We didn't sail, but...

Keeping Portland Weird

2011-05-15T17:40:00.009-04:00

How do I know it's time to write another blog entry? Because while I'm riding my bike to work, I'm thinking of things to write in the blog. Did I say work? Yes! I am once again a productive member of society! And yes, I can ride my bike (at least part of the way) to work. But I'll get to that later.

Portland has been good to us, and we really like it here. We spent our first month in a motel - the Value Inn Suites, where we had a basic, yet clean two-room suite; a nice view (snow-capped mountains and planes taking off and landing at the nearby airport); and enjoyed free coffee, breakfast, underground parking, HBO and Internet! All for $850 per month! Plus, the frequent police visits and sometimes busts (or at least people leaving in handcuffs) added another level of entertainment. While it wasn't a real home, and the location could have been better, it provided a great base from which to explore the city, find an apartment, and look for work. And we did all that.

The view from our "Suite"

Within a month, we found an apartment in Southeast Portland, in an area called Woodstock. Our neighborhood is pretty charming, has everything we need, and is also convenient to other areas and downtown. As funky as Portland is, Woodstock isn't what one might expect. Most of the pierced and tattooed folks stay closer to the Hawthorne District, which is an easy bike ride - a mile or two away. We've got a two-bedroom unit in a two-unit house, and our neighbors (lovely, quiet ladies) travel a lot; they're currently in England and won't be back until July. Oh, and there's a fireplace and some outdoor space. The only thing that bugs Matthias about it is the wall to wall carpet, but he's happy enough with the kitchen, so it evens out. The question now is who's going to be the first to visit and take advantage of our extra bedroom? Stu? Jen and Brenda? Andrew? Or mom and dad.....?

Matthias at the BBQ and smoker!

And then, the day before we moved to our new apartment, I got a job! I'm working as a grant writer for the Virginia Garcia Memorial Foundation, which is the fundraising arm of the Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, and it couldn't be better! When I saw the job on Craigslist, I said to Matthias: "They've got to hire me - it's a perfect fit." Internally, I was saying to myself....if they're not interested, no one will be! Soon enough....on April fools day, no less, I got called for an interview (which I thought for a moment might be a joke) and got hired soon after. It's been absolutely fantastic so far (and I'm not just saying that because my new coworkers are friends on Facebook and therefore have a link to the blog!) Seriously, I'm working with four terrific fundraising professionals who are hardworking but also lots of fun (it reminds me a lot of the development department at PPNYC.) And the organization is awesome - it's a safety net health care provider, with a focus on serving migrant farmworkers. I'm not going to write about that here (since I do that for a living now) but you can find out more on the website and on Facebook (become a fan of Virginia Garcia!! there's my pitch.) Many thanks to Stu, who provided a reference and tips on how to get "Linked in", as well as Keith and Jennifer for the (obviously) solid references! You get first dibs on the second bedroom!

What a warm welcome!
And check out the website for a message from my awesome boss welcoming me to the Foundation! Click Here!

I've already mentioned how awesome the people I work with are - and that goes for most of the people we've come in contact with here. Everyone seems friendly, laid-back, and pretty much happy to be here. Of course, everyone complains about the rain, but they seem to do so with as much pride as resignation (like New Yorkers talk about rude service staff, or Greeks talk about corruption - where would we be without it??) And Portland is adorably quirky - one of our favorite slogans (I'm not sure of the origin) that keeps cropping up on signs and bumpers is: "Keep Portland Weird." I assume it's calling for resistance to the takeover of the town by shopping malls and chain restaurants, which, at least in our area, seems to be working. It was certainly my favorite bumper sticker until I saw: "Keep Portland Beered", which promptly took over first place in my eyes.

And then there's the biking! It's a totally bike-able city, with small, light traffic streets as well as bike lanes on major routes. I do have quite a bit of a commute to work (since we found the apartment before I found the job, and they happen to be on opposite ends of the city), but I can ride my bike downtown and hop on the light rail/street car (called MAX) from there. It's quite pleasant, and it makes me feel like a real Portlander. And, it's giving me some insight into the biking culture here. I did mention that Portlanders are laid-back, right? Well, not when (most of them) ride their bikes! Not only do they have the latest and greatest bikes, accessories, and reflective clothing ("Keep Portland Geared?"), but they all ride to work as if they're trying to beat their time from the day before! Now, when I rode in Berlin, I had one of the better bikes on the road (the one that I brought here) and I basically kept up with people and even passed a few. But here, they make me feel like a granny on my bike - whizzing by me as they make their way to wherever they're going (like a finish line!) But I'm resisting the temptation to try and keep up, instead enjoying my ride through the tree-lined streets, soaking in the atmosphere (and the occasional smell of pot) along the way. It's fun!

These aren't the typical seriously-outfitted bikers, but they did all pass me by!

But it's too far (and too hilly) to ride all the way to work. So, I lock my bike downtown in a parking garage (out of the rain) and take the MAX train for about 40 minutes. That's where I get to catch up on my reading (and proof-reading for work....but only in the mornings!) I joined the local library (right down the street from our place) and started in on all the bestsellers I missed while I was away. I already devoured Eat, Pray, Love (of course, she had me at Eat!) and I'm getting started on the Swedish series with the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. So, please send me your recommendations for good reads!

And finally, I can report that Matthias may have also found a job! He starts working maintenance at a golf course on Tuesday (a trial - but we can't imagine why it wouldn't work out.) He says it's his dream job, and we both agree he'll enjoy the outdoor aspect of it (plus the fact that he won't have to work nights.) Keep your fingers crossed for him, and I'll be back with an update in....oh....another few months!

Where in the world?

2011-03-20T18:52:00.021-04:00

A long overdue post - maybe the final one (is anyone still blogging or has the convenience of Facebook taken over? Seems I've missed a lot being on the road.) And I've got some explaining to do. For those who don't know, we're not in Berlin anymore. We're not even in Germany anymore! For a variety of reasons which I won't get into here (Matthias' green card status among them) we decided to come back to the States again. We are currently in.......drum roll, please.......Portland, Oregon!

Lots of rain makes for pretty waterfalls

Long story short (just the fun stuff here), we took some time to visit with the family in Florida and then packed up the van (thanks for the use of the van, mom and dad!) and drove out west. So, before I get into what we might or might not be doing here in Portland, I get to describe another escapade!

Matthias on the beach in Biloxi, MS

The experience driving across the U.S. actually turned out to be right up there with our other adventures. We took the southernmost route to try to avoid some of the nasty winter storms, and ended up going through (and stopping in) Biloxi MS; New Orleans, LA; Austin, TX, San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Davis, CA; and up the Northern California and Oregon Coast.

Austin, TX

We took about three weeks to make the journey, staying in cheap motels and campsites (when it wasn't too cold) along the way. Throughout the trip, the scenery - even from the car - was fantastic. New Orleans (of course) was a highlight, although it was below freezing when we were there. And we were absolutely WOWed by Austin, Texas, where we had a fun night out on the town listening to live music. Naturally our tour of Texas also included a stop in the BBQ capital of Texas (and therefore the world, some would say) where we feasted on simply awesome BBQ. As a matter of fact, we really enjoyed just about everywhere we went in Texas - Matthias being a huge fan of the wild west culture, I often caught him in a dreamy-eyed look, and I knew he was imagining himself riding through the countryside on horseback, meeting up with Judge Roy Bean on the Pecos River or Davy Crocket at the Alamo....

Judy and a real "Texas Toothpick" (and I thought food was big in Bavaria!)

Matthias feeling right at home west of the Pecos

After quite a bit of time in Texas, we stopped in Phoenix to see our good friend Patrick and had a fantastic visit (thanks, Patrick, for taking us around!) Then it was on to Vegas, which was...well....Vegas, and then California. We missed seeing Sue in Davis, but got to visit with Lisa, Noah, Eli and Michael, which was great (but I forgot to take pictures, dammit!)

Matthias, Keith and Patrick next to a typical Saguaro cactus

View of Sedona from the car

After Davis, we drove up the breathtaking Northern California coastline, through the Redwood forest and along the Oregon Coast. At long last we arrived in Portland and have found a temporary place to stay until we can settle in. And Portland hasn't disappointed either! It's everything we expected: it's an extremely bike-friendly city, it's laid-back but still interesting, they love their beer, and yes, it rains all the time. Just like Germany!

California Coast

Oregon Coast

So now we would like to stay here but I guess you never know with us. Our first step is to find work...not an easy task in this day and age. And that's one major reason I've come out of the dark and let people know where we are - I'm going to be bugging my work contacts soon for references and the like. Yes, Stu is helping me out with the latest job search/networking technology like pointing me toward LinkedIn. Being out of the workforce for so long, I guess I missed that one - so look me up if you don't hear from me first!

And for the full online trip photo album:

X-America Trip

Hello Stranger

2010-10-21T12:11:00.008-04:00

Not sure if this is the longest stretch without a blog post, but as I read the last one, I realized we've come a long way (though not in distance) since then. We are now in Berlin. I can't yet say for sure whether our world travels are officially over, but it looks like we're about to settle down here. If we can survive the winter, that is.

Concert at the Brandenburg Gate

After the bike tour, we went to Matthias' home town of Gommern to take care of Oma (his grandmother) while Matthias' parents went on a trip to America. I hope I don't sound too glib when I say that we failed miserably, as Oma died after a week on our watch. It was indeed a difficult time, but I have to say, I think Oma was ready to go (for the last year, actually) as she was 95 years old and not able to do what she wanted anymore (as compared to just two years ago, when she cooked, baked, entertained, etc.!) And, she died in the comfort of her own home (in bed) without any pain or suffering, with her (favorite) grandson at her side. Almost kind of beautiful. Of course, I feel bad for Matthias' parents, who felt guilty about going on vacation (after 20+ years of taking care of Oma), and then had to hear about her passing so far away. But we were able to schedule the funeral, which was lovely, for their return, and I think all went smoothly. Oma will be missed!

Two special people we lost this year: Oma and Harry (at our wedding!!)

So that was our September - small town Germany and family. But Matthias (and I) did have some excitement finding mushrooms during what turned out to be an "excellent year for mushrooms" in Germany. For the most part, Matthias did the mushroom hunting (and all of the cooking.) But I was thrilled to find so many Steinpilz ("stone mushrooms"), the best-tasting, cutest looking shrooms on the planet! They actually look like tiny little elf houses! And I can now totally understand how Hansel and Gretel got lost in the forest - they must have been looking for mushrooms. So, September was also the month of Steinpilz soup, steak with Steinpilz sauce, sauteed Steinpilz, Steinpilz omelets, etc., etc.! And now I'm on a serious diet!

Steinpilz!!

But before the diet could begin, we had one more adventure. We met my parents in Budapest for a fantastic eating, drinking, thermal-bathing, and sometimes-sightseeing bonanza! It was great to see the parents, as always, and (also as always) great to be in Budapest! We had a blast! And then it was time to get down to business.

In Budapest!

Before we left for Budapest, we rented an apartment for four months in Berlin, so that we could try our luck here and (hopefully) find a longer-term place to live. Fortunately, the apartment and neighborhood turned out to be pretty fabulous. That's important, of course, as the weather is starting to turn nasty, and so are we, as looking for work is no fun! And not fun to write about either, so I'll stop here....

High Water and Oktoberfest Lite

2010-08-15T14:41:00.005-04:00

We're back in Germany without internet access, so I'm not sure if I ever uploaded the last post from Austria. I've got a lot to do whenever I find the next internet point.

I feel like Alice in Wonderland - everything's bigger here!

We've had a lot of rain lately, and I must say I still prefer the rain to the intense heat. It was one of those days in Deggendorf when it was raining early in the morning and looked like it was about to rain all day, so we decided to stay. Of course it didn't rain from the time we paid for another night at the campsite, until later that night when we were walking back to the campsite from the Volksfest in Deggendorf. But the Volksfest made our staying worthwhile - drinking beer under a huge tent listening to a great band play German music. I actually recognized some of the songs from the radio station Matthias' parents listen to. There must have been over a thousand people in the tent, and Matthias said that's what Oktoberfest in Munich is like....only bigger and more expensive. We had so much fun we didn't mind the rain pouring down on us as we were walking back.

Or the fact that it was still raining the next morning when we woke up. Hell, the Volksfest was on all week, and we could stay if we wanted. But then it stopped raining, and as we were deciding whether to stay or go, the camper that was parked between our tent and the river packed up and moved, revealing that the river threatening to come over the bank! The little beach that had been there the day before was underwater and it looked as if the water could actually rise up and wash our tent away (at least to me). So, we packed up and left, at which point (of course) it started pouring and continued to rain all day. Actually, the rain stopped just before we reached the next campsite, so we had a chance to sort of dry out before we set up our campsite. Then again, nothing would really dry out for the next couple of days.

The next day, although it didn't rain much, we rode through a lot of mud, and had to take a lot of detours as the bike paths by the river were flooded. Fortunately, our campsite near Kelheim was open and relatively dry, so we set up our tent and went out to the local beergarden. As we were enjoying our beer under the shelter, the sky opened up and let out a downpour! We rode back to our tent to find that all was still dry inside, but we were on the edge of a huge flooded area. I persuaded Matthias to move the tent a few meters toward higher ground, which was a good thing, because within the next hour, the entire area where our tent had stood was flooded. But on the bright side, that marked the end of the rain for a few days. We've enjoyed cloudy, cool, but dry weather as we ventured into the Altmuehl Valley, what will probably be the last leg of our trip. It's really beautiful, but I've got to say that at this point, I'm nearly immune to beautiful. I'm just about ready for a real bed...after 60 days in a tent.

More pictures online. See link to August 2010 photos.

Real Summer

2010-08-01T10:15:00.006-04:00

Stein (Krems) on the Donau

Rain day: We are in a campsite in Krems, Austria, in the beautiful wine valley known as the Wachau. We arrived here yesterday just as it started to rain, and fortunately, the campsite happens to have a "rec" room with tables where campers can sit and relax and get warm. So, I have no excuse not to plug the computer in and write a blog entry. Unfortunately, there's no internet here, so I have no idea what I wrote for the last blog entry! Hopefully, I won't repeat myself too much.

Packing up after the rain day in Krems

So...the heat wave has finally broken to what we are accustomed to as summer in Europe: Cold and rainy (and/or windy)! But we're still at the point where we'll take this weather gladly over the intense heat. And before I continue by tirade about the weather, I have to to mention the two great people we met at the campsite near Vienna - Bob and Sue - who were on their way to Budapest and beyond. I told Sue about my blog, and she said she never reads blogs, as they're usually all about the weather, what the author ate, and how much everything costs... so of course, now I'm mortified that I gave her the blog address! Forgive me, Sue, if you ever bother to read this.

This was full of people swimming a week ago....now Matthias needs a jacket!

Yes, we were in a campsite near Vienna, and we actually went into Vienna for the day and saw some of the sights. What a beautiful city! This time, we visited the Schönbrunn Palace - the summer residence of the Hapsburgs - the Naschmarkt (for food, of course), and a traditional Viennese cafe (for more food - Kaiserschmarm, to be specific. Yumm!)

At the cafe in Vienna

The Markt square in Vienna

As we enjoyed Vienna, I was also looking forward to heading back along the Donau trail through Austria at a more leisurely pace (now that we don't have to hurry to Budapest for Matthias' birthday and since we don't have any real destination in mind!) Krems (where we are now) was our next stop on the trail, and I suppose it was lucky for me that it rained because we decided to stay an extra day here and I got to try marillen knodel (apricot dumplings - they taste way better than they sound) in the old town (yes, Sue, mention of food and weather in the same sentence. Fortunately, it wasn't too expensive.)

Stein on the Donau

Now that we're back in Austria, I'm thinking of our time in Hungary and how much we really enjoyed it there. We had originally planned to ride past Budapest but he heat got to us and changed our plans ( I bet it's nice and cool in Hungary now!) But we did enjoy our ride back to Austria. Funny, but I always prefered to travel in circles, or circuits, instead of traveling 'there and back'. I forgot that when you travel in a different direction (even on the same path) your view is almost completely different. So, on our way back through Hungary, it was like seeing new things (or old things from a different perspective - nearly as good) but without the stress of having to find our way. Grossartig! (I think that means "FAB!" in German, but without my online dictionary I can't be sure.)

Matthias, enjoying salami like a good cigar!

So....one more thing while I'm in the mood for writing (and without anything else to do right now) is to talk about some of the "stuff" we've seen along the way. One of our (my) favorite things to do in campsites is to watch the other bikers put up/take down their tents, and we always comment on their gear - is it better than ours? lighter? as comforable? On this trip, we've seen a lot more bike trailers like ours ("Bob") and a lot of different bikes. These include recumbent bikes (where riders are reclined and look like they're riding an exercise bike) to mini-folding bikes to tandems. Can you believe people actually travel long distance on tandem bikes? On tandem bikes with trailers? On tandem bikes with kids in trailers? With two kids and/or dogs in trailers? I'm not kidding! I just watched a Dutch family cook and eat dinner and put their three little kids to bed in a tent in this very campsite, and I was exhausted just looking! And on a totally different note, we met a couple from Andorra yesterday. I was psyched about that - I mean, how many people actually live in Andorra? Not many, I suppose (or not many more than those who actually know where Andorra is.)

My favorite Jause (snack) bar on the trail

So, the tour goes on, and I'm loving it. And I'm going to have to remember that if it keeps on raining....

Same Same....but Different

2010-07-22T14:07:00.006-04:00

Matthias' birthday in Budapest

Hello again from Hungary. We're on our "Same Same, but Different tour" as this marked our third time together in Budapest, where we celebrated Matthias' birthday. Actually, we stayed in a campsite outside of the city and took the train in (easier than riding with all of our stuff in the heat.) We had a great time walking around the city and visiting Matthias' favorite spot....the Central Market. Budapest is really a great city. We plan on visiting again some spring or fall (when it's not so hot.) Just before the big day, we got a short respite from the hot weather, but it's back again. It makes the riding really tough - hard to enjoy what would normally be idyllic riding through small Hungarian towns when I'm sweating to death, but easy to enjoy the campsites with swimming pools, or those close enough to the Donau for a swim.

Matthias at the Central Market

Like I said, the riding in Hungary hasn't been so great because of the weather, but they have made improvements to the bike paths since we were last here four years ago. And one thing that didn't change is the campsite on the Donau (Duna here in Hungary) where we stayed on our way to (and from) Budapest. The best part is a snack bar where you can drink a beer and watch the ferry cross the river. Beautiful.

View from the snack bar in Domos

So now we're on our way back to Austria where we want to spend more time in the wine district (Wachau) there. Then we're thinking of taking a train up into the Alps and riding back down to Bavaria. Ouch...did I mention the mosquitos? Just got bit - like I have every night. It's a big problem this year - lots of water in spring and hot temps now. Lovely.

Enjoying one of the evening thunderstorms that cool things down for a bit.

Too Damn Hot

2010-07-17T14:49:00.003-04:00

Hello from Hungary. I just looked back at my journal and counted 10 days of uncommon heat here in Europe. Yes, hot and humid...just like New York...so not so fun for camping. But anyway, it still gets cool at night....but now around midnight! Today (17 July) is supposed to be the last day of the heatwave. I can't believe I'm looking forward to rain!

So, since the last time I wrote, we rode through Austria and Slovakia. We had done the route before, but liked it so much that we wanted to do it again. And it didn't disappoint us. Our favorite campsite in Passau, Germany is still great (though a bit more expensive, but with upgraded bathrooms) and the ride from Passau to Feldkirchen in Austria was just as spectacular as we remembered. But this time we knew what Jause (pronounced: Yowsah) was, so we stopped at all the "Jause Stations" for delicious Austrian snacks and apple wine spritzers. Then we kind of rushed through Austria so we could make it to Budapest for Matthias' birthday, which we have pretty much done. We're about 60 km from Budapest, and 30 Km from the campsite where we're going to stay (instead of riding into Budapest) so unless there's some kind of hailstorm tomorrow (which I wouldn't rule out at this point) we're going to make it. After a few days of touring Budapest, we're going to head back along the Donau toward Germany (more slowly this time) and try another bike route...we're thinking of catching a train from Linz to Innsbruck (Austria) and riding along the Inn river back into Bavaria. We'll see...

Deggendorf an der Donau

2010-07-06T03:09:00.002-04:00

We received some sad news while we were on the road - one of our favorite people in the world - cousin Harry - passed away after a fierce battle with cancer. It's one of the times that it's hard to be away from friends and family, but we're lucky to have so many wonderful memories of Harry (and Charlene), especially when they came to see us last year in Germany. Harry will be terribly missed, but I'm going to do my best to make him proud. As a Spanish teacher, of course Harry was so good with languages. I'm going to do my damndest to become fluent in something other than English. As a matter of fact, Matthias and I are only speaking German to each other. Not that it gives me much practice, as he doesn't speak all that much anyway...

So, we are now in Deggendorf on the Donau (Danube, for those not paying attention.) We've ridden a total of about 1,400 km so far. We've had great luck with weather and our equipment seems to be holding up pretty well. We've met some other cyclists (three from Canada!) and enjoyed comparing stories. We're about 100 km from the Austrian border, but the World cup is screwing up our plans. It's so fun to watch the German team play here - every game is like the superbowl, and there are huge celebrations after each win. We did make it to Regensburg for the last match and had a blast. So, we're going to stay in Passau (near the Austrian border) an extra day to watch Germany play Spain. We've been planning to ride along the Donau to Budapest, where we want to celebrate Matthias' birthday. But if Germany wins, we might have to change our plans and hang around in Bavaria for a few more days. We'll see.

There is a link to photos on the left hand side of the page.

Off (and back on) the beaten path (Dillingen, Germany)

2010-07-05T09:10:00.003-04:00

So....off the beaten path (without a prescribed bike path) in France was do-able, but not easy. Actually, it was kind of fun to find our way from town to town on the backroads, but it was HILLY! Eventually, though, after a night in a small-town campsite, we found our way to the Marne Canal and Saverne - a beautiful city in Alsace. We arrived in time to catch part of the USA/Algeria World cup match (actually, I thought the French would be showing the England match instead, but I forgot how many Algerians live in France!) We went back into town later to watch the German national team beat Ghana.

The way to Strasbourg from Saverne was easy (and even a little boring) along the Marne canal. It was actually more difficult to find the campsite in Strasbourg than it was to get there, but with all that accomplished, we hunkered down for two nights and got ready to explore the city the next day. We rode our bikes downtown, stopping first at the site of the European parliament, only to find out that they have no services for visitors. Oh well - we parked our bikes and walke around the old town centre and got something to eat (in an actual restaurant!) We atetypical Alsacian food, which turned out to be just like German food. But the city was lovely. I'll post pictures as soon as I get a good internet connection (which I haven't has since Strasbourg.)

Leaving Strasbourg, we rode back into Germany to Offenburg, where we got a train to Donaueschingen - over the hills of the Black Forest to the source of the Donau (or Danube) river. The next day, we started off on the Donau radweg (Danube bike path) with a short ride to Tuttlingen, where we stopped to watch and celebrate Germany's win over England - and luckily for us, there was a town festival going on at the same time (not that they needed another reason to celebrate.) The next day's ride through the Donau valley was hilly, but absolutely gorgeous. We've had really good weather for the last two weeks, except for one day of rain, but it's getting pretty hot here (no, not like at home...it actually still gets COLD in the evening, and as long as you stay in the shade, it's quite nice.) And they say it's just going to keep getting hotter until next weekend. Our aim is to get to Regensburg on Saturday (03 July) to watch the next big World Cup match (Germany v. Argentina). And my next big aim is to find a campsite with wifi - which we haven't has since France. Hopefully then I'll be able to post this along with some pictures.

Jetzt geht's los! (Let's go!!)

2010-06-21T15:30:00.002-04:00

The FIFA World Cup in S. Africa is underway and so are we. We're back in Germany on our bikes (at the moment at a campsite) with our new netbook, and we actually stayed in a campsite with wifi (but unfortunately this one doesn't have it.) But before I get to this trip, I've got to say something about our last great trip....down memory lane.

We were back in the US for about three months, and during that time we got to see and spend time with friends and family. Unfortunately, we couldn't see everyone, but it was fun to catch up. Our goal was to spend time with family, specifically Charlene and Harry, and to help my father celebrate 70th birthday (wow.) But we were also pleasantly surprised when Sue flew in from California on a last-minute trip! We were happy that we were finally able to get up to Albany to see Linda her family (and were also graced by a visit from Lara and hers.) And it's always great to see Stu and Howard - thanks Stu for letting us use your apartment so I could visit with old friends Keith, Barb, Matt, Dean, Andrew, Amy, and Steve (yes, I put his name last because I know it bugs him.) So fun to see everyone!

And now for the bike trip. We left Gommern by train after spending a week there looking after Matthias' Oma (grandma) so that his parents could take a short trip. We took the train pretty much across Germany to Duesseldorf on the Rhein, where we set up camp for the first night, took in some of the city, and watched the US play England. The next day we rode to Koeln (Cologne) where we watched some local soccer matches and then the big Germany Australia game at a restaurant near the campsite. Then we continued down the Rhein to Koblenz, where the Mosel river ends and the Mosel bike trail begins. We decided to ride the trail because it would bring us to France, but we found it absolutely beautiful and charming - it actually puts the Rhein (which is somehow more famous) to shame. We had been here before in a car, but the scenery is much more dramatic from a bike somehow. We even had excellent weather for our first four days of riding, with the exception of the day we rode 90km to Trier. It rained quite hard in the morning, but it fortunately didn't start raining until after we packed everything up, so our stuff stayed dry, and we were pretty dry by the time we reached Trier and checked into the campsite for two days.

We stayed in Trier to watch the world cup action (USA and Germany play on the same day...yay!) It was sad when Germany lost, but the US game was pretty exciting. But enough about the obvious. The next day we took a short ride to Remich in Luxembourg and stayed there because, well, I've never been to Luxembourg before. It was nice, but the campsite left a bit to be desired.

The next day we rode to Thionville (another short ride) and stopped there because we didn't have a map to take us further. It's in France, by the way. It was a lovely city, but because it was Sunday, everything was closed, so we couldn't find a map to go further until the next morning. Plus, we had to wait 4pm for the campsite to open. Bienvenue!

On Monday morning we bought a map and traveled on to Metz - another short ride, but it was our first ride that was not on a prescribed bike trail. We found our way pretty well, although Metz is a pretty big city, and not too conducive to bike travel (especially with matthias' bike trailer!) So, although the ride was a bit stressful, the city is lovely and the campsite is fabulous - right on the banks of the Moselle, with clotheslines and picnic tables (we used both.) Oh, and of course they have wifi, which is why I'm posting this hastily-written entry. Tomorrow, we head into the French countryside, again without a prescribed bike trail, so it's up to me and the maps I got at the tourist info office to get us to the next campsite. stay tuned....

Taking the long way home

2010-05-15T19:53:00.009-04:00

Linville Falls, NC (Blue Ridge Pkwy)

Back in Highland Falls, NY after a long beautiful drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Really beautiful, and nice this time of year (May) because there was hardly a soul on the road. Sure, most of the campsites were closed, but the ones that were open were lovely and pretty much devoid of people. We took five days driving up from Florida. Definitely the best FL-NY trip yet.

Campsite by Linville Falls

Campsite in Georgia

So here we are enjoying gorgeous views of the Hudson River and visiting family and friends until our flight to Germany on June 2. We are going to be in NYC for a few days starting on May 23rd (so anyone who reads this and wants to catch up should definitely send me an email - otherwise, we'll most likely be at "1849" on Bleecker Street on the evening of Sunday the 23rd so Matthias can get his fill of 25-cent wings.) So, I guess I'll find out if any NYC buddies still read this thing.

Better late than....

2010-04-27T19:33:00.009-04:00

Matthias on the bus between Soppong and Pai

A lot of time has passed since the last post - I'm sitting here in Florida on my new netbook not knowing where to start. I left off in Chiang Rai, Thailand (February 2010) from where we continued on to Pai. We relaxed for about a week in Pai and Matthias took another fruit-carving lesson there (he wanted to learn how to make an orchid.) We then made our way southward toward Bangkok, stopping for a short (sweaty) stay in Ayunthaya. We rented bikes and toured the town with its ancient structures, but we were longing for the cool, comfortable evenings of northern Thailand and Laos. Then it was one night in Bangkok before our flight to Berlin (where we then found ourselves longing for the heat again...)

Temple ruins in Ayunthaya

We stayed about two weeks in Germany, visiting Matthias' family and (sort of) celebrating his mom's 60th birthday (we were there on the actual day, but she had the big party after we left for America...oops.) We did get to spend a few days in the Harz area, where there was still lots of snow and I could try (unsuccessfully) a little cross country skiing. We also got our medical appointments taken care of. Is this thing getting boring, or what?!! See why I haven't written?

We then flew to NY and spent a lot of time visiting family before driving down to Florida to see my parents. And we've been here ever since - for about a month. We're having a nice visit and Matthias is putting his fishing license to work.

Next update from up north.

Chaing Rai Surprise

2010-02-09T02:04:00.005-05:00

Another bike ride in Luang Nam Tha

So, we made it to Chiang Rai, Thailand from Luang Nam Tha in less than a day, using various modes of transport: taxi/pick-up truck to the bus, a bouncy bus over the mountains, a tuk-tuk to the river, a motor boat across the Mekong, a motorcycle taxi to the bus station, and a local bus to Chiang Rai. All in all it took about 7 hours, but we arrived unscathed and checked into a nice hotel near the bus station and night market. The night market was key, because that’s where Matthias planned to eat a nice grilled fish that night, which he did…and then some.

Matthias' beloved fish at the Chiang Rai night market

We really only stopped in Chiang Rai to break up the trip to Pai (and because Matthias liked the night market) but as we set off the next day on foot, we saw some nice temples, checked out the river, and made our way to a nearby cave with a temple in it- along a road that we decided would be great for bike riding the next day (which sealed our decision to stay an extra day.) We also stopped at a great roadside noodle/rice place where Matthias had noodle soup and I had Kao Soi – yummy noodles in spicy yellow curry with chicken. It was a long day of walking, so Matthias decided he deserved another fish at the night market. This one was steamed.

Inside the Buddha cave outside of Chiang Rai

The next day, we rented bikes and set off past the river and cave we saw the day before only to come across more caves with Buddhas in them – part of a lovely park on the river. Theride was so nice that we continued down the road where we passed a local festival with a market, food and dancing. Of course we stopped for some roast pig and beef.

Pig and cow roast!

On down the road, we came to a touristy but cute Karen (local tribe) village that operated elephant rides by (and in) the river. We stopped to admire the elephants and the handicrafts for a bit before heading back to town. It was almost a perfect day until Matthias’ chain came off, and while trying to fix it the back wheel somehow became bent, so not only could he not ride the bike, he couldn’t push it either. He actually had to lift one wheel up and walk for quite a ways before we found some friendly tuk tuk drivers who had the tools to fix it. Fortunately, we were done with our ride anyway. So, one more trip to the night market and back on the road to Pai.

Cute elephant

Our trip to Pai went smoothly (about 6 hours in all) and despite my fears of high-season (coupled with Chinese New Year) prices, we found a decent room at a great price in town. The only drawback – no wifi. But, Pai is the kind of place where one shouldn’t mind not being connected, and I can’t complain too much as I sit on our front porch in the guesthouse garden and write this. And now that I’m done, I’ll head over to a café that has wifi, order a fruit shake, post the blog entry, and see who won the Superbowl.

Links to more photos are now updated on the left of the page.

Climate Change

2010-02-05T04:05:00.009-05:00

Balmy New Year's Day in Xi'an

Back on the road and back to the blog. We are now in Laos, on our way to Bangkok and then Germany and then the US. I finished teaching on January 22nd – one week before my students had to take their end-of-term exams. It really was an interesting experience, and perhaps I’ll write about it someday, but now that we’re traveling again, I’d rather write about that! But first I have to mention the great New Year's/birthday weekend we spent in Xi'an with Katie and Laura. Although New Year's Eve was a bit anti-climactic, the highlight of the weekend might have been the three-hour New Year's Day lunch at a Tibetan fish restaurant with Frank, Laura, and new friends Trisha and Graham. I also shared birthday cake (though we each had our own little cakes - thanks Laura!) at the hostel cafe with Katie, who is also "cursed" with the dreaded day-after-New Years birthday.

Our Tibetan Fish feast!

Sooo....the day after my last class, we took an overnight train from Baoji (about an hour and a half from our village of HuaiYa) to Chengdu. The train ride was fine, except that we had to share our compartment with a guy who snored really loudly! Still, we managed to sleep a bit and arrived in Chengdu bright and early at 5:30 AM, where we got our free ride to Sim’s Guesthouse, which was nice and cozy. After checking in, coffee and showers, we took the local bus to the center of town and visited the “Tibetan Street”, where we ate lunch (Matthias once again had his favorite pulled noodle soup dish – Muslim style.) Then we walked through the “New Ancient Street “ – a recently-built shopping and eating complex made to look like an old Chinese village. Chengdu was a bit warmer than what we were used to, so it was nice for walking around, but it was still quite cold at night. We had dinner at the Guesthouse, which wasn’t so great except that we met Pat, an American who’s teaching English in Shanghai.

Old and new together on the "new/ancient" street

The next day it was off to see the pandas – one of our main reasons for visiting Chengdu. Unfortunately, Matthias was quite ill (but made the trip anyway like a real trooper.) We booked the excursion through the guesthouse, which was convenient and the Pandas were adorable! We were back at the guesthouse by noon, so we were able to grab some soup and dumplings on the street, change some of our Chinese money into dollars, and then Matthias could go to bed while I got a haircut. That night, Matthias was too sick to go out so I went with Pat for Sichuan hotpot. It was spicy, but not any spicier than some of the food in Shaanxi.

Fabulous panda!

The next day we got the train to Kunming. It was an overnight train and then some, but we were lucky to have a compartment to ourselves, and Matthias was feeling a bit better. We arrived in Kunming the following morning and checked into a rather expensive (30 USD) and nice hotel near the train station. The weather, at last, was spring-like and lovely. Warm and sunny. We went for lunch at a restaurant we passed (up) the last time we were in Kunming. We ordered Beijing Duck (which was good, but not nearly as good as the one we had in Xi’an with Katja and Simon) some spicy noodles (delicious!) and some vegetables. After lunch we walked around, changed more money, and went back to the hotel to rest up for our bus ride to Jinghong the next day.

View from the bus to Jinghong

The next morning, we got to the ‘pseudo bus station’ in Kunming just before 8AM to catch our minibus to the actual bus we were taking to Jinghong. Apparently, they moved the long distance bus station some 15 km away from the city, so you either have to get public transport out there and buy your ticket, or get it through an agent like we did. Anyway, we got to our regular bus just fine and we were on our way as scheduled by 9am. The ride was nice – along a new highway with breathtaking views – until the highway ended and we had to take a smaller road (also with fantastic views) where we got stuck in some sort of traffic jam for well over an hour. Still, at around 5:30 PM we pulled into the Jinghong (south) bus station and got a decent (but somewhat shabby) room at the hotel there. From there, we found our way into the center of town for some delicious noodle soup!

Matthias in Jinghong

Jinghong is a nice city – it’s still China, of course, but one starts to get that laid-back Southeast Asia feeling there. We spent the next day walking around in the glorious sunshine (weather is getting really warm by now) and trying to figure out how to get to Laos. We were told (we think) at the bus stations that they couldn’t sell tickets for the next day’s bus until the night before. So, after exploring the city, drinking a couple of local beers, and eating one last delicious Chinese dinner, we went back to the South bus station and got our tickets for 10:40AM the next day to Luang Nam Tha. The bus was pretty empty, except for five other tourists, a couple of local people, and lots of boxes. It seems since they don’t have a lot of people making the trip, they use the buses to transport goods as well. Hey, at least boxes of juice and sacks of flour don’t spit or throw up! The bus made a lot of stops, but the ride was nice, the border was pretty painless (except for the visa fees), and we arrived in Luang NamTha before 5pm.

My first Beer Lao

And here we are! I’m writing this from our guesthouse in Luang NamTha, which doesn’t have internet access (I’ll post it later). We are soooo glad that we came here! We had considered taking the boat down the Mekong directly to Thailand, but besides being much more expensive, we’re glad we didn’t miss out on Laos. It’s wonderful here! It’s a pretty small town (although it’s the provincial capital) with lovely trails for biking, a good local market, and fabulous food. It’s a great time of year to be here as well – mornings and evenings are cool, while the days get pretty hot yet still nice in the shade. We’re in heaven! We’ve been here for four nights, and now it’s time for us to go to Thailand. We hope to make it to Chiang Rai in one day – we’ll see how that goes. Until then…

Scene from one of our bike rides

Last ditch effort

2009-12-30T08:36:00.007-05:00

I thought I would try to get a blog entry in before the start of the new year. It's been quite a long time, but between feeling that I didn't have much to write about, and the fact that I spend a lot of my time on the computer trying to do lesson plans, I just haven't made the effort. But let's see if I can drum up some interesting tidbits as I reflect on the past year (or at least the past two months.)

Matthias checking out the kiwis that grow around here.

Teaching in China has been a really interesting experience. The students are great, and although I get frustrated trying to manage a class of 70+ students, trying to motivate them when all they really care about is studying for their next exam, and trying to keep the chalk dust out of my computer (and my lungs), I think it's been pretty rewarding so far. I suppose I'm learning more than my students, and exhausting as it is, by the time I get to the 14th rendition of my lesson plan, I think I'm pretty darn good at it.

All of the English teachers on Teacher's Day in September

But enough about me - what can I say about my students? They're marvelous, but it's hard to get to know them when I see about 1,500 of them just once a week. Most are shy when it comes to speaking English. I know they can read and comprehend at a pretty high level (judging from their English textbook and exam papers), but when I speak to them, the majority just stare, say "sorry, I don't know," or "yes" despite the question. Sometimes there's a breakthrough, though, and I get them to laugh about something I said (or just laugh at me!) Then there are a handful who have had the benefit of extra English instruction (small group workshops during spring or summer break) so they can communicate pretty well and are probably just bored in my classes. The students are most interested in learning about western culture - they're dying to know what American students their age do (wish I knew so I could tell them!) And they love to sing! This week we sang Jingle Bells as a warm-up activity, which was fun. But I'm saving the best for last: next month I'll teach them a Michael Jackson song - something at least one student asks for every week. Speaking of the most famous MJ in China (Michael Jordan probably a close second) I've got to say I've developed a new appreciation for the King of Pop while I've been here. But we'll see if I still feel that way after 18 sessions of teaching a lesson plan based on MJ's "You are not Alone."

Class 12, Grade 1

Matthias and I made a few trips to Xi'an over the past couple of months, where we were able to buy some western comfort food for our kitchen, including butter and cheese, which have had the unfortunate effect of reversing the weight loss I experienced after getting here, but also made us feel a bit more comfy. We planned to make some additional side trips, but between a snow storm one weekend, and seperate bouts of the flu (the normal/seasonal kind), we never made it. I still have intentions to visit a nearby temple in January. Hopefully we'll be able to make it.

School campus after the snow in November

Our last trip to Xi'an was particularly special, as we met Matthias' cousin Katja and her friend Simon there for Christmas. It was a blast. We braved the cold and rode bikes along the city wall (something I always wanted to do but could never convince Matthias!), visited the great Mosque (another thing Matthias wouldn't have done without the peer pressure) and ate some amazing Beijing Duck. It was fantastic! And now I can look forward to New Year's in Xi'an. Our school actually has a day off for New Year's (or what they call the Solar New Year.) We're leaving for Xi'an tomorrow afternoon (New Year's Eve) and will meet some other Buckland teachers there, including Katie, who shares my birthday. And I'm betting that Xi'an is one place that doesn't actually close down on the second of January! Yay!

Riding on the Xi'an city wall with Katja and Simon

More photos online at Picasa:
November Photos
December Photos

Zàijiàn! (see you!)

The Lost Weekend

2009-10-11T23:21:00.001-04:00

Yes, there's still a blog. Even though I can't see it (blogspot is blocked here), and even though whenever I have time to write, I don't feel like it. But I'm making myself now, as I indulge in downloaded General Hospital on our awesome dvd/mp4/avi media player. Yes, technology in China allows us to play all sorts of ill-gotten media, not to mention the dozens of DVDs stashed in our apartment – including 5 seasons of Desperate Housewives, 3 seasons of "24", and 20 seasons of the Simpsons! I'm in pirate heaven! Argh maties!

Oh yeah…and I'm an English teacher! I've been teaching, on and off, for a little over a month now. I say on and off because here in China, the one constant is that things change. I didn't teach for most of the first week of classes because my students had military training. Then, I worked through the weekend last week in preparation for the Mid-Autumn holiday, during which (I found out a few days before) I got about 10 days off. So, about teaching. It's challenging and exhausting, yet somewhat rewarding. I might have mentioned that there are around 80 students in each class. They range in age from about 14 to 16, and although they are quite well-behaved, it's pretty hard to manage the class, or teach in a meaningful way. I teach 14 classes in what they call Grade I (about 9th grade in the US) and 4 Grade II (or 10th grade) classes. So, I really only have to do two lesson plans a week (one for each grade), but repeating the class 14 times is a bit trying. I can't complain, though, as the experience is pretty enjoyable. I might have mentioned that the students live here on campus (as do we) and are involved in studies from before 7AM until after 10PM, when we still see them in their classrooms!

Being in a small town in China can be challenging, and I suppose we are both experiencing some culture shock. Matthias is suffering a bit more from his "celebrity status", as it really bothers him when people stare, point, or call out "hello!". And they do…every time we go out! He said it makes him feel like a monkey in a cage - like they're trying to make him dance. And, despite having to work so much, the students here all want to be my "friend". They call (I made the mistake of giving my number during the first few classes) and some even stop by the apartment. Apparently, the last teacher – who was here by himself and also quite a bit younger (closer to the age of the students) made a lot of friends among students. So, to make myself at least a bit more available, I eat lunch nearly every day in the students' cafeteria.

So, we just got back from our somewhat last-minute-planned holiday (since I wasn't sure how many days I would have off until just before.) We decided to go to Xi'an for a few days, and then when we found out I had more than a week off, we added a city called Xining to the mix. Our goal was good food, which we knew based on previous experience we would be able to get in Xi'an. The food here in HuaiYa is pretty limited (or at least our ordering ability is.) They make lots of noodle dishes, which we love, but they add some kind of red hot chili oil to everything, which seems to upset Matthias' stomach. Now, I don't mind spicy food, but everything here tastes just like the red chili oil, and if you ask them to hold the chili oil, the dishes don't taste like much at all. Actually, there's an exception – a guy near the market makes a great vegetable/tofu noodle soup (sans the red stuff), which Matthias eats for lunch every day. And there are dumplings and steamed buns. Oh, and this yummy pita-like bread stuffed with stewed meat (or veggies.) Actually…what am I complaining about?

Now, back to Xi'an. It was a combination of China's National Day (the 60th Anniversary of the People's Republic to boot) and the Mid-Autumn Festival, so we were worried about travel. We were able to get a reservation at a nice hotel (just a bit more expensive than usual) and although the streets of Xi'an were pretty crowded, we didn't have any issues with travel, or with finding good restaurants! There are a few pictures on the web album from our favorite place near the south gate, where we ate ribs, veggie dishes (with plenty of garlic!) and good dumplings. We also found another place that specializes in dishes that they grill in the window, where we had a few beers, some grilled scallops and meat kabobs, and grilled eggplant (again with lots of garlic!) And, when some other foreign teachers (with placements in other cities around the province) saw us through the window, they joined us for a few more beers and talk of school life in China.

Of course, we did a little bit more in Xi'an than eat. We walked a lot around the City, spending some time in the Muslim Quarter and around the city walls. We even tried to go to the local history museum, but the line to get in was overwhelming (probably due to the holiday.)

Our next stop on our Mid-Autumn odyssey was Xining, in Qinghai province. Going here from Xi'an didn't really make sense, since we had to backtrack past our neck of the woods to head west into the Himalayan plateau. But we chose it for a few reasons. First, we thought it would be interesting to see an area close to Tibet (actually traveling to Tibet requires a special permit and a lot of money.) Second, at 2000 meters high, it might be too cold to visit later. And, third, since my passport is still in Yangshuo (where they are processing my work permit) I needed to find a hotel that I could contact in advance – in English - to see if they would allow us to check in using a copy.

Xining actually turned out to be a great choice. The city itself isn't beautiful, but the mix of cultures there was interesting and refreshing. After being in a small town where we're the only ones who look different, it was a nice change. Tibetan Buddhism originated in the surrounding area, and the current Dalai Lama was born in a village not far away. So, in the bustling and colorful markets you could rub elbows with Tibetan monks, Chinese Muslims, as well as people who looked more like Mongolians than Chinese (at least to us.) And did we eat?? We feasted on lamb, Mutton, noodles, stews, and even a yummy leg of pork. Our favorite place was a large food court, where you could order dishes from various stalls, sit inside (where it's warm) and drink beer, and (for a small fee) use the not-so-overwhelmingly-disgusting bathrooms. The weather was pretty lousy during our three days in Xining – rainy and chilly most of the time – so we didn't make the side trips out to the countryside, but we still managed to have a nice time.

Now we're back in HuaiYa and waiting for internet access to resume. We've been without internet at home for a few weeks while the school is in the middle of upgrading its network. We've been told we'll be back online next week – obviously, this won't be posted until we're back online, so it may be a little dated by the time it's there. Oh, one more thing – I've lost all access to Facebook (my way around the firewall is no longer working), so my apologies to anyone trying to contact me that way. Email is best.

I'm posting this via email and am not sure how to post links, so I'll include a link to the latest photos (October 2009) and hope for the best:
October photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/jrosenyc/100910#

Cool Change

2009-08-31T04:21:00.006-04:00

Hello from HuaiYa! We have more or less settled in to our apartment on campus at HuaiYa Senior Middle school, where I will be teaching "oral English" to Class 1 students - equivalent to 9th graders in the US, I think. Anyway, I don't start teaching until the day after tomorrow (as I understand it) so I'll be able to provide more information about that soon. We arrived here on Tuesday (25 Aug) and have been getting things together, cleaning, and exploring the environs. I haven't posted pictures of the apartment because Aaron - the foreign English teacher from last year - posted them on his blog. I'll include the link below.

One street in HuaiYa, with mountains in the background

We flew up to Xi'an from Guilin on Monday, arriving too late on Monday night to do anything but grab some dumplings and a beer at a nearby night market just before midnight. The next morning, we were picked up by the school's Foreign Affairs Officer (FAO) and driven to the school, stopping for lunch at a great restaurant at the foot of TaiBaiShan. The FAO ordered about six delicious dishes for the four of us, and although we ate until we were stuffed, it looked like we didn't put a dent in the dishes. Also, conversation was a bit slow and awkward. That night, the school's headmaster and a bunch of other VIPs took us to dinner at the same restaurant. Still delicious, and a teeny bit less awkward as the guy sitting next to Matthias was very interested in Germany ("how many people have cars there? How old do you have to be to drive? How are the roads?") It was a room full of men, and since I don't know much about the NBA, I wasn't of much interest to them. Still, each one toasted our arrival with Baijiu (strong Chinese liquor), but we were able to maintain our sanity by taking small sips each time...

Tangyu - nearby scenic spot

HuaiYa is indeed a small village. However, it seems to have everything we need - a small supermarket, a bustling street market, and a number of stalls/restaurants selling hand-pulled noodles and other delicacies. We have already taken the bus to the next town, which has a couple of bigger supermarkets, a bigger street market, etc., etc. And, the weather here is much, much cooler than down in Yangshuo, to my great relief. This morning, we took the bus to TangYu the tourist town at the base of Mt. Taibai (where we had lunch and dinner on Monday.) Nothing so fancy today, though....just a bowl of noodle soup, of course. Tomorrow is the first day of school, but I don't think I'm teaching a class until Wednesday. Supposedly, I find out tonight. By tracking down Lily, an English teacher who brought us shopping on our first day here, I found out that there's 'a meeting' tonight. Not sure if I'm supposed to go or if I'll just learn my fate afterward. Anyway, I'm now reachable by cell phone, internet, and land line. They'll just have to let me know.

Link to Aaron's (former teacher's) blog with photos of our apartment and HuaiYa

Don't carry a red handbag if you're traveling with a lot of monkeys, and other valuable lessons

2009-08-22T03:58:00.006-04:00

Buckland school in Yangshuo

I just finished my one-week orientation at the Buckland School to prepare me for teaching in a small town in central China. On Monday, we're leaving for HuaiYa, a village approximately 100 km from Xi'an, of Terra Cotta Army fame. We've been to Xi'an before and liked it, and it will be good for Matthias to have such a large place nearby (2 hours by bus) and it will be a good place for us to go on weekends as well. I found the orientation to be very helpful, and I it prepared me sufficiently to teach a class of 80 students! But I suppose I'm as prepared as most of the others - many of whom are fresh out of college without any teaching experience. Then again, a lot of them took the trouble to learn some Mandarin before they came. That's something I have to work on.

Orientation

We learned a lot about Chinese culture and potential problems we might encounter, and I've poured over the blog of the guy who taught in HuaiYa last year (there is a link to his blog on the left.) Probably a little too much, in that I'm making myself crazy. And that's one thing NOT to do here - just have to let things happen. I've been told that my job is relatively low-stress - I'm just supposed to help students with their spoken English. NOT to teach new grammar, NOT to prepare them for exams...they have other teachers for that. I'm also going to be some sort of a 'public relations tool' for the school - basically there so that they can say: "we've got a foreign teacher!" Works for me. Hopefully I'll be able to help some of the students get more comfortable speaking English (most of them learn the mechanics of the language just to pass exams, helps them advance in school, but never really learn to speak. I remember that from High School Spanish!)

Just a few fellow teachers (and Buckland CEO) at dinner. Watch out China!

Enough speculation - I'll have more to write about my experience once once it actually starts. But so far I'm quite happy with Buckland, which runs a few English schools and recruits foreign teachers for public schools throughout the country. The orientation was comprehensive and somewhat exhausting - starting at 8:30 in the morning and ending at 9pm (with a 2 and a half hour break at lunch.) But that's how just about everyone works here, and the kids go to school for just about as many hours per day, too. We got practical tips from previous teachers, as well as some seemingly sound advice on what we should/should not do here (the red handbag and monkeys story was about someone who had his passport swiped by a monkey (they seem to like red things.) Oh, and Chinese people (particularly men) like to drink, and often have drinking "competitions" (I have already been asked: how much beer can you drink? Not that I have ever found my limit...)It's something to beware of when school officials or other teachers invite us out to dinner. Many toasts, lots of strong alcohol. I had better stick to beer (which is fortunately pretty weak here.)

Something stronger than Chinese beer

More photos are on the Picassa Web Album site. Next posting from HuaiYa!!

Sweatin' it out in Yangshuo

2009-08-16T02:37:00.007-04:00

View from the train to Yangshuo

<p>We have arrived in Yangshuo, a beautiful town we visited a couple of years ago, where I will be attending orienation starting on Monday. So far, everything seems to be in order: we were picked up at the train station in Guilin and brought to Yangshuo, where the staff found us a cheap and good hotel near the school. The 22-hour train ride from Kunming was pretty good - we were able to get tickets for the next day out of Kunming in a four-bed sleeper compartment (two bottom beds) and we had the compartment to ourselves until after dinner (which was really good!) And, the scenery from the train was pretty spectacular.

Li River in Yangshuo

Once in Yangshuo, we met some of the other teachers (mostly younger, of course), registered at the local police station, and were left to explore the town at our leisure. Only problem is that it's too hot and humid to do much in the afternoons - then again it's probably not much hotter than NYC at its worst. But, we have walked around town, found the requisite hand-made noodle shop (which happens to be both delicious ND air-conditioned!!), and I got a bike and went for a short ride with some of the other teachers. Starting on Monday, I'm going to be busy with orienation (from 8:30 in the morning until around 8pm) so Matthias is looking forward to some quiet, free time. I'm looking forward to learning how to manage a classroom that has up to 80 students in it!

Yulong River outside of Yangshuo

This morning (Sunday) I went for a bike ride along the Yulong river. There are SO many tourists here (mainly Chinese, but also Western) that even the back roads were pretty crowded with bikes, buses, and trucks carrying bamboo rafts back up the river. The only advantage to that was that I met a young Chinese tourist named James, and we rode along the river together. He is a student from Nanjing and his English was excellent. We talked a bit about travel around China while we pedaled. By the time I met Matthias back in town I was completely covered in sweat (a huge problem of mine here - it's totally embarrassing!) We ate in the air-conditioned noodle shop and now I'm relaxing in the room, getting ready to go do my daily internet check, load pictures, and of course, post this entry. Actually, I'm posting via email so I'm not sure how the formatting/photos will turn out. Let's see....

Chillin' out in Yunnan

2009-08-09T02:29:00.008-04:00

We're about at the end of our high-altitude week-long escape from the heat in Dali. Tomorrow, we are taking a bus back to Kunming (still high-altitude, at least) and then we've got to get a train to Guilin, where we'll be back in tropical heat and humidity. Getting a train might prove to be difficult, as the tourist season seems to be in full swing. Never mind the confusion at the train station, although the nice staff person at the Jade Emu Guesthouse wrote out our request for train tickets in Chinese, so hopefully all we have to do is find the right window and hand the note to the attendant.

Courtyard at the Jade Emu

Speaking of the Jade Emu, I can't say enough about how nice it is here. The owners (an Australian-Chinese couple - Dave and Snow) have really created a haven for backpackers (as well as more "mature" travelers.) After weeks of staying in places with limited English at reception, broken or dingy bathrooms,and just generally low standards, the Jade Emu is a refreshing change! They've got everything, including Wifi, BBC, DVDs, good showers, REAL toilet paper, etc., etc. Our room is right off the courtyard/bar area, but still not too noisy, even though the guesthouse is full. We also rented the best-maintained bikes we've had in Asia.

Fishermen at Lake Er Hai

Our bike ride was really nice. Following Dave's advice, we cycled to the lake, through the narrow streets of the village of Cai-Cun, and out into the rice and produce fields, cutting back over to the lake now and then to check out the local fishermen. The next day, we hiked up the mountain, following Snow's directions. The sun was a bit too strong, and although we never found the temple or the actual tourist route, we had a nice secluded hike up and down the mountainside.

Matthias on our hike

I know this is rather late in the post for me to start talking about food, but since the restaurants here seem to be very touristy, I've been letting Matthias drag me to the same noodle shop night after night (they DO have good noodles.) Plus, I know I've got another 5 months to try other Chinese dishes - and hopefully I'll soon learn enough Mandarin to be able to order without seeing what others are eating!

Matthias at his favorite restaurant

I don't know when I'll have internet again, or when/if I'll have access to the blog, but hopefully I'll be able to write again soon about my orientation in Yangshuo and my ultimate placement. 'Till then.

Scaling the Great Firewall of China

2009-08-04T03:58:00.018-04:00

We have been in China for over a week now, and have made our way to Dali - a high-altitude, cool, touristy retreat in Southwest China. I think we're somewhere in the foothills of the Himalayas, along the route to Tibet, which is still, I think, a few overnight bus rides away. No, we're not going - we've just got time (and energy) enough to relax for about a week before setting off for Guilin, where I'll attend my teacher orientation and then get shipped out into the hinterlands for my teaching assignment. I also promised Matthias that we wouldn't take any more long bus rides "just to see another Chinese town." He has a point - traveling is not all that comfortable here, and we are lugging a lot of stuff along with us (winter clothes, gifts, etc.) Following is an account of our travels after we learned that we couldn't get a boat from Northern Thailand to China. It's not that the boat doesn't operate anymore, the agent told us that there were just no boats through the end of July - not enough people, she said. And we had to leave Thailand by the end of July or renew our visa.

Matthias on the bus to Chiang Khong

So...from Chiang Rai in Thailand we got the local bus to Chiang Khong (about two hours) and found a place to stay for the night. That was a mistake, actually, since after we booked the room, we found out there was a bus to Meng-la, China leaving early the next morning from Huay Xai, Laos. Huay Xai was just across the river from where we were, but we would have to spend the night there in order to make the bus early the next morning. So, since the bus runs only every other day, making the next available bus two days later, we decided to stay in Chiang Khong an extra night, make our way over to Laos for another night, and then get the bus to China. I don't recommend spending much time in either Chiang Khong or Huay Xai, especially in high summer, as there's not all that much to do. We were able to rent bikes one day in Chiang Khong and took a nice ride along the Mekong, before the intense afternoon heat set in.

Catfish beach on the Mekong

We booked the bus (including 'taxi' to the ferry, ferry to Laos, and transportation to the bus station in Huay Xai) through an agent in Chiang Khong - probably overpaying, but we wanted everything taken care of as the heat was starting to take its toll on our moods. Anyway, we had lots of time, and we ended up paying about half of what the boat up the Mekong would have cost.

Matthias on the bus to China

The bus to Mengla (ordinary, non-air-con bus) left the Huay Xai bus station at 8:30 in the morning, stopped in Luang Namtha for lunch at around noon, and arrived in Meng-la at around 4pm (China time - 1 hour ahead of Laos time.) We had enough time to catch a bus on to Jinghong, where we wanted to spend a few days, but decided to stay in Meng-la overnight. The hotel right at the bus station was quite nice (save for the squat toilet - though it was clean, and part of an otherwise very nice bathroom) and cheap, so we got a room and went out to get some dinner. After what seemed like quite a search, we ended up at a noodle shop right near the hotel, where the hand-pulled noodle soup thrilled Matthias. And when Matthias is happy....

The next morning we got the bus to Jinghong, a town on the Mekong River (we were supposed to get the boat here). The bus ride was smooth, but by the time we walked to the College Hotel (recommended in Lonely Planet), we were dripping with sweat. And the a/c in the room wasn't all that powerful. Actually, we were quite disappointed with the room (I was, until I found the DSL Internet cable.) Jinghong was probably a good (re-) introduction to China, but it was a bit too hot and humid in the afternoons to really enjoy roaming around. So, on our second day, we decided to spend another two nights and then head on to Kunming. After we bought our bus tickets (two days in advance, we happened upon a hotel right next to the bus station - we checked it out and found it to be nice, so we decided to spend the night before we left there, so as to be closer to the bus station. When we checked in the next day, they gave us a two-room suite for 60 RMB (about 10 bucks), with butt-kicking A/C, cable TV (one english channel), water heater, tea, etc. - all but internet.) Had we known it would be so nice, we actually would have hung around a few more days, just to eat more of the delicious noodle soups! For anyone looking for a place to stay in Jinghong, China, it's called the Traffic Hotel, just to the right as you exit the long-distance bus station.

Best noodle soup so far - in Jinghong

We took an early bus to Kunming - it was actually a sleeper bus with beds - as opposed to an overnight bus because, as Matthias rightly pointed out: (1) we can see more during the day, (2) we never get a good night's sleep on a bus, and (3) we don't save that much money by not getting a hotel. The bus was comfortable, but without bathrooms. I haven't found a blog about China yet that hasn't complained about the horrid conditions of public toilets in China, so I won't go into that now. The bus took about 3 hours longer than we expected, and we arrived in Kunming as it was getting dark. Luckily, we happened upon a decent hotel not far from the bus and train station (I'll see if I can find the name.) Very little English spoken, but pointing to the phrases in our Lonely Planet book, along with our handy picture book did the trick at check in.

Sleeper bus to Kunming

Kunming was, as advertised, much cooler than Jinghong, but as a city of 1 million, it wasn't as laid back" as I had hoped. We spent a few days walking around town - looking at stores, parks and markets - and of course trying all the food. I had the best dumplings yet from a food court stall we happened by. Can't wait to have them again when we go back (on the way to Guilin.)

Central Kunming

After a few days of exploring the city, we got the bus to Dali, and we have finally found a place to chill out for a while. It's really touristy here - the "old town" seems to have been torn down and rebuilt to cater to visitors - and the streets are teeming with (mainly Chinese) tourists. That's okay, we'll get enough of the 'real China' once we're living here.

Street in Dali

For now, we'll enjoy our super-comfy, wifi- and BBC-equipped hotel and the quiet and cool surroundings. I even figured out how to access facebook and Picassa (at least for now) so there are new photos which can be accessed by clicking the following links:

July 2009 album (new photos added at the end)

August 2009 album (new)

That's all for now. Better post this while I still can.

No Boat to China

2009-07-26T21:06:00.001-04:00

This is my first post-via-email (thanks, Stu, for setting it up for me) since I can't access the blog from China. Yes, we're here in China - not the way we planned it, as we learned that the boat up the Mekong River wasn't running (at least that's what we were told.) So, we took the alternative route by taking the bus and ferry to Laos and the bus to China. I'll write more about that in the next post. Right now, I just want to make sure that the email-to-blog thing works. For now, we are in Jinghong, China, heading to Kunming (where it is supposed to be much cooler - yay!) tomorrow. I'll write more from our next Internet-equipped accommodation.

Shoo-Fly Pai

2009-07-15T23:27:00.006-04:00

It's our last day in Pai before heading farther north toward China. We spent a week in this little "backpacker village", which has somewhat of a dual reputation. Many people say (or write on the internet) that Pai is just too touristy, full of backpackers, and not genuinely Thai anymore. Others say that it's their favorite place on earth. And I can understand both perspectives.

View from the top of Pai Canyon

Fortunately, it's not the high tourist season. That's not to say that there aren't a lot of tourists (yes, mostly young backpackers) here. There are tons of hotels and restaurants, along with travel agents touting local tours, elephant rides, and motorbike rentals. There are also lots of places offering cooking courses, which is how Matthias found someone to provide additional food and soap carving lessons. So, after one day of exploring the area on bikes together, Matthias started another round of carving lessons.

Matthias learning to carve soap

While Matthias was hard at work learning the art of soap carving, I rented a bike and explored this laid-back, beautiful area. One day, I tried to ride out to a waterfall, but the continuous (though gentle) incline and the old-fashioned one-gear bike, along with the blazing sun and humidity forced me to quit before I made it all the way up there. A couple of days later I rode out past the elephant camps, which was a nicer ride.

Elephant hanging out outside of Pai

The time Matthias spent taking lessons, or practicing on pumpkins in our hotel room, also gave me plenty of time to try to come up with a good "Pai pun" for the blog. All the good ones were already taken, of course - the I-Pod music download store here is called "Apple Pai", there are guesthouses called "Pai in the Sky" and "Pai-radise", and someone already named their blog "a slice of Pai..." So, after days of mulling it over, I thought I'd name the blog after the people in the market who wave plastic bags to keep the flies off of the food they are trying to sell. I'm sure I'll come up with something better after I post this.

Vendors "shooing" the flies away from the food

Now Matthias is practicing his art and I'm going to pack up as we're leaving early tomorrow morning. The journey takes us over the mountains back to Chiang Mai (about 3 hours) before we catch another bus up to Chiang Rai in the north. That's where we'll celebrate MATTHIAS' 40TH BIRTHDAY on Sunday.

I added more pictures of Pai to our Picasa gallery (link on the top left of this page) or here.

Spicy and Sweet

2009-07-09T03:11:00.018-04:00

Greetings from Thailand. I can't believe we've been here almost two weeks already. On 28 June, we embarked from Berlin, stopped over for 8 hours in Helsinki - where we caught closing time at the fish harbor market and scored a plateful of delicious fish - and then got the overnight flight to Bangkok. We stayed two nights in Bangkok to relax and recuperate from the flight, and then took an overnight train north to Chiang Mai.

Part of our reason for coming to Thailand before showing up for work in China (other than great eats, of course) was so that Matthias could try out fruit and vegetable carving. He had seen ads for lessons last time we were in Chiang Mai (about two years ago) so we thought we'd check it out. We went to one of the many cooking schools here and were able to book private lessons. The teacher, Aor, was great. Not only is she a skilled carver, she is an English teacher at the University here, so her English and her teaching skills were excellent.

They started by making a lotus flower out of a small tomato, then moved on to pumpkin butterflies. Not too difficult (for Matthias) so far. Next was a pumpkin rose...a bit more difficult. But Matthias did well, and really enjoyed the class. That is, until he came home and tried to do it again!

Matthias completed four two-hour sessions, during which he made various flowers out of pumpkin and two pretty amazing watermelon carvings. The next challenge (should he choose to accept it) is to practice without teacher's guidance. They both made it look easy, but it most certainly is not!

In between lessons and practicing (I was the official photographer) we did a lot of walking around Chiang Mai, visiting temples (Wats) shopping malls (to escape the heat and humidity) and markets. The weather is indeed hot and humid, with rain showers almost every afternoon. Fortunately, markets and food stalls are prepared with canopies and umbrellas, so the rain hasn't 'dampened' our enjoyment of local food - noodle soups, curries, and spicy salads. My new favorite is a local dish called Kao Soi - chicken curry with egg noodles - YUM!

Tomorrow we're off to our next destination - the mountain village of Pai. We're ready to leave Chiang Mai, but not so keen to vacate our comfy hotel room, complete with A/C, cable TV and unlimited internet access. Not sure what we'll find in Pai, which is supposed to be a more laid-back backpacker/nature-lover's retreat (I sure hope there are some A/C and cable TV lovers there as well!)

Link to trip photos on left and here.

Out of the fridge and into the fire

2009-06-27T02:52:00.003-04:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know we're leaving Germany today for Thailand (out of the cold rain and into the hot monsoons!) I'll update when I've got new stories or photos to share.

Wilkommen in Deutschland!

2009-06-02T10:31:00.012-04:00

Why is it that when I have little to do, I get so little done? I've no excuse for not updating the blog, as I've had practically unfettered internet access for the past month and not a whole lot to do. Anyway, better late than never, I guess.

Let's see...if I can remember where I left off more than a month ago...

We rode out of Austria through Bavaria, continuing along the Via Claudia Augusta bike trail, and freezing our butts off, particularly at night and in the morning at the campsites. Because it was so cold, our bikes had seen better days, and we were lugging stuff from Crete that we really didn't need on a bike ride (including this laptop computer), we decided to take the train to Matthias' parents' house once we reached the end of the trail in Donauwörth. Then, since we were so early in Germany with time to kill (we were expecting visitors in June), we decided to get the bikes fixed and go out on the road again for 10 days.

We took the train to Dresden on the 1st of May, a big holiday in Germany, with our bikes and "bob, the bike trailer" with our air mattresses, chairs and various other amenities. We spent a couple of days in Dresden (nice campsite - close to town) and enjoyed gorgeous weather, street fairs and beer gardens on the River Elbe. Our (loose) plans were to ride into the nearby parklands, perhaps into the Czech Republic, and back along the Elbe to Gommern. The weather took a turn for the worse, and once we reached the Sächische Schweiz (or the "Switzerland of Saxony" I think) we ended up morphing our excursion into more of a hiking than biking trip. We took short (but hilly!) rides from campsite to campsite, and spent a couple of days hiking around each area. The scenery there was simply gorgeous - huge sandstone formations jutting out from lush valleys. And, except for one day, the rain tended to hold back until nighttime.

We came back to Gommern on the 11th of May, went to various doctor appointments, firmed up plans for our trip to Asia, and secured an apartment in Berlin so we would have someplace to stay for cousins' Harry and Charlene's visit, while we secured our visas for Asia, and followed up on my German citizenship application. But first we had a quiet few days in the Harz, where we had a nice visit with Matthias' cousin Katja.

And, speaking of my German citizenship application....as we boarded the trail to Berlin, my mobile phone rang - it was the lady from the goverment office that processed my paperwork saying that we could pick up my new Staatsangehörigkeit (my new favorite German word!) We picked it up the next day and immediately applied for my passport, which I received last week. I am now a dual citizen. And strangely enough, my German citizenship has nothing to do with the fact that I married a German; rather, I got it (and was able to keep my US Passport) because my ancestors had to leave Germany because of the Nazis. Now we can leave the country and not worry about keeping my residency, and (at least in theory) I can now work throughout the EU and not just in Germany. Anyone know of any jobs in Andalucia? Oh, never mind, I just saw a report that unemployment in Spain is at 18%!

So, we're now in Berlin, awaiting our visitors and looking forward to seeing my CELTA (EFL) classmates again. Then, we're leaving for Thailand on the 27th of June, where we will travel around the Northern region (Matthias plans to learn fruit carving there) and then head into south China where I will attend an orientation for my English teaching gig. Not exactly sure where in China we will end up, but I requested one of two towns: one in Shaanxi not far from Xi'an, or another in Sichuan province about five hours from Chengdu. I won't know for sure until we get there. Either way, we're both pretty excited!

Breaking Away

2009-04-21T15:03:00.007-04:00

Yet another dream come true as we’ve been cycling through Italy for about a week. It’s even more of a “biking culture” than I expected, and I had to swallow my urge to say “ciao bella!” to every bike rider who passed by – like the guy in that 70’s movie Breaking Away. Yes, I dreamed I saw Team Cinzano in every group we passed – apologies to anyone who doesn’t get that movie reference. But the good news is that the bike routes are great, and (contrary to what I expected), the Italians (at least the Northern Italians) seem to be very careful and courteous drivers. We had a bit of trouble finding our way as we left the campsite in Venice – and for the whole first day for that matter – but got on the right track after a while. We passed Treviso without going into the old town for a peek (too stressed and tired) and spent the night in a nice little hotel (no campsites in the area) in a small town. The next day, the ride was much more straightforward, and more beautiful, although the route did follow a fairly busy road. We stopped in Feltre- a beautiful old city - and looked for a place to stay, but finding nothing that lived up to my standards (and limited budget) we carried on to Fonsazo, which was a smaller, cuter town, with a decently priced (50 Euro) and charming hotel.

The next day, the ride got immeasurably more beautiful and peaceful. We rode along bike paths and quite country roads, through narrow valleys and along a rushing river (the River Sugana Valley). Hopefully, the pictures – YES, THERE IS A LINK TO THE LEFT! – will do it justice. We were exhilarated and exhausted as we arrived in Lago Caldonazzo and found our campsite. I’d like to say that I was so tired that I didn’t notice that it was SO COLD AT NIGHT, and particularly in the morning. But obviously we survived.

The next day we set off for Trento, and my map was less clear about how to get there. Apparently, a new bike route is planned, but in the meantime, there is a hilly, not-so-clear route from Pergine to Trento. But at least it was much hillier (uphill, that is) going the other way, although it nearly did us in. We found our “campsite” outside of Trento, which turned out to be a one-star hotel that had a back yard…right up against the train tracks. At least there weren’t too many trains during the night, and we did have our privacy, if we lacked hot water. And, the Albergo (hotel) had a nice little bar where we had a couple of glasses of red wine. Nice.

For a complete change, we rode along a flat bike path that followed a river to Bozen (Bolzano) in South Tirol – the German-speaking part of Northern Italy. We found our campsite and WOW, what a difference. They actually have four-star campsites – with soft music playing in the sparkling clean bathrooms! And you pay….20 Euros for the two of us. And somehow, the ground is just as hard as it was in the last campsite. Anyway, we stayed there, in Bozen, for two days while we decided whether to ride our bikes up over the alps or take the train (this was the last junction) over the two mountain passes. Given the state of our bikes (my brakes, Matthias’ gears) and the load we were carrying, we decided to take the train. First, though, we took a side trip to Meran (Merano), a lovely spa town where we got new brakes and gear adjustments

Which brings us to today, when we took a series of trains to Austria, over the Brenner pass, through Innsbruck (and part of Germany) to a small Alpine town called Bichlbach (in Austria) where we found a great room for 30 Euros. And I mean a GREAT room – I’ve been looking at the Alps through my window all evening. Also, I recommend the train ride for anyone who’d like to see the area without driving – it’s absolutely spectacular! So anyway, we’re at about 900 meters high, and although the rest of the ride is technically “downhill”, we’ve still got some climbing to do to get out of here.

Again, I hope the pictures do the ride justice. There is a link to the left. Ciao!

Due Vino Rossi

2009-04-14T14:37:00.004-04:00

Woo hoo – our ferry docked in Venice and we realized we were nuts not to stop here. Luckily, we found a campsite outside of town (27 Euro per night!! and I mean that’s expensive for a tent!) with a good bus connection into town. I’m writing this now from a bridge over one of the many canals here. It’s quite a magical town.

Our ferry arrived at 9AM this morning (our sleeping area was dry and fairly comfortable) and after trying to get some tourist information etc, we rode out of town and found a campsite on our own. Then, we took the bus back into Venice and started to enjoy the beautiful day. Decided to splurge on lunch and had good seafood near the seafood market (near the Rialto Bridge, for those in the know.) I had some nice squid in ink with polenta and Matthias had the ‘menu’ of seafood. It was good. Then we took the obligatory walk over the Rialto Bridge to San Marco Square – all flooded with tourists. We continued on over the bridge to Acadamia and through the less-crowded streets toward the bus station. (Stu, Ed and Cathy – I’m thinking of you and remembering our last time here!!!) So….as it was nearing cocktail hour, we decided to stop somewhere for a glass of wine. We found a nice bar, drank our glasses and held our breath for the check….it was…2 Euros (total!) Of course, as we left, I took a picture of the place in case we’re ever here again!

Just finished eating again – a couple of pizza slices, which were quite good. Now we’ve got to get the bus back to the campsite. We’ll start riding tomorrow toward the Alps. Great pictures to come soon!

On the Road Again

2009-04-14T14:21:00.002-04:00

Yes, I now have something to write about that might be of interest to those other than relatives and my good friend Mark S. (thanks for reading!) We left Pitsidia on Wednesday, 08 April and got a much-appreciated ride over the mountain to Heraklion from our good friends Hans and Isabella. It wasn’t just that I was being lazy (though I am prone), but the road that goes over the 620 Meter high pass is narrow, curvy, and busy with buses and trucks. Anyway, we arrived safely in Heraklion and took the ferry that night to Pireaus (Athens) where we boarded a train for Corinth – once again, I wasn’t up to the challenge of riding around busy Athens.

And yes, we did eventually start riding, from Corinth to Patras, where we caught the ferry (which we are aboard right now) to Venice. After spending the night in a campsite outside Corinth, we set off along the north coast of the Peloponnese peninsula. We cycled about 60 km the first day to a campsite at Akara Beach. The scenery was lovely – we rode along the sea (or was it a bay?) with a view of the mainland and snow-capped mountains all around. And, despite the forecasts, the weather (during the day) was quite good. On the second day, we rode only about 40 km to a campsite we knew was between Akara Beach and Patras, where we would catch the ferry the next day. The site was gorgeous, but not quite “open” and ready for the season. So, as I lay in the tent listening to the waves, praying for dry weather, and trying to keep warm – I nearly enjoyed myself. When we woke up in the morning, to a bit of sunshine, I started to feel better. The secret is to keep reminding myself….I’m riding my bike through GREECE! AND I’M GOING TO BE IN ITALY IN COUPLE OF DAYS. What could I possibly have to complain about?! Well, I always find something.

The next day’s ride to Patras (only 30 km) was pretty easy, thanks to a strong tailwind. Our ferry to Venice didn’t leave until midnight so we had plenty of time eat, find an internet café, and get on each other’s nerves. The ferry, we thought, was a bargain. Only 49 Euros each for the two-night journey to Venice. Sure, we have to sleep on the floor, but we do that in the tent anyway. But then, after we awoke from a nice toasty-warm night’s sleep, we were flooded out of our sleeping area (Matthias noticed it nearly on time – his sleeping bag only got a little wet.) So, after three nights of worrying about keeping dry in our tent, we ended up with wet stuff from the ferry. Oh well…as they say (quite often) in Greece….Teenakanama (what can you do.) And I’m still in denial that our plan involves riding our bikes OVER THE ALPS to Germany. I’m just holding on to the excitement of riding through northern Italy – the rest will take care of itself (I hope.) Life is good.

Adio....Timbaki, Souvlaki, and Raki

2009-04-06T04:09:00.007-04:00

Okay - I said goodbye to Raki a few months ago (couldn't take the hangover.) But I'll sure miss the Souvlaki we have each week at the Timbaki market (photo.) It's with bittersweet feelings that we're leaving Pitsidia in a few days. We've met some wonderful friends here - we'll miss them but look forward to seeing them again - and we feel like we've become part of the community. Yesterday, I guy I hardly know (but helped move) said to me "I heard you're leaving Monday." Matthias said: "no, on Wednesday" but all I could think of was this that guy heard something about ME??! Cool!

The weather is getting warmer and more people are starting to fill the village. Actually, another room in our "apartment building" (actually, an efficiency in a building with about eight guest rooms) is currently occupied. I guess we were quite spoiled having the whole place to ourselves all winter, I think now each time I hear the upstairs toilet flush.

We've taken a stab at packing the bike bags today, and wondering how our 3-year-old bikes with umpteen KMs behind them are going to manage. Not to mention the 40 (or so) year olds riding them! But a new adventure awaits.

(no, I didn't dye my hair blonde - that's Matthias and Izabelle in our favorite Pitsidia pub.)

Almost Springtime in Crete

2009-03-24T08:36:00.005-04:00

It’s really hard to find the motivation to keep the blog, particularly since we haven’t been moving around as much, and there’s not all that much to write about. Still, I have recently learned that there are actually people out there who read this – and I might want to someday – so I’m going to try my best to keep it up to date.

We are back in Crete now after a whirlwind visit to the U.S. We went to Florida to visit my parents and pay our taxes. We also drove my parents’ van back up north, which turned out to be really nice. We took secondary roads, avoiding the highway for most of the trip, taking a longer route through Georgia, S. Carolina, N. Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania. We passed lots of small villages (some depressingly empty) and nice scenery, which we could imagine would have been much lovelier in spring or fall – particularly the routes through Georgia and Virginia. We stopped to visit family (Lou, Laurene and Josh) in Maryland, and Jennifer and Brenda in D.C. – that was great. But, unfortunately, it didn’t leave us enough time in NY to call on old friends. But we did get to see family (Sue, Dexter, Harry and Charlene) as well as some friends (Stu, Harold, Andrew, Matt and Dean) in NYC. Basically, we got to see everyone who came to visit us over the past year. Next time we’ll plan the trip better.

Did I just write two full paragraphs without mentioning food? Well, we sure got our fill of good ole’ American food – steaks, ribs, burgers, diner food, etc. We were a bit disappointed, however, during our drive from Florida to NY because the only restaurants we could seem to find were chains. And, although we were looking forward to some authentic BBQ in Georgia, we couldn’t even manage to get a beer there (it was Sunday!) We more than made up for it, though, during our two weeks in Florida.

Though it was sad to say goodbye to friends and family, it’s great to be back in Pitsidia. I’m sure I mentioned that it’s a small town with lots of expats (mostly German and British) and that everyone seems to know everyone. When we got back, everyone welcomed us, even people I’ve never spoke to before seemed to know that we were gone. Our involvement in the community also keeps growing. Since our return, I’ve been to a friend’s apartment for dinner, another for tea, and we joined in an effort to help people move into new apartments. And, one night at the pub, I lost spectacularly at Yatzee. Fortunately, there was no money involved.
Now I’m sad to be leaving here in just about two weeks. People say that the place grows on you, and that people always come back. I suppose we will someday.

But I’m excited about the next stage of our travels. We are going to ride our bikes (as much as we can) back to Germany, taking the ferry from Patras, Greece, to Venice and following the Via Claudia Augusta bicycle route over the Alps. Of course, it might be too cold (or steep!) in late April for parts of the journey, but there seems to be good train connections most of the way, and I’m not too proud to hop on when I need to! Once back in Germany (probably the middle of May) we’ll make use of our health insurance by getting check-ups and make plans to go back to Asia. We’re thinking of going to China for 6 months to one year – Matthias wants to learn some Chinese cooking techniques and I hope to be able to teach English there. But enough about that for now – anyone who knows us knows that our plans change about as much as Matthias changes sweaters (although Matthias hasn’t stopped wearing this particular sweater for about six months, so maybe that means we’re becoming more decisive!)

A day for the blog

2009-01-21T07:22:00.005-05:00

Matthias said there’d be days like these. But it didn’t seem so on Friday morning, when we were eager to ride our bikes to the market in Timbaki – about 12 km away – to buy vegetables for the week, and sit in the square and eat Souvlaki. Unfortunately, it looked like rain that morning, so we said: “let’s see what it looks like by 10AM” (when we wanted to leave.) Like clockwork, at 10AM, it started to rain and we decided not to go.

On Saturdays, they have a market day in Mires (pronounced: Mir-ez) – also about 12km away. We were concerned on Friday (well, Matthias was concerned) that if it also rained on Saturday, we wouldn’t have a chance to get cheap salad stuff for the week. Fortunately, the weather on Saturday turned out better than we could have imagined – the ride to Mires was brilliant, and after we bought our groceries, we enjoyed our souvlaki in the glorious sunshine. THIS, I thought, is why we came to Crete! It was so nice that I suggested we stop in a village we always pass through on the way back and sit on the Platia (town square, or plaza) for a drink. Matthias was up for it, and chose a little “kafenion” with a table outside. The owner was thrilled to see Matthias and speak German with him, as he had spent 20 years living and working in Germany. He took us to his orchard and gave us a huge bag of oranges and then back to the café where he poured us some of his homemade raki (distilled Greek wine.) We then rode home where we grilled some Greek sausages (okay, they weren’t so great) and vegetables in olive oil, and Matthias made calamari in garlic. As the sun started to go down we went to the restaurant owned by our landlord for a beer - but really just to sit by the fireplace (and sip the beer SLOWLY). Some people we know were there (drama – to be shared later, perhaps) and we sat with them for a while before going down to the pub. That was a treat for me, as “California Jimmy” was there and we were able to chat about American Football (go Cards? Ravens? What do I know?? They could have been knocked out by now…)

It was a great day – one that I should remind myself of whenever I start to complain about…well….anything. We had great weather the following day as well, when we took a hike over to Red Beach. And now we’re back into our weekday healthy-eating-and-no-alcohol routine (okay, I get to have one vodka with olives in the afternoon.)

And when I upload this to the Internet tomorrow, I’ll read all about Obama’s inauguration!

latest photos are here: PHOTOS

I need to update the blog but I don’t feel like it.

2009-01-10T05:27:00.005-05:00

That’s what I just said to Matthias. Sure, there’s a lot I can write about, but I’d rather play a game on the computer, watch a movie, or read my book. Also, I can’t remember what I’ve already written, and since I don’t have access to the Internet right now, I might be repeating myself. But here goes anyway…

We had a really nice xmas dinner here in Pitsidia at the local pub, which is run by Hans (from Bavaria) and Isabelle (from Poland.) So the food was traditional Northern European – duck, cabbage, potato salad and dumplings, etc. , and it was delicious. And of course the beer was flowing, as was the Raki (to add the required Greek flair to the party.) We also spent a relatively quiet New Year’s Eve at the Pub – less food but equal amounts of spirit.

But then the holidays didn’t end there. On New Year’s Day we went to a traditional gathering in the little town square, or platia (it’s triangle-shaped, actually) where the Greek version of Santa Claus (I just learned that’s an American name – developed by Coca-cola, I was told) delivered gifts to all the children. There was also a big cake – everyone got a piece and more – and somewhere hidden inside was a token for a prize. The cake was tasty, but I didn’t win the prize (or I just ate it.) There was also some music and dancing. It was fun.

The next day (my birthday) we took a bus to Iraklion – the nearest “big city” about an hour away. Unfortunately (as often happens on the 2nd of January) most restaurants and shops were closed, so I didn’t get to do my birthday eating and shopping until the next day (fortunately, I thought ahead – we stayed overnight in Iraklion.) Every Saturday, as the 3rd of January happened to be, there is a big market in Iraklion – fruits, veggies, clothes, you name it, and Souvlaki! We had fun there before getting the bus back to Pitsidia in the afternoon. Actually, the bus ride is nice in itself – the bus winds its way over the snow-covered mountains. By the way, thanks to all for the birthday greetings – it was fun to go to an internet café and get 15 birthday emails in my inbox, not to mention the Facebook postings!

Now things are back to “normal”. We’ve had a few days of nice weather and have been biking and hiking around. Hopefully, I’ll be able to include some photos here as well as on the Picasa site (link will be included here or to the left – whichever I have time for.) So, that’s all for now. Happy New Year to all!

More Holiday Greetings

2008-12-24T05:50:00.006-05:00

It’s a rainy day in Pitsidia. We thought it only rained here for an hour or so (quick storm, then sun) so during our walk today we ducked into a chapel as it started to rain. The chapel is situated on a cliff and the view was gorgeous, although it was damp and cold as we waited. An hour and a half later (despite our prayers) it was still raining, so we walked home in it. It was still lovely, and the walking kept us warm. Next time, though, we’re bringing the ponchos.

So is life in Pitsida. We’ve been going for bike rides and walks through valleys and olive fields. The weather is mostly good – when the sun is out, it’s warm. At night, or in the shade, it’s cold, and in our apartment , it’s cold and damp (built for the many months of summer heat, I suppose.) As I mentioned last time, no internet or TV here, but that means I will (or at least should) update the blog more often. Also, I’ve got lots of movies and tv shows to watch (Andrew, I got all three seasons of “Dexter” before leaving Berlin – haven’t seen it yet…hope it’s good!)

Speaking of Andrew, I can’t believe I neglected to include in the blog my family’s visit to Berlin on the momentous occasion of the Obama victory. It was great fun to explore Berlin with Lou, Josh and Andrew, and then spend all night in a bar waiting for the election results (which came at about 5AM, our time.) I think Josh posted a video on Facebook – I’ll try to put it on my profile page.

Back to Crete. In addition to walking and biking around, we’ve been out around town a couple of times and had a nice BBQ dinner in the garden. On the 25th, we’re going to a local pub (run by a German/Polish couple) for Xmas dinner. We’ve been promised a duck dinner, and Matthias is just hoping they make enough (he can easily eat half a duck!) Apparently, it’s very quiet here now; the tourists are gone and many of the long-term residents have fled for the winter. But there’s still a small community about, and a few local bars and restaurants open. Enough for us, anyway…especially since Matthias has put us on a much-needed diet. Fortunately, greek salad drenched with olive oil is on the “diet”, so I can’t complain… Speaking of which, I was just writing this to kill time until it’s time to eat….which is….NOW.

Seasons Greetings

2008-12-13T03:58:00.006-05:00

Season’s greetings from Crete! We (somewhat sadly) left Berlin nearly a week ago, waking up on our departure day to the news that Athens was under siege! We didn’t have any trouble, although we saw lots of burned out buildings and broken windows in Athens and Iraklion. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

My German language course came to an end on November 17th, the same day Matthias came back. I was sad to say goodbye to the people I befriended in the class, but I was excited to see Matthias. We met at the airport that night. Of course, the weather just turned COLD, and poor Matthias nearly froze on the way home. A few days later, Jennifer and Brenda came to visit. It was so nice to see them and we had a great time – eating, drinking and sightseeing. We even got an early taste of some of the Christmas markets in Berlin.

As the CELTA teacher training started to wind down, we all started to look forward to completing the course. It was a tough three months, but definitely worth it (in my opinion) and I’m going to miss my classmates and teachers. I really liked teaching – at least in that controlled environment – and hope I get to do it (for a living) sometime soon. So, although I was sorry to see the class come to an end, and to say goodbye to all my new friends, I couldn’t complain about our next destination.

Crete is really beautiful, and it’s so nice to have our bikes here. It wasn’t too bad taking the bike on the plane either, although it would have been really hard if I had to do it myself. When we got on the Metro in Athens, the conductor told us that bikes weren’t allowed, but we could ride with the bike if we took the front wheel off (??) Then he told us to “be careful” in Athens because of the riots (not sure how we were supposed to “be careful”) but luckily our hotel was right by the train station and all was quiet. Actually, the hotel was brilliantly located, and we enjoyed the next (sunny) morning walking around downtown Athens. Getting the bike on the Metro to the ferry terminal was another drama – because it was so crowded – but no one told us we couldn’t go…

The overnight ferry ride was nice and comfy (we were able to stretch out on three seats with our sleeping bags) but when we got to Iraklion we were worried that the bus driver wouldn’t let us put the bike on the bus. That would have meant that Matthias would have had to ride 60km over the mountain – in the pouring rain, no less – to the village of Pitsidia. But, fortunately, the bus driver was amenable. And, when we changed buses in Mires, we saw our new landlady – who let us into our apartment as soon as we arrived. The apartment is basic, but cute, and has a nice garden – it will be fine for the winter. Unfortunately – no internet (in the whole town as far as I can see.) but we’ll go at least twice a week to the internet café to maintain contact.

And, finally, the bike riding here is really nice. Though I was wrong to think that riding to class everyday in Berlin was keeping me in shape. I guess I forgot about something they call hills. That’s what makes the scenery so beautiful, I guess. We’ve been to the beach and to nearby villages, so far. And we’ve also met some nice (and interesting) folks here. Hopefully, I’ll have more adventures to report on soon.

Here's a link to a few photos. More to come (hopefully) soon. http://picasaweb.google.es/jrosenyc/December2008#

Fall Classic

2008-10-29T15:07:00.014-04:00

Before an entire calendar month goes by without an entry, I’ll add one. It’s not that I don’t have anything to write about, it’s just that….well, I don’t really know what it is!

Actually, things are going pretty damn great. Berlin is fab – Matt and Dean came to visit in September, followed by my parents, and then Matthias’ cousin (once removed.) And Matthias seems to be enjoying Greece – keeping it warm for me! He’s coming back here on November 17^th, staying for three weeks, and then we’re both flying there (with my bike in tow) on December 7^th – one day after my ESL teacher training ends. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Classes are going well. The German class (photo) is good, but unfortunately I don’t get enough practice speaking German outside of class, especially given that my ESL teacher training class is totally in English (of course.) Unless you count watching reruns of Roseanne and The Simpsons in German. As of the 17^th of November, I’ll have taken 300 hours of German (half of the government-subsidized 600 hours I’m entitled to) and I suppose my German has improved. We’ll see – the test will be if Matthias has the patience to converse with me in German….only then will I be good enough!

The ESL teacher training is HARD, but really good. The people are great, and I think I’m really learning a lot. I just had my “mid-point tutorial” and found out that I’m doing quite well, meaning if I keep trying to improve, I could “pass with a higher grade” (the better news is that if I just go through the motions, I’ll still pass!) And better still: I already had my first teaching “job”. Someone heard through the Berlin grapevine that I was taking this course and asked me to give a few hours of private lessons to a friend’s mother. My first bit of employment in almost three years! But who’s counting….

I’ve met lots of interesting people here as well, but that will have to wait for another entry (if there ever is one) since I’ve also had so many fun visitors! It was so great to see Matt and Dean. Even though they still haven’t sent me their photos (hiss!) I can report that the trip was a success – they saw lots of art, we drank a respectable amount of beer, and Matt tried some German food that would make even my father grimace. (I’m warning you, Matt – if you don’t send me some useable photos, I’m going to post the one of you eating the pig leg!) It was a great visit.

And, on the day that Matt and Dean left, my parents arrived. As an alternative to a hotel, we shared a charming, arty apartment (photo) in Friedrichshain (old East Berlin), which turned out to be a great idea since I didn’t have to worry about making time to see them (I could always meet them at home after my classes.) They did lots of sightseeing, we all did lots of eating, and I got to practice my ESL lessons on them (they’re pretty good at English, I must admit.) And, Matthias’ parents came to visit – twice! It was a great visit, and despite our ever-growing political differences, we’re still getting along quite well (and still talking on the phone almost every other day.)

So, this was the middle of October, and Berlin was enjoying a lovely stretch of great weather (which has just ended, by the way!) After my parents left (on the 11^th of October) I moved into my new apartment in another great part of town (Neuköln, for those who might know it) and had a short visit from Matthias’ cousin Sina, who just turned 18. I was nervous about the visit, since I didn’t know her that well, but we had a really nice time (at least I did) going to museums (thanks Matt for the tip on the Berlinische Gallerie – it was great!), walking in the historic district, and going out to hear live music.

Wow, I’m tired just writing about this! And now the election on Tuesday – and yet more visitors! Cousin Andrew is coming on Sunday, followed by Josh and Uncle Lou on Tuesday. There’s an all-night event here on the 4^th that I’m going to try to drag them to (hell, look out for us on CNN international!) And hopefully on Thursday I’ll be able to hold up my head in my various classes!

So, Jen - have I tempted you to get out and get those tickets?

Still Going

2008-09-13T05:33:00.009-04:00

I understand some people are still checking in from time to time, so I suppose the least I can do is update this thing, even though I'm afraid I don't have all that much (interesting) to say. But hey, I'm in BERLIN, which is pretty cool in itself. And Matthias is on his way to GREECE - also cool, but deserves an explanation.

After Matthias quit that awful job in (that boring town of) Steinfeld, I pushed for moving to Berlin, where I could enroll immediately in German classes and at the same time get certified to teach English. What I/we didn't know was that Berlin has the highest unemployment rate in Germany, so Matthias' chance of finding a (decent) job, or even something meaningful to do, was slim to none. Add that to the fact that due to a series of unfortunate circumstances, we ended up in a tiny, crappy studio apartment for August and September. So, after much discussion, we decided that since winter in Greece didn't seem like a bad idea, he would go early and (among other things) find a good place for us to set up house. He didn't plan on leaving so soon, but he found someone who was driving there and who could take him and his bike. It's only been a few days, I haven't heard from him yet, and I already miss him (of course.)

As for me, I'm busy with German classes and English Teacher Training. The German class is quite fun. I go three hours per day, Monday through Friday. The students are from all over, which makes it interesting. No doubt about it, German grammar is incredibly difficult, but since I'm not required to take a test or anything, I don't get too stressed out over it.

The English (ESL/EFL) teacher training class is quite another story. It's intense, and I'm only taking it part-time over three months (many people do it in one month!) After the first week, we already have some pretty tough assignments, and I have to teach my first lesson on the 23rd (gulp!) But the people are great, and I find it quite interesting. And of course it's good to be busy so I don't have a lot of time to miss my husband.

Speaking of busy - the visits I was hoping for are starting to materialize! Matt and Dean are coming next week, followed by my parents, and then a quick visit from Josh, Andrew and Lou in November. Though I don't have a lot of time, or space to accommodate more than one person at a time (though as of October I will have a much better studio), I hope others will consider a visit. Unless, of course, a visit to Greece sounds more appealing! But don't make plans too far in advance - with us, one never knows..... The only sure thing is that I'll be here until the beginning of December, when I hope to get my CELTA ESL teaching certificate.

Bis bald!

Obamarama

2008-07-25T16:00:00.009-04:00

Ready for this one? We are now in BERLIN! Long story short - Matthias left his job in Steinfeld and we decided to try our luck in the big city, where I would be able to speed up my efforts to learn German, and also hopefully take a course to become an English teacher - something I can do wherever we end up. Anyway, it's great to be in big city, where there are things to do, places to see, and, yes, yummy food to eat (more than a few people have commented about how I tend to focus on the food everywhere we visit. That, and how much things cost...which we'll get to later in the program.)

So, not that anyone needs to hear anything more about Barack Obama's visit to Berlin, but I was there, so I've got to add my voice to the coverage. When I arrived, I tried to think of another candidate's speech that drew so much attendance (and then I was ashamed to realize that this was the first speech that I've ever attended.) First, could it be the fact that THEY SERVE BEER and food? There was somewhat of a festive mood before the start of the speech, but I have to admit, once it began, everyone (a huge percentage of whom seemed to be American - or at least Canadian judging by the accents) stood up and payed attention. No one seemed to drink too much - including me...I only had a Radler (the name literally means "bike rider" and is a beer/lemonade mix presumably designed to make you feel like you're having a beer, but keeping you sober enough to ride your bike.) Which brings me to the second draw: I could ride my bike there! Anyway, as I'm sure everyone has heard, the event went off quite well, Senator Obama was well received (not a protester to be seen), and the press here can't seem to get over it. I've heard (from The Daily Show, of course) that the press at home can't get over it either. Click here for more photos from the event.

So, that was my excitement for the week. Now it's back to the business of finding an apartment and getting ready for classes. We had found an apartment through October, but it fell through, so we settled for a two-week rental while we look for something else. Apartments are extremely reasonably priced here - generally around $400 Euros per month for a one bedroom. Our trouble is we need to find something furnished for a fixed period (since we still don't really know what we're doing!) But so far, Berlin is great. And we're looking forward to visitors - hopefully we'll be able to find a place big enough for them!

Shrugging off the old hangups

2008-06-21T03:43:00.015-04:00

From finding new uses for the national flag to taking shots at the national mascot, I'm getting a real kick (to use a Euro 2008 pun) out of some of the differences between here and the US. Right now, the flags are out in force in Germany, not for any political reasons, but because the German national team has made it to the semi finals of the Euro 2008 Football (Soccer) championship. For those of you not following (anyone reading this, I suppose) Germany will face Turkey this Wednesday, 25 June - quite a big deal here as Germany has the largest Turkish population outside of Turkey - and the winner will play in the final match next Sunday. It's fun to see the flags, team apparel and paraphernalia all around. And I like how they can get away with doing things with the flag that might get us in trouble back in the States - like wearing it in a way that resembles a diaper, or using it to keep the rain off.

And speaking of national symbols, the Germans also have the Eagle, but I would say it's a funny looking eagle (Matthias once told me it was a chicken...he actually thought it was!) But again, no hangups about "honoring" it - as part of the local festivals they shoot at it and try to knock an apple out of it's claws (click on the photo to see the bullet holes.) Not sure what the winner gets - probably lots of beer. The local festivals are fun, adding some excitement to our rural life.

I've noticed a few differences during physician visits, as well. Not to get too much into my visit to the gynecologist, but in keeping with the theme of hang-ups (or lack thereof) there seems to be less of a need to "cover up" here. At the GYN office, they didn't give me a robe, or even a paper blanket, to cover myself after I took off my clothes (from the waist down.) I'll remember to wear a longer shirt next time.. The experience reminded me of the time Matthias had to convince his father that he couldn't change from his shorts to his bathing suit on the beach in Florida - they don't think twice about it here.

And on a less provocative subject, I was shocked when I was asked to come back to my primary care doctor just two days after my initial visit to discuss blood test results - should I wonder if he even bothered to send the blood out to be tested?

Also in the health care arena, perhaps the biggest difference is in the paperwork. Once again, I didn't believe Matthias when he said you don't fill out forms at the Doctor's office, especially given Germany's reputation for bureaucracy. But it's true: I didn't fill out a single form! And, in retrospect, the Doctor didn't take much of a history on me either. While he did ask about current ailments and family history, he didn't even ask me if I smoke (and I could have said NO!!)

So, that's it for the German medical review, except that it's good to be insured. I wanted to wrap things up with a hearty "Go Deutschland" in German to show some support for the national team, but there doesn't seem to be a German equivalent for that. I even checked an online German Language forum (after not believing Matthias when he told me as much), where I was informed that the closest thing is "Deutschland" (clap, clap, clap), or perhaps a song quote. Maybe I'll have to change allegiance -at least I can say "Viva España!"

Happy Birthday, Dad

2008-05-31T02:05:00.009-04:00

So, what do you get a man who has everything? How about a dedicated Blog entry (could go down as lamest birthday gesture ever! Although he did just ask for a Blog update, so who am I to deny a birthday wish?) Now that we both have Yahoo Messenger, we keep in touch virtually everyday, so I can just as easily give you an update on Dad's life as mine. So....

Mom and Dad (Shirley and Richard to you) came back to Highland Falls from their home in Florida in the beginning of May, stopping in Maryland for a couple of days to visit with the Davidsburgs. They opened the pool and are beginning to enjoy the nice weather in the NY area. Next week, they are going to Atlantic City for a few days (of course they got a great deal on a hotel, which includes tickets to a show.) After that, Lou and Laurene are coming to visit for a couple of weeks, and they are all going to NYC to take a "Jewish eating tour." What's not to love about that??

As for the actual birthday today, they are going to New Jersey to have lunch with relatives Mark and Emily, and then a quiet dinner at home. See, I pay attention!

As for Matthias and me...not much new to report. He's been working and I've been studying, but we've found some time to explore the area. More on that another time, though.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Where in the World?

2008-05-17T01:37:00.006-04:00

Hello! We are back by popular demand. Well, I did get two requests to update the blog (even if one was from my parents) so I guess that's as popular as we'll get. Yes, the last blog entry was back in January as we were preparing to fly back from Asia to the US, marking more or less the end our world travels. My excuse for not writing in so many months? I was waiting until we figured out what we were going to do. The answer? We're still not quite sure.

As for an update, we traveled back to the US - first to NY where we visted friends and family, and then to Florida. Actually, Matthias' parents met us in NY and we drove down to Florida, stopping in Maryland (to visit family and take a quick look at DC); Savannah, Georgia; and the Kennedy Space Center. We then spent quite a while in Florida with my parents, while we tried to figure out what to do next.

Long story short - we decided in the end to move to Germany, where Matthias could get a job and I could work on learning German and getting EU residency. We landed in Steinfeld, a town in Northwestern Germany not too far from the

Dutch border. Our immediate plans are to save some money, learn German (so I can work, too), and come up with a new plan! Matthias' job isn't great, but it seems like a decent way to get back into the job market here. And, perhaps more importantly, we now have health insurance, which we can continue (at a pathetically reasonable cost - that is to most Americans) no matter what happens with the job. We were also able to find a nice, furnished apartment here, quite close to Matthias' work. The photo is of Matthias on our lovely terrace - we're looking forward to some fun BBQing this summer. Unfortunately, though, I can't find a formal German language class that starts before September, but with internet access, I've been able to take some online courses and download some really good audio lessons. Oh, and of course there are oodles of bike trails around here - yippee!

So, now that we're not really traveling anymore, I wasn't sure whether or how to keep up the blog. But I've decided to share some of my impressions about living in Germany. Things are a bit different here - take, for example, a typical resume. It is common for Germans to put their photo on it. And not only that....they include information such as date of birth, nationality and marital status! Can you imagine how that would go over in the US, where you're not even allowed to ask if someone's married, not to mention how old they are!? Of course, that's not to say that we don't get information about someone from, say, their names (e.g., Ping Xio, or Luis Vasquez) or their graduation dates (c'mon, I know everyone has looked at this...) but it's just a bit more overt here. I think just about everything is, but I'll save that for a later entry.

Possible upcoming topics:

TV tax - yes, a tax on every TV you own - my parents would go broke!
Recycling - you need a degree just to figure it out!
Health insurance - I'll let you know how it is once I go to the doctor
Gas prices - you think you have something to complain about!!??

Well, that's all for now. Except here's our new contact information:

Matthias and Judy Rose
Weuert 15
49439 Steinfeld
Deutschland

+49 175 322 1243

So, for any of our friends who are now planning to get married in California - there's no excuse for not sending an invitation (anyway, I've had the same email address for 20 years!) Till next time.

Monkey Business

2008-01-23T21:39:00.001-05:00

This is definitely one of my favorite photos from the trip. It was taken while we were hiking in the Cameron Highlands and I dared Matthias to do the Tarzan act. I tried it, too, but with less success, and fortunately there’s no photo evidence. We are in the Malaysian town of Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands, where the weather is cool and there are a number of nice hiking trails. Otherwise, the town itself is rather boring, and we’re about ready to head off to Kuala Lumpur, where we will spend the last few days before taking off for the US.

More pictures of our jungle treks have been uploaded to the Malaysia album.

Baby, It’s HOT Outside

2008-01-19T08:24:00.000-05:00

Well, actually, it’s not that hot anymore as we’re in the highlands, in a real backpacker lodge (read: dump) with wifi internet (finally!) but more on that later.

After leaving Thailand, we spent nearly a week in the city of Georgetown on the island of Penang off the west coast of Malaysia. After spending one night in a cheap and disgusting guesthouse, we upgraded to a comfortable budget hotel, with everything we needed (a/c, clean bathroom) for still under $20 per night. And, the food in Georgetown didn’t disappoint (me, at least). With a Malay, Indian, and Chinese population, and tons of street stalls and food courts, there were plenty of delicious options, and I tried all I could. Matthias liked the Chinese selections – stir-fried veggies and noodle soups – while I went gaga over the roti, samosas, and curries. I’m not sure why spicy food and hot weather seem to go so well together, but I guess since you’re sweating anyway…

Georgetown was a nice city, but also had good transit links to nearby beaches and parks. We loved the Penang National Park, where we hiked along the coast through the rainforest and saw some cool wildlife, including varans (big lizards), monkeys and an eagle. Matthias got into trouble with one of the monkeys who didn’t seem to want to let us pass (bared his teeth and semi-charged at Matthias – not that I saw much of this as I was running away!) But my hero grabbed a big stick and made a lot of noise to shoo the aggressor away, and then dragged me reluctantly along the path. Fortunately, this was on our way out of the park; otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have gone much further! We also went up to Penang Hill (800 meters) where it was a bit cooler, and to the Botanical Garden where we were able to find some shady spots. Georgetown and environs were really very nice, but would have been nicer if it wasn’t so damn hot and humid. It was like being in NYC on one of those torturously hot weeks in August, but admittedly, it did get cooler at night (unlike in NY.)

Today we left Georgetown for Tanah Rata in the Cameron Highlands, about 1,500 meters above sea level. It is MUCH cooler here (lovely!) and there are supposed to be some great hiking trails through the jungle. There are also tea plantations and strawberry farms aplenty. Should be enough to fill the week before we have to be in Kuala Lumpur. Now that I’ve updated the blog and uploaded photos (new Malaysia album and more added to the Thailand album, including beach photos, Stu) we can concentrate on finding a nicer hotel – with or without wifi.

Potti Mouth

2008-01-12T07:52:00.000-05:00

I guess I’ve always had a dirty mind; in my adolescent years (which have never quite ended) we used to get a kick out of substituting dirty words wherever something sounded similar. So, I'm still having fun with the names of towns here in Southern Thailand. I mean, I gotta love Phuket, or at least what the American pronunciation of it would be. Then again, they say Poo-get, which at least is still a little dirty-sounding to me. And the heat is making me feel crabby in Krabi – where I’m just a ferry ride away from the beautiful island of Pi Pi (spelled Phi Phi, but pronounced “pee pee”.) I’m in potty mouth heaven! But how could I expect less of a country whose capital is Bangkok!

So I’ve been giggling my way through Thailand, but we did have a seriously lovely stop in a town called Bang Saphan where we stayed three nights in a bungalow about 10 minutes walk from the beach. Despite it being the middle of the new year holiday week, the beach was almost deserted, and we enjoyed long walks, swimming, and hanging out at the small restaurant by the water.

Then we headed to Phuket, because (besides loving the name) we had heard so much about it. But I’m afraid we should have said forget Phuket (or phucket!) – it was much to hot and crowded to enjoy (especially since we didn’t have our own transportation to enable us to escape the mainstream beaches.) Really, it was like Jones Beach or Seaside Heights during July – wall to wall chaise lounges (all full) and no shade to be had. So, after bouts of being crabby to each other, we moved on to Krabi for a nice surprise. It’s still hot here, but the town is mellow and nice, and the beaches are nice and calm, with plenty of nearby trees for shade.

And now we have almost outstayed our welcome in Thailand. Our tourist visa ends the day after tomorrow, so we are heading to Malaysia. Hopefully, we’ll find some nice places to see there. But if not, as Matthias says, we can always come back to Thailand. Our first stop in Malaysia is going to be the island of Penang, which we hear has some great food. Not that we need any more of that…

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T07:42:00.000-05:00

Happy 2008! We welcomed in the new year in Bangkok and we will be here until the 3rd of January, when we will head south to Bang Saphan, our first beach destination. Bangkok has been pretty mellow since we’ve been here – it seems that most partiers have already headed to the beach.

We had a great couple of days in the northern part of the country. On cousin Mark’s recommendation we went to Chiang Dao, just north of Chiang Mai, and it was beautiful. Much cooler, beautiful scenery (we rented bikes) and a brush with the local folks from the surrounding hills (known to tourists as the hill tribes) who came down to the big Tuesday market (yes, Christmas was just another Tuesday here.) My only regret is that we didn’t leave ourselves enough time to travel to other towns in Northern Thailand, let alone stay in Chiang Dao a little longer.

On the way to Bangkok we stopped in Sukhothai, where we spent a couple of days riding bikes around the ruins of the former capital of the Thai empire. I may have mentioned this before, but by now we have become really lazy travelers. We’ve seen so many old cities, temples and royal residences that I barely even read about the ones we are visiting anymore. And besides, we enjoyed riding our bicycles past the fields and rice paddies as much (or more) than visiting the ruins. Plus, Matthias gets incredibly impatient when I stop to photograph yet another pile of rocks.

That’s all for this installment – hopefully the beach will provide additional inspiration for future blogs!

Merry Election Eve

2007-12-22T08:03:00.000-05:00

Hello from Thailand, where it is the eve of elections (overshadowing any reference to Christmas) and the selling of alcohol is forbidden (no, that’s not the only reason I’m in the hotel room updating the blog.) We’ve come a long way since Siem Reap. First, we did visit the temples of Angkor by bicycle, which was really great. The temple ruins were really beautiful, made even more pretty by the lush landscape. I thought it was going to be more crowded than it turned out to be, so I was pleasantly surprised by that as well. Pictures of Angkor are in their own online album (link to the left) because there were so many – and I only uploaded about half of the ones I took.

I have also added more pictures to the Cambodia album to include our boat trip to Battambang. The river ride was quite scenic, but it was long and kind of hot (an open air boat – but stuffy inside and too sunny up top.) But it was really cool (meaning, great) to see the landscape, the fishing villages and the people along the way. Battambang in itself wasn’t all that great, but we did find a nice hotel and took a fun cooking class. Now Matthias can make Amok – Cambodian curry with coconut milk – if he can find the ingredients.

The bus trip to Bangkok took a whopping 10 hours, and included a 2-hour border stop (we missed the first connection to Bangkok so we had to wait for another bus.) But the bus was pretty empty and traveled fast, so I didn’t have to endure the loud techno music and videos of sexy dancers playing on the bus TV for too long. We stayed in a very cheap and basic place in Bangkok, in the backpacker district of Banglamphu. Although they gave us a much better room after we complained about the bedbugs, we realized that our days of cheap and luxurious sleeps are over. It is high season here, so we are paying more for less.

That aside, Thailand is great. We spent some nice days exploring Bangkok – wandering around the various districts on foot and by boat, and enjoying cheap eats in the markets and street stalls. Actually, I’ve eaten more shumai (pork dumplings) here than in China, and the Pad Thai and curry dishes have not disappointed. Indeed, it's not only the food that's hot – we almost decided to skip the trip to the northern part of Thailand and head straight to the beaches to cool off, but I really wanted to see the north, and the fact that the beaches are REALLY crowded (and expensive) during the xmas/new year holiday helped us make our decision. So we have come to Chiang Mai in the north (where it is still hot) and we are going back to Bangkok for New Years via the ancient capital of Sukhothai. And in the meantime, we are looking into whether we can venture out to the countryside for a few days. Chiang Mai, though more laid back than Bangkok, is quite a metropolis – trying to escape the city on bicycle turned out to be more difficult and stressful than it was worth due to the traffic. But our hotel is comfy, air-conditioned, and quiet – with internet access, so I can keep up-to-date on the Thai national election results. And of course update the blog.

Sick Day

2007-12-10T01:14:00.001-05:00

Matthias can finally feel vindicated as he has been saying for over a month now that air conditioning would make me sick, and now I have a sore throat. Of course, I think it’s the dust here, or something I picked up from someone somewhere, but we can blame the air conditioning when it makes him feel better – as long as I don’t have to give up air conditioning.

So, here I am in our (air conditioned) hotel room taking a sick day. I don’t feel too awful, but I thought I would rest up a day so it (hopefully) won’t get worse. We were going to ride our bikes to the temples of Angkor today, which are supposed to be spectacular and, considering the $20 admission fee and the distance we have to ride to, from and between the temples, I didn’t want to risk being sick and not enjoying the experience.

We left Sihanoukville a couple of days ago and stopped for two nights in Phnom Penh so we could visit the Killing Fields and the Tuol Sleng Prison, used for torture and execution during the Khmer Rouge era. The Prison, which used to be a school, had some disturbing and moving exhibits, including photos of the prisoners, some of their stories, and the torture they endured. The killing fields, where prisoners were taken to be executed, was incredibly disturbing as you could see peoples bones poking out of the earth by the mass graves. The central monument contains hundreds of skulls that were found during the excavation. I saw on CNN recently that the former Khmer Rouge officials are currently (and finally) on trial here, but it doesn’t seem that the people here are much interested (or actually believe that any justice will be done.) I heard this from an ex-pat, I feel funny asking locals what they think as I’m imagine it’s a super-sensitive subject.

We left Phnom Penh by bus and have been in Siem Reap (Gateway to Angkor) for two nights. Yesterday, we rented bikes from our guesthouse and rode around the town and through the nearby villages. It’s hot here, but not as oppressive as Phnom Penh (because it’s not a big city, I guess.) But we really miss the beach, and are beginning to see why many people up and leave their lives in the Western world for the easy life here (don’t worry, mom, I’m NOT about to do it – although Matthias is truly tempted by the ability to live well on very little. But I’m not.)

Hopefully tomorrow we’ll be able to see the temples and then we’ll be off by boat to Battanbang - a riverside town that I’m not sure is worth a visit, but the boat ride there is supposed to be nice. From there we’ll head into Thailand – a paradise by many accounts. But for now I’ll just drag myself to an internet café (being in a guesthouse with no Internet access – and no in-room TV for that matter, but plenty of DVDs to borrow!) do a quick upload of this and some photos and get back into bed – or maybe the hammock on the communal balcony. Oh, decisions!

Shore Leave

2007-12-01T21:06:00.000-05:00

Hello from paradise! We are now on the southern coast of Cambodia, in a town called Sihanoukville. Cambodia is great, just as people along the way said it would be. People are super-friendly, the food is fantastic, and of course (Matthias’ favorite point) it’s cheap. We spent two nights in the capital city of Phnom Penh and then left for Sihanoukville by the sea.

We have been here for four days enjoying sun, sand, and good food. We rent bicycles everyday and ride to the quiet beach on the other side of town – a bit of a challenge as it is quite hilly here, but it makes me feel like I deserve all the fish with coconut curry (called amok) I’ve been eating. The area in which we are staying is pretty lively at night, but thankfully our hotel room is quiet.

Matthias and I were both quite surprised upon our arrival here to see lots of young American men around. We had no idea that Southern Cambodia was a tourist destination for Americans (in fact, I couldn’t imagine that many Americans could even locate Cambodia on a map – not sure if I could have before this trip.) I was also taken aback when I saw the hotel manager ask a young Black American to pay for his room in advance in the middle of the day (we never pay until check out) thinking RACISM! But later we got the full story.

It turned out that there is a US Marine aircraft carrier in the harbor, and the Marines aboard are taking shore leave here. We learned this later in the evening when we saw scores of Marines in the local bars (many with Cambodian girls fawning all over them) including a few hanging out in our hotel bar (thankfully, without the girls.) We also found out that they went back to the ship each night to sleep – so the young Marine mentioned above must have rented the room by the hour, which made a bit more sense. According to the locals, this is the first time a US ship has visited the area – hopefully, they will leave a decent impression.

After two more nights here we are going back to Phnom Penh. I thought we had to pass through there to move on, but it turns out that’s not the case. But, we still have to go back to visit the Killing Fields, which we haven’t seen yet. Then, we’ll take the bus to Siem Reap to see the Temples of Angkor.

We have just reached the halfway point of our Asian journey – our flight to the US will leave Kuala Lumpur on January 30th. That gives us two months for Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia. Now that the weather is fine, we plan to slow down a bit, spending more time in some of the laid-back places.

Goodnight Saigon

2007-11-27T06:30:00.000-05:00

I see that I’ve been terrible about keeping up the blog. We have come all the way through Vietnam and this is our last night in Ho Chi Minh City. I guess it’s been all those rooms with cable TV… Actually, I’m picking this up the next day, as I watched a movie on HBO last night (Lucky Number Slevin) instead of writing this.

We traveled south from Hanoi (first back to Hanoi from Cat Ba island) on the “open tourist bus”, which, for 28 bucks (US), provided us with transportation to Ho Chi Minh City, with stops at all the tourist towns on the way. We just had to confirm our seats the day before we wanted to leave for the next town. The $28 also bought us sleeper tickets on the overnight bus from Hanoi to Hue, our first stop. It was pretty comfortable (see photo.) Hue was a nice town – historic as the center of one of the country’s most powerful dynasties (see photos of remains of palace complex) and as a site of heavy fighting during the American War (which is known to Americans as the Vietnam War) being near the former North/South border and DMZ. Not being war buffs, we didn’t visit the DMZ.

Our next stop was Hoi An, which is a beautiful village with narrow streets and well-preserved architecture. Unfortunately, the rainy season was extended this year and the town was subject to heavy flooding. It also rained the whole time we were there, putting a damper (or “dampness”) on our visit. We never did venture out the 5km to the beach – the weather didn’t make it seem worthwhile.

Our next bus trip was an overnighter (and we were too cheap to shell out the extra $10 each for a sleeper bus) and hellish trip to Nha Trang – a beachside resort town. Again, the rainy weather didn’t allow us to enjoy the beach, but we did enjoy walking through the town during the breaks of good weather. After two nights in Nha Trang we were off to Dalat, a touristy village in the mountains north of HCMC – about 1500 meters high. The weather was nice and cool, and the bus ride was incredibly scenic, but we weren’t thrilled with the town.

As for HCMC (Saigon), we were a little concerned that the city would be totally overwhelming (like Hanoi) with the screeching traffic, and high-pressure sales pitches. Well, we both liked it better than Hanoi – perhaps because we were used to the traffic and the hawking by then, but we also had a nice hotel in a good location, and the weather began to improve. We visited the Ho Chi Minh museum to learn a bit about the man’s life and legacy (he’s an icon here) and the War Remnants museum, which documented the atrocities of the American/Vietnam war. Chilling, especially as I kept thinking we (America) didn’t learn a damn thing from the experience.

And now we are in Cambodia, having taken the bus directly from HCMC to Phnom Penh. We didn’t get here until late afternoon (yet another case of a 6-hour bus ride taking more than 8 hours) but so far it looks nice. Fortunately, though, the movie on HBO tonight (the Ice Harvest) isn’t al that compelling, so I was able to write this….
Will try to provide more frequent updates in the future.

XXXXL – Living Large

2007-11-14T20:32:00.000-05:00

Yes, that was the size on the tag of the bathing suit I bought in Cat Ba, Vietnam. And, it is one of those grandma editions – with the skirt and all (though I have to say I love how it hides my “trouble spots”.) Actually, I think I’m about as large as they come here, which is sobering, but on the other hand, my feet actually touch the floor when I sit in most chairs, so I’ve got the right height, at least.

Even more sobering, though, is the fact I am “living larger” than just about everyone here. While I don’t think anyone is starving here (seems to be plenty of food to go around), these people work HARD! Looking out our hotel window on Sunday morning (okay, over the fabulous balcony) at 6AM, people were all over the place. They seem to work from before dawn to after dusk, 7 days per week! And for not much, I might add. As I’ve been complaining that people haven’t stopped trying to sell us stuff since we’ve been here, I had to take pause today when a cycle/rickshaw driver was following us around trying to get us to take a 1-hour tour with him….for ONE DOLLAR. We weren’t in the mood to do it, but Jeez, part of me feels like I should have given him the damn dollar anyway.

So, as I enjoy 40 cent beers and delicious 10 cent spring rolls (really yummy!), and complain about the lousy performance of the US Dollar, I need to remind myself that I am only able to do this because others have way less than I do. And when the bedbugs to bite, and the people in the street annoy us with constant hawking of t-shirts and tours, I’ll try to keep all this in mind.

Hello?! Hello! Hello!!

2007-11-11T21:11:00.000-05:00

That’s all we’ve heard from everyone here - all the way from Shanghai. It usually means - Stop, I have something to sell you. "Hello, Bambo raft?" "Hello, Moto ride?" "Hello, bicycle?" Or it’s from a bunch of kids trying to get us to say it back (kind reminds me of when I was a kid and we would pass a truck on the highway and try to get him to sound the horn….) But I have to say, it’s getting annoying! But enough complaining - life is actually pretty great.

We spent nearly a week in Yangshuo, where we rented bicycles and rode through the countryside. It was simply gorgeous! And it was nice to stay somewhere for a while. After that, we had a nice voyage to Vietnam - a five-hour bus ride to Nanning, where we stayed overnight and bought tickets for the next day to Hanoi. Another six-hour bus ride (with stunning scenery) and we were in Hanoi, where the hard sell was on! Probably the most stressful city I’ve been to (yet.) Everyone wants to sell you something, and the first price is most definitely not wha
t you want to pay. Just walking down the street is an adventure - with all the bicycles and motorbikes going every which way, leaning on their horns to try to persuade others to get out of the way. Our hotel in Hanoi wasn’t much of a haven, as the owner kept trying to sell us (overpriced) tours at every turn (free breakfast was included, but I think it was just so he could use the time to pressure us into going on a tour!) Oh, and I haven’t mentioned the BED BUGS yet. I’m pretty sure I got all these bites on my arms from the hotel in Hanoi…I just hope they haven’t hitched a ride with us by crawling into our bags…I guess time will tell.

After just two nights in Hanoi, we high-tailed it to Halong Bay and Cat Ba island. The easiest way to get here (and anywhere in Vietnam, it seems) was to book a half tour. Most people come here on three-day, two night excursions, but Matthias really hates that sort of thing, so we just booked the trip here (traveling with the tour group on the minibus from Hanoi, the "junk" boat to the island, and a night in a hotel. We switched hotels the next day, finding a great place with private balcony overlooking the bay for just $8 per night! We rented Kayaks yesterday (see photos), and we plan to go to the beach today. And the weather has been great (so far) so all in all, Vietnam is good.

In two days we’re heading back to Hanoi and then down the coast - first stop is Hue. Will update again in a week or so.

Puppy Chow

2007-11-02T09:06:00.000-04:00

I thought it was a myth that the Chinese eat dog, but now that I've seen it, I've gotta believe it. We haven't eaten any (at least that we know of - I believe it's a "delicacy" so I can't see dog meat showing up in any of the cheap food we eat.) We have seen them in the market - Matthias even took a gruesome photo but I didn't post it (didn't want to offend anyone - and in light of recent events concerning Michael Vick, I don't want to take any chances!)

We are now in the city of Yangshuo in southern China, which has (besides dog on the menus) plenty of dreamlike scenery and loads of tourists, but first how we got here…

After Xian, we did get first-class seats to Shanghai. Actually, the whole train was first-class – it was a high-speed intercity train (top speed about 230 km per hour) and we had cushy reclining seats with foot rests. A far cry from the hard-seat class mentioned previously. Even the waiting room was a pleasure… Shanghai was fun. Our hotel was great and though it was not right in the center, we were happy about that after we went downtown and had to constantly fight off the people trying to sell us stuff (and Matthias still hasn’t forgiven me for directing us to a touristy restaurant where we had to pay about $3.50 for mediocre dumplings. The HORROR!) But we did get to go to Citibank for a fee-free cash withdrawal which should be our last in China. Additionally, the markets and restaurants near our hotel were pretty cool (so I had my fill of really good dumplings – for about 50 cents per dozen.) And we were able to get first class (sleeper) train tickets for our 24-hour journey to Yangshuo on the date we wanted.

Even luckier was that no one came to fill the other two beds in our train compartment, so the train ride south to Guilin was pretty comfortable. From Guilin, we had to take a two-hour bus ride to Yangshuo, and of course someone immediately tried (and partially succeeded) to rip us off as we left the train station. The guy led us to the bus and charged us 20 Yuan (about 3 bucks) for the ticket (which I still believe cost only 10 Yuan.) And then when he gave me the change, he shorted me another 20 Yuan, but I was able to catch up with him and demand the rest. So, feeling semi-victorious, and semi-ripped-off, we arrived in Yangshuo.

Yangshuo is situated in a river valley between incredible limestone hills that seem to jut up out of nowhere. The mystic scenery seems to be right out of a kung-fu film. I can’t really describe it, so you’ll have to see the pictures (or Google it to get even more photos and info.) Of course, because it is so beautiful, it is über-touristy and the town is overrun with tourist restaurants and hotels, but that is also why we got a great deal on a place here. We have been here for two days and will stay about a week before catching the bus toward Vietnam. While there are a few photos of Yangshuo on the web album linked to the left, I’ll give the full report after we’ve spent more time here. Until then…

Chinese Red Light

2007-10-23T18:11:00.000-04:00

I've been wondering where the term "Chinese Red Light" came from, especially after noticing that not only do the Chinese not get out of their cars at red lights, but they rarely even stop! Yes, crossing the street, or riding in taxis and buses is pretty adventurous here!

We took an overnight train from Beijing to Pingyao, which turned out to be quite an uncomfortable experience - they didn't have any sleepers available, so we ended up sitting all night (12 hours) in tight quarters. Fortunately, the people we sat with were pretty small. It was a "real" Chinese experience I guess (as Matthias' mother points out), but I'm holding out for sleepers on the next overnight trip!

Pingyao was gorgeous (pictures on http://picasaweb.google.es/jrosenyc/BeyondBeijing) As the guidebook points out, it has a "movie set quality" and is extremely touristy. But it is one of the only wallled cities in China that is well-preserved - pretty much the way it used to be centuries ago - with scores of traditional dwellings and courtyards and without modern development. A mixed blessing, as the town was too poverty-stricken over the past 100 years to develop, but the residents now benefit from growing tourism. We spent two days here, walking around one day and biking the other. It was great.

We took the bus from Pingyao to Xi'an, which ended up taking 8 hours instead of the normal 6 hours due to construction .Matthias was happy, though, as the detour sent us through small mountain villages- infinitely more interesting than scenes from the expressway.

In Xi’an we enjoyed walking through the Muslim Quarter, which had lots of street food and merchandise on offer. We also went to see the Terra Cotta Army – touted as the eighth wonder of the world (probably because it was discovered only after the other seven were already chosen….) It was pretty impressive – an army of over 6000 life-size soldiers (no two alike) created in 200 BC. But we agreed that it wasn’t necessarily something we needed to see in person. Unlike the great wall (or the grand canyon for that matter) it’s not that much more impressive to see in person than to see in a film or book. Still, we enjoyed our visit to Xi’an.

Our train ride to Kaifeng was a different story, however. Since it was a day trip (about 8 hours) we decided we could handle what they call “hard seat” class again, but it was simply awful. The train was packed, and although our seats were numbered sequentially, they were in different rows so we didn’t even get to sit together. Was a pretty rough eight hours, but we made it to Kaifeng just in time to check in to our hotel and catch the impressive night market in action. Kaifeng is located on the “silk route” between Xi’an and Shanghai, served as capital under a few old dynasties, and is a veritable market town. We walked the streets all day, checking out the fruits, vegetables, meats and wares for sale. And at night, they set up an additional market in the main square (fortunately, right by our hotel) with what seemed like hundreds of foods stalls. I had some pretty good dumplings with my beer, while Matthias sampled the bugs on a stick (see photo!)

We are now in Zhengzhou, which we only came to because our train to Shanghai leaves early tomorrow morning from here. We are traveling (I believe) “soft seat” class – which should mean comfortable seats and no overcrowding….we’ll see. Zhengzhou is a pretty big city by most standards (except China’s I guess) with 2 million inhabitants. We didn’t see much here (the temple where kung fu supposedly originated is nearby, but we didn’t go) but we did have a fabulous dinner at a Peking Duck restaurant. We were truly delighted, especially since both of our parents were disappointed with the Peking Duck they had when they were in Beijing, as the food was as good or better than the Peking Duck in the famous NYC restaurant, the service was great, and the bill came to a whopping $12. Fun to splurge now and then.

Banned in Beijing!

2007-10-18T20:42:00.000-04:00

It was a great surprise to reach our budget hotel in Beijing and find a DSL line in the room to get on the Internet! So, I updated the blog with the last entry, uploaded photos and then tried to look at what I had done, but I couldn’t access the completed blog. Not sure if it’s just this connection, or whether we are just not permitted to view blogs here (tried some other blogspot sites, but couldn’t view them either.) Anyway, doesn’t matter…just another excuse not to go back and fix typos…

We arrived in Beijing three days ago. The Mongolian train from Ulan Bator was truly first class, and had a lot more tourists on it than our train from Moscow. Scenery was awesome, and though the border crossing took a long time, all went well.

I’ve got a really great first impression of China. Beijing is quite nice – our hotel is better than I expected (for the $25 per night we are paying!) and people are super-friendly, even when they don’t speak English – or at least I think they are being friendly… Our hotel is a bit out of the central tourist district, but this bodes well with us, as we like this area better, and we are close to the subway and still walking distance (45 min) to Tienemen square (I know that’s misspelled, but I’m too lazy to look it up now.) As the pictures (which have been added to the latest album by now) show, we have visited the famous square, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall. Poor Matthias, he just hates going to these tourist sites – with their hefty entrance fees – but is afraid of getting back and having to face people who ask: “so, how was the great wall?” if he doesn’t go. As for me, I enjoyed seeing the sights, almost as much as walking around the different neighborhoods.

We have been eating well, also. Matthias is still thrilled with the prices. Our eating strategy includes street food when available, and then going into restaurants where others are eating, so we can just point to the food that looks good. Of course, that can be a problem when Matthias wants to eat supper at 5:45 and no one else is eating yet! But we have managed.

Tomorrow, we are taking a night train to Pingyao – a town I read about in the Lonely Planet guide, about half way to Xian. Unfortunately, sleeper carriages weren’t available, so we will be in the crowded seat section for the night (a far cry from our first class transSiberian experience, I think. But hopefully we’ll have a decent ride and be able to book more comfortable accommodation for our onward journeys. At least the hotel/hostel accommodations throughout China look like they’ll be both nice and affordable. That definitely helps!

Will post this and the photos soon (Internet in the room doesn’t seem to be working tonight.)

Crossing over

2007-10-14T10:07:00.001-04:00

Hello from Asia! I’m writing this in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, but will probably post it from China. We have had a nice first two weeks of our latest adventure – mainly getting here. We left Germany on 29 September – taking the train to the port town of Rostock, where we spent the evening before getting the ferry to Helsinki and Tallinn at midnight. Matthias was sick with a bad cold, so that put a damper on things (at least for him), but the ferry ride was nice. Unfortunately, we had unwittingly booked the connection from Helsinki to Tallinn too close to actually get out of the port and see the city, but since we arrived there at 6am, it was raining, and Matthias was feeling poorly, it probably wouldn’t have been great sightseeing anyway (but since I did get off the ship, Finland gets added to the list, right Jen?)

We arrived in Tallinn around noon and found our cushy hotel near the train station and old town. The weather cooperated somewhat and we were able to walk around the old town checking out the sights. Lovely city!

The next day, our train for Moscow left at 5PM, so we had time to walk out of town to a nice park and back through the old town. We only booked seats on the overnight train to Moscow, which was probably a mistake, but the time passed quickly enough and we made it without too much hassle (or too much sleep!) Our hotel was outside of town, but the metro in Moscow is pretty good, so we found it easily enough (once I figured out how to recognize station names in Cyrillic letters!) Actually, I was once again amazed at the metro in Moscow…not just because the stations are beautiful, but because of the HUGE crowds it handles. We had to go to the train station the next day at rush hour and we were literally carried along with the sea of people. (I would have taken a picture, but I was afraid of being pick-pocketed!) I mean, if/when we have these swarms and bottle-necks in NYC, people get crazy – but I think the people of Moscow are used to it. No pushing or shoving, just marching along with a sense of “what can one do?” And I think it’s like that every day. I would kill myself!

But after the crowds, some rain, and confusion trying to locate the station and train, we grabbed some delicious fast food and got on our train – into our first class compartment. YAY! Okay, first class just means that there are two beds, but it was exciting nonetheless. We were on the train for four days and five nights to Ulan Bator. The scenery was pretty awesome – especially nice because it was fall and the leaves were changing. Not that it was the most spectacular that I’ve seen, but it was also fun to go to the dining car and meet fellow travelers (not as many as I expected, though) and to get off at the stations and buy food on the platforms. We reached Lake Baikal on the third day – also lovely, but by that time we were ready to get off. Just had to get through 6 hours at the Russian/Mongolian border crossing and the next morning we were there.

Ulan Bator is an interesting city – what I believe to be a cross between a Russian and Chinese city (but I haven’t yet seen a Chinese city, so I don’t know yet.) We stayed here for four days, but didn’t take a trip to the countryside (a cross between Matthias’ cheapness and my laziness – maybe we’ll be sorry some day, but the weather seems a bit cold for camel riding or sleeping in a felt tent with fellow backpackers.) But we have enjoyed our time here, eating cheap food and seeing the sights, including the huge market, selling everything from chicken (live and butchered) to fashion boots. Always a highlight for Matthias, we are looking forward to more markets across Asia. So, I’ve got to get to bed as our train for Beijing, which crosses the Gobi desert and Great Wall, leaves at 8AM.

New links to photos on the left!

Eastward Ho!

2007-09-28T04:04:00.000-04:00

Well, tomorrow we head off toward China, equipped with visas, passports, heavy guidebooks and some confidence that we'll be able to navigate around once we get there. We take the train for the Baltic coast tomorrow and from there hop on a ferry to Helsinki (and onward to Tallinn, Estonia.) From Tallinn, we'll take the train to Moscow, where we'll stay for one night and get our train to Mongolia on 04 October. From there we need to figure out our way to China and beyond. Guess there will be a lot of time for reading on the train.

Will be lugging the computer along with us, so hopefully I'll be able to write more often. Till next time!

Visa bills

2007-09-11T11:08:00.000-04:00

We are still in Gommern, Germany getting our visas in order to make the trans-Siberian trip to Asia, and to travel around Asia. It’s a pain and a lot of money – involving multiple trips to consulates in Berlin – but I assume it will all be worth it to cross Russia and Mongolia to China, and then visit places like Vietnam and Cambodia (all of which require visas!)

We are also excited to have my parents visiting. We spent a lovely week together exploring Gommern and the Harz. Now they are in Prague and will return for the weekend before they leave (from Berlin.)

For those who haven’t seen the blog lately, the next entry is a summary (or a bit more than a summary) of our summer bike trip, and the links to the full photo albums are on the left of this page. For those who have been keeping up (anyone? anyone?) I also just added some additional observations from the summer tour further down the page (dated August 20, after the next entry.) Enjoy!

Summer in Review

2007-08-21T11:28:00.000-04:00

Now that the summer bike tour is finished, I thought I should recap. After all, this is supposed to be a travel blog…not just a place for my periodic musings/complaints (or is it?) Despite the less-than-ideal weather this year, I really enjoyed the trip and would do another bike tour in Europe in a heartbeat.

Just read through the blog entry I wrote just before our trip (Gearing Up) and realize that we actually followed our planned route this summer (and then some.) And the equipment carried by Matthias in the bike trailer really did make a difference – it was great to have the chairs for nights and mornings at the campsites, and the sleeping mats were, well, greatly appreciated. We camped almost every night, except for a few nights spent on ferries; the night we arrived in Bergen, Norway; Matthias’ birthday in Hamburg; and one really rainy night in Germany. The extra equipment helped us to endure the rain and cold weather, but the bad weather caused us to complete the route much earlier than expected – our dreams of finding an ideal spot by a loch or Fjord and camping for a few days were pretty much dashed. I mean, we saw lots of ideal spots, but it’s no fun when it’s raining or cold.

Here is sort of a summary of our trip – I’ve probably written about a lot of it already, but I wanted to get the story all in one place.

We spent 85 days on the trail and rode over 4,800 kilometers (about 3,000 miles.) We left Gommern on 18 May and rode on the Elbe River bike trail to Hamburg, through a section of Germany (the “Altmark”) known for growing Asparagus. Then we caught the North Sea Cycle Route, or NSCR, which took us further up the Elbe to Cuxhaven on the North Sea coast of Germany. We rode along the North Sea, through East Friesland (pronounced East “Freezeland”) where we came across some of the most friendly Germans we have ever encountered. The North Sea is interesting here because the tide goes way, way out and you can walk for miles in the mud to little islands off the coast. We continued on to Holland, where the route traveled along the dikes through Friesland (or I guess this would be “West Friesland”) I already mentioned the sheep – seemingly millions of them – grazing along the dikes. Apparently, they keep the grass growing and the dikes secure. But it did get a little tiresome pedaling through their poop and going through an endless number of gates (some areas had gates with openings for bikes (with grates along the bottom so the sheep couldn’t pass through) but others had swinging gates…quite annoying with bikes and even more so with the trailer.

About halfway through Holland we crossed the Afsluitdijk – a 32-km long dike to North Holland, where the landscape changed considerably. We were no longer riding along dikes, but through the dunes. The dunes and beach resorts surprised me – didn’t know they existed in Holland – and were full of Germans (funny, because campsites in Germany are full of Dutch.) As we neared the Belgian border, we stopped in towns that seemed more “typically Dutch” to me, such as Middelburg, with canals, cobbled streets and old buildings.

People following the entire the North Sea Cycle Route would typically take a ferry from the Hook of Holland to Harwich and then ride along the east coast of England to Scotland. But since Scotland was our original goal, we decided to ride on to Zeebrugge, Belgium and take the ferry directly there, skipping England altogether (turned out to be a good choice, given that while Scotland was cold and rainy, England was actually flooding!) From the border of Holland, it was a short ride to Brugge, where we spent two nights (arriving a day early for the ferry.) Brugge (or Bruges) is a really beautiful medieval town – chock full of tourists from all over - including many Americans (although I don’t know many Americans outside of those who have been there who have actually heard of it!) Our ferry left at 6pm, and the ride from Brugge was pretty fast and easy, so we made it with plenty of time to spare for grocery shopping (smart travelers brought their own food on the ferry as the food on board was expensive and probably not all that good.) We had booked “airline seats” for the overnight journey, but as usually occurs on these types of ferries, most passengers slept wherever they found space, such as in a sleeping bag on the floor or on one of the couches in the lounges. So, being able to lie down, I was able to sleep pretty well.

When we arrived in Rosyth, Scotland, it was already threatening to rain, and we decided to head north on the trail instead of going out of our way to Edinburgh (big cities- unless they are particularly bike-friendly – are kind of a pain anyway with the packed bikes and the bike trailer.) I had some trouble following the map at first, and the trail signs weren’t all that good, so we got kind of lost on the way to Kinross, our first destination. Good thing we only planned to ride about 15 miles that day! With some guidance from two local fellows who stepped out of a pub for a smoke (non-smoking law in effect in Scotland), we found our way. It started pouring during the ride, and having survived that and our first major hills of the trip, after arriving at the campsite we decided to visit a Scottish pub for comfort. This was to become somewhat of a trend.

We were blown away by the beauty of the countryside in Scotland (not just the wind) from the moment we arrived there. Following the trail became easier as the signage got better, I got better at deciphering the map, and we got used to riding on the left. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate, as I’ve gone on and on about. After Kinross, we crossed through the Kingdom of Fife, with its beautiful rolling hills, to Dundee and then along the coast to Aberdeen, where we spent two days, not because we were particularly interested in Aberdeen, but because it rained like crazy. From Aberdeen, we crossed through the countryside, stopping at a cute little campsite run by a farmer in the middle of nowhere (Ythanbank – even Scots haven’t heard of it.) The campsite was recommended to us by a cyclist who was doing the NSCR trail in the other direction (she was from Holland and had already been through Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.) She said we should call first so that we were expected and so that we could get directions. I called from a pay phone, but was only able to leave a message (without a callback number, of course.) Then, as we got closer, I stopped a local to ask for directions, but he had not heard of the town or campsite, so we were about to look for another pay phone when a car pulled over and someone hopped out and said “Would you be the two who are looking for the campsite?” It was the owner of the campsite who happened to be passing by. He gave us directions and told us he’d be back in a few hours. What a relief, as it was quite a haul to the next campsite, and the weather wasn’t really conducive to wild camping. So, we camped in his field, next to the ponies, cows and chickens, and got to use his daughter’s playhouse for shelter while we ate dinner. Anyway, if you ever find yourself near Ythanbank, Scotland, I recommend the campsite.

The route took us back to the sea at Banff and continued along the coast, where we spent a few very windy evenings huddled inside our tent, to Inverness. Although we had technically been in the Highlands for quite a while, for us, Inverness seemed to be the gateway to the “real” Highlands. After Inverness, it was a short, but hilly ride to Dingwall, which I thought would be a nice typical Scottish town where we could go out. It was, which was a good thing, since the rain picked up and we ended up staying three nights at the campsite there. Besides visiting all the pubs, catching a concert of traditional Scottish music at the Royal British Lodge, and spending more than our share of time at the local 24-hour Tesco supermarket, I think we met just about everyone in town.

The next few days were probably the most scenic of our time in Scotland. We traveled through the highlands past Tain and Lairg and up through the hills through Altnaharra and back down to the northern coast at Bettyhill. This stretch is where we would have liked to have spent more time camping, fishing, hiking, etc., but the weather didn’t allow for it, so we pretty much rushed through so that we could get the ferry to the islands and beyond.

I kind of screwed up on the ferry thing. The plan was to take a ferry to the Orkney Islands, then another to the Shetland Islands and then a third across to Bergen, Norway. While this did eventually work out, it turned out that the ferry from Lerwick (Shetland) to Bergen went by way of the Faroe Islands (halfway to Iceland!) and then back to mainland Scotland before getting to Bergen. So, a week after leaving Scrabster on the mainland for the Orkney Islands, we were back it its port on our way to Norway. Still, though it was more costly, I don’t think I regret going to Orkney and Shetland because they were both beautiful, although we only spent a day in each (again, due to the weather.) I’m sure the Faroe Islands were beautiful, too, if only we could have gotten off the ship, or seen more of them through the rain and fog! So, the ferry from Lerwick to Bergen ended up taking three days (two nights). We had berths in a six-berth cabin in the bowels of the ship and, fortunately, on the second night, we had the cabin to ourselves. I slept quite well both nights.

When we got to Bergen, it was raining (of course) so we spent the night at our first inside accommodation of the trip – a cozy and cute B and B in a nice part of town. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go out on the town as the prices were outrageous. The next day we headed out of Bergen in the rain into the fjords. As I’ve written before, the scenery was gorgeous, but the bad weather didn’t allow us to stop, or take any good photos. Fortunately, when we finally arrived at the campsite, it turned out to be beautiful. The next morning was quite nice, but the route was so hilly that when we arrived at one campsite around noon, the thought of riding another 50 km was daunting and we decided to stay there, although there was nothing around to do and it started raining in the afternoon. The next day, we rode in the pouring rain to Haugersund, where we learned that the weather was not expected to get any better. So, we decided to ride on to Egersund (another 100 km) and take the ferry from there to Denmark, instead of riding all the way down the coast to Kristiansand. But the next day, my bike started to feel really weird, and about 25 km from town we notice that my back wheel was basically broken. I could ride on it, but it was incredibly wobbly. So, we decided to head back to Haugesund and get it fixed, instead of risk getting stuck in the middle of nowhere. We then also decided, based on our experiences so far in Norway, just to take the ferry from there to Denmark, where we could get south more quickly, and – hopefully – away from the rain and cold.

The overnight ferry to Denmark involved (once again) sleeping on the floor in the “reclining seat room” and waking up in Denmark, where the rain was light, but the wind was fierce. The NSCR trail was well marked, but I was dismayed that after riding about 30 km, we were only 12 km from where the ferry left us, because the trail winds through scenic areas to give a nicer cycling experience (when the weather is good!) Actually, we passed some really lovely areas, with nice facilities (shelters, toilets, water) for wild camping, but it was too early for us to stop. So we continued on to a campsite, where we had to buy a camping card, in addition to paying quite a bit for the privilege of staying there. We weren’t all that interested in seeing much in Denmark, but in making it back to Germany, where we could afford more comforts (food, drink, beds) so we rode pretty quickly through the country. Fortunately, the bike trails were nice and well-marked, and the weather didn’t’ treat us too badly, save for a couple days of horrendous wind and some light rain.

We arrived in Germany on July 14 and decided that once we found a campsite we would go out on the town, something we hadn’t done since Scotland. Unfortunately, the campsite in Dagebull was nice, but the town boasted exactly one bar (a hotel bar) and zero ATMs – we had forgotten that we had very few Euros on us. So, we ate a couple of Matjes brots (herring filets on baguette) at little snack bars and then had dinner at the only restaurant that accepted credit cards – a mediocre meal. Oh well.

For our next outing (Matthias’ birthday) we wanted to be sure we would be in a place where we could have fun, so we rode more or less directly to Hamburg, which took about three days (more details in the July 20 entry below.) Since at this rate we would get back to Gommern about a month earlier than expected, we thought of extending the trip by taking the train across Germany to the Austrian border and riding into Italy along the Via Claudia Augusta, where we thought there would be less rain and much warmer temperatures. But, when we got to the train station at Lauenburg (south of Hamburg) we both decided that it would be too much hassle – with the bikes and the trailer – to head so far south on the trains. Also, we weren’t sure our bikes/equipment would hold up, and didn’t want to get stuck so far away. Plus, the weather was had already improved in Germany. So, we decided to ride back down the Elbe river to Matthias’ parents’ house, recuperate, repack, and continue down the Elbe toward Prague. I was excited to have some different clothes to wear! Also, we figured that if it rained in the Czech Republic, we could more easily afford to get a hotel and go out for the evening. We spent two nights in Gommern and then headed out again.

We had a nice first day of riding…approximately 100km to Lutherstadt Wittenberg, where Martin Luther made his famous proclamations that started the reformation. After that, we had two days of horrible rain – pouring down virtually all day. At the end of the second day of rain, I had sort of a mental breakdown, and we eventually found a room for the night (35 Euros including breakfast…not bad!) When it cleared up the next day, we were able to enjoy the scenery of the Saxon wine valley on our way to Dresden and the Czech border. The ride was quite beautiful in Czech Republic, where we experienced our first taste of summer. The trails were pretty well marked, and consisted of a few rough, unpaved paths, some dedicated paved bikeways, and stretches along minor roads. We slowed down a bit, enjoying food and drink in the Czech towns where we camped. For the most part, the campsites in Czech were quite nice…we even found a good site in Prague, where we spent two nights.

After Prague, we decided to ride further along the Elbe (Labe, in Czech) river (the Elbe bike trail veers off along the Vltava river to Prague.) Unfortunately, the trail here got pretty rough – unpaved and very rocky trails along the river (thankfully it didn’t rain!) We made it to one campsite near Stara Boleslav/Brandys, which was “rustic” (like the campsites I remember in America) with pretty disgusting bathrooms, no showers, etc. So, we decided to head back to Germany, again taking our time to enjoy the ride on the way back. Of course, after one day back in Germany, the rain started again, so we rode a day in it, and then threw in the towel, so to speak, and took the train back on August 12.

So, that was our trip this summer. Now we are working toward the next (probably last) phase of the trip – to Asia. We are going to take the trans-Siberian train across Russia to Bejing, travel by rail around China, and head down to Southeast Asia (probably Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.) Then our plans kind of fall apart – hopefully we’ll meet some fellow travelers that will give us some ideas. It would be great if we could go to Australia and come back to the US over the Pacific, stopping off here and there along the way. But that will depend on a lot of things, including how much money we have left, how much it costs, how tired we are, etc.

Observations

2007-08-20T11:14:00.000-04:00

Just can't seem to say enough about the bike ride. Here are some of our general observations from the trip....

Nature and Wildlife
Have I mentioned sheep? While everyone told us that in Scotland we would see tons of sheep, we saw many more in Germany and Holland. And when we did packaged lamb meat in the supermarket in the Shetland Islands (famous for sheep, I thought) it was from New Zealand! We also saw more Highland cows (the wooly ones) and Shetland ponies in Germany than we did in Scotland. Indeed, overall, we saw the widest variety and largest numbers of animals in Germany, from storks and partridges to cows and horses. We also saw more Belgian horses in Holland than in Belgium. Matthias likes these horses because they are huge and sturdy, or big and fat. I noticed that Belgian cows (actually seen in Belgium) are also big and fat. I wonder what, if anything, this means…

As for agriculture, there were countless cornfields dotting the German landscape (I noticed this during last year’s bike ride, too), but I have yet to be served corn (they call it mais) in Germany – it is a far cry from a German staple. Matthias says they feed it to the cows. We also didn’t see any oats growing in Scotland, though we were able to purchase Scottish oatmeal. Finally, it was interesting to note that Norwegian salmon, Danish cheese, and Dutch cheese are cheaper to buy in Germany than in their respective countries. Guess I should be grateful I didn’t marry a Norwegian dude!

Best and Worst of 2007

Best Campsites – Holland
While we stayed in good and bad campsites in all the countries we visited, we loved a concept that the Dutch had: Mini-Camping. The mini-campsites consisted of a small plot of land a local farmer (or just someone with extra property) would set up as a small campsite. Prices were low, facilities were good, and people were friendly. They were a welcome change from the traditional campsites where we might have to wedge in between RVs or find an open spot in a crowded tent area. Campsites in Denmark were quite posh – sometimes with swimming pools, free Internet and well-equipped kitchens – but we paid just a bit less than a bed and breakfast might cost in Germany, so we weren’t pleased with them.

Worst Campsites – Germany
Aside from one squalid campsite we stayed at in the Czech Republic, Germany tended to have the campsites we liked least, particularly along the North Coast. Basically, many were just open plots of land with RVs and tents lined up in rows. No shelter from wind or rain, and you had to pay extra for showers - which were clean and had hot water, as Matthias wants me to point out.

Best Bike Routes – Denmark
Denmark has a great cycle network and the best signage to keep cyclists on the route. I didn’t have a very detailed map of our route in Denmark but it didn’t matter – I don’t think we ever missed a turn, even though I didn’t have a very detailed map of our route. The signs and trails were also excellent in the Netherlands; in fact, their system not only told you what trail you were on (e.g., #10), but what direction you were going (A or B). However, now and then some signs were missing, and we needed our map to find the next point on the route.

Worst Bike Routes - Czech Republic
Our first answer in this category was Germany…not that the trails weren’t good, but there are so many routes that the signs would get confusing – you definitely need a map to know which town you are headed for as few signs had route numbers or names. But when we got to the Czech Republic, we learned what a crappy bike trail was. Actually, the route signs were great, but some of the paths were just awful – incredibly bumpy, stony or sandy – it’s a good thing that the Czech Republic is the one place we didn’t have a lot of rain!

Best Food – Germany
What the North Sea coast lacked in campsite comfort, it made up for in food – great fresh fish at decent prices. We also did better at German supermarkets, which had a wider variety of soups, cheeses and salads at affordable prices. And of course the bread in Germany wins hands down.

Worst food – Norway or Scotland
Ok, we didn’t go out to eat in Norway, so we really can’t say how the food is there, just that it’s super-expensive. So Matthias voted for Scotland in this category because he got tired of eating haggis (which we both liked) and fish and chips. We found the various meat pies to be pretty disappointing. And, Matthias doesn’t like Indian food, so that didn’t leave him much to work with.

Best People – Scotland!
Could these people be any friendlier? I don’t think so. I think I’ve mentioned a dozen times how outgoing, nice and helpful people were in Scotland. This went for the people in the tourist centers as well as people on the streets, in restaurants and supermarkets. Besides being helpful, people were also very interested in our trip – perhaps because Scotland is not one of the larger “biking nations” so they’re not used to seeing as many fully loaded bikes passing by.

Least friendly people – Norway
I couldn’t very well say “worst people” could I, as I didn’t get to know any. But there was a stark difference that we noticed the minute we got on the Scandinavian-run ferry from the Shetland Islands. Not only did no one talk to us (or smile back at me), but people weren’t all that keen on holding doors open either.

Prague and Back

2007-08-13T03:42:00.001-04:00

Gommern, 4,810 km

We finished our bike tour with a trip down the Elbe river to Prague and back (or, almost all the way back), ending a bit early due to less-than-optimal weather and weariness of camping (otherwise known as a strong desire to not have to put shoes on to use the bathroom!) The trail along the Elbe was very nice, and apart from a few (truly crappy) rain days, the weather was pretty good, particularly in the Czech republic. I'll write more about the trip next week, as we're leaving today for some R and R in the Harz mountains - no internet, but plenty of time to write something for the blog and post it later. In the meantime, I have posted pictures (link is to the left.)

Changing Gears

2007-07-25T05:38:00.000-04:00

Gommern, Germany 3,865 km

Well, we completed our journey on the North Sea Cycle Route quite a bit earlier than expected, as the cold and wet weather made us go more quickly through Scotland (dashed our dreams of wild camping by a "loch" for a few days, catching fish, and soaking up the sun) and cut out part of Norway. And, because the weather was so bad, we talked about completely switching gears and heading down to Italy (by train) for one more month of riding - we knew it would at least be warm there! But when we got to the train station, and realized how difficult it would be to lug the bikes, the trailer, our equipment, etc., etc. from train to train, we decided to bag that idea and ride back down along the Elbe river to the Czech Republic. Besides, the weather in Germany was already much better than in the countries farther to the north; it still rains a bit almost every day, but it's much warmer and there's much more sun.

So, we rode back the way we came and arrived at Matthias' parents house yesterday, where I immediately showered and put on "street clothes" (that now fit again, by the way!) Matthias is tinkering with the bikes, and I'm busy doing laundry, labeling photos and catching up on email. We leave tomorrow in the direction of Prague.

Speaking of photos, I've uploaded all the photos from the bike ride and included a link to the left.

Hamburger Birthday

2007-07-20T05:19:00.000-04:00

Hamburg, Germany 3,447 km
We breezed through Denmark and arrived back in Germany on July 14, which gave us time to make it to Hamburg for Matthias' 38th Birthday. Hamburg is a great town in which to celebrate anything - lots of good food and bustling nightlife along the Reeperbahn (Germany's red-light district/street, and even more famous among Europeans than the one in Amsterdam.) We booked a nice hotel near (yet far enough away from) the Reeperbahn and rode into town and checked in before noon. We had lunch in a nice restaurant in the fish market area. I had to get used to the fact than "Hamburger" fish, or "Hamburger" salad had nothing to do with chopped meat on a bun, but meant that the food was a Hamburg specialty. Still, I kept thinking they served Hamburgers everywhere.

In the afternoon, we walked around the city and then hit the Reeperbahn area. We skipped a sit-down dinner and opted for evening snacks (most notably, Matjes (herring filets) on bread and Doner Kebap) and went from pub to pub. I am quite sure that Matthias enjoyed his birthday, as we didn't get back to the hotel until after 1AM, and as many of you know, it's often difficult to keep Matthias up past 9PM! The next day, we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel, and started off again on the Elbe river, where we planned to catch a train from the next town for points south....

LegoLand and Ugly Ducklings

2007-07-11T12:13:00.000-04:00

Søndervig, DK 2,964 km

We have arrived in Denmark. I really wanted to avoid talking about the weather and prices in this entry, but that's all I can usually think of to write about. They are both pretty crappy here. I really should think of other things to write about such as the scenery, the people we meet, or the food or something, but instead of trying to come up with content for the blog while I'm riding, I'm always trying to think of 'cute' titles...today's runner-up was:

-Something's Rotten in the State of Denmark (the weather)

But I actually did see some ugly (swan) ducklings today and thought that Hans Cristian Andersen was right - swan ducklings are pretty ugly, but grow up to be so lovely! And I remembered that he is probably one of Denmark's most famous export, along with Legos. Thus today's title.

So, we took the ferry from Haugesund, Norway to Hanstholm, Denmark on Monday night and arrived on Tuesday morning (10 July). We immediately started off toward the south, with light rain and a very strong headwind. Still, we managed to ride about 80 km to a super-posh (and superexpensive, of course) campsite, where we had some good shelter from the rain. Tonight's campsite was more expensive, and not as nice, but there is free Internet, so I'm sure as hell going to get our money's worth, if I can just think of more to say...

We have met some interesting people in passing. As it turns out, if we had gone 'the other way' around the North Sea (Germany, Denmark, Norway, Scotland, etc.) instead of the clockwise direction we chose, we would have had better luck with the weather, or so said the people we met who went the other way. The people we met lately, though, have all been in the same boat with regard to the weather. A Swiss biker we met in Norway told us that one night in Denmark he woke up at 4AM with his tent flooded! He said he doesn't sleep very well anymore when it rains (and neither do I!) We also met a retired Dutch couple who were doing the whole North Sea Cycle Route (6000 kms!)

Okay, it looks like someone is waiting to use the Internet and I've been hogging it (ugly American!) So that's it for now...

Norwegian Cruise

2007-07-09T06:17:00.000-04:00

Haugesund, Norway 2,774 km

Just had to laugh reading Sue's comment on the last post. We are high-tailing it out of Norway for various reasons. First, as Sue mentioned, it's REALLY expensive. Second, the weather is awful, and not that we're pansies or anything, but when it rains all day, we'd really like to be able to afford a place to stay - or at least a meal in a restaurant! Not that Denmark will be much cheaper, but I think we will just have about 10 days riding there and then back to Germany, where food (and lodging...and beer) is affordable.

The 180 (or so) kms we did in Norway were indeed gorgeous, but with the rain, we didn't get to stop much and enjoy the view. That really made me angry. But at least we got to see the beautiful Fjords, which pretty much resemble the Chilean fjords we saw last year.

Will try to do another update from Denmark. Keeping our fingers crossed for better weather there....

News of the Highlands

2007-06-30T06:36:00.000-04:00

I suppose we are now technically out of the Scottish Highlands, being in Kirwall, Orkney. We are waiting for our ferry tonight to Lerwick, on the Shetland Islands, but we are not going to stay there. We have decided to get out of this wet and cold country - and on to Norway (but what makes me think it will be better there?) We are a bit nervous because we couldn't buy advance tickets on the ferry to Norway, and we've been meeting people who have told us that the ferry doesn't go there anymore. Well, the Internet says different, so I guess we'll see.

The weather in Scotland really kicked out our butts, but we still managed to have a good time and see a lot of great scenery (I don't think these pictures do anything justice, but I'm having trouble uploading at the moment.) The reporters have said that it's been the wettest June in Britain since the recordkeeping began - and this is for BRITAIN! Geez.

Anyway, the highlands were simply gorgeous, and the ferry ride to Orkney was beautiful (photo of the 'Man of Hoy' rock formation is included.) We were told there were lots of sheep in Scotland, and though there are certainly many, not nearly as many as we've seen in Germany and Holland. Or, maybe the space is just larger and they're more spread out.

So, I thought I would have tons to write about, but when I'm in front of the screen, I can't think of a thing to say. I always plan to write something out longhand at night, but then I'm too tired (or too lazy.) Perhaps a better update from Scandinavia...

Rain Day

2007-06-23T05:53:00.000-04:00

It's raining again today and we decided not to move, since we have a nice campsite (with trees for shelter) and are near a nice town. Anyway, we have 'arrived' in our destination (scotland) anyway, so there's no need to rush off anywhere.

And, I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk about what I love about Scotland (I think the last entry was a bit whiney...)

Haggis, Neeps and Tatties
We love Haggis! It's the perfect meal when it's cold out, and goes great with Tenents beer. Neeps are turnips and tatties are mashed potatoes. All in all, a great filling meal. And, with all the exercise, it doesn't seem to be doing me any harm.

Friendly people!
We can't get over how friendly people are here. You can't be on line at a supermarket, on a park bench, or in a pub without someone striking up a conversation. Last night, we tried Scotch Whiskey - a treat from one of the friendly bartenders. I'm not one for whiskey, but this was pretty good. It was called Isle of Skye, from the island of the same name. I also could sit all day and listen to people talk with that great accent! A little hard to understand, but pleasing to the ear!

Fabulous scenery!
I've said this a million times, but it really is true. I was a bit doubtful upon coming here....can it really be that beautiful?? But it is. I'm trying to upload pictures now. This computer will only let me upload to ofotos, but I'll see if I can create a link here.

Roundabout 200 Miles Left

2007-06-22T10:08:00.000-04:00

Dingwall, Scotland 2,192 km
Yes, here we are in Scotland, traveling in miles, on the left, and through countless roundabouts. Driving on the left isn't so difficult, except when it comes to intersections - I never seem to know where the traffic is going to come from. Also, now that I've gotten used to kilometers, it's a pain to figure in miles (plus, when a town is five miles away, it's a heck of a lot longer than 5km!) Nonetheless, Scotland is really beautiful, though quite hilly. But I guess you can't have beautiful scenery unless you climb (and descend) some hills.

Enter the Wind
While we enjoyed a great tailwind in the Netherlands, the second day in Scotland the wind, and the weather, got back at us. First, we had to climb hills into strong headwinds along the coast. Then, we've been faced with rain (or the threat of rain) and cold every day. The cold is probably the hardest...it's not so nice to sit outside your tent when the wind is howling. So, we've gone over the budget a bit by hiding out in pubs (what am I complaining about?!)

Everyone here is talking about how lovely it was in April - summer tempuratures. I swear, if I hear that one more time....

Wasted Light
Yes, it's the second lightest day of the year today, but it's been quite dark (cloudy) all day. When we're at a campsite far from a town, we generally go to sleep before it gets dark (because we're too cold to sit outside.) On the 'bright' side, however, I haven't had to use a flashlight while reading at night. Also, it gets light at around 3:30 in the morning and the birds start singing. Weird!

Cheap and Cheerful
I had heard that the Scottish were thrifty, but I don't know how they can be...the prices here are pretty outrageous. Basically, NYC prices and then some. Like £6 for takeaway fish and chips (that's 12 US bucks, folks!) And when I've asked people where I can find 'reasonably' priced items, they are quite helpful....'oh, you want cheap and cheerful right?'

Actually, enough complaining....it's a wonderfully beautiful country (haven't I mentioned that already) and the people are so, so friendly we can't believe it! Fantastic advice....whether we ask for it or not!

Okay, would like to write more as well as post some photos, but I have to go pick up my bike from the local bike shop (loose spokes making weird noises.) Take care and stay tuned for more...

Photos!

2007-06-10T05:09:00.000-04:00

Brugge, Belgium 1,637 km

Was able to find an Internet cafe where I could post our photos. See the link to the left. We leave tomorrow on the ferry for Scotland, where the forcast calls for rain, rain, rain. Still, we're excited!

Wind Power

2007-06-08T09:21:00.000-04:00

Middleburg, NL 1,500 (or so) Kms

Hi again. Well, now that we have been staying closer to bigger towns, and slowing down as we near our interim destination of Zeebrugge, Belgium (where we get the ferry to Scotland on Monday) I have discovered the Dutch libraries, where Internet is cheap and good (free coffee in Ouddorp!) So, I thought I would do another quick update and add some photos.

We just crossed the last long dike we needed to cross in Holland before we are in Belgium. And, fortunately, the wind was behind us all the way. And it was quite strong, too! I felt sorry for those riding in the other direction - pumping as if going up a huge hill (we'll get our share of those in Scotland, I guess.) Now I know why they have all those windmills and wind-energy-generators here!

Okay, so I finally have good internet access but can't think of a thing to say. To anyone reading this: I'm sorry I haven't been better about sending personal emails, but I always feel like I write everything here, so there isn't much else to say. Anyway, keep all those emails and comments coming!

Dike Riding

2007-06-05T11:34:00.000-04:00

Zandvoort, NL 1349 km

Apologies to those who might have been searching for a different topic, but this is what we've been up to for the last two weeks or so...riding along the dikes of the Elbe River and North Sea in Germany and Holland. Although, today we rode along the dunes of Holland (didn't know they even had dunes! Looked and felt like Fire Island...with hills!) Except for a couple of days of bad weather, the trip has been fantastic so far. The scenery is beautiful, the terrain is (mostly) flat (only need to battle the wind and rain at times) and our equipment is holding up, save for two flat tires.

We have seen a lot of water, farmland, coastline, quaint villages, big towns and have seen and heard tons of animals - cows, horses, ponies, geese, swans, frogs (loud ones!), storks, rabbits and sheep, sheep sheep! Often, the trail goes through the sheep's grazing land...also on the dikes.

The north sea in Germany was pretty cool - the tide goes out really far (like many miles) and you can walk in the mud left behind at low tide. It's supposed to be healthy. But after we crossed a really long dike from one part of Holland to the other (cant remember the name right now), the sea began to resemble what I'm used to seeing - like I said, dunes and beaches.

We are about 200 km from Belgium where we plan to take a ferry to Scotland. Pictures to come later, when I can find an internet cafe where I can load them. Actually, internet cafes are pretty hard to find (or else I'm too exhausted when it's time to look) so updates and emails will be less often than I had hoped. But at least I was able to find a terminal on this special day so I can wish Uncle Lou a HAPPY 70TH BIRTHDAY! And I'll take the opportunity to wish cousin Susan a happy 60th in a couple of weeks.

Visitor from afar

2007-05-15T05:13:00.000-04:00

Just got back to Gommern after spending 10 days touring around with Stu. It was great - a bit of a hectic itinerary, but we wanted to show Stu as much of the area as possible. So, when he first arrived, we drove through Gommern (stopping for coffee and cake with Matthias' parents, cousin, and Oma) to the house in the Harz, where Stu (pictured to the right with some bovine friends) was able to shed the jet-lag. The next day, we went to Wernigerode, an old town in the Harz mountains with a pretty castle (second picture to the right). We also took a short hike to a cave and ruins of an old monastery (circa 900 AD) near the house. Fortunately, we had great weather for this part of the trip.

On Sunday, when it began to get cloudy, we drove to Dresden, where we visited the Zwinger museum (at least the section with art by the old Dutch masters.) We also visited the FrauenKirche, a church in the middle of town that was destroyed in WWII on which restoration was just completed last year. We also walked quite a bit around town, admiring the scenery, and ate lunch in an historic keller (cellar) restaurant.

As the typical German weather (rain) set in, we left for Prague, stopping in Terezin on the way. Terezin, or Terezinstadt in German, was a town used in WWII as a Jewish ghetto and "transit camp" before prisoners were sent to extermination camps further east. We also visited the nearby prison camp, where Jews and non-Jewish "enemies of the Nazi regime" were held in unbelievably horrid conditions. It was a sad and distressing, but important, visit.

After Terezin, it was a short drive to Prague....or it would have been, if we didn't have to drive completely through the city (which doesn't mark routes very well) to our hotel which was so far out of town that it was off the map! Yes, the pension was nice, but a bit too far from the center, in an all-residential area. But hey, at least we got to live like the real Prague-ers. (Prague-ians? Praguens?) During our stay in Prague, we had some nice meals, and enjoyed touring the neighborhoods by the old town square and castle, as well as the Jewish quarter and old synagogues. Stu is pictured here on the Charles Bridge.

After Prague, we drove to Karlovy Vary, a Czech spa town located near the German border with a number of hot springs that have medicinal properties. It was a beautiful town, our hotel was lovely and central, and we had fun sampling the water from the springs. Pictured to the right is a view of the town from a nearby hill.

Finally we spent the last three nights in Berlin, where Stu met a friend from Italy. I really loved Berlin - despite the fact that Gommern is only about 1.5 hours away, I had never spent much time there (never more than a few hours at a time.) So, it was great to be able to stay for three nights. We went to the Bundestag (home of the parliament), Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, the Altes Museum, and Kreutzberg (neighborhood known for immigrants and young people....kind of east village-esque.) Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the charger for my camera battery, and Stu isn't much of a vacation photographer, so we don't have many pictures of our 10-day adventure. Then again, for those of you who are tired of sifting through my albums (is there anybody out there?), this may be a relief. Anyway, the photos are included at the end of the Germany 2007 album (link to the left.)

So, we're off in a few days....this Friday (18-May) unless there is a downpour that morning (not unlikely.) The next update will be from the bike trail, where I have decided not to take the laptop (major withdrawal is about to set in!) I guess the entries will be a little shorter, but perhaps more frequent. As a recap, we are planning to ride from here along the Elbe river to the North Sea, and then join the north sea cycle route through Holland to Belgium, then Scotland (by ferry and bike), Norway, Denmark, and back to Germany. Here's hoping for good weather and tailwinds!

Bremen, Becks, and Bikes

2007-05-03T04:12:00.000-04:00

We are still waiting to start our next bike tour, and still awaiting Stu’s visit (this Friday.) Since the last entry we have been enjoying the unseasonably warm and dry weather in the Harz mountains (where I’m writing this now) and spent a weekend in Bremen visiting Katja and Thorsten. They were great hosts, showing us the best of Bremen – home of Becks beer and the Werder Bremen football club. We had loads of fun touring the old town, drinking Becks (regular, Gold, and Limon) at the riverside beer garden (and at home), riding bikes along the Weser and rowing a rented boat through the park. A highlight of the visit was our side trip to the Fish Market in Hamburg. Matthias has always talked about this market as something special, and it was. It’s only open on Sunday mornings (around 3AM until around 9AM), so we left at 5AM for the one-hour drive to Hamburg. Many of the people there were out all night – partying around Hamburg’s famous Reeperbahn (a red-light district) but there were also quite a few serious shoppers doing their grocery shopping for the week. They sell everything there, from fresh and smoked fish, to fruit, meat, candies and souvenirs. What makes the market really special (besides the live band in the market hall) is the way items are sold. Hawkers yell out to the crowds, making jokes and telling stories, as they fill up a bag or basket with loads of goodies and then offer it at a lump sum (cheap!) For example, the smoked fish guy would take a newspaper and load it up with smoked salmon, some trout, three eels, etc., etc., and then offer the huge package for 15 Euros and wait for someone to bite (kind of like the opposite of “fishing” I guess.) Then, the transaction wouldn’t be complete without ribbing the customer a bit. We ended up buying about 3 kilos (about 7 pounds) of fresh fish filets for 15 Euros – and cooked up just a bit of it for dinner the next night. Katja also bought a huge basket full of fruit and vegetables for 10 Euros. Great deals, and lots of fun!

After our three-day visit (after all, fish and visitors begin to smell after three days) Matthias’ parents picked us up in Bremen and we were once again off to Hamburg. We visited Matthias’ cousin Sonja in the afternoon and in the evening went to see the German production of Mamma Mia. It was a good thing I had seen it before, because the whole thing (including the Abba songs) were in German. Still, it was great fun! (Yes, Mamma Mia is still Mamma Mia in German. Same goes for Waterloo….)

We got our bikes back last week and have done a little bit of riding around the area – but unfortunately, we are far from being in shape for our ride. Hopefully all of that will work itself out once we start (as it did last year.) In the meantime, countdown to Stu’s visit….2 days to go! Looking forward to showing him the sights, and hoping the weather stays as good as it has been.

Gearing Up

2007-04-13T12:50:00.000-04:00

Hello from Germany. We’ve been here with Matthias’ family for about a week and are staying until May while we get ready for the next portion of our travels. We spent Easter in Matthias’ family vacation home in the Harz area (a small mountain range with zillions of walking/hiking/biking paths, where we spent a few weeks last year hunting mushrooms.) They have two days of Easter here (Sunday and Monday), and since the family is not religious at all, we just used the holidays as an excuse to eat big meals. Also, on the night before Easter, all over Germany (or at least the region, as far as I know) they have Easter Fires – or bonfire parties – in each town. Again, this doesn’t seem to have anything to do with religion (welcoming spring/saying goodbye to winter as I’ve been told), and people just gather around the fire and talk, drink and eat. The fire we attended was for Eggeroder Brunen, a hamlet of about 80 people where Matthias’ family has their house. I was impressed with the size of the fire, but Matthias said it’s tiny compared to those of other “real” towns. Anyway, it was really fun. Links to photos (and video) of the fire and more are to the left under "Germany 2007" and I have added pictures from Portugal to the link below that ("Back in Tarifa")

We spent another couple of days in the Harz before coming back here to Gommern to continue planning our trip. As it stands now (of course, this is always subject to change) we are going to ride on the North Sea Cycle Route this summer. We plan to leave in mid-May and ride along the Elbe River through Hamburg to the North Sea, which we will then follow to Belgium where we will get a ferry to Scotland. Then, we want to cycle north through Scotland all the way to the Shetland Islands (by ferry,) where we would get a boat to Denmark. Then, down through Denmark and back to Germany.

With one bike tour already behind us, I’m looking forward to a “smoother ride” on this trip. First, we are going to do a bit more route planning as we need to book the ferries in advance (for example, the ferry from the Shetland Islands to Denmark only goes twice a month and (supposedly) gets pretty full.) So I’ve been working on planning our route to rendezvous with the ferries. In terms of making the ride more comfortable, we have ordered a bike trailer, in which we plan to tote various amenities such as chairs, a tent shelter, and sleeping mats. So, if it does rain a lot this time (did I say Scotland?) we should at least be able to relax and stay dry while camping. And, of course, Matthias is going to pull the trailer….

In the meantime, we are getting our bikes tuned up, ordering maps, checking on ferries, and shopping for supplies and equipment. The weather is getting pretty nice and the flowers are beginning to bloom (see photo of Matthias' mom's garden to the right) Also, we are excited to visit Katja and Thorsten in Bremen, as well as go to Hamburg with Matthias’ parents to see Mamma Mia later this month. Finally, we are working on an itinerary for Stu’s visit in the beginning of May. Should be enough to keep me busy at least for the next few weeks!

Isn't it Ironic?

2007-04-04T14:29:00.000-04:00

Part of the reason for my new computer - which I love dearly - was so that I could more easily update the Blog, which I now see that I haven't updated in about a month! At least now I have a lot to write about.

We have left Tarifa and are now in Germany, where we will spend about a month getting ready for the next stage(s) of our trip. We need to buy new equipment to make our next bike ride more comfortable, and get our visas for Russia and China (for the fall.) But first, a little about our last month.

I took two additional weeks of Spanish classes in Tarifa before Matthias' family arrived. His cousin Katja, her boyfriend Thorsten, and Matthias' Aunt Ines came to Tarifa for a one-week holiday. We had lots of fun with them - going out for dinner and drinks, and touring the surrounding area. I was even able to get ready for the Easter season with a Cadbury Creme Egg from Gibraltar. It was fun to feel like tourists again in Tarifa, although I was also beginning to like the feeling of "living" there. Then we had to say goodbye to our new friends at the Circus Bar as we headed off to spend 10 days in Portugal.

On the same day Katja, Thorsten and Ines flew back to Germany, we left Tarifa on the bus to Sevilla. We spent the day there walking around the city and enjoying various tapas before catching the midnight (overnight) bus to Lisbon.

Though we were a little tired upon arrival, we found our lovely and inexpensive hotel quite easily - situated up high in a nice neighborhood near the Rato Metro stop. (Pensao Dinastia was the name, and I highly recommend it.) I also recommend Lisbon - a beautiful city built on seven hills, with lots of great architecture and churches. (Matthias: "Lisbon has about 100 churches, and I've seen them all!") We weren't too keen on the food at first (ever wonder why there are no Portugese restaurants around?) but then we got into the groove and found some tasty things to eat. Two of our favorite dishes were Fejoada (or what Matthias calls "hoof and beans") and Cocido Portugese (also interesting cuts of pork and beef along with veggies.) We also had some good grilled fish.

As far as the sights are concerned - we were able to fill a week by walking up and down the hills of the city and always seeming to find a new corner (and a new church) to explore. We also took some day trips, to the picturesque town of Sintra and Cascais, a nearby seaside resort. And, in the middle of it all, we went to Porto for two nights. Unbelievably, it was even prettier than Lisbon. I'll try to post the pictures soon.

Noting that a year ago today we flew from Argentina back to Florida, I've been thinking about what we've done for the past year. At first I thought that we haven't really done that much (mostly Europe), but then I realized that during this year I fulfilled two of my long-standing dreams: to ride a bike through Europe, and to learn Spanish in Spain. That, and visiting Russia, friends and family back home, and Portugal too. Not to shabby at all. Now I just have to get better at updating the blog....

We’re Baaaaaack

2007-03-06T08:27:00.000-05:00

Back in Tarifa, Spain, after a long, but fruitful, few days of travel. Matthias and I were on different flights, because – as you may have read from previous entries – I needed to book on miles and it was too expensive for us to take the same flights. We both had hellish connections – me through Chicago and London, and Matthias through DC and Frankfurt – to Madrid. However, I was fortunate enough to get bumped, twice, before leaving Tampa, and besides making $600 in airline vouchers from American Airlines, I got to fly to Madrid via Miami. Much nicer!

Matthias and I met in Madrid the next day and took the overnight bus to Tarifa, where we moved into our rented apartment – actually a house – which turned out to be better than we expected. While we are no longer directly on the beach, we are on the edge of the old town (quiet so far…) with a roof terrace that has views of the sea and the town (you've got to click on the photo above to get a better look at the dog enjoying the same view as we are!) My only complaint is that the house is cold and damp…even when it’s warm outside. It must be nice during the intense heat of summer, but for now we’ve always got blankets around us when we’re here.

The new computer is great. I take it to school (started Spanish classes again this week) and can connect to the Internet from there as well as a number of bars/cafes in town. In addition, we listed to music and watch movies in the evening (while huddled under covers for warmth!)

I had planned to post this before this past weekend’s Carnaval and talk about how much I was looking forward to it, but the weekend has now passed, and I can now say how much I (we ) enjoyed it. Besides the street-festival atmosphere, I really enjoyed the local singing groups – men dressed in themed costumes singing about life and local politics (okay, I didn’t understand it all at the time, but I bought the “programs”, which included the song lyrics…) ¡Que divertido! (what fun!)

You can see more photos by following the link to the left. I´ve only got one more week of class and then another week before Matthias´ cousin Katja comes to visit. Then, I believe, we are off to see Portugal (finally!)

Mission Accomplished

2007-02-18T21:53:00.000-05:00

I guess it's been while since I've written. I feel like we've been busy, but surely that can't be the case. So, here's the report on our visit to the USA - a link to photos can be found on the left.

We started in New York, where we spent the night at Stu's and then went up to my parents house in Highland Falls and visited cousins Susan, Harry and Charlene (thanks, Sue, for the transportation!) Then we headed back to the city to spend the week with Stu, visit other friends, and eat our favorite NYC foods. When we left, we were happy to have been able to visit with just about everyone (sorry to have missed you, Eleanor.) Thanks to all, particularly Stu for putting us up (or putting up with us), and Matt, Dean (pictured to the left),Lara, Barb, Harry and Charlene for feeding us. And, we are thrilled that Stu purchased tickets to come see us in Germany in May.

We left NYC on January 18 - it really wasn't all that cold up there (yet!) - and came to Sarasota, Florida, which was quite a bit warmer. We took care of some business first - Matthias got his permanent residency (green card) and his drivers' license, and I got more pages put into my passport. We took bike rides, and went shopping for things we needed (including the fabulous new computer on which I'm writing this blog entry.) We also got to spend quite a bit of "quality time" with mom and dad, and see other family as well - Josh and Andrew (pictured at left), Lou and Laurene, Marvin and Jane, and Harry and Charlene (again.) And, Matthias kept busy painting the interior of my parents' new house. Unfortunately, though, once again we missed seeing Jennifer and Brenda!

Finally, although Matthias (wisely) went on a diet during our first two weeks here, we were sure to endulge in yet more of that yummy American food we missed, including Matthias' monster steak shown here (he ate this and some of mine!) Now, we are ready to head back to Tarifa, where we will spend about a month (I will take more Spanish lessons and Matthias' relatives will visit in March) and then plan the next stages of our journey.

Holiday Fun, and a new camera!

2007-01-15T08:43:00.000-05:00

I am writing this from Stu's apartment in NYC. We said goodbye to our ocean view apartment in Tarifa (where I took this great photo) and came to the US last Wednesday. We have been busy trying to reconnect with friends and family, as well as eating our way through NYC! But more on that in a later entry, since I haven't written about the holidays yet....

Matthias' family came to Tarifa for a week in December. During their visit, we did a lot of traveling around the area to places we have seen (like Ronda and Cadiz) and those new to us (like Bolonia and Tangier.) For both me and Matthias' grandmother (who's 92!), our day trip to Tangier, Morocco marked our first time in Africa. We had, more or less, a traditional Spanish dinner for Christmas; Matthias made shrimp, calamari and a huge fish, and we drank Spanish wine and Manzanilla while snacking on fancy Jamon y queso. Despite some cool weather, it didn't rain for the whole week, and we had a nice visit.

After the family left, the weather turned beautiful, and we enjoyed some beautiful sunny days as we awaited the new year and our trip to the US. We had a fun New Year's eve at the Circus Bar, which is owned by an American guy (one of the only bars that opened before midnight.) A few days later, we left Tarifa for Morocco, taking the train a few hours south to the city of Fez. The train ride down was nice, as we passed some great natural scenery mixed in with village scenes of people on donkey carts next to kids on bikes. Fez, known as the old imperial and cultural capital of Morocco, was great. We spent an entire day walking through the Medina - or old town - trying to navigate the narrow streets amid people selling just about everything (except, of course, alcohol or pork...it's a muslim country, you know.)

The ride back to Tangier from Fez was a bit more hectic, being that it was the end of the holiday season in Spain (many people returning to work) coinciding with a Muslim festival. So, as Matthias noted, we got our first taste of what a train might be like should we make it to India - standing shoulder to shoulder for the five hour ride. Fortunately, we decided to stay one night in Tangier, where we could rest up a bit for the following day's journey.

The next day, we stopped by in Tarifa to pick up some things and say goodbye to some friends before catching the bus(es) to Madrid. We encountered similar holiday-related travel horrors trying to get to our overnight bus to Madrid, but fortunately we had seats booked on the trip that mattered. Arriving in Madrid the next day, we had plenty of time to walk around, get our fill of tapas, and rest up once again for our flights to New York the next day. As you can see, this "resting" crap has become an integral part of our travel planning, as we've realized we're not in our 20's (hell, I'm not even in my 30s) anymore.

Now we are back in the States having a grand time visiting friends and family. But more of that, and pictures, to come.

Happy New Year!

Soon to be Stateside

2006-12-15T06:25:00.000-05:00

After much ado, we have booked our tickets back to the US for a visit in January. We will spend about a week in NY and then head to Florida to visit family and take care of the final processing for Matthias’ green card (yay!) We fly into NYC on the 9th of January, when we will head up to the “Casa de Rose” in Highland Falls to get some warm clothes. We will probably be back in NYC on the 12th or 13th, and then fly to Florida on the 17th or 18th, where we’ll stay for about a month. Definitely looking forward to seeing people and visiting our favorite haunts!

For now, we are getting ready for a visit from Matthias’ family – his mother, father and grandmother – over the holidays. We plan to travel with them to Gibraltar – where I’m sure Matthias’ mother wants to practice her English – across the strait to Morocco for the day, and to Cádiz and surrounding villages. Then we’ll have dinner in our apartment on Christmas (because most of the restaurants will be closed.) We already bought some nice seafood at the market in Cádiz for Matthias to cook.

We enjoyed our little trip to Cádiz a few days ago. It has a beautiful old town with narrow winding streets, and is said to be one of the oldest cities in Western Europe (the Phoenicians were here some time before the Romans….) There are a couple of photos on the web album (link on the left side of this page.)

Since the lease for our apartment is up on January 4th, and we don’t leave Spain until the 9th, we are planning a little trip to Morocco after the new year. We haven’t figured out the details yet, but we’ll probably head to Fez, which I’ve heard is a very nice city, and not too long of a train ride from Tangier (where the ferry goes.) If anyone has any information about Morocco or Fez, please send it my way.
That’s all for now. Best wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season!

More Photos

2006-12-10T06:02:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to share some pictures taken in and around Tarifa. I'm now using a new online album...let me know what you think. The link is below, and on the left of this page.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jrosenyc/Tarifa

The Graduate

2006-12-01T13:30:00.000-05:00

All is well in Tarifa. Went to class for the last time today (I enrolled for four weeks of class – can’t believe it went by so quickly!) The class was really fantastic – great teachers and fun conversations – in addition to the language, I learned quite a bit about Spanish history and culture. It helped that it’s the low season now…for the last three weeks, there was only one other person in my class, and (as I believe I mentioned before) he’s quite young and didn’t show up for a lot of the lessons. Therefore, although I paid for standard group classes, I ended up getting a lot of private lessons. Met some nice people, too. A bunch of us went out to dinner this week (see photo).

Uh oh, I’m really struggling to write this thing, which I think means I better start practicing English again!

Matthias is away this week; he had to go to Germany to take care of some family business. I’m meeting him tomorrow in Malaga, where we plan to visit the surrounding area and go back to El Pimpi for seafood. Malaga is about 2.5 hours away by bus, so we’re planning to spend the night.

I suppose I don’t have many “adventures” to write about, except that today I did have a run-in with the authorities. Okay, it wasn’t a run-in…they came to rescue me from my balcony. Okay again, not really a rescue, it’s just that I went out to bring in the laundry and – without thinking – closed the glass doors, which lock automatically. What made the situation somewhat of an emergency was that I had some water and pasta boiling on the stove. I yelled for help, but there was no one around, really! Fortunately (por suerte!) I had my mobile phone in my pocket, and was able to call Bastian, my classmate. He got the police, who got the bomberos (firefighters), who came and let me in. What I sight I must have been, standing there on the balcony like some imprisoned princess! It could have been worse, though. At least I was fully dressed, and the apartment wasn’t a mess. But I did burn the saucepan beyond repair.

But then there is some good news. We received word that Matthias’ green card (the 10-year version) has been approved. The annoying thing is that they need him to appear in person in Tampa to obtain the new card. While we were planning to visit next winter/spring anyway, this means that we need to go earlier – in January. Of course we’re excited to see everyone, but reasonably-priced flights are proving difficult to find, and even the expensive flights have three or more connections. Nonetheless, we plan to be in Florida in January and then come up to NY for a week or so in February. Of course, I’ll provide details when I have them.

That’s all for this installment. Time to go to the nearby bar/café where I can use the Internet to check for flights, copy this text to the blog, and, well, have the obligatory glass of wine….

La Vida Buena

2006-11-15T03:25:00.000-05:00

Not much exciting travel news to report, but I did get a computer sent from home (thanks Mom and Dad) so I have more time to write. Of course, nothing is perfect, and I can’t yet get the computer to connect to the internet in WIFI zones here, but it is wonderful to be able to sit on our terrace and write this while Matthias is cooking. Life is good.

I started Spanish classes this week; four hours per day, 9:30-1:30, Monday through Friday, and I love it. I have signed up for four weeks of classes, so hopefully, by the time I’m done, my Spanish will be much improved. There are not too many other students in the class, and they are all quite young. Next week, I’ll be studying with a German guy who’s 20 years old. That’s definitely young enough to be my son, right? The horror! (probably more horrific for him than for me, though.) Still, while they are young (most in mid-twenties) they are international (German, Australian, Swiss, Danish, etc.) and they have interesting lives and plenty to talk about. As I may have mentioned before, Tarifa is a pretty young town, due to it’s reputation for wind and kite surfing, while other towns in Andalucía have more older tourists and immigrants. It’s funny to be in my age category around here though – too young to be “retired” and too old to be “bumming around Europe.”

We have continued exploring the area. Gibraltar was nice, and somewhat different from the other towns around here, what with the big “rock” and fish and chips signs everywhere. We didn’t see the monkey’s this time, but Matthias’ parents are coming to visit around the holidays so we plan to go back then, when we will take the cable care to the top of the rock. We also visited some natural parks in the area and went for some lovely hikes through the surrounding hills and cork-oak forests. Matthias even found some mushrooms that he put in the freezer for use in Gulasch or some other dish to be prepared at a later date.

Tarifa is really great for it’s location right at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, with stunning views of the Atlantic and Africa’s Coast. One drawback about the location, however, when one is without a car (like us), is that you can’t hike any real distance directly from town. One way (east) along the coast goes through a military zone where access is restricted. We learned that this is because of the proximity to Africa and the relative ease with which immigrants (and smugglers) can access the beaches. In fact, I just read in the local paper that 26 illegal immigrants (or those intending to be illegal immigrants) were intercepted in the water nearby. Walking west, there is a boardwalk that goes along the beach through the dunes, but it is only about a mile long – after that, you have to walk along the main road, with cars whipping by and no sidewalk. So, we have used the bus to travel to areas where we can explore more on foot. If we were going to be here longer, we would get a car.

Okay, I must be boring anyone who is attempting to read this (I’m even boring myself a little.) So, I’ll sign off for now. Happy Birthday to Patrick and hooray on the congressional elections. I can now hold my head a little higher around here (and around the world.)

Connected!

2006-10-23T07:17:00.000-04:00

Time is flying here in Tarifa - we are having fun getting to know the town and surrounding areas. And, I am exciting to report that we now have a mobile phone, after almost a year of being out of reach (except when I go to Internet cafes.) To call us from the US, dial
011 34 663 731 938. If you can't visit, at least you can call!

Not much else to report (so much for the excitement of world travels!) but we did visit one of the lovely "white villages" - called Vejer - nearby. Matthias also caught some fish - pictures (or proof) to come. This week, we plan to do some hiking. It has rained a bit here, and Matthias hopes to find some mushrooms. We are also going to Gibraltar this week - a pretty short bus ride away (and, it counts as a new country for me, right Jen??)

Will write again in a few weeks. Until then, feel free to write....or CALL!

More from Tarifa - and el Pimpi, too!

2006-10-09T08:07:00.000-04:00

I know the last entry was pretty lame, but I really just wanted to get our address down and get out of the internet cafe. I'm writing this entry on paper first, while sitting on our terrace facing the sea and the coast of Africa (sickening, I know.) We signed a 3-month lease on a one-bedroom apartment here - we plan to stay for five months, be we were told that it wouldn't be a problem (or extra cost) to extend the lease, and, typical of me, I took the shorter option in case we find something cheaper and better in the meantime (but I can't imagine that we will and it isn't necessary anyway.) We've got a good kitchen - all pots and pans provided - a washing machine (a luxury for us), the tv gets about 10 channels for a variety of Spanish novelas, and the plastic patio furniture is more than adequate. We just bought a grill and fishing pole for Matthias...so we're all set.

So here we are at the southernmost tip of Spain (and perhaps of europe.) Matthias is very happy to get to relax, although his idea of relaxing - as I'm sure I've mentioned before - is hiking 15km into the mountains. And I'm already looking at little side trips: Morocco is only 15 km away (but the ferry is EXPENSIVE at 60 Euros r/t); Sevilla is about a two-hour bus ride away; and Portugal, well I haven't gotten that far with the research yet.

Being at the tip of the continent, at the Atlantic side of the strait of Gibraltar, it is always windy here and a haven for kite and wind surfers. I imagine that will make it pretty cold during the winter, but at least not when compared to New York or GErmany. and, I'm going to look into taking Spanish classes over the winter, so we'll see how that turns out.

Now a little about our trip here. We did take the bus from Germany and it wasn't all that bad. We both slept okay and enjoyed the view (from the highway) of the French countryside, the Pyranees mountains, and the coast north of Barcelona. We got to Barcelona on time, but when we went to buy train tickets, the tourist class seats were sold out. So we ended up in a sleeper car for two on the overnight train to Malaga. Not great for the wallet, but nice for sleeping, and we arrived in Malaga feeling good and refreshed.

We decided to look in Malaga for apartments, just in case Tarifa (which we both had our hearts set on) didn't work out. Unfortunately, since we arrived on Sunday, we couldn't get very far with the search. We saw a few signs, bought the newspaper and called a few phone numbers, but couldn't find anything to view that day. WE decided to leave for Tarifa the next day anyway, having found a couple of affordable listings we knew we could come back to. The only thing left to do was to visit my favorite bar/restaurant...El Pimpi, and to make Matthias wait up until 9:30 or so when it opened. He gave me a hard time, especially when we got there shortly after 9pm and he thought it would be open already (but I just wanted to get there early to be sure to get a seat at the bar.) Fortunately, at 9:25 other people showed up to wait, and although the doors didn't open until 9:50 by which time Matthias was fuming, all anger subsided when the olives, peanuts and beer were placed before us, the spanish music started playing, and we orded our fresh seafood - gambas al Pimpi and gambas a la plancha. I wasn't sure if it would be as good as I remembered (8 years ago!) but it was....even Matthias didn't want to leave until around 1am! He is also willing to take the bus back to Malaga one day just to go there.
(click on the link to see a photo at El Pimpi from 8 years ago: http://www.geocities.com/jrosenyc/pimpi.html)

But for now we are quite content to eat seafood from the supermarket, the fish market, or the sea (when Matthias goes fishing) and prepared by Matthias in our kitchen. We hope someone will come visit us here - either soon while the weather is stil quite pleasant or over the winter to help me celebrate the big 4-0. Until then, take care and I'll write again soon.

a few more pictures from our apartment and Tarifa at the following link: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jrosenyc/album?.dir=80e2re2&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jrosenyc/my_photos

Hola de Tarifa!!

2006-10-06T05:40:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we found a place in Tarifa. It's a one-bedroom apartment, right on the beach (yes, there's a sofa-bed in the living room....so please come and visit!) I fell in love with this town from the moment we got here. It's somewhat touristy, but mostly with wind- and kite-surfer types, so it doesn't have the high-rise resorts found in most towns outside of Malaga. And there's also a good local scene and an active fishing port. We can see Africa from our terrace and we are about 35 minutes from Tangier by ferry (or so the ads say.) We don't have a phone, but here is our address in case anyone wants to send us a snail mail greeting!

Calle Mar Cantabrico
Apartamento 16-A
Los Lances Playa 1º fase
11380 Tarifa CADIZ
España

Next update will have photos, I hope.

Auf Wiedersehen Deutschland

2006-09-29T04:17:00.000-04:00

Today we leave for Spain - the long way. Our bus leaves from Braunschweig (about an hour from here) at 2:45, and we arrive in Lyon at 8am tomorrow morning. Not sure how much time we have in Lyon before our next bus to Barcelona. Fortunately, Matthias' mother has provided us with many yummy snacks for the trip. So, armed with food, a few Sudoku puzzles, some crossword puzzles and (the massive) Don Quixote, I should be fine. Matthias says he's happy to just look out the window, but I'm bringing a book for him (the German version of Lonesome Dove - my favorite) just in case. Next update from somewhere in Andalucia!