Lofton26
Andy Joined: June 28th 2007
Logged in: September 15th 2007
Logged in: September 15th 2007
This picture from Romania is of Suceavita Monastery in the region of Bucovina. Built by the famous Turk-repeller Stefan cel Mare, the fortified monasteries of Bucovina are known for their exterior fresco paintings which literally 'weathered the storm' for over 400 years.
Travel Blog Posts
I'm finally exploring some of the Silk Road, I dream of mine for many years. I've had some tastes of the Silk Road in Xi'an and in Turkey, plus I've checked-out some old wiklalas (caravanserais) in Cairo which are not related to the Silk Road, but were used on Trans-Saharan trading routes. But for me, this trip is the real thing! Samarkand is unmatched when it comes to a name representing something isolated, mysterious, and forbidden. And that was in the good old days. Today's version presents as many difficulties for the modern-day traveler. Getting a visa to travel there is enough of a hassle since it requires an invitation. Add to that fact that is it one of only two double landlocked countries in the world (Liechtenstein is the other) and that every country it ... read more
Now that I'm done summarizing the past, I would like to write a little bit about what the future holds. I think that the reason I was inspired to summarize 15 trips in one day (I've been typing for about 9 hours straight now) is because I have so much to look forward to. At the end of this month, I will travel to Uzbekistan. The preview of that trip will follow this post. In October 2007, Raluca and I will spent two or three weeks in Romania, possibly via Rome if Raluca's brother is still working there. For three months in early to mid-2008, I will take Phase I of the round-the-world trip. This wil certainly feature Tibet, Nepal, and India. The rest of the trip is not yet confirmed. For three months in early ... read more
RECOVERED
4/07-5/07 After our move to Boston, our first (and only up to this point) trip was to Scandinavia. Besides a brief few days in Helsinki back in 2003, I hadn't been to the birthplace of my passion for travel in seven long years. What I found there was quite shocking. Prices were high back in my heyday, but now they had gotten even higher. A hot dog in Norway costed $5. Two metro tickets to go three stops in Stockholm was $10. Using the bathroom costed $2. We spent double on this trip then we expected too, but we were just fortunate we had the resources! We started our trip by flying to Oslo and taking the train north to Bodo. We stopped over for a couple hours in Lillehammer and Trondheim. Both were nice ... read more
RECOVERED
11/05-12/05 Like I said in the last entry, 1.5 years had passed since I had gone overseas. My wife saw my suffering and offered me some relief in the form of a trip. I decided on China. I wrote I decent review of my trip on www.eurotrek.net which I will cut and paste here... CONTENTS 1. China- Basic Information 2. Chinese Cities 3. Hong Kong 4. Tibet 1. CHINA- BASIC INFORMATION People- The people in China are very friendly. Other than aggressive touts trying to sell you everything under the sun, you're unlikely to have many problems. There are two things that are important to know however. 1. People in China do not speak English. Around the more visited cities, people with things to sell you (hotels, tours, etc.) may know some English but for ... read more
6/04-8/04 I spend three months in Romania with Raluca in the summer of 2004. I missed my connecting flight in Boston on my to Bucharest, so I had to spend the night there. Boston turned out to be much nicer than I thought. In fact, it was so nice that I took Raluca there for a trip after we got married. She loved it too. A year later (in 2006), we ended up moving to Boston and that's where I'm typing from now. All because of a missed flight! I was rerouted through Frankfurt and got to spend a few hours there while waiting for my Bucharest flight. We spent most ofthe summer in Iasi, but we got out of the city a few times. She met me at the airport in Bucharest and we went ... read more
12/03-01/04 The purpose of this 3 weeks in Romania was to spend time with Raluca, my new girlfriend. We spent most of the time in Iasi, her hometown. I fell in love with Iasi while I was there. Iasi's dramatic skyline features the neo-gothic Palace of Culture (my favorite building in Romania) and hills topped by monasteries. The center of town is dotted with early 20th century neo-classical structures including the university building, a hotel designed by Gustave Eiffel, and the theatre. The churches are what is special about Iasi, though. The Church of Three Hierarchs, Golia monastery (preferred by Peter the Great), Mitropolia cathedral, and Cetetuia monastery all stand out as architectural marvels. Mihai Eminescu's favotire part of town was the botanical garden of Copou, where he wrote many of his poems. It is the ... read more
6/03-8/03 In the summer of 2003, I was back to my old summer traveling habits. For some reason, I was still not done with Europe. I had pretty much given up on Western Europe due to the expense, but Eastern Europe still offered everything I wanted, including a special surprise in Romania. I flew into my former hometown of Prague and went from there. Here are some blurbs of what I did in each country. Czech Republic- Prague, Benesov. My grand return to Prague was cut short by the temptation of going to new, undiscovered places. Germany- Dresden. Checking in on my favorite German city. Poland- Wroclaw, Warsaw, Zakopane, High Tatras. I based myself in Poland for mountain hiking in the High Tatras. I also made a stop in Wroclaw, my favorite Polish city. Lithuania- Vilnius, ... read more
12/02-1/03 This 3 week trip had two purposes: to visit some of my Eastern European friends and to finally go to Belarus. I was successful on both counts. I flew to Budapest, but immediately went Kosice in Slovakia to visit some friends there. I went back to Budapest after that to spend New Year's with Attila my friendfrom when I was studying in Prague. I then took a train north to Warsaw to spent time with my friend Radek and to arrange a visa for Belarus. I spent the next 8 days in Minsk, Europe's only dictatorship. Since the town was almost destroyed completely after WW2, the Communists were able to start from scratch when rebuilding Minsk. They certainly left a mark. Wide boulevards and gigantic government buildings along with drab apartment blocks, define this city. ... read more
9/02 2002 was the first summer since 1997 that I hadn't spent in Europe because I left England in May to go back to the USA. This was very depressing for me, so I decided to let fate decide on whether or not I would return to Europe in the fall. Newcastle's group stage draw for the Champions' League was held in August. I decided that if they drew a Ukrainian or Russian team, I would go. Fate told me loudly to return to Europe when Newcastle drew Dinamo Kiev and then laughed at me by making Newcastle's match at Dinamo the first fixture. Bascially, I had to go in two weeks. I bought my plane ticket to Kiev and mailed my passport to the Ukrainian Embassy for my visa on the same day the draw ... read more
12/01-5/02 I flew back to Ohio for one week after my semester in Prague. I celebrated Christmas there before heading right back to Europe. For some reason, my mom bought be a roundtrip ticket from Prague, so I spent an evening there and flew to London the next day. I had a six month British work visa through the BUNAC program and spent the next five months living in London. I lived at the BUNAC hostel in the West End, right around the corner from the British Museum. My first job was as a waiter at a restaurant called Le Metro near Harrod's. That only lasted about a month before I realized that it was not for me. I was quickly able to find a new postion as a cashier at the Westminster Abbey bookshop. It ... read more
