Pipaya

So, when I initially planned this trip, I decided that after the drudgery of hostels and venturing by my lonesome through foreign territory, I needed to reward myself with a few days of TLC surrounded by the comforting familiarity of re-visiting facets of young Maya's life in Koeln. In reality, however, I must admit that with time approaching of arriving in Koeln, the excitement was tinged by as much apprehension over the unknown as I had for Croatia and Bosnia. For, the stagnant memories I've been carrying around would have to adjust and re-focus with the changing facade of both the city itself and the people I associate it with. It's a grueling testament to the fact that time, in fact, does not stand still. And indeed, there were some familiar sights and friendships that may ... read more

It's been so hot around here that even the palest of white people are starting to resemble me. To remedy this utterly unacceptable situation, I decided to head to the coast and get seriously working on my tan. So, here I am, sporting bug-eyed sunglasses, slowly sipping on my martini, lazily wading around the turquoise water off the Dalmatian Coast .... ok, not quite, but if you're heading this way, that is what YOU should be doing :) In yet another attempt to save on accomodations, I booked a room outside of the old town. My difficulties in discerning distance or topography off of google maps meant that I didn't discover exactly HOW far out of town it would be until I embarked on my fun-filled uphill climb from the bus station....with my luggage... in the ... read more

Last night, I took the overnight train from Zagreb to Sarajevo. Sarajevo has been on my hit-list of must-see destinations since I was a wee one... stemming from watching the war unfold in Bosnia on TV growing up in Germany. Now that the war is over, I wanted to see how the city has recovered from the rubble that I had always associated with it. More recently, I have also been intrigued by the unique history of this city as the cultural meeting ground between the Austrian-Hungarians and the Ottomans. Between the vicious mosquito attacks and the temperature fluctuations, there was little sleep to be had, but I was in good company in my compartment. Besides, even in the sleep-deprived state, seeing the Bosnian country-side emerge as the sun rose was simply spectacular. Amidst the beautiful ... read more

Unfortunately, we had very limited access to the internet while in India. There was, in fact, a little internet hut with two computers in my village - we made it a routine, (after awhile just for kicks) to walk down to the stall to ask to use a computer, at which point we would be told (very matter-of-factly and unapologetically) - no internet today. Mind you, we walked there EVERY day and the response and delivery never changed - a very interesting model to base your business on. In any event, this leaves us to sum up 5 weeks worth of experiences in just a few sentences - now in hindsight. After 6 weeks in Europe of packing up our bags every three days to set off to new places and people, we found ourselves rooted ... read more

Cologne, Germany was our destination following Munich. Now, some of you out there maybe scratching your head, thinking.... what´s there to do in Cologne? Well, Paris may boast the Eiffel Tower, Rome may have the Colosseum, but all pale in comparison to the fountain at An der Eiche.... a center-point in young Maya's formative years. That´s right, Cologne is the birthplace of the illustrious, world-renowned, Maya of Pipaya fame. Here, along with the help of some old friends, we gave Pippa (also of Pipaya fame) the grand History of Maya tour through Cologne. It´s funny how much your perspective changes as you grow a little taller (even when this growth is somewhat minimal). I kept telling Pippa things like.... "and here we have coming up the hill we used climb up and play on".... then, upon ... read more