And that is why I try so hard to create a life I love living, even when it's not the easier or more socially acceptable option. I don't want to be that person.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
From PostSecret...
And that is why I try so hard to create a life I love living, even when it's not the easier or more socially acceptable option. I don't want to be that person.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Update From CA
I owe you a final blog post or two. And the remainder of my photos from the trip. I know. And I promise you're going to get them.
But...
At the moment, prepping for Burning Man is occupying all my time, energy, and attention. And next week being at Burning Man will be occupying all my time, energy, and attention. When I get back, I'll close this round of travel-blogging up officially. Maybe I'll even throw in a story or two from the burn for good measure.
In the meantime, the playa calls...
But...
At the moment, prepping for Burning Man is occupying all my time, energy, and attention. And next week being at Burning Man will be occupying all my time, energy, and attention. When I get back, I'll close this round of travel-blogging up officially. Maybe I'll even throw in a story or two from the burn for good measure.
In the meantime, the playa calls...
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
On Repeat
And while our blood's still young
so young it runs
we won't stop 'til it's over
won't stop to surrender.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Rome: 8.11.12
I've had some serious trouble keeping up with this over the last week - my apologies! It's not even that I've been terribly busy...just distracted, I guess.
I left off with our night out with Coreena, which was primarily memorable for the discovery that we are oddly well-known and loved in Malta. I spent the next night in, feeling a bit under the weather, and the night after that we went to see the newest Batman movie. It was not without its flaws, but I really enjoyed it. It was the kind of movie that makes me want to make movies (I know, I know...I want to do far too many things, and my biggest fear is that sometime soon I'm going to have to admit that, as sure as I usually feel about myself, I'm actually completely lost).
Now that I think about it, there aren't a lot of exciting things to report from Malta. I drank cappuccinos, ate seafood/gelato/crepes/British food...all the things I always look forward to doing in Malta. The most exciting day was the last one, because I FINALLY TOOK MY FIRST DIP IN THE MEDITERRANEAN!! It took a lot of trips to Southern European countries, but I finally managed it. And it was glorious. I stayed in forever. It was dark when I finally forced myself to swim back to shore. It's a tragedy that it took me so long to do that.
Did you know it's been 3 years since Jon and I embarked on our first 4-month-long world tour? I can't believe it. The anniversary is this month. The last 3 years of my life have been so wonderful and unexpected and wonderfully unexpected and unexpectedly wonderful. I can't imagine it any other way and I wouldn't change a thing.
Anyway, back to Malta! We spent our last night saying goodbye to Coreena and Marko, drinking (well, except for teetotaling me, that is) on the house. This visit was all too short, but it was great to see Coreena again. She says that the next time we come she won't be working in bars anymore, so we'll be able to spend much more time together. She also said that Jon and I give her hope for relationships, which I thought was quite silly, but cute. I think her actual words were that she finds it "comforting" to be around us because "you two are still so sweet to each other" despite being broken up. Staying close came completely naturally to us, but I'm glad we could help restore someone's faith in relationships anyway!
The most exciting thing Coreena said, though, is that she wants to try to visit us in the States! That would be amazing. She's looked at tickets since then, and says they seem totally doable. It would be so much fun to show her around my home for a change!
The next day we packed up our things and headed on to an unplanned stop: Rome. Getting to pretty much anywhere from Malta right now proved to be hugely expensive, with the exception of Pisa and Rome, so we decided to fly to Italy first and then make plans for Russia from there. We chose Rome over Pisa because I had yet to see the motherland, and that seemed like a tragedy. We were only there for a few nights (in fact, I'm on the plane to Russia as we speak), but it was nice to get a taste of it.
Our first night was spent in something that can only be described as "a bunker." Jon had to duck to get through the doorway. The ceilings were also abnormally low, although no ducking was needed inside. There wasn't much space beyond the bed/desk, just a bit to walk through. And there were no windows. I don't imagine it comes as much of a surprise when I say that we only spent one night there.
The food in Italy did not disappoint. Delicious grilled veggies. A seafood-packed soup. An incredible pasta with seafood and bean soup (sounds weird, but it was awesome). Gelato. And I realized that I can say "thank you" in at least 10 languages! Awesome!
The one night we tried to go out...didn't turn out so well. I'm sad to report that we had our first real mishap while traveling. Rome has a reputation for being full of pickpockets, and it appears to be a reputation well-deserved. Jon had a necklace stolen, directly off his neck. He'd had it for ages (a gift from his mother, I believe, that was a replacement for one he was given - and lost - for his confirmation). Needless to say, that kinda put a damper on the whole Rome thing.
We managed to get a bit of sightseeing in on our last day, but we didn't have time for much. We paid a quick trip to the Colosseum, which is one of the more spectacularly old things we've seen on our travels. I'd say the excitement of seeing the pyramids was greater, but probably just because Egypt feels like so much more of an adventure than Italy. The line was far too long for us to be able to go inside, but it was still cool just to see it from the outside. After the Colosseum we trekked to Vatican City (which could up our country count, depending on what you consider a country! It's not part of the UN, but it does issue its own passports, so...*shrug*). I managed to visit both St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel without bursting into flames! Success!
Vatican City was quite impressive, but there's no surprise there. Everything was grand and ornate and full of gold. We started with the Vatican Museum, but couldn't linger since we were short on time. They've amassed quite an impressive collection of statuary. There was one hallway lined with shelves and shelves of heads! What intersted me most was the building itself. It was massive. All the floors had detailed inlay, and all the walls and ceilings were covered in paintings. It was incrediby intricate. The quads outside were quite beautiful, too. Reminded me a bit of Oxford (but on a much larger scale). The award for most surprising part of the museum went to the collection of Egyptian art and artifacts (Jon, upon seeing a mummy: "Woah, is that an actual dead guy?!"). I had no idea (and still have no idea why) the Vatican Museum has an Egyptian collection!
The last stop on the tour was the most famous: the Sistine Chapel. It was a pretty spectacular place to be. The paintings are overhwelming even though you're expecting to see them. You're technically not supposed to take pictures, but I think Jon managed to sneak a couple. The guards are far too busy shushing people (they take silence very seriously) to notice a camera or two. After the Sistine Chapel we went to St. Peter's Basilica, which was just insane. I think I've run out of words for "huge" and "ornate," but it was both of those things several times over. The size and the level of detail was mind-blowing. As nice as everything was, though, I had only one thing on my mind at that point: gelato.
I know you're sick of this complaint, but it was flipping hot. Italy wasn't much cooler than Malta, although there was less humidity. We were dressed in long pants and respectable shirts since there's a dress code in Vatican City, so we were quite sweaty and uncomfortable by the end of our visit. Thankfully gelato was not difficult to find. :)
And that's about all I have to report from Rome...we had one last huge meal (Seriously, do Italians eat like that all the time? It's insane.), and now we're on our way to our final destination: St. Petersburg.
I left off with our night out with Coreena, which was primarily memorable for the discovery that we are oddly well-known and loved in Malta. I spent the next night in, feeling a bit under the weather, and the night after that we went to see the newest Batman movie. It was not without its flaws, but I really enjoyed it. It was the kind of movie that makes me want to make movies (I know, I know...I want to do far too many things, and my biggest fear is that sometime soon I'm going to have to admit that, as sure as I usually feel about myself, I'm actually completely lost).
Now that I think about it, there aren't a lot of exciting things to report from Malta. I drank cappuccinos, ate seafood/gelato/crepes/British food...all the things I always look forward to doing in Malta. The most exciting day was the last one, because I FINALLY TOOK MY FIRST DIP IN THE MEDITERRANEAN!! It took a lot of trips to Southern European countries, but I finally managed it. And it was glorious. I stayed in forever. It was dark when I finally forced myself to swim back to shore. It's a tragedy that it took me so long to do that.
Did you know it's been 3 years since Jon and I embarked on our first 4-month-long world tour? I can't believe it. The anniversary is this month. The last 3 years of my life have been so wonderful and unexpected and wonderfully unexpected and unexpectedly wonderful. I can't imagine it any other way and I wouldn't change a thing.
Anyway, back to Malta! We spent our last night saying goodbye to Coreena and Marko, drinking (well, except for teetotaling me, that is) on the house. This visit was all too short, but it was great to see Coreena again. She says that the next time we come she won't be working in bars anymore, so we'll be able to spend much more time together. She also said that Jon and I give her hope for relationships, which I thought was quite silly, but cute. I think her actual words were that she finds it "comforting" to be around us because "you two are still so sweet to each other" despite being broken up. Staying close came completely naturally to us, but I'm glad we could help restore someone's faith in relationships anyway!
The most exciting thing Coreena said, though, is that she wants to try to visit us in the States! That would be amazing. She's looked at tickets since then, and says they seem totally doable. It would be so much fun to show her around my home for a change!
The next day we packed up our things and headed on to an unplanned stop: Rome. Getting to pretty much anywhere from Malta right now proved to be hugely expensive, with the exception of Pisa and Rome, so we decided to fly to Italy first and then make plans for Russia from there. We chose Rome over Pisa because I had yet to see the motherland, and that seemed like a tragedy. We were only there for a few nights (in fact, I'm on the plane to Russia as we speak), but it was nice to get a taste of it.
Our first night was spent in something that can only be described as "a bunker." Jon had to duck to get through the doorway. The ceilings were also abnormally low, although no ducking was needed inside. There wasn't much space beyond the bed/desk, just a bit to walk through. And there were no windows. I don't imagine it comes as much of a surprise when I say that we only spent one night there.
The food in Italy did not disappoint. Delicious grilled veggies. A seafood-packed soup. An incredible pasta with seafood and bean soup (sounds weird, but it was awesome). Gelato. And I realized that I can say "thank you" in at least 10 languages! Awesome!
The one night we tried to go out...didn't turn out so well. I'm sad to report that we had our first real mishap while traveling. Rome has a reputation for being full of pickpockets, and it appears to be a reputation well-deserved. Jon had a necklace stolen, directly off his neck. He'd had it for ages (a gift from his mother, I believe, that was a replacement for one he was given - and lost - for his confirmation). Needless to say, that kinda put a damper on the whole Rome thing.
We managed to get a bit of sightseeing in on our last day, but we didn't have time for much. We paid a quick trip to the Colosseum, which is one of the more spectacularly old things we've seen on our travels. I'd say the excitement of seeing the pyramids was greater, but probably just because Egypt feels like so much more of an adventure than Italy. The line was far too long for us to be able to go inside, but it was still cool just to see it from the outside. After the Colosseum we trekked to Vatican City (which could up our country count, depending on what you consider a country! It's not part of the UN, but it does issue its own passports, so...*shrug*). I managed to visit both St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel without bursting into flames! Success!
Vatican City was quite impressive, but there's no surprise there. Everything was grand and ornate and full of gold. We started with the Vatican Museum, but couldn't linger since we were short on time. They've amassed quite an impressive collection of statuary. There was one hallway lined with shelves and shelves of heads! What intersted me most was the building itself. It was massive. All the floors had detailed inlay, and all the walls and ceilings were covered in paintings. It was incrediby intricate. The quads outside were quite beautiful, too. Reminded me a bit of Oxford (but on a much larger scale). The award for most surprising part of the museum went to the collection of Egyptian art and artifacts (Jon, upon seeing a mummy: "Woah, is that an actual dead guy?!"). I had no idea (and still have no idea why) the Vatican Museum has an Egyptian collection!
The last stop on the tour was the most famous: the Sistine Chapel. It was a pretty spectacular place to be. The paintings are overhwelming even though you're expecting to see them. You're technically not supposed to take pictures, but I think Jon managed to sneak a couple. The guards are far too busy shushing people (they take silence very seriously) to notice a camera or two. After the Sistine Chapel we went to St. Peter's Basilica, which was just insane. I think I've run out of words for "huge" and "ornate," but it was both of those things several times over. The size and the level of detail was mind-blowing. As nice as everything was, though, I had only one thing on my mind at that point: gelato.
I know you're sick of this complaint, but it was flipping hot. Italy wasn't much cooler than Malta, although there was less humidity. We were dressed in long pants and respectable shirts since there's a dress code in Vatican City, so we were quite sweaty and uncomfortable by the end of our visit. Thankfully gelato was not difficult to find. :)
And that's about all I have to report from Rome...we had one last huge meal (Seriously, do Italians eat like that all the time? It's insane.), and now we're on our way to our final destination: St. Petersburg.
Friday, August 10, 2012
Rome: 8.10.12
This is all I can think about while in Rome:
What's that? I'm in Rome?
Yep. It wasn't in the plans, but here I am.
Story as soon as I have a chance to write it!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Malta: 8.8.12
Today is a glorious day, for it is the day the Romano returns to the homeland. So nice to finally make your acquaintance, Rome.
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