day hike and saw some pretty epic scenery. The weather is perfect - maybe in the upper 60´s. Completely exhausted, we (another traveler who is staying at the same hostel as I) and I finished the night at a fondue restaurant. Very yummy
Tuesday - rented a mountain bike and rode around Lake Gutierrez and then up a dirt/rock road 18 km, up to Villa Catedral, where there is a ski resort and little ski village. Really beautiful. I can only imagine what it´s like when there is snow. Road down the same road, then into a national park, where there is a trail leading to a waterfall (which, of course seems like nothing compared to Iguazu Falls, but still pretty). Italian restaurant in town for dinner
Today - I went.... rock climbing! It was pretty insane. A small adventure company ran it - basically 3 young guys and some gear; I´m sure they don´t have insurance. We had to hike about an hour up to the place where we climbed, then did an initial climb, which is much harder than it looks, then went to another place and did 2 rappels. It was really crazy. The excursion was called "Adventures and Wine", because after our first rappel, we got to the bottom of the cliff to find an awesome picnic with wine, cheese, smoked trout, pate, fruit, etc. We relaxed for an hour, then did our second rappel. I´m so tired now, but some people from the hostel (which is really REALLY cool, by the way) and I are going into the town again tonight to celebrate St. Patrick´s Day.
Tomorrow - taking a bus to another town called Villa La Angostura, which my friend Mariel from BsAs recommended to me. It´s about an hour and a half away, so I´ll go for the day only.
Friday - taking a boat across 4 lakes to the coast of Chile, so that I can catch my flight down to the southern end of the country on Saturday morning!
Pictures tomorrow night!
- LA
Sunday, March 14, 2004
Salvador was pretty good! Very Caribbean-esque! Beautiful colonial architecture, excellent music going on pretty much anywhere I went, and the food was very different from that in Sao Paulo. I only really had 2 full days. The first day I explored the city on foot, and the 2nd day I went on a boat excursion that took us to 2 islands, then had drinks and dinner with some people I met on the boat. Very fun, but not enough time. I´m now in Bariloche, which is really really beautiful. Sort of a combination Switzerland/Lake Tahoe, but I have to say that they out-hippied Tahoe. I´m staying in a beautiful hosteria on Lake Gutierrez, but the only weird thing about it is that I have to walk 1/2 hour along the lake shore to get to the bus stop to go anywhere. Not that I consider that to be a bad thing!
New pictures have been added, by the way!
New pictures have been added, by the way!
Monday, March 08, 2004
Hey gang - I will have to revise this later, but here's an excerpt of an email I wrote to my parents regarding the Amazon component of my trip! (I'm in the jungle right now, in fact!)
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Just a short note to say I'm alive and thriving in the Amazon! I've done some
really cool stuff since I arrived: went piranha fishing, took a helicopter ride,
went jungle trekking, went to a tribal village. The place is in a really cool
location but the accomodations are very summer camp-like. It's raining a lot here (duh) but I have seen a lot of cool animals - lots of monkeys (different kinds), parrots, piranhas, alligators, a cobra, and a sloth. One of the monkeys here climbed up on my lap, and turned to face the camera and pose for a picture. It was really awesome. We had to take a 3 hour boat ride to get to the "ecolodge" as they call it - we're in a pretty remote location. Tomorrow I'm going to where the Rio Negro (black river, b/c of the black colored water) meets another river (with yellow water) to form the Amazon river -- for several miles, the two rivers run along the same basin but do not mix due to different densities, currents, and temperature. Supposed to be pretty cool. Thursday morning I am flying to Salvador Brazil.
PS - I forgot to mention that there are DOLPHINS that live in the rivers here! Grey ones and.... pink ones, believe it or not! Who knew?
----------------
Just a short note to say I'm alive and thriving in the Amazon! I've done some
really cool stuff since I arrived: went piranha fishing, took a helicopter ride,
went jungle trekking, went to a tribal village. The place is in a really cool
location but the accomodations are very summer camp-like. It's raining a lot here (duh) but I have seen a lot of cool animals - lots of monkeys (different kinds), parrots, piranhas, alligators, a cobra, and a sloth. One of the monkeys here climbed up on my lap, and turned to face the camera and pose for a picture. It was really awesome. We had to take a 3 hour boat ride to get to the "ecolodge" as they call it - we're in a pretty remote location. Tomorrow I'm going to where the Rio Negro (black river, b/c of the black colored water) meets another river (with yellow water) to form the Amazon river -- for several miles, the two rivers run along the same basin but do not mix due to different densities, currents, and temperature. Supposed to be pretty cool. Thursday morning I am flying to Salvador Brazil.
PS - I forgot to mention that there are DOLPHINS that live in the rivers here! Grey ones and.... pink ones, believe it or not! Who knew?
Saturday, February 28, 2004
Did I mention how much Buenos Aires rocks??! I think that this should be on everyone's list of cities to vist sometime in their life. I'm now thinking that I should retire here instead of NYC, if not just pack up and move here now. I even have my neighborhood picked out - San Telmo. The houses there are absolutely gorgeous, but it feels somewhat bohemian. I have a favorite bar already, although it is not in San Telmo and there is very stiff competition -- it's called Million, and it's in the Recoleta neighborhood. Last night, I went to a sickingly touristy Tango show at a place called Senor Tango. I was sitting with fun people, though, so it ended up being a good time, but man, it was tacky. Tango itself is pretty cool, though. I would recommend skipping the dinner theater version and go to La Boca, which is also a tourist destination, but all of the outdoor cafes have a resident couple dancing tango, so it's free (well, except a tip for the dancers). The opera house here is enormous -- apparently one of the most reputable in the world -- and Carmen is going to be performed starting next week, but unfortunately I leave on Monday.
The people I'm working with have been really friendly. I've gone out pretty much every night I've been here, and they are taking the time to show me around. Tomorrow I'm going to what they say is a cute town called Tigre, which is on the outskirts of the city, with a friend from work and a consultant I met last week. I'll keep you posted!
The people I'm working with have been really friendly. I've gone out pretty much every night I've been here, and they are taking the time to show me around. Tomorrow I'm going to what they say is a cute town called Tigre, which is on the outskirts of the city, with a friend from work and a consultant I met last week. I'll keep you posted!
Monday, February 23, 2004
Went to Montevideo on Sunday. Nice bus ride, but the city was deader than dead. I think I arrived shortly after an alien mass-kidnapping. Should have kept going to Punta del Este, or else stayed an extra day in Colonia. Ah well - can´t win them all!
Saturday, February 21, 2004
Uruguay is GREAT!!!! I´m in a small town called Colonia, upon recommendation from one of my friends at work. It is beautiful here - it´s on the Rio de la Plata, and on the other side of the river is Buenos Aires although it´s too far to see it. I took a high-speed ferry to get here. This little town is SO charming - cobblestone streets, and there is a great little museum tour; I paid somethink like $2 to be able to go to 7 small museums. One of them has a fantastic dinosaur exhibit -- small, but they found some very old fossils and bones under the beaches here, and it´s cool to be so up-close and personal. One of them was a gigantic armadillo shell - must have been 4´x4´x4´. This city was founded in 1680, and has a combination of Portuguese and Spanish influence in the architecture. There is also a 3 or 4 mile long beach. Excellent.
I found a camera shop that will copy all of the photos on your digital camera to a CD for... get this... $3. So that´s what I did, although I have over 150 shots so far and I haven´t figured out which ones to post and where to post them.
I found a camera shop that will copy all of the photos on your digital camera to a CD for... get this... $3. So that´s what I did, although I have over 150 shots so far and I haven´t figured out which ones to post and where to post them.
Thursday, February 19, 2004
2/19/04 - See updated itinerary below!
So far:
1st weekend - worked nonstop! We went live with the system and there were a lot of preparation tasks, known as 'cutover' in the systems world.
2nd weekend - I went to Ubatuba (a beach on the coast of Brazil a little bit south of Rio) with my friend Sireli from work. It was really beautiful - lots of surfers, drinks on the beach, very sunny, although the beach town is often referred to as Ubachuva (chuva = rain) because it normally rains a lot.
3rd weekend - went to Foz do Iguazu, on the border between Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. These are insanely huge waterfalls that stretch for miles. Here's a website for more information: http://www.cataratasdoiguacu.com.br/ It was really beautiful. Also went to a bird park that had all kinds of crazy tropical birds.
Upcoming weekend -- going to Uruguay! I actually had a bit of a change in plans. Instead of working in Sao Paulo the entire month of February, I worked there for the first two weeks, and am now working in GORGEOUS Buenos Aires for the last two weeks of the month. Then am going back to Sao Paulo to work my last week before leaving for my vacation. I have to say that Buenos Aires is magnificent -- really probably one of the coolest cities I've ever visited. More on that later, though. I rearranged my vacation itinerary since I'll have already seen Buenos Aires, and am instead going down to Bariloche, which is in the Patagonian mountains. Supposedly there will be good fall leaves when I arrive there, and in the winter it's a big ski resort. Should be cool. pics on: http://www.interpatagonia.com/postales/index_i.html?idcorredor=2
I also have to say that the empanadas here are stellar!
I have taken tons of pictures already, but like a moron I didn't bring my CD containing the software, so my photos are being held hostage inside my camera. I'll figure it out and post them soon!
So far:
1st weekend - worked nonstop! We went live with the system and there were a lot of preparation tasks, known as 'cutover' in the systems world.
2nd weekend - I went to Ubatuba (a beach on the coast of Brazil a little bit south of Rio) with my friend Sireli from work. It was really beautiful - lots of surfers, drinks on the beach, very sunny, although the beach town is often referred to as Ubachuva (chuva = rain) because it normally rains a lot.
3rd weekend - went to Foz do Iguazu, on the border between Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. These are insanely huge waterfalls that stretch for miles. Here's a website for more information: http://www.cataratasdoiguacu.com.br/ It was really beautiful. Also went to a bird park that had all kinds of crazy tropical birds.
Upcoming weekend -- going to Uruguay! I actually had a bit of a change in plans. Instead of working in Sao Paulo the entire month of February, I worked there for the first two weeks, and am now working in GORGEOUS Buenos Aires for the last two weeks of the month. Then am going back to Sao Paulo to work my last week before leaving for my vacation. I have to say that Buenos Aires is magnificent -- really probably one of the coolest cities I've ever visited. More on that later, though. I rearranged my vacation itinerary since I'll have already seen Buenos Aires, and am instead going down to Bariloche, which is in the Patagonian mountains. Supposedly there will be good fall leaves when I arrive there, and in the winter it's a big ski resort. Should be cool. pics on: http://www.interpatagonia.com/postales/index_i.html?idcorredor=2
I also have to say that the empanadas here are stellar!
I have taken tons of pictures already, but like a moron I didn't bring my CD containing the software, so my photos are being held hostage inside my camera. I'll figure it out and post them soon!
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Hi Friends!
I'm embarking upon a 2-month tour of several countries in South America, starting in March. I will be initially working in Brazil for a month in February, then will visit several countries and regions, mostly in the South Cone. Please stay tuned for a blog of my adventures!
Itinerary (UPDATED 2/19! Finalized!):
Thursday January 29 - working in Sao Paulo for two weeks
Saturday February 7 - Ubatuba (beach in Brazil) with a friend from work
Friday February 13 - Foz do Iguazu - gigantic waterfalls in Brazil/Argentina
Sunday February 15 - transfer to Buenos Aires to work for 2 weeks
Saturday February 21 - Colonia Uruguay, then Montevideo Uruguay on Sunday
Monday March 1 - back to Sao Paulo for my last week of work
Saturday March 6 - Sao Paulo to Manaus (+ 3 hour boat ride to get to the Brazil rainforest)
Thursday March 11 - Manaus to Salvador (historic coastal city in Brazil's state of Bahia)
Sunday March 14 - Salvador to Bariloche, Argentina (Patagonia)
Friday March 19 - boat/bus to Puerto Montt, Chile
Saturday March 20 - Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas/Torres del Paine, Chile
Friday March 26 - Punta Arenas to Santiago, Chile
Wednesday March 31 - Santiago to Lima, Peru
- overland Lima to Cuzco/Cusco Peru (in the Andes)
- hike on the Inca Trail to Macchu Pichu with my friend Katie
Sunday April 11 - Lima to Cuenca, Ecuador
Friday April 16 - Guayaquil to Cartagena, Colombia (+ Islas de Rosario)
Tuesday April 20 - Cartagena to Panama City
Friday April 23 - Panama City to Costa Rica - hopefully Shane will meet me in Costa Rica
... sometime in early May -- home!
I'm embarking upon a 2-month tour of several countries in South America, starting in March. I will be initially working in Brazil for a month in February, then will visit several countries and regions, mostly in the South Cone. Please stay tuned for a blog of my adventures!
Itinerary (UPDATED 2/19! Finalized!):
Thursday January 29 - working in Sao Paulo for two weeks
Saturday February 7 - Ubatuba (beach in Brazil) with a friend from work
Friday February 13 - Foz do Iguazu - gigantic waterfalls in Brazil/Argentina
Sunday February 15 - transfer to Buenos Aires to work for 2 weeks
Saturday February 21 - Colonia Uruguay, then Montevideo Uruguay on Sunday
Monday March 1 - back to Sao Paulo for my last week of work
Saturday March 6 - Sao Paulo to Manaus (+ 3 hour boat ride to get to the Brazil rainforest)
Thursday March 11 - Manaus to Salvador (historic coastal city in Brazil's state of Bahia)
Sunday March 14 - Salvador to Bariloche, Argentina (Patagonia)
Friday March 19 - boat/bus to Puerto Montt, Chile
Saturday March 20 - Puerto Montt to Punta Arenas/Torres del Paine, Chile
Friday March 26 - Punta Arenas to Santiago, Chile
Wednesday March 31 - Santiago to Lima, Peru
- overland Lima to Cuzco/Cusco Peru (in the Andes)
- hike on the Inca Trail to Macchu Pichu with my friend Katie
Sunday April 11 - Lima to Cuenca, Ecuador
Friday April 16 - Guayaquil to Cartagena, Colombia (+ Islas de Rosario)
Tuesday April 20 - Cartagena to Panama City
Friday April 23 - Panama City to Costa Rica - hopefully Shane will meet me in Costa Rica
... sometime in early May -- home!
