Like all good travellers, I am having too much fun! This also means however, that finding time to put photos and longer posts on my blog is difficult. Also, the free computers I using at the hostels don have access to a USB cable, so... there is that as well.
I flying to Germany on Monday, so hopefully I will be able to find a wonderful internet cafe with access to a USB cable. But here is a quick run-through of what has happened since my last Granada chapter.....
The Alhambra was really gorgeous and I met Aoife, an Irish girl. Followed her to Sevilla and skipped Madrid all together. Sevilla provided me with great company at the hostel, as well as very good (and free!) flamenco and an enormous Gothic cathedral. A quick morning trip to Cordoba left me breathless - La Mezquita should be a must for anyone in Andalucia! As well as the Alhambra of course! The train ride to Barcelona was uneventful, but met some fellow American girls. They were going to hang out on the beach all the time, so I doubted I would meet up with them over the weekend. The hostel in Barcelona was great and I met Cassie, also a couchsurfer. She let me in on some of the activities in BCN, which I will partake in, including a bike tour of the city and a cooking class for Sangria and Paella! Totally yummy!
That is it so far, but photos and little tidbits to come, of course! I am in love with Spain (yes, even the rude people who try to run you over in the street) and am for sure coming back one day soon! Viva España! Viva Catalunya!
Besos!
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Monday, July 16, 2007
Granada: Chapter Two (lots of photos)
Wow! I am seeing a lot of Granada and it´s almost over. Which is sad because it´s one of the most interesting and beautiful cities I´ve been to yet. Yesterday, I walked around the Albayzin, which is the old Moorish quarter. The streets are very narrow, with lots of shops and tea houses. I stopped in one tea house and had some jasmine tea. Delicious, and just the thing when it´s blazing hot outside. Because the tea houses are cool and dry.
I did the Alhambra this morning. You can enter the park anytime after 8am, but you have a specific time to enter the Palacios Nazaries, which is the most stunning part of the Alhambra. Essentially, the Alhambra is the old royal city of the Moors. If you don´t know what a Moor is - look it up. There´s so much history. I spent the entire six hours of my allotted time in the Alhambra, walking around the gardens, and taking so many pictures (I had to delete some of them). I also met Aoife (said: Efa), from Ireland. She´s travelling around Spain and doing volunteer work with WOOF. Again - look it up. And since meeting her, my travel plans have changed. That´s how well we get along. So, instead of Madrid - I´m going to Sevilla. :) And then Barcelona.
But OK - the pictures! ...
This is the important place to start. If you can see the wiggle that looks like the letter W - that's the symbol for ALLAH in Arabic. And it's written over 9,000 times throughout the Palace alone! Must be an important guy....
Doorways and archways like this are commonplace for the royal palace. The insane amount of detail is astounding! And the sort of stalactite carvings that hang from a doorway or arch are typical of the Nazarine reign.
Here's some more detail for you....
Water was incredibly important, not just because it's blazing hot in southern Spain, but is the Islamic faith as well. So were the colors of gold, red, green and white. So, little spaces like these are inside every archway, for water jugs to be placed. You could not only clean your hands or feet, but praise Allah for his many gifts, including water. The act of cleansing is also important during prayer, so you see also many little alcoves used only for prayer, including a place for water to either be held in a jug, or flow from a fountain.
In the middle of the breathtaking details are sometimes latticed windows. This is so women could peek in on the meetings or going-ons of the menfolk without the men having to see them in return.
This is the throne room. I tried taking a picture of the ceiling, which is the better feature of the room. It is supposed to resemble the heavens and how humble man must feel in sight of Allah's creations. When you look up, you feel very tiny. Not because it's such a large ceiling, but because of the concave effect the ceiling has on you. The room is a perfect cube and the ceiling transforms fron cube to octagon to cube, towering upwards, with gold detailing to create the "stars" and "planets" in the skies. It's a shame I don't have a picture, but the room itself is awe-inspiring and no photo could capture that feeling.
This walkway surrounds the lion fountain, which was quite a feat in its day. Twelve lion sculptures held up a massive fountain, which worked as a clock. Twelve hours per half-day (as well as the twelve tribes of the Jews?). Water would flow from a lion's mouth each hour to signify the time. Christians came and tried to take the damn thing apart to see how it worked. Guess what hasn't worked since then? Silly conquering Christians.... They have people working on both the giant fountain and the very large royal family room (so to speak), so no pictures of the royal family. This would have been a unique thing, since depictions of man was not a regular occurence, according to Law. Allah's inscriptions were much more important, so why make a mosaic of your immediate royal family when they are insignificant in the grand scheme of things....
There was one room, which I don't have a good photo of, where an entire family was slaughtered by opposing political factions. Boabdil's entire family was wiped out and their heads were cut off and left to drain into the fountains, causing the water to turn red with blood. But Boabdil still became the next Nazarine caliph! Ultimately, Boabdil was pushed out when Christians conquered Granada in 1492 - the Alhambra was the last seat of power to fall to the Christians, after both Cordoba and Sevilla.
King Charles the Fifth then built his own (really monstrous looking) "palace" nearly on top of the Nazarine Palace, blocking what once were spectacular views. This was the time of the Renaissance, so there was a lot of really plain walls and heavy wood ceilings and doors. In comparison, it looks practically primitive.
Anyway, back to the good stuff. Even though Charlie did build icky looking buildings, there were still great views to be had and of course, the caliph's private castle and gardens.
Here's a view of the Albayzin (old Moorish quarter) and the Sacromonte (the hillsides where the Roma live). The Albayzin is where the town of Granada originated outside of the Alhambra walls. They built everything on the hillsides for defensive purposes, since the outlying plains are distinctively flat and hard to defend from a very high outcrop like the Alhambra. The typical white coloring of the houses made for somewhat sooler living spaces in the hot summers, but the green you see between the buildings is a modern occurence. Back in the day, there would have been no trees lining the narrow pathways, as water would have been preserved for more important things like feeding animals, people, crops, and of course, during prayer. The Sacromonte is mostly the steep hillsides and cave-dwellings. You can see a few of the little holes in the hills where the cave openings are. They don't like to be called gypsies, which refers to Egypt (and they clearly aren't from Egypt), so they are called Roma. The women like to shove twigs of herbs in your face as you pass them on the street. Just ignore them, even if they shout after you!
A view of the massive Renaissance Cathedral from the Alhambra... That part of Granada wasn't built until Charlie came in and decided to christianize everyone. Even all the local mosques in the Albayzin were converted to churches to placate the local public. If there's no mosques, how can you practice Islam, right? Well, that's what Charlie thought anyway.
Underneath all of the beauty are storage rooms, and apparently, this one is built in a way that you can hear whispers, even from across the giant stone walls. Aoife and I tried it out, but... it's also such a small room, that you can hear each other anyway.
These low windows were built so that one could lounge on a pillow on the floor and look out onto the landscape. What landscape you ask? Yes, well, there's Charlie again, building things in front of the original views from the Palace. So, now instead of seeing the beautiful hillsides of the Sacromonte and Albayzin, you see redwoods. Charlie's garden. It pales in comparison to the gorgeous Generalife gardens of the caliph, which Charlie kept as was.
A walkway in the gardens of the caliph. It smelled fantastic, between the roses and the myrtle.... simply heavenly!
Again, water playing a central role. Except this time, it looks a little bit more... European? Still, it was really hot and this place offered little shade. That is until you found...
...this little oasis! Palms like this are not actually that common, but it helps to have a nearby stone edifice to keep away the sun.
Nice little private getaway in the middle of the gardens. Very simple in comparison to the opulate details of the royal palace. Here, the sultan and the sultana could while away the hours of blistering heat in total bliss and privacy. It really was quite lush in its simplicity.
I had a picture of another garden leading up to the higher point of the private palace, where the remains of an ancient tree stand hanging over the garden. The tree when ripe and flowering would have had a sheltering effect, and its said that the sultana carried on secret meetings with a Christian knight under that tree. Sadly, my picture got accidentally deleted. Boo.
Another water decoration. This time in the form of a stairway that leads to a great view of Granada atop the private palace. Three sections of stairs with water running down both sides. With both the running water and the wind in the trees, it was definitely a calming effect to walk around in.
Also situated in the Alhambra is the old soldier fort, the Alcazaba. It sat on the foward most part of the hill, of course to be able to see approaching enemy forces. They had great views from the bell tower, which locals can ring on the day of something-or-other, when Granad gained independence from... somebody. But its nice to be able to know that locals are involved in the history of the city.
But here's the view from that tower...
A view of the soldier walkway from within the bell tower. And when I say bell tower, it's not like that of a church steeple. No, it's more like a large tower with a roof, where soldiers could watch, as well as stand in formation while ringing bells to warn the caliph.
Yes, yes. My four nights in Granada were well worth the heat! It's one of the more beautiful cities in Spain, even if I've only been to four cities total. Don't care. It's got its own charm, which probably dates back to the time it was founded, before even the Moors came to settle in Andalucia. I adore the tiny winding streets, the excellent wine and tapas, the lazy yet energetic atmosphere. I just don't want to ever come back in the middle of July! :)
I did the Alhambra this morning. You can enter the park anytime after 8am, but you have a specific time to enter the Palacios Nazaries, which is the most stunning part of the Alhambra. Essentially, the Alhambra is the old royal city of the Moors. If you don´t know what a Moor is - look it up. There´s so much history. I spent the entire six hours of my allotted time in the Alhambra, walking around the gardens, and taking so many pictures (I had to delete some of them). I also met Aoife (said: Efa), from Ireland. She´s travelling around Spain and doing volunteer work with WOOF. Again - look it up. And since meeting her, my travel plans have changed. That´s how well we get along. So, instead of Madrid - I´m going to Sevilla. :) And then Barcelona.
But OK - the pictures! ...
This is the important place to start. If you can see the wiggle that looks like the letter W - that's the symbol for ALLAH in Arabic. And it's written over 9,000 times throughout the Palace alone! Must be an important guy....
Doorways and archways like this are commonplace for the royal palace. The insane amount of detail is astounding! And the sort of stalactite carvings that hang from a doorway or arch are typical of the Nazarine reign.
Here's some more detail for you....
Water was incredibly important, not just because it's blazing hot in southern Spain, but is the Islamic faith as well. So were the colors of gold, red, green and white. So, little spaces like these are inside every archway, for water jugs to be placed. You could not only clean your hands or feet, but praise Allah for his many gifts, including water. The act of cleansing is also important during prayer, so you see also many little alcoves used only for prayer, including a place for water to either be held in a jug, or flow from a fountain.
In the middle of the breathtaking details are sometimes latticed windows. This is so women could peek in on the meetings or going-ons of the menfolk without the men having to see them in return.
This is the throne room. I tried taking a picture of the ceiling, which is the better feature of the room. It is supposed to resemble the heavens and how humble man must feel in sight of Allah's creations. When you look up, you feel very tiny. Not because it's such a large ceiling, but because of the concave effect the ceiling has on you. The room is a perfect cube and the ceiling transforms fron cube to octagon to cube, towering upwards, with gold detailing to create the "stars" and "planets" in the skies. It's a shame I don't have a picture, but the room itself is awe-inspiring and no photo could capture that feeling.
This walkway surrounds the lion fountain, which was quite a feat in its day. Twelve lion sculptures held up a massive fountain, which worked as a clock. Twelve hours per half-day (as well as the twelve tribes of the Jews?). Water would flow from a lion's mouth each hour to signify the time. Christians came and tried to take the damn thing apart to see how it worked. Guess what hasn't worked since then? Silly conquering Christians.... They have people working on both the giant fountain and the very large royal family room (so to speak), so no pictures of the royal family. This would have been a unique thing, since depictions of man was not a regular occurence, according to Law. Allah's inscriptions were much more important, so why make a mosaic of your immediate royal family when they are insignificant in the grand scheme of things....
There was one room, which I don't have a good photo of, where an entire family was slaughtered by opposing political factions. Boabdil's entire family was wiped out and their heads were cut off and left to drain into the fountains, causing the water to turn red with blood. But Boabdil still became the next Nazarine caliph! Ultimately, Boabdil was pushed out when Christians conquered Granada in 1492 - the Alhambra was the last seat of power to fall to the Christians, after both Cordoba and Sevilla.
King Charles the Fifth then built his own (really monstrous looking) "palace" nearly on top of the Nazarine Palace, blocking what once were spectacular views. This was the time of the Renaissance, so there was a lot of really plain walls and heavy wood ceilings and doors. In comparison, it looks practically primitive.
Anyway, back to the good stuff. Even though Charlie did build icky looking buildings, there were still great views to be had and of course, the caliph's private castle and gardens.
Here's a view of the Albayzin (old Moorish quarter) and the Sacromonte (the hillsides where the Roma live). The Albayzin is where the town of Granada originated outside of the Alhambra walls. They built everything on the hillsides for defensive purposes, since the outlying plains are distinctively flat and hard to defend from a very high outcrop like the Alhambra. The typical white coloring of the houses made for somewhat sooler living spaces in the hot summers, but the green you see between the buildings is a modern occurence. Back in the day, there would have been no trees lining the narrow pathways, as water would have been preserved for more important things like feeding animals, people, crops, and of course, during prayer. The Sacromonte is mostly the steep hillsides and cave-dwellings. You can see a few of the little holes in the hills where the cave openings are. They don't like to be called gypsies, which refers to Egypt (and they clearly aren't from Egypt), so they are called Roma. The women like to shove twigs of herbs in your face as you pass them on the street. Just ignore them, even if they shout after you!
A view of the massive Renaissance Cathedral from the Alhambra... That part of Granada wasn't built until Charlie came in and decided to christianize everyone. Even all the local mosques in the Albayzin were converted to churches to placate the local public. If there's no mosques, how can you practice Islam, right? Well, that's what Charlie thought anyway.
Underneath all of the beauty are storage rooms, and apparently, this one is built in a way that you can hear whispers, even from across the giant stone walls. Aoife and I tried it out, but... it's also such a small room, that you can hear each other anyway.
These low windows were built so that one could lounge on a pillow on the floor and look out onto the landscape. What landscape you ask? Yes, well, there's Charlie again, building things in front of the original views from the Palace. So, now instead of seeing the beautiful hillsides of the Sacromonte and Albayzin, you see redwoods. Charlie's garden. It pales in comparison to the gorgeous Generalife gardens of the caliph, which Charlie kept as was.
A walkway in the gardens of the caliph. It smelled fantastic, between the roses and the myrtle.... simply heavenly!
Again, water playing a central role. Except this time, it looks a little bit more... European? Still, it was really hot and this place offered little shade. That is until you found...
...this little oasis! Palms like this are not actually that common, but it helps to have a nearby stone edifice to keep away the sun.
Nice little private getaway in the middle of the gardens. Very simple in comparison to the opulate details of the royal palace. Here, the sultan and the sultana could while away the hours of blistering heat in total bliss and privacy. It really was quite lush in its simplicity.
I had a picture of another garden leading up to the higher point of the private palace, where the remains of an ancient tree stand hanging over the garden. The tree when ripe and flowering would have had a sheltering effect, and its said that the sultana carried on secret meetings with a Christian knight under that tree. Sadly, my picture got accidentally deleted. Boo.
Another water decoration. This time in the form of a stairway that leads to a great view of Granada atop the private palace. Three sections of stairs with water running down both sides. With both the running water and the wind in the trees, it was definitely a calming effect to walk around in.
Also situated in the Alhambra is the old soldier fort, the Alcazaba. It sat on the foward most part of the hill, of course to be able to see approaching enemy forces. They had great views from the bell tower, which locals can ring on the day of something-or-other, when Granad gained independence from... somebody. But its nice to be able to know that locals are involved in the history of the city.
But here's the view from that tower...
A view of the soldier walkway from within the bell tower. And when I say bell tower, it's not like that of a church steeple. No, it's more like a large tower with a roof, where soldiers could watch, as well as stand in formation while ringing bells to warn the caliph.
Yes, yes. My four nights in Granada were well worth the heat! It's one of the more beautiful cities in Spain, even if I've only been to four cities total. Don't care. It's got its own charm, which probably dates back to the time it was founded, before even the Moors came to settle in Andalucia. I adore the tiny winding streets, the excellent wine and tapas, the lazy yet energetic atmosphere. I just don't want to ever come back in the middle of July! :)
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Granada: Chapter One
Mom - Dad - I´m coming home a lot smaller. I´ve probably sweated off about ten pounds in my first two days in Granada. If you understand Celsius - it´s 40 degrees right now and it´s eight o´clock in the evening!!!!! No wonder everyone stays out until 2 or 3 in the morning.
:) Which is exactly what I will be doing tonight! My friend Sarah, who is touring some high schoolers around Spain, is in Granada until Tuesday. She met some locals (David et al), who in turn would like to hang out with me and teach me Spanish. I´ve been speaking Spanish pretty much all day today! Between that and the sweat, I´m ready for a shower and a nap before going out tonight.
No pictures yet of anything worthy of this blog. But I thought I would update people with what´s happened so far: tapas, tinto de verano, shewermas, cerveza, and coffee. :) Got all that?
I didn´t think so. Tinto de verano is a great red wine spritzer they drink only in the summertime (de verano). It´s wine, but it doesn´t taste like it. It´s great when you´re really tired and hot and you need to sit down and relax. Cerveza is good for that too, but tinto de verano is special. The tapas are very yummy. Tortillas español - deliciosas!!!
So, hopefully I´ll have some fun pictures and some tourist pictures from tonight and Tuesday (the Alhambra). :) Other than that, I´m enjoying the little streets (that I haven´t got lost in... yet) and the company of warm-hearted people like Randi (who took me into her home while I´m here), David and Sarah.
That´s about all for now!! Time for sweaty Liz to melt away.....
:) Which is exactly what I will be doing tonight! My friend Sarah, who is touring some high schoolers around Spain, is in Granada until Tuesday. She met some locals (David et al), who in turn would like to hang out with me and teach me Spanish. I´ve been speaking Spanish pretty much all day today! Between that and the sweat, I´m ready for a shower and a nap before going out tonight.
No pictures yet of anything worthy of this blog. But I thought I would update people with what´s happened so far: tapas, tinto de verano, shewermas, cerveza, and coffee. :) Got all that?
I didn´t think so. Tinto de verano is a great red wine spritzer they drink only in the summertime (de verano). It´s wine, but it doesn´t taste like it. It´s great when you´re really tired and hot and you need to sit down and relax. Cerveza is good for that too, but tinto de verano is special. The tapas are very yummy. Tortillas español - deliciosas!!!
So, hopefully I´ll have some fun pictures and some tourist pictures from tonight and Tuesday (the Alhambra). :) Other than that, I´m enjoying the little streets (that I haven´t got lost in... yet) and the company of warm-hearted people like Randi (who took me into her home while I´m here), David and Sarah.
That´s about all for now!! Time for sweaty Liz to melt away.....
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Wisconsin/Illinois
I have no chapters for this part of my trip, since I leave tomorrow and have the time now to post my entire visit to the Midwest.
So, Wisconsin and Illinois are very humid and hot in the summer. Who knew. Basically, I got in to Midway around midnight and would have been sweating if Emily hadn't have been right there as I walked outside. We got back to her place around 2am and poor Shayne had to be up for work at 4am, so by the time I woke up at 11am, he was already back from work. Emily and I went out for the afternoon and he went back to bed for a long nap. :)
Sunday: Emily and I picked up her friend, Amanda. We drove up to Milwaukee to go to a craft fair. But this was no gray-haired doilies and quilted mitten craft fair... Oh no! This was a fair I could sink my teeth into. And did! (Sorry wallet...) They had really cool printwork, either on clothes or buttons or tableware. There were jewelry makers, made from iron or bronze or tin. There were the organic candle people. There was a co-op clothing rack. There were really funky laptop bags that looked like furry monsters. Awesomeness all around. I spent fifty bucks, which is so easy to do at a fair like that, it's really not funny.
I bought a T-shirt and a headband. The T-shirt is brown with a yellow print design on the front. But the shirt fabric is really soft and I could see myself walking around Spain with this T-shirt on. The headband is blue print fabric, but what impressed me was that the band didn't feel tight at all. It was just enough pressure that I could remember I was wearing a headband, but not so much pressure that I had a headache in five minutes. Both the vendors were really sweet and I got cards, if anyone's interested in their stuff. Amanda also bought a headband and some buttons. Emily bought a coinpurse and a T-shirt.
Then, we headed back to spend some time in the pool. Sigh. Genius idea and totally worth it since it was... hot and humid like always.
The three girls in the pool. I had to buy a new swimsuit because I forgot to pack one!
Then, after a nice dip in the not-so-cold water, we went over to Progress Days. Now, in the country (and I do mean country), towns like to have little summer festivals. Singing, beer, brats, carnival rides, baseball games, fireworks, etc. Well, Progress Days is this region's version of that. :) We basically sat in the beer tent (more like a hay-holding structure) and listened to country music (sung by a blond ten year old) and watched the baseball game and cracked jokes.
I had to drink Mike's Lemonade because the only beer they had was Miller. Ugh.
Emily scarfing down a funnel cake. I stuck to the fried potatoes.
This was the blond high-pitched girlie who "sang" country. But then again, novelty goes a long way and people loved her. Except our table. :)
After the fireworks (dejavu?), we dropped Amanda off at her house before heading over to Lumpy's. Yes, I said Lumpy's. It's the bar Emily and Shayne like to hang out at. Should we have gone to Knockers? They're real thinkers around these parts when it comes to bar names. Anyway, my mission was to drink Shayne under the table. Well... it sorta happened. I definitely held my own. But I was drinking much thicker beer than he was. He had like five Miller's to my three Hefs. But maybe that makes us about even. And we each had three Jaegerbombs. Needless to say, I got sloshed. But at least Shayne was the only one to get up and do karaoke. Giggle.
I love how I look better in this picture. Kidding Em!
Emily won a free drink and a hat after correctly guessing who sang "Wishing Well" and "Sign Your Name". Any takers?
Could Shayne be anymore Joey Tribbiani-esque? How YOU doin'?
We slept off our respective drunken tendencies. No hangover on my side of the fence. But then again, I've been blessed in that arena. Yesterday, we woke up late and decided not to go into Chicago, which was probably wise. We drove over to Silver Lake since it was hot again. But while we were there, the sky started to get a little too dark for our comfort.
This little guy stopped by and stayed for like... thirty minutes. He's my new pet. I will squeeze him and love him and name him George!
Notice how nobody is in the water behind us. They pulled everyone out since thunder and lightning were on their way.
We spent the brunt of the rain and wind and thunder in Emily's car eating Dairy Queen. I heart Wisconsin. We then got dry and dressed and went to see "License To Wed". I adore John Kraczinsky, but Robin Williams kinda fell flat. John stole a lot of scenes actually. But the credits were worth it - all kinds of bloopers. Great stuff... After that, dinner at Applebee's. Shayne and I discovered that we don't want our danglies to be in our crumblies. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, that's very OK and probably better for your sanity.
Then, we went bowling. Oh, the tragedy! My worst bowling scores to date: 74 and 65! Dismal indeed, but I did beat Shayne in the first game. :)
I think Shayne caught Emily looking at my ass. Can't blame her...
I had to have the shoes with the neon green laces. En fuego!
Here's Emily trying out a little rumpshake before bowling. It didn't help her game.... :(
What's on the menu for today, you ask? Sushi. We're going out to lunch and then hitting up Wal-Mart (against my better judgment) for all my purchasing needs. It kinda sucks, but where else am I going to find batteries, a Nalgene water bottle and chapstick? In Wisconsin no less. Then, I leave tomorrow for Frankfurt and the adventure continues....
So, Wisconsin and Illinois are very humid and hot in the summer. Who knew. Basically, I got in to Midway around midnight and would have been sweating if Emily hadn't have been right there as I walked outside. We got back to her place around 2am and poor Shayne had to be up for work at 4am, so by the time I woke up at 11am, he was already back from work. Emily and I went out for the afternoon and he went back to bed for a long nap. :)
Sunday: Emily and I picked up her friend, Amanda. We drove up to Milwaukee to go to a craft fair. But this was no gray-haired doilies and quilted mitten craft fair... Oh no! This was a fair I could sink my teeth into. And did! (Sorry wallet...) They had really cool printwork, either on clothes or buttons or tableware. There were jewelry makers, made from iron or bronze or tin. There were the organic candle people. There was a co-op clothing rack. There were really funky laptop bags that looked like furry monsters. Awesomeness all around. I spent fifty bucks, which is so easy to do at a fair like that, it's really not funny.
I bought a T-shirt and a headband. The T-shirt is brown with a yellow print design on the front. But the shirt fabric is really soft and I could see myself walking around Spain with this T-shirt on. The headband is blue print fabric, but what impressed me was that the band didn't feel tight at all. It was just enough pressure that I could remember I was wearing a headband, but not so much pressure that I had a headache in five minutes. Both the vendors were really sweet and I got cards, if anyone's interested in their stuff. Amanda also bought a headband and some buttons. Emily bought a coinpurse and a T-shirt.
Then, we headed back to spend some time in the pool. Sigh. Genius idea and totally worth it since it was... hot and humid like always.
The three girls in the pool. I had to buy a new swimsuit because I forgot to pack one!
Then, after a nice dip in the not-so-cold water, we went over to Progress Days. Now, in the country (and I do mean country), towns like to have little summer festivals. Singing, beer, brats, carnival rides, baseball games, fireworks, etc. Well, Progress Days is this region's version of that. :) We basically sat in the beer tent (more like a hay-holding structure) and listened to country music (sung by a blond ten year old) and watched the baseball game and cracked jokes.
I had to drink Mike's Lemonade because the only beer they had was Miller. Ugh.
Emily scarfing down a funnel cake. I stuck to the fried potatoes.
This was the blond high-pitched girlie who "sang" country. But then again, novelty goes a long way and people loved her. Except our table. :)
After the fireworks (dejavu?), we dropped Amanda off at her house before heading over to Lumpy's. Yes, I said Lumpy's. It's the bar Emily and Shayne like to hang out at. Should we have gone to Knockers? They're real thinkers around these parts when it comes to bar names. Anyway, my mission was to drink Shayne under the table. Well... it sorta happened. I definitely held my own. But I was drinking much thicker beer than he was. He had like five Miller's to my three Hefs. But maybe that makes us about even. And we each had three Jaegerbombs. Needless to say, I got sloshed. But at least Shayne was the only one to get up and do karaoke. Giggle.
I love how I look better in this picture. Kidding Em!
Emily won a free drink and a hat after correctly guessing who sang "Wishing Well" and "Sign Your Name". Any takers?
Could Shayne be anymore Joey Tribbiani-esque? How YOU doin'?
We slept off our respective drunken tendencies. No hangover on my side of the fence. But then again, I've been blessed in that arena. Yesterday, we woke up late and decided not to go into Chicago, which was probably wise. We drove over to Silver Lake since it was hot again. But while we were there, the sky started to get a little too dark for our comfort.
This little guy stopped by and stayed for like... thirty minutes. He's my new pet. I will squeeze him and love him and name him George!
Notice how nobody is in the water behind us. They pulled everyone out since thunder and lightning were on their way.
We spent the brunt of the rain and wind and thunder in Emily's car eating Dairy Queen. I heart Wisconsin. We then got dry and dressed and went to see "License To Wed". I adore John Kraczinsky, but Robin Williams kinda fell flat. John stole a lot of scenes actually. But the credits were worth it - all kinds of bloopers. Great stuff... After that, dinner at Applebee's. Shayne and I discovered that we don't want our danglies to be in our crumblies. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, that's very OK and probably better for your sanity.
Then, we went bowling. Oh, the tragedy! My worst bowling scores to date: 74 and 65! Dismal indeed, but I did beat Shayne in the first game. :)
I think Shayne caught Emily looking at my ass. Can't blame her...
I had to have the shoes with the neon green laces. En fuego!
Here's Emily trying out a little rumpshake before bowling. It didn't help her game.... :(
What's on the menu for today, you ask? Sushi. We're going out to lunch and then hitting up Wal-Mart (against my better judgment) for all my purchasing needs. It kinda sucks, but where else am I going to find batteries, a Nalgene water bottle and chapstick? In Wisconsin no less. Then, I leave tomorrow for Frankfurt and the adventure continues....
Colorado Springs: Chapter Two
So, the 4th of July went well. Then came Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday was spent sleeping in and relaxing. Michael and Alycia were very good hang-out partners while Thayne was at work. In fact, I'm invited back to the Springs around Thanksgiving time. Why? Because the whole group of friends got along with me. Which is unusual - apparently, there's always at least one of the friends who doesn't like someone new. But not me! I'm special... :)
Friday, Thayne and I went out to dinner with Lori and Colleen (Lori is Thayne's Mom). We've always gotten along, so it was really good to see them! Colleen looked great - as she is now the head basketball coach! They were about to head up to Canada (Lake something or other) and have a little log cabin get-away = fishing, eating, sleeping. Rinse, wash, repeat. But I guess up at that lake in particular, you catch your own food. But the food at Zio's was delish!
As was the mini-golf afterwards! I tied Thayne, Lori beat Colleen by one point. But I think that's an unfair advantage: Lori golfs more regularly than the rest of us. But mini-golf is always fun - except if you forget your camera there. Oops. At least I remembered where it was the next day before heading to the airport... Ha!
Here's Lori putting through an active volcano.
Thayne putting. If he didn't make the hole, he did this little frustrated dance. Hard to get a good picture of a jerking leg and fist.
Thayne and I fencing. Notice I'm protecting my very important body parts.
Sorry it's not right side up, but we decided to look cute with our golf putters for once.
After mini-golf, Thayne was talking to his friend Tim for a bit. I put my headphones on since it seemed to be a not-so-light conversation. He seemed really tired after that phone call, so it was just Michael and me who went to the hookah bar. It was then that I noticed I didn't have my camera with me. Hence, no cool photos of anyone blowing smoke. And yes, smoke is cool, but only hookah. Met some of Michael's friends, who tried to teach me how to blow O's, but the sexual connotations were too much for me to handle. So, I failed miserably.
It was great to get out and meet people but feel relaxed at the same time. And anyone who can go out and smoke hookah is a friend of mine. (Jacob, Shawn - are you reading this?) That was a late night, but completely worth it. Michael and I stayed up and watched an episode of "The OC" - to which Michael is addicted. Go figure. But Saturday morning came around, so Thayne and I had to leave to go see "Transformers"!!!!!
F**king awesome!! I would see it ten times over, the special effects were so out of this world! And Shia is becoming his own little rockstar. Thayne liked the girl of course... But they kept the original sound the Transformers make when they're transforming. Also, they kept the very cheesy way of speaking the Autobots have - especially when Prime and Megatron are sparring. But the human humor was great - Anthony Anderson anyone? Giggle. Go see it! It's the best kind of blockbuster summer movie! And you'll be singing the old-school theme song in your head as you leave the cinema.
And then, I had to leave. :(
My flight to Chicago was uneventful. Peanuts, headphones, darkness. I worried that I couldn't get a hold of Emily since my phone was truly dead and out of batteries. But I got my backpack, waddled outside (man, was it humid!) and Emily was right there. Just pulling up to my exact corner. What rockstars we are!
Friday, Thayne and I went out to dinner with Lori and Colleen (Lori is Thayne's Mom). We've always gotten along, so it was really good to see them! Colleen looked great - as she is now the head basketball coach! They were about to head up to Canada (Lake something or other) and have a little log cabin get-away = fishing, eating, sleeping. Rinse, wash, repeat. But I guess up at that lake in particular, you catch your own food. But the food at Zio's was delish!
As was the mini-golf afterwards! I tied Thayne, Lori beat Colleen by one point. But I think that's an unfair advantage: Lori golfs more regularly than the rest of us. But mini-golf is always fun - except if you forget your camera there. Oops. At least I remembered where it was the next day before heading to the airport... Ha!
Here's Lori putting through an active volcano.
Thayne putting. If he didn't make the hole, he did this little frustrated dance. Hard to get a good picture of a jerking leg and fist.
Thayne and I fencing. Notice I'm protecting my very important body parts.
Sorry it's not right side up, but we decided to look cute with our golf putters for once.
After mini-golf, Thayne was talking to his friend Tim for a bit. I put my headphones on since it seemed to be a not-so-light conversation. He seemed really tired after that phone call, so it was just Michael and me who went to the hookah bar. It was then that I noticed I didn't have my camera with me. Hence, no cool photos of anyone blowing smoke. And yes, smoke is cool, but only hookah. Met some of Michael's friends, who tried to teach me how to blow O's, but the sexual connotations were too much for me to handle. So, I failed miserably.
It was great to get out and meet people but feel relaxed at the same time. And anyone who can go out and smoke hookah is a friend of mine. (Jacob, Shawn - are you reading this?) That was a late night, but completely worth it. Michael and I stayed up and watched an episode of "The OC" - to which Michael is addicted. Go figure. But Saturday morning came around, so Thayne and I had to leave to go see "Transformers"!!!!!
F**king awesome!! I would see it ten times over, the special effects were so out of this world! And Shia is becoming his own little rockstar. Thayne liked the girl of course... But they kept the original sound the Transformers make when they're transforming. Also, they kept the very cheesy way of speaking the Autobots have - especially when Prime and Megatron are sparring. But the human humor was great - Anthony Anderson anyone? Giggle. Go see it! It's the best kind of blockbuster summer movie! And you'll be singing the old-school theme song in your head as you leave the cinema.
And then, I had to leave. :(
My flight to Chicago was uneventful. Peanuts, headphones, darkness. I worried that I couldn't get a hold of Emily since my phone was truly dead and out of batteries. But I got my backpack, waddled outside (man, was it humid!) and Emily was right there. Just pulling up to my exact corner. What rockstars we are!
Friday, July 6, 2007
Colorado Springs: Interlude
Just wanted to say hi to everyone reading this. And make some corrections.
So, hello to Mom, Dad, Fern, Jen, Thayne (you're sitting in the other room), Marie, Jesse, Alexei, Ian, the other Ian, Emily (you're next!), Shawna, Devin, Kim, Bryan, Peter (you better be reading this!), Felix, Niclas, Theresa, Scott, Jennifer, and Stephen.
Name corrections from chapter one: Marin not Maren, Alycia not Alysia. Hi to all the new CS friends too! CS = Colorado Springs, not couchsurfing....
I should probably also say thanks to the parents for being very supportive and fabulous! I'm old enough to live my own life, but you two remind me that while age sometimes matters, it's also about what you have in your head. And sometimes I have nothing... so thanks for filling me up!
So, hello to Mom, Dad, Fern, Jen, Thayne (you're sitting in the other room), Marie, Jesse, Alexei, Ian, the other Ian, Emily (you're next!), Shawna, Devin, Kim, Bryan, Peter (you better be reading this!), Felix, Niclas, Theresa, Scott, Jennifer, and Stephen.
Name corrections from chapter one: Marin not Maren, Alycia not Alysia. Hi to all the new CS friends too! CS = Colorado Springs, not couchsurfing....
I should probably also say thanks to the parents for being very supportive and fabulous! I'm old enough to live my own life, but you two remind me that while age sometimes matters, it's also about what you have in your head. And sometimes I have nothing... so thanks for filling me up!
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Colorado Springs: Chapter One
My flight into Colorado Springs was a pretty good non-event. There were some lovebirds sitting in the row in front of me. I thank God for the day he made iPods! Not just because of the lovebirds, but because of the kids sitting next to me. Praise the Lord for window seats and pillows! But the flight arrived early, so I definitely didn't expect Thayne to pick me up anytime soon. Little did I know that he got lost driving to the airport. Apparently, in darkness and without mountains, Colorado is a tough state to navigate.
So we finally got back into the Springs after midnight and quickly fell asleep. We both woke up to the alarm clock and proceeded to sleep-in. Not bad for Liz, bad for Thayne. Late to work is an oops. Tuesday was a great day for more Liz recovery time (I'm only today getting through a head cold). I stayed inside, watched TV, slept - all was right with the world. Thayne had rehearsal after work and then an improv show at Club Q. The improv show didn't impress a lot of the audience (me excluded), but the conversation outside on the patio afterwards was grrrreat! (No, the Sudafed and Hefeweizen didn't have anything to do with that!) And Thayne's Mom and Colleen showed up, which was nice. We set up a date for Friday night to have dinner. Smiley Liz!
Yesterday, Thayne and I slept in. But Thayne didn't get in trouble because he didn't have to work (yeah for holidays!). We spent the afternoon at Angie's apartment, where we ate yummy hamburgers, brats, potato chips, pasta salad, deviled eggs - need I go on? And needless to say, everybody was laughing and having fun because of the other great American July 4th tradition - beer! It had been raining most of the afternoon and early evening, so we weren't sure if the fireworks show was going to happen on schedule or not. Luckily, it stopped raining just in time. Although, it was a tad cloudy (they called it fog, but what do they know?), so we didn't get to see everything too clearly. But hey - they're fireworks...
Here are some pictures of my July Fourth:
This is Michael. He stole my sunglasses. I hate to say it, but he looks good in them.
The vibe was laid-back.
Angie and Alysia having a conversational moment.
A dance party to celebrate all the people in the room who can't get pregnant.
Michael being mischievous with a disposable camera. Maren not digging it.
I threw the frisbee around with Thayne, but he wanted to play with someone else after I pulled off some pretty amazing catches. Snicker...
So Angie obliged. I think her catching stance needs a little improvement. What do you think?
Yes, all in all, it was a good night. Liz made some new friends, had yummy food and beer, and got to sleep on the couch. I mean, seriously, can my life get any better?
Actually yeah, I'd probably change the couch part of the equation. :)
More to come...
So we finally got back into the Springs after midnight and quickly fell asleep. We both woke up to the alarm clock and proceeded to sleep-in. Not bad for Liz, bad for Thayne. Late to work is an oops. Tuesday was a great day for more Liz recovery time (I'm only today getting through a head cold). I stayed inside, watched TV, slept - all was right with the world. Thayne had rehearsal after work and then an improv show at Club Q. The improv show didn't impress a lot of the audience (me excluded), but the conversation outside on the patio afterwards was grrrreat! (No, the Sudafed and Hefeweizen didn't have anything to do with that!) And Thayne's Mom and Colleen showed up, which was nice. We set up a date for Friday night to have dinner. Smiley Liz!
Yesterday, Thayne and I slept in. But Thayne didn't get in trouble because he didn't have to work (yeah for holidays!). We spent the afternoon at Angie's apartment, where we ate yummy hamburgers, brats, potato chips, pasta salad, deviled eggs - need I go on? And needless to say, everybody was laughing and having fun because of the other great American July 4th tradition - beer! It had been raining most of the afternoon and early evening, so we weren't sure if the fireworks show was going to happen on schedule or not. Luckily, it stopped raining just in time. Although, it was a tad cloudy (they called it fog, but what do they know?), so we didn't get to see everything too clearly. But hey - they're fireworks...
Here are some pictures of my July Fourth:
This is Michael. He stole my sunglasses. I hate to say it, but he looks good in them.
The vibe was laid-back.
Angie and Alysia having a conversational moment.
A dance party to celebrate all the people in the room who can't get pregnant.
Michael being mischievous with a disposable camera. Maren not digging it.
I threw the frisbee around with Thayne, but he wanted to play with someone else after I pulled off some pretty amazing catches. Snicker...
So Angie obliged. I think her catching stance needs a little improvement. What do you think?
Yes, all in all, it was a good night. Liz made some new friends, had yummy food and beer, and got to sleep on the couch. I mean, seriously, can my life get any better?
Actually yeah, I'd probably change the couch part of the equation. :)
More to come...
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