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!

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!

keeping you in the loop

hello friends!

as you all know, i'm in alaska.  in doing my best to pack light, i decided not to bring my computer on this adventure.  while i love my macbook, it is definitely not the lightest thing to carry around (especially not as i'm running through airports).  thus, i'm restricted to blogging from an iDevice.  again, while i love both my iPod and iPhone, for some reason, they do not like to let me blog.  this tragic combination of no computer + fickle iDevices has made it terribly difficult for me to tell you, in detail, how amazingly gorgeous alaska is.  

so here's the solution. follow me on twitter! you'll see to the left, that i've added my twitter feed.  go ahead and "join the conversation" to follow me on twitter directly and to see more than my 4 most recent tweets.  

of course, i'll still be giving recaps of my adventures but this way, you can keep tabs on me while i'm out and about and all over the place.

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 :) 

the joy of snail mail

 in the past few weeks, i've been spending a lot of time organizing my room in my parents' house.  in it are boxes upon boxes full of unorganized things from the past 6 years of my life.  in order to effectively live in this room while i'm not gallivanting somewhere else, i must unpack.  as a part of this process, i'm cleaning out drawers and other spaces to make room for everything that must come out of boxes.  one of the most entertaining drawers that i've cleaned out has been my nightstand drawer which was FULL of notes i received from friends during middle and high school.  no doubt, these notes were passed to me during class, in the halls, or put on my car for discovery at the end of the day.  many were folded in intricate origami patterns and some were written so cryptically, i had no idea what the message was.  rereading them brought back so many memories of weekend parties, crushes we had on so many different boys, and many other things that have slipped from my memory since high school graduation; i was so glad that i kept them all, reliving each one of them was hilarious.  

yesterday, i was telling a friend about my note drawer discovery and i was surprised to hear that he had a similar (but much smaller) old collection of notes from years back and had recently reread them in a fashion very similar to what i described.  we reminisced about high school, how much time had passed, and how much we had changed since and he posed the question, when's the last time you passed a note to someone!? and i realized that i still write notes all the time.  

no, i'm not folding them intricately and passing them during class, but i write and send notes to friends and family all the time.  many of you are lucky to be on my postcard-recipient list to which i'll write you colorful and (i hope) exciting postcards from my travels and to those of you who sent me handwritten greetings in italy, i always reciprocated.  it's true, though, that we are a dying breed and it's much more likely to send (and receive) an email, text message, or some other form of electronic greeting than an actual letter in the mail.

i recently passed along a challenge to talk to people and now i'm extending it to include the act of sending a letter because what a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters.  you can't reread a phone call [liz carpenter].

along with this challenge to you, i want to send even more postcards during my travels!  in the states, a postcard stamp only costs 29 cents but postcards themselves can cost anywhere from 25 cents to more than a dollar.  that, my friends, can add up.  and then all over the world, international postage varies.  for example, to send a postcard from italy to the united states costs 1.84 euro which (with the current exchange rate) equals $2.57.  when you add in the cost of the actual card, that's more than $3 a postcard!  just thinking about the quantity of cards i sent out last year and how much money i must have spent in total boggles my mind (i don't think i'll do the math, i know it was a lot).

so, i'm asking you all to help me out.  if you like postcards, donate to my postcard fund!  if you appreciate the dying art of snail mail, help me to keep it going!  to the left of this post, underneath my "about me" section, you'll find a button labeled donate.  all you have to do is log in through paypal and very securely send some postcard money my way!  your thoughtful donation will be much appreciated!  


and don't forget to take the time to sit down and write someone, they'll appreciate the thought.


x! 

next up in the life of liz: fall 2011

when i typed the title of this post, i initially typed "2010." that's wrong.  it's 2011 and really almost 2012.  when did that happen?! it really is true what they say, "time flies when you're having fun."  as my sister said the other day, "how much faster is it going to go when we're OLD?!"  i'm not sure how the acceleration of time with age works, but i don't want to waste any of my 20s trying to figure it out -- i know i need to enjoy it while i can; i only have one life. 

so what am i going to do with these epic years of mine, you ask? what have i been up to since my grand return to america at the end of july?  well, besides spending lots of quality time with all those people i missed last year, i've got some pretty sweet plans in the works.  i won't give away all of my hopes and dreams because, you know, i don't want to jinx anything.  but i will give you a high-quality preview. 

(an extended) labor day weekend: new york city! people i can't wait to see include: my long-lost ladybird, IST ex-coworkers who are educating the new york city youth at a charter school in brooklyn, J, who will absolutely be my first famous friend with her sure-to-be-rapidly-approaching broadway musical debut,  some sisters (a fellow ginger and twin b), my favorite princess (who's engaged!!), and many others.  i'll be there for pretty much a week and who knows, at that point the city may have sucked me in and i might never leave. 

if i do make it out, 

september 8th - 11th: dc/northern virginia!  again, so many of my favorite people live densely packed into this small area that i just hope i get a chance to see them all.  concrete plans so far include hanging out with V and her family; i have been suffering without my roommate/coworker/travel partner/friend since she left me in trieste on july 11th.  i'll get to see her as cheerleading coach in-action and i'm hoping her dad will cook us some delicious puerto rican food.  or maybe we'll make italian food?  we'll probably eat a lot; it will be delicious. 

later in september: a weekend in charlottesville for some other liz time (which will surely include a "cville highlights" journey before she leaves for oxford) and some concerts with friends and the family, some days at the beach (which days are yet to be determined), and then! an unprecedented alaska/canada/other places road trip adventure.  no, i have no idea what i've gotten myself into but i'm excited. 

other goals: i've been told i'd like chicago and seattle.  i also have some friends who are out of the country in some pretty cool spots that i might need to visit....

stay tuned for updates! 

x!

planes, trains, and automobiles.

last week i had my first american train ride experience.  i took the amtrak from LA down to san diego in california and it was pretty similar to every train ride i've ever taken in europe (minus a particularly offensive smell).  the ease of travel by train in europe was always one of my favorite parts of living there and i wish that a comparable system existed here in the states but it just doesn't.  although there are trains running between many major cities, it's still often necessary to have a car ride to the actual train station.  in my opinion, this somewhat defeats the purpose of having efficient train transport.

we all know that i like to travel (see: my life).  however, in the past few months when it has been the main focus of all of my days, i have begun to especially enjoy the process of getting from point A to point B instead of only the destination.  you know what emerson said, life is a journey, not a destination.

view from the amtrak in california

my favorite mode of travel, i think, are train rides.   i don't get motion sick and can spend time doing the things i might not get around to doing during the chaos of each day (reading, writing, listening to music).  another thing i love is the scenery; we all know i love a good view.  in italy, the train tracks seem to cut right through many of the most beautiful places; i always enjoyed looking out the window at the olive farms and the endless rows of grapes waiting to become wine... i also remember thinking the same about the english countryside while taking the national rail in the UK.  it's so relaxing to sit and be transported while taking in views of countryside you might not otherwise be exposed to.  one of my favorite memories from my time in siena during the spring of 2008 was seeing the beautiful tuscan countryside with it's rolling hills and copius fields of sunflowers during a trip to or from my quaint medieval home.  i was happy to discover that the same is true of the amtrak in california; the view of the beach as i rode to and from LA was pretty hard to beat.

train rides are especially fun with a group of people such as my carnevale train ride in march.  it's logistically nice when you can travel in a group and no one has the responsibility or driving or navigating.  it's more relaxing when no one has to worry about getting lost or being on time.    

i also have an unusual obsession with train stations.  the efficiency of the system amazes me, especially in italy which is an incredibly inefficient country; the trains are the only thing around that don't seem to be on 'italian time'.  the tracks weave in and out and overtop of each other so much that a crash seems like it should be inevitable - and what about the intertwined wires running above the tracks?! what do they do?! who controls which trains arrive where?!  and all the lines and repetition are totally cool looking.  

i have never particularly looked forward to plane rides.  this may be beacuse i have taken them for granted for the past 24 years... obviously i enjoy the airplane as a means of transport but the actual ride and airport time involves a lot of waiting around and it often makes me wish i could teleport.  i am often immediately put to sleep when sitting on a plane which yes, makes the ride go faster, but it also makes me feel like i'm wasting time and then at the end of it all i'm groggy and my neck hurts.  

one thing i do love about plane rides are the unique bella vistas; what can beat the view from take off and landing?  the chance to see an entire city (and often the surrounding suburbs and countryside) is one that isn't possible from a train, you can only get that view from the air. 

view of san francisco from the sky

in a car ride, you have the most freedom; you choose the speed, the direction, the route, and everything involved with travel companions and entertainment during the journey.  i missed driving while living abroad but i didn't feel like i needed a car to travel in europe which was great.  in the states, however, there are few cities in which it's easy to live without a car.  and even while it may be easy to live in a big city without a car by using public transportation, it's often hard to leave the city without a car.  the thought of being stuck somewhere terrifies me.  

really, i'd just like a good one of these:

x!

some habits die hard

in my recent gallivanting around california, i've found that some habits are hard to break.  i've been following the same travel patterns that were a part of every trip i took last year.  my priorities have been to bask in the sunshine, write postcards, and drink good coffee.  i've been stalking illy coffee and it was surprisingly easy to find in california.  however, it was also not even close to as good as the real thing and i was often disappointed.  i remember having similar frustrations in eastern europe; i just don't know how to order coffee outside of italy.  i suppose i'll have to learn to survive without a caffe macchiato  or capo in b as i write during my american travels.

home sweet beach house

before moving to trieste a year ago, i had never lived by the water.  however, i was lucky enough to enjoy a seaside home with the increasingly frequent trips my family took to our house on ocean isle beach, north carolina.  living on the edge of the adriatic sea was amazing.  the sea breeze was refreshing and the views of the sun setting over the horizon of the sea were some of the most majestic i have ever seen. 

since returning to the states and arriving at ocean isle for our annual family beach vacation, i have missed the elegant clarity of the adriatic sea.  i was predictably disappointed by the green, cloudy quality of the atlantic ocean and for the first few days i was reluctant to go for a swim; i was scared of what i wouldn't be able to see swimming below me.  the atlantic is also much warmer than the refreshing adriatic sea and i just didn't think it would be as good; i didn't want to forget the feel of swimming in the adriatic sea.  

i held out for a while but today, the sweltering heat gave me no choice and i took my first swim in the atlantic ocean in a year.  no, the water wasn't as cold, salty or crystal-clear as the adriatic.  despite the slightly warmer temperature, it did refresh me and i realized how much the familiarity of the waves and the rest of my favorite things about ocean isle beach are helping me to readjust to america.  

reverse culture shock?

by no means am i claiming that i have been in the third world, however, it's still weird to be back in the states. 

i remember going through the required prep classes before studying abroad my third year of college and two of the things they warned us about were culture shock and reverse culture shock.  i remember being incredibly annoyed that i had to sit and listen to what i thought was nonsense at 10am on a saturday morning.  i also remember not really experiencing it at all during or after my semester in siena.  "well it was only italy," i thought.  and this time, it still was only italy, but this year was so much more.  i've been trying to reflect upon the year little by little as it has gone by so i'm sure you're aware that this past year was so much more than me living in italy.  i made friends that i am sure i will keep for the rest of my life and they helped me to grow into someone with many more goals and interests than she had a year earlier.  i traveled to some incredible places and saw and experienced too many things to even begin to list here.  AND i taught some of the coolest kids i've ever met. 

and now i'm back in america.  why isn't everyone dying to hear stories?  why do i only get the question, "how was italy!?" i don't have any idea how to answer that question.

i'm pretty sure i'm making my way through the stages appropriately and i'm hoping that "readjustment and adaptation" is quickly approaching.

we'll see? 

x!  

L.I.Z.s from the road: episode 3

since the last update, we've spent approximately 19 hours on trains, buses and boats but have made it to hvar island in croatia!  our perch on top of a hill looking out over the adriatic sea is definitely the most beautiful place we've been to on this trip.

to backtrack a little bit... during the first part of our trip, the weather was uncharacteristically COLD.  i say "uncharacteristically" because it was late june, i'm actually not sure what the weather is normally like at this time of year in prague, budapest, or belgrade.  i just know that it was june and i was cold and not happy about it.  not being the only l.i.z. to feel this way, we were all three incredibly anxious to get to the coast.

so, the other day (i'm so lost as to what today's date is, what day of the week it is, or how quickly time is passing) we got on a train in belgrade heading to bar, montenegro.  after something insane like 11 hours, we made it to bar and then took a taxi (with a hilarious woman that kept trying to chat with us despite the fact that we had no common language) to budva, the "montenegrin miami," where we stayed for a couple nights.  even at night, it was much warmer in montenegro and we were excited. that is, until we woke up the following morning to an overcast sky.  luckily, the weather cleared up and we were able to enjoy some blue skies and a good number of beach hours for our two full days there.

on monday, july 4th (the only date i will remember from the whole trip), we took another 10 hour bus ride from budva to split, croatia!  after the bus, we took a ferry across the sea to hvar island and have 3 more nights in this incredibly gorgeous haven.  dubbed "the sunniest place in europe" by wikipedia, we are optimistic for the weather.

today, other liz and i rented mopeds and drove them all over the island -- we passed lavender fields (the smell was amazing!), bopped around the old town, stari grad, and stumbled upon a secluded beach cove for a late-afternoon swim.  it was a pretty excellent first day on the island.

tomorrow, V comes to join us!  we have a long list of things we still want to do on the island including hiking up to the old fortress, going to the beach club in the woods?, finding other secluded beaches, taking a taxi boat across to a smaller island for a sandy beach day, etc. etc. 

x!

L.I.Z.s from the road: episode 2

current location: SERBIA!

since we last spoke, the 3 lizs spent the night in the danube-front marriott in Budapest, which was incredibly luxurious.  we collectively took 4 showers, primped excessively, hoarded toiletries, got a late checkout and stayed in bed until noon. it was excellent.

after wandering around budapest a tiny bit more and enjoying some delicious Thai food, we hopped on a train last night at 2330 headed to serbia -- we're getting back to other liz's roots.

i've had a few overnight train experiences this year and none have been horrible.  have you seen the episode of seinfeld when kramer hangs out with all the japanese men and they sleep in the dresser, each in an individual drawer? well, this felt kind of like that. or like sleeping in a coffin. either way, it wasn't my favorite.  i did really enjoy it when the customs officer (at the serbian border) laughed about us all having the same name.

today, we are covering beograd (where they use cyrillic, making navigation difficult, and currency is confusing but we think things are cheap?) and then tomorrow we're off to montenegro!

we are having a great time but I am exhausted. I am just a tornado of emotions, so much is going on inside that I'm just emotionally and mentally drained-- I'm homesick but foo which home? America or the home I've created in Trieste? Or do I miss the people- which people? My family and friends in the states or the family I've come to have over the past year? It's really sinking in that this year is over and I've said goodbye to a lot of people. Those who matter most, I know I'll see again but the uncertainty of when is still sad, you know?

Oh, life.

x

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!

the near future is looking to be quite nice

today, i bought two little wish bracelets from a street vendor near the canal.  you're supposed to tie the bracelet on with 3 knots and make a wish with each knot -- the bracelet has a base color and each color stands for something different, love, hope, friendship, career, etc.  your wish should probably correspond to the base color of the bracelet.   when the bracelet falls off, your wish is supposed to come true -- you've heard of these.  well, i tied them on and after an hour or two, i hadn't come up with wishes yet.  even after seriously focusing, i still could not come up with something to wish for.  at first, i was frustrated that i couldn't decide upon something specific but really, nothing to wish for? things must be going okay!  i mean, in all seriousness, what could i have to complain about? i do have a gazillion things to be doing in preparation for the end of the school year, moving out of my apartment, and saying goodbye to those who have been my family for the past 10 months but at the same time, i have so many good things happening.  tonight i ate homemade spaghetti carbonara that was just "thrown together" by V, i only have a week of school left until summer, i'm rendezvousing with two of my best friends in prague in 9 days and i've got about 6 other trips in the works.  life is good.

in the past few months, as my friends and i have all been job searching, trying to decide what to do when we leave trieste, i've had a lot of conversations (and time to think) about plans for next year and weighing the options.  stay abroad? return to the states? keep teaching? go another route? if stay abroad, where to go? if return to the states, where to go?  as you may or may not know, i've decided to focus on traveling next year (unless some incredible opportunity for employment comes along and knocks me off of my feet), within the US and abroad.  i've got people in cool places that i need to visit and i was so indecisive for so long about where i wanted to go and be for an extended period of time that it just seemed like the right decision for me.  hopefully, living the life of a perma-gallivanter, i can continue to work out what i want to do more long-term.  but for now, i could not be happier with my decision to not really have a plan (who am i?!).  

i wasn't always happy with my lack-of-"real"-job for the fall and i couldn't have reached this point of content without really hashing out the pros and cons with everyone around me.  in tuck everlasting, one of my favorite books and the novel we are finishing the year with in class, one of the characters says, "people got to do something useful if they're going to take up space in the world." and i could not agree more.  however, what i want to do is travel the world and tell people about it - inspire them to "step outside and see what's shaking in the real world" (as a friend of mine says).  is this desire a desire to do something, or would the end result just be bragging?

a common question that many people ask (and must answer) is, "what do you do?"  as a favorite redhead family member says on her design blog, sweetboo, it's becoming more difficult to succinctly define "what you do" in today's world.  i could not agree more.  when people ask me, "so what are you going to do in the fall?" i know that they mean, "do you have a job, or what's the deal?"  and no, while i don't have a full-time teaching job lined up, that doesn't mean i'm not going to be doing anything.  in fact, i'm going to be doing a lot of things!  these things might not be traditional employment options, but i'm planning to broaden my horizons through travel, fund those travels along the way,  and learn a lot -- not everyone can say that about their day jobs, am i right?!      

maybe i'm wrong.  so, should i be searching for a more "normal" immediate future?  a friend, M, is having a hard time deciding what to do next - she's deciding between traveling the world and having a job that will look good on her resume, a "normal, professional" job.  but what is normal?!  there really is no "normal" anymore, people in this world are all over the place and you can't compare yourself to others -- you must do what is right for you in the moment.  following your own head is how you will make it to where you're supposed to be -- how you'll find your "normal."  thankfully, the more i talk to people, the more i'm noticing that everyone is growing more conscious of this which makes it easier to do what you want.  who cares what is considered normal?  

now, i don't know what all the answers are (are you surprised?), everyone has to figure out what is right for them.  i do know that we shouldn't dwell on things for too long, stress should be avoided like the plague and we mustn't forget to have fun.  as dr. seuss says,  life's a great balancing act...but there's fun to be done!

so, as i said in the beginning, i've got a lot going on but no complaints, life is good.

x!

L.I.Z.s reunite: summer plans, an overview.

even though i have more half-written blog posts about past trips or at-one-time-current thoughts than i would like to admit, i thought i'd let you know a little bit about what's to come in my near future before telling you everything that i've been doing recently (and longer ago than recently).

this morning, two of my most favorite people arrived on my continent! other liz and eliza made it to paris today, after what i believe may have been quite the chaotic journey.  regardless, they are in my time zone and i am thrilled.  they are going to gallivant for a bit while i survive the last week of school (EEK! more on that to come) and THEN i will be meeting them in the czech republic to begin what is going to be the most epic adventure we 3 elizabeths have ever embarked upon.   

the schedule: 

10-14 June: Paris (other liz + eliza)

15-17 June: Bruges (other liz + eliza)

18-21 June: Amsterdam (other liz + eliza)

22-24 June: Prague (l.i.z.3)

25-28 June: Budapest (l.i.z.3)

29-31 June: Belgrade, Serbia (l.i.z.3)

1-3 July: Budva, Montenegro (l.i.z.3)

4-7 July: Hvar, Croatia (l.i.z.3)

8 July: Ancona, Italy (l.i.z.3)

9 July: Bologna (l.i.z.3)

after which, i will return to trieste to bid adieu to roommate elizabeth (so many elizabeths!) who will leave on 11 july and then i will promptly turn around to meet other liz near valencia, spain for the benicassim music festival 

then it's july 18th and i'm back in trieste. all i know about the rest of the summer is that i will be at OIB for the first two weeks of august and then la mia programma fermata.

so, i have 10 days (oh shit) to pack up my life, in an organized fashion, so that i may ship half of it back to america and keep the important bits in various locations so that i will have everything i need throughout the summer.  10 days doesn't sound that bad, but during those 10 days i also have, the last 5 days of school, a staff dinner, 5th grade graduation, a graduation lunch, and many other things that i'm sure i'm forgetting right now (that's a good sign).


also, my room looks like this:

typical, right? 

well. instead of worrying about it right this second, i'm going to go to barcola for the afternoon and preso il sole! 

happy saturday! 

x.

do you have a passport?

despite the fact that croatia border control has continually stamped ON TOP of my beautiful green ireland stamp, i'm very quickly filling up my passport.  for those of you who may not know, a little over a year ago, i made it a goal of mine to fill up my passport before it expires.  it expires in august of 2017 and i am well on my way.  i'm still not totally sure what happens when all of your pages are covered in stamps, but i believe it may only involve going to an embassy and getting pages added.  regardless, i'd like to have to find out.

in conversations i have with friends here in italy, i have found that i am not the only one who desires a passport stamp upon entering a new country.  aside from the goal of filling up my passport, it's interesting to see what each stamp looks like!

knowing my goals and learning that it's not unusual for someone with similar interests to have a similar goal, i was surprised to find this chart showing how many americans have passports.  so many states show that less than half of their population has a passport!!! that just blows my mind.

in the same breath, i also know people who have never left the country and who don't really plan on it anytime soon.  and there's nothing wrong with that -- in fact, i'm ashamed to admit how little of the united states i have seen, especially when i've seen so much outside of the country.

it's just so different to think about simple travel here vs. simple travel in the states.  here, i almost always have my passport on me in case the drive home from school involves a border crossing or in case someone spur-of-the-moment invites me to go to slovenia or croatia for dinner.  whereas last-minute decisions like those are completely different in the states.

just something to ponder.

x!

MALTA: "there are no strangers, only people who aren't your friends yet."

things haven't changed much since i started loving trieste, but i went on the most incredible vacation and i just have to share everything about it.  

last week, we were on spring vacation from school.  the itinerary for the week was: stay in trieste for easter weekend, cinque terre, parma, and malta to end the week.  as i mentioned shortly before my departure, i had done very little planning for the trip -- V and i had booked a bed to sleep in for wednesday - saturday nights and that was about all.  this was a big step for me and it turned out to be the best thing we could have possibly done.  in malta (the 3rd stop of our week), especially, everything fell into place beautifully; it was so organic that it couldn't have been planned any better.

V says, "there are no strangers; only people who aren't your friends yet."  while she lives her life by this motto -- always asking people questions, for directions, stumbling over new and unfamiliar words and languages like it's no big deal and charming the pants off of everyone she encounters -- i am a bit different.  i pride myself on having a good sense of direction -- since childhood, i've been given the position of "copilot" in order to effectively read the map and help us reach our destination during trips -- and being independent, especially while traveling.  thus, asking for directions and talking to new people ("strangers" some would call them) in unfamiliar languages is not really my jam -- or, it hasn't been in the past.

in malta, however, the people are a breed unlike any i've encountered before.  instead of resenting tourists, each person seemed genuinely happy that we were visiting their country.  they took an interest in our plans and in addition to answering our questions, gave us unsolicited tips on how to more thoroughly enjoy our time in malta.  the perfect representation of the maltese welcoming was our hostel malti owner, chris.  after forgiving us immediately for arriving 2 hours later than we indicated at the time of booking (oops), he asked us, "is this your first time in malta?" when we told him yes, it was our first trip to the island, he responded, "perfect. what are your plans?" "um. well, we have none." "even better!"  before letting us pay, giving us keys, or  showing us to our room, chris sat us down around the common room table and spread out a map.  he marked a million "must do's" on the map and gave us ideas that could build a 2-week-long itinerary.  needless to say, we were overwhelmed, "you mean, we have to make decisions about the next few days?" asked V.

st. julian's bay at night

our first decision: dinner.  we made our way down the hill to st. julian's bay and paparazzi - a chris-recommended dining spot - where we spread out the map and accepted the fact that we were full-on tourists.  we made notes, came up with various plans for each day to be implemented pending weather circumstances and we consumed what may be the most delicious cheeseburger concoction i have ever had.  the sweetheart burger was made with melted cheddar cheese, caramelized onions and sweet-chili sauce and i'm not at all ashamed to tell you that we shared that exact burger 3 times during our stay on malta.  after a good meal, good conversation and a good amount of planning, we went to bed feeling confident in what was to come in the next few days on malta.

i don't know how much of malta's history is well-known but V and i went into our trip blind of what the tiny country has been through and what it's like today -- we weren't even sure what their national language was...(turns out that they speak english and maltese)  it was for this reason, mainly, that we decided to spend our first day wandering around the capital city of valletta.  

to get to valletta, we first had to navigate the malta bus system.  the buses on the island are hilarious.  they reminded V of latin america "but about 10 times better" and for me, never having visited latin america, i felt like i had just gone back in time.  each bus seemed to belong to its driver.  much like some taxi cabs in the states, the driver's area was decorated a little bit differently on each bus.  we saw island-style flowers and hula dancers, strings of beads, stickers of pin-up girls in skimpy bikinis, and "i <3 jesus" stickers, among other visual treats.  the price for a ride cost 47 cents and the money was kept next to the driver in some sort of bucket/bowl and was mostly bronze 1 and 2 cent pieces.  usually, there wasn't a door that opened or closed, just some stairs leading to an empty space out of which i was frequently scared of being thrown, although many drivers had friends standing in the "door" to keep them company during the ride.  

shoes: optional

don't know how he didn't fall out

after navigating the bus system, we made it to valletta and spent the afternoon wandering the streets of the capital.  eventually (thanks to the very helpful tourist signs), we reached our destination of "the malta experience."  this audio visual spectacular was an opportunity for us to time travel through 7000 years, said the brochure.  the advertising (which was everywhere) also boasted sensational visuals and a gripping commentary that would inform us completely on the turbulent history of the maltese islands.  i'm not sure if it was the gripping commentary or the lengthy period of time during which the ottoman empire had control of malta in the 1500s that caused me to lose interest but somewhere around the middle, i was asleep.  thankfully, it was just a brief siesta and i woke up just before world war two.  thanks to V's thorough cliff notes on malta, the end of ottoman control, and napoleon, i still left feeling incredibly informed about the history of the maltese islands.  i'm not sure i've ever had such a succinct, yet informative, history lesson before.  

V on the streets of valletta

with the knowledge gained from the malta experience, we were ready to knowingly explore the island.  we wanted to see all of the bella vistas and ruined stuff (favorite term used by daddyjohn) that were in our audio visual experience!

as soon as we left the malta experience, we were bombarded by a man operating a horse-drawn carriage. "30 euro! i take you all over the island (as he very quickly points out his route on a tattered map)!" as much as we tried to escape, we ended up in the carriage, being taken along roads we had already walked.  although we didn't see anything new during this exciting carriage ride, we paid far less than he originally asked, made it just in time for our return ferry from valletta, and had our first stranger-turned-friend in malta.  

with our first maltese stranger-turned-friend

on the following day, we had high hopes for checking things off of our "must see" list provided by hostel-owner-chris the night of our arrival.  also, the weather was beautiful so we wanted to soak in some rays.  we envisioned a long hike during which we could pass some bella vistas and explore some ruined stuff.  over breakfast and royal wedding pre-show coverage (and with the help of chris), we mapped out an adventurous day.  our adventures were to include: bus ride to the blue grotto, boat ride around caves, hike to the mnajdra and hagar qim temples, continue hiking along the coast to the dingli cliffs, then head inland to the ancient capital city of mdina.  eat cake at fontanella, then catch a bus back to st. julians.  chris said it would take a while but at the time of planning (10am), he wasn't rushing us out the door; he said we'd have plenty of time. 

and around 11am, we were off.  we made it to the blue grotto without incident and began making friends all over the place.  after purchasing our boat-ride tickets, we were loitering and trying to position ourselves in such a way to gain a good viewing seat on the boat.  V started chatting up old man #1 in hilarious jelly sandals (circa my closet in 1994) and before too long he was giving us nespole from his garden.  nespole is the italian word for the fruit and i actually have no idea what they are in english (google translate says "medlar" but that doesn't help me at all. what is a medlar?!).  they look a bit like apricots but aren't fuzzy -- they're small and have a slight sweet flavor.  they're delicious - especially when grown fresh and given to you by a man in jelly sandals. 

V wearing her mario-mandated life vest

soon after indulging on nespole, mario pulled up his boat and assured us that the back row of seats, right in front of him, was the best place to be seated (we had lost our spot in line while eating nespole and chatting it up with old men in jelly sandals).  as we rode off in our little boat and mario quickly began his spiel about the blue grotto and the surrounding caves, we were glad we were sitting just in front of the tour guide -- i'm not sure anyone else could hear him.  

he drove us through numerous caves with the most incredibly colored water i have ever seen.  each little cave had a different special feature, a funny-shaped rock, interesting sand, or pink walls.  my favorite was the reflective cave with a white sand bottom; when you dipped your hand in the water, it lit up and became the same color as the sparkling aquamarine water.  in the end, mario was an excellent tour guide and we were, in fact, very happy that we sat in the back near him.  in addition to being able to hear everything he said and having the most stable place in which to stand up for photo ops, i was able to avoid wearing the "required" orange life vest and thus got sufficient sun burn in hilarious wing-shapes on my shoulder blades.  

after the boat ride, we were interested in some maltese sustenance before venturing onto our hike.  in valletta, we had seen rabbit on various menus and obtained confirmation that it was a frequently consumed maltese dish.  we purchased postcards, found a cute table outside, wrote postcards, and ate rabbit.  how was it? eh.  it was good, but there was a lot of work involved and i just am not sure i loved it enough to order it again.  it was prepared with garlic and while i do love garlic, i don't love the taste lingering while i hike all day -- so of course that's what's stuck in my mind.  

after lunch, our "hike" to the ancient temples was up a wonderfully wide stone sidewalk along the main road.  it took us about 15 uphill minutes to reach the temples - a wonderful stroll just after lunch.  the mnajdra and hagar qim temples are the oldest free-standing stone temples in the world - older than stonehenge!  we were very excited to see something so ruined, until the ticket price was something ridiculous.  thankfully, new malta friend #4, john, came to the rescue. he approached us (while we were hesitantly trying to admit to each other that we didn't want to pay to enter) and said, "you know, i'll tell you a secret.  you can just walk around the outside and see pretty much the gist of things." "oh! well that's excellent. thanks, john! after we look at the outside of the temples, we want to hike to mdina, can you show us how to get there?" "oh no. not on that map. come with me." john proceeded to lead us through the temple museum to a map that covered an entire wall. after giving us directions using this enormous map ("it'll only take you about 2 hours, you're young." he said), he slowly retraced his steps through the museum, giving us a guided tour.  the highlights included his description of the "fat lady" sculptures, "why were these women made so fat? fertility! they were healthy. now you two, no you are good like that, stay like that. but this showed health and fertility."  and then when describing the shape of the temples, "what does this (semi-circle) shape signify?" keeping with the theme of the museum so far, we excitedly responded, "fertility! women's ovaries!" alas, we were incorrect. "no, a hug. hold out your arms like you're giving a hug." 

john's parting words, "do you have any friends in malta? no? yes you do! i am your friend."     

with our new friend, john

we briefly wandered around the outside of the temple area, feeling like we had already seen everything we needed to in the museum during our private tour.  then we were off to mdina!  however, as john told us, our map was not the most detailed.  i'm also not sure that it was at all to-scale; now that i'm looking back at it, it looks more like a cartoon of a map than something that can actually help you find your way.  and, of course, neither of us wrote down john's directions which means we didn't really remember them.  john said it wasn't too far, we knew the general way that he pointed and and i was relying on the good sense of direction that my mom swears i possess.  we'd be fine! 

20 minutes later, we were standing at an intersection, i'm in my map and V is flagging down a bus driver. "where to?! ooh. that's far, you know."  regardless, he pointed us in the correct direction.  we walked for a while along what we assumed to be the correct street.  however, soon we reach a dead end and multiple signs were pointing to "blasting and galvanizing" areas.  to add insult to injury, the sky over the water was growing more ominous by the minute and V was terrified of the anticipated combination of me + rain + no escape.  she just knew that i would melt.  as we were about to really admit that we were lost and turn around to commence back-tracking, a very dusy truck drove up a very dusty road and a very dusty man exited.  "yay!" we thought. we can ask for directions.  the very dusty man and his son (maybe his son? the possible son was not at all dusty) told us (in VERY broken english) that we were very far from where we needed to be and why were we walking there? "that's far from here, you know?"  soon, they were ushering us into their very dusty car.  i felt no hesitation, everyone in malta was so nice! but i later learned that V was having a bit of an internal freak out.  dusty man and not-so-dusty-possible-son drove us up their dusty driveway and walked us through their farm.  dusty man pointed to something on our map, then pointed directly up the steep hill.  he then wildly gestured to the left and kept pointing straight up while speaking sentences that we could not even begin to understand. 

ok, then. so! we started climbing up the mountain, albeit a bit hesitantly.  time went so slowly. we were walking through rural malta, through farmland with signs that i assume said, "no trespassing," nowhere near anything that even existed on our map.  guard dogs were barking loudly at us as we scaled rock walls and remember what the sky just behind us over the water looked like!? i was terrified of a monsoon rainstorm.  V was rehashing the thoughts she was having while i was trusting the dusty man's incomprehensible directions and together, we were growing more and more nervous that we were just climbing to another dead end.  however, after what ended up being only about 10 or 15 minutes, we reached a street!     

farmland on the edge of the world. insanely steep hill with the sea at the bottom. 

strawberry fields! (ominous sky is to the left and can't be seen in the photo)

oh man, it was good to reach that street.  despite all the wild gesturing to the left that our dusty man had done, we went to the right upon reaching the street.  after passing multiple large trucks and signs pointing to more "blasting and galvanizing" we knew something wasn't quite right.  thanks to some legitimate directions (in english) from a man in a funny green car, we turned around (to follow the gestures of our dusty friend) and felt confident in where we were headed.  with our new confidence, we were able to enjoy the incredible views from the side of the mountain -- the ominous black clouds had failed to materialize (thankfully) and had cleared to a more beautiful blue sky than before they threatened a storm.  

we hiked past some adorable mountain churches, some bunker-like houses in the side of rock caves and some pretty incredible mansions.

during our adventure, we were reminded that we were "miles from valletta." 

finally, we reached the dingli cliffs. 

incredibly gorgeous. especially after the adventure it took us to get here. 

i just felt like we had reached the edge of the world and everything was beautiful and perfect and who cares how many times we got lost because we made it! 

it was so breathtaking. i'm actually quite upset at how unimpressive these photos are.  i guess this bella vista is one of those things that you really had to be there for.  

there was a perfect little rock for us to perch on.  i sat and had a deliciously juicy grapefruit snack while V climbed a rock directly behind me searching for the perfect piece of stone to carry back to the states for her dad.  just sitting and relaxing, staring out across the beautifully serene water with the sun beaming down through the clouds was the most excellent mid-point in our day.  

i say "midpoint" as if it were 1 or 2 pm.  however. we didn't reach the dingli cliffs until about 5pm.  the sun was beginning to descend in the sky a bit more rapidly than we were comfortable with, my winged sunburn was making me unusually freezing, and we hadn't reached mdina yet. as we were formulating our game plan, we saw a non-hiker come down to the cliffs from the road (and her car -- we called these folks cheaters) to snap a photo.  we followed her back up to the road and started asking questions, "did you arrive by bus? where is the main road? where are we? what road is this? where is mdina? do you know if a bus goes by here?" these cheaters became our new favorite friends when they said, "oh, we're going to mdina, do you want a ride?!" 

yes. yes and yes. thank you chris and gillan from somewhere in the uk! it turns out that, thanks to the royal wedding and the national holidays that came along with it, for people living and working in the uk to have an insanely long vacation, they only had to take 3 days off from work. so! chris and gillian (who don't care much for the royal family because they're busy living their own lives) were gallivanting in malta and were more than happy to give us a lift to mdina.

we went straight to fontanella for the chocolate cake that V had earned.  i had some subpar carrot cake (nothing will ever be able to compare to the carrot cake that was consumed in stockholm) and we decided that the best part about fontanella was the bella vista from our little table. 

husbands

wives

we didn't do much else in mdina - we were cold and exhausted and i was sunburned.  we commented on the adorable old people on our way out and began the bus venture back to st. julian's.  being friday night and all, we wanted to go out (especially since we hadn't yet made it to paceville -- the crazy nightlife of malta).  however, when we arrived back at the hostel, no one was around to tell us what to do and we were too exhausted to put much effort into our night's agenda.  so, we happily settled for splitting a sweetheart burger and bottle of tastes-like-water white wine to top off an incredibly adventurous day.

saturday's plan: relax on the beach, read a lot and soak in lots of rays.  well that plan was down the drain when we woke up and it was gray and rainy.  despite the weather, i was trying to read outside on the roof terrace (have i mentioned that our hostel had a rooftop terrace?!) when chris came out and asked about our plans for the day. "well, we wanted to go to the beach....." "yeah, that's not likely." was his response. well duh. what are we supposed to do in the rain?! after rejecting his museum suggestion, he offered, "well, there's this rugby match today, malta versus croatia?" V's face lit up. we watched rugby when we were in dublin, she loves the irish, which i think means she loves rugby - just by association at least.

so. chris made some calls and got us a ride to the rugby match on a bus with his friend pierre. "go meet pierre at this hotel, here's a map. you'll be able to find pierre no problem, we call him kermit because he's french. he's small and french-looking. be there at 1230." we went to breakfast with another new friend, gijs, from the netherlands, and he told us all about "queen's day" when all the dutch wear orange (which i had conveniently put on for the day's activities) and party like there's no tomorrow in honor of some old queen's birthday.  sounds like a fun holiday.  gijs also taught us how to say his name (it's nothing like it looks) by "what does a tiger say?" and then you make a very unladylike noise in your throat and the "eis" sound. and that's his name.  

anyway. we made our way to the correct hotel only 10 minutes late.  sadly, we found no one that answered to either pierre or kermit and although we weren't totally sure what he would look like, we saw no one that we immediately thought to be "small and french-looking."  we assumed that because we were late, pierre must have left without us.  alas, we were forced to make new friends.  we joined a rugby team in the hotel bar that was going to the game and of course they had room on their bus for us! after giving us free tickets to the game and beers, they sat us down to watch their "kangaroo court" during which they attempted to beer bong bottles of strongbow cider and chug pints of flavored rum. i say "attempted" because they were doing a horrible job -- most of the liquid ended up on the floor of the hotel bar.  after about 30 minutes of kangaroo court, pierre came and found us! "V? liz? are you coming?! we're waiting for you!" pierre was cute and not at all what i would have called "french looking."  we followed him onto a bus that contained rugby players much younger and much more attractive than the older men failing to chug their kangaroo-court-mandated booze. we were excited for how this afternoon could unfold.  

somewhere near the end of the bus ride, one of the players said, "hold up. there are girls on this bus. pierre! where did the girls come from? who are they?"  when we arrived to the game, we were inducted into the group with beers, face paint, and rules to their constant drinking game by one of the players, garreth unwin.  if you're not familiar with garreth, he won an oscar for producing the king's speech.  so, i mean, that was pretty cool.  he was especially funny when he was lighting his teammates leg hairs on fire and obsessing over V's hair.  sadly, we were told not to get any wild ideas -- he's engaged.  all the guys were funny and many were super nice, despite the rule that if caught talking to a girl, they would have ketchup thrown in their face.  (no ketchup was found during the game, thus we witnessed no ketchup smearing).  In addition to the team that became our team, we were surrounded by our friends from earlier and everyone we had met on the island so far.  and because the maltese and all who travel there are all so incredibly nice, we were greeted by everyone and i felt like i had been there for far longer than 2 days.  the cherry on top of all that was that the stadium was the only place i have ever been where there was a long line for the men's bathroom and no one was in the women's bathroom.  it was the greatest male:female ratio that i believe i have ever experienced.  

  

after the game (malta won), we were given the pleasure of witnessing another round of initiation by our new friends.  my favorite task was when they had to see how many close pins they could attach to their face. as V said, we were watching "homo sapien sapien rugby sapiens" in their natural habitat - i actually felt like i was in an edition of national geographic and that i definitely wasn't supposed to be there. 

after parting ways with our rugby friends, V and i took much needed naps on the rooftop terrace and regrouped before having our 3rd sweetheart burger date and then making our way to paceville for rugby celebrations.  as we entered the thick of maltese nightlife, we passed our original older-men rugby friends and also encountered our younger, more-attractive rugby friends who were now dressed as cowboys and indians and smelled suspiciously of ketchup.  we finally encountered hostel-owner-chris and pierre who were with the very well-dressed malta national team celebrating their victory over croatia.

we hopped around paceville with members from multiple rugby teams, holding our own quite well in a group with so many intoxicated men.  i won't give you all the details , but if you use your imagination, you might have a good idea of how the evening progressed.  at one point - maybe my favorite point - we were in a dive bar FULL of foreigners singing horrible karaoke.  obviously, i thought i was in my element and V and i signed up to sing a few numbers.  i was unaware, however, that my go-to country karaoke jams would not translate to be as popular in malta as they are with the crowd in salty mcdoogles at ocean isle beach, north carolina.  after failing miserably at mj's 'man in the mirror' and shania twain's 'man, i feel like a woman', we moved on. before we knew it, it was 4am and we were in a bar that was playing 70s and 80s throwback jams and all the young attractive rugby players had left long before with girls willing to sell themselves short.  V and i went back to our hostel and spent the night cuddled in the cushions on the rooftop terrace.

sunday morning was possibly the most beautiful day we had woken up to all week which was quite depressing since we had to leave malta at midday.  we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast coffee and sandwich at cafe ole near the water and then had stress-free transport to the airport by taxi-driver manuel (who we saw the "night" before as we were returning to the hostel as he was driving another hostel guest to the airport).  as if it had been a parting gift, the beautiful weather made for amazing views as our plane flew over the island en route to bologna and home.  it was sad to leave, but  i know i'll be back.      

as i mentioned at the beginning of this terribly-lengthy post, it has not been my way in the past to make friends with strangers... this has especially been the case when traveling in a foreign country where people may or may not speak english.  in malta, most people did speak english which certainly made getting around and making friends much easier.  however, i believe that even without a common language, people living in and visiting malta are incredibly welcoming and friendly.  during our stay, we made numerous friends that i hope to keep in touch with and visit again -- either in malta or another exciting destination.    

in my future travels, i intend to make my way through the world with V's words close at hand.  especially when thinking about traveling alone, it's much more comforting to know that you're only alone if you decide to be alone -- strangers only exist if you let them.  

x!