What else ıs there to say?

What else ıs there to say? We lıke ıt here. A lot. The people. The food. The cıty and the sıghts. The colors, the cobblestones, and the cold beer. The cıty cuts a fıne fıgure agaınst the sky, and it seems to go on endlessly ın all dırectıons. The mınarets of mosques pıerce the sky, and Galata Tower, Aya Sofıa, and the Blue Mosque domınate their respectıve sıdes of the Golden Horn. Boats bounce along and carts sell round pretzels and undercooked corn and the most fantastıc fısh sandwıch I've experıenced ın some tıme. Claıre can't resıst the kaleıdoscopıc plates and bowls sold at every shop or stall on every block. It makes gettıng anywhere dıffıcult at best. (Good thıng our wee backpacks ınhıbıt us from purchasıng every pretty porcelaın plate, vase, cup, bowl, candle holder, lantern or saucer. Very good thıng.) We have two more nıghts here before we head back West, lıterally and fıguratıvely. We are both glad we ıncluded thıs Eastern excursıon ın our ıtınerary. We wanted to go someplace that felt dıfferent and we've succeeded. But oddly, ıt's so comfortable here for us, almost lıke home. Istanbul.

Reflectıon from last nıght

I'm ın Istanbul. The waıl of what I thınk ıs a call to prayer at the Blue Mosque cuts through the pıtter patter of raın (a pıtter patter that has served as soundtrack for most of our fırst full day ın town). My feet are tıred from walkıng all over thıs cıty, from Taksım Square down Istıklal Cad. across the Galata Brıdge back to our hotel ın Sultanhamet. İ've got a cold Efes ın my hand and Claırey at my sıde. Lıfe ıs good. On vacatıon.

As soon as we arrived in Athens we were able to take a deep breath and enjoy a much slower, less busy pace. Our hotel is a 5 minute walk from the Larissa Station, an easy connecting point to everything (the metro, out of town trains, the airport and the beaches). After checking into our hotel, we enjoyed an air-conditioned nap after our early start and then headed out to sort out transportation to Istanbul. We learned that there is no longer an overnight train and that due to a transportation strike we would only be able to complete half of the trip in our desired time frame. We also learned the cost of the 19hr train ride was 90 euro per person one way. We quickly rethought that plan and booked ourselves another night in the Novotel and a flight to Istanbul. A 10 minute metro ride landed us just at the base of the Acropolis in the Plaka, a charming all pedestrian area amidst beautiful old buildings, bustling with restauranteurs and shoppers. We wove around the streets in search of the most enticing restaurant. All the menus looking similar, each restaurant with a man outside wooing people into his restaurand, we ended up at a spot where the man boasted of "the only charcoal grill in town, live music, traditional greek recipes and a quiet location." Not too different of a sales pitch to the rest but there was a bar next door that was showing the football and Jij was able to conveniently position himself so he had a glance of the game through dinner...I think that was the real draw to this place! A greek salad, plate of mousakka and mound of lamb chops later we left feeling replete and ready to relax in our nice room.
Athens highlights:
1. Friendly people happy to share their culture.
2. Slow pace of life.
3. The beautiful, quaint and romantic streets of the Plaka and Monastiraki.
4. Acropolis. Perched high above the city, serves of a good reminder of Greek history (and a great view of the city to the ocean when you are there).
5. Food. Gyros, mousakka, pasticcio, greek salad and the rest.
6. Weather. Hot in the afternoons but cooler in the morning and evenings. Always a nice refreshing breeze.
7. Novotel and it's rooftop swimming pool!

My sense the few times I've been in Italy is that, for every second I spend in their country I'm a bother and that they'd much rather that I get in, get out and ask as little from them along the way. That being said, my experience here in Italy has only been in big, touristy cities in the peak of summer.

Rome. The Romans are/were tenacious and resilient...that's all I could think about as I roamed around ancient buildings still standing (dating back to many years B.C.) through many an attempted conquest.

Rome highlights, so far, for me:

1. The Piazzas (NO not the pizzas, the piAzzas or plazas). I could sit in a piazza and watch the world go by for hours. It helps that they are often amidst remarkable sights such as St. Peters Basilica, the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and so on.

2. Trevi Fountain. What a shock we got as we came upon this colossal fountain! We couldn't believe the size...the base is larger than a swimming pool (and at the peak of the hot summer day, I was tempted to jump in).

3. The Italian language is a joy to listen to. I am half tempted to learn it when I get home.

4. Gelato. A bowl of lemon gelato quickly refreshes you on a hot day.

5. Colloseum. We only saw it from the outside but what a remarkable building. I can't wait until we can explore it when we return in a weeks time.

That's all on Rome from me, Jij posted about it in more detai l if you're interested.

We arrived in Rome giddy with excitement. Excitement quickly turned into confusion, mixed with hunger, in the vast Termini Station, Rome's central rail transport hub/shopping mall/hangout for Filipino ex-pats (yes, Filipinos are abundant in the capital for Catholics.)
We needed to get to our campground, Camping Roma Plus, in the western suburbs of Rome. Long story short, after circumambulating the train station multiple times, finding the right train line, getting off of it thinking we were wrong, waiting 1.5 hours for the next one, then walking along a dark road for what seemed like ages, we got the campground. We found it to be an oasis of rest, our canvas tent with white sheets on the bed.
The next day was a mad dash tour of Rome's greatest hits. We started at the Vatican Museum, rushing through the ancient Egyptian relics and marble statues of naked people to get tp the main event: the Capella Sistina. In a word: inspiring. Sometimes, big iconic attractions seem overhyped; the Sistine Chapel lived up to it and then some. We found a nice seat against the wall and got a chance to just sit and take it all in.

time's running out, so I'll leave at this for now: Loved Rome, now in Athens and had a wonderful relaxed evening at our fancy hotel here. Now trying to book a flight to Istanbul because the train workers are on strike.

Things Jij has learned in England (typed by Jij)

• People drive on the left because, in the olden days, it was preferable to pass other horsemen on the sword arm.
• Things are in different places on English keyboards. Use the @ with my pinky?
• Claire's grandparents bought their house for £5000 pounds and payed £19/month mortgage. In 1949.
• I'm afraid of climbing up 2 stories on a ladder. (As grandpy said, I'm "not a ladderman."
• English soft-serve ice cream is far superior to the stuff you get in America. A 99er with a Cadbury Flake = excellent.
• Castles are for real.
• Grime is a type of music, East London-style hip hop. Check out Lethal Bizzle or Dizzee Rascal. Note that I did not recommend either.
• The English like: walking in parks and gardens, drinking tea, sitting and talking (preferably outside, preferably with tea and in a garden), eating treats and sweets and sausages.
• I can't wait until next time.

Our plane backed away from the gate at 4:45pm, 10 minutes ahead of schedule...we're off to a good start! As the wheels left the pavement, I squeezed Jij's hand and stared out of the window to contain my excitement. A whirl of thoughts whizzed around my mind..."what's it all going to look like, feel like, sound like, smell like...what will we do and see, what will we eat!" Realizing that all the research and speculating in the world wouldn't answer those questions, I went back to staring out of the window. At that very moment, just below me, right there through that tiny window lay a grand view of the Golden Gate's towers shroud in fog, that view we have all seen on the cover of a San Francisco coffee table book. I waved a happy goodbye to the fog and was reminded to stay in the moment. So there I was on a plane...for 9 hours!!! While Jij spent his time watching one movie after the next, I managed to watch the moving map for nearly 6 hours with only minimal distraction. If that isn't staying in the moment, then I'm not sure what is! So 9 hours of travelling left me with 3 realizations:
1. Unable to resist a flip through the guidebooks, I realized that there is SO much to see and do in these 6 weeks that I can't possibly do it all. SO...I might as well enjoy each moment as it comes (what a relief!)
2. My twice hourly peeks out of the window (to much of the rest of the planes chagrin as each time I opened the window a huge glow of light went gleaming into everyone's sleepy eyes) proved that the sun never set. Why was it light @ 2:45 am in the Hudson Bay?? If you can explain that one in layman's terms then please do.
3. In thinking about this first stop, England, to visit family, I thought about grandparents (some who have passed and some who are aging). I felt sad to not be seeing those who have passed and began to dwell, as usual, on the reality that visits never seem long enough. As I wrote this I had tears in my eyes and a small pang in my heart but knew that soon I would be with my grandparents and, no matter the amount, that the time would be fully enjoyable and cherished. What a great way to begin our trip :)
So may we all cherish the memories and the moments and appreciate all of those we love whether near or far...
(Unfortunately, due to my error I managed to erase the photos from the camera from this first short section. So we will have to use our imaginations to put images to this post. Hopefully I won't do that again!)

It's 11:31. Our flight to Heathrow leaves at 4:55. Over the the past 24 hours, I've packed, un-packed and re-packed my bag inumerable times. I'm excited.

We've been planning this trip since December, when we found the unbelievably cheap roundtrip flights to Rome. Too cheap to pass up, so we committed, 6 weeks, clicked to confirm. Since then, we've poured over guide books and scoured discount travel websites to create a trip that fit all of our wants and needs. The itinerary we settled on, with a mix of camping and luxury hotels at rock-bottom prices, big cities and lovely landscapes, suits us just fine.

So here we go.

Oh, and I decided to bring a sweater. I've been deliberating it for a few hours now. I appreciate the fact that, currently, this is my primary concern. Sweater: to bring or not to bring? Living on vacation is ripe with the most treacherous of choice points.
Bringing a sweater is silly. Maybe I'll unpack my bag and take the sweater out.

Tomorrow afternoon, we embark on our next great adventure. Last night, we encountered 2 journeymen at the tail end of their own.

As Claire and I entered the Beach Chalet (aptly named for its location at the beach, of all places) we saw a couple of bicyclists with fully-loaded touring set-ups. The sighting reminded us of our own tour down the coast from Oregon last summer. Over dinner, we reminisced about our bicycle trip from a year ago, and looked ahead with excitement to our upcoming travels.

After dinner, we saw the same 2 cyclists, still in the lobby of the restaurant. It was near 9 PM, not really a good time to start finding appropriate accommodation. So we approached, and asked if they needed help, or maybe a place to stay. They did.

Will, from Kenya, and Alex, a Londoner, had just, that evening, finished an epic bike tour from New York to San Francisco. While we were eating our overpriced burger and all-too-tiny spinach salad, they were topping off their tour by cycling into the sea. Literally, they pedaled their bikes into the chilly Pacific Ocean (we saw video footage.) Will and Alex took the past 2 months to ride across the states and raise money for Research Autism. They did well at both. Averaging 90 miles a day, they cycled through the middle of our country, raising close to $30,000 all the while. They begin University in the fall.

You can learn more about their journey on their website at http://www.x-america4autism.blogspot.com/ . Check it out. Better yet, check it out, then donate money.

As for our journey, you can learn more by checking out this blog over the next 6 weeks. We'll be visiting family in England, eating food in Italy, exploring the ancient-cum-modern cities of Athens and Istanbul, sunning ourselves on the Adriatic Coast of Croatia, relaxing in the mountains of Montenegro, and biking around Bled, Slovenia.

For the next 6 weeks, for the first time in a while, We Live on Vacation.

9:24 on a Thursday night. I’m sitting here on our new comfy couch, trying to figure out what to do with myself. Just got home not long ago, sent some e-mails, and ate. Not going to the climbing gym tonight…so I crack a PBR.

The earth just shook. I jumped a bit and gasped. What the…It’s still going, I think it’s still going. Is it STILL going or am I shaking? Fun. Interesting. A 4.2, no worries for a Californian, I guess.

We had hail storms twice this week. Hail, Thunder AND Lightning. Strange. After a huge thunder roll, I explain to my students what had happened. That was thunder, blah, blah, blah, blah. Afterwards a student raised his hand and reassuringly said “Don’t worry, that was a truck.”

“NO,” I think to myself, “that was not a truck…didn’t you hear what I just said? I said it was thunder!!” A humorous summary of interactions I have daily with my students.

At least he was somewhat on target…he could have just as easily said something completely unrelated like…“Ms. Shepley, I love pink bunnies.”

It is or was my birthday this week. Either today or yesterday. Take your pick. You see, when you are born on Leap Year like I was, you get a little confused about these things. Seeing that next year is a Leap Year, there must be an extra 18 hours in this year somewhere that somehow slips by. Next year I’ll get the full 24 hours and the following year, back down to 6, then 12…and the cycle goes on. I’ve always just claimed the whole week as my own. And so I should, really. Afterall, if they can write Pluto off, so too could they write Leap Day off…and then what? Do I become obsolete? My brother brought that fear upon me, just as an older brother would ;)

What’s stranger is that I’m posting on a site titled “We Live on Vacation.” Hmmmmm. My dad has been trying to convince me that I can no longer make that claim. I think he’s right. I mean, 3 days a week I am working from 7:15am – 8 pm. I have been working 1 weekend a month which is about to become 2 weekends per month. Though I still feel calm, happy and content…I must admit, I can’t quite access that day-in and day-out carefree, laissez les bon temps roulez attitude of being on vacation. So, though I’m not going to change the name of this blog for reasons of nostalgia, I will admit that maybe, just maybe, it would be more appropriately named We Dream of Vacation.

And so I leave you, dreaming….dreaming of the next time….dreaming of the next time I will live up to the mantra….dreaming of the next time I will, in fact, Live on Vacation.

When's the next time?



I'm posting again. Because I feel like it. And I can do what I feel like...

Living out here is really nice. Last Friday, it was a beautiful, sunny, 70 degree day in the city. Then Claire and I hopped into that old reliable Jetta and drove to the Sierras, the mountains. Now most folks from the Bay Area stop in Lake Tahoe when they "drive to the mountains." But we're just not satisfied with Lake Tahoe... it's not the Sierras to us. The real Sierras are a couple of hours down the 395; it's the Sierras of Mono Lake and Mammoth Mountain, of Bishop and the Owens Valley, of Happy Hour at Whiskey and Bachelor #6. They call it the Eastside.

We have fond memories of the Eastside, a place Claire and I have been visiting together pretty regularly since we've known each other (that's 5 years and counting). We're always drawn back. Maybe it's the good friends that serve as a convenient excuse to visit. Perhaps it's the stunning mountain vistas that lure the eyes in every direction. Or the alpen glow of a Sierra sunset, that brilliant, indescribable hue that inspired one admirer to dub these peaks the "Range of Light." It could be the countless opportunities for world-class outdoor recreation, the climbing, the skiing, the hiking, the scorching hot springing. Probably its the half price food and drink at our favorite apres ski and the dependable supply of PBR at the local Vons. A visit to the Eastside is something we savor: it's adventurous, it's nostalgic, it's invigorating, it's just too much fun. and it's always a shame when it's over.

A friend once quoted Greg Brown, "You can't have a cup of coffee with a landscape." Can't say if that's true or not. (I only drink coffee 1) after a nice meal, 2) if Claire orders one and we share it, or 3) if it's a free sample at Trader Joe's.) But I do know this: you can have a beer with a Sierra-scape. It's true. I've done it. And it's spectacular.

So that's all. I had a great time on the Eastside over the long weekend. So did Clairey.

We always do...

Give me a shout out if you have seen (and love) The Goonies.

Thanks all.

"The sun is shining.."

This may come as a surprise,
But it's been nothing but rain out here
in sunny San Francisco, California.
Or as I like to call it,
Seattle.
Alas.
Now, the sun is shining
And these Blue Skies are a sight for sore eyes.
A breath of fresh air. Dry air.

Unfortunately,
The Weatherman says another storm system looms,
swirling in from out
over the ocean.
Bastard.

What a difference a year makes.

Last year on St. Patrick's Day, Claire and I spent a good part of our evening celebrating with friends at our favorite Northfield, Minnesota hangout, the Contented Cow. We were raucous and loud and in jolly good spirits (also consuming some jolly good spirits), glad to be warm and insulated from the Minnesota winter outside. I remember late in the night as I sat with Claire, Jana, and a green frog lamp, rousing one boisterous cheers after the next. Highdee-Highdee Hoe!!!

Fast forward a year. We're not in Northfield anymore, so I don't think we'll be going to the Cow to pursue this year's greened festivities. We're in San Francisco, the sun is warming me as I write, and the only thing on our street as prevelant as the asian restuarants are the Irish pubs. Jana is gone as well; she's in Bangkok, where all the Irishmen wear backpacks, lather themselves with spf 100, and probably still drink Guiness whenever they can find it. At least that green frog lamp is still back in Northfield...

In the past year, Claire and I... well if you're reading this, then you probably know what the last year has looked like for us. If you don't know, we've been all around this world and are back in the Bay Area (check the archive section to fill in the gaps).

So here we are, one year later. I don't think we'll be celebrating this year's holiday quite as aggressively as last year's. We're more grownup now, one year older and wiser. And Claire does, after all, have a test to take in the morning.

But then, again, that test isn't til the morning. And what else are we going to do on a St. Patrick's friday night surrounded by Irish Pubs?

What a difference a year makes...

"Are we doing a good job? Do we still live on vacation, Clairey?" A question Jij posed yesterday and I can imagine one that may be floating in the minds of some of you since the end of our blogging. Afterall, it's quite a bold mantra to only be lived out for a short time. I'm happy to report that after short deliberation, we came to the conclusion that we are, most certainly, still on vacation. Perhaps a busier and more action-packed vacation, but vacation none-the-less. A quick catch up from our last blog to today. From the plane we were greeted by my parents, clad in smiles and giddy to have their kids back. The next morning Willie Nelson boomed throught the speakers of my parent's RV and we were "On the Road Again." Off to Florida for Christmas. After a lovely stay with my family we were off again. To Wisconsin this time for a nice visit with Jij's family, with entirely too much yummy foood and some good karaoke fun.





Biting at the bit, as we were, to get to California, we packed up my car and headed west, both with part time jobs awaiting our arrival. The first few weeks were spent catching up with old friends, a trip to Tahoe for Claire and what seemed like lots of visitors. A trip to Monterrey to the vineyards of Carmel Valley and to visit our "soon to be parent" friends Matt and Kasha (who are now proud parents of a beautiful little girl.) A baby shower to follow and another week began. Off to Mammoth for a 4 day visit filled with snow-shoeing, skiing and well, festive evenings. Jetta got a new pair of cables (to put on the tires) to help plow through the snowy roads. Back to work for 3 days and a visit from my college friend Erin and a trip to Yosemite. It has been about 2 and a half months since we arrived back in the US of A and we are feeling quite settled and happy in our California lifestyles.

As for work, I spend my mornings pouring coffee and my afternoons with a young man with autism. Keeps me busy and happy. I have been accepted into a teaching program in which I will teach in a special education (elementary school, I hope) class in the Oakland Schools come September and take courses simultaneously to get my teachers credential and masters in education. Jij has several part time jobs. He is in charge of organizing 1500 kids in a Beach Clean up in May. He is not only in charge of the kids but of all the ins and outs, the fine details of the event. He also works for a company called Edventure More where he is a sort of contract science teacher. He visits Bay Area schools and teaches a variety of science lessons to them, while at the same time promoting the summer science camp that he will be directing this summer. So, you must now refer to him as Mr. Director. This along with some part time environmental education work at the Headlands Institute (where he used to work) keeps him busy.
And that long-winded wrap up brings us to today, March 2nd.

We still think often of our travels. There are numerous times in a day when I am reminded of something from our trip. I obsess over and often browse through our pictures. It actually took me a while to readjust to a more stagnant lifestyle, by stagnant I am not implying boring. I missed moving so much from one very different culture to another equally different culture. From beaches to mountains to temples to the Eiffel Tower. What a fabulous experience that will live with us for a long time. We are very thankful for the opportunity to travel, we couldn't have chosen a better time to do it. So as we live on vacation here in San Francisco we will fondly remember our adventures, enjoy the present and dream of (and scheme) the next trip all the while living an interesting enough life to keep the blogging going! So keep checking back for updates.
Oh, and by the way, meet our roomate Helen. She's just as English as I am!

AMERICA @#!; YEAH!
We're back.
Currently in Florida, shortly after Christmas progressing to Wisconsin and then out to the Bay Area to live (on vacation).
Happy Holidays!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!


Just 5 days left. We're coming home soon!

We can now actually say that, this week, hear that, this week we are going home. Our three month endeavor is quickly coming to it's end. It' exciting, it's sad, it has all gone by too quickly, it is time to go home...lots of mixed thoughts, but with them all comes a true appreciation of the experience and great excitement of having seen so much and, yet, having so much to look forward to on our return! Isn't life grand.
After our whirlwind tour of Paris we found ourselves in England, Manchester to be exact. There we spent the weekend with my cousins Leah and Abi. In true form, they got us shopping right away! Leah and her boyfriend Az took us up to the Lake District...a true wonder of England. It's hilly, well they would probably call it mountainous, with lots of farmland, sheep, lakes, and nice little quaint villages with nice little quaint pubs. Jij was able to enjoy a true Sunday pub roast, followed by a cornish pasty the size of his head for dessert! I was quite surprised that my cousin Leah was up for the experience seeing that she and Abi are both generally clad in heels and true city girls. Abi's response when we asked her if she wanted to go to the Lake District was quite classic, "What, you mean you are going to go WALKING, I'll stay here!" Afterall, stiletto heels don't mix well with wet, soggy ground. Though short, too short really, we had a great time in Manchester. It's hard to catch up for 3 years over two days, but we did our best!
A train took us from Manchester to High Wycombe (not far from London) where Grandma and Grandpy were there to greet us. Grandma and Grandpy have been very interested in our travels and know more than we do about the areas we have visited!! We enjoyed showing them our slideshow and chatting about our experiences. Grandpy was stationed in Burma during the war and would go to India from time to time. It's interesting to hear his experiences. We learn something every day from the two of them, have enjoyed some nice walks, Jij has been introduced to "grandmas cooking" which is a treat but recently we have been the cooks giving Grandma a rest!! Always an enjoyable time at Grandma and Grandpy's and nice to know that not much has changed!! It's great to see your grandparents so fit when they are pushing late into their 80's.
We then took a day trip down south/west to a small town called Salisbury with my aunt Judith and uncle John. Always a laugh, really, to spend time with the two of them who are probably more energetic than most people my age!!! We had christmas lunch with my Aunt Marueeen and Joan and my Nana. This is quite a proper bunch so you can imagine the laugh we had as we popped our Christmas crackers (which generally include a really awful joke, a paper hat in various colors that you must wear, and a little plastic noise making toy) and my Nana started pulling the ends of this plastic toy making quite a racket! We then came back to the Wycombe area, enjoyed a little kiddie play of the Christmas story, and had a nice evening sharing our pictures and stories with Nana, later joined by Judith and John once they had finished caroling. We headed down to Misterton, to Nana's bungalow later in the week. Had a lovely meal at their local pub...a very quaint little town in the country.
Spent the weekend in London with my Aunt and Uncle, Carole and Malc. Had a great time bustling around London seeing the historic sights...also the typical London sights, the double decker buses, beefeaters (funny looking men standing guard at the tower of london), red post and telephone boxes, mulled wine and mince pies everywhere! It was a nice weekend, I like hanging out with my aunt and uncle...their daughters might not like to admit it but their parents are fun!
We ate a lot in England. The diet is quite different, consisting of very heavy foods. Roast beef, for example, pasties (pastry filled with meats of all varieties, potatoes, veg of all kinds, you name it), lots of sweets, let's not forget salt and vinegar crisps, sausages (oh sausages), sausage rolls, some christmas lunches, and more. Food, food and more food!
None-the-less, though not in our best shape ever, we will not be embarrassed to be spending the next 10 days on the beach in our swim suits!! We (and when I say we, I mean me since we all know Jij doesn't gain an ounce) have come away with small souvenirs around the midsection but it's bearable...and was well worth it.
A visit to England, in my mind at least, was a perfect culmination to our trip. A bit of reimmersion into western culture and colder temperatures. A chance to reacquaint with family and enjoy their company...couldn't ask for a better ending really.

24 hours in Paris
(please pardon all spellings. i ain't french.)

We had a short time to spend in Paris and we definitely made the most of it. After arriving at Charles De Gaulle, we immediately hopped on the extensive (which rhymes with expensive) public transport system which deliviered us within 200m of our hotel. Lugged our luggage to our room, quick wash, and we were back out on the cobbled streets.

First stop: Eiffel Tower. It always surprises me, seeing any famous sight. The Golden Gate Bridge, Half Dome, and now the Eiffel Tower. The art-deco icon was bigger than i thought it would be, definitely bigger than the one at King's Island, and more elegant than I could have imagined. The very top was shrouded with a fog that gave the whole thing an orangish glow. Took a lot of pictures.
From there we strolled through the cold, along the Seine to start of the Champs Elysees and then down too the Arc de Triumph. Nuff for the first day.
Next day, we packed in a week's worth of sight-seeing trapsing in the early morning to hear nuns sing at the Sacre Couer, on to the Picasso Museum, then monumental Notre Dame, the modern Pompidu Centre, the Lourve and finally the Musee D'Orsay (home of the impressionists). We ended it all with a lovely dinner, compete with wine (that's cheaper than water), before heading back to the airport for our flight out.

I was struck most by how nice everything seemed. On our big trip, sight seeing was never of central importance. We simply enjoyed being in all these new places. But in Paris, all I wanted to do was look around me. Every building was beautiful and old. I gazed awestruck just looking down the sidestreets. Simply writing about the sights
make me feel all romantic inside.

We shall have to go back when we have more time to spend... and money for that matter.

Darjeeling

Darjeeling is the "quintessential hill station", its cooler temperatures (afforded by its 6000ft elevation) and mountain setting explaining why the British summered here to escape the rest of India's oppressive heat. It looks a bit like someone spilled a town down a lush green mountainside, and planted a bunch of tea trees around it (yes, tea does grow on trees). We spent the last week in Darjeeling (our last week in India) and had a most enjoyable time, though tinged with a bit of frustration...
You see, despite being in prime position to view the Himalaya to the North and West, we saw none of it. Clouds, bloody clouds, obscuring our precious mountain views, the main attraction for us really. Don't get me wrong. As I said, we enjoyed Darjeeling. But imagine going to King's Island and discovering that all the roller coasters are closed for the day. You could still, theoretically, have an enjoyable time: swinging on the viking ship, driving the antique cars (I love those things), eating coneys and ribs and ice creams galore. But it just wouldn't be quite right, would it? What's King's Island without riding the Beast? You'd be frustrated, your longings unrequited, right? Well that's what it was for us in Darjeeling. Frustrating. We went to the Zoo (saw red pandas; they're cute), walked the towns meandering and often steep streets, visited the Himalayan Mountain Institute, and enjoyed some fabulous Tibetan foods, like MoMo's and WaiWai (I guess they like to eat things that you say twice). But, alas, no mountains...frustrated...until the last day.
We awoke ready to head down the mountain (to sleep closer to the train station and escape the cold, temperatures in the 30's and 40's F), ready to accept our fate of leaving without so much as a glimpse of peak from town. But when we looked out our window, lo and behold, a clear sky (no cloud, bright sunny day) and, could it be... a mountain! We rushed out the door to the nearest viewpoint (where previously we'd only imagined peaks through the pillowy clouds), and before us stretched a snowy cirque of Himalayan peaks, with massive Mt. Kanzchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world at 26,100+ ft, most prominent of all. It was a wonderful and rewarding sight, as if the mountains came out to reward our patience and bid us farewell.
A lovely, laid back, mountain town in the West Bengal(who dey)Hills. Everything about Darjeeling was refreshing: the cool, thin air, the friendly locals, the lack of touts and stalls preying on foreign tourists, the proper pizzas at the italian/french bakery. All in all, Darjeeling was wonderful to us.

Back in Delhi now, all set to fly to Paris tonight (talk about culture shock). It's almost December... Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving (no turkey for us, but a whole tandoori chicken)... in a few short weeks, we'll be coming home!