T and I decided to make the big move back to the west coast, where we both definitely belong. Toronto is a great city for what it is, and I’ve made some really awesome friends there, but… I can’t handle another 8 month long stint below zero. That’s just too cold. I remember when I first announced that I wanted to go to Toronto to my dad:
“I’ve decided that Toronto would be a good place to finish my studies.”
“That’s great! But… you do know, it gets cold there.”
” …right. Snow, cold, yada yada.”
He paused and looked me straight in the eye as I passed him the salad bowl. “No.. It gets cold there.”
“I know! I know! I’ll have to buy a better coat.”
He stopped everything, took a long pause and burned a hole through my head with the seriousness in his stare and said, “You don’t know. It gets COLD.”
“…um.”
Well, he was right. A San Franciscan has no business living in Toronto. View full article »
Stuttgart Hills
Because I was living in Stuttgart, it seemed weird to talk about travelling to there and around the city. Consequently I only wrote about other places that I went to when I was blogging at the time. Now I’m back home and I’ll tell you about Stuttgart!
There isn’t way too much to say about the city. It’s particularly beautiful because it was one of the few German towns (that I visited) that had hills— like big SF hills that brings me back to a feeling of “home.” It also has some fun things to do and has it’s special quirks, too.
View full article »
I know, I know.. I’ve been horrendous at updating. I still have so much to talk about my trip earlier this year, as well as some of the things I’ve been involved with this year! But before I start the madness that was my trip to Istanbul, I wanted to talk a little bit about zoos and why they are important to me (hence the fact that I make it a point to visit the zoo in every city I manage to— except third world countries because those just make me cry).
<–PS: King Crab says “GET IN MAH BELLEH!”
During my Europe adventure I went to two zoos. That’s pretty pathetic in my book, but I tried to make up for it by going to the Stuttgart zoo at least once a month when I was there. It was definitely one of the nicest zoos I’ve seen— Southern Germany lays such importance on horticulture, not just at the zoo but everywhere, that when spring hits you’re bombarded by pure colour and enough flowers to kill someone with moderate allergies. That, along with the beautiful, clean, and spacious enclosures for each animal made it extremely peaceful and a beautiful place to go. They also had bugs and fish and lots of other fun things! View full article »
I realise that I’ve been a bad girl and have not updated since I got back from Germany. But, I still have a lot to say and I’ll try to remember as much as possible! Then I will try to get back onto updating on a regular basis.
Köln— the Furthest North I Got
I was told by many people that I needed to get up to Berlin and Hamburg, and as much as I wanted to, I just didn’t have the funds this time around. But, I did manage to get up to Köln (or Cologne, as most Americans know it) for a week where I got to experience the magic of Lindt chocolate, a BIG church, and behind the scenes primetime television.
Above all, it was a beautiful little city. It definitely felt small, though I have a feeling it’s bigger than Stuttgart.
It is the birthplace of scent for men— and you can even go visit the boutique that first made the stuff. That would’ve been a useless trip for me seeing that I have no sense of smell, but it’s an interesting piece of history… I would’ve thought that cologne was invented by the French! But no, it was the Germans that decided that men should be allowed to smell “pretty” too, so… surprise! View full article »
I feel like I’ve gotten to know the Southern region of Germany pretty well since I got here, and for the most part it’s a very beautiful and busy place. I think the weekend that we decided to drive around down there had about 5 random holidays lines up in a row that we didn’t know about, which might account for the busyness, but it was fun, so there.
We pretty much just hopped in a car and drove aimlessly around the region (although there was an overall destination in mind). We drove through Ulm, Ravensburg, Weingarten, Lake Constance, a bunch of random tiny towns that I can’t remember the names of, and ended up in Füssen for Neuschwanstein for the second time— except this time it was spring and not winter, so it was incredibly more colourful (and warm). We passed by many cows, dandelions, and the Alps were almost always in the picture dead ahead. Here are two of the highlights which I found the most interesting. View full article »
Of all the places that I’ve ever been to on a vacation, Egypt was the only one in which I felt like I wasn’t finished. I found myself wanting to stay longer and explore more, as if I hadn’t even scratched the surface. With most places, after about two or three days I start feeling like I’m ready to go back, but Egypt was just so different in every way possible, and that might be the reason why I genuinely didn’t want to leave. It was refreshing in a very surreal way.
Friday: The City of the Dead
The poverty in Cairo is overwhelming everywhere you go, but the greatest concentration of the poorest of the poor in the city live here, in what’s known as the City of the Dead.
The City of the Dead is a graveyard, filled with Islamic-style tombstones, tombs, and mausoleums. The area is noticeably shorter than the rest of the city partially because all the tombs are less than a storey high, and partially because the overall ground level of the city has risen considerably over the past 100 years. In fact, it wasn’t uncommon to walk past a window, door, or archway that was half buried in the ground all over the city! It was just way worse here because it was even more unkempt than the rest of Cairo. View full article »
Thursday: Getting the Pyramids Out of the Way
On Thursday we decided we’d go to the pyramids in Giza. On the way there we passed by a lot of agricultural lands which had been illegally built upon. The illegal buildings were basically made out of brick and were just big red cubes stacked on top of one another. All of them were unfinished and most of them intend to keep it that way because only finished buildings are taxed. That said, the housing is illegal and not supposed to be there anyway, so it’s all just a weird situation. There are hundreds of them (maybe thousands?) and it’s all because there’s just no other place for these people to go. If they can afford a bunch of bricks then they can just build a place on one of these unfinished buildings and they’re all set. Unfinished or not, they are densely inhabited. View full article »
It’s hard to know where to start on my jam packed trip, so I think I’ll just go through the days as I went around the city. It starts actually before I even left for Cairo…
The Random Scarab Appearance
A long time ago I got one of those little stone scarabs that they make in Egypt that look like the ancient ones. Since then, I’ve turned it into a hemp choker which I actually wear more than any of my other pieces of jewelery— I think it’s always been my favourite. In any case, on Monday I was walking along the student living center here in Stuttgart with my friend when she stopped to look at something hidden in the hole of a buried sidewalk cinder block. She poked it around with her foot as I turned to look at her, quizzically. “What did you find?”
“Isn’t this one of your bug things?”
“What?” I have a couple of “bug things” ranging from jewelery with fake (and real) bugs to a very large dragonfly tattoo on my back, so that was a pretty vague question. “What do you mean?”
“You know.. you have one on that necklace you always wear! That is a bug, isn’t it?”
“You mean a scarab??” View full article »
That was definitely the phrase of the week during my all too short trip to Cairo, Egypt. On the first day, I counted that we had been randomly called out to with “Welcome!” over 20 times!
What Is Egypt?
There is a lot to say about Egypt. The first and most important thing, is that 5 days is barely enough to explore Cairo, much less the rest of the country— which is as equally as interesting as the city itself. When most people think of Egypt, they think of ancient mummies, scarabs, jackal-headed gods, and lots of desert. While this is an interesting part of the country, it’s not only extremely outdated, but it’s only a pinhole view of the rich and diverse (and more modern) history and culture. On my trip, I did see the pyramids and tried to get in some of the more cliché reasons to visit Egypt to say that I’ve done it, but my real goal was to experience being in the middle of a non-western culture and try to really get a feel for the present culture. I have to say, I think I managed to do that— even in the short amount of time that I was there for, and consequently it turned out to be the most incredible trip that I’ve ever taken. Not only did I learn multitudes of information about the Arab world and a more personalised Egyptian view of Americans/politics, but I managed to learn a lot about myself, my personal values, and how fortunate I am to have what I have. I think that when most American or European tourists come and stay in the expensive hotels on the Nile, do their best to avoid the modern culture and probably think of it as a nuisance. But, as annoying as it can be to be constantly hassled by people who want to take advantage of your rich western economy, as I said— that is a pinhole view. Not only do I think that they are missing out on an incredible learning experience, but they are missing the point… the opportunity to learn why they are constantly being hassled. View full article »
