Heading briefly north...ish

Monday morning we woke up with 6:30 yoga and followed by yoga.  I had shirodara, which is a treatment where they drip medicated oil on your 3rd eye for thirty minutes.  It was mostly just relaxing, but the amount of oil in my hair after was crazy. I went through two hotel bottles of shampoo, repeatedly washing my hair to get it out.  

In the afternoon, we it was our shopping day.  We all wanted to get some clothes, and Betty said she knew a place.  I think we all found something here!  I got a couple of shirts, which I love, and the others all got tops or scarves.  Betty even had several pieces made for her, and they took her measurements on the spot.  We were especially impressed when they showed up at IVAC only a couple hours later with the first piece done, to make sure they had fit it correctly before starting the others.  

After hitting this store, we went on a quest for pants, to go under our new tunics.  Suneil recommended the exhibition, which was like a large fair with stalls of goods, including clothes.  I only found one pair of pants, which turned out to be to tight (but for $2 it was worth a try), but it was fun to walk around in.  Valla even came out with us and was very helpful.  He would take anything we were looking at, give it a once over, and tell us if it was worth trying or not.  He knew all the little things to look for, from waist bands, to fabric quality.  He has really been a pleasure to have on this trip.  I seem to always end up with amazing drivers, the few times I end up on such a trip.  I am definitely liking this trend.  

Our last day at IVAC, started as per normal.  Yoga, breakfast, treatment.  This time I had PPS, which is a full body massage followed by having herb poultices pounded across your body.  Quite enjoyable, except that between the delicious smell of the herbs heating up, the liberal amount of oil they used, and the heat, I felt a little like I was being for the oven.  Definitely an odd sensation, and probably overall not one a would go running back to duplicate.  

After treatment, we all went to the Palace again for lunch.  I had Tom Ka Kai, and it wasn't nearly as good as what I've had back home.  I'm really looking forward to going to Thai Smile down in the desert now.  It tasted mostly like chicken broth, and I've decided I'm not to found of how the chicken tastes here. So I'm pretty much back to vegetarianism again, after my one meal back out.  We had several other dishes across the table to share too.  I'm liking the food more now that we are out of IVAC.  While their food was well prepared, most of the strictly Ayurvedic food just wasn't my favorite.  

While most of us were eating, Leslie was shopping in the pashmina stall next door.  She would come out draped in scarves and pashminas to get our opinions repeatedly, sometimes bringing ones for us, others for her.  There was one true pashmina, from the chin hairs of the goat.  It was amazing!  I wish I could have afforded it.  We all fawned over it a bit before we had to leave.  

After this we went to find an ATM for Connie.  Unfortunately, the one we found was closed.  The next thing we knew though, she was jumping on the back of a "two wheeler" and taking off.    Apparently the driver knew one just a block over and took her there and back.  She even sat side saddle.  Very impressive.  We then asked the motorcyclist if he knew somewhere good to get a certain type of shirt.  Instead of telling us, he hopped back on his bike and told us to follow him.  So off we go again, to a great store.  I got another great shirt and a comfortable pair of pants.  Then they served us some Masala Chai.  Incredible!  I quickly bought a box of this too, and am now wishing I had bought more.  

By this point we were all shopped out and headed back to IVAC for dinner, and to wait for Dr. Jay to return.  He got in around 5:30, with his family in tow.  We all decided to go up to the temple together, though we had to drive because it was too late in the day.  It was nice to have them to show and explain stuff to us up there.  We arrived a little early for the rush line, so we looked around the market a little, and started our quest to find an Indian rubber duck for Connie.  No luck so far!

Shortly later we got into the temple, though we couldn't see much due to the crowds.  People passed around bananas and a sweet ball though, that were given to the goddess, and then back to the people.  It was interesting to be there when so many others were though, and watch them go through their rituals.  We were unsure what to do sometimes, so we just watched and followed.  Eventually we were through and headed back down the hill, so Dr. Jay could say good bye to his family and call it a night.  

The next morning we got up early to make the climb back up the mountain.  Over 1100 steps, I called it China training.  There were monkeys all over the place, and at the bottom was a group of puppies.  One of them had been given a bindi, and it was adorable.  The sun was also just rising as we left and it was a beautiful sunrise.   The whole climb up Dr. Jay also showed us different herbs and their properties.  I couldn't tell you any of their names now, but I think I can recognize one or two.  

At the top we slipped into the temple again.  It was like a completely different place.  Near empty, we could now see everything clearly.  We even received two bindis, one red, and one yellow.  Then as we sat in the outer area of the temple, we were paying our respects and watching the monkeys that live in the "feet" of the temple (the temple is constructed like a person lying down.  The tower part is the feet, and the shrine inside is where your 3rd eye would be), when a monkey fight broke out.  Talk about a quick way to not see them as cute anymore! Dr. Jay said a rival monkey had tried to encroach on their territory and they chased him out screaming with fury.  Definitely startled us.  

Valla drove up the hillside to pick us up so we wouldn't have to climb down too.   He got us back just in time to grab some breakfast and pack our stuff.  As we finished packing, we were told the president of the complex, Dr. Krishna, was inviting us over to his house for tea or coffee.  Dr. Krishna is an anesthesiologist from the LA area, and despite having constructed IVAC, has no formal Ayurvedic training.  But that's not to say he isn't knowledgable.  He has published books on how to arrange things for energy flow, and studies quite a lot on the pulse in Ayurveda.   Not only did he take us on a tour of his beautiful home, but we got to play with his puppies.  He crossed a german shepherd, with a local breed of dog.  I guess this was a cross he has been wanting for quite some time, and we all had fun playing with them.  It was nice to see some dogs that it was safe to pet.  

Eventually we had to call it a day though and head north.  We had a 4 1/2 hours drive ahead of us.  I loved every minute of it though.  My camera was sticking out the window the entire time.  I could take pictures here forever!  It is such an interesting place, between the way people live to the colors.  

Once we made it to Hassan, we settled into our hotel.  Then Dr. Jay decided to go for a walk and invited us along.  This was a whole experience too.  He took us to the market they used to shop at when he was a kid and showed us what everything was as we took pictures of it all.  There was one stall that had bindi powder in so many brilliant colors.  My camera couldn't even catch the true hue of the purple and the pink they were so vibrant.  Then we had so coconut water and watched a cow walk through, snagging bites from peoples stalls wherever she wanted.   We also saw huge fruit bats all hung in a couple trees start swarming the skies as the sun set.  I couldn't believe how many there were, and how big!

When we got back, we saw how much dust coated Dr. Jay's glasses.  It was pretty gross.  Especially when you think that is from the air we were breathing.  I could of us decided to grab some dinner quickly and we had a delicious lemon soup and lemon rice.  We also tried a mint cucumber carrot salad.  Odd yet refreshing and tasty.  We hadn't really noticed how much we'd done that day, but we were pretty tired at this point, and I think we all fell asleep pretty fast.  

This morning we all got to sleep in a little.  Most of our group was going to the SDM College of Ayurveda and Hospital here.  We had a quick bite, with some of the most delicious pineapple, and grabbed some salad and rice to go for lunch, then we were off.  We met most of the heads and presidents of the different areas and were formally greeted with roses.  Then we spent the next 7 hours getting alternating tours of the grounds, and given instructional lessons in different fields, one on panchakarma, another on pharmaceuticals, and a third on herbs.  

At one point they took us into their museum, which is full of organs, fetuses, and random body parts all preserved in jars. There was also a class going on in the room that was starting a cadaver.  Leslie, didn't like this room at all, but the rest of us were fascinated.  Connie and I had been hoping to watch part of the cadaver work.  But they took us on to another room for toxicology and forensics where they had diagrams of different wounds and poisonous snakes, lizards, and plants on display.  Leslie was a little surprised how interested I was, and a little surprised when I told her I had originally been planning to study forensics.  

This wrapped up our time at the college though, and we were all ready to go relax at the hotel for a little while.  At one point in our tours, we had met a group from Canada and England who were doing a 5 week study program there.  They were really nice and asked what our dinner plans were, and if they could come join us.  Unfortunately they didn't make it to the hotel, but it was still really fun to talk to them at the college.  We had a great dinner anyway, with soup, sandwich, naan, and a fancy drink.  All this came to less than $6.  It was a lot of food.  And the drink was half of the cost.  And since the food is more flavorful now, I am a happy camper.  

Into India

Flying to this part of the world takes time.  There is just no getting around the travel time.  But Singapore Airlines made it fairly comfortable, so ultimately, it wasn't that bad of a flight, all things considered.  Really, we're just lucky we can travel here as quickly as we can now, when only a hundred years ago it would have been a much more complicated journey.  Instead I sat and watched movies, they brought me socks and a toothbrush, and that was that.  Even security was a breeze in Singapore, and I have some new passport stamps to show for it!  

My flight landed around 3:30am, so I waited at the airport for Auntie Leslie there.  Everything there is clean.  In the bathrooms there is a touch screen board to rate the cleanliness of the bathroom.  They clean this board twice an hour for sanitation.   Once Leslie arrived though, we realized we were in different terminals.  My internet cut out right after we figured this out, so I headed to where she was.  When I got there, I connected to the internet there, only to find out she was not where I had been.  Whoops!  This time I just waited while they came to me.

As soon as you walk out the door in Singapore, you can tell this is a different part of the world.  The heavy, humid heat hits you immediately.  I have never been in a climate like that before.  Quite exhilarating to have that instant confirmation of newness.  It was still dark as we went to our hotel, so we didn't get to see too much at this point in time, but you could see our hotel from a distance off.  Three large towers, topped with what looks like a giant ship stretching across them makes the Marina Bay Sands.  I hadn't realized this is where we would be staying!

Our hotel room was halfway up and looked out on the harbor and one of the botanical gardens.  An incredible view.  Oddly, neither of us felt particularly tired, so we decided to dive right into the day.  First thing was the botanical garden just below us.  While quite nice, it wasn't anything spectacular, particularly for the price.  A little disappointed, food was decided to be next on the list.

 We took the MRT to get to Newton Circus, which is where there are many stalls of food.  As we walked into the area, we were surprised to see that most of them were closed. So we asked an stall worker, and he said it was too early to be open.  Confused at this, since we thought it was a little into the afternoon, we looked at the time and realized it wasn't even 10am.  This was when we realized out bodies were indeed more off then we had thought.

We found a couple of stands that were open though and got something to eat.  Haonese  Chicken Rice, Rice with vegetables and curry, and a local beer.  All delicious!  Somewhat sated, it was fun to look at all the different types of food they had there.  Chili Crabs, Fried Stingray, Fish Balls.  I definitely wasn't familiar with most things on the menus, but it was also a mixture of Malayan, Chinese, Indian, and several other regional foods.  Singapore is such a mixing pot of cultures that it was an interesting blend in the food too.  

Once we were done eating, we headed for Orchard Street, their main shopping avenue.   It was so hot in this area.  I couldn't believe how people were wandering around in full, black business suits or sweaters.  It was oppressive to me in my linen pants.  By this point  we were also feeling the day catch up with us, so we turned our feet towards our hotel.  

On the way, we saw all kinds of amazing buildings and people.  Especially when we got down by the river walk.  When we walked by an alleyway, it was fun to see the sheer number of air conditioning units hanging off the side of the building.  There were a large number of restaurants here too, and I couldn't believe the size of the lobsters and crabs they had in tanks here.  Some were the size of my torso.  We wandered amongst this area until we came to the harbor, right next to the merlion.  Of course I couldn't help wanted to take some pictures, and it felt good with the spray from the fountain hitting us.  

Eventually though, we made it all the way back to the hotel.  Here we made the mistake of sitting on our beds, and ended up with a short nap.  Really, we were lucky it stayed so short considering how tired we were at this point.  We decided to go up to the roof after this.  The large ship on top is actually where their famous infinity pool is.  Quite beautiful.  It was fun to go swimming here while looking at the water seem to drop off the edge to nothing.  There was also a hot tub right at the edge that was nice to soak in.   After all this though, we were about done for the night.  We grabbed a quick bite in the hotel and called it a night.  

The next day we got a much later start.  It felt like the opposite of the day before.  We thought it was still 9, but was actually noon.  Partially because we had coffee with Leslie's friend, and partially because our bodies were all out of sorts. Eventually we got ourselves moving though, and decided to head to the botanical garden on the other side of the city.  This is the one with the famous orchid garden.  On a whole, this was what we had been expecting the day before.  Beautiful, and much more interesting sets of plants.  We looked for Elton John's orchid, which was just named for him, but it wasn't out in the area at the moment.  

After the orchid garden, we headed back to the hotel.  Stopping at a 7/11 for some water, where I found some pocky.  Leslie had never had pocky before, so we got some to nibble on.  As we stood, waiting for the MRT, a young gal came up to inform us, there is no eating or drinking here.  Then she watched us until we put it away.  She did not work there, but was merely sitting nearby with her parents.  Needless to say, this is definitely not a culture of rule breakers.  

After we got back to the hotel, we went down to look for some food in the shopping center/casino that is associated with the hotel.  Looking at all the different places was a lot of fun, and we decided on a noodle restaurant where they were making the dumplings right in the front window.  This turned out to be an excellent decision.  The wonton soup was delicious, not to mention the pork and vegetable dumpling.   Best of all though was my tea.  Just a simple lemon and earl grey, it was perfectly sweetened.  And it had one GIANT round ice cube that was made of the tea itself.  What a great idea!  It was like having an earl grey popsicle after I was done.  

Feeling full and happy, we angled upstairs to the lotus like building outside.   We had a couple of tickets to the art exhibits here, which included a photography set, historical fujian artifacts, and a lego exhibit.  The lego one was the best by far, though this could have been because it was interactive.   Not feeling hungry yet, we called it a night knowing we would be getting up early the next morning. 

Our flight for India left a little after 7, so we were up and going by 4am.  An easy drive at this time of day, there was enough time for us to grab a bite to eat and some coffee before heading to our gate.  Once there though, we found Dr. Jay and the rest of the group.  Auntie Leslie knows two of them from classes and working at the clinic, Linda and Connie, but Betty was unfamiliar, as she is a patient of Dr. Jay.  We all got settled on the plane and off we went to India.  

It is very nice to have Dr. Jay here with us.  From Bangelore, he has been helpful in everything from food, to information, to what brands of water to drink.  He quickly got us through customs at the airport, and before we knew it we were in the van and heading for Mysore, where we are staying at the Ayurveda Clinic.  On the way we stopped for food twice, and saw the beginning of the world that is India.  Talk about a complete opposite from Singapore!  Leslie and I have gone from absolutely clean, don't break any rules, comfort to dirty, smelly streets, covered in animals, with people peeing off the side of the road.   It truly is overwhelming, just as I had heard.  Though I have to admit I find it rather fascinating.  

Eventually we made it to IVAC and got settled in.  We were greeted with a welcoming ceremony and all received bindi.   Dr. Jay is leaving until Tuesday for some presentations in Bangelore.  He got our schedules all set up before he left though, and we all started the evening with a tour and then a treatment.  It was a full body massage, complete with a sanskrit prayer and medicinal oils.  Quite the experience.  After this we just had some dinner and called it a night.  Most the group was pretty jet-lagged and it seemed good to turn in early.  

We all began the next morning early with 6:30 yoga.  Auntie Leslie and I had both woke up around 4 am, so this wasn't such a big deal to us.  Many of the towns people come to the clinic for this session too, so it was fun to see the range of people.  

After an hour of yoga, I was called to my next treatment.  This one seemed particularly different.  They take a dough and build a "dam" around your eyes.  Then they pour in ghee, a type of warm butter, and have you open your eyes.  It didn't feel like anything, but after the procedure my eyes felt a little blurry.  They said this was normal though, and not long later it went away.   I have noticed that my eyes don't feel dry at all anymore, even later in the evening when I get tired.  That is quite nice.  

As the afternoon came, I had my consultation with the doctor. She said I was a pitta-vata, which no one else seems to see me as, including Dr. Jay.  Nor do it's characteristics really seem to match me.  We think she may be wrong, but she does look exhausted every time we see her too.  Still, she gave me something for the rash I had developed and was itching.  I think I may be allergic to something, probably a food.  

Later on, we went on our first outing.  Suneil has become our "keeper" as Auntie Leslie has dubbed him, and he is hilarious.  He took us first to the king's palace.  Once we got there though, we realized none of us had yet had opportunities to change our money to rupees.  Luckily, Betty had some, so we could go inside.  

Unfortunately, at this point we realized not only do they not allow you to take pictures, they won't even allow you to bring in cameras.  I was the only one with one.  There was a place you could leave it for a dollar and pick it back up on the way out, but I wasn't comfortable with that.  Suneil said to hide it, and we would see what happened.  Well, they put all bags through a detector and it was found.  Seconds later Suneil says something to the guard hands him a bill, and ushers us in.  We are truly in India now!  Bribing illegal items into temples.  I didn't take any pictures despite this though, mostly because there were guards in every room and I didn't want to bribe them too.  

Still, the palace was beautiful.  Huge windows in the ceiling with peacock images, columns in pale blue and gold with pink and yellow floral designs on the ceilings.  We even saw some people riding a camel.  A couple of us got our faster too, since Betty couldn't walk very fast, and Leslie stayed with her.  A tour guide let them join his group instead.  So once the other three of us reached the end, we sat and waited.  Now this was another experience.  People were coming up and asking to take their pictures with us, shaking our hands, asking what country we were from.  Parents would force their kids to set with us and pose for pictures.  And everyone who walked by just stared at us.  Needless to say, there will be no blending in here.  We stick out like sore thumbs.  

Eventually we got away from the groups of people though, and made our way back to Valla and his van.  They found us a place to change our money, and then a grocery store where we could get some different oils and soaps.  We were supposed to go back to the palace after this, to see it lit up, but it was an hour wait.  So instead, we decided to go back and have dinner.

The next morning, there was no yoga, as many of the instructors climbed a nearby hill to go to temple instead.  We will be doing this on Tuesday.  Instead, we slept in a little, before I went and had Kati Basti.  This treatment builds a dam on your lower back and then uses hot oil and massage.  We then had a couple hours free in the afternoon, and decided to go to the Queen's Palace, which we can see from the center.  It has been turned into a hotel, so we went for lunch and tea.  

It was so wonderful to eat another type of food!  While the food here isn't bad, it is very bland.  Even the stuff that is hot doesn't seem to have any flavor.  I am missing foods from  back home, and would kill for penne arrabiata, pizza,  steak, or tomato cucumber salad.  It was a good meal though.   Two of us had sandwiches, we all had several cups of tea, and then we had cookies.  For four of us this came to 900 rupees, or $18.  Not bad for a four person meal!  The prices are definitely my favorite part of being here.  

We went back to IVAC to grab Betty, but she wasn't feeling well and sent us on without her.  This time Suneil took us to Srirangapatna.  This was an old fortress set up, where they fought against the English.   We saw the old palace there, as well as where the found the bodies of the important people who had fought.  After this , we went to the local temple.  It was amazing!  We got to see all the different statues of different reincarnations, received bindi and herbs.  They gave us holy water to drink, but I just pretended too.  I'm not sure I want to know the quality of the water and pay the price for that one later.  Leslie learned the hard part of telling the sales people maybe here too.  When we came back out, they swarmed her and would not go away.  Still, it was an experience!

After all this, it was hard to go back to eat dinner at the clinic again.  They had a different dosa this time which was good, with a mild curry.  So at least I enjoyed part of it.  We chatted in there until the dining room was closed, looking at pictures of Suneil's wife and daughter.  Not a bad way to end another day.  

Playing Catch Up

So I'm a little behind on my posts, but that's mostly because I have been having such an amazing time.  After leaving Palermo, we took a coastal train to Milazzo.  This is one of the main port cities in northern Sicily, and the gateway to the Aeolian Islands.  After we bought our ferry tickets, we had some time to kill, so we decided to get a big lunch, since we probably wouldn't have another chance to eat that day.  I had the most delicious prosciutto e melone, and penne all'arribiatta.  It was like fire pasta the Italian way, and those of you in Spokane know how much I love my fire pasta.  Fantastic!  We didn't have a lot of time left after this, so after grabbing some more hand sanitizer for Jen, we went to catch our ferry.  

It was a little over an hour to the islands.  Sicily is no longer visible by the time you get there.  As we were getting close though, and oohing and aahing over what was definitely our island of a smoking volcano, and older man on the boat must have heard us talking.  He came over and asked us if this was our first time here.  Pippo, told us quite a bit about the island.  He had been born there, but went to school in London, which is why his English was fairly good, and had spent most of his life guiding tours up Stromboli.  Which meant he was packed full of information. He offered to walk us to our hotel, as he lived near by, and then to take us up the mountain that evening himself.  

Now, Jen and I had tried to book a tour, but they were full, which meant we could only go to the 400 meter mark by the sciara del fuoco.   So the idea of having a personal tour guide was amazing and we happily accepted his offer.  Once we got off the ferry though, there was a car (or what they call a car.  No cars actually exist on the island, just make-shift imitations and golf carts) waiting to take us to the hotel so Pippo said he would meet us later.  As we drove away, we saw him get on a bike, and realized he had been going to walk us to the hotel, and then come back and get his bike after. 

Our hotel was amazing.  Right on the beach with a view of Strombolichi, a small rocky outcrop in the water that is all that remains of the original volcanic cone.   From the beach we had a perfect view over the hotel of the looming active cone.  We bounced around the area a little before realizing the sun was setting and we needed to buy flashlights before we even started up.  After discussing, we decided we didn't know when Pippo had been planning on coming, and that we needed to get moving.  So we went to the tabachi to buy flashlights, where our saleslady was from Melbourne, having married a local and moved to the island years before.  

All squared away now, we started for the path.  It started off fairly normal, switch backing its way up the lower mountain.  Then, while I was a little bit ahead, I saw it.  I just happened to glance to my left, and saw a fountain of fiery red spraying.  Quickly, I went running back to Jen, and was probably not able to be understood in my excitement.  We stopped where I had seen it before and waited until it went off again.  After this I was fairly running up the hillside. After a bit, we came to a sign, telling us we were at 100m.  There was a little restaurant here with a perfect view of the active cone that was packed with people.  We just continued on past.  

By this point it was really dark out, and we were now wandering through what seemed like a wheat field.  Many of the shafts were bent across our path from the rain storms the couple days earlier and Jen made a few Children of the Korn comments.  It was a crazy path, and we weren't even sure if we were on the right one!  After a little bit though, we passed some people heading down, so I felt better that we were at least going somewhere with a view.  

Jen had fallen a little behind me (or I may have been racing ahead...) so I stopped to wait for her.  When I heard someone walking up, I had no reason to suspect it wasn't her.  But surprise! It was Pippo!  He wanted to make sure we had found the trail all right, and it was such a clear night decided he wanted to climb up too.  And thank god he was there.  Shortly after he met us was the 300m point, where the trail takes a turn for the worse.  At this point, you are just climbing up the side of the volcano, with no path laid down on top of the rocky loose soil.  Pippo showed us the best way to maneuver our way up, and helped Jen get all the way up.  

Then we hit the 400m mark.  We quickly placed our cameras on the railing and waited.  Boom! Now we were close enough to hear it go off! Fountains of red hot rock sprayed our in plumes.  And since we were right beside the Sciara del Fuoco, we were able to see and hear them rumble down the mountainside next to us, then pop and sizzle as they hit the cold sea.  Incredible!  And it just kept erupting every couple minutes.  Pippo would get really excited and make crazy sound effects demonstrating it every time.  He obviously loved this place.  I couldn't believe how good a show we were getting!

Finally, after quite a while, we decided to head back down.  There was a local island wine I wished to try, and Pippo had been telling us that the restaurant with the view carried some.  So we hustled down, as much as you can hustle on that terrain which is not at all, to get there before it closed.  Pippo helped us the whole way, showing us where was better to place our feet and making sure we didn't get hurt.  We made it just in time, and ordered three glasses of passito. It was a sweet golden wine, and quite delicious!  Of course we bought Pippo's, as that was the least we could do for him after his guiding.  Jen got his address so she could send him a photo.

When we got back, we happily enjoyed hot showers and a quiet room, and settled down for bed.  I have begun waking up early again though, and got up to see what the morning was like.  Our hotel did a little breakfast, and had outside decks facing the water, so I ate mine while watching the island wake up.  It was fantastic!  The one night was definitely not enough time here, particularly when we came in so late and left so early.  I cannot wait to go there again, and this time climb all the way to the top.  

Once we checked out, Jen and I grabbed our packs, and wandered through the town back to the ferry.  It was a great little place, and we enjoyed just sitting on the dock in the sun.  The ferry back was much longer, but it also stopped at all the other islands on the way, so we got to briefly see the whole set of islands.  There was also a whole group from England on this ferry with us, and we had fun chatting with them.  They had made it all the way up with the guided tour, and showed me their pictures and videos.  I have no words for them, they put mine (which I thought were amazingly close) to absolute shame.  It just solidified for me that I will most definitely be climbing to the top next time.  So who wants to go with me!?

Once we got back into Milazzo harbor, we wandered down the waterfront for a while.  There was a group of men fishing with these hugs poles, to reach past the break water, and catching tiny little fish, though rapidly.  Jen and I just people watched most of the day, before getting some more food at our fantastic restaurant again.  Then, we unfortunately missed the last bus to the train station, since we couldn't figure out where to catch it or to buy tickets until it was too late, so we had to walk.  Since it was getting dark, we decided to leave early to get as far as we could in the day light that remained.  

It wasn't too bad a walk, only an hour.  Though I was amused that every time I stopped to make sure we were going the right direction, they all said it was really far away.  Actually Jen and I both enjoyed it, and it turned out, what we thought was going to be a worrying part of town was actually quite nice.  The only issue we had was how over grown the sidewalk was, causing us to walk  in the road more than we would have liked.  

Still, we made it without incident, before jumping on our night train.  This one was even more interesting than the last.  We had one girl in our room, who we thought was wed to the guy in the next room because of how they interacted, only to see her jump into someone else's arms when she got off the train, and our conductor was kinda smarmy.  I faked sleep long before I was because he kept coming in to talk at my bunk so that he was right at chest level, and was just not stopping.  It was rather awkward.  He also kept trying to get me to kiss him in the morning, though Jen managed to scare him off for me by saying good morning in German. Now that was amusing!  Then he saw her camera and kept trying to kiss my cheek until she got a photo.  Blick.  Let's just say I used way more hand sanitizer on my face than is probably healthy after that.  We were pleased to get into Rome and off that train. Though I don't think anyone else in our car slept at all, since every time I woke up they were all talking and hanging out in the hall.  

We easily found a train to Firenze, and continued heading north.  The hostel I like only had one day open, and I really wanted to hit the leather market.  So out we went right away, and I immediately found my new leather jacket.  Jen then found a bag to replace her broken one, and we both left happily.  Then we wandered around a little, and I showed her most of the big places in the city center.  Jen told me, that Firenze, was what she had expected most of Italy to be like.  We had some food and went to Perche no! for some gelato, and just enjoyed ourselves.  

The next day was our trip to Pisa.  We spent the morning in Firenze just wandering around.  We also went into the market and got tons of delicious dried fruit, some cheese, and some focaccia.  Great train food!  Eventually though, it was time to head out.  Our hostel was actually quite nice, right on the main shopping street, with old blown glass windows.  After dropping off our stuff, I took Jen to the tower, and told her, that's it.  That's Pisa.  It was a pretty low key evening, though I had a fantastic caprese salad at dinner, that they made look like the Italian flag.   I even got to Skype with the bagel shop and chat with my favorite group of Thursday gentlemen.  I think they thought it was just my picture on the computer at first, because when I responded to something they said, they all looked startled and said, "She's live!"  Made for a fun evening. 

The day after that we did a day trip to Lucca.  It was raining the whole time, but still lovely.  Jen and I climbed up onto the wall and started walking around the whole old town.  Trees were starting to change, and it was nice to experience a little fall finally.  After walking for awhile we decided to go to a cafe and sit for a little.  And we found the greatest little place!  The coffee was wonderful, and that's saying nothing about the pastries.  So nice too, if anyone goes there, I'll give you the name and location of the place, because it is worth going to.  

After this, we continued through the center.  We went to all different stores; makeup, book, clothing, tabachi, just shopping around.  As it sprinkle on and off we would just pull out our umbrellas and go.  There was a time limit due to trains however; so we faced the end of our time here, though we took a meandering path back.  

Along the way we met a lady from DC, who was mildly freaking out about needing to find an English speaker.  She happened upon us and we told her the way to the train station.  She said, "This place is nothing like Florence!" to which I could only think, 'uh no kidding...'  She also mentioned how she wanted to find somewhere for coffee so we mentioned the great place we had found, at which point she quickly changed her story, to "no, I just need to get out of here and back to Florence!"  Jen offered to let her come with us to the train station, since we were heading the same direction.  Then she got suspicious, like we were trying to pull something.  So we just went another way.  We later ran into her again, still trying to find her way, though much closer.  This time we were able to actually point to the path.  Seriously though, if you are that uncomfortable and suspicious of everyone, you probably shouldn't be traveling alone.  You have to talk to people at some point!

While we had split away from her though, Jen and I stumbled upon a bunch of tents.  She figured out what they were first.  Lucca was having a comicon!  If only we had more time there, we could have tried to get in.  Then we realized part of the tents were for the marathon convention.  How crazy to go to a small town in Italy to be there for two different conventions at once.  One more reason for Jeanne to go to Italy though! (Sorry Brandon...)

Once we got back to Pisa, the storm just got bigger, so Jen and I grabbed a quick bite, then holed up to watch the thunderstorm from our window.  It was an amazing show, and we had a lot of fun analyzing umbrellas.  They could be purchased for color, pattern, functionality, indifference, gifts.  So many different things.  It was a great time killer.  

The next morning we were heading to Cinque Terre.   Only a couple of trains were free for our Eurail pass, so we got up early to catch the 7 am one.  This time my hostel was in Manarola, the second town.  Our hostel was quite nice, but it was the perfect amount of rainy grayness to be taking pictures there, so off we went again!  Manarola was first, then off to Corniglia, my personal favorite.  We went up the stairs (395) then down the other side to my favorite little cove to take pictures.  Then back up again to wander. At times it was raining so hard we were darting into archways and doorways, because even our umbrellas couldn't keep us dry.  Then back down the stairs again.  

Our last stop for the day was Vernazza.  We were hungry, but everywhere was closed for siesta, so we window shopped the restaurants.  Manarola was cheaper, so we were about to head back that direction when we saw the huge waves breaking over the break water into the harbor.  So of course, the cameras get whipped out.  There were a group of kids playing chicken with the waves, getting as close to the edge as they dared, then running away before they could get wet.  Jen and I and numerous other adults had a lot of fun watching them and taking pictures until a local worker came over.  He made a general shooing gesture, seemed to be looking for the words, then just started yelling, "Go away!" at everyone.  I can understand why, it was a rather dangerous game to be playing with the waves so large they could sweep a kid away, but it was still humorous to watch everyone's reactions.  The entertainment over, we left in search of food.  

Back in Manarola, we stopped at a restaurant we had seen full of people earlier.  An excellent choice it seemed!  I got a local pasta, testaroli, with pasta.  The pasta was excellent and unusual. Flat squares that were slightly spongey, they baked them first so one side was browned.  I found them very enjoyable!  Then as our meal finished up, another downpour started, so it was decided we should stay for dessert.  We both got the white chocolate tiramisu and it was fantastic.  Served with fresh fruit, cocoa powder, vanilla sauce, and an alcoholic whipped cream.  Every bite was delicious, and we couldn't regret the splurge.  Of course the storm wasn't over when we finished, so we still had to run up the hill to the hostel.  As we reached the top, we realized what an incredible sunset we were getting, and after getting inside, we promptly turned back around to go take more pictures.  Worthwhile, but definitely had us ready to go curl up in bad and get warm.  We had both bought books in Pisa and settled in for the evening.  

The next morning, we had breakfast at the hostel.  Coffee and croissants.  I chose apple, Jen chocolate.  Loved them both.  Jen then wanted to go to mass, and I thought it might be fun to go to an Italian service.  As soon as I stepped outside though, I realized I might have to change clothes.  While nicer (though still dreary) it had become bitter cold in the night.  So I went and layered up before church.  The ceremony was small, there were only about 25 of us there, and we followed along as best we could.   We liked the alleluia and amen parts, because we could say them.   I got annoyed with a tour group who was in right up until the service began.  One lady kept obnoxiously shushing anyone who said anything at all, no matter how softly, but then kept going everywhere and taking pictures with an incredibly loud and obnoxious shutter noise, including right up to the alter.  Then she didn't even stay for the service.  Nice, huh?

After mass, we headed for Riomaggiore.  We stopped first in the harbor here first, and watched massive waves come in, then up to the little grocery to get the stuffed cherry peppers that I like, and some buffala mozzarella. Then we started up into the town.  Jen's umbrella died, so we found her a new one, and then the wind really got going.  It was just to bitter cold to have fun exploring, so we went and holed up and the hostel.  This was the time I probably should have been blogging, but I was just not feeling up to typing that day.  Instead I finished my book, did some picture puzzles, and watched the Muppet Movie with Jen.  I also ate my whole ball of mozzarella.  And no one can act like that would surprise them.  It was definitely a cold and lazy day for us.  

We got up early the next day, hoping for some sun to see Monteresso al mare.  And sunshine it was (though still rather cold)!  So we had breakfast and then went to pack our bags so they could go into luggage storage while we explored.  Then we realized we only had two minutes to catch the last train that would give us time to do anything.  Needless to say, we ran, but didn't get there in time.  So we walked along Manarola's coastal cliff instead, to see it in a different light.  We actually got rather warm sitting in the sun for a bit.  But the time came for us to head back to Florence, so it was off to the hostel to grab our packs.  

The trip back was uneventful, and our hostel turned out to be a fairly nice B&B.  We went to the leather school, and I found my ideal bag.  Big enough to be a weekender, but with more of a purse look to it.  Unfortunately it is 450€, and I am just not spending that much money on a single bag.  At least I know what I am looking for now though, as I wander amongst the leather markets.  Jen and I also stopped for dinner at this great little pizza place.  The food was amazing, and whenever someone orders a bottle of wine they have you initial the cork and then they put it up in big hoops on the wall so all the initials show.  What a fun thing that was! 

When we got back to the room, I was skyping with my mom.  Jen and I have been planning to hit Venice for Halloween, but haven't taken the time to look at its status lately.  My mom informed me it is underwater, so I searched online, and the worst day is set to be Wednesday at this point.  Still, we are going anyway, since this may be Jen's only chance to see it if it's sinking this much faster than they expected.  We are planning to wear things we can roll up/skirts, and flip flops.  We'll see how it turns out for us in the end.  

This morning we made plans to go to Rome.  Jen really wanted to do Vatican, so I figured I just wander the city.  We split ways at the Pantheon, timing how long the walk took, since we had made plans to meet Ellen for dinner that night.  Then I went exploring.  I went to the Spanish steps, wandered through the expensive part of town (seriously, a single glass of orange juice was 10€ at  one place, and that was the cheapest thing on the menu.  Eventually I found a great gelataria with really unusual flavors.  I tried rosemary, honey, and lemon, lavender and peach, sage and raspberry, chocolate and wine, and several others.  I eventually decided on the sage and raspberry, which was amazingly delicious, tartuffo, and clementine.  Loved them all!  Then I went a little early to our meeting point by the Pantheon and people watched.  

Jen unfortunately did not have so great a day.  She got into Vatican, but then couldn't find where to go once she was in.  She got lost, ended up with not so great, expensive gelato, and was crying when I saw her.  I felt really bad, because I know this is what she had really been hoping for.  As we were walking back to the train station though, a server saw her crying, called her over and asked what was wrong.  I guess despite all the priests and nuns she had passed in this state, he was the first person to express concern to her about her state.  He told her it was going to be okay, and that she should smile and have a better day before sending us on.  Really nice guy, didn't even try to get us to buy food, which is where I figured it was ultimately leading.  So cheers to him, and his friendly concern.  

Our train back is a longer one, but free for us, where we had to pay 10€ each for the fast one  earlier to give Jen enough time in Rome :( .  I never oppose to the longer ride though, when we have the time.  I enjoy seeing the country side like this.  Especially at sunset.  

Tonight we are meeting Ellen and her friends for dinner at Dante's Pizzeria.  They serve free wine to students, so Jen and I just 'enrolled'.   The food was great, the wine was flowing, and the company rocked.  Ellen's friends were all really nice, and it was good to catch up with her and share some UB gossip time.  I also think we convinced them to go to Stromboli.  I really hope they make it!

Amalfi to Sicily

Our stay in Sorrento was wonderful.  The first morning we woke up and decided to go to Pompeii.  We had a great set of roommates, and Pat and Brad gave us tips for getting into and around Pompeii, since they had been there only a couple days earlier.  Heading out from the hostel, we went looking for food first.  Sorrento has an amazing market street,  and before we knew it, much more time had gone by than intended.  But we did have a bag of excellent fruit to show for it.  I also may have sunglasses and a linen scarf now.  I am very happy with them though!

Finally we got ourselves back on the circumvesuvianna and made our way to Pompeii.  The boys had told us it can take hours to go through it, but I wasn't quite prepared for its size still.  Jen and I were there for four hours before we knew it!  I particularly liked how there were signs up explaining what you were seeing or what it meant for the culture.  Especially since we are to cheap to buy audio-guides and usually just fumble our way through sites.  We had a great time, even if it took us awhile to find the body casts, since we started from the wrong direction.  

Once we had our fill of Pompeii, we headed towards Naples to get our train station to Palermo. It had been such an issue while in Rome that we thought it was best to plan ahead.  But this time there were no such issues and we had a night train booked before we knew it.  

The next morning, we took it easy and just explored the local area.  The rest of our room had invited us to Capri with them, but we just couldn't justify the 35€ cost of the ferry.  Instead we wandered the shopping areas, walked down to the beach, and took a lot of pictures.  For the afternoon we went back to the hostel, which is really a hotel and has an outdoor pool, and decided to sit around.  Well, for those of you who know me, this only lasted so long.  After an hour or two, I was off to explore again.  I found another beach access, and bought  beer to sit and watch the sunset.  

When I got back to the hostel, everyone else was just arriving from Capri.  So we joined them sitting outside and talking most of the night.  It was so much fun!  We had Shelli from the states, Mark from NZ, Elie, Brad, and Pat from Australia, and Phil from Vancouver BC.   It was a great time!  Phil and Mark were leaving the next day, but the rest of us made plans to rent scooters the next day and head to the Amalfi coast.  Several of them had done it a couple days earlier and said it was amazing.  

Bright and early, we all headed out.  First to the grocery store to buy something for lunch, and then to the scooter rental.   Jen didn't feel comfortable trying to drive one, but I was really excited to do this.  Elie and Pat took me out for a couple minutes to get a feel first, before trying to take Jen as a passenger.  But as soon as Jen got on we knew it wasn't going to work.  I just didn't have enough experience.  So Elie offered to take Jen on his bike and we were off again!

Elie had been out a couple times, and had scoped out some good places.  So we went view point hopping, eating lunch along the way.  We found our way to Possitano, with the intent of finding a beach to lay on.  Here is where the misfortunes began.  Pat got a little too close to a car while parking and hit it, not with his bike, but with his knee.  His knee unfortunately left a rather large dent, I just saw the car move.  He had to go give the bikes information, and get everything squared away.  Then, after moving his bike to a better spot, we headed to the beach.  We all went swimming and lay out for a bit, before deciding to head on to Amalfi.  We ultimately wanted to hit a cove that we had to hike in to, but didn't know if we would have enough time in the day.  

Once we got back up to the bikes, we realized an unfortunate thing. Pat's bike wouldn't start now.  After trying for 45 minutes to get ahold of the rental company who would not answer their phones, we had to leave Pat and Brad behind.  They were going to ride back together to Sorrento and tell them where they left the bike.  Our troop  had shrunk to four.  But onward we went, enthusiastically for the next town.  

When we got to Amalfi, we quickly realized that there was not going to be enough time to go to the cove.  I had to return my bike by 8 that evening so I could catch our night train.  So we spent some time on the Amalfi beach too. ate some gelato, and went out on the break water.  Elie's shoulder was starting to hurt from having a passenger too, so we found Jen the bus back to Sorrento, and the group shrunk again.  

Shelli, Elie, and I were racing back to a particular location he had found for the sunset.  By this point I was feeling pretty comfortable, and was cruising around pretty easily.  Still not on par with the other two who ride dirt bikes and motorcycles, but I could keep pace with them.  We made it just in time too.  What a stunning sunset!  The isle of Capri was dead ahead with the sun setting just to the side.  Elie and Shelli found a point nearby where they were going to try and go first thing in the morning.  

Then we had to finish our trip back to Sorrento.  As we pulled up to the rental shop to drop off my scooter, Jen walked up, having just been dropped off by the bus.  She was heading to the port to take pictures of the boats all lit up, but I headed back to the hostel and grabbed some food on the way.  After a quick but delicious meal, we grabbed our packs, said our goodbyes, and headed for Napoli Centrale. 

Our night train was an interesting one.  We had two cabin mates, and they couldn't have been any more different.  Victoria was laid back and wonderful.  From Palermo herself, she gave me her email in case we had any questions after we arrived.  The other gal was a piece of work.  I saw her as we first got on the train, talking VERY loudly on her phone, and thought "I feel bad for whoever shares a room with her."  Well, JINX, she was in our room!  She must have booked last minute, because her bed wasn't set up.  So instead of going and finding the conductor, she plops herself down on my bed, and strikes up another phone call.  Then invites a friend in to sit and chat on my bed.  Did I mention we didn't even board the train until midnight?  Things were getting ridiculous.  Victoria finally went and got someone to set up the bed.  But the other gal stayed sitting on mine before finally realizing I was in my pajamas and asking, "Oh, did you want to go to bed now?" Uh no.  It's only nearing one in the morning.  So she finally goes up to her bunk.  But she had taken as many plugs as she needed in the room for all her devices, which means there wasn't even one left for me.  So I unplugged one of her devices and charged mine instead.  I needed my ipod for directions to our hostel, and wasn't about to be playing that game.  I replugged hers back in before she woke up, and I doubt she even noticed.   

The next morning she made a big deal waking up.  Her phone had been ringing since 5, and she'd almost kicked me in the face twice swinging her legs down over the edge.  Then she decided, instead of going to the bathroom, just to the side, to change in our tiny cabin.  This meant she shoved her butt straight into Jen's  and my faces, before patting it and making sure it looked good in her jeans.  I have to say though, I was not at all surprised by the giant tramp stamp she sported. Then she was asking me for my water, and taking up most my space again, because she didn't want to sit up on her bunk.  After primping herself up, she proceeded to pose and take pictures of herself for 5-10 minutes, with and without sunglasses, in varying ways.  I'm pretty sure I must have had the same look of dumbfounded disbelief that I saw Jen portraying.  She also sprayed two different types of perfume on herself, in this small room and we had to open all the doors immediately afterward.  And it wasn't just one squirt, it was 10 of each.  Makes me feel better about how I occasionally use two sprays!  Needless to say, I was not sad to see her go.

Once Jen and I had found our hostel, we had to decide what to do.  We wandered to a couple different restaurants before finding something that looked good.  I have never had the problem in an Italian restaurant before, of walking in and not recognizing a single thing on the menu.  It was crazy!  And I was afraid to blindly order, as seafood was so prominent here.  As were intestine kabobs, and spleen sandwiches.  Definitely the first time I have felt at a loss for food in Italy, and I am very excited to hit Firenze for food now.  

After killing half the day, we took a train to Cefalu.  We definitely didn't get enough time here, but we did enjoy wandering through the city as much as we could.  And we found a fantastic bakery.  The owner was the nicest guy.  Spoke no english, but we cobbled something together.  If you are there, I highly recommend going to Pietro Serio.  What a wonderful place!  The cannolis were delicious too. 

When we got back to the hostel, Miguel, another person staying there, wanted to cook pasta for everyone if we wanted.  It was delicious!  The hostel manager popped out the spumonte, and got me a local beer to try.  Everyone was very nice, and they gave us tips for the next day too, as we wanted to go to the Valle dei Templi in Agrigento.  Some of the best preserved Greek ruins outside of Greece, and since we didn't make it there, I figured this was next best.  

First thing in the morning though, we headed to the local flea market that occurs every Sunday morning.  While I found nothing that I would be able to carry home, it was fun to look around.  Then we tried to get ourselves south.  But the train we wanted to take wasn't running, so we had to try for the bus.  That turned in to a whole other hoopla, as we couldn't find the bus company that made that route.  Finally, after asking multiple people, we found the schedule, and to kill time waiting for the bus, had some gelato.  

Finally we got boarded, and headed for Agrigento.  Turns out we got really lucky.  As soon as we got in, we walked into the one place that was open to sell tickets to the ruins, and got our round trip tickets.  We directed someone else there afterward, but they had already closed.  Jen and I had barely made it in time to get our transfers.  So off we went to the ruins, which were more expensive than we had been told, but after spending the full day getting there we weren't backing out.  

They were pretty amazing too.  I couple in disrepair from earthquakes, but the Temple of Concordia was impressively intact.  We wandered around in the heat, before we were too tired and headed back.  This time we were able to catch the train.  Unfortunately, Jen broke it.  She thought she was hitting a button to flush the toilet, but instead, an alarm sounded, that they couldn't turn off for about 15-20 minutes.  Everyone on the train was looking around, trying to figure out what was going on.  Poor Jen's been having issues with things breaking on her. Ask her about them, they are some good stories, though hers to tell.