memories of the mekong

i'm training for a (sprint) triathlon.

after my second half marathon, i decided i was up for a different kind of challenge.  in a roundabout phone conversation, my sister and i seemed to unintentionally convince each other that flying to san diego for a long weekend to compete in what will be my first triathlon was a great idea.

now don't get me wrong, i'm very excited.  i've developed a strict training regimen that involves me waking up far before the sun each morning to work out.  some mornings i cycle and other mornings i swim.  then in the afternoons i often run and do yoga.  i'm exhausted, but i'm feeling physically fit and prepared for the trio of fitness challenges that awaits me on the west coast.

the one leg of the race that i'm very nervous about, despite my preparedness, is the swim.

you may or may not know this about me.  but i'm scared of the dark.  this fear includes:

1. walking alone at night (the only legitimate part of my fear for someone my age)

2. entering a room/building when no one is home and thus, all the lights are off (i have grown to be ok with this situation in my own apartment)

3. sleeping (yes, i have a nightlight to scare away the monsters under my bed)

4. camping (lions, tigers, and bears, oh my)

5. expansive bodies of water when i cannot see the bottom

those expansive bodies of water are what concern me most right now.  to prep myself, i have been trying to recall all the times that i've swum in something dark and unfamiliar.  unfortunately, all the water we swam in during our travels last year were perfectly crystal clear, so that doesn't help my comfort level.  the atlantic ocean is cloudy but i've swum in it my whole life, making it familiar and non-threatening.  i generally tend to stay away from anything particularly murky... 

the one very fitting experience that comes to mind for comfort was last fall in thailand.  A and i were nearing the end of our SE asia adventure and had traveled with A's cousin, H, from nong khai via motorbike to a sleepy "town" on the mekong river.  by town i mean, a very small cluster of people and buildings having the most relaxed life imaginable.  we each rented a bungalow for a long weekend of reading in hammocks overlooking the vast mekong river.

to say that our setup was idyllic is an extreme understatement.  i don't know if there are even words to describe the calmness of this place.  despite the roaring mekong below us, i cannot remember a time when i have been more relaxed.

on our last night in the bungalows, we stayed up late chatting and drinking leos until the boys decided that it was time to go swimming in the mekong.  now, it was the middle of the night and we were in the middle of nowhere.  darkness surrounded us and i was terrified to begin with.  absolutely not was i going swimming in the river that RAGED below us.  had they not seen how fast it was moving?  had they not seen how wide it was?  had they not noticed that you can't the bottom?  who knows what lives in there! did they not notice that it was DARK OUTSIDE?!!  

while they ran down the hill and dove in, i slowly made my way behind them as their "lifeguard."  i wasn't going to completely miss out on the "fun" by sitting on the porch in the dark alone.  

well. needless to say, after a couple rounds of the boys flipping into the water and letting it carry them downstream before swimming back to the hill and climbing up, i realized that they weren't going to die.  if any scary monsters lived in the depths, they hadn't surfaced yet and i they were having so much fun!  so in i jumped.  the swift current caught me by surprise and my heart was racing (you know, because of the potential sea monsters and all the darkness) but i was swimming in the mekong!  those 15 minutes of swimming in the hugest, muddiest, fastest moving body of water that i have ever seen are something that i will never forget.

it's funny how something that encapsulates so many of my fears can be one of my greatest memories. 

so when i think about swimming in the mekong, i realize that san diego's mission bay can't possibly be that bad. 

x!

a taste of vietnam

this is an exceptional video (sent to me from S -of alaska fame) showcasing a two weeks meant for "exploring the food of vietnam."  it also hints at many other awesome things about vietnam and the vietnamese people that i experienced while i was there in november (don't they all look so friendly!?).  so in addition for making me terribly hungry, i'm crazy-nostalgic right now.

enjoy! and plan your trip to vietnam. you won't be sorry.

A Taste of Vietnam from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.

x! 

memories of parma: bikes! and un panino di pesto cavallo.

last september, i spent a weekend in charlottesville, a place that i love.  the weekend was full of concerts, good food, good friends, and the beginning of incredibly crisp fall weather (!).  cville visits are always full of memories that make me terribly sad college is over.  however, since returning from italy, one of my favorite things about visiting cville is chatting in italian with one of the best bartenders on the corner, N, and invoking a whole different kind of nostalgia.

last year, N spent some time in parma, italy, playing for the parma panthers football team.  i know it sounds strange, an american football league in italy?  have you read john grisham's playing for pizza?  well N lived the life of the main character in the book - he played for and also coached the panther's football team.  in his spare time, he was hanging out in parma! lucky for me, he had a lot of free time during the day and his stay in parma overlapped with our spring break from school.  so before our epic malta adventures, V and i ventured to parma.  hanging out with him in cville brings back wonderful memories of our visit so enjoy a much-overdue review of our trip to parma in spring 2011!

________________

parma was an amazing surprise. the people must be very interested in keeping their little town a secret, because i haven't heard nearly enough rave reviews about the city.  being just a short train-ride away, it often gets overshadowed by the historically famous university city of bologna.  i haven't been to bologna myself, so i can't offer a comparison but i loved the quaint charm of parma;  it was beautiful, and just bustling enough to feel alive.

i arrived before V and spent an evening strolling the cobblestone streets with N and his football friends. similar to other small italian towns i've visited, people were spilling out of bars and cafes and flooding the streets.  it was a clear night and the streets were filled with light and weekend city noises - i was in heaven.

V arrived the next day and we only had the afternoon to explore before heading onward in our spring break journies.  thanks to the preferred method of transportation in the city, we were able to cover a lot of ground in a little bit of time.  

everyone in the city bikes, which i LOVED.  thankfully, N had 2 spare bicilette that V and i were able to borrow.  N was an excellent tour guide and led us on a speedy tour past all the sights.

we started at the duomo which was rather plain on the outside but incredibly beautiful inside.  this is unusual in italy as many of the churches seem to be competing with their neighbors to see who can have the most magnificent display.  it was refreshing, actually, to see a church that was so humble from the outside.  it seemed as if it was saving the beauty for the true visitors who ventured inside -- why waste all the effort on the half-hearted tourists who didn't bother to enter? 

after the duomo, we continued on our bike tour by the river, over bridges, and through a gorgeous park with lots of ruined things.  

then it was lunchtime.  N led us to a tiny alley that was full of parked bikes and people having lunchtime conversation - our hole-in-the-wall destination seemed like the place to be!  N assured us that we were getting something authentic to parma. 

we walked in and N ordered for us, "tre panini di pesto cavallo per favore"

knowing he was still just learning italian, i offered to help.  "hey, N? you just asked for some horse, what did you mean to say?"

nope, he ordered correctly.  we were about to receive a sandwich with RAW horsemeat.  the thing to eat in parma? who'd have thought?

the preparation

the finished product

in addition to the raw horse, the sandwich had grilled vegetables and some sort of white condiment.  and oh MAN was it good.  the horsemeat was very light - not too filling (which was good because it was piled on) and the crunch of the veggies went well with the texture of raw meat.  the bread was that perfect soft and flaky italian variety and it was just all perfect.  you could tell it wasn't their first time creating the masterpiece.  

as we left, it was a bit unsettling to see the horses trot by pulling carriages... but i would definitely eat the sandwich again.

after our raw horse sandwiches, the only thing left to do was buy postcards to send our friends telling them that "we ate raw horse!!!"  no other tourist attraction was going to top lunch.

the whirlwind day in parma was magical. beautiful weather, wonderful friends, bikes! and raw horse (?) - what more could you ask for?

xx

don't you need a break from all this traveling?

someone asked me once (indirectly, via nancypants), you're seeing so many awesome things but doesn't it all run together?  i mean, how do you look back and remember the details? don't you need some sort of break from all this traveling? 

i have gotten in the habit of returning from a trip and immediately beginning the planning for my next adventure; often the planning for my next trip even overlaps with the occurrence of my current trip.  reflection is important and if i don't give myself adequate time to reflect on things i've seen and learned, does that take away from the significance of the adventure?

i wrote the question down along with a note reminding myself to think it over.  i forgot entirely until i was reflecting on my time in alaska.  when i was in alaska seeing the sights and then again, back in virginia, remembering and describing the sights, i kept referring to other places i had been and other things i had seen.  the fall colors reminded me of virginia; the mountains beyond mountains across the cook inlet reminded me of croatian island views; the people were welcoming and friendly like the maltese.  these descriptions might not help others to visualize the beauty that i've seen or the people i've encountered but they help me to remember.  

so here i am in thailand, a place with which i've always been wistfully obsessed.  since arriving a few days ago, i've been so overwhelmed with the unfamiliarity of everything that it's been a struggle to focus on what i'm seeing and learning not to mention trying to plan what i'm going to do while i'm here.  when i'm not staring at everything with my mouth hanging open in awe, i'm digging up familiar memories.  our drive up the doi suthep mountain to the west of chaing mai was like driving in virginia, only more exotic;  the wat at the summit looks down on the city just like monuments in other familiar cities; and the people, again, are as friendly as the maltese.  as one would hope, these few connections are not all i have gained from the past few days however, they do help to make things a bit easier to sort out (at least for myself) as i'm easing into the culture here; a connection to something well-known makes the foreignness less so.  

so maybe everything is running together in my head but only in the very best ways.  i definitely don't think i need to take a break; if anything, i believe the mixing of memories is helping me to remember the details.

also, i take a lot of pictures.

x!

thailand: before

me:  i'm leaving for thailand tomorrow at 6am

 Jenna:  um

what

COOL!

did i not mention?  i'm going to thailand tomorrow. for a while?  definite plans are unknown at this point as, again, i'm letting a friend take the reins at the beginning of this one.  i'll keep you posted on my incredibly lengthy journey, when possible.  

stay tuned!

alaska: anchorage and more

my trip to alaska wasn't what i had in mind but then again, i'm not quite sure what i expected.  as i mentioned before i left, i didn't spend a ton of time mentally preparing for this trip, i just kind of went.  i was visiting a friend, S, and since he's been living in anchorage for the past year, i presumed that he'd just do all the planning.  later, i learned that he wasn't the biggest fan of this plan and maybe i should have done some research about what i wanted to do other than "cool alaska stuff." oops?  oh well.  i had a great time so thanks, S!

i arrived fully rested at 1am and even after going out for some tasty alaskan brews, i was up early the next morning without any feeling of jetlag (woo!).  we met up with a friend and drove around the mountains outside of anchorage in his jeep.  as i was trying to figure out what to wear for this day of adventure, i couldn't gather from S what we'd be doing all day, and it turns out that we didn't really do much other than look at the beautiful sights from the (open) windows of the jeep.

J, the jeep-owning friend, lives in palmer, which is northeast of anchorage.  after meeting him and his jeep, we continued a bit farther north to the mountains and uninhabited areas around sutton.  we drove around on lots of pot-hole-filled "roads" and up some very steep inclines.  for the majority of the day, the jeep was enveloped with fall colors and snow-capped mountains loomed in the not-so-far-away distance; my mouth was open in awe pretty much the whole time.  the views were like those familiar to me from colorado - but on steroids.  we were lucky to have incredible, sunny weather for our sight-seeing and the temperature was just crisp enough that i wasn't cold; it was perfect.

after exhausting the area around sutton, we drove west to hatcher pass which is a popular day trip from anchorage, yet S had never been.  a creek (river?) runs through the pass and there are deserted mining buildings at the base of gnarly, snow-dusted mountains, all making for incredible sights.  at the top of a hill off hatcher pass, we saw a paragliding lesson taking place (so, naturally, that has been added to my bucket list).

 i mean, just thinking back on these views and looking at my pictures, i am realizing that there's no way i'll ever be able to help you to understand how amazing it is (although i'm going to try my hardest).

on day 2 we took a little jaunt down south of anchorage to homer.  we stopped halfway, in soldotna, to eat breakfast, buy me a flannel shirt, and for my first kaladi brothers coffee experience.  then we continued down along the cook inlet and stopped at the most incredible overlook just before getting into the town of homer.  homer is a fishing town, so it's right on the water.  from the overlook, we could see across the inlet to mountains and mountains beyond mountains forever.  again, the weather was beautiful so the clear sky was reflecting off of the water and all the mountains to create the most incredible array of blues in the distance.  right in front of us was a ton of alaskan fireweed which turns red as it's dying out at the end of summer.  the red fireweed, the yellow trees, and the blue mountains, water, and sky - who knew alaska could be so colorful (i didn't)?!  i could have stood at the overlook just staring at the view with a giant grin on my face for the whole day, it was so breathtaking.    

and THEN in addition to these incredible vistas, there is a glacier just around the bend!  glaciers are crazy looking and they're all over the place (i probably saw 5? during my time in alaska and canada).

later in the week, i had some free time with which to explore the city of anchorage.  i was able to use S's car and went about my days as if i lived there; it was pretty nice.  i started off a few of the days with a yoga sesh at laughing lotus anchorage.  i'm so glad i thought to seek out a yoga studio in the area; while cooped up in a car during the days to come, i was glad i had been able to move around and stretch my body.  other things i loved about anchorage were kaladi brothers coffee and tidal wave books.  because of their incredible convenient proximity, i was able to make multiple trips to tidal wave books and kaladi brothers coffee.  as i was sitting in a comfy chair by the fire at kaladi brothers, diving into a book from tidal wave, i only remembered where i was when the barista shouted, "alaska chai ready at the counter!"  i also discovered normalcy at the kobuk in downtown anchorage; here i was able to go about my travel routine of (more) coffee, reading and postcards (and a homemade pumpkin donut!).

    

other highlights of anchorage time included dinner and a movie at bear tooth pub and restaurant - tasty pizza, in-house-brewed beer, and a movie theatre?! i had never experienced such a combination and i  have to say i was a big fan (although the movie, midnight in paris, was not among my favorites).  also, our last night in the city we drove to the west and saw the sunset over the water.  to the northwest, we could just barely see mt. mckinley through the clouds, which was incredible, since mckinley, north america's tallest peak, is more than 100 miles away from anchorage.  oh, and the sunset was kind of pretty.

alaska is just a grand expanse of nature and anchorage is a speck of population amidst the emptiness; a typical small city dwarfed by the overwhelming nature surrounding it.  i was captivated by the mountain views just outside of anchorage much more than i can ever remember before of another mountain view.  in alaska, it's all you can focus on when looking to the distance; it's all you see because it's almost all there is.  sure, there are people, but not too many of them.  for such a huge state, it has a less people than many major cities in the lower 48 (to use the alaskan term).  it's just spread out quiet, which is kind of nice.

and then crazy things happen like a moose eats your bushes.

x!

i'm going to alaska.

so a while ago, i gave you all a preview about what i was up to this fall.  then i got busy actually doing it all and haven't shared an update.  sorry about that.

today i leave for alaska, my first major adventure of the fall.  the current plan is to fly to anchorage and in a few days, hop in a car with my friend, S, and drive back to virginia.  but that's not all - S wants to go ALL the way down to new orleans and THEN back up.  now, i'm not sure how your US + canada geography is but canada is huge and alaska is very very far away.  this endeavor will involve driving almost all the way across canada and reentering the usa around north dakota.  let's just glance at this map over here to the left. see alaska, obviously top left and then north dakota is in the middle (it's a green state) and virginia, way east (yellow).   last night, S said the total mileage estimate was some enormous number like 6,000.

so. yeah.  S has recognized that i have never driven in a car longer than 6 hours and even that wasn't all that recently -- he's worried about me.  i've put it out there that i may want to be dropped off at a major airport along the way to jump ship.  then S will have to continue on his own and that will be sad, but i just might not be able to handle it. 

i am feeling incredibly unprepared for this trip and i can't pinpoint why although there are many factors that could be contributing.  first of all, we'll be camping in the canadian wilderness for about a week; i've been camping before and i've spent lots of time in the snow, but i have not done both of these things together.  do i have the right clothes? am i going to be freezing? i'm fully prepared to wear every article of clothing in my backpack while sleeping in a tent.  but still, i'm nervous.  the nerves i have are very different than any i had before unplanned trips last year, in fact, i was always more excited for unplanned things last year, but those trips were predictable.

it could also be that i've never done anything like this (camp in canada OR drive across the country) and it's just so vastly unknown that i can't wrap my brain around it.  everyone has been telling me that this will be an amazing experience - a cross country road trip! when else will i have the chance?! and apparently we'll be "chasing autumn south," and fall is my favorite season, chasing it could be fun.  my friend, A, told me yesterday that there's just something about a road trip that can't be described adequately; the passing views create a gorgeous panorama that you can't possibly recreate, you only know how beautiful it is if you're there, looking out the window (i wish i remembered exactly how eloquently he said that) -- and we all know how i feel about a good bella vista.  

it's not that i'm not excited, because i am.  i know it will be an incredible experience that i might not ever get the chance to have again and that's exciting.

stay tuned, hopefully i'll be able to update along the way.  i can tell you how cold i am, how beautiful the sights are, and how excited i am for a shower.   

x!

filling up the passport

after paying a ridiculous sum of money to have extra pages added to my passport, i realized that i had achieved my goal of filling up my passport before the expiration date in august 2017.  i set the goal for myself in the fall of 2009 and did not expect to complete the task to quickly!  living on the border of the EU last year really helped me rack up the stamps (mainly from the frequent visits to croatia).  

so now i'm ready to tackle the goal again.  i've still got 6 years until expiration and now i have 52 fresh pages.  to get started i'm going to alaska and canada in 2 weeks and then thailand in october.  that's right, big things are about to happen.  

stay tuned! 

x.

ps, don't you want to get postcards from canada and thailand? just click the "donate" button to the left and help me out with postage :) 

L.I.Z.s from the road: episode 1

First of all, blogging from my "iDevice," as other Liz has me calling it, causes many more capital letters than I use intentionally and I can't seem to create the center alignment that I recently adapted for blog entries. Also! My iDevice sometimes changes things to be spelled in a British way such as centre and favourite, so excuse me.

I'm disregarding all these nuances to update you on where the 3 Liz's are in their journey. You're welcome. It will be a brief summary of the highlights but you'll be caught up to speed.

Today is our 3rd day in Budapest. I'm obsessed with this city; I think it may be my favourite of all the places that I've visited this year (so far, at least). Today we check out of our fabulous hostel and move to the river-front Marriott (thanks marymom and daddyjohn!), about which Eliza has never been more excited.

After spending Saturday night (which turned into Sunday morning) through early Monday morning with Ron (coincidentally in Budapest at the same time) exploring the city on bikes, yesterday we ventured to Lake Balaton! Sitting by the largest lake in Eastern Europe (possibly all of Europe) was a relaxing break but produced a bit more collective sunburn than we hoped for.

Before making our way to Budapest, I reunited with "my Liz friends" in Prague. I liked Prague but it didn't blow my mind. I'm reluctant to write it off completely, however, because I've heard so many people rave about it. When I arrived, it was much colder than I had anticipated and I was very distracted with seeing my friends after so long. I was getting used to the travel routine that other Liz and Eliza had created with each other and trying to get filled in on everything I had missed. I'm assuming that these factors played a large part in my opinion, or lack of opinion, of Prague. I'll have to go back some day.

Now that we're in Budapest, we're in a groove of traveling with each other and I'm familiar with the city (having been here just a few weeks ago) makin things super easy. Tomorrow night, we're geading to Belgrade, Serbia and then we'll make our way over to the Adriatic coastline (hopefully our sunburn will have healed and our skin will be prepared to bask in the rays again). I'm excited.

Yesterday, I kept forgetting what country I was in. I don't know if it was sitting by the water and thinking it was the Adriatic (the Lake Balaton situation was very much like Barcola), or the train rides or unfamiliar language but more than once I was confused about our location. It was the most enjoyable state of confusion I've ever experienced.

More updates to come as we make our way through our itinerary.

X!

L.I.Z. adventure begins

school's out for the summer and tomorrow, i'm off. 

7am train to venice, plane to prague, somehow arrive to hostel (and to my l.i.z.s).

my bag is packed (well, it's not actually packed yet, but everything's there, ready to be put into the bag. i was hoping it would happen magically?) and i have my passport.

as the seconds of our lives are ticking away, you have to realize that life needs to be an adventure.  hans zimmer

i'm ready.