PDX Layover

I’ve traveled frequently in the last several months, but for some reason they didn’t feel like things I wanted to write about. Portland explorations have been occupying most of my time, mixed in with my work trips. My new home base is in Northeast, an ideal start point for wanderings through Portland’s many neighborhoods. Hollywood, Alberta, Belmont, Ladd’s, and Kerns, to name a few, have lured me on adventures. Work has sent me to Ohio, Texas, up to Washington, out to Quebec… but as I sit here in the Delta lounge at PDX (Portland International Airport), I’m waiting for my first “vacation” in almost a year to take off. A trip entirely unattached to work or a holiday.

It's true, we love it in Oregon!

Amtrak Cascades

I think it has been 15+ years since I was last on a train in the USA. A few weeks ago I took the train from Portland to Mt Vernon as an alternative to driving home. It is a little slower thanks to frequent stops, but flies at 80 mph through the segments that are slow on I-5. The route is also different, winding along the water in the South Sound and through the farms in the Green River valley. The sun set by the time the Amtrak Cascades actually neared the Cascades, but the view through the South Sound was beautiful.

"We leave when the bus is full," and other travelling lessons

One of the first things I noticed about Peru wasn't its architecture, or its food, or its smell. It was the traffic. At 8pm it was worse than downtown Paris, with even less space to maneuver. Peruvians don't drive exclusively with their horns, but they could not drive without them, either. Besides the constant beeps and beep-beeps (there is a difference), we also had to be wary of "unofficial" taxis, stoplight robbery, and getting on a Colectivo that was leaving soon(ish). It took us a little while to figure the system out.

official taxi, or "pirate" cab? (photo by Jone)

Sleeping (?) in Airports

I'm finally en-route to Lima, Peru, where Jone is waiting for me. Already I've learned that even modern air travel in central America has its own flavor. Not so much "hurry up and wait," as just "wait." I'm in the San Salvador airport, sandwiched between a cluster of people on their cell phones and a mob of name-tagged LDS missionaries sipping coke and munching snacks. The only flight from here to Lima leaves in about 7 hours. My flight from San Francisco to here left at 1:25am. To get through the day, I figured I needed to sleep while I could. A good decision, as it turns out the San Salvador airport is a little cramped. Here's the solution I came up with at SFO:

It took a little while to find somewhere quiet but public. My pillow tucked neatly into the hood of my coat, with everything important underneath. An alarm to make sure I didn't miss my flight, and ear plugs to block out the frequent announcements. Not bad for an hour of the 1.5 hours I hoped to sleep through!

On the Road Again - à Québec!

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A week after getting home from Europe, I was underway again heading East. For those who don't know, while I was in Europe I got a job offer from Innovmetric. They build a software that interprets laser scan or probe data and generates geometry for either verification (checking that your part is within tolerance) or reverse engineering (making a digital version of a 3D object). To get trained on the software, I had to take a trip to Canada. Quebec City, to be precise. 

Euskal Herria

People ask me why I keep going back to the same places (Basque Country, Germany, Europe in general), our for that matter, why travel? I think my reasoning breakdown looks like this: 40% friends (old and new!), 40% food, 20% culture, history, and all that good stuff.

Trip hangover...

I just set the background on my computer to be photos from the trip. I was distracted for the 2 weeks (okay, more like a month) before Mom and I left, and I think that Mom hoped that I would have less "Fernweh" (in english we would say Wanderlust, but that isn't even really a word in German!) when we got back. It didn't work. The memories are swirling around my head and making me want to go back even more. Sometimes I think that it would have been easier for me to never have gone to Germany 4 years ago- maybe then this feeling would just be a vague curiosity of what is on the other side of the world. I think that you can fall in love with places, but it is the people who you meet there that bring those places to life. 

Even so, I feel like part of me is being pulled back to Austria, Germany, the Czech, and the Basque Country... I know that I need to finish a second year at Janicki Industries and that a lot could happen in the next 11 months, but that will never keep me from dreaming! Maybe I need to find an engineering internship in central Europe! The only other problem (besides the fact that I have a good job here) is that I really am loving living so close to my family. They are fantastic, and Washington is a great place to live. I know that this nomadic life will wear down on me eventually.  Pulling up and putting down roots spread out around the world is emotionally exhausting. I really do need to share life with people who are close to me and who I trust. Unhappiness is the only result of wanting it both ways, so how can I best discipline myself to be happy wherever I am?

Our adventure in pictures

I finally uploaded our pictures to Picasa!

To view the album directly, check out the album online here.

Map of our Adventures

I like google maps- here is roughly our route for the past two weeks! It isn't quite finished yet, but we're up to Firenze/Florence...


View Ana and Rebecca's Adventures in a larger map

Home again...

My laptop was stolen in Vienna (one of the safest large cities on earth!) so I am currently without my picture loading software, but rather than bore everyone with pages of text and pictures I will post photo albums from the last few weeks on the Photo Gallery page in the next few days. Otherwise, it would take forever to sort it all!
In any case, Ana and I have survived our adventures and have many stories to tell...

Wien, take 4

Ana and I are finally in Vienna! We have met up with Tim Irving (a friend from home) and a korean girl we met on the train for an afternoon tour of downtown. Went out for a last sachertorte with Viennese coffee and later a kebab... Can't believe that tomorrow's is our last day! I picked up my bags from the hostel, except for the one with my laptop and important documents... Hopefully it is found before we leave!

Travels so far (Paris-Basque Country)

That was getting a little long, so here is the second part of our week in overview

Bas took us to Hallum (where Opa's family came from) in the morning and then dropped us off at the train station in Leeuwarden. We spent the afternoon going to Paris, with a short layover in Brussels on our way.

Mylene and her friend Aman picked us up in Paris and treated us to a FANTASTIC 3 course French dinner (i ate frogs legs while sipping Bordeaux and watching the Eiffel tower sparkle) and a driving tour of Paris by night, complete with drop off service at our cute little hostel.

oh blast, I am out of time. More to come!

Hola from Barca! (Venice-Netherlands)

I am currently sitting on the computer at our hostel in Barcelona- we walked from the bus station last night between 11:00 and 12:00 through a still very busy La Rambla to this funky little place in the Gothic Quarter really close to the water end of Barcelona's busiest shopping street. The internet connection is decent and nobody is in line, so I will try to upload a few pictures and let you see our who/what/where of the last few days. Hard to believe that it has already been a week!

 First stop: Venice, where I ran around the city with George, Erin, and Mr Madden for a day and a half... (click read more)




 Then on to Fulda (via Frankfurt Hann airport, which is not in Frankfurt). I hung out with Anne Stein for a few days- brought back a lot of old memories and made some new ones!

6 trains after Fulda I was finally in Amsterdam. The next morning I met Ana at Schiphol airport and we ran around the city for the day... 

... and from there, to Harlingen the next morning. Bas and Rik picked us up at the station and then turned the two of us loose to explore the city

Ana+Poffertjes

Oma and Opa- the Mast is finished!

gallivanting with sheep on the dijk

Thanks again to Bas, Rik, and Max!

Tolosa!

We just spent two days with the Amonarriz family celebrating Grandma´s birthday, visiting pre-historic caves, walking through Donostia/San Sebastian with ginormous ice cream cones, eating too much good food, driving through Basque villages, and taking evening bike rides through Tolosa- today, a visit to San Fermin in Pamplona/iruña (and giving mz flatmate Mikel back his contact lenses) and then to Barcelona for two days. Ana and I had so much fun in Paris and the Netherlands. She is a great travel buddy!

Much love from the Basque country, -becks (and ana)

Paris!

Mylene and a friend of hers picked us up at the train station last night and treated to an a,azing dinner and tour of the city... Ana and I just zoke up and are going to explore it on foot all day; tonight on to the Basque Country!
much love, drop us a note- wikes i need to figure out these French kewboqrds!
PS the Netherlands were FANTASTIC!

Hi from Fulda

Hi all- just a note to let you know that I am still alive and in Fulda with Anna Stein! I had a great time with half of the Madden family in Venice, can't wait to see Ana in a few days!

Goodbye Graz

I have not really had time to be sad about leaving Graz- everything is has happened so fast here that even sitting on the train (with a roller duffel, small duffel, and two large backpacks) on my way from Graz to Vienna for the last time still seems like just another part of my routine. 

Even though the last week has been "normal," there are so many moments that stand out as having been really exceptional. Like Monday night, when Ruth and I made a quick trip to meet some of our new Austrian friends at a pub and ended up hanging out and watching a movie for the entire evening. Or last night, when the same three guys (+Maria!) came over, and Basti made us Kaiserschmarrn. Christoph brought Maria and I "goodbye Austria survival" gifts of Manner Schnitte and Mozartkugeln. In Maria's words, "unglaublich," unbelievable! 

Basti, Maria, Peter, Christoph, and me- last goodbye!

I have also managed to say goodbye to so many friends, spend an entire day hiking in the Vorberge (foothills), fail my first university exam (and therefore the class), score an A on an oral history exam, 

sell my bicycle (for the same amount I bought it for!), go for one last coffee at Café Binder, and move out of my apartment.

On Tuesday I escaped to the edge of Graz and hiked up the castle ruins which have been tempting me since I first arrived in Graz.... (click Read more)Ruine Gösting's foundationd date back to the 13th century and are free to wander through, including the chapel and the tower. From the small Gasthaus terrasse you have a fantastic view down the Mur valley and over Graz. I spent an hour wandering through dark chambers and crumbling walls. The Auer family, owners of a bread kingdom in Graz, have plans to do some rennovation and plant vines on the hillside. I think it will be worth a trip back!

Hrvatska day 2 - Zagreb

Goodbye, Hostel Elena!

I left my four hostel-mates soundly sleeping when I rolled out at 7 am Sunday morning. It turned out that a slightly later bus was a bit cheaper and got me there only ten minutes later, so I bought my ticket and then walked across the street and got some breakfast at the supermarket. On the bus I had a chance to talk with a lady from London who was an expert in applied linguistics. I explained that I had found my lessons and discussions on language and culture more interesting than my civil engineering internships had been and asked what sorts of opportunities there were for linguists. She laughed and said there wasn't much, that most become teachers, the pay wasn't great but at least you got to travel (if you liked that sort of thing), and asked how the outlook was for civil engineers. It was little bit of a wake-up call for me. Yes, I am loving languages and cultures right now and could be perfectly happy living off of oatmeal for the rest of my life, but is that enough compared to the stability of a career position with a city or civil engineering firm? At the same time, I don't know whether having a desk job with my signature on legal design documents scares me more or the idea of being in one place for more than a year or two.

Best guides ever!

Ana was waiting for me at the bus station when we pulled in at 12:30. We drove to her house and she fed me cherries Turkish coffee (unfiltered caffeine) and then turned me loose to explore the city while she finished up a German report. Zagreb was not what I had expected. Sunday afternoon and about half of the shops were closed, but all of the restaurants were open and the streets were full of people and a soap box derby and a 3-on-3 basketball tournament. There was music and laughing and the buzzing of mopeds- so much more lively than Sunday in Graz!
Ana met up with me at later in the afternoon and we had dinner at one of the restaurants just up the hill from the main square. A little while later we met her boyfriend and the two of them gave me a walking tour of downtown, complete with a lesson in recent history, from the breakup of Yugoslavia to the acceptance of Croatia into the EU which had been announced two days before. When it started to get dark we walked down to a pub on one of the streets that were filled with them and spent the rest of the evening swapping stories over Croatian beers.
It was the first time that I had talked with people my own age who had experienced their country at war, and one of Ana's boyfriend's stories made me smile. He was staying at the home of a Serbian for a debate tournament in high school and went to brush his teeth. As he pulled out his toothpaste his host came in with a machete and asked "what, is our toothpaste not good enough for you?" - and then they both started laughing. "It is so great to be able to joke like that with a Serbian," he said.
If you get a chance, I definitely recommend a trip to Croatia. You will be stunned by how clear the waters are, warmed by how friendly, welcoming, and quick to laugh the people are, and drowned in the thousands of years of history.

A day on the Croatian Coast

For the past week or so I had been debating where to go over the long weekend. I facebooked a classmate from Croatia, and she sold me on her home country. I was at first going to go with some other girls, but they had other trips planned or school assignments (some people here actually have to study) so I got on the bus at 10:00 with just my backpack. My shoulder bag stuffed with a jacket made a perfect  pillow, and I slept remarkably well considering. The bus was unloaded at the Slovenian border sometime around 2 am for passport control. A few minutes later a Croatian border guard walked through the bus, and we were officially admitted into Croatia.
Besides a short stop at a rest station (with a meters long line for the bathroom), I the next thing I distinctly remember is blearily asking the fellow next to me if the bus leader had just announced that we were in Zadar. At 5 am I stumbled off the bus, asked a taxi driver which direction town was, and walked through the gate as the sun hit the islands. My first hours in Zadar were spent walking along the white stone promenade and through the city. There is a "sea organ"built along the wall which is "played" by the waves as they roll in. The rhythmic splashing of the water was turned into chords which were quiet and peaceful in the morning and louder when the breeze picked up in the evening. You can listen to it on the Videos page. (click Read more)



By seven the market was starting to buzz. Zadar has a special fish market built inside the city walls and full of the local catches. Raw fish didn't sound so great for breakfast so I visited two bakery stands to satiate my grumbling stomach. It was even more fun at the fruit stands, where I tried to explain to the apricot lady that I only wanted one piece of fruit, but ended up with one kilo! The currency in Croatia is the Kuna, which was trading at about 7,5 Kn : €1. Even in a tourist town like Zadar, everything runs cheaper. Boutique gelato cones are 6 Kn (€0,81 vs Graz, €1,10), a gourmet cappuccino 10 Kn (€1,35 vs Graz, €2,50-€3).
At 8-ish I stumbled across my lodging, Hostel Elena, and decided to give it a shot even though I was not technically supposed to check in until 12:00. The owner greeted me at the door, showed me to the bathroom so I could freshen up and change clothes, let me deposit my heavy backpack in the office, and then led me up to the kitchen on the top floor and put a pot of water on for tea for me, since it was still so early that I probably didn't want to go see the city yet. The hostel was full of English, Aussie, and American students/recent graduates.
My morning/afternoon consisted of walks through the harbor, a Franciscan monestary/museum, a ride across the harbor from one of the "Boatmen of Zadar" in his bright orange boat (rowed standing up), finishing my history class reading at a cafe, sun-bathing on the wharf and beach, visiting the archeology museum, catching one of the Zadar sunsets over the islands made famous by Alfred Hitchcock, and my first Casablanca at the Garden. Why is it that when I finally find my ultimate club I am travelling alone? Relaxed music, bean-bag chairs and pillows stacked on benches, overlooking the harbor from the top of the city wall. Dreamy!

Hi from Zadar!

The last 12 hours have been CRAZY! I learned how to make Helva from Mediha, had some fun conversations with little old Austrian ladies while we waited for our 40 minute late bus, got my passport stamped by the Slovenians while the Croatians only glanced at it, and stumbled off of said bus at 5 am this morning in time to hike into town and see the sun rise on the islands near Zadar. So lovely here!
More to come- Ana has invited me to stay with her in Zagreb tomorrow night!
Miss you all, leave me a comment!