So for those of you that don't know, I made it home to Texas. After a long flight next to a chatty Italian who asked me if "You like Black people?" I finally made it to Atlanta. I spent a few hours in that horribly busy airport.
My last night in Rome was nice. I got to see the coliseum and had some wine and gelatto with some girls from the hostel. I walked around quite a bit so my feet really hurt by the end of my trip. I didn't want to feel like I hadn't worn myself out! But I spent most of the evening lementing over the loss of Kate to Georgia and my return to Georgia the state...
So I finally made it to Houston and my loving and wonderful mother picked me up! I had a great time telling her stories of my trip, and she wa cathing me up on life in Llano. Dad's been busy getting the land ready and it sounds like theya re going to start building the house soon. Dad has a running solar powered water pump to water the horses. Its the beginning of their energy efficient ranch!
On January 30th, I went to Atlanta for an interview with a company called Schawk. It was my final interview with them and they offered me the job. I had a great time there and I felt like i could fit in with the office. I also feel like the jobs going to be challenging enough for me to stay interested. So I've accepted it and I'm moving to Atlanta!! Woop Woop! I'm kinda excited to be near Clemson so I can come visit and go to foot ball games. I'm also pumped ot move back to atlanta. Its a great city. So That's about it for now. I'm going to pack today for Argentina and i leave on Monday for the big adventure.
Stay tuned for more blogs abotu Argentina!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
M&J Hostel
So this is the third time I have stayed in this hostel and the hostel has changed each time I have arrived. This time they have doors with keys like an american hotel. a credit card key... i left mine in the room so hopefully i will be let into the room...
So rome for the 3rd time. what do you do in rome for the third time? well we saw an advertisement for a t5D experience about the history of Rome... Naturally we went. Sadly the video about the history of Rome was closed, but we did see a great 4D show about the beginning of time. They talked about the big bang, dinasaurs, evolution and when it rained in ancient times, it rained on us. We also had air blown no us as crabs walked by our feet. It was a great experience. The man at the counter was pretty excited about the movie we saw. He was particularly excited about the rain falling on us. He said it was better than the history of rome show. So we felt pretty confident in our choice to go.
We cooked dinner at the hostel adn met some abnoxiously loud americans. we also met up with our friend Alex who is also a brazilian and we met in Istanbul. I think that Kate and him are in love. we'll see though.. i guess. I just think he speaks french and is into literature and that they are going to get married. He's a pretty beautiful man...
So far Rome had been different than the last 2 times. Tomorrow we go to the Vatican museum because Kate has never been adn I was sick the last time. Hopefuly we wont be rushed through the Sistine Chapel like Janine and I were.. Luckily we've already seen this pope (i've seen two popes, so you can envy me) so we don't need to wait for him to speak a million languages to us and bless us.
I leave on MOnday to go back to the United States. I've met a few argentinians and they have given me quite a few pointers for my travels to Argentina. I can't wait to spend time with my wonderful mother!
So rome for the 3rd time. what do you do in rome for the third time? well we saw an advertisement for a t5D experience about the history of Rome... Naturally we went. Sadly the video about the history of Rome was closed, but we did see a great 4D show about the beginning of time. They talked about the big bang, dinasaurs, evolution and when it rained in ancient times, it rained on us. We also had air blown no us as crabs walked by our feet. It was a great experience. The man at the counter was pretty excited about the movie we saw. He was particularly excited about the rain falling on us. He said it was better than the history of rome show. So we felt pretty confident in our choice to go.
We cooked dinner at the hostel adn met some abnoxiously loud americans. we also met up with our friend Alex who is also a brazilian and we met in Istanbul. I think that Kate and him are in love. we'll see though.. i guess. I just think he speaks french and is into literature and that they are going to get married. He's a pretty beautiful man...
So far Rome had been different than the last 2 times. Tomorrow we go to the Vatican museum because Kate has never been adn I was sick the last time. Hopefuly we wont be rushed through the Sistine Chapel like Janine and I were.. Luckily we've already seen this pope (i've seen two popes, so you can envy me) so we don't need to wait for him to speak a million languages to us and bless us.
I leave on MOnday to go back to the United States. I've met a few argentinians and they have given me quite a few pointers for my travels to Argentina. I can't wait to spend time with my wonderful mother!
Back on Track!
Hello all,
We have 5 disposable cameras and Iàm sure we will fill them all up before the trip is through. Things are back on the track to a wonderful life! we had a great experience in Palermo. The bus there was nice. It had a rest stop, and I'm a huge fan of european rest stops. They are just on a whole new level. I had a fanta and thought i was going to miss my bus, but the bus driver was just going onto the bus to grab a cigarette...
(For those of you who don't know, I have an obsession with Fanta from europe. I don't drink a lot of soda, but when I'm over here I drink as much fanta as I can! its Fanta abulous!)
Our bed and breakfast was much better than the last hotel experiance, mainly because we had running hot water! also there were candies by the bed. we did a little belly dancing and then walked around the city abit. (I am also remembering that I did not tell you about the belly dancing outfit purchase by Kate in Istanbul. It jingles and Kate looks like Shakira in it. We like to try it on in our rooms and dance a bit. It makes us feel good. We think that since we didn't belly dance in Siracusa, that is the source of the afore mentioned rough patch problem.)
so we had an amazing sicilian dinner with a darling waiter. We arrived early for an italian dinner and he served us some antipastos (which were later cancelled out by my pasto, so I didn't gain any wait! see Nick Gates' comment) and champagne! he then proceeded to change in to a shirt and tie and we quickly realised that this dinner was not going to be in our budget... We treatd ourselves and siad that this was the beginning of the end of the rough patch!
We walked around Palermo the next morning, it was amazing! they have the second oldest greek theater and we could just walk around on it! was sat and pretended to enjoy greek tragedys. we then met a woman from New Zealand. Our fist one! haha, we always meet aussies and I was wondering if I would meet someone from New Zealand, and I did! so we talked to her a bit. She was pretty wrapped up in figuring out the map and we were pretty wrapped up in frolicking!
we pretended like we were dinasaurs for a while and walked into dyonises ear.. which was pretty creepy. Then we say the tomb of archemedes. I used the postcard I had to identify our find. Kates uncle or whatever kept talking about archemedes and that he did something in Siracusa... I've been lying to you. the greek theatre was in Siracusa... in Polermo we went to an art museum and went into a bunch of churches from the Renaissance period. It was a much bigger scity than Siracusa.
We then caught a ferry to Naples. We immediately got on an inter-city train to Pompei!! that is definitely something thats been on my list of things to do since I was in grade school and reading a childrens book about the eruption! It was our mecca for archeological frolicking! I mean we've just seen so much archeological things this trip and it was a great addition! It took us 6 hours or so to frolick around it. We were pretty pooped afterwards. Luckily we met some nice australians who told us which hostel they were staying at, and now we are here. we are about to go se Napels and see the archeology museum that actually holds all the things that used to be in Pompei. We were pretty pissed because it said multiple times, this is where we found blah, and its housed in the archeology museum in Naples. We saw the casts of people that were covered with ash. It was just an amazing!
ok, off to Rome next :( its our last city! I cna't believe it. We findly found out when Rome was founded and when it became christian- 753BC or around then.. and 324 about... so we are learning dates! if you know any history about the old testament and when it was written, we'd appreciate the input. We've got a lot of questions.
ciao!
PS: Ive got post cards to send out once I"m home. I've already written them, but gettting to the post office is such a hassel so they'll be sent from america and you'll just have to accept it.
We have 5 disposable cameras and Iàm sure we will fill them all up before the trip is through. Things are back on the track to a wonderful life! we had a great experience in Palermo. The bus there was nice. It had a rest stop, and I'm a huge fan of european rest stops. They are just on a whole new level. I had a fanta and thought i was going to miss my bus, but the bus driver was just going onto the bus to grab a cigarette...
(For those of you who don't know, I have an obsession with Fanta from europe. I don't drink a lot of soda, but when I'm over here I drink as much fanta as I can! its Fanta abulous!)
Our bed and breakfast was much better than the last hotel experiance, mainly because we had running hot water! also there were candies by the bed. we did a little belly dancing and then walked around the city abit. (I am also remembering that I did not tell you about the belly dancing outfit purchase by Kate in Istanbul. It jingles and Kate looks like Shakira in it. We like to try it on in our rooms and dance a bit. It makes us feel good. We think that since we didn't belly dance in Siracusa, that is the source of the afore mentioned rough patch problem.)
so we had an amazing sicilian dinner with a darling waiter. We arrived early for an italian dinner and he served us some antipastos (which were later cancelled out by my pasto, so I didn't gain any wait! see Nick Gates' comment) and champagne! he then proceeded to change in to a shirt and tie and we quickly realised that this dinner was not going to be in our budget... We treatd ourselves and siad that this was the beginning of the end of the rough patch!
We walked around Palermo the next morning, it was amazing! they have the second oldest greek theater and we could just walk around on it! was sat and pretended to enjoy greek tragedys. we then met a woman from New Zealand. Our fist one! haha, we always meet aussies and I was wondering if I would meet someone from New Zealand, and I did! so we talked to her a bit. She was pretty wrapped up in figuring out the map and we were pretty wrapped up in frolicking!
we pretended like we were dinasaurs for a while and walked into dyonises ear.. which was pretty creepy. Then we say the tomb of archemedes. I used the postcard I had to identify our find. Kates uncle or whatever kept talking about archemedes and that he did something in Siracusa... I've been lying to you. the greek theatre was in Siracusa... in Polermo we went to an art museum and went into a bunch of churches from the Renaissance period. It was a much bigger scity than Siracusa.
We then caught a ferry to Naples. We immediately got on an inter-city train to Pompei!! that is definitely something thats been on my list of things to do since I was in grade school and reading a childrens book about the eruption! It was our mecca for archeological frolicking! I mean we've just seen so much archeological things this trip and it was a great addition! It took us 6 hours or so to frolick around it. We were pretty pooped afterwards. Luckily we met some nice australians who told us which hostel they were staying at, and now we are here. we are about to go se Napels and see the archeology museum that actually holds all the things that used to be in Pompei. We were pretty pissed because it said multiple times, this is where we found blah, and its housed in the archeology museum in Naples. We saw the casts of people that were covered with ash. It was just an amazing!
ok, off to Rome next :( its our last city! I cna't believe it. We findly found out when Rome was founded and when it became christian- 753BC or around then.. and 324 about... so we are learning dates! if you know any history about the old testament and when it was written, we'd appreciate the input. We've got a lot of questions.
ciao!
PS: Ive got post cards to send out once I"m home. I've already written them, but gettting to the post office is such a hassel so they'll be sent from america and you'll just have to accept it.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Rough patch
The only way to describe the past couple of days are as a rough patch in our trip. We took the boat to Italy. We didn't get much sleep on the boat because they felt that it was necessary to have a discoteque where the none cabin holders were sleeping. We didn't ahve it as bad as the australians we met the next morning. They slept outside in the wind and cold. We whined our way into seats like on an airplane. After every appendage fell asleep at different points I decided to pull out the handy sheet my mother sewed for me and sleep on the floor.
It would have been fine, becuase we were going to try and stay in the southern part of Italy for a day but we decided to moe onto Sicily. So that meant another overnight train. This would have also been fine except there were not sleepers or couchettes. So we explored Bari a bit, which was much nicer than Igoumenitsa. It was a pretty cool city actually. We went to the sea side and then went into an old city. It was just a cute little Italian city. doors were open, people were cooking and just enjoying the nice weather.
By the time we were ready for the overnight train I was exhausted. We had a 4 hour trip to a town near naples then overnight to siracusa. So the train to Siracusa was a 6 seater room. The first like 4 hours we had 3 italian chatty women hangin out with us. We were exhausted because of the lack of sleep and walking around all day. we were not sociable. they were nice enough to turn out the light. They finally left the train at 1 in the morning about... so we stretched out on 3 seats a piece. we put on our ipods and passed out! The train was freezing as well.
So we wake up the next morning and are starving and tired. we hop on a bus into Ortigia which is supposed to be the best part of Siracusa. Its cute and quiet.... very quiet. Nothing is open. we finally find this crazy cafe that is supposed to look like an airplane and we grab some antipasto and pasta.
we were so happy.
We dedide we want to take a picture int his crazy diner.... We can't find either of our cameras. We start retracing our steps in our minds. The only time they were ever out of our sight was when we were sleeping in the train car. We've come to the conclusion that someone cmae in while were sleeping and took them. We can't think of another time when they could ahve disappeared.... we almost cry.
I'm getting really sad and we are talking about it. We start the greiving process. Then we start comforting eachother. Talking about the more important things, like the actual expiernce. I quote my brother and say, you know "we paid close attention" We cant share the pictures with our friends, but the experiences we have are the reason we travel. Its just a material object. so we've bought a disposable and will have a few pictures from Italy. Also our friends we made in Istanbult ooka bunch of pictures so we can get those when they post them. I've about decided to boycott digital cameras saying they are unnatural. I'm giong to stick to disposable or borrowing other peoples cameras, haah.
so, as you can see, we've been in a bit of a rough patch. But great things have happened.
Yesterday, we spent the day with Kate's distant relatives. They gave us lunch (home cooked) and took us around another sicilain town called millilli. It was beautiful. Our first night they took us to great pizza and there was a parade for Saint sabastian. Is Saint sabastian SaintStephen in English? Its the saint that was shot with arrows. Does anyone know his story? I mean I figure the jist of it is that he wanted to worship christ and was persicuted by someone, probably those Romans, but I was hoping for some specifics... He's the patron saint of mellilli. Also, does anyone know how patron saints were assigned? Maybe david? do you know?
so we are eating with Kat'es family again tonight. We saw a great greek theatrea nd a roman one as well. we say Archemedes tomb. All the catacoumbs are closed during the witner for some reason so we didn't see any of those. We also went to our 3rd archeology museum...
We go to a town called noto tomorrow for the day. Its the capital of the baroque artistic style and then to Palermo tomorrow evening. We are staying in palermo for the day then taking another ferry to Naples (we have a cabin booked this time, its first class!) We're going to Po9mpeii and then to Rome on the 26th. I'm almost back to America! Crazy!
and with no pictures to show for it :( ok the last i'm speaking of it... Only happy thoughts! Power through! (we say that a lot when we are tired or we loose our camera...)
It would have been fine, becuase we were going to try and stay in the southern part of Italy for a day but we decided to moe onto Sicily. So that meant another overnight train. This would have also been fine except there were not sleepers or couchettes. So we explored Bari a bit, which was much nicer than Igoumenitsa. It was a pretty cool city actually. We went to the sea side and then went into an old city. It was just a cute little Italian city. doors were open, people were cooking and just enjoying the nice weather.
By the time we were ready for the overnight train I was exhausted. We had a 4 hour trip to a town near naples then overnight to siracusa. So the train to Siracusa was a 6 seater room. The first like 4 hours we had 3 italian chatty women hangin out with us. We were exhausted because of the lack of sleep and walking around all day. we were not sociable. they were nice enough to turn out the light. They finally left the train at 1 in the morning about... so we stretched out on 3 seats a piece. we put on our ipods and passed out! The train was freezing as well.
So we wake up the next morning and are starving and tired. we hop on a bus into Ortigia which is supposed to be the best part of Siracusa. Its cute and quiet.... very quiet. Nothing is open. we finally find this crazy cafe that is supposed to look like an airplane and we grab some antipasto and pasta.
we were so happy.
We dedide we want to take a picture int his crazy diner.... We can't find either of our cameras. We start retracing our steps in our minds. The only time they were ever out of our sight was when we were sleeping in the train car. We've come to the conclusion that someone cmae in while were sleeping and took them. We can't think of another time when they could ahve disappeared.... we almost cry.
I'm getting really sad and we are talking about it. We start the greiving process. Then we start comforting eachother. Talking about the more important things, like the actual expiernce. I quote my brother and say, you know "we paid close attention" We cant share the pictures with our friends, but the experiences we have are the reason we travel. Its just a material object. so we've bought a disposable and will have a few pictures from Italy. Also our friends we made in Istanbult ooka bunch of pictures so we can get those when they post them. I've about decided to boycott digital cameras saying they are unnatural. I'm giong to stick to disposable or borrowing other peoples cameras, haah.
so, as you can see, we've been in a bit of a rough patch. But great things have happened.
Yesterday, we spent the day with Kate's distant relatives. They gave us lunch (home cooked) and took us around another sicilain town called millilli. It was beautiful. Our first night they took us to great pizza and there was a parade for Saint sabastian. Is Saint sabastian SaintStephen in English? Its the saint that was shot with arrows. Does anyone know his story? I mean I figure the jist of it is that he wanted to worship christ and was persicuted by someone, probably those Romans, but I was hoping for some specifics... He's the patron saint of mellilli. Also, does anyone know how patron saints were assigned? Maybe david? do you know?
so we are eating with Kat'es family again tonight. We saw a great greek theatrea nd a roman one as well. we say Archemedes tomb. All the catacoumbs are closed during the witner for some reason so we didn't see any of those. We also went to our 3rd archeology museum...
We go to a town called noto tomorrow for the day. Its the capital of the baroque artistic style and then to Palermo tomorrow evening. We are staying in palermo for the day then taking another ferry to Naples (we have a cabin booked this time, its first class!) We're going to Po9mpeii and then to Rome on the 26th. I'm almost back to America! Crazy!
and with no pictures to show for it :( ok the last i'm speaking of it... Only happy thoughts! Power through! (we say that a lot when we are tired or we loose our camera...)
Friday, January 18, 2008
Free food and fabulous music!
So its been a few days since I last blogged. I got a little distracted in Istanbul. We had an amazing time. We spent the entire time with the two brazillians and these nice australian girls we met. We were all staying in the same hostel. Raphael was, possibly, the funniest person I've ever met. He just kept crazking jokes and having some great interjections. It was great to hear a lot about Brazil and their travels. Also, the Australian girls were wonderful. They were very nice and had some interesting perspectives on things. We were 3 couples learning about eachother's lives. Its one of the great things abotu travelling. We also saw the city together. We went to Hagia Sophia, of course. I couldn't wait to get there. we went to the blue mosque and to a great archeologie museum. We were talking so much and having such a grteat time that we werne't moving through the city too quickly. We took a boat ride and had some good turkish meals. Turkish food is wonderful.
I loved Istanbul, evenhtough we didn't see all of it. It was beautiful. The weather couldn't have been better. We went to the grand bazaar and bought some gifts for people. I also bought too much for myself....
Now we are about to leave Greece. We went to Thessoliniki via an overnight train. That was another great experience. I love trains in general, but we had a private coupe and our tickets were hand written. They had passport control at about one in the morning. We were so confused because they also came through and searched our bags. I guess i"ve always stayed in the EU so they don't really have customs and they usually take your passport for the night. We went through passport control in Turkey and Greece. I'm excited though becasue I have a stamp from Greece!
I love Greece. We keep getting free food! also, they bring a glass of water with every meal. I realize this a simple concept in america, but after Georgia and Turkey, I was quite dehydrated. They just give you small glasses of juice and not enough water. In Greece we were greeted with a big glass of water and either chips or peanuts or somehting to go with our drinks. We even got big cookies with our coffee... Last night we were sitting at a cafe in Ionina and we just didn't even have to order dinner. They kept bringing food. I couldn't believe it.
Thessonliniki was great, except for the rain. We went to a local bar and met some great greek women. Big hair and love to dance. We also went to another archeologie museum... I'm learning a lot of history. I think I'll become a history buff when I get back. I'm learning about byzantine times and the ottomans and Alexander the Great is a large topic of conversation between Kate and I. We thought we were going to see his sarcophogus in Istanbul, but it turned out to be some sidonian king and just had pictures of Alexander the great on it. I was pretty pissed about it.
Greece has so much history and we see it everywhere. Well, everywhere but Igoumenitsa. Its a pretty dull town. Its where i am now. We are waiting for our ferrie to Italy that leaves tonight at 12... We've got some time to kill. It seems that internet cafes are pretty scarce in Greece and we finally found one. Luckily we aren't missing much. However, we are happy its finally sunny. It hasn't been suny since we arrived in Greece.
So I'll be in Italy soon! Sicily, Here I come!!
I loved Istanbul, evenhtough we didn't see all of it. It was beautiful. The weather couldn't have been better. We went to the grand bazaar and bought some gifts for people. I also bought too much for myself....
Now we are about to leave Greece. We went to Thessoliniki via an overnight train. That was another great experience. I love trains in general, but we had a private coupe and our tickets were hand written. They had passport control at about one in the morning. We were so confused because they also came through and searched our bags. I guess i"ve always stayed in the EU so they don't really have customs and they usually take your passport for the night. We went through passport control in Turkey and Greece. I'm excited though becasue I have a stamp from Greece!
I love Greece. We keep getting free food! also, they bring a glass of water with every meal. I realize this a simple concept in america, but after Georgia and Turkey, I was quite dehydrated. They just give you small glasses of juice and not enough water. In Greece we were greeted with a big glass of water and either chips or peanuts or somehting to go with our drinks. We even got big cookies with our coffee... Last night we were sitting at a cafe in Ionina and we just didn't even have to order dinner. They kept bringing food. I couldn't believe it.
Thessonliniki was great, except for the rain. We went to a local bar and met some great greek women. Big hair and love to dance. We also went to another archeologie museum... I'm learning a lot of history. I think I'll become a history buff when I get back. I'm learning about byzantine times and the ottomans and Alexander the Great is a large topic of conversation between Kate and I. We thought we were going to see his sarcophogus in Istanbul, but it turned out to be some sidonian king and just had pictures of Alexander the great on it. I was pretty pissed about it.
Greece has so much history and we see it everywhere. Well, everywhere but Igoumenitsa. Its a pretty dull town. Its where i am now. We are waiting for our ferrie to Italy that leaves tonight at 12... We've got some time to kill. It seems that internet cafes are pretty scarce in Greece and we finally found one. Luckily we aren't missing much. However, we are happy its finally sunny. It hasn't been suny since we arrived in Greece.
So I'll be in Italy soon! Sicily, Here I come!!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Spıce Gırls!
So I am ın Istanbul and ıhave to paste every space ın thıs blog because the space bar ıs broken. Furthermore ı am usıng a Turkısh keyboard.
Yesterday was an amazıng day! We spent the whole day wıth 2 Brazıllıans and 2 aussıes. I fınally saw that hagıa sophıa. The whole day was everythıng ıd hoped ıt be and more.I bought some tea and I had turkısh delıghts. the brazıllıans are brother and sıster. theır names are ranata and rapheal. rapheal ıs HYSSTERICAL. We laughed so hard all day long. Sorry Janıne. he has a long term gırlfrıend so I dont thınk we are gettıng marrıed... the australıans were wonderful aswell. when we were on our way we made a lıst of thıngs to do and one of those thıngs was to meet awesome australıans and we dıd.. however we also saıd we wanted to meet our fıances but ı dont thınk that wıll happen... ok thıs pastıng spaces ıs a paın... ı wıll wrıte more later. ı dont thınk pıctures wıll happen untıl after the trıp.
Güle güle
Yesterday was an amazıng day! We spent the whole day wıth 2 Brazıllıans and 2 aussıes. I fınally saw that hagıa sophıa. The whole day was everythıng ıd hoped ıt be and more.I bought some tea and I had turkısh delıghts. the brazıllıans are brother and sıster. theır names are ranata and rapheal. rapheal ıs HYSSTERICAL. We laughed so hard all day long. Sorry Janıne. he has a long term gırlfrıend so I dont thınk we are gettıng marrıed... the australıans were wonderful aswell. when we were on our way we made a lıst of thıngs to do and one of those thıngs was to meet awesome australıans and we dıd.. however we also saıd we wanted to meet our fıances but ı dont thınk that wıll happen... ok thıs pastıng spaces ıs a paın... ı wıll wrıte more later. ı dont thınk pıctures wıll happen untıl after the trıp.
Güle güle
Friday, January 11, 2008
Hıt me wıth your best shot!
Well, We had quite the adventure in Batumi. We were only supposed to be there for 12 hours and spend over 24 there.
Our plan was to take an overnight train to Batumi, arrive at 6:30 in the morning and then take a flight at 6:30 at night. That way we could see a little of the city. We are sitting at this "buffet" in the trains tation waiting for things to open when we meet 2 georgian men. Georgian people just want to help and be welcoming. We scream traveller so we are not suprised that they started talking to us. One spoke french and the other spoke english. They both spoke georgian obviously. So, one would speak French to us and the otherone could not understand. We havn't spoken continuous french in a long while and we are a little overwhelmed. Then the english guy would start speaking. So then we were translating what the english speaking guy was saying in French to the other Georgian, but he knows georgian. It was a crazy language ecperience. Kate and I no longer had a secret language unless we spoke english quickly and quietly. The frenchs peaking guy was really intense and he would start tlaking about poetry and georgia and all these things. And kate and i are like, where's the aquarium and do you think it'll be open? We are struggling to listen and understand, but both of us are pretending to get everything. the then got us a taxi to a cafe, then a taxi to the aquarium... but it was closed.
So here we are about 5 Km outside of the city, its raining and its a beach town. So what do we do? we frolic in the park by the beach in the rain and head back towards town. In georgia there are a lot of stray dogs. So one starts to follow us. Then its trying to play with me and i get a litle uncomfortable. Then 2 nice policemen started wlaking with us and scaring away the dog. Georgians are just so nice. I'm sure we look rediculous with our packs in the rain walking by the beach. Finally we go to the airport. OUr flight has been cancelled. So the turkish airlines puts p in this great hotel! and we spend the night. we went to this cafe we had been to earlier in the day where we had this amazing waitress. She was just so cute and friendly and called us cabs and gave us free coffee and was just to bubbly and entergetic. So we went back and eventually had a dance party with the people left at the bar. It was fabulous. They relaly like the song L is for the way you look at me, haha
Now we have arrived in Istanbul, FINALLY! We are about to embark on a wonderful Turkish day, I can feel it! our hostel is great, no sleeping on door stoops. We have met a brother and sister couple from Brazil and are a little late to meet them, so Ciao!
Our plan was to take an overnight train to Batumi, arrive at 6:30 in the morning and then take a flight at 6:30 at night. That way we could see a little of the city. We are sitting at this "buffet" in the trains tation waiting for things to open when we meet 2 georgian men. Georgian people just want to help and be welcoming. We scream traveller so we are not suprised that they started talking to us. One spoke french and the other spoke english. They both spoke georgian obviously. So, one would speak French to us and the otherone could not understand. We havn't spoken continuous french in a long while and we are a little overwhelmed. Then the english guy would start speaking. So then we were translating what the english speaking guy was saying in French to the other Georgian, but he knows georgian. It was a crazy language ecperience. Kate and I no longer had a secret language unless we spoke english quickly and quietly. The frenchs peaking guy was really intense and he would start tlaking about poetry and georgia and all these things. And kate and i are like, where's the aquarium and do you think it'll be open? We are struggling to listen and understand, but both of us are pretending to get everything. the then got us a taxi to a cafe, then a taxi to the aquarium... but it was closed.
So here we are about 5 Km outside of the city, its raining and its a beach town. So what do we do? we frolic in the park by the beach in the rain and head back towards town. In georgia there are a lot of stray dogs. So one starts to follow us. Then its trying to play with me and i get a litle uncomfortable. Then 2 nice policemen started wlaking with us and scaring away the dog. Georgians are just so nice. I'm sure we look rediculous with our packs in the rain walking by the beach. Finally we go to the airport. OUr flight has been cancelled. So the turkish airlines puts p in this great hotel! and we spend the night. we went to this cafe we had been to earlier in the day where we had this amazing waitress. She was just so cute and friendly and called us cabs and gave us free coffee and was just to bubbly and entergetic. So we went back and eventually had a dance party with the people left at the bar. It was fabulous. They relaly like the song L is for the way you look at me, haha
Now we have arrived in Istanbul, FINALLY! We are about to embark on a wonderful Turkish day, I can feel it! our hostel is great, no sleeping on door stoops. We have met a brother and sister couple from Brazil and are a little late to meet them, so Ciao!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Georgia must come to an end...
Tomorrow night we are going to Istanbul. However, we must take a night train tonight to a coastal train and get on the plane tomorrow night.
My last couple of days in Gerogia have been pretty great. Apparently everything in Georgia just takes a little bit longer to accomplish.. I fully experienced that yesterday. We got our train tickets and our plane tickets. The hot water wasn't working yesterday morning so I couldn't take a shower. Mind you I hadn't showered since two evenings before that. I was pretty dirty. I just had to suck it up so we didn't waste our day. I put a hat on and we were on our way. We got the tickets with a fair amount of ease, but we just started our day a little late because of the water fiasco. Then we go to the train station. The train station was no TGV station in France. There was no man in a blue suit ready to answer our questions. We ended up in this random market that was in one of the rooms in the train station. The whole building was under renovation. Kate likes to say that the whole country is under renovation. I tend to agree with her on this one. We waited in line to get our tickets but we didn't have enough cash. Then we went to an ATM and it wouldn't give Kate the money. Then we went to 2 more before we found a working one.
The original plan for the day was to go to Gori, the home of Stalin. So we didn't end up getting to leave till after 3:30. Our guide book said that the museum would be open until 6 so we figured that would be enough time... Well, when we got there it was closed. Kate whined a bit and they reopened it for us. However, it was all in Russian and Georgian and they were following us around. It was quite awkward. Gori was lovely otherwise. It was all covered in snow.
One thing about the Georgian winter is that they are not usually this sever... apparently. So they don't know how to take care of the side walks. Walking around is like walking on an ice rink. I mean I've fallen a few time, not bruises yet. Kate has fallen and we can barely get up each time. Everyone on the streets seems to be quite amused by the ice... It can be amusing, but its just dangerous.
Anyway tonight we leave for Batumi, the coastal town, and I can't wait for Istanbul!!
My last couple of days in Gerogia have been pretty great. Apparently everything in Georgia just takes a little bit longer to accomplish.. I fully experienced that yesterday. We got our train tickets and our plane tickets. The hot water wasn't working yesterday morning so I couldn't take a shower. Mind you I hadn't showered since two evenings before that. I was pretty dirty. I just had to suck it up so we didn't waste our day. I put a hat on and we were on our way. We got the tickets with a fair amount of ease, but we just started our day a little late because of the water fiasco. Then we go to the train station. The train station was no TGV station in France. There was no man in a blue suit ready to answer our questions. We ended up in this random market that was in one of the rooms in the train station. The whole building was under renovation. Kate likes to say that the whole country is under renovation. I tend to agree with her on this one. We waited in line to get our tickets but we didn't have enough cash. Then we went to an ATM and it wouldn't give Kate the money. Then we went to 2 more before we found a working one.
The original plan for the day was to go to Gori, the home of Stalin. So we didn't end up getting to leave till after 3:30. Our guide book said that the museum would be open until 6 so we figured that would be enough time... Well, when we got there it was closed. Kate whined a bit and they reopened it for us. However, it was all in Russian and Georgian and they were following us around. It was quite awkward. Gori was lovely otherwise. It was all covered in snow.
One thing about the Georgian winter is that they are not usually this sever... apparently. So they don't know how to take care of the side walks. Walking around is like walking on an ice rink. I mean I've fallen a few time, not bruises yet. Kate has fallen and we can barely get up each time. Everyone on the streets seems to be quite amused by the ice... It can be amusing, but its just dangerous.
Anyway tonight we leave for Batumi, the coastal town, and I can't wait for Istanbul!!
Monday, January 7, 2008
Merry Christmas!
Today is Georgian Christmas. They processed in the streets and prayed a lot. There were a lot of people at church when we walked by. They are very religious in Georgia. Today was a great day. It was beautiful and we walked around the downtown area. There is a lot of ice on the ground and they have not implemented a system to fix the ice on the side walks. It kinda makes life a little more exciting because you never know when you might slip and fall... I haven't fallen yet, but I am concerned that I'm going to pull a back muscle.
there was a little carnival thing in front of parliament with a carousel and spideman. Of course i rode the carousel and I tried to meet Spiderman but there was a large fence int he way. He was dancing with santa's helpers. In case you were wondering, no matter what country you are in, it is weird for a two 22 year olds to want to ride the carousel. We got a lot of weird looks.
Yesterday was a pretty good day as well. we didn't do much during the day because there were protests agianst the president who hasn't been elected yet, but we did go out to dinner. This really nice woman that Kate is friends with named Pam came along. We were supposed to go to an art show opening at a cafe but it got cancelled. I was pretty disappointed about that. But we did have the best "hot chocolate" ever. It was relaly like home made warm pudding in a glass with a spoon. It was AMAZING!
I felt like Stephen and Cynthia should have been sitting in my seat instead of me because this computer programmer was getting a lesson on Post Monderinst theory from Pam. She was very intelligible about it. I got a nice little lesson. Eveyrone who's here is very smart and has had alot of life experiences. Most of the are very nice, but some definitely think they are smarter than everyone else. Kate's roommates are great. They all cook together and watch TV together. They watch the news a lot... Maybe i"ll watch the news more when I get back. Its always a possibility. I guess I'd have to get a TV first...
Ok, back to the evening. So there's this bar in Georgia called buffalo bills. It was pretty crazy inside. They had swinging doors in the entry way and they had two Texan Flags hanging in the bar. and Indian arrows sticking out of the walls as if there was just a skirmish. THey had a band playing american music and playing electric guitars. so for the most part the bar was pretty quiet. people were just sitting and tlaking and then all of a sudden they all get up! the band started playing a Georgian song and everyone was singing along. We just kept thinking that Georgians must really like this song! but then we heard them saying the gerogian word for Christmas. It was midnight and they were celebrating Christmas!! They were so happy. Two women were dancing on the bar. They pulled us into the fun!!
Today we opened presents with Kate's roomates. Their cat monster got a rat face mask. Apparently Georgians are really excited that its the year of the Rat. THey have all these rat masks for purchasing. so we bought one. I'm havign a great time with Kate!
Hope ya'll are doing well and update me on your lives!
there was a little carnival thing in front of parliament with a carousel and spideman. Of course i rode the carousel and I tried to meet Spiderman but there was a large fence int he way. He was dancing with santa's helpers. In case you were wondering, no matter what country you are in, it is weird for a two 22 year olds to want to ride the carousel. We got a lot of weird looks.
Yesterday was a pretty good day as well. we didn't do much during the day because there were protests agianst the president who hasn't been elected yet, but we did go out to dinner. This really nice woman that Kate is friends with named Pam came along. We were supposed to go to an art show opening at a cafe but it got cancelled. I was pretty disappointed about that. But we did have the best "hot chocolate" ever. It was relaly like home made warm pudding in a glass with a spoon. It was AMAZING!
I felt like Stephen and Cynthia should have been sitting in my seat instead of me because this computer programmer was getting a lesson on Post Monderinst theory from Pam. She was very intelligible about it. I got a nice little lesson. Eveyrone who's here is very smart and has had alot of life experiences. Most of the are very nice, but some definitely think they are smarter than everyone else. Kate's roommates are great. They all cook together and watch TV together. They watch the news a lot... Maybe i"ll watch the news more when I get back. Its always a possibility. I guess I'd have to get a TV first...
Ok, back to the evening. So there's this bar in Georgia called buffalo bills. It was pretty crazy inside. They had swinging doors in the entry way and they had two Texan Flags hanging in the bar. and Indian arrows sticking out of the walls as if there was just a skirmish. THey had a band playing american music and playing electric guitars. so for the most part the bar was pretty quiet. people were just sitting and tlaking and then all of a sudden they all get up! the band started playing a Georgian song and everyone was singing along. We just kept thinking that Georgians must really like this song! but then we heard them saying the gerogian word for Christmas. It was midnight and they were celebrating Christmas!! They were so happy. Two women were dancing on the bar. They pulled us into the fun!!
Today we opened presents with Kate's roomates. Their cat monster got a rat face mask. Apparently Georgians are really excited that its the year of the Rat. THey have all these rat masks for purchasing. so we bought one. I'm havign a great time with Kate!
Hope ya'll are doing well and update me on your lives!
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Georgian Day!
So I had a great Georgian day.
It really all started last night when some twelve year olds were cutting us in line at the Mc Donalds. Apparently lines aren't very important to Gerogians and these guys were being exceptionally rude about it. Luckily another georgian man apologied for their behavior adn was very nice. They told a good mountain to travel to for a day trip and they are were my georgian day begins.
We went to lunch/breakfast/dinner with them. We had exchanged numbers with them the night before and they asked us out for food. We find out during our very georgian meal that they wake up at 3pm everyday. I couldn't say much because we layed around in bed most of the day as well, but i am jet lagged so its legitimate. So apparently the Georgian way to eat meals is to order a lot of food and not eat very much of it. Very unlike the French...
They ordered a lot of very traditional dishes. There was this eggplant delicious thing that I want to eat everyday for the rest of my life. I'm hoping I can get a georgian cook book in english. Then after that we met up with a few of Kate's roomate's friends and went to a georgian bath.
Apparently TBilisi means to be warm in Georgian and they are referring to the baths. you get a sheet and a towel and there's a tub of extremely hot water and a tub of cold water and a sauna. It was awesome. A nice combat to the cold. then a woman scrubs us down.
It really isn't that cold. Apparently it only snows for a week around Christmas and their Christmas is in 2 days. Sometimes they stay up all night in church. Its apparently a very religious country. They are Greek or Georgian Orthodox.
So all is well, we are still wiaitng for the election results. There were lots of people in the streets waving flags supporting saakashveili. I'll post pictures after tomorrow. We are going to walk around the city and then go to an art show.
It really all started last night when some twelve year olds were cutting us in line at the Mc Donalds. Apparently lines aren't very important to Gerogians and these guys were being exceptionally rude about it. Luckily another georgian man apologied for their behavior adn was very nice. They told a good mountain to travel to for a day trip and they are were my georgian day begins.
We went to lunch/breakfast/dinner with them. We had exchanged numbers with them the night before and they asked us out for food. We find out during our very georgian meal that they wake up at 3pm everyday. I couldn't say much because we layed around in bed most of the day as well, but i am jet lagged so its legitimate. So apparently the Georgian way to eat meals is to order a lot of food and not eat very much of it. Very unlike the French...
They ordered a lot of very traditional dishes. There was this eggplant delicious thing that I want to eat everyday for the rest of my life. I'm hoping I can get a georgian cook book in english. Then after that we met up with a few of Kate's roomate's friends and went to a georgian bath.
Apparently TBilisi means to be warm in Georgian and they are referring to the baths. you get a sheet and a towel and there's a tub of extremely hot water and a tub of cold water and a sauna. It was awesome. A nice combat to the cold. then a woman scrubs us down.
It really isn't that cold. Apparently it only snows for a week around Christmas and their Christmas is in 2 days. Sometimes they stay up all night in church. Its apparently a very religious country. They are Greek or Georgian Orthodox.
So all is well, we are still wiaitng for the election results. There were lots of people in the streets waving flags supporting saakashveili. I'll post pictures after tomorrow. We are going to walk around the city and then go to an art show.
Friday, January 4, 2008
I have arrived!
Hello all!
I'm here in Georgia! Its a little snowy but I made it. There were two little kids behind me and someone else and they were slapping the tables and kicking the chairs. that was fun... I did get to use my french...
I do'nt have much to say now except that Georgian elections are tomorrow so it should be interesting to see that. There's a special on BBC about it tomorrow.
I'm pretty excited about being here! Kate's house is great. There's a terrace and a huge living room and nice furniture. Some pretty intense furniture. She has a great cat that I'm already not afraid of. Its little and mischievous.
Ok, love you all!
I'm here in Georgia! Its a little snowy but I made it. There were two little kids behind me and someone else and they were slapping the tables and kicking the chairs. that was fun... I did get to use my french...
I do'nt have much to say now except that Georgian elections are tomorrow so it should be interesting to see that. There's a special on BBC about it tomorrow.
I'm pretty excited about being here! Kate's house is great. There's a terrace and a huge living room and nice furniture. Some pretty intense furniture. She has a great cat that I'm already not afraid of. Its little and mischievous.
Ok, love you all!
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