We arrived in India on December 12th... here is our first chapter. We traveled from Goa to Hampi via open air train. Caroline, my b-fri from Texas, and our good friend Jason, who David taught with in Hong Kong, were with us, so we were a foursome. We got off at Hospet, where we were informed by a gaggle of rickshaw drivers that there was a sugarcane strike blocking the road to Hampi, and that the only way to reach it was to go around a bit, and then back through some canals, adding an extra 100 rupees to the bill. [View Full Entry]

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This blog is way late!!! let's see if I can remember the details of our 14 days in Egypt. Our flight got into Cairo pretty late, which is always the worst time to land in a city. We were warmly welcomed into our first African country by dozens of loud, pushy touts wanting to help us get to our hotel. We finally found a cabbie to take us in his rickety ol' black and white 50's style cab. Our hotel, the The Carlton, with it's tall ceilings, dark wood paneling, marble floors, and dim lighting, was extremely reminiscent of the Addams [View Full Entry]

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Thanksgiving in Turkey???...Yes, we ate turkey, and lots of kofta too. During our two fabulous weeks in Istanbul, we were completely captivated and charmed by it's bustling culture, beautiful religion, and energetic people. Our wonderfully gracious and generous host, Jamie, who we met at the yoga/rhythm retreat in Italy, put us up in his comfortable apartment with an amazing view of the Golden Horn and Old City, and equipped us with all the necessary maps, guides, and a list of Turkish words to help us fit in. Dave was especially good at picking up the language, and was often mistaken for [View Full Entry]

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After a brief stop on the island of Corfu, we had a quick 3 day stop in Athens...just enough time to see the major sites and eat lots of scrumptious Greek food. Day 1: We spent our first day wandering around, and stumbled upon the world's bloodiest market, the Agora-Athens Central market. The market itself was a series of covered tunnels with flourescent lighting and the unmistakable stench of fresh blood. The market was jammed packed with locals buying their weeks worth of meat. The butchers were especially scary as they yelled at the top of their lungs about the superiority [View Full Entry]

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We spent 23 relaxing days in Croatia. First stop, the tiny village of Beli on the island of Cres. The perfect escape from civilization. Croatia had just entered the "off season", but it was totally on for us! We stayed in the idyllic Tramontana Pension, where our two lovely hostesses, Nina and Anna, served us nightly meals and served us cold beer. Our only choices were "meats, fich, or squids", all fresh and local...the way we should all eat! We were the only ones staying in the pension, so Dave was able to beat his tabla to his heart's content. We [View Full Entry]

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Ahh Italy...land of food and wine...and people who should NOT be in the tourist industry. I've been dreaming of Italy ever since my 6th grade history project, where I paper-mached a 3-D boot and cooked my classmates spaghetti and served them sparkling grape juice. Here's a brief account of our lovely 23 days in Italy. First Stop - Lago de Como I wanted to run into Clooney, but he was nowhere to be found. We stayed in a tiny room with bunkbeds behind the bus station for 48 Euros/night (worth about 2). We had a free breakfast each morning, but if [View Full Entry]

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After cruising through the Netherlands, with brief stops in Amsterdam and Maastrict, we landed in the warm arms of friends in Switzerland, and had an amazing hiking experience as well. Dave's childhood friend Camia is an architect who lives in Basel, and hooked us up with the required hiking equipment for our 3 day journey through the Jungfrau region. Leaving our luggage and instruments behind, we headed off to our starting point in the small mountain town of Lauterbrunnen(796 m). We proceeded up up and away through Wengen, Wengernalp, and finally to our first night sleeping hut in Eigergle [View Full Entry]

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A week in Iceland, check. Our pocketboots are feeling a bit disheveled, but all in all, it was a lunar experience. Ana connected with her Scandanavian roots, surrounded by toehead blond Icebabes, you could imagine the Vikings ravaging the island, rampaging on the rocks, as you were stripped of your $$$! Being on the edge of 2 massive plates, seeing earth boil up through the cracks, watching geysers gushing into the air spewing steamy waterfall spurts, the lunar landscape is awe-inspiring. We were told Iceland is green and Greenland is ice...so we thought the late summer in Iceland would [View Full Entry]

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Hong Kong David and Ana Our time in Hong Kong has come to an end. Living and working here left us a bit disoriented. Life in the Konger is fast-paced, high-rolling, and hyper-fashionable. It's a city of contradictions. Open-air street markets vs. Prada and Louis Vuitton. Glorious neon highrises vs. shanti-town floating houses in fishing villages. Blasting air-conditioned interiors vs. humid and hot exteriors. Five star uber-trendy restaurants vs. 10 dollar noodle houses. Avian bird flu paranoia vs. hawking and spit wads on every s [View Full Entry]

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NOTE: This is an 'Ana only' blog. I've been teaching at a local school in Hong Kong for the past year. My kids are all from Hong Kong. For our end of school field trip, we took 85 students to Xian. It was a cultural, historical, and community service oriented field trip. My school has developed a partnership with a local school in Xian. Our students were each assigned a 'buddy' at the Jiaotong University in Xian, which is actually a primary school, but they call it a University. It was an eye-opening trip for both the Hong Kong students [View Full Entry]

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