Posted by Emily
The next day in Bangkok involved more visiting of temples and adventures around the city. We first visited Wat Tramit, which houses the largest solid gold Buddha in the world. Quite impressive really. I was quite large, maybe 4 ft tall? We then took a walk through China Town, very crowded and busy, to the river and caught another water taxi to go way up the river. From there we had a very long walk in the heat to visit the largest teak mansion in the world, which used to be the favorite house of one of the former Thai kings. It has 72 rooms. The complex is quite impressive but the inside is painted, which I wasn't expecting. When I heard teak mansion I was imagining beautiful woodwork.
The weather in Bangkok ranged from cloudy and a bit cool to rainy to sunny and hot. It was most often cloudy but on this particular day it was HOT and we quite a distance to walk. From the mansion to our next destination of Wat Benchamabophit, or the Marble Temple, we took a lunch break by some food stands and at first had trouble finding anything that we wanted to eat. Nicki and I finally settled on spicy papaya salad, made from grated unripe papayas, peanuts and an array of other lovely ingredients. Alex found some sort of grilled skewer and then some sort of soup, that we later discovered was chicken blood soup. Apparently they steam chicken blood until it coagulates into a tofu like blob and use it for cooking. This time they happened to use chunks of it in a soup. When we asked Alex if the soup was good he said "Goodish." Like tofu, I guess the chicken blood absorbs the flavor of whatever it is cooked in. I think he is very happy he didn't know what it was at the time!
That evening we decided to have our first Thai massage experience. I think it was about 10 dollars for an hour and a half massage. Thai massage turns out to be about one part deep tissue massage and one part acrobatics as they twist and stretch your body all over the place and massage you with feet, elbows, knees. Quite the experience but actually very nice. Massages are so cheap here that we are going to keep trying them out!
On Saturday, we took a trip to the Chatuchak Weekend Market and had quite a good time finding gifts and skirts and whatnot. Thailand has an abundance of comfy clothing so we have done a lot of shopping for that! That evening we hopped on the night train to Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand, about a 14 hour trip which was made much better by the fact that we had sleepers. It makes a big difference when you can sleep on a bed during the night instead of sit up the whole time, like in a bus. We arrived quite refreshed even though the trip was quite long. It saved us from having to nap for half a day when we got in.
Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand, with a population of about 170,000 (Bangkok has about 10 million) and the area we are staying in is very quiet. It's a very nice change from constantly busy streets! We walked around and saw a few of the 300 temples that are found in this city. In the evening we went to the Sunday Market and found more things to buy! It must sound like we shop all the time but it's not true! There is just a great abundance of cheap markets and walking through them is always quite a good people watching experience as well.
Yesterday we spent the day at a cooking school learning how to make several WONDERFUL Thai dishes, on of which involved setting the wok on fire. We took pictures. It was some very exciting cooking! The group we were with was very cool and the instructors were super funny. I just hope that I will be able to recreate the dishes when I get back to the US because they were so good!
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Monday, May 22, 2006
The Sound of Music!
Posted by Nicki
Currently in Chang Mai...but here's some catch up.
Vienna! Alex and I finished up Europe with a stop in Vienna. Really wonderful city, and truly full of music of every kind. First thing we heard as we left our hostel for the afternoon was a woman practicing opera…only in vienna.
We wandered our way through the streets and parks, amazing architechture at every turn. Beautiful churches, parliament building, statues, and opera houses.
Three major highlights of our time in Vienna: Boys Choir, Hueriger (Wine Tavern), and an opera at the Statsoper.
Boys Choir: Alex and I managed to catch a performance of the world famous Vienna Boys Choir, and it was fantastic. Man can they sing. It was not anything at all like I thought it would be however. First, we got to the church at the crack of dawn, not quite as necessary as our guidebook made it out to be…but we were first in line. We ended up with standing room tickets, which was perfect for us as we were right in the front and center, and didnt pay a dime. I think this may have irked the man who was in line to pick up tickets with us, he was very proud at buying his 6 months in advance for 39 euro.
The boys sing in a little tiny chapel, nothing grand by any means, but its a packed house. You have to actually endure a mass in german, which ended up being more of a cultural experience for me as I a. dont speak german b. am not catholic. The boys also are heard but not seen. They perform from high up in the choir room which is located where an organ normally would be in a cathedral, behind the people in a little balcony. Although it was odd not to see the mouths creating the song, it was almost as if the music was drifting down from the heavens (sorry cheesy, but really it was). At the end of the mass, the choir was brought down front for one last number, and I had to laugh at how dopey the boys were. Just greasy haired, really little, goofy kids, but their voices were truly incredible.
Huierger: One of my favorites of our vienna trip. Alex and I took the metro and then a tram way out of the city center to get to one of these little wine taverns. They are little places tucked away on tree filled residential streets, many known only to the neighborhood people they serve. I felt like I was walking into someones backyard, and basically I was. Lots of trees and picnic tables spread all over the lawn and we walked through the little porch to get into the quaint dining room run by two little women who didn’t speak more then a few words of english.
The idea behind the wine taverns is that everything served there must be made at the house by the family. All the food, wine, meats, and bread are homemade. We got plates of potatoe salad (but not like the american kind, no mayo), fresh roast meat slices, and fresh bread with various spreads of cheese and garlic that put cafe latte spreads to shame. We also had lots of the house wine which was delicious and instead of being served in a wine glass is given in more of a beer mug, lots of fun. The women running the place were incredibly sweet and were thrilled to have some young tourists. They even gave us little chocolates as we left.
Last but not least: The opera. Although originally I had wanted to see Romeo and Juliet, we found the line for standing room started before 11am for a 7pm show. Umm, yeah, not so up for that. So we decided to go the next night which ended up being two small operettas. Osud and Le Ville. We got there a couple hours before the show, and got standing room, with bars to lean on, on the main floor in the center for 3.5 euro a piece, awesome deal.
It was my first time at the opera, so I didn’t quite know what to expect, but it was a fun experience. The first opera was WEIRD. An opera about a guy writing an opera. I had more fun wathcing the titles on the screen then the actual opera. The words used were pretyt ridiculous and beyond over dramatic…Worth a snicker. The second one was great. An opera by puccini of madame butterfly fame. The music was fantastic and the story much better to follow. The singers were also incredible. Although the background was of a lot of guys bodies repeating wearing tree covered tshirts and boxers and combat boots (didn’t really understand that part). But hey, you can’t understand everything in art I suppose.
Currently in Chang Mai...but here's some catch up.
Vienna! Alex and I finished up Europe with a stop in Vienna. Really wonderful city, and truly full of music of every kind. First thing we heard as we left our hostel for the afternoon was a woman practicing opera…only in vienna.
We wandered our way through the streets and parks, amazing architechture at every turn. Beautiful churches, parliament building, statues, and opera houses.
Three major highlights of our time in Vienna: Boys Choir, Hueriger (Wine Tavern), and an opera at the Statsoper.
Boys Choir: Alex and I managed to catch a performance of the world famous Vienna Boys Choir, and it was fantastic. Man can they sing. It was not anything at all like I thought it would be however. First, we got to the church at the crack of dawn, not quite as necessary as our guidebook made it out to be…but we were first in line. We ended up with standing room tickets, which was perfect for us as we were right in the front and center, and didnt pay a dime. I think this may have irked the man who was in line to pick up tickets with us, he was very proud at buying his 6 months in advance for 39 euro.
The boys sing in a little tiny chapel, nothing grand by any means, but its a packed house. You have to actually endure a mass in german, which ended up being more of a cultural experience for me as I a. dont speak german b. am not catholic. The boys also are heard but not seen. They perform from high up in the choir room which is located where an organ normally would be in a cathedral, behind the people in a little balcony. Although it was odd not to see the mouths creating the song, it was almost as if the music was drifting down from the heavens (sorry cheesy, but really it was). At the end of the mass, the choir was brought down front for one last number, and I had to laugh at how dopey the boys were. Just greasy haired, really little, goofy kids, but their voices were truly incredible.
Huierger: One of my favorites of our vienna trip. Alex and I took the metro and then a tram way out of the city center to get to one of these little wine taverns. They are little places tucked away on tree filled residential streets, many known only to the neighborhood people they serve. I felt like I was walking into someones backyard, and basically I was. Lots of trees and picnic tables spread all over the lawn and we walked through the little porch to get into the quaint dining room run by two little women who didn’t speak more then a few words of english.
The idea behind the wine taverns is that everything served there must be made at the house by the family. All the food, wine, meats, and bread are homemade. We got plates of potatoe salad (but not like the american kind, no mayo), fresh roast meat slices, and fresh bread with various spreads of cheese and garlic that put cafe latte spreads to shame. We also had lots of the house wine which was delicious and instead of being served in a wine glass is given in more of a beer mug, lots of fun. The women running the place were incredibly sweet and were thrilled to have some young tourists. They even gave us little chocolates as we left.
Last but not least: The opera. Although originally I had wanted to see Romeo and Juliet, we found the line for standing room started before 11am for a 7pm show. Umm, yeah, not so up for that. So we decided to go the next night which ended up being two small operettas. Osud and Le Ville. We got there a couple hours before the show, and got standing room, with bars to lean on, on the main floor in the center for 3.5 euro a piece, awesome deal.
It was my first time at the opera, so I didn’t quite know what to expect, but it was a fun experience. The first opera was WEIRD. An opera about a guy writing an opera. I had more fun wathcing the titles on the screen then the actual opera. The words used were pretyt ridiculous and beyond over dramatic…Worth a snicker. The second one was great. An opera by puccini of madame butterfly fame. The music was fantastic and the story much better to follow. The singers were also incredible. Although the background was of a lot of guys bodies repeating wearing tree covered tshirts and boxers and combat boots (didn’t really understand that part). But hey, you can’t understand everything in art I suppose.
Wanna Bangkok?
Posted by Emily
Sawadee from Thailand!
Yes, it's true that I haven't finished updating about Europe so I will do that very quickly as Europe is not my favorite continent and quite frankly I'm tired of writing about it. It's about time to move on to the exciting world of Thailand.
The last stop on the European tour was Vienna, not my favorite city so I won't dwell to much. It involved lot of meat and beer, a few art museums, some walking around, some shopping. It was a fine time but really just another big city to me. Our organized tour ended there too so we split off from the group and got to do whatever we wanted. It was very nice.
Last Tuesday, my mom left Vienna for Minneapolis and I left, with Nicki and Alex, for Bangkok. I must say that I very highly recommend Qatar Airways. They do say that they pride themselves on 5 star service. Our first flight was to Doha, Qatar and involved some of the best airline food I have ever had and free wine, and of course, even more exciting was the short lay over we had in Doha. So I've kind of been to Qatar....so random. Our second flight to Bangkok was even nicer and involved more wonderful food and free wine and our own personal video consul (?). I love these and the last time I had one was on Air France. You could choose from more than 20 movies, TV shows, news, video games and music, much of it very new, and you could even create your own personal playlist. This was very exciting for us and kept us quite entertained for a very long time. I watched Brokeback Mountain. So good. I wanted to watch more but then got too tired. Our next flights to New Zealand are with Emirates, which is supposed to even better.
We got into Bangkok at about 7 am and took a taxi to our hostel. No one ever told me they drive on the left side of the road here! I wonder how that happened. It's quite strange to see until you get used to it because if there are no passengers it looks like there is no one driving the car. The traffic in Bangkok is pretty intense and we got caught in a few traffic jams. In some ways the city reminded me of Dakar at first, mostly the heat and humidity in the air and the infrastructure that could probably stand to be in better shape. Bangkok is SO much bigger and that becomes obvious after spending more time in the city, getting caught in crowds and admiring the lovely (air-conditioned!) metro and sky train (like a monorail). You're think if Bangkok could do it, so could Minneapolis!!
Anyway, we spent the morning sleeping to make up for the fact that we hadn't really slept on the plane and the jetlag. I think we got up after about 6 hours because we decided that we wouldn't sleep that night if we didn't. We had dinner at a restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms, a place that was in our guidebook but was also visited by some of my coworkers from the Epidemiology Dept at the U of M (where I TAed). The restaurant was either started by or is operated in conjunction with the Thai Population and Community Development Association. In addition to having really good food, they have the mission of promoting condom use, birth control and prevention of HIV. Every diner gets a condom after the meal instead of an after-dinner mint. I was super impressed with how large and well-managed the restaurant was. One of ways that Thailand has cut down on their HIV rates is by destigmatizing condom use and that tactic is very obvious at the restaurant where everything from lamps to flowers to models of ships are made out of condoms.
The next day we had a lot more energy and explored the city a bit more. With some advice from the receptionist at our hostel, we went on a mission to find the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaow, or the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. We took the Sky Train to the last stop, where it ends by the river and then took a water taxi to our desired destination. This was a very good tip from the receptionist because it allowed us to get around easily and cheaply without getting stuck in the traffic. After a few misunderstandings, we finally figured out which water taxi we needed to take and which dock we needed to take it from. After this, it was smooth sailing...no pun intended :) The water taxi was quite interesting because it allowed us to observe the life that takes place in and around the river, such as the lining the water (if you can call them that) and the businesses run near the water taxi stops.
The Grand Palace was amazing and almost beyond words because it is incomparable to anything I have ever seen. There is building after building ornately decorated in gold and colored mirrors with details that are mind-boggling. Every door, window frame, railing, etc. has tiny details. Hopefully I can post some pictures eventually, but even those don't really do it justice. If you ever thought cathedrals were impressive, they've got nothing on this place! The Temple of the Emerald Buddha was another very impressive site to see. The Emerald Buddha is actually made of jade that was mistaken for emerald. It sits on an elaborate pedestal in the temple and is dressed in different outfits depending on the season (summer, winter, rainy).
After checking out the rest of the grounds, we got some lovely fish ball soup (better than it sounds!) from a street vendor and set off to find Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, a HUGE golden statue of Buddha reclining (obviously). Very interesting but we have done ourselves a disservice by seeing the Grand Place first as nothing really can compare to it.
We then took another water taxi across the river to see Wat Arun Rajawararam (Palace of the Dawn). This one is supposed to be especially impressive when viewed from across the river at dawn or dusk. Unfortunately, we never saw it at either of these times but it was still quite nice. It has large pillars (I'm sure that's not the correct term)and terraces that our guidebook says that you can walk around for a good view of the city, but sadly they were closed when we were there.
After heading home and resting for a bit, we checked out the Suan Lum Night Bazaar, a market that is run only at night. We had dinner there at the food stalls where we realized that the place really isn't for tourists because none of the menus were in English. We got dinner from the first guy who said "Pad Thai?" (wonderful fried noodle dish that is all over the place) to the confused looking foreigners! We walked around to the stalls but didn't really buy anything. It was very interesting to see though because it was definitely the cleanest marker I've ever been to! The stalls are all in a covered building with white tile floors and many stores are playing music and have fancy, beautiful lights. It seems almost more like you are walking around in a mall that has very small shops that are open on both sides. I was also impressed with the items that were available. They had really nice furniture, pottery, etc. Things I'm not used to seeing at markets!
Well, that's almost all about Bangkok but the cyber cafe is about to close so I will finish later and add more about Chiang Mai, the city we are in right now, in the north of the country.
Sawadee from Thailand!
Yes, it's true that I haven't finished updating about Europe so I will do that very quickly as Europe is not my favorite continent and quite frankly I'm tired of writing about it. It's about time to move on to the exciting world of Thailand.
The last stop on the European tour was Vienna, not my favorite city so I won't dwell to much. It involved lot of meat and beer, a few art museums, some walking around, some shopping. It was a fine time but really just another big city to me. Our organized tour ended there too so we split off from the group and got to do whatever we wanted. It was very nice.
Last Tuesday, my mom left Vienna for Minneapolis and I left, with Nicki and Alex, for Bangkok. I must say that I very highly recommend Qatar Airways. They do say that they pride themselves on 5 star service. Our first flight was to Doha, Qatar and involved some of the best airline food I have ever had and free wine, and of course, even more exciting was the short lay over we had in Doha. So I've kind of been to Qatar....so random. Our second flight to Bangkok was even nicer and involved more wonderful food and free wine and our own personal video consul (?). I love these and the last time I had one was on Air France. You could choose from more than 20 movies, TV shows, news, video games and music, much of it very new, and you could even create your own personal playlist. This was very exciting for us and kept us quite entertained for a very long time. I watched Brokeback Mountain. So good. I wanted to watch more but then got too tired. Our next flights to New Zealand are with Emirates, which is supposed to even better.
We got into Bangkok at about 7 am and took a taxi to our hostel. No one ever told me they drive on the left side of the road here! I wonder how that happened. It's quite strange to see until you get used to it because if there are no passengers it looks like there is no one driving the car. The traffic in Bangkok is pretty intense and we got caught in a few traffic jams. In some ways the city reminded me of Dakar at first, mostly the heat and humidity in the air and the infrastructure that could probably stand to be in better shape. Bangkok is SO much bigger and that becomes obvious after spending more time in the city, getting caught in crowds and admiring the lovely (air-conditioned!) metro and sky train (like a monorail). You're think if Bangkok could do it, so could Minneapolis!!
Anyway, we spent the morning sleeping to make up for the fact that we hadn't really slept on the plane and the jetlag. I think we got up after about 6 hours because we decided that we wouldn't sleep that night if we didn't. We had dinner at a restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms, a place that was in our guidebook but was also visited by some of my coworkers from the Epidemiology Dept at the U of M (where I TAed). The restaurant was either started by or is operated in conjunction with the Thai Population and Community Development Association. In addition to having really good food, they have the mission of promoting condom use, birth control and prevention of HIV. Every diner gets a condom after the meal instead of an after-dinner mint. I was super impressed with how large and well-managed the restaurant was. One of ways that Thailand has cut down on their HIV rates is by destigmatizing condom use and that tactic is very obvious at the restaurant where everything from lamps to flowers to models of ships are made out of condoms.
The next day we had a lot more energy and explored the city a bit more. With some advice from the receptionist at our hostel, we went on a mission to find the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaow, or the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. We took the Sky Train to the last stop, where it ends by the river and then took a water taxi to our desired destination. This was a very good tip from the receptionist because it allowed us to get around easily and cheaply without getting stuck in the traffic. After a few misunderstandings, we finally figured out which water taxi we needed to take and which dock we needed to take it from. After this, it was smooth sailing...no pun intended :) The water taxi was quite interesting because it allowed us to observe the life that takes place in and around the river, such as the lining the water (if you can call them that) and the businesses run near the water taxi stops.
The Grand Palace was amazing and almost beyond words because it is incomparable to anything I have ever seen. There is building after building ornately decorated in gold and colored mirrors with details that are mind-boggling. Every door, window frame, railing, etc. has tiny details. Hopefully I can post some pictures eventually, but even those don't really do it justice. If you ever thought cathedrals were impressive, they've got nothing on this place! The Temple of the Emerald Buddha was another very impressive site to see. The Emerald Buddha is actually made of jade that was mistaken for emerald. It sits on an elaborate pedestal in the temple and is dressed in different outfits depending on the season (summer, winter, rainy).
After checking out the rest of the grounds, we got some lovely fish ball soup (better than it sounds!) from a street vendor and set off to find Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, a HUGE golden statue of Buddha reclining (obviously). Very interesting but we have done ourselves a disservice by seeing the Grand Place first as nothing really can compare to it.
We then took another water taxi across the river to see Wat Arun Rajawararam (Palace of the Dawn). This one is supposed to be especially impressive when viewed from across the river at dawn or dusk. Unfortunately, we never saw it at either of these times but it was still quite nice. It has large pillars (I'm sure that's not the correct term)and terraces that our guidebook says that you can walk around for a good view of the city, but sadly they were closed when we were there.
After heading home and resting for a bit, we checked out the Suan Lum Night Bazaar, a market that is run only at night. We had dinner there at the food stalls where we realized that the place really isn't for tourists because none of the menus were in English. We got dinner from the first guy who said "Pad Thai?" (wonderful fried noodle dish that is all over the place) to the confused looking foreigners! We walked around to the stalls but didn't really buy anything. It was very interesting to see though because it was definitely the cleanest marker I've ever been to! The stalls are all in a covered building with white tile floors and many stores are playing music and have fancy, beautiful lights. It seems almost more like you are walking around in a mall that has very small shops that are open on both sides. I was also impressed with the items that were available. They had really nice furniture, pottery, etc. Things I'm not used to seeing at markets!
Well, that's almost all about Bangkok but the cyber cafe is about to close so I will finish later and add more about Chiang Mai, the city we are in right now, in the north of the country.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Fairytale
Posted by Emily
From Rovinj, we got picked up in minivans and driven to another small town (forget the name) where they pick their own truffles (the mushrooms) and therefore they are very cheap. Bought some of those and had some AMAZING hot chocolate that actually more like pudding. Continued on to the Slovenian border where we visited a cave with one of the largest underground canyons. Pretty amazing.
Then it was on to our final destination of Blad, Slovenia, which was very aptly described to be as seeming to be out of a fairytale. It's set in the Julian Alps so everywhere you look there are mountain peaks. There is a beautiful lake in the middle of town bordered by a large cliff, on which is situated a castle. We spent a lot of time walking around the city lake/park area. One day we went on a beautiful hike DOWN a mountain to Lake Bohinj (?)...Bohemian Lake in English. So beautiful. Set in the middle of the mountains and on the edge of a forest. We had lunch right across the street.
We also explored the castle, which sadly, is much prettier from a distance. It was quite intereting though because they had some historical relics there and some people dressed up in old fashioned outfits (I kind of felt bad for them) pretending to be a printmaker and a wine bottlers (or something like that). I guess many people get married there and supposedly the bride walks up the hill. That would be quite a feat because it's a pretty steep hill. But there's also a road so I doubt that's actually true.
Anyway, very relaxing lovely city. I wish we could have stayed longer. Unlike many of the cities, this is one that I would definitely go back to, especially in the winter. lots of skiing!
From Rovinj, we got picked up in minivans and driven to another small town (forget the name) where they pick their own truffles (the mushrooms) and therefore they are very cheap. Bought some of those and had some AMAZING hot chocolate that actually more like pudding. Continued on to the Slovenian border where we visited a cave with one of the largest underground canyons. Pretty amazing.
Then it was on to our final destination of Blad, Slovenia, which was very aptly described to be as seeming to be out of a fairytale. It's set in the Julian Alps so everywhere you look there are mountain peaks. There is a beautiful lake in the middle of town bordered by a large cliff, on which is situated a castle. We spent a lot of time walking around the city lake/park area. One day we went on a beautiful hike DOWN a mountain to Lake Bohinj (?)...Bohemian Lake in English. So beautiful. Set in the middle of the mountains and on the edge of a forest. We had lunch right across the street.
We also explored the castle, which sadly, is much prettier from a distance. It was quite intereting though because they had some historical relics there and some people dressed up in old fashioned outfits (I kind of felt bad for them) pretending to be a printmaker and a wine bottlers (or something like that). I guess many people get married there and supposedly the bride walks up the hill. That would be quite a feat because it's a pretty steep hill. But there's also a road so I doubt that's actually true.
Anyway, very relaxing lovely city. I wish we could have stayed longer. Unlike many of the cities, this is one that I would definitely go back to, especially in the winter. lots of skiing!
Monday, May 15, 2006
On To Croatia
Posted by Emily
We left Sarajevo early in the morning to catch a bus to Dubrovnik, Croatia. This was a beautiful ride except for the fact that it involved so many border crossings because of the strange ways the land was divided after the war.
Dubrovnik is a beautiful city with and old town and new town (I think this exists in many touristy cities....old town pretty much means tourist area). We stayed very near to the old town so had very easy access to this charming area. It's surrounded by stone walls and all the streets and most of the buildings are made out of the same stone. One side is bordered by the harbor. We walked along the city walls one morning, which actually took quite awhile because everwhere you look is picture-worthy. Not sure not many pictures I took but I'm quite sure it was over 100!
Other than that took in some cool exhibits, both involving photographs but in different ways. The first was an exhibition called something like "Women War Photographers" and featured women, professional photographers I believe, who have taken an interest in various war-torn regions of the world, have moved there and have documented what they have seen. I can't even imagine how they could have photographed the images that they did. Not only did they actual witness these horrible tragedies in person(there were many funerals, wounded and bloody bodies, and just generally disheartening scenes) but they were close enough to take the pictures. Other than being glad they they could do this to show the rest of the world the realities of the conflicts and thinking that they are incredibly brave to undertake the work, I can't help but thinking it might be a little intrusive.
The second exhibition we saw was one room that featured the photographs of the 200 men in Dubrovnick who died defending the city when it was attacked in 1992. It was very simple with the photos on three walls, memorabelia in the center and a few flowers placed about. Despite this, it was very haunting to look into the faces of the people who have died. It is one thing to see graves and statistics and whatnot (depersonifying in a way....global studies anyone??) but seeing actual faces is pretty unforgetable.
Other than that it was pretty much beautiful views, a visit to a lovely island with a botanical garden, beaches and peacocks, and LOTS of great seafood and ice cream!!
After Dubrovnik, it was up the coast to Split, a port city. It wasn't my favorite city but there were some great things going on while we were there. We got there on a Saturday and the day after was the yearly celebration of the city's patron saint. Saturday night we had dinner at a wonderful local restaurant and while we were wandering home, we happened upon an AMAZING concert of a Croatian group that consisted of a violin player (she rocked!) drums, a keyboard, other random instruments and even an electic guitar at points. The style of music was kind of a modern fusion with Central European folk. So so good. PLUS, there were fire dancers, women with flaming things on the end of chains that they spun around. While leaving, we even caught a fireworks show. Such a good night.
The next wasn't too exciting. It involved walking around the crowded streets of the town and getting a little annoyed by that, but we also wandered through some quieter areas and sat by the waterside at the port where we could hear the mass that was being broadcast through the entire city. I couldn't understand it but the music was beautiful.
That night we took an overnight ferry even further north. This was quite an interesting experience. It was a bit like a cruise ship with a dining room, bar and duty-free shop, but not as nice I am told. The evening was quite uneventful except for a crazy game of cards that only became crazy because one of the other passengers kept forgetting the rules to very simple games. SUPER funny but also annoying.
Next day, took a few buses even farther north and ended up in the small town of Rovinj. Very beautiful, but again, not much going on. We mostly wandered around the little winding streets, many of them uphill. Lovely, quiet city but I'm glad we only spent a day there. It would be great for a vacation when you can really just lounge around, but when you are in travel mode and want to see things, it gets to be a bit dull.
Then it was off to Slovenia, but that's a story for another time!
We left Sarajevo early in the morning to catch a bus to Dubrovnik, Croatia. This was a beautiful ride except for the fact that it involved so many border crossings because of the strange ways the land was divided after the war.
Dubrovnik is a beautiful city with and old town and new town (I think this exists in many touristy cities....old town pretty much means tourist area). We stayed very near to the old town so had very easy access to this charming area. It's surrounded by stone walls and all the streets and most of the buildings are made out of the same stone. One side is bordered by the harbor. We walked along the city walls one morning, which actually took quite awhile because everwhere you look is picture-worthy. Not sure not many pictures I took but I'm quite sure it was over 100!
Other than that took in some cool exhibits, both involving photographs but in different ways. The first was an exhibition called something like "Women War Photographers" and featured women, professional photographers I believe, who have taken an interest in various war-torn regions of the world, have moved there and have documented what they have seen. I can't even imagine how they could have photographed the images that they did. Not only did they actual witness these horrible tragedies in person(there were many funerals, wounded and bloody bodies, and just generally disheartening scenes) but they were close enough to take the pictures. Other than being glad they they could do this to show the rest of the world the realities of the conflicts and thinking that they are incredibly brave to undertake the work, I can't help but thinking it might be a little intrusive.
The second exhibition we saw was one room that featured the photographs of the 200 men in Dubrovnick who died defending the city when it was attacked in 1992. It was very simple with the photos on three walls, memorabelia in the center and a few flowers placed about. Despite this, it was very haunting to look into the faces of the people who have died. It is one thing to see graves and statistics and whatnot (depersonifying in a way....global studies anyone??) but seeing actual faces is pretty unforgetable.
Other than that it was pretty much beautiful views, a visit to a lovely island with a botanical garden, beaches and peacocks, and LOTS of great seafood and ice cream!!
After Dubrovnik, it was up the coast to Split, a port city. It wasn't my favorite city but there were some great things going on while we were there. We got there on a Saturday and the day after was the yearly celebration of the city's patron saint. Saturday night we had dinner at a wonderful local restaurant and while we were wandering home, we happened upon an AMAZING concert of a Croatian group that consisted of a violin player (she rocked!) drums, a keyboard, other random instruments and even an electic guitar at points. The style of music was kind of a modern fusion with Central European folk. So so good. PLUS, there were fire dancers, women with flaming things on the end of chains that they spun around. While leaving, we even caught a fireworks show. Such a good night.
The next wasn't too exciting. It involved walking around the crowded streets of the town and getting a little annoyed by that, but we also wandered through some quieter areas and sat by the waterside at the port where we could hear the mass that was being broadcast through the entire city. I couldn't understand it but the music was beautiful.
That night we took an overnight ferry even further north. This was quite an interesting experience. It was a bit like a cruise ship with a dining room, bar and duty-free shop, but not as nice I am told. The evening was quite uneventful except for a crazy game of cards that only became crazy because one of the other passengers kept forgetting the rules to very simple games. SUPER funny but also annoying.
Next day, took a few buses even farther north and ended up in the small town of Rovinj. Very beautiful, but again, not much going on. We mostly wandered around the little winding streets, many of them uphill. Lovely, quiet city but I'm glad we only spent a day there. It would be great for a vacation when you can really just lounge around, but when you are in travel mode and want to see things, it gets to be a bit dull.
Then it was off to Slovenia, but that's a story for another time!
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Welcome to Sarajevo
Posted by Emily
The night train to Sarajevo was quite an interesting experience as it involved late night border crossings and ticket checks, and a train change (this was unintentional...one of the cars broke down in the middle of the night and since we were the only 9 people going to Sarajevo, they transferred us to a first class car. It was not really different than the regular compartment). We arrived to the city very early in the morning and took a tram to the center of town where we were picked up in a tiny car by one of the owners of the hostel that we stayed at. It was quite comical to watch him load our huge bags into the little car! The hostel was at the top of a very steep hill so it would have been nearly impossible for us to make it up there carrying our own luggage.
After settling into the hostel for just a bit (we didn't want to stay too long or we might have fallen asleep and missed the city!) we walked down the hill over cobblestone streets, past bakeries and little shops, past a huge graveyard (probably for victims of the war...there are random graves all over town because during the war they buried people wherever they could) and finally down into a central square, aptly called "pigeon square" because of the SWARMS of them there. We had breakfast at a local bakery where they serves a pastry called burek (just like Jon!), which is a flaky pastry filled with meat, cheese, potatoes or spinach. Kind of like Greek spinach pie but much better. It was the perfect thing to fill our tired bodies.
We spent the rest of the morning walking around the town looking in little shops and just generally getting a feel for the city. It's quite strange to be in a city that has gone through a war so recently. It seems quite surreal and hard to imagine. Later in the afternoon we were taken on a tour of the city by one of the owner's of our hostel. He and his family decided to stay in Sarajevo through the war so he was able to give us a first-hand perspective of what happened and what the people went through. Quite inspiring. Unfortunately, he saw that we were all quite tired and cut some of his usual stories short. However, we stopped at a pub along the way and I listened to my chatty mother ask him questions. That was the most interesting part. We also saw the place where Archduke of Austria Franz Ferdinand (not just a band!) and his wife were assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, all of which began the chain of events that resulted in World War I.
Overall, Sarajevo was a beautiful city set in the mountains with lovely old streets, a church, mosque and synagogue (quite unusual) and an amazing, resilient history. I was very glad that I got a chance to visit with this tour because I'm pretty sure it's a destination I would never decide to go on my own.
The night train to Sarajevo was quite an interesting experience as it involved late night border crossings and ticket checks, and a train change (this was unintentional...one of the cars broke down in the middle of the night and since we were the only 9 people going to Sarajevo, they transferred us to a first class car. It was not really different than the regular compartment). We arrived to the city very early in the morning and took a tram to the center of town where we were picked up in a tiny car by one of the owners of the hostel that we stayed at. It was quite comical to watch him load our huge bags into the little car! The hostel was at the top of a very steep hill so it would have been nearly impossible for us to make it up there carrying our own luggage.
After settling into the hostel for just a bit (we didn't want to stay too long or we might have fallen asleep and missed the city!) we walked down the hill over cobblestone streets, past bakeries and little shops, past a huge graveyard (probably for victims of the war...there are random graves all over town because during the war they buried people wherever they could) and finally down into a central square, aptly called "pigeon square" because of the SWARMS of them there. We had breakfast at a local bakery where they serves a pastry called burek (just like Jon!), which is a flaky pastry filled with meat, cheese, potatoes or spinach. Kind of like Greek spinach pie but much better. It was the perfect thing to fill our tired bodies.
We spent the rest of the morning walking around the town looking in little shops and just generally getting a feel for the city. It's quite strange to be in a city that has gone through a war so recently. It seems quite surreal and hard to imagine. Later in the afternoon we were taken on a tour of the city by one of the owner's of our hostel. He and his family decided to stay in Sarajevo through the war so he was able to give us a first-hand perspective of what happened and what the people went through. Quite inspiring. Unfortunately, he saw that we were all quite tired and cut some of his usual stories short. However, we stopped at a pub along the way and I listened to my chatty mother ask him questions. That was the most interesting part. We also saw the place where Archduke of Austria Franz Ferdinand (not just a band!) and his wife were assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, all of which began the chain of events that resulted in World War I.
Overall, Sarajevo was a beautiful city set in the mountains with lovely old streets, a church, mosque and synagogue (quite unusual) and an amazing, resilient history. I was very glad that I got a chance to visit with this tour because I'm pretty sure it's a destination I would never decide to go on my own.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
About Budapest
Posted by Emily
Hey everyone! Just a quick update to let you know that I have't completely disappeared! We are currently in Bled, Slovenia, a BEAUTIFUL city near the Julian Alps. We spent the day hiking down a mountain and then had lunch overlooking the lake. Lovely. But more on that later. I'll do a quick run down of what we have been up to.
We started in Budapest, Hungary, as I'm sure you know from the only previous post. Again, LOVED the city. It's quite a large city but managable on foot because we were staying near the center. We say the large and beautiful Parliament building that overlooks the Danube, checked out the Museum of Ethnography which had exhibits on traditional Hungarian daily life and also, randomly, an exhibit on musical instruments from around the world. Continued walking and found St. Steven's Basilica, which was beautiful but at this point in the journey it's kind of just another church (and I haven't even been traveling that long!). One unique thing about the church is that it contains the mummified hand of St. Steven. It's in a gold and glass box and if you put an offering in it lights up. We waited until someone else did it. Also saw the opera house. Saturday afternoon we met up with our tour group and had dinner at a very local Hungarian restaurant where we tried some local alcohol shot thing (it was my mom's idea!) and had some lovely food.
Next day was a bike tour with most of the group. It was luckily a beautiful day and it was wonderful to explore the city on a bike. It's a lot faster than walking and much better than being on one of those stupid tour buses! The afternoon was spent at the one of the large thermal baths located near the city park. It had 3 warm outdoor pools, one for swimming laps and one with a whirlpool type thing in the middle (literally) because once you entered the entire group was pushed in a circle by the current. There were also several hot, warm in cool pools inside the building and a sauna. Very relaxing.
On Monday, pretty much everything was closed due to May Day and there was supposed to be a large celebration and parade put on by the socialist party who had just won the elections but unfortunately it was raining HARD. That didn't stop us from trying to see the castle district at first, but then after walking for quite a while and almost making it there, we decided it was too wet and miserable out. Sadly, we took the metro to the mall and walked around there. There was no where else open where we could stay dry! All the stores were closed though and we just ended up having lunch at a restaurant there.
That night, it was the overnight train to Sarajevo.
Hey everyone! Just a quick update to let you know that I have't completely disappeared! We are currently in Bled, Slovenia, a BEAUTIFUL city near the Julian Alps. We spent the day hiking down a mountain and then had lunch overlooking the lake. Lovely. But more on that later. I'll do a quick run down of what we have been up to.
We started in Budapest, Hungary, as I'm sure you know from the only previous post. Again, LOVED the city. It's quite a large city but managable on foot because we were staying near the center. We say the large and beautiful Parliament building that overlooks the Danube, checked out the Museum of Ethnography which had exhibits on traditional Hungarian daily life and also, randomly, an exhibit on musical instruments from around the world. Continued walking and found St. Steven's Basilica, which was beautiful but at this point in the journey it's kind of just another church (and I haven't even been traveling that long!). One unique thing about the church is that it contains the mummified hand of St. Steven. It's in a gold and glass box and if you put an offering in it lights up. We waited until someone else did it. Also saw the opera house. Saturday afternoon we met up with our tour group and had dinner at a very local Hungarian restaurant where we tried some local alcohol shot thing (it was my mom's idea!) and had some lovely food.
Next day was a bike tour with most of the group. It was luckily a beautiful day and it was wonderful to explore the city on a bike. It's a lot faster than walking and much better than being on one of those stupid tour buses! The afternoon was spent at the one of the large thermal baths located near the city park. It had 3 warm outdoor pools, one for swimming laps and one with a whirlpool type thing in the middle (literally) because once you entered the entire group was pushed in a circle by the current. There were also several hot, warm in cool pools inside the building and a sauna. Very relaxing.
On Monday, pretty much everything was closed due to May Day and there was supposed to be a large celebration and parade put on by the socialist party who had just won the elections but unfortunately it was raining HARD. That didn't stop us from trying to see the castle district at first, but then after walking for quite a while and almost making it there, we decided it was too wet and miserable out. Sadly, we took the metro to the mall and walked around there. There was no where else open where we could stay dry! All the stores were closed though and we just ended up having lunch at a restaurant there.
That night, it was the overnight train to Sarajevo.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
City of Gold
Posted by Nicki
So, at the current moment I am Budapest, and have some blog catching up to do…however, some of the keys, specifically the z and y are switched up, so if I make some typos, apologies in advance.
Ill start things off with prague…Alex and I stared our brief eastern europe tour as I think I mentioned in the last blog in Prague…absolutely awesome city! We both loved it. It did manage to warm up a bit, and the city was just so pleasant to walk around. The architechture of the buildings is beautiful, the streets are cobblestone and colorful, and everyone seems to have a very positive outlook. The only downside I would say is that prague is VERY touristy. If you can get off the main streets its great, but main town squares and bridges are packed with tourists.
But, we managed to make the best of the crowds and had a great time. We walked a TON, and therefore saw quite a bit in the time we were there. We climbed up all the towers and hills we could for great views of the city, explored the grounds of the prague castle, a beautiful hill of flowering trees, made a wish on the five star cross on charles bridge, and even walked through a house of mirrors. The inside of the cathedral in prague castle was absolutely breathtaking, the most amazing stained glass Ive ever seen, period. The city is full of amazing sculpture, and it seems like everything is accented with gold in some way or another…hence the title.
We also made our way through the jewish quarter, which turned out to be really interesting. There is a spanish synogouge, modeled on the alambra, the moorish palace in granada…just gorgeous. All gold and amazing patterns on the ceiling and and covered in moorish arches. After that we went to another synagouge, something pinko (I dont recall the name). This one was much more powerful in its statement. It was a memorial to the many thousands of czech jews killed in the halocaust. The walls of the building were done in a vietnam memorial fashion, covered ceiling to floor in verz small print with all the names of the 80,000 jews killed in the world war II atrocities. It was extremely powerful. The names seemed to blend together and just go on forever.
At the top floor of the synagogue was a collection of childrens drawings done by children living in the czech jewish ghetto of terezin during the war. Apparently a teacher at the time had discovered a coping strategy of some sort that encouraged children to express themselves and the despair thez felt through art. Although she eventually was sent to one of the concentration camps, she left behind two suitcases with over 4000 drawings from the children of the ghetto. Many of these were what we saw. Its amazing how a simple childrens sketch can truly express so much.
After that synagouge we also visited the jewish cemetary, which was really incredible to see. Apparently its 12 layers deep, they had run out space. The grave stone are in a complete random state looking as though theyve fallen out of the sky…although some are pushing there way up through the ground. They are piled up against each other, leaning this way and that, many areas resemebled to me a crooked mouth of teeth. I wished I had taken photos, but I felt like it would have been disrespectful as photos werent allowed in any of the other places.
In any case, this blog is getting quite long, so Ill end it there. I hope you all are well! I sent a bunch of postcards from prague, but I dont know if the lady gave me the right postage, so hopefullz they will make it!
So, at the current moment I am Budapest, and have some blog catching up to do…however, some of the keys, specifically the z and y are switched up, so if I make some typos, apologies in advance.
Ill start things off with prague…Alex and I stared our brief eastern europe tour as I think I mentioned in the last blog in Prague…absolutely awesome city! We both loved it. It did manage to warm up a bit, and the city was just so pleasant to walk around. The architechture of the buildings is beautiful, the streets are cobblestone and colorful, and everyone seems to have a very positive outlook. The only downside I would say is that prague is VERY touristy. If you can get off the main streets its great, but main town squares and bridges are packed with tourists.
But, we managed to make the best of the crowds and had a great time. We walked a TON, and therefore saw quite a bit in the time we were there. We climbed up all the towers and hills we could for great views of the city, explored the grounds of the prague castle, a beautiful hill of flowering trees, made a wish on the five star cross on charles bridge, and even walked through a house of mirrors. The inside of the cathedral in prague castle was absolutely breathtaking, the most amazing stained glass Ive ever seen, period. The city is full of amazing sculpture, and it seems like everything is accented with gold in some way or another…hence the title.
We also made our way through the jewish quarter, which turned out to be really interesting. There is a spanish synogouge, modeled on the alambra, the moorish palace in granada…just gorgeous. All gold and amazing patterns on the ceiling and and covered in moorish arches. After that we went to another synagouge, something pinko (I dont recall the name). This one was much more powerful in its statement. It was a memorial to the many thousands of czech jews killed in the halocaust. The walls of the building were done in a vietnam memorial fashion, covered ceiling to floor in verz small print with all the names of the 80,000 jews killed in the world war II atrocities. It was extremely powerful. The names seemed to blend together and just go on forever.
At the top floor of the synagogue was a collection of childrens drawings done by children living in the czech jewish ghetto of terezin during the war. Apparently a teacher at the time had discovered a coping strategy of some sort that encouraged children to express themselves and the despair thez felt through art. Although she eventually was sent to one of the concentration camps, she left behind two suitcases with over 4000 drawings from the children of the ghetto. Many of these were what we saw. Its amazing how a simple childrens sketch can truly express so much.
After that synagouge we also visited the jewish cemetary, which was really incredible to see. Apparently its 12 layers deep, they had run out space. The grave stone are in a complete random state looking as though theyve fallen out of the sky…although some are pushing there way up through the ground. They are piled up against each other, leaning this way and that, many areas resemebled to me a crooked mouth of teeth. I wished I had taken photos, but I felt like it would have been disrespectful as photos werent allowed in any of the other places.
In any case, this blog is getting quite long, so Ill end it there. I hope you all are well! I sent a bunch of postcards from prague, but I dont know if the lady gave me the right postage, so hopefullz they will make it!
Monday, May 01, 2006
Łöók ât ăłł thęsě cóöł áččénts!!
Posted by Emily
Hello from Budapest! And let me say, what a lovely city! I arrived here last Thursday evening, my mom joined me on Friday evening, and we joined up with our tour group on Saturday evening. We have been having a wonderful time so far. Our tour isn´t very ˝typical˝ I guess you could say. The group is small (about 7 people), there is NO bus and we have leaders, not ˝tour guides˝. Our main leader is a Hungarian woman who is amazingly hip and friendly. She has been taking us to her favorite restaurants, which are AMAZING, and giving us insider tips into the city and culture. I don´t really think you can ask for a much better set up! We will be traveling with another mother/daughter duo from Australia, a father daughter duo from LA (although they are Chinese and the father doesn´t speak much English) and a Greek woman who now lives in Australia. Very interesting mix and I think we are going to get along very well. There is only one other girl around my age and I think that we will also get along well, which I am excited about. Our leader, Enikő (?) even took us on a little unoffical pub crawl last night!
Well, more on our actual experiences here later. We don`t have much Hungarian money left so, sadly, we can´t pay for much internet. I will say though that we have really enjoyed our time here and wish we had more. As Enikő told us, it isn´t a city that you love at first sight but it gets under your skin. She has known many people who have come to visit and have never left. I can see why. It seems to be a very laid back, livable city.
We are taking a night train to Saravejo (?) tonight, which I am very excited about because it`s not a place I would probably have the guts to go on my own. However, I have heard nothing but good things from the people who have visited before.
Hello from Budapest! And let me say, what a lovely city! I arrived here last Thursday evening, my mom joined me on Friday evening, and we joined up with our tour group on Saturday evening. We have been having a wonderful time so far. Our tour isn´t very ˝typical˝ I guess you could say. The group is small (about 7 people), there is NO bus and we have leaders, not ˝tour guides˝. Our main leader is a Hungarian woman who is amazingly hip and friendly. She has been taking us to her favorite restaurants, which are AMAZING, and giving us insider tips into the city and culture. I don´t really think you can ask for a much better set up! We will be traveling with another mother/daughter duo from Australia, a father daughter duo from LA (although they are Chinese and the father doesn´t speak much English) and a Greek woman who now lives in Australia. Very interesting mix and I think we are going to get along very well. There is only one other girl around my age and I think that we will also get along well, which I am excited about. Our leader, Enikő (?) even took us on a little unoffical pub crawl last night!
Well, more on our actual experiences here later. We don`t have much Hungarian money left so, sadly, we can´t pay for much internet. I will say though that we have really enjoyed our time here and wish we had more. As Enikő told us, it isn´t a city that you love at first sight but it gets under your skin. She has known many people who have come to visit and have never left. I can see why. It seems to be a very laid back, livable city.
We are taking a night train to Saravejo (?) tonight, which I am very excited about because it`s not a place I would probably have the guts to go on my own. However, I have heard nothing but good things from the people who have visited before.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Mountains Beyond Mountains (In The North Of Spain)
Posted by Emily
After Barcelona, it was a trip up to the north of Spain to a little town called San Sebastian. It is a BEAUTIFUL seaside town with a white sand beach, some fun rocks near the water to climb on, lots and lots of GREEN and hills to climb that offered lovely views.
I've decided that I really like the smaller towns of Spain because it's easier to walk around and enjoy the city without feeling any hustle. It's also much easier to get a feel for the people and life there. Since San Sebastian is such a small town, we did a lot of one of the only things there is to do: walk around. The first afternoon was warm and sunny so we spent a lot of time walking on the beach and climbing across the nearby rocks before the tide forced us to retreat. That evening we wandered to the different little bars (that Nicki mentioned) and tried all of their tapas buffets. Very good idea and it was very fun to try all the different little creations. You never quite know what you are going to get!!
The second day was a bit cloudy in the morning and rainy in the afternoon. Luckily, we got our hike to the top of one of the large hills out of the way in the morning. Nothing too exciting to repost on that matter other than the fact that it was nice to out of the city and walking through a green forest type area. When we got to the top there was the lovely view of the city and surrounding hills of course. The afternoon consisted of me getting a wierd sort of sick that seemed like an allergic reaction, although I am not allergic to anything that I know of. There was a large storm at the same time so I didn't miss too much while I was knocked out from the Benadryl I took.
The next day we took off for what Alex described as the "small mountain town" of Oviedo. We had to take two buses to get there and transferred in the town of Bilbao and had 3 hours ro kill before our next bus left. We miracously were able to fit our packs in the lockers at the bus station so stored them there while we walked around the city, most significantly known for the Guggenheim Museum that is there. The structure was designed by the same guy who did the Weisman Art Museum on the U of M campus, so think large, flat stainless steel curves that were probably meant to represent something but the idea is lost on most because of the incredibly abstract design. Nonetheless, it was very impressive and interesting to see.
Then the bus ride to Oviedo and the discovery that it was not the city that Alex through it was. Instead of the small mountain town that we were expecting, we got a city with a population of about 200,000 and too many 14 year olds in short short skirts! It was quite a strange place and we made the decision to leave the next day for a smaller town nearby called Cangas de Onís. This turned out the be EXACTLY the kind of place that we were looking for.
Cangas de Onís IS a sleepy little town surrounded by mountains. To take advantage of this, we took an afternoon bus to another little town nearby called Covadonga. Here we saw the basillica, not too extraordinary except for the fact that it is set right on the edge of a cliff with a stunning backdrop of mountains. After seeing this, we wandered around a bit and found a mountain trail to hike up. And do I mean up!! We had intended to take a low difficulty trail, but since it was a bit difficult to tell where the signs were pointing to, I'm pretty sure that we took the most difficult route. Despite this, it paid off with a beautiful path up the mountain and the eventual discovery of a mountain stream, more fun rocks to climb on and a lovely meadow. So so beautiful. I think it would not be hard for me to live in the mountains and explore!
The next day we spent the afternoon canyoning, which is quite the experience! Everyone starts by suiting up in a full wetsuit (booties, body suit and very tight jacket), rock climbing harness and helemt. And the fun has just begun!! Canyoning is pretty much a combination of wading through rapids, slip 'n' sliding down rocks, jumping off little cliffs into pools of water (don't worry, it's deep water!) and repelling down cliff/waterfalls. SO amazing and SO SO fun. Another thing that I wouldn't mind spending a lot of time doing, that's for sure' Plus, who doesn't love wearing a wet suit??
Then it was off to Toledo, the city where Alex and Nicki both stidied abroad, although during different years. Nicki was there while I was in Senegal and it was strange to see the different worlds that we were existing in! Toldeo is a very old city and, if I am not mistaken, was built in a very confusinf manner to confuse troops if they ever tried to invade. The old city is walled and basically consists of windy cobblestone streets. There are maps but i don't know why people bother because they would be very difficult to follow! I was very lucky to have two very good tour guides so I dod't need to bother with finding my own way.
Again, we spent a lot of time just walking around, seeing a few of the sights, taking the tourist train that is super cheesy but that Nicki loves, and I have to admit, was fun and a very good way to see the city. We ate at all of Nicki's favorite restaurants and I got to hear a lot of remeniscing (?) about the study abroad days. I also learned how to easily identify American girls: spaghetti strap tank tops and sandals. Funny how no one else seems to wear sandals.....
I really enjoyed my time in Toledo and in Spain in general. Yesterday morning I got up at the BEAUTIFUL hour of 5 am to take a train to Madrid, a crowded Metro to the airport (which, by the way is VERY confusing...the airport, not the Metro), a plaine to Budapest and a shuttle from the airport to my hotel in Budapest. And then I took a nap. Wow, lots of transport!!
After Barcelona, it was a trip up to the north of Spain to a little town called San Sebastian. It is a BEAUTIFUL seaside town with a white sand beach, some fun rocks near the water to climb on, lots and lots of GREEN and hills to climb that offered lovely views.
I've decided that I really like the smaller towns of Spain because it's easier to walk around and enjoy the city without feeling any hustle. It's also much easier to get a feel for the people and life there. Since San Sebastian is such a small town, we did a lot of one of the only things there is to do: walk around. The first afternoon was warm and sunny so we spent a lot of time walking on the beach and climbing across the nearby rocks before the tide forced us to retreat. That evening we wandered to the different little bars (that Nicki mentioned) and tried all of their tapas buffets. Very good idea and it was very fun to try all the different little creations. You never quite know what you are going to get!!
The second day was a bit cloudy in the morning and rainy in the afternoon. Luckily, we got our hike to the top of one of the large hills out of the way in the morning. Nothing too exciting to repost on that matter other than the fact that it was nice to out of the city and walking through a green forest type area. When we got to the top there was the lovely view of the city and surrounding hills of course. The afternoon consisted of me getting a wierd sort of sick that seemed like an allergic reaction, although I am not allergic to anything that I know of. There was a large storm at the same time so I didn't miss too much while I was knocked out from the Benadryl I took.
The next day we took off for what Alex described as the "small mountain town" of Oviedo. We had to take two buses to get there and transferred in the town of Bilbao and had 3 hours ro kill before our next bus left. We miracously were able to fit our packs in the lockers at the bus station so stored them there while we walked around the city, most significantly known for the Guggenheim Museum that is there. The structure was designed by the same guy who did the Weisman Art Museum on the U of M campus, so think large, flat stainless steel curves that were probably meant to represent something but the idea is lost on most because of the incredibly abstract design. Nonetheless, it was very impressive and interesting to see.
Then the bus ride to Oviedo and the discovery that it was not the city that Alex through it was. Instead of the small mountain town that we were expecting, we got a city with a population of about 200,000 and too many 14 year olds in short short skirts! It was quite a strange place and we made the decision to leave the next day for a smaller town nearby called Cangas de Onís. This turned out the be EXACTLY the kind of place that we were looking for.
Cangas de Onís IS a sleepy little town surrounded by mountains. To take advantage of this, we took an afternoon bus to another little town nearby called Covadonga. Here we saw the basillica, not too extraordinary except for the fact that it is set right on the edge of a cliff with a stunning backdrop of mountains. After seeing this, we wandered around a bit and found a mountain trail to hike up. And do I mean up!! We had intended to take a low difficulty trail, but since it was a bit difficult to tell where the signs were pointing to, I'm pretty sure that we took the most difficult route. Despite this, it paid off with a beautiful path up the mountain and the eventual discovery of a mountain stream, more fun rocks to climb on and a lovely meadow. So so beautiful. I think it would not be hard for me to live in the mountains and explore!
The next day we spent the afternoon canyoning, which is quite the experience! Everyone starts by suiting up in a full wetsuit (booties, body suit and very tight jacket), rock climbing harness and helemt. And the fun has just begun!! Canyoning is pretty much a combination of wading through rapids, slip 'n' sliding down rocks, jumping off little cliffs into pools of water (don't worry, it's deep water!) and repelling down cliff/waterfalls. SO amazing and SO SO fun. Another thing that I wouldn't mind spending a lot of time doing, that's for sure' Plus, who doesn't love wearing a wet suit??
Then it was off to Toledo, the city where Alex and Nicki both stidied abroad, although during different years. Nicki was there while I was in Senegal and it was strange to see the different worlds that we were existing in! Toldeo is a very old city and, if I am not mistaken, was built in a very confusinf manner to confuse troops if they ever tried to invade. The old city is walled and basically consists of windy cobblestone streets. There are maps but i don't know why people bother because they would be very difficult to follow! I was very lucky to have two very good tour guides so I dod't need to bother with finding my own way.
Again, we spent a lot of time just walking around, seeing a few of the sights, taking the tourist train that is super cheesy but that Nicki loves, and I have to admit, was fun and a very good way to see the city. We ate at all of Nicki's favorite restaurants and I got to hear a lot of remeniscing (?) about the study abroad days. I also learned how to easily identify American girls: spaghetti strap tank tops and sandals. Funny how no one else seems to wear sandals.....
I really enjoyed my time in Toledo and in Spain in general. Yesterday morning I got up at the BEAUTIFUL hour of 5 am to take a train to Madrid, a crowded Metro to the airport (which, by the way is VERY confusing...the airport, not the Metro), a plaine to Budapest and a shuttle from the airport to my hotel in Budapest. And then I took a nap. Wow, lots of transport!!
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