Although I flew on this plane
I made it to South Africa! WOOHOO!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
The Italy Experience
It's hard to believe, but I've been tromping through Italy for three weeks now! Before leaving the states, I NEVER planned on spending more than a week in a single country...But looking back on these last three weeks, I wish I could have more time here...it's been beautiful
Here is the update:
Venice (Sept. 16-Sept. 18)
-Became lifelong friends with a Hungarian student studying abroad in Italy for a semester. Zsolt and I agreed that if either of us visit each other's home countries in the future, we'll have a place to stay :)
-Successfully explored almost every Venetian street in a matter of 2.5 hours and wandered aimlessly for the next 1.5 days.
-Overcame all previous urges to visit Venice and will not return unless someone pays me to :)
Florence (Sept. 18-Sept. 21)
-I was looking quite haggard (as expected with a 2+ month-old beard) on the train from Venice to Florence, BUT, fortunately, I was wearing my Jermaine O'neal Blazers jersey...a contagiously outgoing oregonian girl saw past the seattle grunge and introduced herself. Turns out she is from Ptown, a Baylor student, and studying in Florence this semester with 7 other american girls...God is good! The result: 4 unbelievable days exploring Florence as a true insider. I learned Florentine secrets that I'll take to the grave. I never thought my jersey would bring such good fortune.
-O ya and Michaelangelo's David was cool too
Cinque Terre (Sept. 21 -Sept. 23)
-Clear blue skies, the beautiful mediterranean, 40+ ft cliffs, and Birra Morretti...could it have been better? I guess if Eney, Kruse and Brock were there with us.
Roma: Round 1 (Sept. 23- Sept. 26)
-Spent three awesome days exploring with Zach Hunter and Matt Woods (a fellow traveler we met in Northern Ireland)
-Colloseum, Pallatine Hill, Forum, St. Peters Basilica, ...and countless other ancient marvels
-FOOD!!!
-Finally said goodbye to the last of the UW travel companions. Zach left from the train station in Rome at 10:52 pm on September 25th...it was really hard (I kinda wanted to go with him)
-SHAVED off the beard :/
Italy with my DAD: Roma, Umbria, Tuscany, Chianti, Piedmont (Sept. 28 - Oct. 11)
-Major adjustment going from a 36 euro/day budget (including room, food, travel, etc.) to having dinner that costs more than 36 euros...but I made the adjustment just fine :)
-Spent 4 glorious days in Roma and fell in love with Gian Lorenzo Bernini, an Italian artist known as the Michaelangelo of the Baroque era. If you ask me, Michaelangelo is the Bernini of the Renaissance era...his work at the Borghese Galleria was insane!!
- Amazing food and wine tours through various areas north of Roma. Our travels included Orvieto, Fabbri, Montefalco, Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino, Greve in Chianti, Firenze, Monterosso al Mare, Santo Stefano Belbo and Alba.
-A few more towns are on the docket, but nothing is certain :)
-Dad leaves for Portland and I leave for Joburg on Monday, the 11th
Travelling with pops has been awesome! Much different than I originally expected, but unbelievable. I feel like we've both learned a lot about each other during these two intense weeks. A couple of conversations have opened up some relational avenues that didn't exist before. We're making bonds that will really last forever.
But, its a little awkward because every Italian that we meet is surprised to hear that we are father and son. They say (to my dad), "You look too young to be his father." We wonder what kind of relationship they think we have. Are we brothers? Or something more? We've chosen to decide that they think we're brothers. Thats okay with us, because we kind of are...I grew up kicking his ass at almost everything...and I've always said that I got the good looking genes
Here is the update:
Venice (Sept. 16-Sept. 18)
-Became lifelong friends with a Hungarian student studying abroad in Italy for a semester. Zsolt and I agreed that if either of us visit each other's home countries in the future, we'll have a place to stay :)
-Successfully explored almost every Venetian street in a matter of 2.5 hours and wandered aimlessly for the next 1.5 days.
-Overcame all previous urges to visit Venice and will not return unless someone pays me to :)
Florence (Sept. 18-Sept. 21)
-I was looking quite haggard (as expected with a 2+ month-old beard) on the train from Venice to Florence, BUT, fortunately, I was wearing my Jermaine O'neal Blazers jersey...a contagiously outgoing oregonian girl saw past the seattle grunge and introduced herself. Turns out she is from Ptown, a Baylor student, and studying in Florence this semester with 7 other american girls...God is good! The result: 4 unbelievable days exploring Florence as a true insider. I learned Florentine secrets that I'll take to the grave. I never thought my jersey would bring such good fortune.
-O ya and Michaelangelo's David was cool too
Cinque Terre (Sept. 21 -Sept. 23)
-Clear blue skies, the beautiful mediterranean, 40+ ft cliffs, and Birra Morretti...could it have been better? I guess if Eney, Kruse and Brock were there with us.
Roma: Round 1 (Sept. 23- Sept. 26)
-Spent three awesome days exploring with Zach Hunter and Matt Woods (a fellow traveler we met in Northern Ireland)
-Colloseum, Pallatine Hill, Forum, St. Peters Basilica, ...and countless other ancient marvels
-FOOD!!!
-Finally said goodbye to the last of the UW travel companions. Zach left from the train station in Rome at 10:52 pm on September 25th...it was really hard (I kinda wanted to go with him)
-SHAVED off the beard :/
Italy with my DAD: Roma, Umbria, Tuscany, Chianti, Piedmont (Sept. 28 - Oct. 11)
-Major adjustment going from a 36 euro/day budget (including room, food, travel, etc.) to having dinner that costs more than 36 euros...but I made the adjustment just fine :)
-Spent 4 glorious days in Roma and fell in love with Gian Lorenzo Bernini, an Italian artist known as the Michaelangelo of the Baroque era. If you ask me, Michaelangelo is the Bernini of the Renaissance era...his work at the Borghese Galleria was insane!!
- Amazing food and wine tours through various areas north of Roma. Our travels included Orvieto, Fabbri, Montefalco, Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino, Greve in Chianti, Firenze, Monterosso al Mare, Santo Stefano Belbo and Alba.
-A few more towns are on the docket, but nothing is certain :)
-Dad leaves for Portland and I leave for Joburg on Monday, the 11th
Travelling with pops has been awesome! Much different than I originally expected, but unbelievable. I feel like we've both learned a lot about each other during these two intense weeks. A couple of conversations have opened up some relational avenues that didn't exist before. We're making bonds that will really last forever.
But, its a little awkward because every Italian that we meet is surprised to hear that we are father and son. They say (to my dad), "You look too young to be his father." We wonder what kind of relationship they think we have. Are we brothers? Or something more? We've chosen to decide that they think we're brothers. Thats okay with us, because we kind of are...I grew up kicking his ass at almost everything...and I've always said that I got the good looking genes
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Hungarian Horntail
FROM BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
Harry Potter has faced many challenges in his over-dramatic, but inspiring, life. I'd argue that one of his toughest challenges came during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, when he was matched up against a Hungarian Horntail. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Hungarian Horntails, these are a breed of dragon native to Hungary. Most wizards would say that they are the most dangerous of all dragons...but Harry came out on top! How does this apply to my life right now?? Well, I feel as though I was met with a challenge in Hungary last night, and I came out on top!
Here's the story:
Yesterday I took a night train from Prague to Budapest to save money and time. The train left from Prague at 23:11 and was scheduled to arrive in Budapest at 8:20 this morning. I got to the train station about an hour before departure so that I could brush my teeth, get my book ready and have my choice of seats. Everything was going perfectly! I found an empty compartment with bench seats and no armrest (the seats were long enough to fully extend my legs and wide enough to lay very comfortably)!
At midnight, I started to fall asleep, but a random conversation with my mom popped into my head. I remember her asking, "How do you secure all of your luggage when you're on night trains so nobody steals your stuff?" I told her that I've never really had any problems with my luggage so I don't worry about it too much. But for some reason, on the train I was a little more paranoid than usual. So, I used my handy dandy combination lock and all of the buckles on both of my back packs to securely fasten each of them to the overhead luggage rack (it took me about five minutes to free the bags from my own security system this morning). I fell asleep with a clear conscious.
But, periodically throughout the night, various conductors woke me up to ask for my ticket and make sure I wasn't riding the train for free. Then, at around 3 am, a conductor busted into my compartment and demanded my ticket. I showed him my Eurail Pass, but he started scolding me because it isn't valid in Slovakia and my train went 130 km through Slovakia at one point. I dealt with it and fell right back to sleep. But then, at around 4 am I woke up and saw another man standing over me in the dark. I thought it was another conductor, so I sprang to my feet and looked at him...he definitely wasn't a conductor and he was holding my jeans and my jacket. I approached him and he backed up into the corner of the compartment. I took back my stuff and kicked him out of the room. Then, looking at my bags, I noticed that he definitely tried to pull my smaller pack off the rack. My security system was successful!
I stayed awake for the rest of the night and two different thieves came into my room to rob me while I was laying down. Good thing I wasn't asleep because I scared them off pretty good. It was definitely nerve racking. I can't believe that there were at least three people on my train stealing things from sleeping passengers!!! Crazy!
Thank goodness, nothing of mine was stolen and now I know what to look for. I guess you could say I'm reading for the second task in the Triwizard Tournament.
And thanks mommy for haunting my thoughts :)
Harry Potter has faced many challenges in his over-dramatic, but inspiring, life. I'd argue that one of his toughest challenges came during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, when he was matched up against a Hungarian Horntail. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Hungarian Horntails, these are a breed of dragon native to Hungary. Most wizards would say that they are the most dangerous of all dragons...but Harry came out on top! How does this apply to my life right now?? Well, I feel as though I was met with a challenge in Hungary last night, and I came out on top!
Here's the story:
Yesterday I took a night train from Prague to Budapest to save money and time. The train left from Prague at 23:11 and was scheduled to arrive in Budapest at 8:20 this morning. I got to the train station about an hour before departure so that I could brush my teeth, get my book ready and have my choice of seats. Everything was going perfectly! I found an empty compartment with bench seats and no armrest (the seats were long enough to fully extend my legs and wide enough to lay very comfortably)!
At midnight, I started to fall asleep, but a random conversation with my mom popped into my head. I remember her asking, "How do you secure all of your luggage when you're on night trains so nobody steals your stuff?" I told her that I've never really had any problems with my luggage so I don't worry about it too much. But for some reason, on the train I was a little more paranoid than usual. So, I used my handy dandy combination lock and all of the buckles on both of my back packs to securely fasten each of them to the overhead luggage rack (it took me about five minutes to free the bags from my own security system this morning). I fell asleep with a clear conscious.
But, periodically throughout the night, various conductors woke me up to ask for my ticket and make sure I wasn't riding the train for free. Then, at around 3 am, a conductor busted into my compartment and demanded my ticket. I showed him my Eurail Pass, but he started scolding me because it isn't valid in Slovakia and my train went 130 km through Slovakia at one point. I dealt with it and fell right back to sleep. But then, at around 4 am I woke up and saw another man standing over me in the dark. I thought it was another conductor, so I sprang to my feet and looked at him...he definitely wasn't a conductor and he was holding my jeans and my jacket. I approached him and he backed up into the corner of the compartment. I took back my stuff and kicked him out of the room. Then, looking at my bags, I noticed that he definitely tried to pull my smaller pack off the rack. My security system was successful!
I stayed awake for the rest of the night and two different thieves came into my room to rob me while I was laying down. Good thing I wasn't asleep because I scared them off pretty good. It was definitely nerve racking. I can't believe that there were at least three people on my train stealing things from sleeping passengers!!! Crazy!
Thank goodness, nothing of mine was stolen and now I know what to look for. I guess you could say I'm reading for the second task in the Triwizard Tournament.
And thanks mommy for haunting my thoughts :)
Monday, August 30, 2010
Mission Maroc
So, I spent the last four nights in Africa...away from the comforts and luxuries of having friends, drinkable water and a semi-recognizable language nearby. On the 25th I arrived in Melilla, Spain (Spanish Morocco) and spent the night there. Then I spent the 26th and 27th in a rural area of Morocco. I slept at a typical countryside home with a family friend from the states (Melodie) and a Moroccan family (Parents, Siham and Mohammed; Siham's Aunt; Elias, 4; and Teetee, 2). Out in the country I spent my time picking figs, harvesting cactus fruit, cracking almonds, digging the foundation of the future community center, playing with the kids, going to the beach and eating a lot of great food cooked by Mohammed.
The beautiful home that Melodie and the Moroccan family live in
The house from the backside
Teetee, Elias and I
Cracking Almonds with the family
Picking Cactus fruit with Elias
The Moroccan sunset from my bedroom (aka the roof)
On the morning of the 28th Melodie and I headed west towards a small mountain town called Chefchaouen. Along the way we passed hundreds and hundreds of fields full of lush marijuana plants. It was absolutely crazy! Marijuana is definitely illegal in Morocco, but the authorities and government turn a blind eye to almost all drug activity. Chefchaouen is a beautiful and somewhat touristed area that looks and feels a lot more like Europe than the country did.
Chefchaouen at sunset
This is Melodie :)
THE MOROCCAN ESCAPE
I needed to leave very early in the morning on the 29th...around 6 am. So, I got up, got ready and started to head out the door, however, the main entrance to the hotel was locked and the manager was nowhere to be found!!! I started scouring the entire building for an alternative exit, but was unsuccessful. The main door was the only exit other than windows, and all of the first floor windows were barred shut. So, I resorted to using a rope from REI and an open second story window(seen in the picture below right behind me). It may not look it from the photo, but the drop from that window is about fifteen feet....thats pretty far. First, I lowered my 30 lb pack from the window. Step 1 was simple and accomplished without any hiccups. Next, I wrapped the rope around the middle window frame so that half the rope hung out the right window and the other half hung out the left window (I did this so that after I climbed down I could get my rope back). Then, I barely squeezed through the left window, feet first with my pack on my back. I proceeded to lower myself down from the window, but the rope didn't reach all the way to the bottom! I ended up jumpiing the last 5 or 6 feet with my 10 lb pack on my back. I landed safely without any broken ankles or bruised joints, was able to regain my rope and was ready to find my way across the mediterranean and through Spain to Barcelona. It was an adventure!
The beautiful home that Melodie and the Moroccan family live in
The house from the backside
Teetee, Elias and I
Cracking Almonds with the family
Picking Cactus fruit with Elias
The Moroccan sunset from my bedroom (aka the roof)
On the morning of the 28th Melodie and I headed west towards a small mountain town called Chefchaouen. Along the way we passed hundreds and hundreds of fields full of lush marijuana plants. It was absolutely crazy! Marijuana is definitely illegal in Morocco, but the authorities and government turn a blind eye to almost all drug activity. Chefchaouen is a beautiful and somewhat touristed area that looks and feels a lot more like Europe than the country did.
Chefchaouen at sunset
This is Melodie :)
THE MOROCCAN ESCAPE
I needed to leave very early in the morning on the 29th...around 6 am. So, I got up, got ready and started to head out the door, however, the main entrance to the hotel was locked and the manager was nowhere to be found!!! I started scouring the entire building for an alternative exit, but was unsuccessful. The main door was the only exit other than windows, and all of the first floor windows were barred shut. So, I resorted to using a rope from REI and an open second story window(seen in the picture below right behind me). It may not look it from the photo, but the drop from that window is about fifteen feet....thats pretty far. First, I lowered my 30 lb pack from the window. Step 1 was simple and accomplished without any hiccups. Next, I wrapped the rope around the middle window frame so that half the rope hung out the right window and the other half hung out the left window (I did this so that after I climbed down I could get my rope back). Then, I barely squeezed through the left window, feet first with my pack on my back. I proceeded to lower myself down from the window, but the rope didn't reach all the way to the bottom! I ended up jumpiing the last 5 or 6 feet with my 10 lb pack on my back. I landed safely without any broken ankles or bruised joints, was able to regain my rope and was ready to find my way across the mediterranean and through Spain to Barcelona. It was an adventure!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Moving 299,792,456 m/s (really fast!)
I think today marks my 31st day of being abroad! It definitely doesn't feel like I've been gone that long, though. Maybe that's because I'm in the company of some of the coolest people I've met in my entire life (Zach Hunter, Michael Eney, Brian Kruse and Brock Hartman). I haven't had proper computer access since my last blog post, which was more than two weeks ago! Since then, the five of us had a spectacular time exploring Northern Ireland and Dublin, Brock flew back home for law school, I explored western Ireland alone, Eney Zach and I spent two nights in Lagos Portugal, we met Kruse for three nights in Sevilla Spain, and now the four of us are in Granada! It has been an absolute blur! Everywhere we've gone has been wonderful, beautiful and special in its own way. All of us are pretty worn out from the heat and constant walking (it was 109 in Sevilla and now is 97 here in Granada).
Zach, Eney and Kruse are all heading north to Madrid on the 25th, but I've decided to do my own thing on the 25th and head south, across the water, into Morocco. I have a family friend who's been living there for a really long time, so I'm excited to see her and experience the kind of work she does, first hand. I'm not sure how long I'll spend in Morocco, I'll try to keep you all updated :)
Here are some pictures highlighting the last few weeks
Northern Ireland! The boys in front of Dunluce Castle. For those of you who do not know, CS Lewis was born and raised in Northern Ireland. Throughout his books, he references Northern Ireland a lot. Apparently, Dunluce provided the inspiration for Cair Paravel (the castle from his acclaimed series The Chronicles of Narnia)
Z, Brock and I got to spend a wonderful afternoon and evening with Harold and Eileen Lynas. Zach and I met this sweet couple on the train from Southern Ireland to Belfast and we hit it off. In the short conversation we had with them, we exchanged emails, phone numbers and adresses, and they offerred to have us over for tea. So we rang them up one night and had tea with them the next day. It was awesome
On my own in Westport, Ireland
Beautiful Croagh Patrick the day before I climbed it
Beautiful Croagh Patrick the day I climbed it :)
It was definitely foggy and very rainy! But I made it anyways!
One of the awesome beaches in Lagos
Fresh figs from the trees on the cliff above the beaches...so good! and free!
Together again, in Sevilla. La Catedral
Zach, Eney and Kruse are all heading north to Madrid on the 25th, but I've decided to do my own thing on the 25th and head south, across the water, into Morocco. I have a family friend who's been living there for a really long time, so I'm excited to see her and experience the kind of work she does, first hand. I'm not sure how long I'll spend in Morocco, I'll try to keep you all updated :)
Here are some pictures highlighting the last few weeks
Northern Ireland! The boys in front of Dunluce Castle. For those of you who do not know, CS Lewis was born and raised in Northern Ireland. Throughout his books, he references Northern Ireland a lot. Apparently, Dunluce provided the inspiration for Cair Paravel (the castle from his acclaimed series The Chronicles of Narnia)
Z, Brock and I got to spend a wonderful afternoon and evening with Harold and Eileen Lynas. Zach and I met this sweet couple on the train from Southern Ireland to Belfast and we hit it off. In the short conversation we had with them, we exchanged emails, phone numbers and adresses, and they offerred to have us over for tea. So we rang them up one night and had tea with them the next day. It was awesome
On my own in Westport, Ireland
Beautiful Croagh Patrick the day before I climbed it
Beautiful Croagh Patrick the day I climbed it :)
It was definitely foggy and very rainy! But I made it anyways!
One of the awesome beaches in Lagos
Fresh figs from the trees on the cliff above the beaches...so good! and free!
Together again, in Sevilla. La Catedral
Saturday, August 7, 2010
France: The French Riviera and Paris
Finished up Gimmelwald with a sweet hike up to Spritzhorn and a very relaxing last day. We traveled all night on August 3rd and arrived in Cap d'Ail early on the 4th. After exploring the entire town in less than an hour, we decided to only spend one night at our hostel overlooking the Mediterranean. So we traveled the following night (the 6th) to Paris! We've pretty much seen it all and we're thinking about going to Disneyland Paris tomorrow....I know Brock is down, I just hope the other three hop on the band wagon! On the 9th, we head for Ireland!
Arc de Triomphe
Sacre Coeur
Eiffel Tower
Hostel on Mediterranian
Cap d'Ail
Arc de Triomphe
Sacre Coeur
Eiffel Tower
Hostel on Mediterranian
Cap d'Ail
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Gimmelwald, Switzerland
Wow! This place could not be more different than Amsterdam! Zach and I arrived in Lauterbrunnen yesterday morning at around 8:30 and took a gondola up to what seemed like a tiny farming community. But, to our joy, we stepped off the gondola and found ourselves in Gimmelwald...the closest thing to Heaven I`ve seen. The Swiss Alps are all around us, there`s not a single cloud in the sky, we are drinking milk straight out of cow utters, the Mountain Hostel is welcoming and homelike, AND all five of us have finally convened to mark the beginning of Brofest Europe. I want to stay here the rest of my life...
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