Really Deep Thoughts

Belize

2011-07-10T18:43:00.006+02:00

Last week, I had a week off, so I headed to one of the Belizean Cayes (Keys), Caye Caulker for a few days of sun, snorkelling and gluttonous lobster eating.

I happened to be going the weekend of Lobster Fest. All you need to know about Lobster fest is that there is fresh lobster all weekend for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A lobster dinner on lobster fest weekend is 10-15 bucks. I met a Norwegian couple who were eating lobster every single day of their 5 week trip. These are good vacation goals.
Even after all the travelling I've done by myself and all the times I've been ripped off, I will still continue to get ripped off. All part of the experience. When I got to the island, I took a golf cart taxi into town (there are only 5 trucks on the mile long island) and got duped into staying at a "5-star hotel" that ended up having ant-ridden beds. Now I've stayed in some seedy places but I draw the line at ants in my bed. I did verify that they weren't bedbugs and I sprayed my whole bed with bug spray. This kept them at bay all night and then I met a girl staying at Yuma's, one of the hostels and crashed there. Nicest hostel in which I have ever stayed. Above is a picture of our porch, complete with swings and hammocks.
Seeing as I generally make an ass out of myself and least once or twice in a foreign country, snorkelling was my big chance. I did a half day trip out to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark-Ray Alley. Shark-Ray Alley is exactly what it sounds like. The boat pulls up to a shallow area and is swarmed by sting rays and nurse sharks. The guide tells everyone to just hop in. Riiiight. It took me a really long time to get in the water. The guide was like, hey American girl, get in the damn sea already. And then he held my hand, like I was 4, and I swam with the sharks and rays. The sting rays that we swam with don't have a lethal sting, it probably wouldn't feel great but it wouldn't hurt you. The nurse sharks don't give one iota that you're around. Both allow you to reach out and touch them since they're so accustomed to obnoxious tourists. Petting a stingray was akin to petting a cat; they seemed to enjoy it.

The Water Taxi

I took a water taxi back to the mainland to catch my flight instead of taking the 5 minute Tropic Air flight to the airport. I've never taken a water taxi. Shortly after we pushed off, a pretty decent storm came through. We couldn't see much - an IFR day on the Caribbean. Water was running in through the windows, everyone from outside had to pack inside. Hot, stuffy and wet - I felt like I was immigrating. It was great and more importantly, really cheap.

Down at the 'Split' you'll find the Lazy Lobster...THE place to be during the day. They even have picnic tables in the sea in case you want to cool down and drink your rum punch at the same time.
In 1961, Hurricane Hattie rolled through and split the island in two. Hence, the name "the Split" for the northern end of the island.

The most important thing to remember when visiting Caye Caulker is to slow down. They have signs posted all around and if those aren't enough to keep you in a torpid state, then the locals will surely remind you. When I was walking down the street, a local lounging on the sand looked at me and said, hey hey slow down. I was embarrassed, so I started walking like I had a small child at my side and didn't speed up until I got back to Cleveland.

Lily Flies

2009-07-21T01:36:00.002+02:00

Weekend in Ardèche

2009-06-08T11:45:00.009+02:00

Last weekend we stayed in Ardèche at our friend's parent's vacation house. Ardèche is the stereotypical French countryside and it's as beautiful as it's made out to be. There is abundant climbing BUT we also had abundant thunderstorms so we did what you always do on a weekend with friends - Eat ! And eat we did. Winner 2009 - Sandbox with Best View

Prepping for dessert...pitting the cherries for clafoutis aux cerises. The lovely Marina was quite the cherry pitter but soon realized that eating the cherries was a bit more interesting than just pitting them. The cherries were freshly picked by a couple who has cherry trees...yum. You'll notice her high class earrings. In France, this is what you do with cherries when you're little...you find a pair of cherries, hang them over your ear and then waltz around like you're wearing 5 carat diamonds. Just your average lavender field...

Taking a walk the easy way.
Playing in the lavender

The Wedding...

2008-10-07T03:14:00.004+02:00

Katie finally gets hitched (c'est l'argot pour marié)!!! Et maintainent vous pouvez voir une cérémonie nuptiale americaine.Les mariés dans un bras de fer. Pas très classique héhé...mais ils sont MES amis
::La plus jolie robe de mariée::
Et nous: moi et Alicia, la plus folles filles du mariage...Avec la mariée...Et voilà...la preuve que c'est toujours le bon moment à faire l'escalade.

La Vie aux USA

2008-09-28T01:55:00.005+02:00

Ca fait super longtemps depuis le dernier poste ! J'ai qq photos d'escalade et de ma visite avec Sandra et Pierre qui ont fait une apparition aux USA pendant qq semaines.
au-dessus: mon ami, Mike, qui a fait sa premiere voie en tete...
EMILIE, ma nouvelle partenaire d'escalade. Elle est SUPER forte !! holala...

Lily...la tout derniere arrivée d'esclade...quels jolis chaussons !! Un pt peu trop grands...mais bon
En West Virginia....
Proche de chez moi...du bloc
Pierre et David...

On avait un vol de maintenance avec un seul place dans l'avion...alors bienvenue Sandra. On a pris le jet a Michigan et l'a laisse la-bas. Apres on a pris le petit pour revenir.

C'est quoi ca???? Bah, c'est la mielleure galette de rois aux USA. Un dernier goût de France....

JETS !!!

2008-05-19T01:53:00.002+02:00

Alors, finalement je travail. Sous...c'est le jet et mon père et moi. Remarquez les habits. Pour la première fois dans ma vie, j'ai porté un costume. Et quelle horreur, il n'était pas très comfortable !

Virginie d'Ouest

2008-05-14T06:25:00.006+02:00

Le beau etat de Virginie d'Ouest. Ah, je l'aime. Alors, je partage des jolis photos....
Le grande roche dans le lac ou on nage...on se bronze la-bas aussi et si vous voulez, vous pouvez sautez sur le cote dedans le lac. Je sais que mes phrases sont mauvais...mais c'est que normal.
Si tu vas sur l'autre cote de la roche ici, vous pouvez grimper au-dessus l'eau...comme Chris Sharma. Mais pas si haut ;)
Un super sac a pof, d'un super ami YANNICK!!!! Son paquet etait trop grande pour ses calcons, alors il les a retire pour un voyage aux USA. Il y a une chose quand t'ecris dans une autre langue...vous pouvex dire des choses completement impropre et c'est pas si mal. Je ne sais pas pourquoi, mais c'est comme ca.

Floride

2008-05-14T05:59:00.004+02:00

Alors, comme j'ai promis, je continue en francais. Voila, mes photos de Floride. Pas Marseille, je sais, mais pas mal quand meme. Au moins, on a du sable!!! et pas des roches qui ne sont pas tres confortable pour bronzer.... Ma petite cousine, Maria et ma grande tante, Aunt Jenny. Maria est trop cool dans son chapeau...

The Calanques...One last time

2008-03-27T12:51:00.006+01:00

I went, one last time, down to Marseille ...to enjoy the sea, the weather, and the run-out climbing :) I went with Xavier, Laure, and her Swiss boyfriend Pierre-Dominique (sounds pretty French if you ask me!)

Here is my friend Xavier and his bald head...getting ready to climb. We had beautiful weather...well, during the day in the sunshine. At night it got really cold, and was so windy that my staked tent wouldn't stay staked !
Below: On hike out of Les Goudes, we took a little shortcut through the first cutout in the rock that you see...we had been climbing on the other side. So we passed through the cutout...it's a shear drop-off mind you. The wind was blowing at about 30mph - reminiscent of the deafening Indian creek wind that so graced our desert tower route. We were practically blown through the hole and onto the "foot-path" - really just enough room to walk and plaster yourself against the rock, praying that the wind wouldn't catch your clumsy high-profile pack and plunge you over the side, falling to your death, all the way down knowing that your mother would never forgive you for this. Well, this is what I was thinking anyway. Xavier practically ran and bounced along the polished tiny path, making me look like I'd never learned how to walk. It's funny how an every day activity like walking can become so difficult under the right conditions...but these small humiliations come to me frequently :)
A close-up, which does the smallness of the path no justice, it looks quite large here:

Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

2008-03-01T16:37:00.005+01:00

Ferry Ride to the Black Sea

2008-02-28T14:50:00.007+01:00

Some pictures from our boat ride down the Marmara out to the Black Sea...

Looking out onto the Black Sea...

My friend SANDRA PERAIRE!

A Mosque from afar...ok this one wasn't really from the boat ride...how'd that get in there?

Adventures in English

2008-02-28T14:26:00.002+01:00

Night 1

2008-02-24T14:39:00.004+01:00

Our first night, we were frozen to the bone and luckily Sandra has steady hands for the night-mode because all my pictures came out blurry... The is the Hagia Sophia Mosque, the most highly visited mosque in Istanbul - all of us Mr Urban Art History alums will remember it well !
The Blue Mosque by night...
Our hostel was awesome. There was something different every night. Our first night was free hookah (aka shisha, nargile) - and no I'm not doing drugs (a disclaimer for my family). When you smoke a hookah you are smoking flavored tobacco, but not a lot of tobacco - mostly flavor. We had cherry and since I don't smoke, it resulted more often than not in a fit of coughing. I guess that means all the French second hand smoke hasn't completely ruined my lungs :) Anyway, shisha was often smoked by the Sultans; you see water pipes in almost all the old paintings...and it is still widely enjoyed today.
And we had free popcorn...

Day 1

2008-02-24T14:12:00.004+01:00

These pictures are a little out of order. We'll start with the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market. They used to be the local markets hundreds of years ago, but now they're mostly for us tourists, to practice out bartering skills. I was of course ripped off, not heeding the advice of our hostel owners who said...girls just look today, don't buy. And it was then that I heard the words of David telling me, oh who cares it's all just part of experiencing the culture :)Sandra's favorite - the lamp store
Mmmm, Turkish treats and spices....
Dried rose buds, the man at this counter gave one to each of us and I still can't believe how strong they smelled...apparently you make tea with them.
This is where we get out of order.... this is the night we arrived and the next morning.
Our hostel !! We got there at 5 am, and our taxi barely made it up the hill with all that snow...
We slept right through breakfast so our hostel made us some extra special Turkish omlettes, more like eggs stewed with tomatoes, peppers and onions and some concoction of spices that we were told could only be emulated in Lyon if we brought a Turk back with us.
a tour of the roof, during the summer this is the spot to be, but as you can see right now, it serves only as a spot to throw snowballs.

The Blue Mosque...

ISTANBUL!!

2008-02-19T17:03:00.003+01:00

We have arrıved ın Istanbul after much fuss. I won`t bore you wıth the detaıls of the delayed plane, the almost cancelled flıght due to unexpected snow ın Turkey, our landıng on a slıck runway, our hostel forgettıng to pıck us up at the aırport, our takıng a weırd taxı shuttle, gettıng to our hostel at 4am.....

The Turks have told us they can`t belıeve all thıs snow...ın fact, they haven`t actually seen snow ın over 4 years and not on thıs level for 10. Lucky we have gotten here to see ıt ? I guess ?! Although all the mosques are quıte beautıful covered ın snow, ıt`s startıng to warm up...whıch means lots of cold, wet feet. Sınce ıt`s been so long sınce the last snowfall, the Turks are obsessed wıth ıt. There are snowmen, qualıty snowmen, everywhere. The restaurant employees are outsıde buıldıng snowmen...everyone ıs enjoyıng the snow (except our feet). And they are havıng snowball fıghts everywhere, I had a few nıce ones thrown at me the other day !

If I could tell you one thıng about the Turks, ıt ıs that they are some of the kındest, most generous people I have ever met. They ask you who you are, where you`re from, what you do...all wıth a genuıne ınterest. At fırst we though, oh they just want to sell us somethıng. But no, they just want to speak some Englısh and drınk some turkısh apple tea wıth you. We have had more than one come up to us and tell us a lıttle about the monument we were lookıng at and then that was ıt...ok well they do try and get you to drınk some tea 'just for 5 mınutes', but we are learnıng to successfuly evade that part. If not, ıt wıll take you an hour to get anywhere because the '5 mınute' tea breaks start to add up!

The food...oh la la, I could stay here forever. The lentıl soup, the kebabs, the Turkısh Delıght (easıly my favorıte). I thınk I wıll brıng home as much Turkısh Delıght as wıll fıt ın my suıtcase. Our hostel (they have more than made up for forgettıng us) ıs obvıously run by some Turkısh people. They are super nıce and cook everynıght. Last nıght we had homemade lentıl soup and some lamb and vegetables.

Well, no pıctures yet...I`m tyıng up the hostel`s computer and they taught us how to play Backgammon (I always thought that was Englısh, but ıt`s a Turkısh game) so I have a few games waıtıng for me.

And then there's xmas in France....

2008-01-07T20:45:00.000+01:00

I know my photos of Cleveland are way more beautiful, but when I got a hold of what David was doing while I was in the US, I figured I'd give you a glimpse of that. Really, come on....like I really wanted to snow shoe all my stuff into a refuge and spend the weekend totally secluded, waking up to fresh snow everyday, cooking killer French food. How blah. The Refuge..

Someone successfully shot a lot of photos of David....AND dancing...how this was accomplished I will never know...

****All photos courtesy of Szimon...I don't know him yet, but I am definitely stealing his pictures

A Little Glimpse of Christmas In Cleveland...for those of you who have never experienced it

2008-01-01T05:33:00.001+01:00

Day 1: Welcome to Cleveland! Holy snowstorm. I got a nice taste of winter the very first day...not very good flying weather ;(
But don't worry, it passed and I flew. I got a nice ride in the Eclipse 500, which I will hopefully be co-piloting when I get back. They're light jets, pretty good to start out on I'd say, and the chance of a lifetime. We'll see...it seems too good to be true...and you know what they say about that.
And of course I got some flying time in my favorite plane ever! Naaz, got up at 6:30am to come take a jaunt to Ashtabula with me. I know what you're thinking....6:30??? But really guys, it's Ashtabula...wouldn't you get up at the crack of dawn to hang out in the Ashtabula pilot's lounge and eat Biscoff, mini-muffins and burnt coffee???oooooh, Christmas from my front porch. I was actually going to go take a picture from the front lawn, but it was too cold and the porch was too warm.Darrin with Lily. I am already being taunted with the fact that she'll be walking by the time I get back...and talking. I think these are lies but the guilt is very effective. Lily and I hung out quite a bit...I changed a lot of poopy diapers and got farted on in the baby-bjorn...ya know, we bonded.

Flying in the Alps and a night in Corsica

2007-11-18T16:26:00.000+01:00

If there's one thing my dad taught me about flying, is was to never expect things to go as planned. Always bring a book, and some contact solution because you could be stuck at any airport for a myriad of reasons. So I was quite delighted with my keen sense of planning (having packed a toothbrush and all the necessities for an overnight trip, well except underwear) when I took a joyride through France only to get stuck overnight in Corsica - of course really, it was a pleasure to get 'stuck' in Corsica, where the temperatures don't require 8 layers of clothing. And the fact that David's uncle Pierre has a vacation home right on the sea and just happened to be on vacation this past weekend only added to the pleasure of being stranded on an island.

The plane: The Diamond Twinstar - confusing glass panel and all

Corsica airport, hanging out on the tarmac...
An aerial view of the shoreline:
What a shame, having to fly over such boring terrain as the Alps....
Corsica from the ground, or more specifically from Uncle Pierre's front yard...
Pierre's house:
Another view from his 'front yard', Pierre swims a lot, so it's lucky the sea is right there.
A brief explanation of why your camera is equipped with a wrist strap:
A view from the marina. I lost my camera a few pictures after this. I was being a nerd and taking my own picture when the camera jumped out of my hands and plunged a good 6 feet below me into the rocks. You can't see me here, but I'm standing on a big pile of boulder-y rocks that are pretty high off of the ground. After my camera bounced from rock to rock and eventually into a tiny hole and into the black abyss below I was sure I had lost yet another camera. Disgusted with my inability to master even the most basic motor skills, I resigned myself to the reality that it was gone. How I ended up finding it, I don't know. But when I did, I spent 45 minutes trying to figure out how to retrieve it. Do you know how frustrating it is to see your camera sitting comfortably in a hole screaming - hahaha you idiot, try and get me now?! I jammed myself into various positions and contorted my body in ways that a body isn't meant to go all in an effort to fit into the rocks and get my stupid camera. Which I did, by the way, obviously, get. I was completely inside the rocks, ignoring my newfound claustrophobia and hoping that there weren't snakes or other lovely animals living in there - if there were, I didn't see them. And then out I came safe and sound, with a camera that suffered a few major scratches but still functions like a pro, those Canons, they hold up. And that, ladies and gentleman, is how I have learned the hard way exactly why they put a wrist strap on your camera.

More pictures from the para-gliding weekend

2007-10-29T12:00:00.001+01:00

THE Volcano...we hike from where this picture was taken, all the way to the top to get to the para-gliding. This was their idea of a leisurely hike mind you. I had told them about my knee and they said, no no it will be fine, just a small walk....yeah. And did I mention we had kids with us? Three strollers... it was like off-roading with limousines.

Para-gliding off of a Dormant Volcano

2007-10-29T11:22:00.001+01:00

Always a weekend somewhere here in France. This weekend we went to another big house with another bunch of friends and spent the weekend hiking and of course...para-gliding, because isn't that what everyone does on the weekend?

I hesitated to agree to this weird para gliding stuff. I was pretty scared, because you know, I'm always scared. I refused to research anything about para-gliding, because there are accidents in any sport and I had no desire to scare myself any more than I already was...I saved that fun activity for afterwards.

This is me and the guy who took me up. Here I am pretending not to be scared. Oh crap, no turning back. He is explaining how to take-off right here and in my nervousness I am half-listening, always a good tactic.
Here he is yelling at me - no no no. Because I didn't listen. Notice I am leaning back and he is leaning forward. I am royally screwing up the take-off.
Phew. All is well, we made it. We flew for 20 minutes. It was really calm and slow, although it was always a little disconcerting to be hanging in a harness from a bunch of strings attached to a parachute thing. I also made a big mess of the landing. Everyone warned me that the landing was going to seem like you needed to run...but that really it's just a nice gentle walk when you get down. I thought I was going to nail it. As we descended I thought how clever I was and how great my landing would be. We approached and he yelled directions in my ear that I didn't understand. The ground approached fast and still I resisted the urge to run. And then we crashed and I realized that my slow walk was not enough and that actually I should have run a bit! hahaha. Oh well, it was fun anyway.

Lyon

2007-10-24T12:23:00.000+02:00

Some photos from hanging around Lyon this week.

Forever I've been talking about the free bikes...seen below, here they are. If only we could start that in Cleveland.

Other Pictures from the Fête

2007-10-24T11:42:00.000+02:00

Tina and Jason. Jason was kind enough to take fabulous photos all weekend. So I have to give him credit for all the pictures I have from this weekend.

The beautiful French countryside.
Tina, being the dance teacher she is, wowed us with her moves and even taught us a few. She was quite popular on the dance floor...of course none of us wanted to have to dance next to her, but we welcomed any help we could get!
Next door to our house there was a family of donkeys. We amused ourselves for probably way too long, petting them and feeding them lettuce.
The house...of course we had to try climbing it...just look at those holds!

Rounds 2-4

2007-10-24T11:34:00.000+02:00

After the bottle contest, we did the limbo. After the limbo, there was a tough twister comp, and then my favorite - the marshmallows. How many marshmallows can you shove into your mouth without chewing, swallowing, or puking? The record was 22. They looked like squirrels, it was actually pretty gross, but mildly fascinating at the same time.

The Biggest Birthday Party I Have Ever Been To

2007-10-24T10:49:00.000+02:00

When the French have a party, they sure don't skimp on anything. Our friend Geoffroy celebrated his 30th birthday last weekend with his friend Stephan, who was conveniently born on the same day in the same year as Geoffroy. They invited 50 of their friends and then rented a big house in the countryside to accommodate all of us. They spent the week cooking and preparing everything....even and orientation race. See, Geoffroy is a big mountaineer, so the weekend wouldn't be complete without some outside fun. Geoffroy designed and marked the orientation course, handed out maps, compasses and split all fifty people into teams. It lasted about two hours and was followed by 4 rounds of finals. There were four people to a team, so each team chose 1 person for each activity.

THE BOTTLE GAME: The first round was the wine bottle balance thing, I have no idea what else to call it. It is explained in pictures below.

First you balance on two wine bottles like so. You can't see it too well, but you do have a barrier (the piece of wood) for your feet so that you can't move them forward. The object is to move one of the bottles as far forward as you can, without throwing it, then balancing on the remaining bottle and somehow finish standing up, without falling or letting any part of your body touch the ground. Then you get stuck like this and think oh crap, it's like push ups on wine bottles.
If you are lucky enough to descend on the bottles, you usually contort your face something like this and cast your gaze way ahead of you setting your goals way too high:
ohhh, don't let it fall:
Oh là là.... or more like ahhhhhh....trying to actually push up with both hands on one wine bottle proved nearly impossible:The End, and mostly the end was failure ;) But how sweet it was.

Les Gorges du Verdon

2007-09-30T00:46:00.000+02:00

Oh the French climbing, how it beats me every time. We spent the last week in the French 'Grand Canyon' the Verdon Gorge. Most of the climbing is multi-pitch and must be accessed by rappelling all the way to the bottom of the Gorge to get to the beginning of your route. And since I'm not a long route pro by any stretch...the whole rapping into a black abyss is kind of scary. But well, I guess that's all part of the game. Below is a picture of our trailer. Yes, your eyes do not deceive you, we stayed high class in a trailer and loved every minute of our one lavish night in Maurice's trailer. See the Verdon lies in the south of France and we just figured it would be pretty warm. And it was warm during the day, but it easily dipped into the 30's during the night. I haven't even mentioned the wind...which threatened to blow us away in our tent during the night. On our last night, the owner of the camp ground (a talkative older Frenchman, Maurice) insisted that we stay in the trailer on his property. Et voila! A whole trailer all to ourselves...which we heated by lighting the gas stove and just hoping we didn't burn the place down!!! Ah la France.
The climbing was scary, like it always is for me. On our last day of climbing we rapped down three pitches (100 meters) and noticed storm clouds before we even started the route. Because I am not the fasted climber known to man, David led all three pitches faster than I've ever seen anyone climb. As he topped out it began to hail. And I swore we would never ever do a multi-pitch without checking the weather. When I topped out the thunderstorm began full force.

This view is from a little pull off where I met an American woman. As we're looking at this incredible view she asked me how close the next town was where they could turn around. We said 10 miles and she got this disgusted look on her face and said 'gosh, 10 more miles of this!' I'm sure maybe the winding mountain roads were too much for her, but come on!!! Especially with scenery like this!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COURTNEY!!

2007-09-13T15:22:00.000+02:00

A short little note to my dedicated reader Courtney Shaw, on her 13th birthday!

NAAZ COMES TO VISIT!!!

2007-09-03T16:03:00.001+02:00

My first ever visitor arrives! After navigating through the Geneva airport and getting her foot stuck in the train door...she has arrived safe and sound. We spent the first few days making sure she got the real French experience...you know, all night long French dinner, waking up just in time to catch a few hours of daylight sight-seeing before the next dinner starts. Come to think of it, French life just revolves around having dinner. That's pretty much it. ;) But I've digressed, we toured the fabulous Croix-Rousse, an old part of Lyon known mostly for its silk-makers and then we spent a weekend in Annecy - eating fondue (of course in the fondue region of France, because eating it anywhere else would just be wrong), camping, and having fun with David and my totally super cool roommate Romain, who really likes to strip down to his skivvies and swim with his hiking stick.
EATING FONDUE!!! Below: the boys are on a mission to finish the entire pot of fondue....they failed, but we give them an A for effort.

This picture needs needs no further explanation .... it IS Romain, whose last name I have been forced to remove for fear that future employers will see him sporting the newest in H&M undergarments....Being an H&M model is really tiring

Lily

2007-07-27T23:30:00.000+02:00

My first ever biological niece (although Isabella is as close as they come) was born July 27 - she now shares her birthday with her mother AND her grandfather. Incredible I know, I'm not sure how that worked out, but we think my dad willed it to happen...the entire week he insisted that she would come on their birthday.

And here she is. I survived the birthing experience, Hil made it look pretty easy. It only lasted about 6 hours or so and most of the time Hil was dozing off. So I guess I'll have kids after all.

Barcelone, Espagne

2007-06-18T20:35:00.000+02:00

One last trip before I head home. I visited my friend Erin, who is getting her TEFL certification...one month in Barcelona. So I took advantage of having a friend there and off I went.Barcelona has a cable car that runs across it...really it just looks like a big Sky Ride to me, an interesting alternative to the metro none the less.
Gaudi is the big architect in Barcelona. He's known for doing all sorts of avant-garde-ish stuff. Like the house below, there's another one down the street that is similar. He also designed a big church, unlike any church I have ever seen, but died in a freak car accident before it was finished...they're still working on it.
It's kind of hard to see but the tops of the towers are the color of cotton candy...not tacky at all just really bizarre. The view from the other side is completely different but involves color also. The inside nave isn't completed yet but the supports inside loosley mimic trees and the ceiling is supposed to look like the ceiling of a big forest where you just have little glimpses of light here and there that peak through. There is a museum inside with the plans and pictures of what he had in mind when he was designing it...almost all based on nature.

So there's this festival of San Juan that happens on June 24th...but I knew nothing of this when I arrived. Imagine me, laying on the beach below, when all of a sudden I hear what sounds like gun fire. Really close to me. I panic momentarily...and then it happens again. In fact, it doesn't really stop the rest of the trip. You could be anywhere and you just here these massive blasts. Little kids are playing with fireworks. You know...what else do you do after school right? Apparently, the whole month of June, leading up to June 24th, is one big firecracker fest. When you're little, the competition is to see who can buy the biggest firecracker. And we're not talking little-kid firecracker size stuff, no they roll out big barrels. Vendors sell them on the street and instead of your mom saying, here's two dollars go buy an ice cream, they say here's two dollars go buy a firecracker. And that's why I thought I was going to get shot all day on the beach.

There are a lot of Miro works around Barcelona. This is just one. There's also a cool Picasso museum. And that's about it. This place is really big, the biggest city I've visited, on par with Paris. You CANNOT walk this city, impossible. I really hate the bigness of it, but the atmosphere was amazing - piercings, tattoos, color, originality, extremely friendly - so quite the opposite of France, but I do say that with love ;)

Note: I appologize in advance for the abundance of spelling errors, I'll fix them later

Vršič Pass and the Soča River

2007-05-14T20:12:00.000+02:00

The Vršič Pass is the only direct route through Triglav National Forest and consists of 52 switchbacks. It was freezing at the highest point, snow on the ground and everything. We took a short break and then jumped back in the car where we headed to a much warmer Bovec, home of the Soča River, one of the rare rivers that retains its stunning emerald color throughout their length. Most of the pictures of the river are right from our campsite. We were lucky enough to pitch our tents right on the banks. I have to say it was the coldest thing I've ever stepped into. We had bets one night on who could keep their feet in the longest. No one could go much longer than 15-20 seconds and we all agreed that around 10 it started to hurt.

The Boka Waterfall. There's a nice little hike up to the base of the falls which we didn't have time for....something for next time.

Vintgar Gorge

2007-05-14T17:19:00.000+02:00

The Vintgar Gorge is right near Bled, in the NE edge of Triglav Nat'l Forest. It was an easy walk, but magnificent.

Slovenian Climbing

2007-05-14T16:43:00.000+02:00

We found some spots in the Triglav National Forest to climb for a few days. This one is right next to the Soca River. Easily accessible, with some fun climbs and a bit of bouldering.
Sandra, making her way up our first climb.
Pierre...hopefully not sitting in sheep poop, which was plentiful.

David sailing up some mystery climb since we didn't have a guide book

Me looking strong right before I fail on the mystery climb :)

The Rog Forest, Base 20, Life-Sized Chess and Volcano Pizza

2007-05-14T14:17:00.000+02:00

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Kočevski Rog is a large plateau is southern Slovenian covered in forest. It was the safe haven of the Slovene Communist Party during WWII where 26 hospitals and many mini-settlements were built (Baza 20). Two hospitals and one settlement of 26 buildings remain. The combination of well camouflaged buildings and an advanced security system helped them survive the war undiscovered. During the winter it was forbidden to leave, as any footprints in the snow could give them away.

oooh, the bathrooms. Four holes one right next to the other. So much for privacy.

We just happened to be travelling with two chess freaks. The first few days, Sandra and I waited eagerly to start our days or even go to dinner while Pierre and David played epic 2-3 hour games of chess. This is the per game time, I kid you not. While visiting the forest we stayed in Dolenjske Toplice, which just happened to have a life sized chess board. Sandra and I played the queens.

"Hey look at our family sized volcano pizza girls?...Doesn't it look good? We have no idea that it's smothered in Tabasco sauce and full of jalapeño peppers. Hahaha, it's a Volcano pizza, I wonder why they call it a Volcano???""WOAH, this pizza IS like a Volcano! But Pierre we don't eat lots of spices we're French, what are we going to do? Can we eat all this pizza???""Hmmmm, let's eat some of this pizza and figure out what we're going to do about this"

Drinking Cockta (c'est bon pour toi) at the Salt Pans

2007-05-14T13:55:00.000+02:00

We started along the coast of the Adriatic in Piran. Just along the Slovenian/Croatian border on the Adriatic, they still have old salt pans, where salt is produced the traditional way. The floor of each rectangular segment that you see below is coated with a mixture of minerals that keeps the salt from mixing with the soil. Then after the water evaporates a little and the water is completely saturated, it starts to gather on the floor and people come around and gather it by hand. There is mini rail system, which you can also see below. They push the carts along the tracks to gather the salt from each plot.We were supposed to see a demonstration but appartently we missed them all. Instead, Pierre gave us his own well informed, highly technical demonstration. There is something in Slovenia called Cockta. We found it for half a euro in the salt pan vending machine. Intrigued, Sandra and I decided we had to have it. It was quite possibly the most disgusting thing, besides cuttlefish, that I have ever tasted. We passed it back and forth to each other, thinking that maybe the next sip wouldn't be so bad. It tasted like Coke with Lemon and too much syrup. We wouldn't suggest buying a Cockta if you come to Slovenia.

Škocjan Caves

2007-05-14T13:18:00.000+02:00

Back to Slovenia again. This time with a car, David, Pierre and Sandra.
Our first stop in Slovenia were the famous Škocjan Caves. They're a series of 11 limestone caves in the Karst region (SW) of Slovenia. The Reka river runs through the cave and then underground for about 34km where it joins the Adriatic. When we joined the river at the end of the cave, we were about 50 feet above it, so the view was pretty amazing. And then of course they do the thing where they turn all the lights off in the cave so that you know how really far you are from natural light. Not exactly my favorite part :) I didn't take the picture above, it's courtesy of good old Wikipedia, we weren't allowed to take pictures.
This is where the river enters the cave, and where we exited. You can see the entrance to the cave in the top center.
And then the weather started to turn when we walked to the view point. So we headed back to the car where we met a Slovenian man who started to talk to us...which was interesting because we only know the basic, hello/goodbye/thank you/where is the gas station. But he kept on talking, we eventually made out that his parents own some property behind the church in the picture. Slovenians aren't typically put off by you not understanding them, they just keep on talking. But then we realized he spoke German, so Pierre talked and translated.

The Calanques 2

2007-05-03T08:26:00.000+02:00

Me and Xav before the hike in...
and of course alex too.
yeah, the rope again
Cecile and Anne-Carole on their route with Xav me at the top of pitch 3
the sea

our masterful topouts...

All eleven of us back at camp
Alex taking a time out....
and you know if someone else is going to take one, Nini isn't far behind

Marseille and the Calanques

2007-05-02T14:08:00.000+02:00

On the beach...taking pictures of the brave souls who dared to go in the frigid water
Nini, napping in his pretty pink hat

My first soccer game at the renowned Stade in Marseille
Nini sleeping again....these French people are really into their soccer
how many people does it take to flake the rope?

Cecile

At the top with a messy rope again...
Hiking of the top, after my first big route with Xav Oh la la, how can you not all want to come visit me!

French Class, French Administration, and Other Things French

2007-04-06T23:41:00.000+02:00

I haven't much felt like writing lately....maybe it was my desperate attempt last month to assimilate into this seemingly insurmountable culture. After 6 months, I finally feel like I'm starting to settle in.

Mon Cours de Français:
I spent the last month in school. I met a lot of Asian students, and I have to give them credit, a lot of credit. I mean really, I can take English words and stick a French accent on then and voilà! a French word! Words like pugnacity and ironic become pugnacité and ironique with only a little manipulation. I have used this trick many times...speaking English with a French accent; it fails on occasion, but for the most part it's pretty reliable. I don't know how the Asian kids do it. But then again, most of them are on their third or fourth language, so this is old hat to them.

My favorite classmate is Ghindu, a native Indonesian who owns an antique/resale type shop back home. He is a little guy who wears these tan suede cowboy boots with a touch of sequins that extend approximately 1 foot in front of him. I love him because he just can't speak French at all. He really has a good command of it, but when he speaks, you really can't tell what language is coming out. He also seems to have no idea that no one understands him. Sometimes we make him write it down. He is also a cook, an Indonesian cook. He applied to a cooking school in Paris and was absolutely aghast that when he showed up at his interview all they cared about were his abilities in French cuisine. Those of us that have been here are not surprised at all. This is France, this is the way they roll. Ghindu basically applied to a conservatory but wanted to play jazz. Another reason I really like Ghindu is that he's always about and hour late to class, not 15 or 20 minutes, like a full hour. And when he gets to class he does this thing where he kind of bursts into the room, completely interrupts what we're doing and then laughs like, hey guys don't worry I'm here, just a touch late you know?

French Administration:
The French may possible be the most inefficient people on the face of the earth when it comes to really important paperwork. I went to the prefecture to apply for my carte de sejour which allows me to be here legally. The French prefecture is incredible. It's like the DMV. I'm not even sure I can do it justice. All I can say is that I was really cranky, had in intense longing to wash my hands, and left with an appointment for August 23rd for something I needed within the month. Fortunately I returned the next day right when they opened and only waited in line behind 30 or so people...upon leaving I still wanted to wash my hands but I left with a much more reasonable appointment.

Other Things French:
I am little by little meeting David's family. I got to meet his grandparents a few days ago. His grandfather is hard of hearing and just had eye surgery so he cannot see well either. He is a whopping 91. He told me a big story about his old farm and the goats and chickens the used to have. I didn't get too much of the story as he talked really fast and didn't sense that every time I said oui, I was a little unsure of what I was oui-ing :) The salad we had with dinner was right out of their garden and the hardboiled eggs where from the last two chickens they had. His grandmother was hilarious. I think once you become a grandmother it is innate that you try and feed your grandchildren as much food as they can possibly stomach. And then when they can have no more, bring them some dessert. She speaks really slowly and is really sympathetic to my learning French. She was always asking David if I understood everything. I also made a lemon tart, by no means a stellar tart by French standards, but they made me feel like I had created a masterpiece.

David's brother, Stephan, and sister, Magalie, were there. Magalie (I'm really guessing on the spelling here) brought us some honey. I was thinking, huh that's a little odd but ok, whatever. Turns out, she keeps her own bees. This was fascinating enough, but I was even more fascinated when David acted like it was no big deal. You know, she has bees, that's all. Oh yeah I wanted to say, bees, just another one of your average everyday beekeepers. Only after asking do I find out that David used to keep bees too; it runs in the family. The mysteries that come out of this guy, really. Just one of the many differences in our childhoods, I used to dig for worms and you used to shove your hands into swarms of bees. Right.

Amsterdam

2007-03-30T23:49:00.000+02:00

Amsterdam was so crowded that we couldn't find a place to stay. All the hostels and all the hotels were full. Hmmm, so apparently my fly by the seat of your pants attitude kind of backfired here! We ended up meeting three Hungarians, two of the are below, who were on the same impossible quest for shelter. We ended up taking the train to Haarlem, the closest suburb of Amsterdam, and staying in the hotel above the Chinese restaurant. The Chinese restaurant was right next to the train station so we had a little train noise, but other than that it was just your average Chinese hotel.
Amsterdam is much like Venice, it's made up of a bunch of canals. While they're beautiful they're pretty confusing for the navigationally challenged.

The Real Metro Pictures

2007-03-16T01:13:00.000+01:00

Voilà! The guys in the metro finally sent us some better pictures. Check out the smooth roller skates and the ceramic dog.

Belgium

2007-02-24T23:54:00.000+01:00

We were warned that Belgium is a weird country, it even says so in my guidebook We only fully realized this when we entered the metro and were immediately greeted by a man dressed up as an artist, complete with his pallet of paint. He asked us to come down to the lower level and to dress-up and have our pictures taken. I remember thinking...what the heck is this guy on and why is he walking around dressed up like that??? Alas, we went down the stairs where we were shuffled into this little area with tons and tons of dress-up clothes - like the big laundry basket of old crap you had that you were little that seemed to amuse you for hours on end. This was the best we could do....as you can see, we look just as glamorous as we probably did when we were 8 years old. It ended up being a photography class...the whole place was set up with lights and professional cameras. Yeah, the metro dress-up, stuff like this just doesn't happen at home.

After dressing up at the metro we went to the most famous attraction in Brussels, the aptly named Manneken Pis, the famous fountain of a little boy peeing. Of course, we found the mandatory flock of Asian tourists. It has become somewhat of a phenomenon in our travels.
Then we went to an art museum and rode a huge elevator ...I mean really, it had chairs. But we didn't push any of the buttons, we just hung out in the elevator because out feet were so tired...well until it starting bouncing and I got scared.The Delirium bar. It boasts 2500 different types of beer and an impressively diverse clientèle. The man in the back, a Parisian, who thought I was Erin's mom :( hahaha. And the other two, a Dutch couple who invited us to come stay with them after Amsterdam.

Ah, and then off to Amsterdam...pictures coming soon.

Strasbourg

2007-02-22T12:50:00.000+01:00

Erin an I just returned from a little jaunt through northern france, belgium, and holland. Our first stop was Strasbourg, which is on the border of Germany and France. There's even a bridge over to Germany...you can walk right over...but more about that later.The old city center of Strasbourg is centered around a series of canals, which of course make s it really hard to find your way around...but well that doesn't take much for me.

We made a short stop over to Germany HA! Our map wasn't to scale at all, so we ended up walking through the industrialized part of strasbourg for an hour just to get to the bridge. Of course, no border control...we just walked over the bridge and hung out in Kehl for a little while. When we crossed back over we decided to take a bus back over the bridge into Strasbourg. Well, yeah, there's border control when you cross the bridge by vehical. Luckily I had my passport, but as for Erin, not so much. We managed to talk our way out of any problems which wasn't hard since I had mine and it was US. Sad as it is, having a US passport usually solves all your problems. There was an elderly German lady in the seat behind us, traveling across with her daughter who didn't have her passport either and the officer wouldn't let her cross. Erin taking a picture of France, standing in Germany.

The Alps 2...a slightly more successful trip!

2007-02-07T17:16:00.000+01:00

Xavier...our gracious chauffeur...can you make out the van to the right? YES! A trip with a suitable car, not packed into a 2 door...but I guess that's the american in me!
Playing poker...I'm not sure if he can't keep a straight face or what, but during large bets, David prefered to go incognito
Still playing poker...from the right: Nini, Isabel, Cecile and Xav
Nini ready to go after a long night of poker

WOMAN...STOP TAKING MY PICTURE....
Oh Hallelujah! Sunshine and no wind at all...this time around, I didn't even need a winter coat, and I could actually see where I was going...a bit different from the demoralizing weekend trying to snowboard in a snowstorm with 0 visability.
Lunch at the top...jambon and fromage...yeah ok it sounds fancy but it was just ham and cheese :)

Arles

2007-01-21T17:27:00.000+01:00

Arles was the old major port city before Marseille, with is not far to the southeast. Arles was very quiet with many little artisan shops. Most of these photos were taken by a highly techincal well thought out technique of aimlessly wandering down back streets.

My Favorite...Musculation at the California Gym anyone?

Nimes

2007-01-21T17:15:00.000+01:00

Nimes is an old medeival town. Gorgeous gardens, broad avenues and narrow side streets.

Avignon

2007-01-21T17:09:00.000+01:00

Avignon was the Papal city before Rome. It is completely walled in and houses the old, completely intact Papal Palace, before the Vatican. We didn't actually go in, but apparently it is home to the skull of a pope who was shot with an arrow in the head. Avignon is also home to a killer seesaw, which provided tons of entertainment as can be seen below.

The Pont d'Avignon

LYON

2007-01-17T00:12:00.000+01:00

I realized that I've been here for a really long time and still don't have any pictures of Lyon. Since David cowers everytime I take out my camera, I took my American friend Erin out and we played Japanese tourists for the day.

Pictures from the Alps

2007-01-16T23:56:00.000+01:00

THE ALPS ARE NOT FOR BEGINNERS

2007-01-05T23:33:00.000+01:00

WARNING: Just because you have the necessary snowboard equipment and took a few lessons in Cleveland does not mean you are ready to go to the Alps.

DAY 1: Yes, well I learned this the hard way as I strolled into our little winter cabin hidden in the snow covered woods and filled with veteran skiers and snowboarders. I was confident, I'm not sure of what but I was armed with my snowboard, the only one I'd ever known in my whole 8 times of snowboarding. We're in the Alps...bring it on baby.

DEFEAT: After only an afternoon of snowboarding I am acutely aware that to these people my skill level seeps far below beginner...I don't even understand how their lift works. The lift ride is an epic 10 minutes, there is a foot rest and a bubble shield for the wind/snow that you have to operate yourself. And there's a map??!!?? This is already looking bleak. My limited range of experience hails from Boston Mills...for those of you unfamiliar with this little Cleveland oasis let me tell you that there is no need for a map AND no no no we don't have extravagant foot rests and snow shields...by the time you put them into place it would be time to get off.

DRESS APPROPRIATELY: How many times did my mom tell me this when I was little?? But here I go, we left the cabin and it was really nice out so I don't need my coat right?. I'll just wear my 3 layers of fleece and take these horribly inappropriate biking gloves that, albeit waterproof have no insulatory properties. Good start. When we arrive at the chalet, it starts to lightly rain. Hmm, not good for my 100% water absorbing top-half. It continues to rain and Raph and Aude decide to opt out of the day. After giving me a good once over, Raph insists on giving me her jacket and gloves which are deemed "dangerous" because my fingers could literally freeze inside. I'm still not sure she realizes (or maybe she does) that these vital additions to my wardrobe saved me that day, I hardly survived as it was.

LESSONS WITH LORIS: If nothing else, my snowboarding seemed to dumbfound my french companions. Really, they seemed perplexed. "We notice you don't know how to turn" they said - not condescendingly but almost posing a question, waiting for me to chime in..."oh god no, of course I do, just practicing my full force breaking technique the whole way down for starters." Sheepishly, I admit that no I have no idea how to turn. Honestly, I'm so excited to get down the hill without breaking anything that learning to turn hasn't even crossed my mind. With the utmost of patience, Loris spends the rest of the afternoon teaching me the basics of a turn. Of course, I fail from the start. The hill is too steep for me and every time I gain a decent amount of speed it scares the crap out of me and I opt instead to wipe out...really trying the turn would be a better idea since I'll fall either way, but well that's the way I roll...literally. Various parts of my body crash into the snow, now decently hard from the rain...it doesn't even hurt anymore, my body has shut off the pain receptors. I have so much fun that the next day I feel like I have a serious case of car-crash whip-lash. ...the Alps anyone?

CONCLUSION: David has decided I need a teacher...almost like I had some kind of handicap and the only option would be to send a tutor to the house. I'm the "special" kid in snowboard class. Oh, the adventures in France. I have never really had a problem making a complete fool out of myself...it comes quite naturally actually. But this lesson has been driven home here, where I commit endless social faux-pas and tumble down the slopes...what pride you have is obliged to be set aside. So just bring it on.

New Year's Pictures

2007-01-02T00:59:00.000+01:00

Walking home on New Year's...blue lights Jay and Vincent tearing it up on the dancefloor David and Chupette

Vincent, Damien, and Chupette

Bonne Année!!!

2007-01-01T05:28:00.000+01:00

Ok, I'm back...no problems at all. All this fuss so that they could NOT stamp my passport at the border and solve all my problems before I even entered. It's not necessary to get a passport stamp but good for record keeping. But since they don't know I'm here, I am home free. You are all safe to buy your tickets...courtney, elisabeth, hannah, Naaz...hint hint.

I had an awesome new years...hence the fact that it is almost new years in the US and you're six hours behind me. But I'm not too tired because I'm embarrassingly still on CLE time. Rising at absurd hours in the afternoon and staying out all night. So I haven't really adjusted at all.

David's friend Jay (recall his picture with Chupette in Paris) had a big party. Basically they drink all night long (so the same for us) but then at midnight they walk around and say `bonne année' and kiss each other. Every freakin person. But yeah, it's kind of nice and everyone is really happy. How can you not be happy when you just got kissed on both cheeks by 30 different people!?!

The best part was when we started the trek home. It was 4:30 in the morning and you would have thought it was the middle of the afternoon, people everywhere. Those crazy french people...

Bonne Année Mes Amis!!

Applying for a Visa Sucks

2006-12-15T05:32:00.000+01:00

I had a brilliant idea to actually simplify my life and apply for a visa. Of course this idea hit me way too late and by the time I actually had an appointment with the French consulate in Chicago it was December 8th. Then my very well prepared self didn't have anything having to do with the application finished the day before so I had to reschedule for the next week.

Luckily, Naaz was home and wanted to make a little trip out of this so we packed up the Hoopdie and headed to Chicago. This visa stuff is pretty complicated let me tell you. First of all, the application is just ridiculous. Mounds of paperwork, letters from the bank saying you aren't absolutely broke, letters from any sponsor's or people you may be staying with in France, a police clearance from your police department, a letter of employment, and then you have to get a bunch of stuff notarized....so much nonsense. And if it was just that it wouldn't be so bad, but it isn't. As of Oct 2006, you are required to apply In-Person at your local French Consulate - ours happens to be a long insanely-boring 6-hr drive away. But the drive is nothing a little Wham! won't fix right? Anyway, you have to schedule an appointment with the consulate, which must be done online because no one at the consulate actually answers the phone. You get an automated recording that eventually end in an unsatisfying dial tone. God forbid you have any questions because they won't even answer your emails...although they encourage you to email with your questions. And after you spend a whole day driving to your appointment you pay them a lousy $130.00!!! This is ONLY the processing fee and does not guarantee that you'll get your visa. Oh yeah, and did I mention it takes like 3-months to process and that they won't mail it to you...you get to come back again...YES!!! Which doesn't work for me because I'll be in France already, avec or sans a visa, I'm outta here.

So I concluded that getting a visa sucks. But lucky for you, my alternative will involve some rather elaborate travel time. In order for me to stay, I have to leave the Schengen Area (a collection of 13 EU countries that signed an agreement along for open borders between their countries...ie no elaborate border crossings; much easier) for about 5 weeks cumulative...not all at once. And since I still have some funds but they are not so plentiful as before I will be picking places like Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, or Croatia. In other words, the send log will live on still, if anyone is still reading this besides my Mom/Dad and David...which is really funny that he reads it because he lives it every day.

ok, well hope to hear from you all when I'm back across the ocean.

Slovenia

2006-11-11T14:55:00.000+01:00

Hey look it's my last name!
The Ljubljanica River
The Dragon Bridge...slovenia's mascot
Small street in Ljubljana
Ah yes how i miss my cat, luckily there are cats everywhere in europe. this fiesty little guy was on the prowl for something, i think a ferocious
leaf

BLED LAKE

Bled is in the northwest corner of Slovenia. Almost surreal. It used to be an old resort town for Europeans. The lake is 6km around with a little island in the middle that houses a church from the 13th century. I caught this town on the off-season. The people out and about were mostly locals. The trees were just turning and save for the church bell that rang every once in awhile and the sound of the ducks it was pretty much silent.

The colors on these ducks was so brilliant it looked like someone crayoned them. They were often fighting, yelling at eachother and then bashing each other with their wings and beaks. It must be hard to fight as a duck, especially to fight another duck because i didn't get the feeling that they could actually hurt eachother.

One of many gondolas waiting to wisk you off to the island

Austria Pictures

2006-11-11T14:47:00.000+01:00

The famous Mirabell Gardens from the Sound of Music. Some people got really into it, like the japanese man singing "the hills are alive" just a little to seriously to himself.
Some flowers in the gardens...and the dreaded snow.
A view from their castle on the hill
More garden pics, the Schloss Mirabel palace is on the right.

Venice

2006-11-11T14:32:00.000+01:00

Venice was an unplanned stop on the way back to france. My train stopped here and I wandered around for the morning before my afternoon train. Venice is made up of 117 tiny islands, thus there really aren't any roads to speak of. All transportation - including public - is done in the canals. People wait for the "metro" and jump onto a sort of pontoon boat looking thing. Some of the islands are bigger than others so there are some streets, but the funny thing is, there aren't bridges where the real streets on the islands meet the water all the time. Sometimes you head down a street only to realize you're looking at water with no way to cross. Fun fun. Getting lost is inevitable, every two feet the names of the canals and streets change. You just aim yourself in the correct direction and go. If you actually tried to know where you were at all times your head be burried in the map at all times. So when you get lost, and in the event of being in a hurry like wondering if you're going to miss your train, just point at your map and corner a local. Sometimes they aren't even really sure, but they at least give you a general idea of where you are.
Some Gondolas on the left...if you want some romance it comes with a hefty pricetag of 62 euros an hour!!!
A Venetian "side street"

Austria

2006-11-04T14:11:00.000+01:00

So here I am in Austria. It's snowing, it's cold, but ok it's really beautiful too. I spent the last day and a half in Salzburg...famed for being the birthplace of Mozart. It was pretty small, i think I saw pretty much everything i wanted to see in the time i was there. I also had fried bratwurst...mmmm...i didn't think you could make it any fattier. But yes, let's fry it. And then put some potatoes and saurkraut with it because that's the way they do it.

As I pulled away from the Lyon train station I suddenly realized I had not brought an extra set of cantacts and my glasses suffered the same fate of the camera so they weren't with me either. Ah, whatever I tried to think nothing of it. And then I woke up this morning only to realize I had a large rip in my right contact. I momentarily freaked out, because I didn't know what else to do. And then I thought long and hard about going back to france because I was not about to make it 7 more days with no contacts. Then I envisioned what David would say if I showed up 14 hours later, entirely too early to have finished my trip. After much intellectual contemplation I concluded that Austrains must wear contacts too and I journeyed out of my hostel on a quest to figure out where I might find these elusive contacts. About one minute down the street I found an Optik! A nice Austrian girl checked my eyes and gave me a contact for 6 euros. Now I can see and I'm in Vienna.

Vienna is the Paris of Austria. Not my favorite so far, but I'm finding I usually prefer the small towns...like Salzburg, to the large ones. I went to two art museums today. One had a extensive Picasso exhibit going for the fall so that was interesting. I have never seen so much Picasso in my life. The other one was mostly artists like Klimt with more of a modern flare also which is quite a nice change from the stuff I've been seeing.

And now I'm off to Slovenia! I bought my ticket today and somehow it was special deal day and I got 50% off. I love Slovenia already :) Apparently I probably still have some family there but I can't get any specific details. Everyone and their mother has my last name there, so that doesn't help much either.

Well that about does it, I'm going to see the Vienna Imperial Orchestra tonight. Some nice man in a get-up selling tickets last night convinced me to go...well convinced me to buy tickets from him anyway :) I figure I am in Vienna. Mozart here I come.

The Calanques, Marseille

2006-10-31T15:54:00.000+01:00

I took this past weekend to go to Marseille with David's friends Jeff and Carole. We stayed with Jeff's brother Pierre-Remy who has a cute little apartment overlooking the town and the sea. Paradise anyone?

The climbing in the Calanques was crazy. It took over two hours of pretty tough freaky hiking/traversing to get to the base of the climb we did on the second day. Relieved to finally be at the climb, we proceeded to climb 4 pitches of really runout but beautiful climbing. It's so runout that most of the local climbers treat it like a mixed climb and place gear in between the bolts. I had some nuts...which i was really glad to have on many occasions. Of course I was really scared but the fact that we were basically climbing right out of the sea often distracted me into euphoria.

After the day I was so dehydrated and starving that all I could think about was food. We went back to Remy's and made a whole fish. We had bought it fresh that morning. It was the most amazing fish I've ever had. So fresh. It was a little odd to just have a whole fish laying out on the dinner table...but I got over it. I was also forced into trying fish eggs. Our fish was pregnant so lucky us right? I don't know, they're weird. I'm going to get a little detailed here, but they're kind of a big mass and obviously don't look like eggs anymore. Instead they kind of look like a mushy brain. Mmmmm. But they eat brain here too so that wouldn't gross them out too much :) They're really strong. Not horrible but I won't be feinding for them any time soon.

After two days of climbing I have to admit that my body was exhausted. But it was ok because there was of course a giant sea within 10 minutes walk from Remy. So we sat on the beach all afternoon, read, swam...the things you do at a beach. And yes for all of you that were wondering, most of the women do actually sunbath topless. Oddly, it is way more common to see someone over say 35 or 40 topless. In the younger generation it's becoming obsolete. It was different I'll tell you that.

We had a little accident with the other camera. It took a fall from the first bolt of our climb last week. Unfortunately, the climb started on a ledge that was already 40ft off the ground. And then there was the big rocky hill it bounced down. So I'm working on getting that fixed for the next trip. I do have pictures from this trip they're just on Jeff and Carole's cameras so I'll have to wait a bit to get them.

Well, that's all the news from Lyon. I'm leaving for Austria and Slovenia in a few days so it may be a week or two before you see anything new.

Rappelling in France

2006-10-23T22:16:00.000+02:00

And then there was that one time in France when David's friends called me and asked me if I would break into their kitchen window to unlock the door. Hmmm, never a dull moment.

I'm minding my own business one morning and I get a call from Loris and Bene. "Jenn, this is Loris. Um, so are you busy? We are locked out of our kitchen and we can't get in but there are two windows and they're both open. You climb right? And do you have a rope? Could you come over and see if you could rig something with the ropes to get into the kitchen?"

Apparently in France conventional solutions don't fly, it's all about the creativity.

Loris and Bene live in an apartment building with a stereotypical European courtyard. Their apartment is built around one corner of the courtyard, so there are two windows that are adjacent to eachother. They could get into their apartment, but the door to the kitchen broke and they couldn't get it open from the side they had access to. The windows are so close it looks as if you could step out of one and into the other...but looking down three stories I was not even close to wanting to find out if that was a feasible solution. I looked around to see what we could do and I figured the only thing would be to rappel down into the window from above. It would involve neighbors and therefore I firgured this solution would be dismissed and I'd be off the hook. No, they thought it was a great idea and off we went knocking on doors. Erin, a small Rhode-Islander teaching english in Lyon, opened the door to 4 people she didn't know asking if they could rappel out of her living room window. She looked completely caught off guard and didn't completely understand what the heck was going on but opened the door and let us take over.

We wrapped the rope around the inner part the apartment so that one end of the rope was out one window and the other end out the other window. (see picture below) And out I went. It was a little wierd stepping out of a window. In fact, I was pretty freakin scared. Stepping off a cliff is one thing, that's the whole point of climbing, but out of a window?! It just feels wrong.

I felt kind of like some burgler or something. Good practice if I decide I need to make a career out of breaking into to people's houses.

Anyway, since then, Erin has hung out with us a few times and I'm more than a little excited to have met someone who is from the US. I'm sure there will be more to come about her. Her boyfriend is coming soon and he climbs...so you can imagine where that will go :)

Loris watching closely...making sure I make it into their open window two floors down

Sienna, Rome, Naples & Pompeii

2006-10-16T22:03:00.000+02:00

Well, I'm back. The trip was spectacularly enlightening. Funny how a country so close to France can be so different.

From Florence I went to Sienna. Sienna is about and hour southwest of Florence (which is in the northwest). I had some stunning shots of the city from but proceeded to lose my camera in Rome :( so sorry guys, no pictures from Italy. But anyway, i'll get a new camera and i can use david's until then. Sienna is just what it sounds like, completely the color of sienna, and for those of you that don't know your crayola crayons...it's kind of a pale dusty brown. They have a very famous Duomo and you can climb to the top of the Facciatone (not really sure how to explain that one but anyway it's really high) and take pictures of the city. Sienna is really hilly, so the city dips up and down and up and down...when you're walking it's a neverending journey uphill and downhill. From the top of the Facciatone the hills textured the city which is filled with stereotypical italian houses/buildings all in sienna, narrow streets, and mountains in the background. Yeah, that view was worth it. To get to the top of the Facciatone, there is a single file spiral staircase...all the way up, there is no way to pass on the staircase; only room for people going one direction. People at the top would be yelling down the staircase like ok here we come and then all of a sudden you'd hear people yellingback...no sorry here we come. This was funny.

After Sienna, I travelled to Rome to meet David. Rome kind of screwed me over the minute i stepped off of the train. I walked around for awhile and then took the train to meet David at the airport who I missed by probably 10 minutes because no one would help me find the arrivals. The backup plan was to meet at the hostel if we missed eachother at the airport. Easier said than done. Rome is really big and my map didn't cover the area my hostel was in. So like an idiot I stopped at a little store, took one of their maps and wrote down some pretty vague directions of what to do after my map ended. HA! And then I walked and walked and walked....and got really lost. I walked right past the hostel like three times and couldn't for the life of me see it. In my defense, Rome is really poorly marked and way more confusing than the other areas i'd been too. Now I am an hour late for when we were planning on meeting and am about to ask this man at a gas station (or what they call a gas station) where the heck I was when I see David walk up the street. Whew! Rome is like Disneyland. There are tourists everywhere. It's really loud, really crowded, and really really dirty. But more on the dirt later. The sights were obviously stellar. The sistine chapel is worth the trip alone, along with the roman forum and colloseum. So much history.

We left Rome a little early...I wore David out trying to see too many things in too little time...and we went for some rest in naples which sits right on the mediterranean coast. Mostly Naples was a lot of sleeping and going out for nice leisurely walks by the sea and quiet dinners. We didn't do anything touristy in Naples but I did take a day to visit Pompeii. Pompeii is simply vast. It's the size of a small city and i took the "short tour" which was 3 hours. It's filled with the ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii which was instantly destroyed in 79 AD when Vesuvius erupted and buried it. Eventually excavators came upon the city and dug it out of the ash. It revealed an entirely preserved city...inhabitants and all. After the bodies of the people naturally decomposed, there were empty cavities left in the cooled lava. One particularly smart excavator realized this and began filling the cavities with plaster, which ultimately revealed a human form. Not just a human form either. You can tell what these people looked like, and even more disturbing the horror on their faces. It still dumbfounding to me that we were able to dig out the city and damage so little. There really isn't an trace of an eruption...it just looks like ruins from an old city.

So that's it. Back in Lyon. I need to get some sleep so i'll finish this up tomorrow. Bonnuit.

Firenze, Italia

2006-10-07T22:12:00.000+02:00

So here I am, finally in Florence. Quite a trip for me to get here and no way to show you pictures until i get back to Lyon.

I left for Florence, making a stop in Milan but having no ticket from Milan to Florence. Well, it all turned out well but I had the 'must have a plan' paranoia big time. I stood for a half hour in the wrong line to buy tickets with a guy from London and another american girl. We finally found the ticket counter and at 3pm, the next available train to Florence wasn't until 8pm putting me in Florence at a whopping 11:30 pm. This made me even more nervous as I was going to have to walk 20 minutes to my hostel. I meandered around Milan for awhile, I even got gutsy and took the metro to the Duomo to sight-see before my train. And then there was a metro strike! Like what the heck is this crap!!! Here I go with my little map running my butt off to get back to the train station. I was 45 minutes early and proceeded to get on the wrong train. Luckily it was at least going to Florence. Yes, this is me in Italy.

I got to my hostel and was so worn out from just not knowing where i was that i wanted to immediately go back to Lyon. David warned me of this...actually his exact words were 'you're going to get to your hostel, you're going to cry in your bed because you're lonely, and then you're going to wake up the next day and have a good time.' and that's pretty much exactly how it went.

Florence is so beautiful i can't possibly do it justice with words. I had a salami fromaggio sandwhich for breakfast by the Arno River crossed the Pont Vecchio, lined with classic local jewelers and spent the day wandering around. Somehow I struck some good luck and got a ticket into the Uffizi (it was sold out for the weekend and the next available time to get in was Tues). I went to reserve a ticket for Tuesday and the guy had one extra ticket for 1pm. The Uffizi is officially my favorite museum so far. Maybe more than the Louvre because I burnt myself out trying to do too much at once. But the Uffizi has some pretty cool stuff in it.

I did a bunch of other things too but I can't really tell you because my internet is going to run out in five minutes. Ciao!

Des Photos Avec Sandra et Pierre

2006-10-05T16:46:00.000+02:00

Sandra, Pierre, David, and moi

Pierre and David hanging out the window with their cigarettes after dinner...at least over here they are courteous enough not to smoke indoors

oh, the nice picture after dinner...sandra has cooked twice for us now and it's the best food i've had in france, she

Sandra outside climbing with us....she bought her first pair of climbing shoes a few days later...yes! another addict in the making

Me on nice big jugs...the way i like it.

Life in France thus far

2006-10-02T02:02:00.000+02:00

Things are going really well here. We stay up way too late and get up the same way. David hasn't realized i am an old woman yet..this won't last long for me. But it's fun for now anyway.

My french continues to improve but it is pretty hard i have to admit. Sometimes i get a little homesick for you all who i can so easily express myself with. Most conversations with the people i've met are pretty superficial because that's all my knowledge of the language will permit so far. I'm so excited to even be able to do that. It's a tad frustrating though when you don't understand what the heck is happening around you. Anyway, David is totally uderstanding and supportive of my frustrations. So that makes it a lot easier.

I am feeling a bit culture shocked too. Wierd because on the surface, things aren't really all that different. We have an apartment, transportation, food, water, bathrooms. It's the subtle differences though. They are actually really nice subtle differences but adjustments all the same.

And i know some of you are reading this going...ok we don't feel bad for you, you're a traveling fool and have been on vacation for so many months we can't even count so just be quiet. So I will.

We've been climbing a crapload. I have pictures up from the Alps. Incredible climbing. The pictures speak for themselves.

Oooh, but the new people I have met. I guess I'll give profiles of those who have pictures so far.

So the two boys in the bed...Jay and Chupette. Ah, just good friends...things are quite different here.

Jay: Jay was amazing in Paris...he is completely fluent in English. He grew up on the an island off the southeast coast of africa called Mauritius where all the schooling is in English and the language of the country is french. After David left for Lyon, he saved me when no one could understand me and i couldn't understand them. He went to the same college as David and Chupette and they all do computer stuff. He is working in Paris right now and is staying at Chupette's until he finds an apartment.

Chupette aka Julien: But no one calls him Julien...his nickname means lollipop and i'm still not quite sure why they call him that. The last nights i stayed in paris were usually spent trying to sleep but dying of laughter because of the conversations he and jay would have late at night sleeping next to eachother...mildly amusing on its own. He was also wonderful trying to speak english with me. We spent a whole day together climbing at Fontainbleu...communicating was pretty entertaining.

Nini: Oh wonderful Nini (Nicolas)...another climbing/table tennis friend of David's. Nini is buying a house with his girlfriend and is taking classes and the french version of Home Depot every week on carpentry/electric stuff/plumbing etc to get ready for the new house. I'm going to the wallpaper class next week! Ha...that'll make a good story. Nini also really loves soccer...i mean really really loves soccer, so he's also going to take me to a soccer game.

Isabel: No pics of Isabel yet but she's been very present in our social scene so i can't leave her out. She is the girlfriend of Nini. During long dinners when i have no idea what is going on she is always the one to make conversation with me. So patient...she speaks really slowly and clearly and constantly complements me on my french even if it's horrid :) She has also started climbing with us and led her first route the other day. I think she's probably been climbing 5 times total...the girl isn't afraid of anything.

Xavier: Xavier has two kids and a wife and is still having as much fun as anyone of us around him. In fact, I think he's having more fun. He is one of the most lively and inspiring that i've met so far...his children are amazing, his wife, Cecile, and his relationship with her are dumbfounding. Heloise is probably 4 or 5 and Emerick is probably 3. The funniest thing is how they reacted to my speech...they couldn't stop staring at me and everytime i opened my mouth and spoke french they kept looking at their parents like who the heck is this lady? why can't she speak correctly??? Yeah that was funny. Cecile does some kind of accounting and Xavier works in an ER lab. They have a gorgeous apartment that they completely built from the ground up. They have a little photo album with the pictures of the progress over time...at the beginning it looked like an unfinished basement, just a big open space, i don't even know how they had the hope to envision what they were able to do. It looks hopeless at the beginning. I'll have to get a hold of some before and after pics and post them.

So that's the crew thus far that you can see. There are some more but i'll save them for later.

Lyon

2006-10-02T00:42:00.000+02:00

Jenn at dinner @ Xavier's after climbing in Lyon

Jenn and Nini feasting on Saucisson

Xavier climbing

David

Presles Climbing Pictures

2006-09-28T15:30:00.000+02:00

Me just leaving the ground...

The trail to the climb was pretty crowded...freakin goats everywhere. They all had on big bells like cows so they were hilariously loud. The best was when they made their way down to the street below the cliff...they just kind of congregated and hung out in the there for awhile...quite a sight from the anchors

The view of Presles from the base of the cliff

g
ooh a random photo of my parisian housemates...Jay (left) and chupette
another view

Xavier climbing...a friend of david's who taught him how to climb

David finishing the 6c (~11a) that everyone else backed off of because it was really hard...the bolting here is a bit scary...of course scary for me doesn't take much i know, i'm trying to work on it, but really they could place a few more bolts

Pictures from the Louvre

2006-09-23T17:06:00.000+02:00

Finally some pictures from the Louvre...

Unfortunately, a lot of these came out pretty dark so sorry.

Montmartre et Montparnasse

2006-09-20T21:51:00.000+02:00

<--- Perhaps I will start spelling it like this

MONTMARTRE...The Sacred Heart Basilica

The Basilique du Sacre Coeur is situated on top of the Butte de Montmartre (Montmartre Hill). The view from the top is known as the best panoramic view of Paris. It was pretty amazing but my pictures didn't come out that well...they look kind of cloudy so here is a different view, not so panoramic but nice nonetheless.

On my way up the eight million flights of stairs to the basilica there was this mexican man singing and dancing with his guitar. It was kind of funny because I am in France but surrounded by American and British music. It is everywhere. At Chupette's apartment the music is almost always in English, the same for stores etc. So this guy on the stairs starts out with Stand By Me, then Let it Be, and then a rousing version of La Bamba! It was really funny because he had a thick accent and so when he sang Mother it came out Mudda. But he was having so much fun it was great.

The Latin Quarter

The Latin Quarter is in south central Paris and is by far my favorite. The streets are not quite as crowded as downtown Paris and everything is a little quieter. It's the artsy quaint part of town.

Saint Etienne...

The Pantheon...the crypt here is home to some famous people like Voltaire, Victor Hugo, and Emile Zola

I am kind of partial to the Latin Quarter also because as I was getting ready to head back for the evening I passed a little chapel that had signs for a piano recital featuring all Chopin waltzes/polonaises/nocturnes. These are my favorite piano pieces so I was pretty excited but apprehensive because it was like $30 and I know I don't have to tell any of you how cheap I am :) But I bucked up and went anyway. It was really cool, but even coolerl because I know the pieces really really well and he messed up a few times :) It's ok, i can't even play in front of people so I'm not really one to nitpick.
The chapel...
whoops, someone didn't clean the piano

Pictures of Paris

2006-09-20T11:23:00.000+02:00

C'est Moi! @ the Concord

A Paris Librarie (Bibliotheque)
The big obelisk on the Concord that connects the Jardins des Tuileries with the Champs Elysees...you can barely see the Arc de Triomphe in the background to the right of the obelisk
A fountain in the Jardins des Tuileries
One of many statuettes in the Tuileries
Yes Yes, the Tour d'Eiffel...30e to go to the top! Crazy

The Louvre from inside the pyramid entrance

Paris...encore

2006-09-18T23:10:00.000+02:00

This will be short. Not too much of interest and I can't get the pictures to upload so i will try again tomorrow.

OOH! My head is overflowing with french...to top it off, at dinner there were 4 different languages floating around: English, French, German and Spanish :) Ha! I can hardly speak 2 let alone try and participate here. It was pretty funny though. And the people I am staying with crack me up. They speak English when I can't understand stuff, but really they speak French. Occasionally though, they'll be speaking to eachother and all of a sudden they'll say a sentence here and there in English and then go back to French. It's kind of funny. But nice for me even if they aren't talking to me because then I can have some semblence of their conversation if I haven't been able to follow it.

So in France they don't have public restrooms everywhere and you definitely CANNOT use the bathroom anywhere that you are not a paying customer. They'll tell you to leave if you try. Luckily I was warned of this or someone would have kicked my butt out of a cafe restroom long ago. Those of you that know me even a little or god forbid have had the chance to travel with my small bladder know that this poses more than a little problem. But have no fear, I have managed to find all the bathrooms in Paris! Oh yes, once you find the bathrooms you better have some change because they aren't free. Half a euro to pee! I can't believe you have to pay to pee. Incroyable! I will go broke from the bathrooms.

I am now in Paris totally alone, save for David's friends, but I see them only at night. You should all be very proud of my navigating :) I am going to take the train to Lyon on Thursday, another adventure in itself.

Time for bed so I can get up earlier than noon...biennuit.

A Paris Tout Seul!

2006-09-16T21:25:00.000+02:00

Le Seine

So David challenged me to a day alone in Paris...a little scary at first but a ton of fun once i realized I would be ok. Yes, I know what you all are thinking...Jenn navigating in France HA! is this a joke? the streets aren't even straight and they change names every block. But I walked all the way from the Louvre back to Choupette's apartment which is a little over a half hour and I survived.

Me at le Louvre

The day before, David and I walked for six hours and I was so tired. Holy crap! We walked to the Place de la Bastille, Cathedrale of Notre dame, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, down the Champs Elysees, through the jardins de Tullieres to the Arc de Triomphe and then back home. It was amazing. There are different cathedrals everywhere. Taking a walk in Paris is like being in a museum, why would you want to take the metro???

A hospital in Paris

So back to today. I got myself all the way to the Louvre only to find it was closed. Not too sure why but I will try again tomorrow. I was really proud of myself for navigating anyway. Also I asked the guards in French if it was closed and actually understood their response...oui mais j'ouvert demain (yes, but it will open again tomorrow)...or something like this. YAY!!! Such progress. Well, tomorrow is another day alone so I'm sure to have some more stories. Salut!

Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris

Je suis a Paris finalement!

2006-09-13T20:10:00.000+02:00

Paris!!! Here I am...a view from Charles' beautiful apartment. It's like a movie.

But we are staying at Chaupette's apartment and no pictures of it yet. Paris is great, no rude french people yet, but i think it's because i am with david.

The metro has so many stairs i cannot even tell you. Flights and flights of stairs. Uh, not good for climbing gear and two months of clothes.

The flight was good, I have to say I'm exhausted...it's 6:10pm Cleveland time and 12:10 am Paris time. These crazy French people stay up all night. I am not kidding. They keep insane hours drinking fabulous wine and eating cheese..appartently america doesn't know cheese. I have been hanging out with some of David's friends that speak only a little english and they keep wanting to say cowboy, but it comes out as an indistinguishable coo-boi...hilarious, they love this word. They keep talking about BrokeBack Mt. and the Coo-boiys. Wow, ok my french isn't so bad then.

The Last of Squamish

2006-08-26T03:22:00.000+02:00

Paul on some 11d sport action at Cheakamus, Squamish

David bouldering...Chief Boulders Squamish

Lauren @ the Chief Boulders

Greg can't help but take good pictures

Paul @ the Grand?

Greg on the 11d @ Cheakamus

one last day...spent @ Brown Lake

Home again Home again

2006-08-26T02:58:00.000+02:00

The send train is back in cleveland finally. After a grueling 56 straight hours home and a week long bout of car lag we are recovered. I'll get the last of the Squamish pictures up shortly.

But have no fear, the send train is taking an unexpected detour to europe! Yes, the send train will keep chugging. I leave on September 12th for paris. Still avoiding the "real job" like a pro. I haven't decided exactly what I'll do/see there, but definitely lots of sightseeing and climbing.

I spent the last few days in Montreal with David and his amazing french friends. They were gracious enough to pretend like my french was not the most absurd crap they'd ever heard. They chatted away and i daydreamed about one day understanding what the heck they were saying. It's wierd. Americans aren't really ever put in positions that demand them to know a language other than english. It's a whole other world being the minority let me tell you. But after a few months i should make some progress right????

Temps peux seulement dire.

Mean French People

2006-08-03T01:32:00.000+02:00

We've been in Squamish for almost a week and we are climbing way better than we did in Smith. Bridgette will soon redpoint an 11a...Partners in Climb, i'm actually leading trad, and David led his first trad climb yesterday like it was some kind of joke. We're doin ok.

So two days ago it got super hot and none of us dressed for the heat because it had been rather cool that morning. Bridgette only had a long sleeve shirt so she snagged David's sleeveless French table tennis shirt and rolled her pants up over her thighs. There are very good pics of this below. We put up a 5.9 and then rapped off the anchors of an 11c so that we could work it on TR and these french people came up to the climb just as we had set up the TR. Well, David and Bridgette were up at the top and the French people were trying to talk to me in French so I got really bold and made up one whole sentence that ended up meaning the opposite of what I was trying to say. But I was so happy to get the chance to speak to real French people...apparently they weren't too thrilled to speak to me because they looked at me like I had 5 eyes or something. They also had no idea that David was French. They carried on for a half hour in french talking about us, and David just sat listening, laughing to himself. First, they critiqued his shoes, which are falling apart; he will soon be better off climbing barefoot. They talked about his shoes trying to figure out what kind of climber he was. And why were we toproping this, these people look like hard climbers. In comes Bridgette. Woah, what the heck is this girl wearing? Why is she wearing a French Ping Pong shirt, maybe she palyed in a tournanment a long time ago, but really where did she get this shirt. (Maybe they are too numb in the head to think that maybe one of us is french) And they talk about her outfit for awhile. And then they get really frusterated that we're climbing this on toprope. But the best part is when we start to climb. I am first and the beginning gives me trouble, rightly so it is 11c. And then Bridgette comes and does it pretty smoothly but it still looks hard. By this time they are like, hmmm are you sure you know what grade this is? Maybe it is 7a (some sort of 12)...and they start to pack up and leave. Funny mean french people. Of course, this is the censored version we got from David, who knows what else they had to say. We got some good laughs out of it anyway. Then we watched them flail on it the next day...climber's revenge :)

Time for dinner...and some eagle watching.

A mix of pictures from Smith and Squamish

2006-08-03T00:36:00.000+02:00

David on TOXIC 5.11b...Smith
This is why we call him the CRAZY french hitchhiker
David redpointing his first trad lead...5.9 Pennylane
Jenn on Quarryman 5.8 Squamish
Our frenchman bouldering in Smith
Bridgette's photo shoot on Cat Crack...Squamish

Jenn gearing up for a 5.12d....yeah ok like an 8
Bridgette on Sting like a Bee, Smith

Bridgette on Quarryman, Squamish

YES!!!! Bridgette in her send gear, what a cowgirl eh??

Squamish

2006-07-30T21:51:00.000+02:00

After days and days of baking in the hot sun, we decided that it was time to leave Oregon. So we packed up the car and the newly kidnapped french hitchhiker, and off we went to Canadia.

Or so we thought. We roll up to the border and they misread David's study visa, telling us that we have to go to customs to get it renewed. We know this is a mistake so we figure we'll just wait in line, get it straightened out and then get out. Apparently, there is to be NO laughing or having fun at the border. We got out of the car and decided to throw out this ham and cheese sandwhich that had been in the car for four days too long. We are laughing at the fact that the sandwhich smells and we are trying to make david eat it, then we dart for the garbage and this insanely cranky woman starts to repremand us like we are kids or something. She thinks we are thowing out drugs maybe?

Don't you know that ultimately this was the woman who would help us? Great... We get through the line and she questions us like we are criminals. She doesn't understand how we know eachother. She definitely doesn't like me, unemployed, on a three month road trip, unable to prove i have any money and travelling with some french guy I met only a week ago. And she looked in our car and asked us rudely "can i ask what all that crap is in there?" She hates us, all of us, she calls our climbing gear crap. She glares at us with her beady eyes from across the counter and she makes us sit and wait while she checks out our incredibly boring records. Then the verdict: she allows David in and deneys Bridgette and I!!! We only have $60 in cash between the two of us and she thinks we should have $50 a day...this woman has obviously never been on a climbing trip. On the way out, the guy at the gate laughs at us that david got in and we didn't. So we go back to the US and get our ATM account balances to prove we are not crossing the border with all our crap to live there and when we get back she doesn't even look at them!! We now are livid, it is after 11 and we are exhausted. We find our friend jeff in vancouver and stay at his friend's house. Welcome to Canada.

Now we are in squamish...ah colder weather. Climbing here is great. Bridgette is leading like a pro...she onsighted the 5.10b pitch of the Smoke Bluffs Connection yesterday. I took the 5.8's :) And then there's our rope gun, David. We don't quite understand how he learned to climb cracks overnight, we just don't get it. He's only been climbing since november, but he's already comfortable leading 11 sport and can second 5.10 trad like it's cake. He has never climbed a crack and yet his technique is beautiful. It must be his gymnast background, at least that's what bridgette and i decided. Bridgette is teaching him how to lead trad...as soon as he gets comfortable with his gear, he'll be hopping on 5.10s like they're nothing.

David has lots of job titles on this trip...rope gun, first bolt clipper, climb finisher, french teacher, chess master, sherpa...and that's just the beginning. We like him so much we are bringing him home with us. He's not too excited about Ohio...but we have big plans for the few days we'll keep him there. I promised him some pie from my mom and some indian food from naaz...some elyria bouldering, cement cracks, and a day at cedar point. Who needs France anyway?

He's been with us for a little over a week and is still patient with my horrible french, which is already a hundred times better than last week. We have a french lesson every night. Two days ago we went over every animal on the face of the earth. David was very impressed with how many animals he knew in english and i forgot the whole lesson because it took like two hours to go through all the animals. Anyway, i am really excited to be learning french.

Today it is raining so we are going to shower and play on the internet. We look like homeless people sitting in the library using the bathrooms and the free internet. We must look awesome.

Oregon Part 3

2006-07-25T23:15:00.000+02:00

David @ Ropededope Boulder
Bridgette tearing it up bouldering

David's most amazing picture EVER! From his trip in the Catskills

A rainbow as seen from our campsite

Yes, that is dirt all over my face

More Oregon Pics

2006-07-25T03:50:00.000+02:00

Jenn @ Coccaine Gully

David @ Coccaine Gully

The sunset from camp

Oregon

2006-07-24T00:38:00.000+02:00

Crazy guys dancing in the middle of a really boring traffic jam...the fun never ends

Holy Hueco! Jugs everywhere, awesome 5.8 Five Gallon Jugs @ Morning Glory, Smith

Jeff and Bridgette...hangin out at the anchors

Jenn @ Ropededope Boulder, Smith

I swear I wasn't posing for Bridgette

Jeff...being a nutball

David @ Phoenix Wall, Smith

Notre nouvel ami David

2006-07-23T22:43:00.000+02:00

So we finally left CA. On our way up north we stopped and slept on Pismo Beach where we almost got run over. They have these random areas where you can drive on the beach and camp for free and of course we decided to stay there. We were too lazy to pitch the tent and we were mildly worried that we hadn't parked the car far enough away from the ocean so the tide wouldn't come wash it away, so we just slept next to the car. At 4 in the morning this big white utility truck comes barrelling down the beach and makes a beeline towards us. It woke me up out of a sound sleep and i was waving my hands like a crazy woman so they wouldn't hit us. They obviously didn't but it kind of ruined our good nights sleep!

Then off to Oregon to climb again. We were short a guidebook but like every other part of this trip it all worked out. Our friend Jeff from Yosemite ended up being in Smith so he showed us around our first day and then we hooked up with a German couple on the second day. We also have a new addition to our trip...David, the crazy hitchhiker from france. Poor David, we have convinced him to come to Squamish with us and all we do is torture him with our painfully amateurish French. It's perfect though...an in-house French teacher. He puts up with us like a pro. He doesn't even complain when we yell random french phrases at him while he's climbing. He really has no idea what he's doing to himself by agreeing to travel with us :) And he said we could come stay with him in france...so that's also in the works.

We plan on staying at Smith for about a week. It's soooooo hot here...90 today. That's why we are sitting in the coffee shop playing on the internet. It's so hot that you can't sleep past 8, the sun starts to bake the tent. We seem to be finding plenty of shady climbing spots though so it doesn't interupt the sending too much.

Surfing Pics

2006-07-18T21:01:00.000+02:00

Our surf instructor Dave...we love Dave

Bridgette getting her surf lesson

We totally look like pro surfers...

Bridgette gettting the answer to her lifelong question as to whether avacados grow on trees or bushes

More Misc Photos

2006-07-16T03:46:00.000+02:00

Jenn in Clear Creek, CO

Hey look! Two other girls on a road trip who strike pro poses for the camera :)

Tracy fearlessly sending

Leah @ Clear Creek

Jenn in Malibu with her new and improved lightweight climbing gear!

MALIBU

2006-07-15T07:10:00.000+02:00

The Malibu Mansion

Our bedroom @ the mansion

Hmm...should i really attempt this?

Heck yes I'm gonna do it...we did watch all those surf videos last night...

Can't you girls make me some chocolate chip cookies or something!?

Jenn and Bridgette trying desparately to catch Dave with his clothes off...the best we could do

Dave modeling with his new power toy

!Congratulations Bridgette and Floyd!

2006-07-15T07:03:00.000+02:00

So I left out one very important detail in my last post. Bridgette got proposed to in the Yosemite Drug Mart by 'Rock and Roll' Floyd. It was very touching, I wish you could have all been there. There she was, innocently buying her soup and milk...in comes Floyd and sweeps her off of her feet. Floyd, a plumber and rock and roll guy, only wants to marry Bridgette. He wants to marry her so badly he asks her approximately 15 times and tries to woo her with his $765,000 house! They will make quite a couple. He is half as tall as she is and three times as wide.

I gave them my blessing as long as she waits until the trip is over.

Yosemite Pictures Vol. 3

2006-07-14T01:07:00.000+02:00

John on Outer Limits

Crack wrecked ankles

Greg and Bridgette in yoga class @ Camp 4

Making the scrambled pancakes

Bridalveil Falls

Bridgette sending Outer Limits 5.10a

Jenn and John @ the bathtubs

YES! More peanut butter and jelly for lunch!

Bridgette on Outer Limits

Goodbye Yosemite...hello Malibu

2006-07-13T21:21:00.000+02:00

Well, we finally left the valley. By the last day, we had the climber dirtbag routine nailed. We managed to raft down the Merced for free with our "employee" discount. The rafting was hilarious, our friend greg put it well...it's more like swimming but with a floatation device. Yeah there weren't any rapids, but it was still a fun way to end the trip. After rafting we went to get lunch on greg's real employee discount but managed to find an employee banquet they just happened to be putting on for Curry Village employees. We gorged ourselved on lots of food and then bolted before anyone asked us who the heck we were. To top it off, the girl that worked @ the coffee shop we went to after lunch was Ian's roommate, and thus completed our day of free-ness.

Then off to LA. We stayed @ a KOA in Pomona. This place was not so good. When Chris and Chick found out we were staying in Pomona they were horrified offering to put us up in a hotel, but please no don't stay in Pomona. Many calls of Chris pleading with us that Pomona is a bad town. But we stayed there anyway. And it didn't feel dangerous but was not like the other KOAs we've seen. We got in pretty late and someone had covered our campsite in Ajax??? What the heck we're thinking...so we put down our sleeping bags in the only non Ajax'd spot and crashed. The comes the crazy woman in the site next to us. She wakes us up @ 2am telling us to get off of her site, obviously very threatened by two girls from Ohio. God knows what she thought we would do. We explain to her that we are on our site so please let us go to sleep. But no, we're two feet into her site due to the ajax but she doesn't care so she threatens to report us to the host. Welcome to LA. I ignore this woman and go back to sleep she is obviously CRAZY. Bridgette is way more vexed by the situation and moves towards the Ajax after she wakes us up a second time...now it is war. Then we wake up in the morning and she is talking to herself angrily in the bathroom about a stain on her clothes. Wierd. We leave as soon as possible in the morning.

Then we made our way to Malibu...oh yes. Some down time on the beach. Malibu is way way smaller than we thought. But it is so stereotypical CA that it's hard not to laugh. Everyone surfs and everyone who surfs is ripped, tan, and has shaggy bleached blond hair. The houses are beautiful. We are staying with Dave who lives with 5 other surfers. And when we offered to cook him dinner he politely tried to decline because they have no dishes. Bridgette and I looked at him confused...no dishes? He explained that the house got pretty messy and that after a recent house meeting they just decided to throw everything out and start from scratch, and they weren't kidding...there is nothing! Never a dull moment.

We're hangin in Malibu for a few days, trying to scrounge some surf lessons from Dave. He's super busy though, so we're happy with our few days on the ocean. Then off to Smith to keep crankin.

Slacklining in Camp 4!!!! Good Rest Day Fun

2006-07-07T03:25:00.000+02:00

Our big watermelon...this is how we got Kyle to set up the slackline...the best way to a climber's heart is with ANY kind of food

Other fellow climbers that joined in after we set it up...Jason is on the slackline...Damon watches closely

Bridgette is already a pro!

She's such a pro she can do it and eat a watermelon at the same time...amazing

Finally! It only took me one million hours to figure out how to just get up there

Dang it! Goin Over!

Kyle wows us with his tricks...very modest, we threaten he will get no more watermelon if he doesn't do something cool

It's quite the scene @ the Slackline...Bridgette and I are quickly addicted...nasty fights over whose turn it is. In fact, we're headed over there right after I put these pictures up

Yosemite Pictures Vol. 2

2006-07-06T04:26:00.000+02:00

Our boy Chick...resting before he sends his 5.12

Ok, it's really hot we're ready to get down now...serenity crack summit
Stonegroove..5.10b Bridgette

REST DAY...yoga @ Camp 4

Chick sending his old FA...Torque Converter 5.12

Pitch 2 of Serenity...Bridgette... Scary traverse, protected by our smallest micro-nut (above)...that instills some confidence huh?

John on Bishop's Terrace

Jenn on Bishop's Terrace

Chick running it out on Serenity Crack

Bridgette learning to slack line from our dedicated teacher Kyle

Yosemite Pictures Vol 1...

2006-07-05T03:21:00.000+02:00

Whoa is this a yosemite photo shoot or something??

John's Birthday dinner...on the sidewalk

We look like we have a fake background...

The crazy kids @ the Devil's Bathtub

Oops! John forgot his suit!

Chicky in his Walmart hat, ready with his floaty soap and Diet Coke

El Cap and Half Dome...we drive by this stuff everyday and it's still pretty freakin cool

INTERNET FINALLY!

2006-07-05T03:10:00.000+02:00

Holy Crap! The internet junkie has finally found wireless. YAY. Apparently, when people stay in Yosemite they don't have their laptops attached to their hips or something.

This will be short because Bridgette and Chick are cooking dinner down the road.

Anyway...we are very humbled by the valley. This is the big stuff here and it has taken quite awhile for me to feel comfortable with the climbing. You don't exactly feel accomplished after a few pitches of 5.9 when you have El Cap staring you in the face every day. But that's ok. Chick has been a fabulous tour guide, keeping us on all the classic climbs so that we don't accidentally climb something less that stellar.

Bridgette is climbing really strong here. She's going down her tick list of climbs faster than i can keep track. But soon enough we'll be back on the sport climbing turf in Oregon. After the valley, sport climbing should be a mental breeze.

My friend John Harmon came to see us for his birthday. He drove over from Reno. We made him a birthday dinner of refried beans, cheese, avacado, tomatoes, torillas and beer. Mmmmm. Then John and I made a birthday breakfast of scrambled pancakes. You too can enjoy scrambled pancakes. All you need is a metal non-"non-stick" pan. Prepare the pancakes like you normally would and then take notice that they burn to the bottom. Scramble them before they do this. And there are your scrambled pancakes. Delicious.

We're planning on being here for another week. I'll get some pictures up tomorrow on our much earned rest day.

Party Pictures!

2006-06-25T20:04:00.000+02:00

Stephanie, Bridgette and Victoria...posing for the camera

Bridgette, Tanya and Ryan

Bridgette climbing @ Ryan's crag

Gotta love the carpenter kilt!

The guinea pig testing our homemade bridge

Jenn and Teague...notice the hardcore bandaging on my left arm
Shana and Brody

The girls against the boys

Misc Photos

2006-06-24T00:56:00.000+02:00

< -- Yoga @ the Glenwood Springs Mansion
Jenn and Teague hangin out before dinner

<--Bridgette on the 2nd pitch 5.7 @ Cobb

Bridgette, Andy (we refuse to call him Drew) and his girlfriend

<-- Tanya and the twins...Jaden and Eli

Jenn trying to pull the roof on a 5.10b

The lovely Brett Buttera warming up on the same 5.10b @ the Wall of Justice

Glenwood Springs, CO

2006-06-22T20:25:00.000+02:00

Holy crap am I ready for this rest day. Four days in a row of pretty hard sending! We slept in and then ate omelets that Ryan made for us...we seem to have a knack for staying with cooks or something. We stayed with Teague in Breckenridge and he made us Vegetable Tofu Coconut Curry and then buckwheat waffles with fresh blueberries and maple syrup. And poor Ben in Longmont cooked almost every night. I'm not sure what we're going to do when we have to fend for ourselves!

I got to visit with the infamous Dan of Breckenridge...one of the Cabana boys below :) He is doing well and I even got him to come climb with us. Of course he's ridiculously strong even though he hasn't climbed in God knows how long. Gotta love those off the couch 5.11 climbers.

hmmm, what else?

I guess not that much else is new. We are roaming around the Glenwood Springs mansion, playing some Buena Vista Social Club...dancing around the house, pretending it's ours...yeah. Ryan's house is stunning and it feels like our own little palace on a hill surrounded by mountains. We don't want to leave. We spent the morning doing yoga on one of the many decks they have. Bridgette was so inspired by the many decks and different views they offered that she did yoga almost anywhere she could fit her mat.

The weather is beautiful and I can't get over how quiet it is here.

We're climbing @ Ryan's crag tomorrow, that he bolted himself...so that should be fun. And we're supposed to go to the hot springs tonight...perfect for the sore muscles.

But for now, some lunch and more dancing.

Montezuma, Summitt County, CO...rest day for bridgette, aka jenn's photo shoot

2006-06-21T07:16:00.001+02:00

Creating a super hard slab move....ok ok it's like an 8

Yeah! Jenn and Teague sending.

Conquering the stout 10b which beats me every time

Our Cabana boys working hard

takin it to the anchors...

Cobb Rock...Boulder Canyon CO

2006-06-20T19:00:00.001+02:00

Crossing the river again...

Bridgette sending the second pitch @ Cobb...the Empour 5.7

View from the first belay ledge @ Cobb

Ben gearing up to send at Cobb... in Bridgette's send shades!

Will you go to the Devil's Baths with me?

2006-06-18T03:41:00.000+02:00

Six days in and we're whooped! We've been climbing for the past three days. On the first day we went to Boulder Canyon Sport Park, the second to Clear Creek to meet up with the fabulous Leah, Tracy and Kara...and then back to Boulder Canyon on Day 3 to Cobb rock for a short 2 pitch 5.7.

Last night Ben took us to the Bovine Metropolis Theatre in Denver to see his friend's improv show. It's basically the same setup as 'whose line is it anyway.' Hilarious...and yes we all know i am easily amused, but really they were great. At the ticket counter, we were asked to write down something someone had said to us that day. Well, Chick had called Bridgette earlier (we are meeting him in Yosemite next week) and asked if we would want to go to the devil's baths...sort of a natural hot spring but not really. And lo and behold the poor impov-ers have to create a scene from that phrase...as you can imagine, pretty funny. Then we felt really cool because we got to go hang out with the whole group afterwards. We stayed out way too late and slept in until 11..and then ate mass quantities of food.

And then there was shopping. We went to Neptune, the largest climbing store ever. And spent many hours trying on different climbing shoes and various other articles of clothing. I settled on a flashy pair of Scarpas...and we both bought a Patagucci tank, way too expensive for my tastes, but i couldn't pass it up.

I'll try and get a few more pictures up but they'll be limited until we get access to high speed.
We did another crazy river crossing...a tyrolean traverse. In order to get to Cobb rock, we had to cross the river. But it wasn't as easy as the simple line across the river and hold on tight method that we have pictures of below. No No No, as climbers apparently it is necessary set up obstacle courses on our approaches. There was a rope securely anchored to a tree on either bank of the river, about 6 feet above the water. In order to get across, we had to clip into the rope (yes this requires a harness) and hand over hand it all the way to the other side...back to the water. Interesting and quite a warmup as it is uphill a bit both ways at the end. And then getting off the freaking rope is just as crazy because you're 6 feet off the ground...the fun just never stops. And did I mention we had full packs that we were hauling? :)

We are having fun meeting up with all our crazy climbing friends. Brett and Sara came over the other night for dinner. Brett was very excited about our amatuer website and thanks to him i think we'll have a separate link pretty soon where you can view ALL our pictures.

Well, we are off to see Nacho Libre. Oh yes, there will be a full movie review to come.

Later Gaters...

Boulder Canyon Sport Park

2006-06-16T05:46:00.000+02:00

<-- RIVER CROSSING!! the current is surprisingly strong...and the water is freakin freezing

<-- Bridgette 5.10 b ...she claims she will lead nothing all day, but masterfully onsights her second climb of the day

<-- Jenn 5.11a Don't be fooled...I get shut down after the next bolt :(

On the Road…and out of Cleveland 6-13

2006-06-16T04:52:00.000+02:00

We have concluded, after many long hours of driving, that Iowa and Nebraska are pretty much the most retarded states ever and that we never want to drive through their never ending flatness ever again.

Iowa:

We spent a lot of time here. We stopped at a small, surprisingly crowded, diner that I convinced Bridgette would be really good. After all, it was a small town (good cooking) and there were a shitload of old people there (old people are picky). Ok, so I blew that one. Our middle-aged waitress looked at us skeptically when we asked if the salads were made with iceberg lettuce…like we were crazies or something. “Iceberg?” she scoffed, “I don’t know.” Like we were idiots for calling lettuce anything but lettuce. And then we ordered the soup instead.

Next stop the Broadway Motel! We roll into Des Moines, it is deathly hot and I think we had on the shortest shorts any Iowan had ever seen. The Broadway Motel was not the continental breakfast sort of place. The pot of coffee in the lobby in the morning was the same one that was there the night before. But we got to watch TV when we went to bed, so Iowa was not all bad.

Nebraska:

There is nothing here, even worse than Iowa. It is a trap, there are no gas stations here. I think all the people who live here must have just run out of gas, and now they are stuck.

Colorado:

Phew…we are here at last. We took a slight detour north for awhile. The author, usually a directional genius I swear, advised the driver to take a wrong turn.

And then the driver said “Weird it looks like we’re going north, see the sun is over there.”

“Impossible” I assured her, “this road only runs East and West.”

“No we are definitely going north…”

“No the map says West”

“But the sun…”

And then we both shut up and starting rocking out to No Doubt for a half hour, mesmerized by the desolation…and then we turned around.

The Itinerary...subject to change

2006-05-26T20:09:00.000+02:00

June 12 - 14 Travel to CO

June 14 - 21 Climb in Eldo/Clear Creek area

June 21 - 28 Breckenridge/Golden CO/Travel to Yosemite

June 28 - Mid July Yosemite

Mid July - End July Rest a few days, make our way up to Squamish and hit Smith rock on the way up

End July - Mid Aug Squamish

Mid Aug - Aug 26th Head home :( but take the canadian route and climb with some crazy french canadians

Really Deep Thoughts

Belize

Lily Flies

Weekend in Ardèche

The Wedding...

La Vie aux USA

JETS !!!

Virginie d'Ouest

Floride

The Calanques...One last time

Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

Ferry Ride to the Black Sea

Adventures in English

Night 1

Day 1

ISTANBUL!!

And then there's xmas in France....

A Little Glimpse of Christmas In Cleveland...for those of you who have never experienced it

Flying in the Alps and a night in Corsica

More pictures from the para-gliding weekend

Para-gliding off of a Dormant Volcano

Lyon

Other Pictures from the Fête

Rounds 2-4

The Biggest Birthday Party I Have Ever Been To

Les Gorges du Verdon

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COURTNEY!!

NAAZ COMES TO VISIT!!!

Lily

Barcelone, Espagne

Vršič Pass and the Soča River

Vintgar Gorge

Slovenian Climbing

The Rog Forest, Base 20, Life-Sized Chess and Volcano Pizza

Drinking Cockta (c'est bon pour toi) at the Salt Pans

Škocjan Caves

The Calanques 2

Marseille and the Calanques

French Class, French Administration, and Other Things French

Amsterdam

The Real Metro Pictures

Belgium

Strasbourg

The Alps 2...a slightly more successful trip!

Arles

Nimes

Avignon

LYON

Pictures from the Alps

*THE ALPS ARE NOT FOR BEGINNERS*

New Year's Pictures

Bonne Année!!!

Applying for a Visa Sucks

Slovenia

Austria Pictures

Venice

Austria

The Calanques, Marseille

Rappelling in France

Sienna, Rome, Naples & Pompeii

Firenze, Italia

Des Photos Avec Sandra et Pierre

Life in France thus far

Lyon

Presles Climbing Pictures

Pictures from the Louvre

Montmartre et Montparnasse

**Pictures of Paris**

Paris...encore

A Paris Tout Seul!

Je suis a Paris finalement!

The Last of Squamish

Home again Home again

Mean French People

A mix of pictures from Smith and Squamish

Squamish

Oregon Part 3

More Oregon Pics

Oregon

Notre nouvel ami David

THE ALPS ARE NOT FOR BEGINNERS

Pictures of Paris