Getting here was a bit of a mess... the Italian Air Traffic Controllers union had a strike, and our noon flights from Palermo to Milan to London were all canceled. Fortunately we were at the airport early enough that they were able to find us seats on a late flight. So we sat around the airport all day reading, but eventually got here at around 11:30 pm (plus a one hour time zone difference).
As for what 'here' is: We are staying at A Rocha UK in Southall, a suburb of London. A Rocha is a Christian environmental organization working to preserve and rebuild natural environments around the world. See http://en.arocha.org/home/ for lots more information!
So Claire and I are helping out here at "the Center", a couple of adjacent apartments which have been converted into offices and shared community housing. There is a big shared kitchen and we eat with the rest of the team every day for lunch - usually a dozen people at the table, and with a smaller group for dinner. We have our own room upstairs, and have been having fun meeting lots of people and helping out. In the three days we've had so far, we have stuffed and stamped envelopes, done some cooking, cleaning, gardening, and organizing. Claire has also done some data entry in the office, and I've done some handyman work like fixing doorknobs and moving curtains.
We haven't taken any pictures yet, sorry!
This weekend we will probably have a Saturday trip out to Oxford to do the "Tolkien Walk" and see the sights. Then on Sunday afternoon we will visit one of Claire's cousins in London for dinner.
We are also putting some time into figuring out how to hit the ground running in Seattle/Kirkland when we get back... car rental, hotel, etc. and that should be all planned by the end of the week.
Thats it for now. We are looking forward to seeing everyone back home in Seattle and Vancouver soon!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
One more set of pictures
This last set of pictures goes back to shortly after Mom and Dad joined us in Slovenia. We went to the "Cows Ball", a traditional Slovenian event which features lots of cows, beer, sausage, goulash, traditional outfits and music, large power tools, and more beer. This all takes place in Bohinj, which is surrounded by incredibly beautiful mountains...
So here are some of the cows on parade:
This is a cauldron, cooking goulash, with one of the beer stands in the background:
Some guys in traditional costume:
And an entire cow (or whats left of it) roasting on a spit. The broom in the big pan was used for basting it.
So thats it for now... Claire and I are off to Palermo tomorrow after lunch, and will probably be too busy to do another blog posting until we've been in London for a couple of days. So look for something new next week!
So here are some of the cows on parade:
This is a cauldron, cooking goulash, with one of the beer stands in the background:
Some guys in traditional costume:
And an entire cow (or whats left of it) roasting on a spit. The broom in the big pan was used for basting it.
So thats it for now... Claire and I are off to Palermo tomorrow after lunch, and will probably be too busy to do another blog posting until we've been in London for a couple of days. So look for something new next week!
And yet more pictures!
This next set of pictures is from a month or so ago, when we were traveling with Mom and Dad in Croatia and Slovenia.
As you might remember from when I wrote about it ages ago, we had one night on the island of Hvar, Croatia. Here we are on the ferry... all reading our travel guides except me, taking the picture. Tourists!
Hvar is a beautiful place to visit -- one distinctive thing about it is there are lots of pomegranates growing there. These were just outside our apartment.
This stone carving also features pomegranates, at the right. Grapes and olives on the left and center.
We went out for a musical concert that evening in Hvar, and Claire dressed for the occasion:
Jumping back a week further, here are Mom and Dad in Slovenia. This was in the park up above the Skocjan caves.
And from inside the cave itself, this is one of the entrances:
Deep inside the cave, it is dark (obviously) but there is a lot of artificial lighting. The space is so large that the camera flash is completely useless, so it is difficult to take pictures. This one is kind of blurry, but you can see the pathway around the edge of the huge underground chasm with the river running through it. Definitely one of the most amazing things we saw on the whole trip.
As you might remember from when I wrote about it ages ago, we had one night on the island of Hvar, Croatia. Here we are on the ferry... all reading our travel guides except me, taking the picture. Tourists!
Hvar is a beautiful place to visit -- one distinctive thing about it is there are lots of pomegranates growing there. These were just outside our apartment.
This stone carving also features pomegranates, at the right. Grapes and olives on the left and center.
We went out for a musical concert that evening in Hvar, and Claire dressed for the occasion:
Jumping back a week further, here are Mom and Dad in Slovenia. This was in the park up above the Skocjan caves.
And from inside the cave itself, this is one of the entrances:
Deep inside the cave, it is dark (obviously) but there is a lot of artificial lighting. The space is so large that the camera flash is completely useless, so it is difficult to take pictures. This one is kind of blurry, but you can see the pathway around the edge of the huge underground chasm with the river running through it. Definitely one of the most amazing things we saw on the whole trip.
And more pictures! Mount Etna
Going back further, here's some pictures from shortly after we arrived in Sicily. The first is a view of Mount Etna from the balcony of our hotel room. It looks a little like its erupting, but most of that is just clouds. But some of it is steam from the craters.
And from up near the summit, here is a view back down towards the towns of the coast, with some lava formations in the foreground. It was difficult to take pictures that day... very cold and cloudy at the top, and the lava is so black that it doesn't look like much in photos.
And from up near the summit, here is a view back down towards the towns of the coast, with some lava formations in the foreground. It was difficult to take pictures that day... very cold and cloudy at the top, and the lava is so black that it doesn't look like much in photos.
Finally some pictures! Castelbuono, Sicily.
Some pictures from Castelbuono, Sicily, where we were last week.
The first two are from two hikes we did in the area.
This third one is a ruin near a little village in the area, an hour or so from sunset. Sicily is very pretty in many places, but I haven't been able to really capture it in photographs as well as I'd like.
The first two are from two hikes we did in the area.
This third one is a ruin near a little village in the area, an hour or so from sunset. Sicily is very pretty in many places, but I haven't been able to really capture it in photographs as well as I'd like.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
More on Sicily
We are now in Castellemare del Golfo, and this will be our fourth night.
Getting here was a bit of an adventure... there was a "fire in a train station" or something like that, and all the trains heading east along the north coast of Sicily into Palermo were stopped. So we ended up sharing a big taxi with 6 other people, then took the train from Palermo, which arrived to late to catch the bus connection, so we sat around at a bar across from the deserted train station for two hours waiting for the next bus. We eventually did get here though, and are enjoying staying in a very nice little apartment. We have a rooftop balcony with a great view over the city and the ocean, and a decent little kitchen.
We have spent two days hiking in the Zingaro National Park, which has been great. No high altitude hiking, so no cold weather! Lots of beautiful coastal views, sandy beaches... We also have found a gym, so on our non-hiking days we got a great morning workout and then did some sightseeing and wandering around town. We are also finding time for reading and just relaxing. And definitely some fun cooking - we have purchased a Sicilian cookbook, and tonight will be pasta with pistaschio nut pesto, along with grilled fish, which we will enjoy eating with our view over the old town and the ocean.
Sorry no pictures right now, we are in an internet cafe. Maybe tomorrow though!
Our plans for the next week have come together reasonably well. Claire just found us a place to stay in Palermo for three nights starting this Friday, and from there we fly to London. We have figured out how to get from Heathrow to the A Rocha center where we will be staying and volunteering... we just don't know what we will be doing there yet! But we are looking forward to being in London.
We have also been starting to put together our plans for when we return to Seattle / Kirkland. Lots of things to figure out... temporary apartment vs. short term rental, long term rental, short term car lease, buying a car... but too boring to go into detail here.
Getting here was a bit of an adventure... there was a "fire in a train station" or something like that, and all the trains heading east along the north coast of Sicily into Palermo were stopped. So we ended up sharing a big taxi with 6 other people, then took the train from Palermo, which arrived to late to catch the bus connection, so we sat around at a bar across from the deserted train station for two hours waiting for the next bus. We eventually did get here though, and are enjoying staying in a very nice little apartment. We have a rooftop balcony with a great view over the city and the ocean, and a decent little kitchen.
We have spent two days hiking in the Zingaro National Park, which has been great. No high altitude hiking, so no cold weather! Lots of beautiful coastal views, sandy beaches... We also have found a gym, so on our non-hiking days we got a great morning workout and then did some sightseeing and wandering around town. We are also finding time for reading and just relaxing. And definitely some fun cooking - we have purchased a Sicilian cookbook, and tonight will be pasta with pistaschio nut pesto, along with grilled fish, which we will enjoy eating with our view over the old town and the ocean.
Sorry no pictures right now, we are in an internet cafe. Maybe tomorrow though!
Our plans for the next week have come together reasonably well. Claire just found us a place to stay in Palermo for three nights starting this Friday, and from there we fly to London. We have figured out how to get from Heathrow to the A Rocha center where we will be staying and volunteering... we just don't know what we will be doing there yet! But we are looking forward to being in London.
We have also been starting to put together our plans for when we return to Seattle / Kirkland. Lots of things to figure out... temporary apartment vs. short term rental, long term rental, short term car lease, buying a car... but too boring to go into detail here.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Quick update
Just to let people know where we are...
last 3 nights we were in a little town, Castelnuovo, and spent our time hiking in the Madonie park. Wonderful place - but we couldn't get on the Internet so no updates!
We are in Palermo for the next 30 minutes, and are taking the train to Castellemare del Golfo. We will be there for at least 6 nights, hopefully we will find a good internet access point and we will put up some pictures of the beautiful places weve been in Sicily.
Lots more could be said but I have to run back to the train now,
last 3 nights we were in a little town, Castelnuovo, and spent our time hiking in the Madonie park. Wonderful place - but we couldn't get on the Internet so no updates!
We are in Palermo for the next 30 minutes, and are taking the train to Castellemare del Golfo. We will be there for at least 6 nights, hopefully we will find a good internet access point and we will put up some pictures of the beautiful places weve been in Sicily.
Lots more could be said but I have to run back to the train now,
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Sicily
So we've made it to Sicily.
We haven't done much here yet... after traveling all day Saturday we stayed the night in Catania, the second biggest city on the island. However, after the worst sleep we've had on this trip, including the airplane, we decided to bail out of our planned three days in Catania at the cheap but dirty and very noisy hostel, and instead checked in to a three-star hotel up on the side of Mount Etna. Convenient for hiking, Wi-Fi internet, a pool, and blessedly quiet, clean rooms. Worth every Euro!
So tomorrow we're hiking up the side of another volcano, after which we will return here and laze around by the pool, maybe surfing the net to catch up on the Canadian news from our deck chairs. ($1 CDN = $1.02 USD!!!)
Meanwhile, here are some of the picture highlights from the last few weeks...
The Amalfi Coast, a minute from where we stayed in Atrani:
And a view of Atrani from up on the mountain, taken while we were hiking:
From a few days further back, an attempt at an "artistic" photo -- this is the ferry from Dubrovnik, Croatia to Bari, Italy.
And a picture from the top of Vesuvius:
Also at the top of Vesuvius, here we are with the crater rim behind us.
Here's Claire outside a pizzeria in Naples, where we enjoyed a couple of fantastic pizzas (but the ones we had for dinner the next night were better):
And here's me in the ruins of Pompeii.
We haven't done much here yet... after traveling all day Saturday we stayed the night in Catania, the second biggest city on the island. However, after the worst sleep we've had on this trip, including the airplane, we decided to bail out of our planned three days in Catania at the cheap but dirty and very noisy hostel, and instead checked in to a three-star hotel up on the side of Mount Etna. Convenient for hiking, Wi-Fi internet, a pool, and blessedly quiet, clean rooms. Worth every Euro!
So tomorrow we're hiking up the side of another volcano, after which we will return here and laze around by the pool, maybe surfing the net to catch up on the Canadian news from our deck chairs. ($1 CDN = $1.02 USD!!!)
Meanwhile, here are some of the picture highlights from the last few weeks...
The Amalfi Coast, a minute from where we stayed in Atrani:
And a view of Atrani from up on the mountain, taken while we were hiking:
From a few days further back, an attempt at an "artistic" photo -- this is the ferry from Dubrovnik, Croatia to Bari, Italy.
And a picture from the top of Vesuvius:
Also at the top of Vesuvius, here we are with the crater rim behind us.
Here's Claire outside a pizzeria in Naples, where we enjoyed a couple of fantastic pizzas (but the ones we had for dinner the next night were better):
And here's me in the ruins of Pompeii.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Back to Italy, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast
Just a quick update... We have been busy again :-)
We took the ferry from Dubrovnik to Bari, stayed in Bari that night, and continued by train the next day to Naples. That afternoon we saw the archeological museum in Naples.
The next morning we did the big day-trip out to Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii. And then on the third day in Itay, we headed down to the Amalfi Coast, where we have now been for two days.
So thats the bare facts... some impressions: Naples was very interesting but kind of overwhelming. Dirty, crazy, most insane driving I have ever seen, but still fascinating. Great pizza, and although there are tourists there it is not a touristy city. Pompeii and Vesuvius were both very interesting, some amazing sights. The Amalfi coast is just as spectacular as its reputation would suggest. It is very warm here, we have been hiking up in the mountains and it is warmer than July would be in Seattle.
Tomorrow we are taking the long trip south to Sicily. We have also booked our flights from Sicily to London, and think we have arranged to stay for a week at an organic farm "agriturismo" just outside of Catania (but are waiting to hear confirmation back from them). So the last few weeks of our trip are taking shape.
We are looking forward to relaxing in Sicily. And although we are not exactly homesick, we are starting to look forward to being back home. Some more stability, drip coffee and easier shopping, and a lot of other things will be good to come home to.
My 15 minutes are up so thats it for now...
We took the ferry from Dubrovnik to Bari, stayed in Bari that night, and continued by train the next day to Naples. That afternoon we saw the archeological museum in Naples.
The next morning we did the big day-trip out to Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii. And then on the third day in Itay, we headed down to the Amalfi Coast, where we have now been for two days.
So thats the bare facts... some impressions: Naples was very interesting but kind of overwhelming. Dirty, crazy, most insane driving I have ever seen, but still fascinating. Great pizza, and although there are tourists there it is not a touristy city. Pompeii and Vesuvius were both very interesting, some amazing sights. The Amalfi coast is just as spectacular as its reputation would suggest. It is very warm here, we have been hiking up in the mountains and it is warmer than July would be in Seattle.
Tomorrow we are taking the long trip south to Sicily. We have also booked our flights from Sicily to London, and think we have arranged to stay for a week at an organic farm "agriturismo" just outside of Catania (but are waiting to hear confirmation back from them). So the last few weeks of our trip are taking shape.
We are looking forward to relaxing in Sicily. And although we are not exactly homesick, we are starting to look forward to being back home. Some more stability, drip coffee and easier shopping, and a lot of other things will be good to come home to.
My 15 minutes are up so thats it for now...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)