Anna Takes a Trip

"In today's sharp sparkle"

2009-01-21T01:38:00.000-08:00

Tuesday January 20, 2009 11pm Baku, Azerbaijan

“In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light. “ – poem by Elizabeth Alexander read at Obama's inauguration.

Listen to the MUSTN'TS
from the book "Where the Sidewalk Ends" (1974) by Shel Silverstein

Listen to the MUSTN'TS, child,
Listen to the DON'TS
Listen to the SHOULDN'TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES.
Then listen close to me -
Anything can happen, child,
ANYTHING can be.

I don’t believe I have ever felt as patriotic as I have tonight. At 9pm Baku time I watched Obama become the 44th president of the United States of America, and I cried. I cried tears of joy for new change and beginnings, and tears of gratitude for those who have come before us. I know the appropriate thing for an academic to do is to doubt that change could ever really happen within this system, but I refuse to be handcuffed by fear. We have to believe that change can happen and is possible. There’s always time to be disappointed later so why start now? :-)

I ate nachos tonight in one of Baku’s Irish pubs (Murphy’s) and chatted with a Scotsman who travels around the world doing some kind of radio-training seminars (for communication on the oil rigs). And of course I was riveted to the television during the entire event at the Capitol Building, and I didn’t head home until I watched Bush fly back to Texas in the helicopter. I expressed my joy to the men standing outside the pub (in Russian I said- “Today Bush is finished, and America has a new president- Barack Obama!”), to the taxi driver, and to the man at the convenience store across the street from my apartment building. He was looking especially grumpy, so I gave him a big smile and told him about my new president!

Although today was a joyful day for the U.S., it was a sad day of mourning and remembrance here in Baku. On the 20th of January (“Black January”) they remember the day in 1990 when after rumblings of possible independence Soviet troops rolled in and killed dozens of innocent civilian protestors. The entire city goes up to “Martyr’s Avenue,” an absolutely stunning and beautiful monument that ends with a perpetual fire overlooking the city and the Caspian Sea. You could actually feel the sadness in the air. In 1991 Azerbaijan successfully declared its independence from the USSR.

This past weekend I was shown around Shirvanshah, a palace complex within Iceri Sheher (inner city . . . like old town, stare mesto). This palace was the seat of northeastern Azerbaijan’s ruling family in the Middle Ages. Its 15th century designs are still beautiful (having been renovated a bit in 2003. The intricate carvings and Arabic calligraphy were really quite stunning.

I was quite pleased to then be taken to the miniature book museum. Yes, you read that right, Baku lays claim to the world’s only museum devoted entirely to miniature books. The smallest is only 2mm and is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. There were very old small books, very famous small books, small books in all different languages from all different regions, tiny religious books, tiny books of poetry, etc. We had a lovely tour in Russian, which I was mostly able to follow along with. A second visit to the Martyr’s Avenue was followed by a visit to the state cemetery where I saw the very impressive grave of Heydar Aliyev, the former president and father of the current president of Azerbaijan.

On Sunday I treated myself to a nice brunch out and then wandered about in search of the Center of Contemporary Art. It was a small affair, about 3 rooms total, but there were some very striking works. Some abstract, some clearly of people, angels, animals and some intriguing sculptures.

Then I stopped into one of the carpet shops in the inner city that clearly has tourists in mind. The salesman spoke fairly good English and we haggled over prices of silk scarves for awhile, and then discussed why some people say “turn off the light” and some people say “switch off the light,” and other such nonsense. It was enjoyable but I had to be getting back home so that I could meet Mikayil and Kenan for our adventure!

Mikayil, Kenan and I set out in search of Ateshgah Fire Temple in Suraxani, very close to Baku. The site sits in a natural gas vent that was sacred to the local Zoroastrians for centuries, and the temple was constructed by Indian Shiva devotees. It was a bit challenging finding the Temple, because apparently all the roads have been updated, with new lanes, new overpasses, new bridges, etc., but no new road signs! In fact no signs at all, so you really have to know where you are going. Luckily its totally normal to just stop in the right hand lane and ask someone on the street or a cab driver for directions. After a number of fairly funny interactions with various people we found the Temple, but sadly it had just closed for the day. Despite offers of extra money if they opened up, we were refused! So . .. we set out in search of another target- Yanar Dag.

Apparently in the 13th century Marco Polo wrote something about natural gas flames spurting out from the Absheron Peninsula (where Baku is). Most stopped after oil drilling began (something about reduced pressure), but at this one place near the international airport, fire still flames out of the side of a small hill. It is about a 10m wall of fire coming out of the side of this hill completely on its own. It was amazing. I have never seen anything like this, and it ranks right up there with the exploding Gulfoss geyser in Iceland, the mud and heat of Rotarua in New Zealand, and the vast glaciers of Patagonia. Fire coming out of a mountain, people! It was awesome.
:-)

I want to make some general comments before I head off to bed:
-People honk all the time here. It drives me crazy. In the U.S. it would be considered majorly rude to honk as much as people do here, and I often wind up taking offense.
-The owner of my apartment is wonderfully nice and had me over for tea and sweets last night. I got to play with his baby daughter and his wife showed me pictures of their wedding.
-I am enjoying living alone.
-Sometimes the power goes out or there is no water. Usually this doesn’t last for too long, and it doesn’t happen very often . . . so it still surprises me when it happens.
-Sometimes the elevator (which is scary and old and I never use) gets stuck and it won’t stop opening and closing for hours.
-Every evening when I return home from work there are three cats waiting near my door. They make me miss my cats!
- I walked to the U.S. Embassy today because I had some questions. They were closed because it was an Azerbaijan national holiday. They were also closed yesterday because of Martin Luther King Jr. It seems like a rather nice life to me, to get off from work on both your own country holidays and from the country within you work!

Soy Milk, Coffee and Georgian Wine

2009-01-16T05:46:00.000-08:00

Posted: 5:45pm January16, 2009

January 13, 2009

7:30 pm

“When you set out on your journey to Ithaca, pray that the road is long, full of adventure, full of knowledge. . . .The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops, the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter, if you do not carry them within your soul, if your heart does not set them up before you . . .” taken from Constantine Cavafy’s “Ithaca.”

Yay! for the Continental Supermarket which definitely cheered up my day! If nothing else it made me feel brilliant for bringing peanut butter with me—they are the first grocery market here I have seen that sells peanut butter, and they were selling half-size jars for 7.9 manats, or about 10 dollars!!! Brilliant work, Anna. My goal was to buy pesto to accompany pasta dishes made at home with olive oil and garlic, but alas, the small pesto jars cost more than $10 each. No pesto for Anna. I DID buy some meringues, some marzipan, some toilet paper, some instant coffee and . . . wait for it . . . SOY milk!! I was so excited to see the “soja!” I can’t wait to have coffee and soy milk tomorrow with breakfast.

Note: As a lactose-intolerant member of society I am always thrilled to see dairy-alternatives . . . this does not mean that I support the way soybeans are grown, nor does it mean that I am unaware of the huge amount of hormones both added and inherent to soy. However, Lactaid milk is not available here. J

As I came out of the market I was surprised to see an empty road. It turned out that the whole area around the Hyatt (where the continental supermarket is) was blocked off and there were police everywhere. As I walked back to my apartment I crossed through blocked traffic and very unhappy drivers. I think some very important person must have been coming through!

As far as food adventures go, I’m still eating a lot of lentil soup, and occasionally other forms of soups as well (borsht, red pepper). At home I have tried a few just-add-hot-water soups ala Ramen, although not nearly as delicious. There is a nice restaurant right near the office that is a bit pricey but their pizzas are a deal—for 6 manats ($7.20) I get a big delicious pizza covered in toppings (including shredded chicken, which is really quite lovely). I can only finish half, and I get to take half back to my apartment for dinner another night . . . still more expensive than donor kebab, but it turns out I can’t actually eat those every night. I actually cooked last night (pasta, oil and garlic as mentioned above), but as my kitchen is not overly well equipped I won’t be cooking any feasts any time soon.

When you boil the water here (as you must if you want to drink it—I drank some the first few days and didn’t get sick, but apparently you aren’t supposed to drink it), the calcium separates out and you are left with quite a bit of white sediment. Very strange. I was much reassured when I learned it was just calcium.

Jan 15, 2009 9:00pm.

I have been enjoying a very fun week filled with “English Conversation Clubs” that have been very exciting. My “students” ask me all sorts of things, including how I think we should solve the problem in Gaza, and if I think Jesus was really God or just a man. We are solving world problems and discussing the fundamentals of world religion. We’ve also discussed the genetic factors in physical attraction, and why love might or might not defy such factors (they are a romantic bunch). I have learned a great deal about the history of Azerbaijan (did you know that in 1918 Azerbaijan declared its independence, and as such was the first democracy in the Muslim world? It lasted for 2 years until the Soviets showed up), the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and education in Baku. Everyone is very interested in the graduate school offerings in the U.S., and how it might be possible to get a Masters without spending a fortune.

While usually I head home after work, yesterday I had some energy so I went walking in downtown Baku. I have been trying to find a Russian restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet, but have continuously been coming up empty-handed. Instead I found a Georgian restaurant (“Duxan”) which was lovely. I had absolutely delicious eggplant with walnut sauce, and then a spicy beef and rice soup. I must say that the highlight of the meal was my glass of Georgian semi-sweet red wine. An absolute knock-out. I have to figure out where I can purchase some to bring home!

This past Sunday I had a lovely time walking around Baku, and just exploring and poking around in shops. It was a lovely sunny day, upper 30s and not too windy . . . ideal for wandering. I found myself in a fancy coffee shop where I had a delicious cappuccino and had an interesting encounter with an elderly American gentleman. We wound up going to the ballet later that evening, where we watched a very interesting Azeri-style ballet. As I predicted, it was a love-tragedy. I was only surprised that only 2 of the 3 people in the love triangle died, and not all three. The literary and artistic forms here seem to be heavy on the tragedy and the romance.

I finished Ali and Nino, which ended in tragedy, but overall was an excellent introduction to Arab culture, and to Azerbaijan in the 1917-1920 era. I am now reading my fifth Paulo Coelho book, “The Zahir,” which I am enjoying. Having limited my baklava intake, I am now devouring marzipan . . . I must find a happy medium. Work is fun, and the office has heat (yay!), and we are busily preparing for the conference.

This weekend I believe I will be shown some older bits of Baku that I have not yet seen, and hopefully on Sunday I will go with some friends to see the “Fire Temple” in a nearby town.

For further information on Azerbaijan, please see the NISA website: nisa.az, which may be under construction but should have information under “Country Profile.” I just wrote it today.

Cheers!

Baku- the City of Wind

2009-01-10T05:30:00.000-08:00

5:45pm January 10th, Baku

“Few cities in the world are changing as quickly and nowhere else in the Caucasus do East and West blend as seamlessly or as chaotically. Battered Ladas race shiny Mercedes past illuminated stone mansions, shiny glass towers and tatty old Soviet apartment blocks.” –Lonely Planet on Baku

“Some scholars look on the area south of the Caucasian mountains as belonging to Asia, while others, in view of Transcaucasia's’s cultural evolution, believe that this country should be considered part of Europe. It can therefore be said, my children, that it is partly your responsibility as to whether our town should belong to progressive Europe or to reactionary Asia.” – a fictional and less than neutral professor in Baku on the dawn on of WW1, in Kurban Said’s classic novel “Ali and Nino.”

It has been a cold and windy week here in Baku. The wind actually has the power to blow you a few steps this way or that . . . having never traveled to Chicago I have no idea if we have the same strength of wind in the U.S. I arrived to a few inches of snow and ice that turned into slush and mud over Sunday and Monday. The city was beautiful under the snow, a little dirty after it melted. Baku is a strange mix of modern buildings gleaming with glass and metal, and old sturdy soviet buildings . . . some that have been revamped and some that have not.

I had a lovely reception by my hosts here at NISA, and I have been very well taken care of. My apartment is nicely decorated, warm and comfortable, and only a 5 minute bus ride from the NISA office. In addition, I am about a 5 minute walk from the upscale Hyatt Regency area where upscale Italian and Chinese restaurants are excited to take rich oil exec’s money.

My first day in Baku, Mikayil, the executive director of NISA walked with me all over downtown Baku and in the old town area. Iceri Seher, the historic Old City has small cobblestone streets and is much less developed than stare mestos (Old Cities) I have visited in Eastern Europe. It manages to maintain some of its traditional atmosphere in a way revamped Old Cities do not. The hamams (bathhouses) are hundreds of years old but are still active and used by the males of the town. Mikayil and I climbed the Maiden’s Tower where we were afforded a view of the Caspian Sea as well as of Baku and its surrounding hills.

We strolled along the Bulvar, the road along the Caspian where street vendors sell cotton candy and balloons to families. The wind and cold drove us back up towards the busy modern city center where we wandered past expensive stores, restaurants (and McDonalds!), and through the Tourist Bazaar. We had donor kebab in pita bread which was delicious and peach juice to drink.

On Sunday I went bowling with NISA alum and students who will be attending the NISA Winter Session that I am helping to organize. It was great fun, and the bowling alley was newer and more shiny than any bowling alley I have ever seen in the U.S. We played two games and then I went for a walk with a few new friends. We took a bus up the hill to Martyr’s Lane which is a very somber (and clean) memorial to the Red Army’s 1990 attack in Baku after an attempt at independence. There is large ever burning flame at the end of the walk that we crowded around to get warm! We took the funicular down the hill (very exciting, I don’t think I’d ever been in a funicular before!) and found a restaurant to eat in as we were all desperately hungry!

I’ve spent the week in the NISA office, going out for fabulous lunches of lentil soup and traditional Azeri foods (yum! Meaty!). My favorite meal was xingal, meat and sour cream served over some kind of gooey-flour-made substance. It is dark, cold and windy in the evenings, so only twice have I been brave enough to explore a bit, since my warm apartment is so inviting. I have developed a bit of an addiction to the baklava which is delicious but very expensive. This does not bode well for my wallet or my waistline. Also, it is very cheap (around $2) to get a yummy lamb meat and a salad mix wrapped up in lavash (sort of very very thin pita type bread) for dinner.

I have been reading “Ali and Nino” which is a very intriguing story of Ali, a Muslim Azeri schoolboy from an aristocratic family who falls in love with Nino, a Christian from a wealth Georgian family with European sensibilities. It is the time of WW1 and they are living in Baku. As the story is told from Ali’s point of view, I am exposed to all sorts of cultural norms and practices that I have never before researched much or learned about. I have never personally made a study of Arab culture or customs, and I find myself encountering a very different kind of world (at least for fictional Ali in WW1 era Baku). I have drawn no conclusions as of yet, but generally I am very worried for the long term possibilities of Ali and Nino’s relationship.
Just a few things I have noticed—I am sure I will have more things to share as the month progresses . . .

The police are everywhere . . . walking, standing, guarding, and of course in their police cars pulling over traffic violators. As my new friend Yalchin says, “We have many traffic regulations, but no one fully implements them.” The strangest thing about these cop cars is that they have PA systems from which they broadcast instructions to offending drivers. Imagine you are walking down the main street in Baku, past a billboard of a smiling President Aliyev, and you hear a siren followed by loud, angry directions in Azeri (loud enough on the PA system for everyone within two blocks to hear). I have to say it is very strange, and it happens quite a bit, especially at rush hour.

The traffic is indeed quite scary and my most invigorating moments of the day are often when crossing the street. Does anyone remember the game frogger? Well crossing the street here is just like “frogger” only with humans. Mom, please don’t look up the game.

Luckily I usually take the bus which costs only 20 kopecks and deposits me very close to my apartment and work. The only trick is that you must tell the driver when you want to stop (except for a very few large fixed bus stops), and if the bus is packed and you are at the rear, that can be very difficult. The trick is to secure a spot near the front and to not be afraid to voice your need to STOP. :-) Having missed my stop once and been forced to hail a cab to make my way back (luckily every taxi driver knows where the Hyatt is), I am now a bit more vocal!

I spent today (Saturday! no work!) wandering around Baku and poking in bookshops and clothing stores- it was lovely! I had a very expensive but delicious burger at the Sunset Cafe, which is very American in style. I found the only English-speaking bookstore and purchased a "Learn Azeri" cd-rom that I hope to delve into soon.

I have had the feeling all week that something is very basically different about being in Baku, then any where else I have ever been while traveling (or at home). I think I finally figured out the basic reason why things just feel so DIFFERENT . . . there really aren't tourists here. It is the largest city in the Caucasus, and if there are any tourists, you certainly can't tell them apart from the locals. In every capital city in the world that I have been to there have tourists. I also, very clearly, am not a local. This is easily seen by the color of my skin, my eyes, even my hair. I think there is some chance that at times I am passing for one of the small members of the Russian population here, but most of the time I think I just look like a blond British doll. Thank goodness I speak some Russian so I am able to communicate, order food, etc., and not completely stick out.

I have noticed that whenever I am in a big-city (well, "big" is a relative term), I tend to adopt the "city" affect-- bored and slightly irritated as if I am thinking that I may be too cool to even be in this city. I think I learned it in New York.

Hopefully pictures will come soon, the internet is slow for now.

:-) HUGS!

Cold and Rainy Istanbul

2009-01-10T05:28:00.000-08:00

Posted: Jan 10 5:30pm

Jan 2nd 7:15pm Ataturk Airport, Istanbul, Turkey

“Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else." — Lawrence Block

I arrived at the airport quite early this evening for my 11pm flight to Baku. It was cold and rainy in Istanbul today, and I had a hard time shaking the chill, even in coffee shops and museums. The day started off with a bang as I explored Topkapi palace, where sultans, viziers and concubines lived for centuries. I started off visiting the Harem, and while it was beautifully tiled with amazing ceilings and decorations, etc., I just couldn’t help shaking the feeling that there was something very, very wrong about this place. My little Lonely Planet guidebook mentions one sultan, who was rumored to put all 280 of his concubines into bags and throw them into the Bospherous when he tired of them. WHAT?!? Somehow I couldn’t appreciate the humor of this, and was disturbed on a basic level. These women were trapped in this Harem that I paid admission to visit . . . kept there as slaves. *Shiver.*
On a happier note, I then visited the royal treasury where I got to see the Prophet David’s sword, Prophet John’s skull, a number of things that Mohammed touched or owned at one point, and . . . wait for it . . . the very rod that Moses used to part the Red Sea in 12th century BC. It was in surprisingly good shape for a wooden rod that was used extensively 32 centuries ago. :-)

Eventually I was too tired and cold to continue in Topkapi (which was not heated) and I walked up the tram street to find the restaurant I had been recommended for lunch. I had donor kebab on rice pilaf, which was very yummy (and some Turkish tea to try and warm up). Then I walked up to the Grand Bazaar, and strolled around, although to be honest, it was really a bit much. If you’re in the mood to buy carpets, jewelry, or leather goods, its probably an ideal place for you. The mix of tourists, salesmen, and wet & cold Anna was not ideal, and I left to walk back down the tram road.

At this point I found a coffee shop, ordered a cappuccino and sat and read my novel for over an hour. It was lovely.

As I grew tired of sitting and reading in public, I remembered that there was a museum that I had not visited – the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art. It had not even been mentioned by Lonely Planet, so I thought it might serve as an interesting cultural detour. At the time anything heated and indoors was sounding pretty good. The museum had a vast array of ancient and falling apart carpets, in addition to many half-destroyed doors, tablets, and various forms of older “art.” I was not terribly impressed, but on my way out I discovered that in the corner there was an “anthropology” wing, so I made a detour. It was an exhibition devoted to portraying the life of regular people throughout time in Turkey. It had real-life size exhibits of the different kinds of housing, clothing, looms, work tools, etc., that would have been used by different groups. There was a section describing the different kinds of herbs and flowers used to create the natural dyes for the carpets. I very much enjoyed this section, and it made the museum trip well worth it.

I walked slowly back to the guesthouse, stopping to buy some roasted chestnuts from a street vendor. I had a lovely last chat with my host and he called a taxi for me to head to the airport.

On to Baku!

Istanbul (not Constantinople)- Happy 2009!

2009-01-01T11:34:00.001-08:00

9:30 pm January 1st, Istanbul, Turkey.

"Don't tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have traveled." -Mohammed

“The climate is delightful in the extremist degree. I am now sitting, this present fourth of January, with the windows open, enjoying the warm shine of the sun, while you are freezing over a sad sea-coal fire...”
Lady Mary Wortley-Montagu, 1763, on Istanbul

Note: I don't think its as warm now as it was for Lady Montagu. It was lovely and sunny today though and maybe high 30s.

Also: For some reason I'm having a hard time loading pictures to here and to facebook- I will try again tomorrow.

At the moment I am sitting in the terrace breakfast room of my guesthouse . . . without moving I have a lovely view of the Blue Mosque all lit up against the grey night sky with seagulls flying around the dome, and of the Bospherous with the lights of the Asian side shining. If I twist to the right I can also see Haggia Sophia, also glowing and lit against the night sky. Down below I can see a row of hostels, hotels and restaurants, all decked out with blue and white lights for the New Year, and looking very snazzy. I'm in the neighborhood of Sultanahmet which is right in the heart of the oldest bits of Istanbul, complete with cobblestone streets, ancient mosques, churches, obelisks, and the hippodrome. My guesthouse- the Terrace Guesthouse- is right around the corner from the Four Seasons, and for a much lower price I still have an excellent location. My room isn't amazing, but it is covered from wall to floor to bedspread with deep colored carpets . . . this added to the fringe that hangs from the bed alcove serves to make me feel a bit like some kind of ancient Turkish royalty.

I arrived exhausted yesterday and took a cab to the guesthouse from the airport (Along with the usual mushrooms, tomato, and hash browns, British Airways served lamb and scrambled eggs for breakfast . . . strange). Actually I took a cab to the Four Seasons, because that was the easiest way to describe the location to the cab driver. The doormen at the Four Seasons took very good care of me, even when I explained that I had no change to pay them with and I could handle it myself. The most dressed up doorman, Morat, insisted on carrying my larger suitcase to the Terrace Guesthouse himself, which was very nice. I was greeted by Doghan who immediately had me sit down and engaged me in a friendly conversation (by the way, everyone likes Americans again now that Obama has been elected!). I knew I needed to eat before I collapsed so I asked for a recommendation-- preferably for Kofta (Turkish meatballs) which I had read about in my lonely planet. Doghan recommended Selim Usta (Tarihi Sultanahmet Koftecisi Selim Usta), which turned out to be the same place recommended in the guidebook! It was maybe an 8 minute walk or so, and I walked passed the Haggia Sophia, Blue Mosque and many roasted chestnut sellers on the way! The meatballs were served with chili sauce and were very tasty (although to be honest I think I prefer the Swedish kind- soaked in gravy).

During dinner (at which I noticed there was a serious overabundance of waiters-- this has been repeated at every place I have been in, even sweet shops-- why are there so many waiters?!?) I started to get the spins from jet-lag. I took my leftovers back and passed out in bed. I woke up at midnight to the sound of fireworks! I had hoped to go stroll about before midnight, but having missed my chance I rushed up to the rooftop terrace to watch the fireworks over the Bospherous. People went wild in the streets- dancing, singing shouting . . . many terraces were shooting off their own fireworks or sparklers, and there were a few fancy black tie parties on rooftops that I could see. All in all there was much cheer. Then I went back to bed.

A delightful breakfast greeted me this morning here in the terrace room, where the sun was all but blinding. Cheese, cucumber, olive, tomato, boiled egg, bread, (chocolate bread?), and yogurt coupled with Turkish chai were a great start. I immediately headed to the Haggia Sophia, were I spent a great deal of time wandering around. I found it to be a very strange place-- originally constructed as a grand cathedral, then transformed into a Mosque, the UNESCO building is now a museum. The mosaics of Mary and Jesus coupled with the golden mihrab that points to Mecca was . . . strange. Beautiful, but strange. Add to that many tourists and the museum-type set up, and I would have to say that this was definitely NOT one of the most holy-feeling places I have ever been. Immediately after visiting Sophia, however, I headed over to the Blue Mosque which DID feel holy. You are required to remove your shoes, and women are supposed to wear a shawl on their head . . . many of the European women seemed to be ignoring this (even though there were multiple clear signs). It seemed quite disrespectful. The mosque was lovely, and walking around in stockinged feet somehow made the experience all the more better. This is the first mosque I have ever visited!

I also visited the tomb of the Sultan (there were many of them there), the Egyptian Obelisk, the Hippodrome, and some local shops. There were many very pushy men in this area, some trying to sell things, others offering "personal" tours . . . and some women were taking them up on the offer! After a pit stop at the guesthouse to eat my leftover meatballs, I headed out to see the Basilica Cistern. This had to be my favorite stop of the day, with its magical atmosphere and dark lighting.

I quickly headed back to the Haggia Sophia to hop on a bus that would take a group of English speaking tourists down to the Eminonu area where we would take a 2.5 hour cruise of the Bospherous. I know you are supposed to sail on the Bospherous when you are in Istanbul, but one look at the boat (and the tourists) and I changed my mind. Luckily I had just scored a free bus ride down to a different part of town! I strolled along the water, watched the fishermen and the crowd on Galata Bridge. Eventually I found myself to a sweet shop, Bolulu Hasan Usta Sut Tatlilar, where I had some of the best rice pudding I have ever tasted. Then I wandered down towards the Spice Bazaar, on the way sampling Turkish Delights and other yummy bits at Ali Muhiddin Haci Bekir (they gave me some free of my favorite- chocolate covered-marzipan type confections), and then I purchased some baklava at Hafiz Mustafa Sekerlemeleri (which I am eating right now and are HEAVENLY). They are also known there for their helva (a cheese sweet), but I couldn't quite enjoy the sample I tried, so I stuck with the baklava (let me repeat, HEAVENLY).

I had a quick stroll in the Spice Bazaar, and talked to a very nice young man who warned me that the saffron was fake (and let me sniff the real saffron), and who was very upset to hear that I was divorced. He tried to sell me the special "love tea" to help remedy this problem, but I insisted that it was no problem at all, and I wasn't in the market for tea. :-) This same young man would not believe that my eyes were a natural color until I insisted I inherited them from my Polish mother (Polish/Polish-American, what's the difference?).

It was still only 3:30 so I headed to the Istanbul Archaeological Museums, which were great fun. The outside was swarming with cats, just like the rest of Istanbul. In fact, at times it seems there may be more cats than people in this city. People are very affectionate with the stray cats however, and I have seen many small piles of cat food sitting out on the sidewalk with cats happily noshing away.

I came back to the guesthouse to rest for a bit and then headed out to have dinner. I had a very good lentil soup, and a mediocre Iskander Kebab (lamb). The owner of the restaurant was trying very hard to convince passerbys to eat at his establishment, and it was almost comedic how he tried to fill every table. After eating I took a walk around the block and felt myself once again pursued by aggressive restaurant owners and carpet shop salesmen. The ruder, more aggressive ones act hurt when you walk away (as if you are being rude if you don't buy a carpet), but the nicer ones just say things like "Excuse me. Someone has told you this before? You are very beautiful," and they let you walk by.

Tomorrow I head to Topkapi Palace and I fly to Baku in the night!

My 2009 has started with a lovely day, and I hope yours has as well! Cheers! Love!

Oh!--- I was going to paste a youtube link to the They Might Be Giants song "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)", but YOUTUBE IS BANNED in Turkey!!!! I can't access the site. Crazy!

Hello from Heathrow! And the travels of 2008 in review . . .

2008-12-30T23:34:00.000-08:00

December 31st, 2008 7:45am Heathrow, London

"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist.

I feel as if the entirety of the past year has been a lesson in this message from The Alchemist. Again and again this year I have decided what I want and have worked towards it successfully. I feel so blessed to have had such a fantastic 2008, and I have no idea how 2009 could ever top it!

First a quick sum-up of the last 24 hours or so . . .

For a major international airport, things certainly were dead last night in Heathrow Terminal 3. Apparently all of Heathrow shuts down at midnight and there is an 11:30pm landing curfew for arriving planes. While it is a very civilized way to run a business, it seems like a rather odd way to run such a major airport.

Things were open and bustling this morning when I arrived just past 6am on the shuttle from the Heathrow Lodge Hotel. While I had hoped to sleep a bit later since my British Airways flight to Istanbul doesn’t depart until 9:45am, all the later shuttles from the motel were booked when I checked in at 1am last night. The plane from Chicago arrived just under curfew into Heathrow . . . an hour later than expected because there were some last minute repairs done to our flaps (better to have things repaired than not, I think). The motel was a bit on the dirty and dodgy side, but it was very cheap and I did manage to sleep for about three hours.

British Airways check-in was blessedly quick and easy with a personal attendant who did everything for me. Such a difference from the madhouse that Laguardia was at 6am yesterday (*shiver*). In a couple of hours I fly to Istanbul, and I am growing more and more excited by the minute.

Yesterday I realized that since I will arrive in Istanbul today (December 31st) it will in fact be the 17th country I will have been in during 2008 (including the US). Last year on this date I was in County Clare, Ireland with my parents, Nick and Eric. That trip was an amazing way to start 2008, and I can't imagine a better way to finish it than by visiting a country I have never been to.

An attempt to quantify the level of spectacularness that was 2008:
17 countries
26 (+?) airports
15 major world cities (NYC, DC, Galway, Lima, Buenos Aires, Auckland, Canberra, Florence, Krakow, Budapest, Prague, Stockholm, Paris, Reykjavik, Istanbul)
Countless new friends
14 hours of graduate school courses completed

I can't help but feel ridiculously blessed and happy. What has made this year possible?

A loving and supportive family.
A belief that the universe is constantly conspiring with me towards my dreams and the greater good.
A general avoidance of guilt, fear and worry whenever possible (its not like they really help anything).
Regular attempts to give back to the universe.
A whole lot of prayer.

Hopefully I will be blogging again soon in Istanbul.

A Happy New Year to all!!

Remember: Life really is generous to those who pursue their destiny.

Love,
Anna

And She's Off . . .

2008-12-29T19:24:00.000-08:00

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."
~ Goethe ~

December 29th, 2008.

I should be asleep but I'm not quite yet . . . tomorrow in the early morning I head out on my January adventure. First a quick overnight near Heathrow followed by two and a half days in Istanbul. On January 3rd I will arrive in Baku, Azerbaijan where I have an internship for the month. I'll be returning to the states on February 1st!

Stay tuned for pictures and travel tales!

"Load the ship and set out. No one knows for certain whether the vessel will sink or reach the harbor. Cautious people say, 'I'll do nothing until I can be sure.' Merchants know better. If you do nothing, you lose. Don't be one of those merchants who wont risk the ocean!" – Rumi

(unless you are in charge of the financial future of the global market . . . )

There and Back Again.

2008-11-14T07:38:00.000-08:00

"I should like to spend the whole of my in life traveling abroad, if I could anywhere borrow another life to spend afterwards at home." — William Hazlitt

"A nomad I will remain for life, in love with distant and uncharted places."
-Isabelle Eberhardt

I'm well into my first semester as a graduate student at the Center for Public Policy and Administration at UMass, Amherst. Although I'm very much enjoying my studies I am also missing traveling very much. I'm generally trying to plan my future career plans around the possibility of continued travel.

I hope to use this blog on occasion to document short trips abroad that are in the works.

Top of the List for future adventure travels:
1)Peru
2)India
3)Trans-Siberian Railroad

Adventure traveling may have to wait unfortunately while I focus on career-oriented traveling.

As a final note- I would HIGHLY recommend traveling alone to all considering it. I discovered so much about myself, my own abilities, and my own general awesomeness. The four months I spent traveling solo were the best of my life.

"Dream big, and dare to fail."
~ Norman Vaughan ~

Fun Feature

2008-08-31T19:40:00.000-07:00

Back home, and since I still haven't completely processed everything I haven't written a final blog. I have, however, found a website (http://wordle.net/) that will cleverly sum-up my travels in a fun format. Without further ado I give you . . .
Europe . . .

Iceland . .. cold, sun, Björk

2008-06-28T06:32:00.002-07:00

"Better weight than wisdom a traveller cannot carry. The poor man´s strength in a strange place, worth more than wealth."
and
"He is truly wise who´s travelled far and knows the ways of the world. He who has travelled can tell what spirit governs the men he meets." - both from Hàvamàl Eddaic poems (AD 700-900) (Viking sayings)

(oh! if you want to smile watch the videos on wherethehellismatt.com)

Reykjavik, Iceland June 29th, 2008
9:30pm

Somehow when I was planning this trip (errr . . .. "planning") I somehow forgot to even think about Iceland. It wasn´t until I was in a library in New Zealand that I even picked up a guidebook to see what things there were to see and do in this far-north country. I definitely did not look up what the average temperature would be here in June. So . . . as it turns out . . . it is COLD. Seriously cold for someone who mostly has a summer wardrobe. As luck would have it, I managed to buy a nice coat and sweater in the Paris sales immediately before arriving here. The biting wind and 8° C weather didn´t catch me unprepared! Just surprised.

In addition to cold weather, Iceland at the moment has 24 hour sunlight. Pretty wild, when you think about it. I´ve only stayed up past midnight one night, but sure enough it was still bright and light out. It darkens slightly between midnight and 2am, but not enough to really obscure anything. The amount of partying that goes on here is madness . . . such intense nigth time debauchery that even the grocery stores can´t bring themselves to open before 10 am. It is a bit strange, however, to see people stumbling about drunk in full light . . . that sort of thing should really be hidden by darkness, shouldn´t it?

So, cold weather, sunshine and . . . CRAZY expensive prices!! When I calculated that the shuttle bus from the airport to downtown Reykjavik was going to cost $30 and that a regular take away type meal would cost close to $20 . . . well the nice young man selling me my shuttle bus ticket said, "I hope you brought your platinum!" Sure enough, Chase Rewards is going to be quite happy with me. Even eating cheaply and self-catering are still pricey in this island country. A beer is easily $10 making Iceland one of the most expensive places to go out in the world. Apparently it is second only to Tokyo.

Despite all this I have been enjoying Reykjavik and using it as a quite time to reflect and enjoy being by myself. I have had some seriously lovely days wandering around, having a coffee (about all I can afford), sampling a cheap hot dog (I got one from the same stand that Bill Clinton did on his visit), and strolling around the wharf and flea market. I visited the National Museum and learned that the majority of women in Iceland share genetic markers with women from the British Isles, but the majority of men share genetic markers with men from other Nordic countries, mainly Norway. What does this suggest? You guessed it . .. vikings settling here with their Irish brides. It makes sense that Icelandic people are ridiculously gorgeous - possibly even more beautiful than the Swedes although it is a tight race. Blond, blue eyed, with the occasional ginger splash and freckles . . . everyone is über-good looking. Also . . . they all speak English in addition to Icelandic, which is quite helpful!

On Saturday night I went to the free Björk concert here in Reykjavik, which was really quite a big deal for Iceland. Björk and Sigur Ròs got together with some other artists to do the concert as an environmental awareness statement. Here in Iceland they are worried about their natural resources being destroyed for aluminum smelters and big ugly hydroelectric plants, etc. Anyway, the crowd was HUGE, Björk´s outfit was WILD and of course it was sunny out for the whole thing. And freezing.

Today I went on a tour of the so called "golden circle" which visits three of the most important natural sights of Iceland all in one day. First the Gullfoss waterfall which was big and beautiful, followed by the geothermally active area of Haukadalur. This area reminded me of Roturua in New Zealand . . . bubbling mud, steaming hot water, sulphur smell . . . but Haukadalur was different. Mainly the geyser, Strokker, which every four minutes or so hurled boiling water up to 20 meters high. Pretty amazing stuff, folks.
Oh! And I got to have some traditional Icelandic meat stew for lunch (lamb) and it was delicious.

We ended the day with my favorite place - Þingvellir National Park. Not only is this the spot on which Iceland´s parliament started meeting in 930 (it is one of the oldest parliamentary institutions in the world), but it also happens to be where the continental plates of North America and Euro-Asia meet. Err, well, they aren´t so much as meeting as tearing away from each other. So basically, today, I stood on the continental rift and looked down into the canyon separating North America from Europe. I found this fairly exhilarating.

The only thing that kept me from jumping for joy was the extremely sobering thought that tomorrow I will be back in the U.S.

That´s right folks, Anna´s great round the world adventure is coming to an end. I imagine I will post at least once more with conclusions, overviews, etc. (plus I have a ton of quotes still to use), but this will be my last post from the road.

While I am looking forward to seeing people, and to living in one place for awhile, I have to admit that I am sad that this adventure is over. The past four months have easily been the best of my life. I just have to remember that as this door closes another opens . . . this is just one more beginning, one more fresh start.

Thank you, for traveling with me. Hopefully I will see you soon!

Lots of Love! Anna

and maybe . . .
". . .the grand tour is just the inspired man's way of heading home."
- Paul Theroux

Paris!! (a quick review) (in more ways than one)

2008-06-28T06:32:00.001-07:00

"Paris is always a good idea." - Sabrina (the movie)

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” - Miriam Beard

(Reykjavik, Iceland June 30)

Last Wednesday I took the train (Castillion to Bordeaux, Bordeaux to Paris) up to Paris. I met Dorothee, a German friend I had made in New Zealand, at our hostel in Montmarte around 4pm . . . and we didn´t stop going until Thursday night! With only a day and half in Paris we made every moment count! Luckily Dorothee knew Paris well enough to get us quickly and efficiently to the main sights, and we managed to spare plenty of time to wander through small charming streets and stop regularly for coffee and or crepes. Thursday we wandered around Montmarte, visited Sacre Coeur, saw the Arc de Triumph on Champ Elysses (many apologies for poor French spelling!), passed by the Grand and Petit Palais, saw the Eiffel Tower, grabbed cheese, baguette and wine and picnicked in the Tuilleres, and went out to a Jazz club in Montmarte. Quite amazing for having only arrived at 4pm!

Thursday we headed out to the Louvre first thing and arrived around 9:30. No waiting in lines for us, we got our tickets and headed straight in! We only spent about two hours there, not wanting to be completely overwhelmed. We did the obligatory Da Vincis, and visited a lot of other important and interesting bits. The whole time I kept thinking "I am in the Louvre!!!!!"
The whole Paris/Louvre thing felt fairly surreal to be honest. One of the places you hear about all your life, and then . . . to actually BE there. Well, anyway . . . it was fantastic.

After the Louvre we headed over to the Left Bank for some shopping and gallery hopping. The Paris sales had JUST started so we enjoyed quite a bit of poking in shops. We had lunch near Sainte Michel Boulevard (I think!), followed by a visit to Notre Dame. By this point there were lines, but they moved relatively quickly. Then we headed to Sainte Chappelle which was beautiful. More leisurely walking on the islands was followed by a coffee & creme brulee stop and then more shopping!

Friday morning before my flight I headed back over to the Left bank and visited St. Sulpice . . . of Da Vinci Code fame. Took a picture of the "rose" line and headed off to Charles de Gaul . . .

Wwoofing at Chateau Brandeau, otherwise entitled, "Whatever you´re doing - stop doing it!"

2008-06-28T06:31:00.003-07:00

June 29th, Reykjavik, Iceland.

I spent almost two weeks working (volunteering in exchange for room and board, really) at Chateau Brandeau, in Castillion, France. Castillion is a small area in the Bordeaux region, in between Libourne and Bergerac, and it is absolutely gorgeous. Despite the fantastic countryside, after three days of partying in Stockholm, facing a seven hour work day of hard labor in the vineyard was a bit shocking. On Friday we working in the pouring rain for hours, weeding, grabbing, pulling, bending, clipping. At the end of seven hours of work I was ready to get on the next train out of there . . . I didn´t really care where to, just anywhere I wouldn´t have to work so hard!

Luckily Saturday and Sunday turned out to be lovely days. The family who runs the organic vineyard at Chateau Brandeau is really very nice, and they took us Wwoofers to Sainte Foy for the market on Saturday morning. Wandering through this 12th century French town, amidst the cheese stands, butchers, spices, books . . . I fell in love with southern France. Everything was lovely, old, and just full of character, romance and beauty. I had never really been interested in France before, but a love affair was just beginning. My interest more than doubled the next day when we attended the féte in Saint Emillion. For 2€ each we sampled dozens of Saint Emillion wines, including some Grand Cru. There was also cheese, olives and chocolate to sample, and the entire experience was a ton of fun. In addition to the wine tasting, we also had time to explore the town, which was even lovelier than Sainte Foy. We explored caves underneath the town that had been turned into wine cellars, a lovely cloister and a gorgeous church. Live music and lovely cookies with marzipan added to the glory of that Sunday.

The next week was filled with 7 hours work days, long delicious lunches, dinner full of wine, clue tournaments, cards, conversations and friends. I really enjoyed the people I met at Brandeau. I wish I could say I enjoyed the work, but to be honest it was the hardest physical labor I have ever done. I definitely think it was character-building, however. Every day I wanted to just bolt and go back on vacation, but I stuck it out . . . I could just feel my character growing!

In addition to working in the vines (levage, relevage and enpomprage) I also helped feed the chicken & collect eggs. Some Canadians and I had the fun task of labeling and packaging bottles of wine for a large Japanese order. I´m not being sarcastic, it was actually really fun playing with the giant labeling machine, however finicky its behavior!

I was lucky enough to get to meet up with my brother Nick and his girlfriend Valerie at the end of my time at Brandeau. It was amazing to see them and to meet Valerie for the first time (she is terrific!). They are planning on working at Brandeau for THREE months. All I can say is that I couldn´t do it. My love and best wishes are with them and the family at Brandeau - thank you!

Stockholm: Beer, Chokladbollar, and Meatballs

2008-06-28T06:31:00.001-07:00

“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” - Tim Cahill

“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” - Mark Twain

June 29, 2008 Reykjavik, Iceland

I am very late in updating my blog, but the last few weeks of my trip have just been too fun and busy to be sitting at a computer!

Stockholm, Sweden - June 9-12

Early on a Monday morning I took a cab from Hostel Elf in Prague to the airport. I arrived in Stockholm and was greeted at the airport by Josephine (see: New Zealand) and her mother, Suzanne. It was fantastic to be met at an airport and driven home- I felt so well taken care of! We picked up Michael, Josephine´s brother, and went out to lunch at a terrific seafood restaurant on the water. The whole time I was in Sweden it was spectacularly sunny . . . that first day was fairly warm despite a breeze. I had some amazing salmon, and the restaurant even served me an individual Swedish meatball when Suzanne told them I had never tried one before. It was delicious as well, served with gravy and some cranberry sauce.

The four of us picked up some pastries on the way to Josephine´s grandfather´s house in Saltsjöbaden. Thus, my introduction to the glorious world of Swedish sweets began . . . chokladbollar, biskvier, kanelbullar . . . it was an absolute delight and everyone stuffed their faces! I also tried some pickled mackerel, but did not find that quite as enjoyable :-)

Josephine and I caught the train back to Stockholm and headed out to the Gondolen . . . a bar/restaurant high above the city with fantastic views. We had cosmos while we enjoyed the view and then headed to Josephine´s father´s pup to catch the end of the Holland euro cup game (her father, being Dutch, was very excited for this initial win!). We finished the evening at Little Persia where we devoured some delicious hummus, tahini, stuffed grape leaves, etc.

On Tuesday Josephine and I took the ferry over to Djurgården and had a walk. I tried a typical Swedish hot dog wrapped in some kind of a strange pita-like bread that also held lettuce, tomatoes, mustard and . . . mashed potatoes!! It was yummy, but strange and a little heavy on the carbs! We ferried back to the mainland and explored the old town a bit . .. saw the castle, cathedral, lovely little cobblestone streets, etc. Some beers by the water proceeded dinner at Herman´s vegetarian restaurant that overlooked the city. The vegan garlic butter absolutely blew my mind! That night we hoped to watch the Sweden-Greece match on the big screen downtown, but it was all full-up by the time we got there. We headed back over the river and found a bar to watch the game - there was much celebration in Stockholm after Sweden won!

On Wednesday we slept in and then went out to lunch with Suzanne (who, by the way, looked exactly like the actress Lena Olin) for typical Swedish meatballs (yum!). Josephine then taught me how to make Havrebollar or Chokladbollar, or Chocolate Balls. Yum!!! So good! We spent some time shopping and sampling various Biskvier (I will miss this pastry forever, and I do not think I can recreate it) and coffees. We had dinner at her father´s pub and met up with Josephine´s friend Jonathan. It was an absolutely amazing few days and I was so sad to leave! I can´t wait to go back and visit!

Early on Thursday morning I headed for Arlanda airport to catch my flight to Bordeaux . . . .

Castles, Churches, Communism, Oh my!

2008-06-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

"Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out." -Vaclev Havel

Prague, Czech Republic June 8, 2008 10:30 pm

Greetings from beautiful Prague, with its winding medieval streets, lovely old churches, art nouveau stained glass windows, and live jazz bands on Charles Bridge. This city is gorgeous, and the old town is overflowing with a character unique and fabulous, despite the throngs of humanity that fill it up every day.

[Quick wrap-up on Hungary: My last night in Budapest I went climbing up to the top of the Citadel, which afforded a lovely view of the city at night. I went with a girl I had met at the hostel, and we wandered back down to the hostel around 10:30 or so. I managed to sleep, and I got up before 6am to take public transport to the bus station. The metro turned out to be reasonably navigable, and the bus to Prague was lovely . . . I slept during much of it. The countryside wasn't as beautiful as I expected, maybe because we were on a major highway. My hostel in Prague (Hostel elf) turned out to be VERY close to the bus station, so that was lovely.]

My first day in Prague I was still feeling a bit rough from the bus ride, so I just had a bit of a wander down through Stare Mesto (old town) and through the big old square. I got to watch the astronomical clock change the hour, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Astronomical_Clock), had a bite to eat, and wandered back to the hostel to get a good night's sleep.

Yesterday was a big full day! I crosses Charles Bridge and headed to Prague Castle at around 10 in the morning. On the walk there I bumped into a Canadian from the hostel and we explored around the castle together for a bit. We saw the changing of the guard at noon, that included lots of marching and a brass band. After that the Canadian took off and I bought a discounted student ticket to see a bit more of the castle. The most exciting part was the cathedral of St. Vitus which had an incredible Art Nouveau stained glass window by Alfons Mucha. I also came across a toy museum within the castle grounds/area, that advertised a Barbie exhibit. Well, this may come as a surprise to some of you, but I actually collected Barbies when I was younger. I was thrilled to visit the Barbie exhibit, which started with the very first Barbies (from 1959) and worked up to the present. The outfits were fun, and it was interesting to see how Barbie had changed . . . I was exceedingly happy after viewing it! It made me want to go home and get out my Czechoslovakian Barbie (which was only possible in the short few years after communism fell but before the Velvet Divorce -- the split between Czech Republic and Slovakia).

I grabbed a gelatto to keep me going, and I headed for the Loretta, a Baroque place of pilgrimage, filled with religious bits and pieces. The most exciting parts were the skeletons of two saints that had been dressed in outfits, and had wax melted over their faces. Also their was a large painting of St. Starosta, a crucified bearded lady. The Loretta treasury was filled with gold, silver and diamond monstrosities that were somewhat interesting to look at.

Next, I headed further into Mala Strana and visited the Strahov Monastery which looks down on Prague. In addition to affording lovely views and photo ops, the library of the Strahov is particularly impressive. Although the libraries themselves were gorgeous, I think the most interesting bit were the whale penises that were on display amidst other strange things from the sea.

At this point it was almost 4pm and I was desperate for food. I ate in Maly Buddha (little Buddha) and had some delicious eastern food. Before crossing back of the Charles Bridge I visited St. Nicholas Church which was large and lovely. I think I visited a couple more churches as well on the walk home, but at this point it was mostly a blur :-)

This morning I took a guided tour of the Municipal building, which had been highly recommended by lonely planet. Mucha was heavily involved in the decoration of this building which was built at the beginning of the 1900s and was an important work of Czech nationalism. It was lovely, although I'm not sure it was worth the $10 tour. It did get me fairly excited about Mucha, however, and later in the day I visited the Mucha museum which was lovely. I had a traditional Czech lunch . . . beer, beef and bread dumplings. I spent a good bit of the day wandering, visiting random churches (including, Our Lady of the Snows), and stopping at cafes for a cappuccino. I spent the early evening poking around in English language bookstores before getting some food at a vegetarian cafeteria for dinner.

Tomorrow morning I fly to Stockholm to visit Josephine!

Lots and lots of love
Anna

The midnight train to Budapest

2008-06-05T02:01:00.000-07:00

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do." - Eleanor Roosevelt

"Two of the greatest gifts we can give our children are roots and wings." –- Hodding Carter

June 5, 2008, 11am Budapest, Hungary

Okay, so it was a 10:30 train. Now that I am safely in Budapest I have to admit how absolutely freaked I was to take a night train in Eastern Europe. The stories you hear are not good, and contain all sorts of crazy tales of druggings, robbery, rapes, murder, gang muggings and of course the big scary story- gassing! When I wrote my last quick blog in Krakow I was already gripped with fear having googled "night train krakow to budapest" over and over in different variations. I was of course slightly relieved to be reassured by some that the idea of a "gassing" is ridiculous- how could someone actually manage to pull it off without killing people (unless they had been trained in anesthesia), how could people actually acquire and lug that much gas around, etc. Of course the idea of organized pickpockets, etc., is warned about in Lonely Planet, etc., so you know to be on your guard. At some level I knew that it was highly unlikely that the train ride would be anything but uneventful, but I managed to work myself into a minor dither. The only thing that kept me calm was that I saw a "damski" notation on my ticket, suggesting that I would be in one of the nicer cabins with all women . . . and possibly a door that locked!

When I asked the guy working at the hostel about a taxi to the train station (it was 10:00 at night!) he laughed and said I would be fine walking the 5 blocks there. Even though I was a little nervous about it (and I knew my mom wouldn't be happy), I walked there anyway. Of course it turned out to be ridiculously well lit and the last couple blocks were in this extremely fancy mall area, complete with H&M and other fun western stores. When I got to the train I was guided to by car by the porters . . . the train car was filled with retired Americans chatting in the hall . . . English everywhere. I was in a lovely three-bed room that I shared with Barbara, a Brit with Polish ancestry. The bed was comfortable and the door locked- quite a relief! I felt very foolish for having been frightened!

At about 1 am when the train pulled to a stop in the middle of nowhere and the porter began slamming all the windows in the entire car shut. The slam woke me up, and my first thought was "they must be shutting the window's for safety since we are stopped in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night." Then the air conditioner turned on. My second thought was, "Shit! We're being gassed! The porter has organized with local hooligans and they are going to break in and . . ." at this point the thought ended because I realized we had both a bolt lock and a chain lock on the door and it would take a lot of time for them to break in, etc., people would have to be pretty drugged to not wake up with doors crashing, how could they really get THAT much gas, etc.

I still cracked open the window and kept my head by the fresh air :-) I went back to sleep after the train started moving again.

I slept terribly and woke up feeling foolish for all my fears. For awhile I thought I had lost one of my camera's memory cards (which I had cleverly(?) kept with my cash and credit cards in my bra, just to fool those train thieves!), which upset me a good bit. Just as I had come to the conclusion that, as we all know, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" and I should be lucky to be safe and healthy . . . I found the memory card in my wallet. Phew.

I'm not sure why I was so much more nervous about this trip then about any of the traveling I did in South America. I was in Lima for goodness sakes, and I'm afraid in Poland? It hardly makes any sense, and I'm trying to figure out where that fear came from. Maybe I just need to avoid websites discussing backpacker myths!

Anyway . . . Budapest is beautiful. I'm still not feeling my best so I won't manage the full Budapest-tour, but the buildings are absolutely gorgeous. Yesterday I walked to St. Steven's Basilica which was amazing, and the practicing choir made the experience even better. I walked up to the Parliament building and could not decide whether it was gorgeous or an architectural monstrosity. Pretty amazing, no matter what. There were great memorials to the 1956 uprising, and I remembered learning about Hungarian history under communism during college. The Imre Nagy monument was my favorite, and I enjoyed reading up on him again. Nagy was an anti-soviet communist who believed in freedom of thought and expression, and that the market needed room to grow on its own a bit. His "new course" communism helped Hungary for a couple of years but ultimately the soviets invaded, shot innocents, and executed Nagy. His monument portrays him standing on a bridge with his back to the Soviet monument in the square behind him. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Imre_Nagy%2C_Budapest_statue.jpg

The hostel I am staying at has possibly the worst beds ever, but I finally managed to sleep aided by antihistamine. Today I had a long wander which included visiting the large marketplace, sampling some gulash stew, some cherry and poppy seed strudel, and some marzipan. This afternoon I may either go see the castle over in Buda (I've been in Pest so far) on the other side of the Danube, or take the metro up to the baths. Tomorrow I take a 7am bus to Prague!

Lots of Love, and hopefully I will blog on my trip with my mom soon!
Anna

Krakow and back again

2008-06-03T12:18:00.001-07:00

But do not ask me where I am heading,
As I travel in this limitless world
Where every step I take is my home
~ Portion of a Poem by Eihei Dogen ~

Krakow, Poland June 3, 2008 9pm

Here I sit in the basement of lovely Mama's hostel waiting to depart for my night train to Budapest. There is so much to cover from the trip across southeastern Poland and eastern Slovakia, that there is no way I can do it justice at the minute. My mom and I had a fantastic amazing time, and the rural areas of these two countries were beautiful! I have many pictures and stories to share, and I think my mom may even be contributing some! I have been back in Krakow for the last two days nursing a cold I picked up in Slovakia and planning my next two weeks before I begin my Wwoofing at Chateau Brandeau in the Bordeaux region of France. Krakow is lovely, but having spent over 5 days here, I am ready to move on!

I will update more in Budapest! Lots of Love!
Anna

Florence . . . .

2008-06-03T08:23:00.000-07:00

(posted June 3, in Krakow, Poland)

Florence, Italy- May 19th- May 22

I arrived in Florence on May 19th (my dad's birthday) and was THRILLED to see my parents at the train station! It was so fantastic to see them and 4 days were not enough to catch up on almost three months! They took great care of me, and my dad wore my huge pack all the way to the hotel (a good 12 blocks or so . . . and its a HEAVY backpack!). Hotel Bretagna was gorgeous - converted out of an old Gianfigliazzi family palace it sits right on the Arno river and was decently close to everything. Our room was full of character, and the breakfasts were good! It was so nice to be in a hotel instead of a hostel, I couldn't get enough of it!
(sideways parents in hotel room)

Okay- Florence was incredible. The buildings, the museums, the FOOD, and just the general atmosphere. It was definately a strolling-around kind of place, and we planned our days by when and where we would stop for our next cappacino/gelatto/pizza/pasta, etc.

We celebrated my dad's birthday the first night I was there, and we shared a few seafood dishes. I finally tried a little pulpito (tiny little baby octopus), after having only eaten a leg in Lima, Peru. It wasn't too bad actually. The squid was better, however :-) I couldn't handle the after-dinner grappa, however, and my dad had to finish mine!

Museums included the Uffizi where we saw Leonardo da Vinci's, Botticelli's, Michaelangelo's, Raphael's and Rembrandt's. If only there had been Donatello's we would have had all 4 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle's spoken for! The Botticelli's were amazing and definately my favorite.

We also visited the Galeria del Accademia where Michaelangelo's "David" is housed. I had no idea how HUGE the statue of David was, and it was really fairly incredible to behold. The detail on the arms and hands was amazing, but very much lacking on the legs. We came back there a second time after my parents randomly made friends with the manager of the museum bookshop in a nearby park.

Many beautiful churches were also visited, and other museums, but I didn't keep a running list as I should have!!

Our favorite cafe (I think) was Za-Za, which I would highly reccomend. Everything was fantastic, the bread, steak, wine, truffle ravioli, walnut ravioli, appetizers- everything! The decor inside was fun and quirky as well, absolutely perfect!

The hot chocolate at various cafes was definitely on par with anything I tasted in South America. Its amazing how terribly we do hot chocolate in the U.S.!

The people in Florence were not particularly friendly but the men were solicitous enough. Not in an offensive manner, but in a sweet flirtacious kind of way. The waiters were generally very nice and helpful, and many people spoke English. Most of the menus had English translations as well, which helped a great deal. I had actually spent time trying to learn some basic Italian while I was in Canberra, but in the end it wasn't really needed.

I had an absolutely incredible time with my parents, and my mom and I were sad to say goodbye to my dad on the 22nd. She and I took a train to Bologna where we caught a flight to Krakow.

Well, I've been at this internet cafe for over 2 hours and I need a break . . . Mom, Dad, maybe you would like to add comments with other places we visited? Other adventures had?

Anna with Florence behind her

Anna and Dad with the Ponte Vecchio bridge and the river Arno behind them

Canberra, revisited

2008-06-03T07:57:00.000-07:00

(posted June 3, 2008 in Krakow, Poland)

Hi folks! I know I should be terribly ashamed of how far behind in my blog!! How are you going to know what amazing places I've been visiting if I don't tell you? Well luckily for you (although rather unluckily for me) I've been stuck in Krakow with a nasty cold, so I finally have time for some blogging!

Canberra- May 6-May18!

I had a grand time with Annika and Michaela who took super good care of me. It was great to spend time with them and get to know them better- I miss them already! Their boyfriends, Rob and Nick, respectively, were lovely as well. I spent a lot of time wandering around the National Gallery which was fantastic, and I spent a lot of time in downtown Canberra where the shops and cafes are! Canberra has some great cocktail lounges- I didn't even realize I like cocktail lounges, but I do!

For my birthday Annika, Michaela, boyfriends and roomates took me out to a restaurant where I got to sample some native Australian food. In one meal (including various appetizers) I samples crocodile, emu, kangaroo, baramundi, and king prawns (big shrimp!). The emu was a proscuitto and was delicious, and I enjoyed the crocodile and the fish. The kangaroo was good, but I felt to weird about eating it to really enjoy it! I mean . . . they are so cute!! Also, they were hopping all over the place in Canberra after dark . . . like deer in Westchester, NY!

There were many fun and varied excursions with Michaela and Annika including the National Museum, a fun trip to the zoo (we saw a snow leopard!!!) where I was frightened by strange small monkeys, and a trip to Cockington Green Gardens which is filled with miniature buildings of famous edifices from Britain and around the world.

sideways Annika and Anna on the little train at Cockington Green (the nice conductor took us around a second time for free :)

People were friendly in Australia, and the food was lovely. The girls took me to many cafes that were surprisingly upscale and served amazing food (especially breakfasts!). I made cookies twice at Michaela's and Annika taught me a number of recipes (she's a fantastic cook!).

Michaela, Anna and Annika

I was sad to leave Annika and Michaela, and not at all prepared for my 33+ hour trip to Florence (although I was excited about Europe and seeing my family!). I had a 3 hour bus from Canberra to Sydney, 3 hours at the Sydney airport, a 15 hour flight to Abu Dhabi, a 2 hour layover in Abu Dhabi (NOT my favorite airport!! I was so miserable I was forced to purchase junk food from the duty free shops!), a 7 hour flight to Milan, a 1 hour bus trip to the train station, and a 3 hour train to Florence. Whew.

On to Florence!

Canberra, Florence, Krakow

2008-05-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

"We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend." -Robert Louis Stevenson

"A good traveler has no fixed plan and is not intent on arriving."
- Lao Tzu

quick posting from Krakow, Poland Saturday May 24th 11:15pm

So, I know I've been very very neglectful of the blog, but I wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive and kicking! I had a fantastic time in Australia with Annika and Michaela. It was like a 12 day slumber party only with cocktail bars and kangaroos hopping all over the roads (seriously- even in Canberra)! Great food, great times, great fun . . . hopefully I will post some pictures soon!

Annika and Michaela-- THANK YOU!!!! You were both terrific hosts, I love you both and can't wait to see you again- come visit in the U.S.!!!!

I traveled for over 36 hours to get from Canberra to Florence (Etihad airlines were fantastic, although the Abu Dhabi airport was not my personal fave) . . . but it was worth it!!! Florence was incredible and it was fantastic to see my parents again. Oh, the food!!! The art! The buildings! More later :-)

My mother and I have spent the last few days in Krakow . .. churches, castles, medieval squares . . . it is gorgeous. Tomorrow we're heading into the Polish countryside to visit the towns that my mother's family came from. Then we'll head down into Slovakia and then back up into Poland again next week. It is not really planned, we will go where the spirit takes us, and we are sure it will be a grand adventure!

Later on, when I have more energy, there will be more updates! Love to all!

On the Road Again

2008-05-03T23:30:00.000-07:00

new yealanPaihia, Bay of Islands, New Zealand, Sunday May 4th, 2008 7pm

"I dislike feeling at home when I am abroad." ~George Bernard Shaw

"I travel a lot; I hate having my life disrupted by routine." ~Caskie Stinnett

Hello from wet and rainy Paihia! After a lovely time Wwoofing at Waihoihoi Lodge I am back on the road again. A big thanks to Rosemary for her hospitality at Waihoihoi. I was more than well fed and taken care of in exchange for work in the garden and lodge. I had fun cooking scones, paella, cookies, salads, fruit compotes and all sorts of fun things. It was fantastic to have my own room and bathroom, to be able to sleep in past 7am, and to be in one spot for a while. It did start to get a bit too comfortable though, and the open road was definitely calling. I was anxious to head out traveling again!

Yesterday morning Rosemary and I walked the dogs on the beach and then she took me out to breakfast in Waipu. I had a delicious meal of mushrooms, spinach and toast . . . really quite delicious. I said goodbye to her and the dogs as I waited for the Stray bus to pick me up. I had been told to be at the BP in Waipu at 11:30. Well, sometime after 12:15 I got a bit nervous and phoned the Stray office. Somehow I had never been put on the manifest, and the bus was over an hour past at that point. The lovely ladies at Stray saved the day, however, and booked me onto an Intercity bus that left at 3:50pm.

I spent the day in tiny little Waipu, which was generally lovely. The helpful folks at the museum/information center stored my bags for free so I could wander unencumbered. I learned (at the museum) that Waipu was founded by a Scottish reverend and the 800 highlanders following him. After Culloden things got rough in Scotland, and this group moved to Nova Scotia. They didn't quite fit in there, and things were rough so they headed for Australia. Australia was in the middle of a gold rush and they didn't quite fit there either . . . . they sailed to Waipu, and ever since it has been a Scottish town! They have highland games every summer, tartan days in the winter, and lots of pale people with freckles.

I got a bit nervous when the 3:50 Intercity bus hadn't shown up by 4:45. A shopkeeper had lent me her cell phone to call Stray and find out what was going on . . . just then the Intercity rounded the corner and came up the drive! Two hours later I was in Paihia. It was a short hike to the Pipi Patch Hostel where I am staying. I read my book and was asleep by 9:15pm!

Today was fantastic. I was on a day trip up to Cape Reinga that was booked through Stray. We left at 7:15 and headed north, stopping at a Kauri forest and a cafe on the way (there are always plentiful tea/pie stops with these bus tours). We made it up to Cape Reinga just before noon-- it was pouring rain and there was lots of mood-enhancing fog. As the most sacred place in all of New Zealand, the fog and rain really felt quite appropriate. Cape Reinga is a little peninsula sticking up at the very extreme far north of the north island of New Zealand. The big attraction (for me at least) is that you can see the waves meeting . . . . on each side of the peninsula the waves are moving in opposite directions and they crash and meet at Cape Reinga. I was thrilled that we could see it despite the fog, and was quite happy afterwards.

We headed over to the giant sand dunes, and the skies cleared just in time for us to go sand boarding. You lie on your belly on a body board and fly down the sand. It was terrific fun, but I only went twice as the climb up the sand dune was pretty killer!

The driver, Spike, took the 4x4 bus through a stream and onto 90-mile beach. We caught shellfish (rather like mussels) with our toes, cracked them open and ate them raw. Yes, you read that correct, folks! They were actually quite delicious- rather sweet!

Continuing down 90-mile beach (which is actually 64 miles, but who's counting?), we found a stranded little blue penguin (known as "fairy penguins" in Australia) and our driver moved him to safety in the dunes. Hopefully he'll be alright!

After the long drive down the beach we got back on the main road and headed toward a fish and chip shop (supposedly the best in the world . . . or at least in New Zealand!). The fish was actually pretty spectacular and we all filled up.

I'm still completely full-up from the fish and will probably miss dinner tonight! Tomorrow I'll have a lazy day around Paihia (hopefully it won't be pouring anymore!), as my Stray bus leaves at 4pm for Auckland. I have a 6am flight on the 6th to Sydney where I will catch a bus straight over to Canberra- can't wait to see Annika and Michaela!!

Lots and Lots of love to all!

Anna

New Zealand Picture Bonanza take 1!

2008-05-01T01:26:00.000-07:00

Thursday May 1, 8:45pm Waihoihoi Lodge

Just wanted to share some photos stolen from others via facebook, and some I managed to actually get up from my own camera . . . just a mish-mash of new zealand- more to come! Visit facebook for more pictures!

British girl, Miriam, Anna and Sebastian tasting ice cream toppings after having a lovely wine and schnapps tasting in Marlborough country.
Sebastian, Melissa, Ben and Anna in the thermal pools in Taupo- was a fantastic place!
Josephine and Anna with the big orange bus - this was taken just after the yoga retreat upon our joining up with Stray once again!
Sorry about the sideways shots folks! Anna in little hut on beach in Abel Tasman National Park
Geysers at Hell's Gates in Rotoroa
Anna hugging one of the ancient twin Kauri trees
Rachel, Anna and Helen after swimming at Hot Water Beach
Another thermal pools in Taupo shot- Melissa, Ben, Anna, Josephine, and two strangers
Fabulous jumping shot taken by Ben at Cathedral Cove, from left to right, Melissa, Josephine, Anna
A night in Queenstown included a stop at the World Bar where they serve cocktails in teapots, Anna and Josephine pictured
Josephine, Prince (the bus driver) and Anna out in Queenstown (possibly a self-portrait)
Josephine and Anna at what looks like the bar at Base. Love Josephine's excited eyes!
A night out at Franz Josef, featuring, Bundy (another bus driver), Josephine, Angelo, Anna, Jon, and Kim
Barrytown hilarity- we all had to dress up in silly costumes and the guys had to dress as girls . . . Josephine, Anna, Prince
Anna and Josephine all blissed out during yoga retreat at Anahata in Golden Bay
Adorable puppy that climbed on my lap at a fish and chip shop in Marahau
Josephine and Anna with sign in Wellington that should have served as a warning of what was to come after crossing over to the south island!

Ceid Mile Failte!

2008-04-27T01:32:00.000-07:00

April 27, 2008 8:30 pm, Waipu, New Zealand (North Island)
Waihoihoi Lodge

"Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don't, you will leak away your inner contentment. It's easy enough to pray when you're in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments." -Elizabeth Gilbert "Eat, Pray, Love"

Yesterday I arrived at Waihoihoi Lodge, a gorgeous women's retreat center in Waipu, about 2 hours north of Auckland. It is a beautiful building, with vaulted ceilings, ocean views, and a huge organic garden outside. Most importantly . . . . I have my own room and bathroom!! I am WWOOFing here . . . which means I am working in exchange for room and board. For about 4 hours work a day I am fed delicious meals and I get my own room. So far work has included cleaning, cooking, and gardening. It feels rather like a weekend at home. I have plenty of free time, I get to sleep in (breakfast isn't until 8:30), and there are two dogs to play with. Free internet, cable TV, tea time all day . . . today we visited the beach, went for an amazing bush walk along the coast, and then we came back to the lodge and I baked cookies. I also helped Cerridwen make Spinach and Feta scones which turned out fabulously.

Needless to say, I am happily enjoying myself. It is such a blessing to be in one place, able to relax into my settings and feel at peace. I am really enjoying the work, both digging in the dirt, and the normal routine of cooking and cleaning. It does make me miss my parents house and their garden! I'm looking forward to enjoying it this summer. Mom and Dad- make sure to plant some Lemon Verbena so I can make that cream&fruit dish!

Oh! And this morning I went to mass with Danielle in a nearby town. Some of the prayers were said in Maori, which was very interesting. I was so happy to be at mass, and the priest (who had met me before mass), made sure to welcome anyone from abroad, "especially visitors from Massachusetts." The three women here are a mix of Catholic and Anglican. Today a guest arrived, a young Anglican woman priest who works in Wellington. The whole retreat has a lovely spiritual feel to it, and the mealtime conversations can be intense.

Funny note: Upon entering Waipu, you are greeted with a sign, "Waipu, Cead Mile Failte!" What is the Gaelic for "A Hundred Thousand Welcomes" doing in this small New Zealand town? It turns out that this was originally a Scottish settlement, and there is a strong Celtic heritage here. While playing with the dogs at the beach today, we actually saw a bagpipe practice!

I will check in again (trying to keep in touch more, obviously!!! Love you Mom!!!!!) soon!

Lots of Love
Anna

In Which We Learn that Anna is in fact Still Alive . . .

2008-04-24T00:25:00.000-07:00

April 24, 7:30 pm
Greetings from Wellington!

"Load the ship and set out. No one knows for certain whether the vessel will sink or reach the harbor. Cautious people say, "I'll do nothing until I can be sure". Merchants know better. If you do nothing, you lose. Don't be one of those merchants who wont risk the ocean!" – Rumi

Having spent maybe two hours total (or less) on the internet during my entire visit to the South Island, it is only now . . . upon my return to the North Island that I have a moment to blog. The South Island was crazy. Yoga crazy, party crazy, mountains crazy. I'm exhuasted, but happy!

The ferry from Wellington to Picton afforded us fantastic views, and the drive to Marahau (Abel Tasman) was also lovely. We stopped for a wine/shnapps tasting which was delicious, and stayed at Old MacDonald's farm right on the edge of Abel Tasman National Park. It was rustic, and away from the tiny town. Quiet, dark and lovely. We stayed there two nights and then Josephine (Sweden), David (from Vancouver) and I headed up to Takaka for the Yoga retreat.

The retreat at Anahata was amazing. It was quite like an Ashram actually, with bells waking us at 5:30 and chiming the times for food, meditation, etc. The two resident swamis dressed in orange robes, we held silence from 6pm to 8:30am every night. We were "fasting" so breakfast was nuts and fruits, lunch was veggies and maybe a grain, dinner was soup. It was wild.

The retreat was one of the most intense things I've ever done really, but in a really positive way. The first couple days I was really glad I was only staying for 6 days, but by the end I could see some of the attraction of staying longer. My favorite part of the whole experience was the silence. It was amazing!!! I LOVED it! You were basically forced to be by yourself and inward for all that time . . . something I had never experienced in that way. I was surprised at how enjoyable it was, and I firmly intend to pencil in time into my planner when I get home for silence. I slept incredibly well there, usually falling asleep at 9pm. The location was stunning with mountains and ocean views, and lots of cute sheep :)

We chanted "om" all day long and did a lot of work on Chakra clearing and opening.

The chanting was incredible . . .every morning we had yoga (asanas and pranayama) at 6am for an hour followed by chanting. We chanted the 32 names of Durga 9 times every morning, followed by 15 verses from some huge ancient chant. We had two amazing fire ceremonies that were mind blowing.

The night after the retreat Josephine and I headed down the nearby town to catch an early morning bus. We stayed in a lovely hostel and made garlic bread which we had been craving. Then we tried to go to sleep. And I couldn't sleep. At 2 am when the air raid alarm went off (calling the local fire crew), I gave up and got up and showered. Finally at 4:30 I managed to sleep for an hour before I had to get up to catch the bus. It was so strange. It almost felt as if I had been on super duper relaxing drugs for the previous 6 days, and I was in withdrawl with my nervous system all ramped up.

The next day we hopped back on the Stray bus, heading down the west coast. Our first night was in Barrytown, where we stayed at an old Miner's pub. Happy hour didn't start until everyone put on wacky outfits . . . it was one big silly party! The next day we headed down through amazing scenery to Franz Josef. I took it easy the next day and took a small walk to see the glacier, but I didn't walk on it. After the amazing glacier walk I had in Argentina, I decided to save my money and not walk on this one. Franz Josef was a lovely small town with a good bar at the hostel.

The next night we saw all sorts of beautiful natural phenomena, like the Pancake rocks, as we drove through to a small lodge in the middle of no where. Angelo, the Italian, taught Josephine and I how to make risotto, just like Mama made it. It was delicious. Then there was karaoke night (I actually sang, folks, beleive it or not), and both Josephine and Angelo were in the top three. It was a another fun time.

Queenstown was amazing, great nights out, incredible burgers (the Fergburger), and an outstanding day trip out to Milford sound. The scenery was dramatic, breathtaking, and everything that I wanted when I came to New Zealand. There were dozens of dolphins swimming along with the boat, jumping, playing, and having fun. It was fantastic, and I got that natural-world-high that I'm always looking for. It was sad to leave Queenstown for the long ride to Christchurch. The views on the way to Christchurch were amazing, however, with stunning views of Mount Cook, and gorgeous green-blue lakes.

I rested in Christchurch, ate Chinese, and went to bed early!! The last two nights I spent in Kaikora, which is a gorgeous small seaside resort, filled with dolphins, seals, and cute cafes. Today I am in Wellington, and tomorrow I have a 12 hours bus ride up to Auckland!! Then I head up to Waipu for wwoofing at a women's retreat center. I am very much looking forward to the down time!

Sorry that the descriptions of New Zealand have been so brief- everything here is so busy and crazy that there isn't a whole lot of time for interneting!! I'm missing everyone and sending my love! I'm looking forward to seeing my parents in Europe, and I can't wait to see Florence and Krakow!

Lots of Love!
Anna

Kiwi-Land, Northern Style

2008-04-08T19:49:00.000-07:00

Motueka, South Island Wednesday 4-09-08, 3:00pm

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” - Bill Bryson

Hello all, after a long absence! Things have been busy busy, go go go here in New Zealand, but I think its time to play some quick catch-up!

Auckland was a big city, which is never my favorite, but some good times were had. Cooking with new friends, a bit of shopping, some sight-seeing. The Museum was amazing, and walking across the bridge was incredible. Auckland is full of lovely little volcanic hills, and I got to climb a few for some gorgeous views of the city (pictures eventually). I stayed at Base Auckland, which was hopping with backpackers, and I found myself constantly heading out with someone, or chatting over drinks in the evening. There was a hot tub which I rented out for myself and spent a lovely hour in looking out over the city.

After some debate about how to get around NZ, I finally decided to join a backpackers bus. There are three main ones, Kiwi Experience, Magic and Stray. Kiwi is known for its young, rowdy, partying crowd, so I skipped that one. Stray had a special discount going, and it is the only one that actually has stops inside of the National Parks, so most of the lodges are actually in the bush/on the ocean, as opposed to in a city. Stray has been spectacular, and I'm very glad I joined on.

The way these buses work is that you can hop off at any point in time and then hop back on, as long as you complete your circuit within a year. No problem for me, since I'm flying to Sydney on May 6th!

Okay, quick recap of what you've missed:
On Monday March 31st we headed out of Auckland to the Coromandel Peninsula. We visited gorgeous Cathedral Cove and swam at Hot Water beach (the water was steaming!!!), but because of some tidal weirdness we couldn't dig the tubs and soak (does it still count, Michelle? I have pictures!). We had a lovely BBQ at our beach side lodge in Hahai and got to know each other.

Tuesday we drove to Raglan, which is a surfing town. On the way we hugged some giant Mauri trees that were at least 600 years old, and had a fun photo shoot. In Raglan Helen and I, who had met back at Base Auckland, hitched for the first time in our lives, to get down to the surf beach and watch our fellow travelers try it out. That night we had fish and chips, I lost in a poker tournament and we did a really really long fast zip-line (they call them "flying foxes" here) in the pitch black . . . I was shaking for at least 20 minutes, but it was great. They love their adrenaline rushes here! Amazing stars that night in Raglan.

Wednesday I had a sore throat so opted out of the wet and wild caving expeditions in Waitoma, and instead had some of the most delicious garlic bread of my life with Josephine, a lovely Swedish girl on the bus. We stayed close to Rotorua in the house of a Maori tribal leader. We had a traditional Kiwi roast, learned some traditional Maori dances, and the girls learned some Poi. It was very friendly, enjoyable, and didn't feel exploitative at all (I had been worried!).

Thursday I hopped of in Rotorua for a night (as did a number of people on the bus including Rachel, Helen and Josephine). I went of to Hell's Gates and saw incredible thermal activity including mud volcanoes, steaming sulphur lakes and pools so hot the water cooks a full size pig in 30 minutes. I had a lovely mud bath, followed by a dip in the sulphur pools--- absolutely amazing!! It was great to have some quite time to myself to relax!

That evening the girls and I ate massive amounts of nachos at the bar attached to Base Hot Rocks hostel, and then went to the movies to watch "The Eye." It was scary and freaked us out, which was fun.

The next day Josephine and I walked up to our new Stray bus and were greeted by blasting Japanese reggae music and a full-on dance party spilling out of the bus. We all danced in the aisles, introduced ourselves, and took at least thirty minutes to settle down. Great group.

We landed in Taupo, where there is a gorgeous volcanic lake, skydiving, bungee jumping and hot springs. A group of us headed up to the natural hot springs, which were absolutely amazing. Right in the middle of the town park are these hot waterfalls spilling into hot-tub temperature pools (surrounded by palms and ferns of course), which tumble town into a lovely cool river fit for swimming. We loved it so much we came back that night and sat back in the hot pools while enjoying a gorgeous view of the stars!

Saturday was intense, with a 7 hour climb on the Tongariro crossing- up past Mount Doom (from Lord of the Rings) and its neighbor mountain. The uphill was grueling, but the views fantastic, and amazing red craters and emerald lakes rewarded you when you reached the top. The last hour on the way down tested my attitude, but happiness prevailed and I was still pleasant and happy when we reached our gorgeous lodge within Tongariro national park. We all piled into the hot tub, and later enjoyed delicious food, wine and desserts at the lodge's bar.

Sunday we headed to Wellington, where a group of us checked out the Te Papa museum, which was incredible. Internet, laundry, and phone calls were all priorities, and it was nice to get things done. In the evening we headed down to the bar (we stayed at another Base hostel) and lost in a very fun bar quiz. My team did win for the best name however (why the judge thought that "Sasquatch Sexual Rebellion" was a good name beats me), and won free tequila shots. We danced until we couldn't dance anymore and then crashed into bed.

Monday the 7th we took the ferry over the South Island (yay!), had a fantastic wine and schnapps tasting in Marlborough area, and then headed to Marahau in Abel Tasman National Park. Yesterday I slept in and wandered about with Josephine and Shevonne, a lovely Irish gal. We walked about an hour (the park is soooo beautiful!) and found a lovely little beach on a bay where we camped out for about two hours, sun bathing, reading and relaxing. The day was restful and relaxing and much needed!

Today I am in Motueka waiting for a 4pm bus to Takaka. In Takaka, Josephine, David from Vancouver and I will be heading up to Anahata Yoga Retreat center for the next 6 days or so. There is a retreat going this weekend, and I am very much looking forward to some meditation, yoga, vegetarian food, and beautiful scenery (we will be up on Golden Bay in Abel Tasman National Park).

Next Tuesday or Wednesday I will be getting back on the Stray bus and heading down the West Coast of the South Island!

Hopefully pictures soon!

Michelle-- I'm hoping you'll count me in for Hot Water Beach, and I'm working on the others . . . I already missed Lake Taupo, maybe I can make it up somehow (preferably with something OTHER than skydiving :).

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Anna

some Auckland photos

2008-03-28T22:30:00.001-07:00

Can we say "Jet Lag?"

2008-03-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

Whew.

Friday March 28th, 10:45am, Auckland, NZ.

For most of you, it isn't even Friday yet.

I think its sometime last evening for my body

Anna is
1)hoping to write a food review for Colonia del Sacramento but not able to at the moment because she is
2) so seriously jetlagged that the world is spinning around her and also
3) the internet is wicked expensive here which will make it difficult to continue
4) planning her NZ trip, since she hasn't really done any planning yet.

Also--
It turns out I need a visa for Oz, luckily it took me only $20 NZD and about 5 minutes.

Also ---
Aerolineas Argentinas made a big deal about checking out my plastic-baggied lip gloss and tiny tube of sunscreen, but let me walk right by with two bottle of water poking out the sides of my daypack. Yay! Safety!

Also ---
We left during a thunder and lightening storm and at times I think we all thought the plane was just going to fall apart.

Now, I am going out in search of Chinese food, because the internet is wicked expensive at the hostel so I can't stay on long, also I am desperate for Chinese food and maybe a nap because the world won't stop spinning!!!

love!

Big City, Little City

2008-03-25T16:28:00.000-07:00

Tuesday March 25, 8:30pm Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

"For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move; to feel the needs and hitches of our life more nearly; to come down off this feather-bed of civilization, and find the globe granite underfoot and strewn with cutting flints."
- Robert Louis Stevenson

On the ferry to Uruguay this morning I was struck by a powerful emotion that I have experienced a number of times already on this trip - intense joy. It is a joy that fills the body with warmth and excitement, that brings a goofy smile to my face, and makes me do a victory dance in airplane bathrooms. There is something about traveling, about actually moving (as Stevenson suggests), that is exhilarating, thrilling and rewarding. Knowing that I am alone, having left new friends behind, once again starting another small adventure, another small life . . . it is freedom, joy, anticipation of what is just around the corner . . .

I am so happy to be out of Buenos Aires! The city was actually quite lovely for the most part- the shopping (as previously mentioned) excellent, the neighborhoods charming, and the booze flowing. Generally, however, I am more partial to cobblestone streets, small cafès oozing with character and meringue, beautiful sunsets and quiet. So anyway, yay for Uruguay!

I spent the last few days in B.A. a bit more calmly, taking time to sit, relax, get laundry done, etc. I saw a Tango show at the historical Cafè Tortoni which was lovely, and I went with some locals and an American girl from my hostel to a really fun punk rock show in a small emo-type venue. On Easter I attended mass at the cathedral with two women from Columbia who were in my room at the hostel. We arrived early and prayed the rosary for thirty minutes, not my normal style but very nice. Still having a bad taste in my mouth from the map-mugging, I was happy for a chance to pray to the Virgen for safety during my travels.

After mass (which was of course in Spanish and only partially comprehensible . . . although I could recognize some of the readings . . . "this is the day that the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it" etc.), I called my parents and then headed to the San Telmo street fair.

You may remember San Telmo as the neighborhood of terrible late night food and muggings, but it is actually quite charming during the day. The streets are filled with artisans selling their wares, bands (pianos and everything on the sidewalk) playing for change, tango dancers asking for a few pesos in return for a show.

I walked along and heard from the sidewalk, "Hello! Are you American?" It was Democrats Abroad, wearing Obama t-shirts and registering voters for mail-in ballots. We had a fun discussion, and as always I was intrigued by the idea of living abroad.

Yesterday I went with Stuart the Scot and a Brazilian women from the hostel to the protests held in Avenido del Mayo/Plaza del Mayo. Argentina had some very rough political years in the 1970s which included mass murder and thousands of people "dissapearing." The mothers of the people who dissapered keep constant vigil in Plaza del Mayo, and are the focus point for demonstrations throughout the year. The march included all sorts of leftist groups, including Peronistas, Socialists, and Anarchists. Good times, good times.

I need to make a few notes here before I forget (this is random, please don't mind)
- I can't get spell check to work for blogger. Sorry all.
-There are loose dogs everywhere.
-When you use the bathroom you throw the toilet paper in the basket, not the toilet.
-Everywhere is flooded with young Israeli backpackers, taking some time abroad between military service and college.

Excellent. Now that I've shared those, back to our story . . .

I had a couple drinks the other night with Omri, an Israeli guy I met with my family in a tiny pub in the tiny town of Doolin over New Years vacation. He happens to be working this summer at a camp about five minutes from my parents' summer house . . . if I see him there too, we will have seen each other on three continents. Pretty nifty, hmm?

So today I hopped on the ferry (which was lovely, well organized and desperate to sell you fancy expensive, yet duty free perfumes and booze) to Uruguay and arrived in lovely, small Colonia del Sacramento. This town was colonized back in the 1600s as a base4 for the Portuguese smuggling goods into Buenos Aires. The houses are old, there are seven historical musuems, a few lovely green squares, lovely views over the river separating Uruguay from Argentina, and charming cafès. My hostel is gorgeous, old, with cathedral ceilings, tiled floors and it just bursting with character, only in an elegant gentle way.

I had a great day just strolling the streets, visiting some hitorical bits, eating incredible meals and desserts, and watching a gorgeous sunset of the water.

I am so greatful for this trip, for these experiences and for my life. ¡Gracìas a Dìos por todo! I have spent the evening ready my new book (having finally finished the Coehlo), "eat, pray, love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. So far it is fantastic and perfect . . . a woman gets divorced and travels the world searching for pleasure and divinity. Excellent.

Tomorrow at 5pm I take the ferry back to B.A. and I have an 11:59pm flight to Auckland with Aerolineas Argentinas. I arrive at 6am in Auckland on the 28th. I haven't actually figured out how long the flight is, I'm not sure I want to know!

Thank you all so much for the comments, they make me so happy! I appreciate each one and am glad to have you on the journey with me, keep them coming!

Lots of Love!

Anna

Anna Goes Shopping

2008-03-21T13:40:00.001-07:00

Saturday March 22, 3:45 pm, Buenos Aires, Argentina

"Your true traveler finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. It is the symbol of his liberty-his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure." - Aldous Huxley

Hello from Buenos Aires! I arrived in the capital city on a very hot Thursday afternoon. I took a cab to my hostel, Che Legarto, dropped my things and had a shower. I was happy for a new adventure, but a little unsure about the hostel which seemed to be in a slightly dodgy area, and was fairly unclean. I was in a HUGE dorm room with over 20 beds!! I only had to spend one night in that room, and yesterday I was switched to a more reasonable 8 person room.

I was starving so I headed out into San Telmo looking for food . . . I found a nice cafè and chatted with a young man from Belgium who had just finished some volunteer work in Cusco, Peru. The more I hear about Peru, the more I want to go there! I had some empanadas (as per usual), only this time they were only 2 pesos a piece (US $.65) as opposed to the Calafate empanadas which were 6 pesos (US $2). Delicious as usual! It was already evening when I headed to Florida Avenue for some serious shopping. I have been living in clothes more suited to hiking in Patagonia then bumming around a big stylish city like Buenos Aires, and I needed some nice tops. I spent the evening browsing through shop after shop and had a great deal of fun buying a skirt, two tops, a headband (I keep losing headbands!!!) , and a scarf. Very good time!

I grabbed a taxi back to the hostel where I met a young Scottish guy heading out to dinner. We walked back to the big square in San Telmo where there was drumming, music, and everyone was speaking Spanish (we may have been the only gringos). The service was absolutely atrocious and after an hour we were served something different than we had ordered, and it was the worst meal either of us had eaten in as long as we could remember. Luckily, Stuart, was at the end of his round the world trip and regailed me with tales of ridining on the backs of buses in Northern India, accidentily going to Mangalore instead of Bangalore and other such misadventures. I can't wait to go to India! Especially MacLeod Gange, Dharamasala, Shimla, and those other northern towns near the mountains.

We got back to the hostel around 1am, I wrote some emails and went to sleep around 2am- just when everyone else was heading out for the evening!

Yesterday (Good Friday) I had an absolutely lovely time walking around Buenos Aires. I started with the Recolleta Cemetary where Evita is buried. The cemetary was huge, the monuments immense, and very interesting. I visited the nearby church (really really dark bloody statues, very strange), and strolled through the open air artisan market on my way down to Palermo.

I visited MALBA the Museum of Modern Latinamerican Art, which was delightful, especially the Frida Kahlo. Some of the art was very moving, and some was that wacky modern kind that I don't quite understand!

Then I walked up to Palermo Soho and Palermo Viejo where I poked around in shop after shop and eventually had some salad at around 5pm. All in all I think I walked for 8 hours yesterday. Needless to say sitting in an internet cafè sounded pretty good for today!

I got caught in the rain yesterday but managed to grab the Subtè, or subway back to the center where I caught a cab back to the hostel. I had dinner by myself at an old historic cafè right on Avenido de Mayo, where people like Jorge Luìs Borges used to hang out. Not great food, but nice to be there. They have cheap tango shows and I'm hoping to catch one this evening. Then I headed back to the hostel and slept until 2am when my roomate woke me up and convinced me to go out to the bar. We were at this local bar with folks from the hostel until almost 5am, at which point we headed back to the hostel.

Okay, so prepare yourselves folks, this part is a little dodgy. On the way to the bar to meet up with the others, Billy, my British roomate and I were sort of mugged. Luckily all the guy got was a map of Buenos Aires, which we think he probably assumed was a wad of cash. Neither of us were hurt, and the guy didn't even touch me . . . he just dug into Billy's pockets grabbing what he could. I was glad I wasn't carrying a purse with me so there was nothing to grab. He was a big guy dressed in a nice suit, looking like he was heading out to a club. Very strange. He had something that looked like a gun, but in retrospect we don't think it really was. Obviously, this left a bad taste in our mouths, and we walked home in a larger group (it was only maybe 6 blocks to the bar).

So, I'm fine, a little wiser, and soooo not interested in walking around Buenos Aires in the middle of the night.

Also, I'm fairly lucky really.

This morning I headed down to buy a boat ticket over to Urugauy. On Tuesday morning I'll take an hour ferry over to Colonia del Sacramento, a supposedly lovely, quaint colonial town on the river. I'll stay the night and I have a boat back on Wednesday evening and then I'll head to the airport for my midnight flight to Auckland!

Well, I'm off to see the Cathedral, the Casa Rosada, and probably do some more shopping. I'm really enjoying not having a set schedule and just meandering about the city and seeing what I like, at the pace I like. I am however a bit lonely for the first time since Lima, but in exactly the sort of way I had hoped for . . . I'm spending significant time with myself and its a very good thing.

Happy Easter!

Love!
Anna

Anna goes Camping

2008-03-21T13:39:00.001-07:00

March 21 Friday Buenos Aires, written about El Chaltén, March 16-18 and Calafate 18-20

"He should be endowed with an active, indefatigable vigor of mind and body, which can. . . support, with a careless smile, every hardship of the road, the weather, or the inn."- Edward Gibbon (1760) on the qualifications for a traveler

On Sunday I took the early bus to El Chaltén to visit the north end of El Parque de Los Glacieres. El Chaltén is an adorable sleepy little town with no paved roads, no ATM, and not a lot of anything. I had to walk around for awhile before I found a place to sleep, and in the end wound up crashing in Hostel Marconi which I would NOT reccomend. The other people staying there were nice enough, but the owners were a little on the nutty side. I had a met a girl from Israel in Calafate and we planned to camp together - spent some time buying food, renting a tent, sleeping bags, etc., stopping for Hot Chocolate and cake (the hot chocolate is just amazing, I'll be lucky to not put on ten pounds). That night I had a very long and involved conversation with two guys from Spain who were staying at the hostal. It was a good Spanish language challenge for me, and we managed to talk about everything from mystical energy foci (like Machu Picchu or Stonehenge), 9/11 conspiracy theories, the origins of the indigenous people of South America, the origins of the Basque language, the possibility of early visitors from the Iberian peninsula to New England . . . . it was fantastic.

Lets cut straight to the important part (especially since at this point it is actually March 21 and I'm actually in Buenos Aires).

Anna actually behaived like a true backpacker and trudged up a mountain with a pack on her back, complete with tent, sleeping bag, mat, and food. The views of Fitz Roy were amazing and I really enjoyed the hike up. We set up our tent, I hung my food from a tree (having been warned about mice) and I went off for some solo walking which was lovely (great glacier views). When I came back to the tent, the plastic bag holding my food had been absolutely torn to shreds and my food had been eaten!! The only things that survived the attack were my peanut butter and honey which were helpfully encased in glass. I started cleaning up the shredded plastic (you can't leave that kind of stuff around in a National Park!) and I noticed a HUGE bird walking around looking for more! I am still not completely sure of the identity of this evil bird.

I started poking around the campsite, looking for some one to chat with in English. I met a few guys from Texas on a quick week camping vacation, and they helpfully gave me a breakfast bar and an apple. Then, just on the edge of the campsite I encountered a motley group of Americans, mostly traveling solo, who were in the middle of a feast. They invited me (I brought along my peanut butter and honey) and they fed me course after course of corn soup, pea soup, noodle soup, pasta with alfredo, pasta with tuna, lentils, etc., all made on a camp stove of course! It was a lovely night and ended with a gorgeous view of the stars and the moon. I saw the southern cross, and a gorgeous shooting star.

I climbed into the tent around 10:30 pm, nice and early since we had a very ambitious plan for the next morning. The normal activity for the campsite we stayed at was to wake up an hour and half before dawn hike up this crazy path to watch the sunrise over Fitz Roy. We were excited and set our alarm and went to sleep . . . here we made our mistake . . . . we FORGOT to close the weather-proof flap at the front of the tent!! Of course it wound up pouring all night and our stuff got wet - yay!! Always a happy way to wake up! Needless to say, we did not hike up (no sunrise to see in the pouring rain!) the steep path. We quickly packed up the tent and headed down . . . making it back to town in half the time it took us to climb the hill.

I had at least two hot chocolates that day, possibly more! I took a shower at the big hostel down the road and waited for my 6pm bus back to Calafate.

I took it easy in El Calafate the next day, shipped some things home (so they should be there sometime in late April), and poked around in the shops. I got an email from my dad saying that I had been accepted into the Public Policy program at UMASS - yay!! With a free ride and everything :-) Some other solo travelers celebrated with me, wine, all-you-can-eat steak, chorizo and spring rolls (it was an interesting restaurant), and then we visited the casino (I won 24 pesos on the slots, very exciting), and went back to the hostel and crashed.

Yesterday I got up early to catch my flight to Buenos Aires, and here I am!! More to come!!

Much Love, sorry things are a bit rambling and pieced together!!

Anna

pictures coming soon hopefully

Anna Walks on a Glacier

2008-03-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

Saturday March 15 8:15 pm El Calafate, Argentina

"People say that what we are all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think this is what we're really seeking. I think what we're seeking is an experience of being alive."~ The Power of Myth - Joseph Campbell ~

Yesterday I walked on a glacier and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! To be surrounded by ice, working hard physically with a slight fear that something awful could happen . . . I felt so alive! I can´t wait until I can load the pictures and share them with all of you!

interupted, and picked back up on Wednesday, March 19 at 3pm

I arrived in El Calafate on March 13th and was greated by Federìco waiting to take us to America del Sur . . . the hostel to be at in Calafate. The hostel is large and friendly, and the staff (Federìco, Juan y Ivan) always remembers my name. I´m always greeted by a happy, "¡Anita! ¿Qùe Tal?" when ever I walk in to the place. They have been a huge help with organizing my trip and I will miss them!

(Juan and I in the downstairs bar/lounge area)

That afternoon I headed out for empanadas (I have eaten so many empanadas . . .) and bumped into two Aussie guys, Wade and Craig who I kept bumping into for a few days. We all had the all you can eat Asado feast at the hostel that night . . . 45 pesos (about $15 U.S.) for all you can eat steak, chorizo, wine and beer. After much wine and beer we (a large group including folks from the U.S., Oz, and few other places) had a Twister tournament, and I´m happy to say that I was indeed the victor.

On the 14th I did the mini-trekking on the Perito Moreno glacier, which was absolutely incredible. Just viewing the glacier was mind-blowing, have never seen a glacier up close (or at all?) in my life. I can´t imagine my pictures will do it any justice, but I took plenty. The trekking was great, and the handsome guides Martìn and Diego were very solicitous and took good care of us. It was exhilarating walking on ice and thinking that the only thing supporting you was frozen water. The extraordinary blue colors, the sink-holes and the layering were beautiful and I felt fully alert and alive. People kept commenting on my ridiculously huge smile, so my enjoyment must have been showing! At the end of the 1.5 hour trek we were served whiskey with ice from the glacier and some alfojores (cookies with dulce de leche- caramel- in the middle). I returned to Calafate for more empanadas and wine.

Food note: I´ve been carrying peanut butter, honey, fruit and hard boiled eggs with me to make sure I have protein, etc. Don't worry Mom!

On Saturday I did the "all-glacier" tour, an all-day boat tour where we viewed over 5 other glaciers, and had a lovely walk around a glacier-lined lake. The glaciers were gorgeous, but by the end of the day I had definitely had my fill of ice!

Next chapter - Anna Goes Camping, in which our ####### hikes up a hill with full camping gear, is thwarted by an enormous bird of unknown species, is rescued by a helpful group of wacky Americans, and proceeds to commit a serious camping faux pas.

Pictures coming soon, hopefully.

Transcendence! (Torres del Paine)

2008-03-14T15:19:00.000-07:00

written in El Calafate, Argentina March 14, regarding time in Punta Arenas & Puerto Natales, Chile, March 11-12

"To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world."- Freya Stark

I woke up early to catch the 7:30 bus to Puerto Natales. It was about a 12 block walk with my ridiculously heavy backpack, but I triumphed (and no empty cabs passed by) and made it in time (only getting a little lost turned around). I had said goodbye to Amy and my other friends in Punta Arenas and was once again on my own. Amy made the comment that traveling alone is like having multiple mini-lives . . . where for a few days you meet people, experience a location, a culture, a small world . . . and then . . . you leave. And you start all over again.

I slept on the bus and climbed down the steps in Puerto Natales a little wary. I hadn´t booked a hostel (trying to be spur of the moment and whatnot), and it was a little unnerving. Luckily there was a lovely pushy woman trying to entice backpackers back to her hostel. I had a good feeling about her, and I went for it. Also a bed was only $10 a night! The hostel was a bit of a walk from the town, but it was quiet and I wound up having a room to myself because so few people were there.

I took it easy that day, spent time on the internet, strolled around Puerto Natales and read my book ("Eleven Minutes" by Paulo Coehlo). Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas are very nice, but are obviously more economically depressed than Ushuaia and El Calafate, Argentina. I think that the Chile towns are often frequented by backpacker tourists, while Ushuaia and Calafate often cater to the wealthy. Still I enjoyed a delicious lunch/supper of avacado and King crab ( a specialty here) followed by salmon.

I visted a Santerìa store in Puerto Natales and asked if there were any specific Vìrgenes de Chile. There was one, but they didn´t have the prayer card. At the Santerìa store in Ushuaia I had picked up prayer cards for Nuestra Señora de Lujan and Nuestra Señora del Valle, both Argentian Virgens (like the Virgin Mary for those non-Catholic). I also picked up a prayer card for San Cristòbal, or Saint Christopher, for protection while traveling. The Santerià stores are wild- stautes of saints, Mary and Jesus, right next to insence, multi colored magic candles and other very pagan things. I talked with the man at the store about how Catholicism is so different in the States, but how I liked the Santerìa stores.

The next morning I took a day trip to Torres del Paine, which was absolutely mind-blowingly astonishingly awesome. The Torres (towers) del Paine (of blue) are incredible mountains, surrounded by lakes, other mountains, waterfalls (cascadas) and just an amazing amount of beauty. I saw pink flamingoes, eagles and condors. I can´t load pictures here (the internet is SOOOO slow), but I will share soon. It was a great trip, except that my right thigh had really started bothering me in Punta Arenas. I guess its just getting old. :-) Luckily this was a trip with only 3 hours or so of hiking, so I made it. I definitely have to come back to Torres del Paine for major camping/trekking sometime in my life. In fact, as I was there I got the distinct feeling that my treasure (Coelho´s The Alchemist, anyone?) lay within the center of the Torres del Paine. So I think I may need to become una escaladera, a mountaineer! I´m not sure how yet, but it feels like it might be important.

Looking at the Torres I couldn´t help but think about Shelley´s poem on viewing Mont Blanc. I´ll copy part of it at the bottom, I love the part about the "secret strength of things."

I had an incredible avacado and chicken sandwich purchased for a rather pricey amount of $6 at a refugio in the park. It was delicious. I bumped into Mattieu and Genevieve, the french couple from the hostel in Punta Arenas (everyone here seems to be on similar paths).

Towards the end of the day, my camera stopped working. I was pretty nervous, but I hoped it was just tired from taking a ridiculous amount of pictures, and if I gave it a rest it would calm down!

We visited the Cueva del Milodon, a cave where prehistoric bones were found a while ago. Now its not all that impressive except that you get to walk through a glacier-created cave. No pictures, thanks camera! I had a slice of lemon pie at the café, and got to watch an Andead condor soaring over the mountains. The condors are amazing- and their wing span is up to 3 meters across!

I bought a few empanadas for dinner, and Bridget, who felt like a house-mother, assured me that she would drive me to the bus station in the morning so I didn´t have to walk. She was lovely, caring, and we watched an episode of CSI together and discussed her maybe learning English.

The next morning I caught the bus to El Calafate . . . the bus was painfully slow as was the border crossing, where my honey was once again confiscated (as it had been on the previous border crossing!).

Next post: el Calafate, and walking on the Glacier Perito Moreno!!

Love, Anna

Mont Blanc yet gleams on high:--the power is there,
The still and solemn power of many sights,
And many sounds, and much of life and death.
In the calm darkness of the moonless nights,
In the lone glare of day, the snows descend
Upon that Mountain; none beholds them there,
Nor when the flakes burn in the sinking sun,
Or the star-beams dart through them.
Winds contend Silently there, and heap the snow with breath
Rapid and strong, but silently! Its home
The voiceless lightning in these solitudes
Keeps innocently, and like vapour broods
Over the snow. The secret Strength of things
Which governs thought, and to the infinite dome
Of Heaven is as a law, inhabits thee!
And what were thou, and earth, and stars, and sea,
If to the human mind's imaginings
Silence and solitude were vacancy?(1817)

Flamingoes:

Guanacos:

Across the Straits of Magellan

2008-03-10T21:29:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, March 11, Punta Arenas, Chile 12:19pm

"What you've done becomes the judge of what you're going to do -- especially in other people's minds. When you're traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road."
- William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways

(maybe the third rainbow out of the seven I have seen so far in Patagonia - this was on the walk up to the national park in Punta Arenas)

Well, what a whirlwind the last few days have been! I love the comments folks, please keep them coming, they really make my day! Hello Cate, Grace and Bridget!! This blog will sum up a lot so it might not have as many details.

Where were we?

The night before I left, I strolled around town some more, took some pictures and re-packed my bag minus a number of things.

Karla got a pair of jeans, some long underwear (promise I´ll be okay, Mom, its very warm here), and some wool socks (all good for Antarctica I hope). I managed to ditch the black messenger bag (later gave it to the women who runs the hostel in Punta Arenas) also which was fabulous.

I wound up staying up all night out with folks from the hostel on Saturday night before my bus. It was fantastic fun- Irish pub again, and then out to a discoteca for some dancing.

Although it was fun, it made for a rather tiring Sunday. Here I am looking a bit exhausted on the bus ride! What parts of the bus ride I was awake for were lovely- lots of ocean views, guanacos (smallish llama type animals), some interesting trees, etc. Apparently I slept through the flamingo colony. I made friends with a lovely Scottish lady name Amy (girl? lady? woman? lass?) who came with me to the hostal I had booked - Hospedaje Costenara. We took a cab with a couple from Montreal who had also booked at the hostel. We were greated warmly by Señora Teresa who served us tea and cookies. We met a young woman from Kansas who had been working on a Fullbright in Chile and was now traveling solo for a bit. Amy is only 18 and has been traveling solo since November in South America. It all blows my mind! Amy, the french woman (Genevievè?) and I headed out to buy bus tickets and to pick up food from the grocery store for dinner. We made delicious chicken fajitas, drank yummy chilean wine and had a lovely time. I was exhuasted and passed out after one or two extraordinarily short emails.

The next day Amy and I headed out to The Maggelans National Park located about 2 hours walk north of Punta Arenas. By the time we made it to the park (up hill the whole way) we weren´t even sure we wanted to walk around. In the end we decided we could do anything, and we did about an hour hike to a beautiful mirador (viewpoint). The wind was wild, but the view was great and it was worth it.

(a nice warning for Hanta Virus at the national park. Don´t worry, Mom, I´m looking out for rat feces!)

We caught a taxi back down to town, and got lunch at Cafe Irlandes, the only place open for food at 2pm. I had a hamburgeusa completa . . .which was really complete . . . with avacado, cheese, ham, lettuce, tomato, and even string beans! It was delicious. My stomach has really been behaving itself (knock on wood) for the most part, and I have been enjoying the food immensely.

After lunch Amy and I headed to our transfer bus to see Seno Otway, the penguin colony. We slept a bit on the bus but we were awake to see tons of south american ostriches, lots of cattle, some skunks, and an eagle. Seno Otway was lovely, the views great, the penguins adorable. In a month they will swim back to Brazil for the winter (who could blame them?).

We got back to Punta Arenas around 8pm and decided to visit Cafe Inmigrante which we had walked passed a couple times and had been seriously intrigued by. It turned out to be an absolutely amazing place run by Croatian immigrants. It was adorable, quirky, delicious and had a superb atmosphere. We almost wanted to stay in Punta Arenas just to visit that cafe some more. Since I had taken one of my lactose-digestive pill thingies at lunch (cheese on the hamburger, remember?) I decided to go all out dairy wise. I had an amazing chocolate-banana milkshake that was absolutely heavenly. Amy ordered a vanilla milkshake which was delicious and had bits of real vanilla bean in it. She ordered a torta rusa- Russian cake, chocolate with raspberries, and I ordered a Meringue tort, with whipped cream and raspberries. They were both fantastic. The meringue was amazing and the raspberries sublime. We were both extraordinarily happy and wound up skipping dinner since we had filled up on sweets!

We went back to the hostel and I showered, emailed, chatted online and headed to bed. This morning I caught the bus to Puerto Natales (the buses are very nice, we watched I Am Legend on the one this morning), and here I am in Hostel Mirador a small family-type quiet hostel. I think I may rest a bit and head into town for lunch. Torres del Paine will happen sometime in the next few days!

Lots and lots of love!!

El Fin del Mundo

2008-03-08T11:11:00.002-08:00

Security is mostly a superstition.
It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it.
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.
~ Helen Keller ~

Ushuaia, Arengtina Saturday March 8, 5:50pm

Greetings from Tierra del Fuego, El Fin del Mundo! I´m in Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world at the very bottom tip of South America. This is the town where cruises to Antarctica are based out of, many people in the hostels and pubs have either just arrived from their Antartica trip, or are just leaving. The town is wonderful, a bit touristy (but in a good way for the most part) surrounded by the incredible mountains of Tierra del Fuego and sits on the Beagle Channel.

Last you heard from me I was in Lima. I spent over 25 hours traveling down to Ushuaia, and I visited 5 different airports during those hours! The Lima airport was terrific- clean, amazing food, very safe and nice. Lan Chile was once again amazing, with great food. I arrived in the internatinal airport in Buenos Aires at 9:30 at night, and killed time at a cafe, chatting with loved ones on the internet, and finishing my book (One down!). I took a 2:30 am shuttle over to the domestic airport. It was just me and the driver and he took the long way (since I had time, and it was a fixed price) and gave me a night tour of Buenos Aires (en español). He asked if I preffered Obama or Hillary and we talked politics a bit. It was lovely. Buenos Aires looks incredible, and I´m looking forward to getting back there. My flight left at about 6am and I slept for maybe three hours on the flight. We stopped briefly in El Calafate and then continued to Ushuaia.

The landing was incredible! The landing strip is right next to the Beagle Channel, so it looks like you are going to be landing in the water! The mountains were gorgeous, and a huge arco iris (rainbow) filled the sky. It was a beautiful sign and I took it to mean that I was indeed in the right spot. It was a gorgeous sunny day and stepping out of the lovely small Ushuaia airport I was greated with the sight of Ushuaia, the mountains, the port . . . my heart sang!!

I took a cab to my hostel where I was greeted with happy jokes of "anna banana" and questions about my availability (single? married?). The hostel (Freestyle Backpackers) is fun, friendly, and filled with people. Its also clean and my bed (in a dorm of six bunks) is comfortable. So I checked in, took a shower and headed out to buy my bus ticket to Punta Arenas, Chile for Sunday. Then it was off on a five our Beagle Channel boat trip. Everything was gorgeous, the weather excellent and the views stunning!
(here i am on the boat with Ushuaia behind me)
We saw a sea lion colony and an island filled with penguins.

I met a number of very nice travelers on the trip, and wound up having dinner and going out to drinks with Ondrej from the Czech Republic and Maya and Shai from Israel. I had Argentinean steak for the first time and it was delicious! We went to the Irish pub near my hostel (because there are two Irish pubs in Ushuaia!) and the place was hopping. The bar had an R2D2 replica and I couldn´t not take a picture with it!

I excused myself a bit after midnight because I was exhausted, only to climb into bed and have a lovely conversation with the other folks in the room (where are you from? what did you do today? what do you do tomorrow?).

I woke up early to head out on a all day adventure that the hostel had suggested and booked for me. The guide´s name was Sebastian, and he looked almost exactly like Jude Law (I will share pictures as soon as I can). He is dating one of the girls who works the desk at the hostel, and she says she is only dating him because he looks like Jude Law. Anyway. Adventure.

So!! Four-wheeling craziness of muddy roads, almost turning the truck over, driving right into the lake (maybe to two or three feet deep) and just generally scary exciting stuff. I had taken my dramamine and I actually really enjoyed it. Part of the reason I had signed up for it was because it was a very not-Anna activity, but it was great. We had an amazing traditional Argentinian barbeque by the lake (Lago Fondado?? the whole way there are incredible amazing mountain views), with steaks, incredible hot sausage sandwiches and all the Malbec you could drink. A family of foxes lived nearby and we saw quite a bit of them while we were there. We also saw a falcon, and some amazing damage that beavers had done (not native to the area).

We got to walk around a bit by the lake, and that was a great chance for me to take some time to myself and enjoy how absolutely stunning the lake and mountains were. I chatted a lot with a couple from South Africa who were the only other English speaking folks on the trip. They are at the begining of a full year traveling through South America. It seems almost every backpacker I meet is traveling for at least a year (except the ones from the U.S., the most I´ve heard is five weeks for an American . . .other than me obviously!).

After the bbq we headed to Lago Escondido and went canoeing. I was paired with the only other solo travler, a young man named Jose from Mendoza. He had never canoed before and although he was very strong we wound up quite directionally challenged. It was still great fun.

Oh! And I tried matè for the first time. It tasted like the herbal teas I´ve concocted for upper respiratory conditions that everyone refuses to drink. So, not great. Not completely undrinkable though, I think it must be an acquired drug. Jude Law says its, " the most popular drug in South America" although I can´t quite figure out what properties it has. If any.

After the trip I came back the hostel and went to pick up some groceries for dinner. I met Karla from Australia (Canberra actually) who is heading to Antartica tomorrow. She is on either her second or third round the world adventure, and she books as she goes. She purchased her one way ticket from Sydney to Rio and will head back when she runs out of money (at least a year she thinks). In between traveling she lives with her parents and earns money for her next trip. She´s only 23. Her and I headed out to the Irish pub where we met Andrej from the night before. Things were rowdy and people kept buying us Argentinan Malbec so we stayed out late. We met a group of 8 men, mostly in their 60s and 70s who had just returned from a month long trip to Antartica on a very small yacht. The boat had had all sorts of problems, and at one point the skipper had to dive underneath to fix something. The men were all stir crazy from only talking to each other for a month and from almost dying a few times. Many of them were grand adventurers and had stories about climbing Mount Everest and other impressive things. We enjoyed hearing their stories!

At 2:15 am we thought we would head to the big party that started at 2:30 but in the end the cold and rain changed our minds and we went back to the hostel and to bed. I slept till 11 this morning!

Today I have taken it easy, doing laundry, visiting the museums, walking around town, booking a hostel for tomorrow night. I found a place that sells delicious empanadas for 3 pesos each, wish I had found that the first day!

Tomorrow I take a 7:30 bus to Punta Arenas, Chile. It will take 12 hours and part of that is on a ferry across the Strait of Magellan.

Generally, things are terrific, making friends, exploring beautiful places and eating delicious foods. It doesn´t get dark here till past ten at night, so I´m off to check out a shop that claims to have Santerìa supplies. Should be interesting!! Much love, besos,
Anna

Lima!

2008-03-04T10:41:00.000-08:00

"The gladdest moment in human life, methinks, is a departure into unknown lands. The blood flows with the fast circulation of childhood." ~ Sir Richard Burton - African Explorer ~

This quote definitiely summarizes the elation and excitement I was feeling today as I arrived in Lima. The plane trip was lovely- the Lan Chile airplane was incredible, the nicest I have flown on since Quantas. After having two glassed of wine at the airport bar I slept on the plane for an hour, woke up and watched "Enchanted" on my personal tv screen and then went back to sleep. All in all I probably got around five hours of sleep which is much less than I am used to! I was exhausted when I woke up at 5am for breakfast on the plane (hot ham and cheese sandwich). The Lima airport was nice, but customs took forever! Eventually I got my bags and headed out to find my ride. I had arranged for trasnport to my Hostal, but there was no sign with my name on it! Luckily there were ample well dressed taxi drivers happy to take me to Hostal Bellavista for the same amount I had arranged. That taxi ride began my full day of using Spanish almost constantly- I am terribly rusty! The driver took us along the coast and the smell of the ocean air was refreshing (although I was completely exhausted!).

After checking in, I talked with the tourist advisor who apologized because she was not actually able to get me on a tour this morning. She arranged for a tour to the ruins in the afternoon.

First thing first- a long nap. Feeling refreshed I headed out to find some lunch and visited a small fish restaurant that had been reccomended to me by the staff at the hostal. I bravely ordered Cerviche de Pescado and Arroz con Mariscos (and a 7up!). The Cerviche de Pescado was a beautiful salad plate (hopefully I will be able to add the pictures later, but it isn´t working with this computer), with raw sweet potato, corn, lettuce and raw fish.

Yes, you read that correctly RAW fish marinated in lemon juice. It was actually delicious and I ate about half of it before I started to get nervous about what my stomach might do! The Arroz con Mariscos was an adventure in and of itself. I recognized some shrimp and scallops, and then there were all sorts of strange sea animals. When I unconvered the baby octopus (pulpo) I was taken aback for a moment. I tried a little bit of everything, but was unable to put the baby octopus in my mouth (I tried some legs though!).

I spent a great deal of time today meandering through Miraflores, the nice modern section of Lima that I am staying in. There are police everywhere and they seem to be making sure everything is tidy and clean (they harass women who look homeless7drunk). It felt very safe to be walking around. I wound up bargaining for a lovely hand woven cloth and a gorgeous fitted grey alpaca sweater. The sweater is so soft, and the deal was so good I couldn´t resist. I asked the man who sold it to me to wish me luck fitting it into my equipaje (baggage).

This afternoon threw me a couple of curveballs. As I waited for the tour bus to arrive to visit the ruins and woman in a tour guide-type outfit arrived and smiled when she saw me. She looked at the woman at the desk who nodded and smiled at her, and then she gestured for me to come with her. Thinking that this was my tour, I followed her and walked with her for a number of blocks (to the bus, I was thinking) while she chatted at my incessantly in Spanish. It took me a long time before I realized that she was some kind of personal walking guide, who would take you shopping or to whatever tourist attraction you wanted. Except the ruins. She said the ruins are peligroso, feo y haca mucho calor (dangerous, ugly, and very hot), and besides it was too late in the day to head out there. Dissapointed I walked with her for a bit trying to figure out if there was anything she could be helpful with, but decided there was not (and that I didn´t need a personal chaperone!) and I handed her some nuevos del sol and headed back to the Hostal. As soon as I went into my room I got a call from downstairs, Why hadn´t I waited for the bus? It came by twice looking for me!

Argh. Needless to say I was bit frustrated. I suppose I just wasn´t meant to see the Pachacamac ruins on this trip, and I will just have to come back to Peru another time. I finally took a shower and had a bit of rest before heading out to dinner. I had a delicious meal of Arroz con Pollo (rice with chicken) which was heavy on the cilantro in a very very good way. I´m doing a lot of people watching, and a lot of internal thought which is new and slightly uncomfortable. It is exactly what I wanted, however!

Tomorrow I will head to the airport in the late morning to catch my 2:15 flight to Buenos Aires. In Buenos Aires I will get a cab-bus-something to the Domestic airport where my flight for Ushuaia leaves at 5am. It will be a long day and night of traveling and I imagine I will be exhausted when I arrive in Ushuaia.

I definitely already miss talking with my loved ones - it is strange to have so many thoughts that are kept to oneself!

Love to all!

Well, folks, I'm off!

2008-03-03T14:46:00.000-08:00

"There is no moment of delight in any pilgrimage like the beginning of it." -- Charles Dudley Warner

I'm leaving in moments for JFK! My overnight flight to Lima leaves at 10:30 and I'm hoping to sleep the whole time. I'm very excited and ready for adventure! My cousin Luke (first grade) gave me some excellent advice yesterday for my trip, "Make sure to bring enough money . . . for snacks!" Luke, I'm bringing plenty of money for snacks. I'll keep you posted on any interesting foods I encounter.

Love to all!

And I´m off! Ready to conquer the world!

Surprise!

2008-02-07T17:28:00.000-08:00

"If you do nothing unexpected, nothing unexpected happens." ~ Fay Weldon ~

Surprise, Anna! Guess what? You're going to Peru! Also, you leave on March 3rd instead of March 4th!

Yet another example of the Universe teaching me to be flexible. I imagine this lesson will be repeated ad naseum throughout my trip!

After visiting the travel clinic and receiving the required Cipro prescription and vaccinations (Flu and Typhoid, just in case) I headed over to STA travel. I was there to collect my tickets and to try and secure a flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia on March 6th. It was there that I was surprised to learn that I was NOT in fact leaving on March 4th and that my layover in Lima was just a bit longer than a few hours. The ticket is for March 3rd and I have a day and a half in Lima, Peru! Although I was a bit disconcerted and confused (as were the travel agents), I've decided that I am just meant to visit Lima. Lynda at STA booked me a nice hotel in the city center of Lima, and I'm hoping to visit the Pachacamac ruins outside of the city. Lynda also found a fabulous $130 flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, will the one small caveat of departing at 5:50 am.

So March 3rd, folks. Let the adventure begin.

Trip Planning!

2008-01-18T17:08:00.000-08:00

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -- Mark Twain

Welcome! This will be my travel blog as I embark on a journey that will take four months, reaching the very bottom of South America, both islands of New Zealand, Australia, Europe (Italy, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, France) and Iceland. I'm hoping that I can use this to update family and friends on where I am, what I'm doing, and hopefully I can share pictures showing how gorgeous the scenery is.

I have purchased my tickets and on March 4th I leave on my Round the World adventure! With less than a month to go, I've moved into high-intensity planning mode but things seem to be falling into place. I have my new passport with updated maiden name on it, I have a general plan of attack for Patagonia, my first stop, and I'm organizing the New Zealand leg as well.

Yesterday I took a terrific self-defense one-on-one class with Nancy from Spirit of the Heart in Northampton . . . although it was a little scary to think about nasty situations I might find myself in ("Let's imagine he's got you pinned to the ground."), I really felt more confident physically after taking her class. My punches are strong and I can yell!

Today I go to the travel clinic for any necessary immunizations, antibiotic prescriptions, etc. I'm also visiting STA travel to pick up my airplane tickets (that's right folks- real actual physical airplane tickets!). I think I'm also going to book a flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world (or so they claim . . . there's actually a tiny town just below them), at the tip of South America. I'll start from there and work my way up through Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales, Torres del Paine, El Calafate and El Chalten. I'm envisioning flying out of El Calafate and back up to Buenos Aires in time for Easter and some city exploration before flying on to New Zealand at the end of March.

My general itinerary is as such:

Argentina/Chile March 5th-26th
New Zealand March 28th-May 6th
Australia May 6th- May 18
Europe May 19th- June 27th
Reykjavik, Iceland June 27th-July 1

Would love to meet up with anyone traveling, or friends of friends, etc.!

Hello Fog! This lovely picture was taken by yours truely at Clonmacnoise, County Offaly, Ireland . . . family trip Jan. 2008.