Same ol' Bums

EDIT: It is now October 27th and I am in Washington DC. This blog, for some reason, never posted .. but I never had the internet to realize that! I will have a massive update once I am back in California next week and I have my computer back! For now, here's what I wrote two weeks ago....


I should have figured that the minute I posted about the Dodgers doing well in the playoffs that they would slump immidiately and go down 3 games in a row to the Phillies in the NLCS. Game four is Tonight (in the states) but even if they win and send the series back to Philly... the franchise has never come back from a 3-1 deficite. But there is still SOME hope! So I will think blue.. until we lose. And then I will BE blue. (bahdum-chh! haha) As they say, there's always next year. And the next. And the next.... For the record, if we get eliminated, I will be rooting for the Phillies. I sort of like the Cinderella story that the Rays have been this season ... but I have always liked the Phillies. They are a good oganization ... at least, as good as any cn be when they elimnate your team. Hmmph.


As far as my world travels go, Rome has been great! I went to the Papal audience today and hung out with Benedict XVI. I wasn't ever lucky enough to be in the presence of John Paul II, and I wish I could have. So seeing and hearing the Pope with my own eyes and ears was an experience I won't EVER forget!! Kirsten, Liz and I had a lot of fun trapsing around the city together, enjoying lots of fabulous food whenever we could afford it. We learned to tell the good Gelattorias from the bad ones. If you check the color of their Pistachio Gelatto, it should be an ochre green. If it is, it's good! If it looks like something our of a Craylo box... then stear clear beacuse they aren't making the good stuff!

Seeing the Pope and visiting St. Peter's Basillica are definitely a favorite memory of mine fom Rome... but they are sort of in a class of their own and it may not be fair to compare the rest of the city with them... PLUS the Vatican is a sovereign state, so it counts as another trip!! Haha .. but the highlights of the week have defintely been the Forum and the Musee Borghesse. The Borghesse Museum and Gallery is one f the most popular in Rome and is housed in this family's provate Villa. Because of this you have to reserve tickets ahead of time for a two hour block during the day. It houses some of Bernini's most famous sculptures and an impressive collection of portraits and other paintings (not all of which are necessarily Religious) on the second floor. My favorite was Bernini's sculpture "The Rape of Persephone" ... google it. Now. ..... There, finished? Impressive, right?! Okay ... even if you didnàt look it up .. it is incredible. It is hard to believe that the sculpture is made of marble and that your eyes aren't actually looking at really still people ... flesh nd bone like you and me. There are others of his famous works there ... including his depiction od David from David and Goliath ... that was a favorite of mine too.

Of course you can't come to Rome without visiting the Spanish Steps, or the many MANY piazzas, or even tossing a coin in the Trevi Fountain; all of which we did and enjoyed! Kirsten and Liz left this morning for Florence and I leave tomorrow to meet Rachel in Paris!! I can't wait to finish off the last leg of this incredible trip and get back to share my stories with you all... IN PERSON!!

Till then .. Ciao.

THINK BLUE!!

I may be enjoying life as a globetrotter, but that could never change the fact that deep down I am still (and always will be) a ravenous sportsfan. This leaves me at an ethical crossroads of sorts. My team ... my BOYS ... the Los Angeles Dodgers, play in game one of the National League Championship Series tomorrow. They are enjoying the franchise's first successful appearance in the post season since 1988. And I am not there to see any of it....

Of course .. it's not as if I am exactly on hard times either .. I am ernjoying the trip of a lifetime!

But, I can't help but lament the poor timing. I of course do not have it in me to root AGAINST my team. I think I am certain that I would spontaneously combust were I to root against the Dodgers. It just isn't in my nature... But I can't help but wish that they would have picked ANOTHER season to finally stop choking.

Whatever the case may be ... or whichever country I happen to be in ... I will always Think Blue. And I encourage you to do the same. I will do my best to find SOME American Sports bar in Rome so that I might be able to see even ONE of the games against Philly ... and hope that my boy pull it out in Philly and make it to the fall classic, THE series!!!!! (The World Series that is.) Whether I am there to witness it or not, history is being made and I am loving every second if it!

Just another day...

...in the life of a Globetrotter like me.

For the record, I have officially been traveling for over a month!

On Friday I left Cairo with Kirsten and Liz. We flew to Athens and got into the city and to our hostel without much hassle. The next day I spent the morning and early afternoon touring the Acropolis and exploring a few of the surrounding markets before catching my flight to... Rome!

Getting to Legends (our hostel in Rome) was pretty simple as well, and I was glad to finally reach a bed. I crashed as soon as I arrived! That next morning I found the closest church, went to Mass, and spent the day getting lost in Rome. On purpose of course. I walked a lot and saw a lot too ... not sure what I saw of course because I wasn't paying too much attention. haha. After a delicious lunch, I headed back to the airport for my flight to Dubrovnik! I was only supposed to have one layover for about a half hour in Zagreb ... but apparently most flights from Rome to Zagreb have a stopover in Split to go through immigration and to fill up the plane. with other international arrivals to Croatia... so I was startled by the 40 minute detour. The cool thing was that John Paul II flew on the same plane I was on when he visited Zagreb in 2003!! There was a plaque on the plane and everything! So that was awesome... I finally arrived in Dubrovnik and was greeted by the daughter of my host (I am staying at a guesthouse called Villa Elly) and we made the drive from the airport. It was a nice drive, and a clear night! I enjoyed seeing the coast at night and getting to see stars for the first time since I was in the Philippines. It is defnitely fall weather, so after walking the city walls today I will go out and buy a few warmer additions to my wardrobe. The Old City is nice. It is crowded with tourists from cruise shios and souvenirs stores are crammed onto the main street. But escaping into the alleyways for coffee and a sandwich is wonderful... there are a lot of small stores and coffeshops to keep me occupied. I'm off to walk the city walls and then ... we'll see. Mostly I am just enjoying my free time and taking a chance to reflect on the last month of travel!

Haha!! Still in Cairo

Wow .. you can tell that my last post was typed during my last 5 minutes at an internet cafe... haha. Sorry about that.

To clarify... Everyone involved with our trip to Egypt has been a wonderful. It is clear that this country is proud of their history. Our guides have been informative and and enthusiastic at each sight. Of course ... seeing the Taj Mahal and the Great Pyramids (aka the Pyramids of Giza) within 3 days of each other is mind blowing in itself. We drove around and saw the pyramids from every possible angle, climbed down into one of the smaller ones (it's much quicker than in the main three, and all of the tombs are the same .. and empty, haha) and admired the sphinx up close. It was a shame how crowded it was near the sphinx, though. People got a bit pushy and no one could get a very good picture of it... Still though -- we got to be right up next to it! And forget all of the legends you've heard.. he lost his nose when an Islamic ruler smashed it years and years and years ago. He did it to show the people that it was just a statue, not any kind of true deity. Our last night before heading to Luxor we took a sunset camel ride around the pyramids ... but not before we ate at the Pizza Hut with a view of the Sphinx and second largest pyramid! ... they love their American fast food here ... and because it was still Ramadan (just ended today) the touristy places were the only ones open for lunch! The camel ride was fun. Just another exotic animal I can cross of my list I guess.

Luxor was much calmer than Cairo. We had a lot of free time there so we took a few strolls up and down the Nile riverside. It was all quite pleasant, except for the constant taxi offers and boater's cat-calls... we just learned to say "La shokran" or no thank you in Arabic. That usually impressed them enough that they left us alone. We got a big kick out of the Mc Donalds that was across the street from Luxor Temple, and then of course went in for ice cream. (It was hot!!!)

We made it back to Cairo without any problems; spent the day at our hotel to take everything in, and then ended the night with a Nile dinner cruise. It turned out to be better suited for travelers a few years our seniors... but we had a nice time anyway. Andrea had to leave for a gnarly early (4:30 am!!) flight home. So we stayed up watching bad movies on Egyptian TV until she got picked up to go to the airport around 1:30.

And then there were three.

We'll miss Andrea ... and we are all a little bit jealous of the comforts of home that she is so close to enjoying!! But we have had today to entirely map out our plans for Europe together, and our feet are getting itchy again and we are all excited to get to Greece!

Greetings from Egypt!!

Hey everyone! I don't know how to say "hello" in Arabic .. so sorry. We have been in Egypt for the past 4 days and have been super busy! I really really love Egypt. :-) After arriving we were whisked away to our hotel (which has a Nile View!!) and left to recoop overnight. The next day we wasted no time and saw Memphis -which houses the largest statue of Ramses II in all of Egypt, Saqqara - which is the olsdest pyramid in existence and the Giza pyramids. You know all in a days traveling, right?

There is so much more to write about. We are in Luxor right now waiting for our train back to Cairo. Our tour group has been wonderful! Props to Memphis tours ;-). And we are all very relaxed and enjoying ourselves.

I will write more as soon as I have a chance!

Love to everyone!!
Erica

Namaste!

We have just arrived back in our hotel in Delhi after our week long stay in India. After our trek from Thailand, we spent a day and a hlaf touring Delhi before heading off to Jaipur and Agra. Delhi is definitely a world away! I told my family in an e-mail, it was definitely the first time I have gone somewhere and felt turned on my head. Everyone eased up a bit as we hit the rode with our driver for the week and drove to Jaipur. We stayed in a beautiful guest house and saw the Amber Fort, The City Palace(where the Maja Raja still lives) and Jantar Mantar (which is a massive observatory/astrology center built in the early 1700s), and The outside of The Wind Palace (a famous honeycombed building in Jaipur - it was built so that the women of the court, who couldn't go outside, could look out on the street and see what was going on). Jaipur is called the "Pink City" because at somepoint the Prince of Engladn told the Maja Raja he liked pink .... so everything was ordered to be painted pink! And it still is ... every building is a rusty pink color in the front!

After two days in Jaipur we drove to Agra. We left early in the morning and stopped off at Fatephur Sikri. Fatephur Sikri is old abandoned palace. In the 1500s Akbar the Great moved the Capital there, but was forced to leave around the time of his death because of water shortages. Because the palace was virtually abandoned, it is remarkably well preserved. After exploring the grounds of this Indian ghost town we visited one of India's national bird sanctuaries. We had a very kind guide wo showed us many birds indigenous to India. We were unlucky and weren't able to see any monkeys, and saw only one antelope, but the gorgeous cranes, owls, egrets and even a bird called the "snake bird" that looks like a reptile when it swims for food. After some lunch we arrived at our hotel in Agra and took a break to rest up for the next day. We woke up early in the morning and went staight to the Taj Mahal. I can't begin to try and sum up the enormity of that experience. So I will just say that it made all of the struggles of getting thius trip organized, dogding scammers in India left and right ... and not to mention the past year ... worth it. It was beautiful. We hung out around the grounds for awhile enjoying the scenery and people watching and relished in thr beauty of the Taj Mahal! It was wonderful.

After that we toured around the Agra Fort, which is the most spectacular of them all, supposedly. It was very confusing, so that impressed us, haha. The building was actually converted to a palace, and then a sort of prison when the Maja Raja's son took over and locked him away. You can go see where he stayed, locked away with a view of the Taj, where his wife was burried. The architecture was stunning and the ornamentation of each of the rooms was impressive - especially considering how old it all is, and how little restorations have been done. We were pretty wiped after all that, so we took it easy and ate a quick lunch near our hotel, and bummed around a local mall until dinner at one of the many cheap rooftop restaurants wiwth a Taj view. The entire day felt like a fairy tale!

This morning we got up early again, and stopped off at Sikandra (Akbar's Tomb) to enjoy the natural gardens and to get our last taste of Indian architecture before coming back to Delhi. Tomorrow morning we leave for the airport at THREE AM!!! Our flight to Cairo leaves at 7:30, and they recommend arriving three hours early in India. So that's that, and we'll get to the airport by 4.

A note to all who have been keeping up, India is sorely lacking in the post card department, so I doubt if I will be able to snag any at the airport. I am so sorry! But know I have been thinking of you all this whole time and wish you could be here to enjoy this with me!!!

Much love!

Japan, Thailand and Cambodia - Oh My!

Well I have been quite the globe trotter (as my brother would say) the past few days. Right now I am at our hostel in Siem Reap. Andrea and I left Tokyo on Thursday, had an overnight layover in Thailand (from our original trip, before we were forced to cut out our island adventure to Ko Phangan) and left for Cambodia the next day.

The rest of our stay in Tokyo was incredible. We took in a lot of the major sights, and revelled in the lush shopping! It is truly an international city and Andrea and I enjoyed finding some of our favorite things from home iterspersed with the Japanese items. Tokyo also seems to host a pastiche of world monuments... their tower is modeled identically after the Eiffel Tower (but is painted red and white), their most famous bridge is called the "Rainbow Bridge" and is a grey version of the Golden Gate in San Fransisco. But strangest, would have to be the miniature Statue of LIberty that they house on a small man-made island in Tokyo Bay calle Odaiba. The story goes (as we heard it from other tourists) that a few yeas ago the French sent their original on a tour of major World cities, and Tokyo liked it so much that they asked for one of their own. I have to say it was pretty surreal to see Lady Liberty holding her torch high above the Tokyo skyline - but hey, that's just me. haha.

We stayed in Ginza - the shopping district, haha - kind of the 5th avenue of Tokyo - and were next to two great subway stios, so we didn't have much trouble getting around. The Kabuki-Za, which is the most famous kabuki theater in Japan, was right around the corner from us! So we visited it often, and took in two kabuki performances. It still blows my mind that I saw it all first hand! The cool thing about both kauki actors and noh actors in Japan is that it is sort of a family business. All of the actors come from acting families, and the art is passed on from father to son (of course, in traditional Japanese drama there are no women on stage... but there are plenty of women acting in contemporary, western style plays). It is not rare for a young Japanese boy to debut on stage with his father while he is still a toddler! Kabuki dramas developed after Noh dramas and were intended for a more of the common audience than Noh, which were meant for the elie classes. Kabuki dramas typically involve themes of the average man while Noh dramas address eternal themes, such as spirtuality and the afterlife. Even today, Kabuki and Noh actors are regarded with high esteem and celebrity, and according to the information at the Kabuki-Za, are treated similar to the way Hollywood TV actors are treated by the Japanese public.

This past Thursday we flew to Bangkok and met Kirsten and Liz. It was so great to finally meet up with them! We left the next morning for our seperate treks to Cambodia. They swugn flights direct to Siem Reap (which I reccommend doing!!!) while Mullen and I flew to Phnom Penh and then hired a car to drive us. The car should normally cost about 50 US dollars and the drive can take anywhere from 4 to 6 hours. The rode was smooth and I imagine had the sun not set so early it would have been nice scenery. So if you have the time it isn't your worst option, I would have just preferred the conveince of getting here -- for future reference.

Siem Reap is incredible. Cambodia is definitely one of my favorite places to have travelled. In general the people have been very kind. We are staying at the Siem Reap Hostel. It is a fabulous place to stay on a budget. Aside from the dorm-style rooms, you would think this place was a 4 star hotel. They cater to backpackers and laid back travelers, so they do a lot to make the place comfortable. They show movies, offer game-boards, have a swimming pool and a stocked kitchen... PLUS they have free internet! A Major Plus :-) Not to mention they are affiliated with a great group of Tuk-Tuk Drivers who have carted us around Angkor Wat the past two days. There is a variety of restaurants within walking distance and it is a short ride to the ruins.... so all in all ... it's perfect! I would definitely recommend this place to anyone coming to Cambodia. As they say in their advertisements, it is a five sandal resort ;-)

I am off to take a swim and wash of the dust and grime from our day .. then it is out for Mexican food for dinner!! Cambodia, sa rang hae yo!!!