09 Tuesday Oct 2012
Posted in Destinations, Travel Musings
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| Benvenuti a Chianti! |
07 Sunday Oct 2012
Posted in Destinations
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Currently, I”m in Gaiole in Chianti, Italy. Rather, we’re about 7.5 km outside of it, but the event I’m checking out is L’Eroica, a vintage bike ride that has varying degrees of duration, from 30 km to 205 km. Yes, people are crazy, and crazy fit. I, however, am not, and am instead here to admire the physical prowess of these insane individuals who ride steel-framed bikes up and down Tuscan hills, as well as translate things for my friend, who’s writing a piece, and perhaps pick up a few things for some of my own writing, as well.
The plan, most of which consists of hanging out with dearly missed friends/sleeping on their couches:
Hang out in Gaiole for a few days.
Go to Siena for a few days. Meet up with some dear American friends of mine who are moving to Siena for the year. I have been looking forward to this for literally months.
Maybe hit up Florence on the way to a night in Bologna.
Head to Mulhouse in Alsace, France around October 15th or 16th for more friends
Hop on a flight headed on Amsterdam on the 21st for even MORE friends (CdF nel cuore!) and hopefully to see more of the Dutch countryside
Fly to Dublin (!!!!) for my first foray into Ireland. Am particularly excited about this because a lot of my blood is Irish and I have always loved spontaneous jam sessions, singing in harmony, dancing, eating potatoes, and the like. I fully intend on heading to County Sligo at some point to find someone distantly related to me. Halloween, basically my favorite holiday, is going to be amazing. I am totally hitting up some ghost tours while in Ireland, as well as asking old and wizened barkeeps for their ghost stories. Stay tuned for those. I’ll be doing work exchange in a hostel in Kilkenny, doing hostel-y things in exchange for board.
During this time I”ll also be finishing many of my applications to graduate school, which are stupid and annoying and expensive and the bane of my existence because I really want to get in somewhere but oh, what a hassle it is. Just take me, people!
Of course, I”ll still be doing my weekly interviews on Go! Girl Guides and working on pieces to submit for other sites. Yay for writing, and traveling, and writing about traveling!
04 Thursday Oct 2012
Posted in Destinations, Favorite 5
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| This is what it looks like from the clock tower. Sorry it’s so small. |
For those of you who have either a) known me for a while (which is to say, probably most of you), or b) seen the backlogged entries from 2007 and after about my love affair with the Umbrian hill town of Orvieto, you know this will be a difficult post to write. But, dear readers, I am always excited to spread the Orvieto love, and this weekend I got a chance to show some Tucson friends around. So I give you my top 5 recommendations for sightseeing in my dear Orvieto, especially if you’re only there a couple days.
Also, I’ll give no excuses, but I do offer my apologies for such sparse updates lately. More to come soon, I promise. Also, photos, once I get my cell phone working.
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| Umbrian countryside. Just chillin.’ (Unedited photo) |
02 Sunday Sep 2012
Posted in Destinations, Travel Musings, WWOOFing
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So, the whole farm thing. I”m starting my WWOOFing, and as such, I’m working 6 days a week for a few hours a day on a farm near Baschi, Italy. I’m the official caretaker of the farm’s animals, which include a bunch of chickens, some quail, a rabbit, a pig, the second best dog in the world (second only to my own), 3 capons (one of which that is trying to kill me, more on this later), a grouchy cat, 3 tortoises, a few ducks.
I’m also in charge of the compost, which is an integral part of organic farming. I’m really looking forward to learning how to take care of the animals, as well as how to use them for food. Yes, I will be helping to slaughter and butcher them; in fact, we’re going to try to get to a duck tomorrow.
The farm covers about 10 acres, and also is home to fruit trees of all sorts: mulberry, fig, apricot, pomegranate, apple, and quince. There are also olive trees, and the family here sells their olive oil to a restaurant up north.
More photos and updates coming soon! I promise!
31 Friday Aug 2012
Posted in Destinations, Photo of My Day
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Boris & I recently spent some time in Ayvalik, Turkey, which is in northwestern Turkey on the coast. From there, we hopped a ferry to Lesvos, but not before seeing some kitties ham-ing it up. |
| I thought this kitty was dead, but he was just sleeping. |
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| Book kitty! |
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| Much more excited book kitty. |
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| I love how the little guy is eavesdropping their conversation. |
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| Dinner time: pasta from the dumpster. |
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| THIS is what I should have put for my green entry on Capture the Colour. Oh, well. I love how colorful Turkish buildings are. |
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| Sleepy kitty. |
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| This cat had the most piercing eyes, and it approached, sat, and posed 100% for the camera. |
21 Tuesday Aug 2012
Posted in Destinations, Travel Musings
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| The men’s statue group. On the left, the young intellectual, on the right the soldier, and behind, the farmer. |
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| Women’s statue group. The women’s determined expressions represents the strength of Turkish women, despite Ataturk’s death (the woman in the back is weeping in grief). The wreath they are holding shows the abundance of the country. |
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| A lion from the Road of Lions. These flank the road on the way to the tomb itself. |
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| The flowers all over the grounds of Anitkabir were beautiful and perfectly tended. |
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| Ceremonial Plaza with the Hall of Honor, where the tomb is placed. |
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| The symbolic sarcophagus. The real one is down below, and there is a live-feed video of it in the museum. |
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| Two of the “towers” |
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| Ataturk’s ceremonial car |
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| Ataturk’s boat |
20 Monday Aug 2012
Posted in Destinations, Photo of My Day
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| Black swans at the park |
19 Sunday Aug 2012
Posted in Destinations, Photo of My Day
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| Looking across the bridge as we walked through Kizilay |
17 Friday Aug 2012
Posted in Destinations, Travel Musings
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| Look how many buses! So many buses! Leaving the Istanbul otogar… |
We took the 83O bus from Taksim Square, and after about an hour ended up at the main bus station for Istanbul, which services the entire country and then some. I had done some research on Turkey Travel Planner (a really helpful website if you ever plan to travel or live in Turkey), and Boris’ friend recommended the bus company, Pamukkale. The cost was 50 TL apiece, which is on the higher end of things, but is only $27 with the exchange and we were looking at a 6-7 hour bus ride (remember: Turkey is BIG). Not bad, considering a Greyhound bus of the same duration is WAY less comfortable/reliable and more expensive.
Boris had told me about the buses he rode in Turkey a few years ago, but his description did not match the awesome reality that I would experience.
Sign #1 that this would be much different from my trips on the Greyhound in southern Oregon was when I got a luggage tag for my bag. Perhaps in the northeast they do this, but on none of the buses I’ve been on in the States, or in Spain, or in Italy, or in Greece, have I gotten a luggage tag with a claim number and everything.
Sign #2 (and this is a biggie): there was a bus attendant. Yes, much like a flight attendant, only there was only one. A young man, in a dapper red bow tie and pressed white button-down long-sleeve with immaculate slacks–very reminiscent of a barkeep from the 1920’s at a fancy hotel–came around multiple times to offer snacks, water, tea & coffee, and soft drinks. This was awesome, and the bow tie really made my day.
Sign #3: each seat had its own LCD mini-screen, just like on airplanes. There were movies, TV, INTERNET (albeit a slow connection, but whatever), loads of music, and a virtual map to show where we were.
The only disadvantage was that there was no bathroom on the bus. Although, come to think of it, having used bus bathrooms, it’s probably a lot more sanitary not to have one…they really stink.
Ever ridden a sweet bus? Where was it and what made it comfy?
16 Thursday Aug 2012
Posted in Destinations, Photo of My Day
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| Love the starkness of the Turkish flag waving above the city of Ankara from the old castle. |
Bumblings Of Miss Button 