Kelly and Steve's Backpacking Adventures

The Caribbean Coast

2010-07-31T22:44:00.000-04:00

You know how when you travel, you form an image in your mind of what a place is going to look like? That is really part of the fun, imagining how places you’ve only read about will be like in person, and then seeing (despite your best efforts not to set your hopes too high) if the image you’ve created in your mind lives up to where you actually visit.

For the final leg of this trip, I think we can say that Parque Tayrona more than exceeded anything we could have imagined while daydreaming at our desks in Philadelphia. The dramatic meeting of the Caribbean with the mountains and jungles of Colombia’s coast provides some of the most breathtakingly beautiful beach settings we’ve ever seen (and more than makes up for the stifling heat). It is one of those places that photos can’t really do justice.

We're back in Bogota now, waiting for our flight to New York. We've had an amazing couple of weeks, and still really haven't scratched the surface of all Colombia has to offer. We can't wait to come back, but for now, adios!

Cartagena De Indias

2010-07-26T23:07:00.000-04:00

We’ve spent the last four nights in Cartagena, Colombia’s famous city on the coast, wandering the maze-like streets of the walled old town, taking in the sights of the remarkably preserved colonial buildings, and drinking copious amounts of street vendor served limeade. Cartagena is a fascinating place, sometimes feeling like a romantic old world town, and sometimes feeling like a chaotic urban center, depending on where you are and the time of day. There are three main sections of Cartagena frequented by visitors: the walled old city with its colorful colonial architecture, Getsemani (where we stayed at Hostal Baluarte) directly outside of the walls, and Bocagrande with its sky scrapers and condominiums. We spent time exploring each of them, and also made a day trip to Volcan de Lodo el Totumo, the giant mud volcano. Cartagena is a very picturesque place, and a sampling of some of our shots are below:

We've now moved farther east up the coast to Santa Marta, which we'll use as base for exploring some of the beaches including those at Parque Tayrona. We'll post back soon!

Independence Day

2010-07-22T14:55:00.004-04:00

Right now we are in the Bogota airport, delayed on our way to Cartagena, so we are taking advantage of the free wifi (in what is a pretty nice airport) to update you on our time in Salento, a tiny town in the coffee region about an hour's flight northwest of Bogota.

We awoke on the morning of July 20 happy to find out from the owner of our hotel (a very charming Hostal Ciudad de Segorbe) that Salento was celebrating Colombian Independence Day - and Colombia's Bicentennial - with a parade through town. We headed out onto the streets and witnessed a very interesting parade primarily featuring several different branches of the military, along with a Simon Bolivar reenactor, and children dressed to represent different historical figures and time periods. Much to Steve's disappointment, however, there were no fireworks.

Salento is a wonderfully restored town and in addition to being known for its very charming historical buildings, it is also known for its trout (which nearly every restaurant serves in multiple forms, almost always on a patacon - think of a giant tortilla chip made of pressed plantains) as well as its proximity to the Valle de Cocora, which we experienced in a day hike yesterday.

The Valle de Cocora is most famed for its wax palms, which are the highest palm trees in the world and very unusual. The scenery is breathtaking (and so is the walk, which was pretty strenuous in the high altitude!). One of the highlights was getting to see the multitudes of hummingbirds that gather at one of the stops - Acaime - along the trek.

Today, we are in route to Cartagena, where we will experience a change from the cool mountain air we've been enjoying. Still, we are excited to spend the next few days exploring such a historic and iconic city. We'll post back soon!

Bogota by Bike

2010-07-20T19:31:00.000-04:00

We have arrived in Salento, a little town in the Zona Cafeteria, and are enjoying the Colombian Independence Day celebration here - more on that in a later post! Yesterday, we spent five hours biking our way through the busy streets of downtown Bogota. If you have ever biked in Philadelphia, you know how challenging it can be to negotiate both city traffic and pedestrians. Now take the worst day of biking in Philly, and it probably still does not compare to the adventure of biking in Bogota.

Now imagine riding through this crowd on a bike
Our twelve miles of city touring not only included seeing the sights but also learning the political and social history of the city through our tour guide Mike, a former American journalist who has lived in Colombia for the past five years. We visited a giant local food market, the cemetery (where plots are rented for just four years), the bull fighting ring, and many other spots of interest. We even came across two separate political demonstrations related to today´s Independence Day.

Steve surprised by the sourness of the unidentified fruit at the market
If you are ever in Bogota, we can´t recommend the Bogota Bike Tour enough. It is a great way to get a feel for the culture and history of the city.

We don´t have wifi where we are staying in Salento (maybe in the whole town itself), so we will have to wait to post about today´s celebration, but look forward to sharing our photos and videos! We are loving the town here, and despite our limited Espanol, all of the people we meet continue to be so gracious and friendly. We´ll post back when we can!

The Tourist Train

2010-07-18T23:52:00.007-04:00

Have you ever been on the Wilmington & Western Railroad in Delaware? Well today we went on the Colombian version of that train ride, from Bogota out to Zipaquira.

Called the Tren Turistico, this old-fashioned steam engine (today ours was diesel powered) makes the three-hour journey from Sabana station in Bogota (maxing out at about 17km per hour) on the weekends. Though called the tourist train, the majority of passengers on the train were Colombian families & couples out enjoying the leisurely Sunday morning ride.

The train ends up in Zipaquira, which is best known for its underground salt cathedral featuring the stations of the cross carved into the salt of the former mine. While the salt cathedral is pretty incredible, the journey getting there might be the highlight of the day trip.

The Salt Cathedral
From the tamales and hot chocolate sold on the train, to the live music from a five-piece band that moves from car to car, the Tren Turistico is more than just a means of transportation, but really is a case where getting there is more than half of the fun. Everyone outside stops and waves as the red train rattles through Bogota, also stopping in Usaquen, and then heads out into the country, winding past fields of cattle and horses with the mountains in the distance. Being about six-hours round trip, the train is definitely not the quickest way to get out to see the salt cathedral, but from our experience is guaranteed to be the most unique.

The band during Steve's ill-advised attempt at a nap
Tomorrow, we take a bike tour of the city in the morning and then fly out to Armenia for our stay in Salento in the Zona Cafeteria (or coffee region). As long as we have internet, we’ll post back soon!

Bienvenidos a Colombia!

2010-07-17T22:19:00.003-04:00

Our two week trip through Colombia has just begun, and we’ve already have an eventful first couple of days. We awoke from our nap in the cab ride from the airport yesterday morning to find ourselves in the middle of the Candelaria, the historic neighborhood in downtown Bogota. Think of Old City in Philly, except more than 200 years older, and founded by the Spanish instead of the Quakers. Plus, it’s a little edgier, but beautiful and charming nonetheless.

Highlights so far:

Yellow Fever Vaccine = Great Success! We aren’t going to any particularly high risk areas (so don’t worry) but Parque Tayrona (where we go at the end of our trip) requires all visitors to show their yellow card supposedly, so we didn’t want to risk it. It turns out that here in Bogota at the airport you can get vaccines for 100% free (vs the $120 per person it would have cost us in the States). A friendly police officer showed us where to go.

There are delicious street snacks on almost every corner (Steve really enjoyed trying the fried pig anus. No joke.). From grilled corn on the cob to churros to plantain chips to empanadas, everything is delicious and cheap. Hot chocolate is also extremely popular here (particularly with a piece of cheese in it) so we are drinking that whenever possible. Of course, the coffee goes without saying.

Steve trying his new favorite delicacy

The city itself really is a highlight on its own. The people are so friendly and while English is not commonly spoken, everyone is more than willing to suffer through our attempts at Spanish. We’ve only met one other set of American travelers, and while there are tourists here, you definitely can tell that tourism has not been a defining part of Bogota in the past (although it is on the rise, and it somewhere we’d recommend to put on your radar). Our hostel – Alegria’s – is lovely and a great bargain. Also, the cost of cabs here is amazingly cheap.

The courtyard at Alegria's
And some lowlights:

Thursday into Friday proved to be a bit of a long travel day, since we decided to save on airfare and get the bonus of an overnight direct flight by leaving from JFK. Our scheduled Megabus broke down on the way to pick us up at 30th Street, so we got off to a late start that led us right into rush hour traffic, but for $5 a person what can you really expect? We’d do it again.

Definitely the lowest point was when we realized that our bank does not allow us to make ATM transactions – anywhere in the entire country! Our credit cards were fine, and we could use our debit card at stores, restaurants, etc that actually take cards, but the majority of places simply take cash – un problema since we did not bring a 16 day supply. Of course, this would not have been an issue if someone had not forgotten to call the bank ahead of time (and shockingly it was not Steve). For about 24 hours we scrounged around trying to figure out how to access our bank account without any ATMs. When our call to Western Union proved futile, we seriously thought we might have to come home (apparently, in case you need to know one day, it is not that easy to wire your own money to yourself in a foreign country)! However, thanks to our new best friends at the one Bancolombia that is open on a Saturday, we were able to access our bank account without an ATM and are happy to report we will be continuing with our travels! Let’s just say we can laugh about it now. ☺

Up on Monserrate
Tomorrow, we will be taking the Turistren to an underground salt cathedral outside of Bogota and continuing to enjoy the good food and culture of Colombia. We’ll post back soon!

Don't Stop Belizing!

2009-07-30T16:33:00.007-04:00

We have reached the tiny island of Caye Caulker in Belize, and are enjoying the abundant sun (maybe not Steve so much as he is seeking cover under any palm trees he can find). There are no cars, and just bicycles and golf carts to get around - or, like us, you can just walk as the whole island is just a few hundred meters. You can only get here by boat.

The seafood here is fresh and delicious (lobster and red snapper are favorites), and tomorrow we are looking forward to our all day snorkeling excursion on a sailboat. Belize has the second largest barrier reef next to Australia, so we hope to see some exciting sea life.

Our last stop in Guatemala at Tikal (the Mayan ruin) was a worthwhile visit, even though our sleeping accommodations (a tent shared with several unidentified types of jungle spiders) left something to be desired.

Still, climbing to the top of Temple IV at 4:30am in the morning to see the sunrise (despite the clouds) and hear the howler monkeys wake up was pretty incredible and made up for spending the night in a hundred degree tent wrapped like mummies in our sleeping sacks. Listen closely to the video below and you can hear them, too:

Plus, getting the park to ourselves at sunset the night before was pretty nice as well (see below).

We're off to the beach!

Tikal Bound

2009-07-27T11:20:00.006-04:00

Yesterday afternoon we reached Flores, a small island in a lake about an hour away from Tikal, the famous Mayan ruin site. Soon, we will head there to catch (hopefully) both sunset and sunrise at the park (depending on the rain situation) and maybe see some howler monkeys, too, if we are lucky! Then we have one more night in Guatemala before shuttling over to Belize.

We have been having a great time - even better than we had hoped. Guatemala is truly beautiful. Our internet situation has prevented us from uploading as many photos as we would like but as soon as we can we will show you just what we have been up to!

Steve and I both fell in love with Lago Atitlan, where we stayed at a great hotel built right into the cliffs. La Casa Del Mundo (see below) was such a great surprise and we really got into just hanging out on their balconies, enjoying the cool lake breeze, and meeting the other travelers. Plus, the swimming in their little cove was fantastic. We found out they do destination weddings there, so that gave us some ideas. :)

After leaving La Casa Del Mundo, we spent a final night in Antigua before taking an 8 hour shuttle to El Retiro near Semuc Champey. El Retiro is a pretty little riverside hotel with thatched huts and animals roaming free.

It also featured eco-banos, which trust me you do not want to know about. The best thing about El Retiro was the awesome day tour we took of Semuc Champey and the local caves. Now, parents may want to stop reading now because thanks to the less stringent safety guidelines here, the highlights of that day including jumping off a bridge into the rio and rappeling down and then jumping off a 5 meter waterfall. We also explored a cave by candlelight and played in the beautiful limestone pools. See me very tentatively jumping off a bridge into the river below:

After a very long and hot shuttle ride, we are now in Flores as mentioed and are taking it easy prior spending a night in a hammock in Tikal. We will post back soon!

Steve enjoying his new favorite drink Squiz.

Semuc Champey

2009-07-25T10:24:00.003-04:00

Hola all. We arrived in Lanquin last night following an 8 hour bus ride that seemed to take longer. It is much more humid and hotter then in the highlands of Antigua and Lake Atitlan. We really need to pull out the bug spray now! Today, we plan on taking a tour through Semuc Champey, which includes hiking along the river, swimming, and exploring caves. The scenery is supposed to be better than Lake Atitlan, if that is possible.

Unfortunately, internet access has been very sporadic and extremely slow. It seems we are unable to upload our pictures, sign in to facebook, and even check our email. We do have access to Flickr and this blog, so we will try to continue posting and add pictures to Flickr if possible.

And that's all for now!

Lago Atitlan

2009-07-22T14:57:00.002-04:00

Well, we made it to Lake Atitlan yesterday afternoon after a wonderful scenic drive from Antigua. We will be here until tomorrow and head on back to Antigua to catch a shuttle to Lanquin/Semuc Champey. We get an internet connection, but it works as well as riding a bike with two flat tires. Once you see our pictures (hopefully tomorrow evening), you will see why we are happy we don't have it!

Can one of Steve's siblings let his Mom know he is alive (no phones and he cannot get into email).

We'll post back soon!

Magic Mountains

2009-07-20T16:53:00.013-04:00

Last night, we camped on Volcan Pacaya, an active volcano just over an hour from Antigua. It was truly one of those breathtaking experiences where as you're walking up to the active lava fields you're looking around wonder how anything could be so beautiful. Because we went at night, we hiked up to the volcano for about an hour and a half (with me realizing I am painfully out of shape), set up camp, and then climbed to the active portion of the volcano once the other visitors were leaving. We got to the lava just after dark, and had a truly dazzling (and very warm) sight to behold.

The trek back down was noteworthy as well, with the group of seven of us essentially sliding down volcanic rock for good portions of the way in the dark, accompanied by local stray dogs. We highly recommend OX, the group that organized our tour. Our guide Sophie from Montreal was fantastic. If you're ever heading down to Guatemala, we can't recommend enough spending the night on Pacaya.

We are now back in Antigua, and tomorrow will head up to Lago Atitlan for a couple days.

On another note, have you ever wondered where US schools buses go to rest? Probably not, but the answer is Guatemala, and they are not resting at all, but serving as the main source of public transportation (see below - painted in their wild colors)!

We'll post back soon.

How's The Food?

2009-07-19T12:34:00.007-04:00

One of my biggest sources of excitement in heading to a new place is the chance to check out the local food. So far, Guatemala is definitely holding its own in that area. Our first meal was a typical desayuno (for lunch) at Cafe La Escudilla (see above). For less than $10 dollars for both of us, we had eggs, beans, platanos, tortillas, oj, and coffee.

Since then, we've sampled local Guatemalan sweets, fire roasted corn on the cob from a street vendor, a great complimentary breakfast from our hostel (more eggs, beans, etc), and of course, ice cream!

Tonight, we head up to Volcan Pacaya for our overnight camping trip, so I'm looking forward to roasting marshmallows on the open lava (which will probably be less dangerous than our electric shower - see below).

We'll post back soon!

No Sleep til Antigua!

2009-07-18T19:25:00.006-04:00

First, congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Hoffman!! Kelly and I attended their wonderful wedding ceremony and we felt honored to be a part of their special day.

Our trip started with a quick tour of some of the Mid-Atlantic states. On Friday, we passed through PA, DE, MD, and VA on our way to Carrie and Patrick's Wedding and did not return to the four star Walls B&B (aka my grandparents' house) until 2:00 a.m. Just in time to double check our bags, take a quick shower (yes, Kelly really did take a quick shower), and grab a cup of coffee before we had to leave at 4:30 a.m. to catch our 6:30 a.m. flight.

Overall, the flight went well. We arrived safely in Guatemala City and immediately took a cab to Antigua. The hour long cab ride cost only $20!!

So far, Antigua is perfect. Our hostel seems to be clean, friendly, and fairly quiet. The town itself is amazing! It is surrounded by 3 volcanos that peak above the clouds (climbing to the top seems intimidating) and the people are very friendly. Tomorrow is our big overnight trek to Volcan Pacaya, so stay tuned.

We just wanted to let our friends and family know that we made it safely, with only a few scary moments of turbulence when landing in Guatemala. We will be adding pictures either tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks all!

Travel Bug Hits - Hopefully Not Carrying Chagas Disease

2009-07-14T19:26:00.005-04:00

Well, Kelly and I are off again to Guatemala and Belize for two weeks of cave-diving, mosquitoes, snorkeling, uncomfortable beds, and of course - Kelly's favorite - the local cuisine. We are continuing in the spirit of our first trip; bringing as little as possible. You can find our similar packing list in the August, 2007 post. We are not checking any bags, so liquids must be under 3oz.

There is only 2 major additions to our packing list. Bug spray - so far we have 100% deet, 25% deet, these patches that overdose you with vitamin b (apparently mosquitoes do not like vit. b) and Permethrin aerosol spray that supposedly provides two-week protection.

The other addition is an underwater camera that we hope to put to good use. It does not take nearly as good as pictures as the Nikon, but is pretty good for a point and shoot.

We are also debating whether or not to bring the laptop. So, leave a message in our comment section on what you think!

Hopefully, you will see us swimming with the sharks in Belize!!

Ah, the Salisbury News...

2007-11-18T23:05:00.000-05:00

Well, we made it back to the good ol' US of A. Back to a normal Sunday night in Ocean City, MD. Just about all of the tourists are gone now so it is very quiet. When we left, it was shorts and tank top weather and now it is definitely hat and sweater weather. Our animals and family were very happy to see us and we were very happy to see them, too (and to have a loooong hot shower). We wish we could spend the holidays here and then turn back around and keep traveling!

Almost Home

2007-11-15T14:41:00.001-05:00

So, we are very happy with our new hostel. We couldn't check out soon enough from our former hostel this morning and after a quick breakfast, headed over to Globetrotters. Well, it might as well have been the Hilton. The hostel is clean and quiet and in a great historic building - plus they serve a full Irish breakfast in the morning!! Wish we'd been here all along.

Other than that, we took it easy today. We walked around O'Connell Street and saw the General Post Office, did a little shopping, and listened to some Irish music at the Auld Dubliner. Fortunately, there was no rain today so we're not quite as soggy.

Tomorrow, our flight leaves at 11:10am and we get into Philly at 2:00pm. It is absolutely amazing that our trip is almost over - probably the quickest five weeks of our lives. Thanks for checking in with us during our travels. We've had a great experience and are looking forward to planning to the next big adventure! ;)

City Living

2007-11-14T16:43:00.001-05:00

It is nice to be back in the city! We returned the rental car yesterday. The Avis rep was nice; she did not charge us for the missing hubcap. The city is fairly small and walkable which was good because we walked back to our hostel. The hostel was not quite what we were hoping for; it was really the only hostel misstep of the trip. Maybe we are just getting a little too old for the party atmosphere! :) .

Despite the accommodations, we are enjoying Dublin. The city does have a long history and we have a short amount of time here, so we are cramming a lot into our days. The day started with more wind and rain, so we headed to the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail for all you English speakers). While the jail was built in the late 1700s, it is famous for housing the 1916 Easter Rising leaders. Fourteen of those were executed in the yard where we stood today - see below.

Next, we were off to the more historic districts where we saw Christ's Church, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin Castle, and City Hall. Steve's brain was tired from all of the culture, so we headed to his garden - St. Stephen's Green. It probably was not the nicest day for a stroll in the park, but Steve felt obligated to meet his people. He was sad when no one was there, so the ducks pretended to listen to him. After that, we walked along Grafton Street, over to Trinity College, and back through Temple Bar where we visited the National Photographic Archives.

A pretty good day all in all. Then we arrived back at our hostel. Our roommate was still sleeping from the night before and the rest of the people have a full day of alcohol in them. On the positive side, we did just see a wrestling match!

We will post tomorrow and let you know about our new hostel.

The End Is Near...

2007-11-12T16:07:00.000-05:00

We are wrapping up our second night in Galway - only four nights left on our trip! :( Galway is a cute town with medieval, cobblestone streets, brightly painted houses, and lots and lots of traditional Irish pubs. There are also lots and lots of wool sweater stores. As you can see from the photo, we FINALLY got some hats and gloves so at least we will be warmer for our last few days. Galway is also interesting because it is in a section of Ireland that still speaks Gaelic.

Tomorrow morning, we head off to Dublin and return our little Nissan Micra. Hopefully, Avis does not charge us too many Euros for our missing hubcap - a casualty of the flat tire incident. We will be giving up the luxury of driving - which would not be bad at all except that Dublin is in the middle of a bus driver strike last we heard! We are excited for Dublin and hope the stores stay open a little later than 6pm which is what time they close here.

We'll post back soon.

Free Derry

2007-11-11T15:55:00.001-05:00

Well, Steve is ready to move to Derry. After the fiasco with the tire, we arrived in Derry happy to park the car and get back to walking. That was a good thing because shortly after we arrived at our hostel - Derry Independent Hostel (which was excellent) - the owner sat down with us to go over a map of the area and point out some highlights. She showed us where the murals are in Derry and said that there are political walking tours that leave ever day at 2pm from the Free Derry Museum. Of course, we hurried of to get something eat - two big breakfast "frys" - and make it down in time.

Before the tour, we decided to visit the museum. The Free Derry museum tells the history of the troubles in Northern Ireland and the huge role that Derry has played as a centerpiece in the struggle for civil rights. It is a fantastic and deeply moving museum. After about an hour and a half inside, we departed on our walking tour.

In contrast from the neutral "Black Taxi" tour in Belfast, this tour is from a more Nationalist/Republican viewpoint which makes it very interesting. Our guide led us through the Bogside neighborhood - which is predominantly Catholic - and highlighted the many murals and monuments (such as the Bloody Sunday memorial - which occured in Derry) while recounting the area's tumultuous history.

Afterwards, we revisted the museum and spoke with the tour and museum guide while getting some more insight. Then we stopped by the infamous Bogside Inn for a cup of tea. The next day, we crossed the river into the Protestant area and visited some of the Loyalist murals as well.

After much debate (we loved Derry and were tempted to stay longer), we decided to leave Northern Ireland and head west, visiting Donegal and spending the night in Sligo. This morning we got up early and headed to Galway, where we are spending the next two nights.

On an interesting note, Steve seems to have discovered a new hobby on our trip as he is taking more and more of our photos! We'll post back shortly.

For More Info: www.museumoffreederry.org

Giant's Causeway & the Coast

2007-11-10T03:53:00.000-05:00

The next morning, after stopping at Belfast Sinn Fein headquarters, we started our drive up the coast. Within fifteen minutes we were at a seaport town Carrickfergus, home of Carrickfergus Castle. It seemed like every few minutes we were both amazed by the the scenery around us. It is easy to see why the Causeway Coast is one of the best driving routes in the world. The rain was pretty good to us; it would stop every so often for our pictures. The other wonderful thing was that the rain and sun were working nicely together. We saw at least eight rainbows in two hours, including the beginning and the end of one rainbow. We stopped several times along the way, dodging the wind and rain long enough to grab some quick photos. It is definitely time for us to get a hat and sweater.

We then stopped at Glenariff Park. The road to the park is in the middle of a glen, which gave us wonderful views of the valley and waterfalls flowing down the cliffs. Through the town, Cushendun, we took several roads that are very narrow and that trucks and buses are not allowed. We arrived at the Carrick-a-rede Bridge and again, due to the wind advisory in the area, it was closed. Giant's Causeway was a few miles down the road, but we arrived shortly. The wind was blowing into us and walking down the hill was literally like walking through a wind tunnel. Kelly almost decided to stay in the car because of the frigid weather. Luckily, she decided to stick it out because the Causeway itself was incredible, especially the small, brown bubbles that blow everywhere. We are not sure why the bubbles are brown, but we suspect some Guinness has something to do with it. We hung around as long as we could before making the trek back to the warmth of the car. As we reached the steep hill that leads to the car, we looked at each other, and though that we did not want to climb the large hill. The wind helped us here. We never went up a hill as fast as we did on this day. We were almost flying!

So far, the day was absolutely wonderful! We were in great moods, looking forward to some tea, coffee, and food. Then, all of the day's rainbows disappeared and several minutes later, Steve was outside in the twilight rain, changing a flat tire! Kelly hit a curb on the passenger side. The tire had a gash on the side, which meant trying to get a new tire. The only problem was that we were in the middle of nowhere!! We put the spare on, drove to our hostel in Downhill (which was amazing and right on the beach - see below) and tried to figure out what to do next. Of course, we both panicked that this could possibly ruin our trip and spent the night thinking about this possibility.

The next day, the first "tyre" place we stopped at, the people were friendly. The only problem was that they did not have the tyre size we needed, and could get it for us that afternoon. Usually, that would be fine, but we were in the middle of nowhere and didn't have a place to go. They didn't even really have a sitting room. We decided to keep moving to Derry and find the next one. As we were arriving in Derry, we saw a tyre shop that had the tyre we needed. So twenty minutes and 70 pounds later, we were arriving at our hostel for our day in Derry - on our way again!

Black Taxi Belfast

2007-11-09T12:13:00.000-05:00

We haven't had access to the internet lately, so we are catching up on our posts. Hopefully, we didn't lose too many of you. Belfast was great!! We booked a "Black Taxi Tour" - a neutral tour of the troubles - that took us around to all of the Belfast murals. We had the opportunity to stop in the Sinn Fein's Belfast headquarters and giftshop. We tried to buy a few postcards, but they didn't have enough change for a twenty. We then walked around the city, visited St. Anne's Cathedral, and the historic Cathedral quarter of Belfast. We talked with the hostel owner Arnie for a while about how Belfast has turned the corner with all the fighting. It was amazing seeing the huge peace wall - dividing the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods - and hearing that is still locked at night and weekends. It is also advisable not discuss anything about it unless you are in close company.

We decided to go out for some traditional Irish music at a place that we heard was a local Republican pub. The pub was closed for some reason that night, so we went to the tourist pub. The band was pretty good, but could have played some more lively music. Arnie, our gracious host, entertained us with his travel stories and the best routes to take along the Causeway Coast - our next day's journey

Welcome Home, Steve!

2007-11-09T11:12:00.000-05:00

We were a little scared about our flight to Dublin. First, the airport we had to get to was 80km outside of Paris. We found the RyanAir transport bus fairly easily, paid our 26 euros, and we were off. The other thing was that we have heard RyanAir is very strict about the baggage. If you are over your carry on weight – they will charge you an exorbitant amount per kilogram. Fortunately, this wasn’t an issue. They did not weigh our bags at all. In fact, they barely looked at them after all our obsessive weighing and planning.

The flight itself was uneventful – the best kind of flight. Although, Steve does have a bad cold and he thought his head might explode during the landing due to the high pressure. RyanAir was a very good bargain at $70.00 for both of us to get to Ireland (plus their colors are blue and gold). *Kelly’s Note: Notre Dame football colors for all those not in Steve’s family. ;)

Now the fun really began. Kelly got a crash course on driving on the right side. She actually did fairly well. No accidents to report yet. She managed to get us to Belfast in 2 hours. We did have some trouble figuring out that the left lane is the slow lane on highways. Kelly kept forgetting that one at first, but after a few minutes on the highway she was fine. The hardest thing is actually staying in the middle of the lane; with the driver’s side on the right, you want to keep drifting over to the left. That is bad when you’re in a rental car with lots of tight streets.

The driving in the city itself wasn’t too bad either. Somehow, we made it to our hostel without getting lost. The hostel itself - Arnie's Backpacker's - has a nice homey feeling to it. We were given tea and cookies upon arrival. We sat and ate our cookies with our new friends - two friendly Jack Russell terriers - in front of a nice coal fire (it is cold here). Today, we are off to see the oldest part of the city, the murals, and possibly a Black Taxi Tour. Hopefully are pictures will be up soon.

Our Last Day in Paris

2007-11-07T06:03:00.000-05:00

We were sad about our last day in Paris. The food here was excellent, especially the pastries. We visited the Luxembourg gardens – a beautiful park filled with kids playing with toy sailboats. We walked around the backside of Notre Dame from across the river. We also saw the Jardin Des Plantes – another park that included a zoo. Kelly had fun in the labyrinth. We didn’t get a chance to visit in the zoo (too expensive for our budget). We spent the rest of the day walking in the Latin Quarter – eating pastries and window-shopping. We did have an excellent piece of chocolate from Jeff de Bruges (a famous chocolatier in Europe).

The people here were helpful and pleasant. We did not have any negative experiences due to the fact we are Americans. The people spoke English to us when they could or got someone who could. Overall, Paris has been a wonderful experience and we hope to visit again.

Paris Free Day!!

2007-11-05T11:36:00.000-05:00

Today, we started out a little rough. We awoke after a restful night's sleep in our sleep sheets, dressed, and we were downstairs ready to go at 8:30am – we thought. Then we saw the hostel’s clock- 9:30am. That meant we were an hour late for the opening of the Louvre and an hour’s worth of people were already in line!

We are still not sure if we have been an hour off the time sine we have been in Paris, or if something happened to our computer clock (we didn’t have the foresight to bring a watch) last night.

We got to the Louvre and before we even went in, Steve was ready to leave. There must have been a line of 300 people. Fortunately, the line moved fairly quickly. The security staff also moved our part of the line to the Porte des Lions entrance, which is about a half a kilometer away from the pyramid entrance.

So, we made it in!! The Louvre was enjoyable and one can easily spend three days walking around. Steve was even taking longer in the galleries than Kelly. Some highlights were Gericault, Vermeer, and of course, Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa which was absolutely mobbed with people - see below. We did have to hustle through though, so we did not get a chance to fully appreciate the museum. We set a new land speed record of 2 hours in the museum.

Then we moved on to Notre Dame and the Conciergerie. The Conciergerie is the formal royal palace that was used to hold select prisoners. One of those prisoners was Marie Antoinette. The old prison is still one of the most beautiful prisons in the world. Right down the block was our next stop - Notre Dame cathedral.

When we arrived at Notre Dame, we thought our luck really had changed – a short line! We were in within five minutes. The other bonus was that mass had just started.

It was good for Steve to get back to his Catholic roots after the synagogue yesterday. The church is massive! We walked around and thought about how could they build this thing. It was stunning. We were looking how to get to the tower and finally found where it was – just outside to the right. The line won this battle. All the way down the block. After careful consideration of about three seconds, Steve was ready to move on. The church was the important part - not the view - he chanted to himself repeatedly. The line was just about a block long and rarely moved, so we decided it was time for lunch: Berthillon’s famous ice cream.

Naturally, though, the shop we headed to was closed for the week so we tried Amorino instead – delicious. After our ice cream we headed back over to the Louvre for some hot chocolate at Angelina’s (Kelly had heard that it was fabulous), but that nasty line was following us around. The line that bad, but the price was unbearable. Almost seven euros for a cup of hot chocolate! That is 11 American Dollars considering it reached another all time low versus the Euro. For one cup!! Paris is expensive!!!

Then we ran into another little snag - Steve was out of cigarettes and it was probably not a good time for Kelly to get him to quit. After searching for about 45 minutes (many shops in Paris are closed on Sunday), he finally found a pack. Luckily, the store was next to the Musee d’Orsay – our next free destination. Housed in a gorgeous former train stations, this museum has many famous Impressionist paintings from 1848 to 1914. Some highlights included Monet, Manet, Degas, Gaughin, Cezanne, and Van Gogh. Just like at the Louvre, Steve even recognized many of the paintings!

After the second art museum of the day (and some very sore feet), we tried to get back to Notre Dame to try to win the war and make it up the tower, but the line closed about an hour before we returned. When someone quits, they forfeit, right?

Moules and frites (mussels and fries) were calling our names when we got back to our hostel. We finished the day with one of our better values of our trip: nine euros for a huge basket of fries and about 100 mussels. We had a very nice day today and Steve feels a little smarter (don’t worry – he’ll get over that).

Now, only one full day left in Paris before moving to Ireland.

The Real Moulin Rouge, Bar Mitzvahs, and the Latin Quarter

2007-11-03T17:42:00.000-04:00

After finishing our laundry last night, we took a walk around the neighborhood. We were about three blocks from the famous Moulin Rouge, so we took the main street to take a few pictures and see what all the buzz is about. Moulin Rouge is overrated(according to Steve). The real action is the two blocks between the Moulin and the Pigalle metro stop. Nothing but neon signs for Girls, Girls, Girls!!!! It will put any adult block in the U.S. to shame. No matter what you are looking for, you can find it here. We hear only the red light district in Amsterdam is better. We will post some pics, but put the kids to bed first!!! No nudity though, we would have had to pay for that.

When we arrived back at our hotel around 10:30pm, our two roomates were just getting in from their night out. They are two 18 year olds who are traveling for the same amout of time we are before they do their three year manadatory service in the Israeli army. We talked about Israel a bit and that there is still some anti-semitism in France. They invited us to a Bar Mitzvah the next morning. Since we did not have any plans and the weather was supposed to be rainy, we decided to attend (Steve will do anything for a free lunch).

As we walked down to the temple, our new friends informed Kelly that the men and women sit seperately. Kelly was very surprised. Also, they said that the temple is closed to the public. We severely underestimated the level of anti-semitism; when we arrived at the temple, we saw that it is guarded every day, all day, by the French police. We had to show I.D. to get in. Since our friends are Israeli and speak Hebrew, it was no problem.

The temple is rare for the Jewish community. First, it was built under Napoleon but bombed during WWII and rebuilt; the unique thing is that it was designed and built to look like a Catholic church. It even has several stained glass windows and an altar. Of course, Jesus was not in attendence - he was replaced by the Menorah. The ceremony itself was very pleasant and we were honored to be invited. Everyone we met were friendly, helpful, and gave us a good sense of the french hospitality.

We then moved to our new hostel in the Latin Quarter - Young and Happy. We are overlooking Rue Mouffetard - a street that is a combination of meat markets, vegetable stands, cheese shops, cafes, and local and designer clothing boutiques. There are also several restaurants that show off Paris' reputation for serving cuisine from around the world. There is everything from Iraqi to Argentine restaurants.

We are having a ball in Paris - Steve even got his haircut. He does recommend knowing the same language as your hairdresser. You may not get the haircut you are looking for but it was a fun experience and he looks as good as he gets. Our racy pics will be up shortly!!!