http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Rin/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Rin en-us Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:36:16 +0000 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:36:16 +0000 I am sitting here in my Chicago apartment feeling the breeze come in through the window and listening to the busy city....a nice scene to be in at the moment..but there is another scene when you enter WAR. I don't want to be 'political' but had to discuss my views on the destructible chaos. No family members or friends have been taken from the war but that does not excuse all of the innocent p http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/blog-181241.html Cambodia is an amazing place especially after its resent Khmer Rouge massacre. This country was our favorite spot in all our travels having gracious people and a relaxing way of life. Nearly everywhere you travel in Cambodia there is a hammock tied up whether it is a tour bus driver waiting for his group or a shopkeeper taking a break. However you forget sometimes how easy you have it when http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/blog-127935.html Arriving in Vietnam was probably my first real culture shock. Just driving from the train station to the hotel in Hanoi was a labyrinth of motorbikes bicycles women balancing baskets on their heads and nonstop action on every corner. Vietnam's tours are developed just the same as many countries but it's still 'different.'We first set off on a 3day boat journey in Halong Bay driving to the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/blog-121340.html As the song states There are 5 Million Bicycles in Beijing...However in the past few years Beijing has changedfor the better or the worse is the question Known as the city with rambling bicycles and intertwining markets it is now becoming a booming world trade center and a massive Olympic development. I will admit that the city exudes charm with smiling Chinese mingling in the streets op http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Beijing/blog-119741.html 7 days without a shower in the same clothes and sand and dust covering everything...a girl's worst nightmare and a trip to the Gobi Desert. The Gobi covers a third of Mongolia's land consisting of sandydunes rugged landscapes and stoney plains. Gobi meaning 'desert' can get as hot as 40c and as cold as 40c. Although it was cold during our adventure the sund was always shining creating a co http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Mongolia/Gobi-Desert/blog-99500.html Erin this train trip is going to be a culture schock. You're going to see different people and the changes of people throughout the days...a real eyeopener...will let the pictures tell the story about a 5 day train journey from Moscow to Mongolia...no shower noodles and soup for meals lots and lots of vodka stressfree days random stops to haggle food and drink and backpackers party... http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Russia/blog-99496.html What sould happen if you were taken from your home told you could bring a bag with 25 kilos of your things and taken on a journey for a better home...for these people it was Auschwitz...a long journey on a wagon with 1 barrel for a toilet and another for water having such brutal conditions that people didn't survive the trip a place where once people arrived they went through a selection process http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Poland/Lesser-Poland/Auschwitz/blog-99493.html Italy exudes a combination of history spectacular architecture good food crazy drivers and chaos. Our first impression was made by a crazy woman speaking Italian to us on the train and a night in sketchy Geneova where the hotel clerk resembled 'Roadtrip's' strange motel receptionist. However Italy created a lasting impression as we traveled down to Rome and Naples. In Rome we toured the Col http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/blog-99482.html All the walking and touring built up a thirst once we arrived in Barcelona. It just so happened that Barcelona's biggest festival La Merce was going on. Meeting some people in our hostel we indulged in 98 pence bottle of red wine and wondered the streets of Las Ramblas. There was stages set up in the Plaza Real and throughout the centre playing music until the late hours. Las Ramblas had act http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-99481.html Traveling from Amsterdam an intimate romantic setting was far from our thoughts. Some people say Paris is the city for lovers or as an American yelled out at the top of the Eiffel Tower lsquocity of lights.rsquo For me I just wanted to see the Eiffel Tower as it has been built up in America as a monumental landmark. For Joe Paris could have been seen through the trainrsquos windows. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-99472.html I had warned Joe about my bad luck with traveling and on our first day of our trip the 'bad luck' transcended. We managed to catch the early train 530 AM over to Dublin in order to obtain a Chinese visa. Of course Joe had no problem in getting his visa next while my visa took 1 week. There was no point in staying and waiting in Dublin for a week being as our rail pass had already started so http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-95098.html Sunshine ocean mountains surf vineyards lakes valleys deserts forestshellipCalifornia has it all. Joe and I finally arrived in LA after almost missing our flight and Joe losing his passport. We drove down to Camarillo to stay with Joersquos uncle. Being that it was late when we arrived and Joersquos uncle was an Irish priest performing mass next morning I figured it would be an e http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/blog-79100.html I remember having a journal in Australia and I remember writing an entry with the title 'Hello GoodBye' reminiscing of the friends and relationships I made travelling. It is amazing how you meet people and become so close and then to leave them behind. My mom always said you will have 2 best friends your whole life those friends that stay with you no matter what. I guess in my instance and f http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Illinois/Chicago/blog-73912.html I just wanted to write a little blog to update you on my travels. They have been put on a hold at the moment as I am writing my dissertation for my masters. In a couple of weeks I will be traveling to California so hopefully I can uplad some pictures. At the moment I am in Chicago a great place to be during the summerMid september Joe and I will be off though Europe taking the 6 day train fro http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Illinois/Chicago/blog-72152.html Hot rugged dry flies rough red deserted breathtaking and stunning are just a few words to describe my trip to the outback. This question was on our feedback form to be filled out at the end of our trip. Picking the hottest month of the year to go into the Northern Territory was crazy even locals don't travel to this region of Australia at this time. I spent 6 days traveling from A http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/blog-388.html Here are few pictures of those mysertious rocks in England. They say it was a bit like a burial grounds and still stonehenge baffles us all. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Wiltshire/Stonehenge/blog-55567.html Being as SRQ is considered the Culture Coast and having beaches with the whitest sand and sunshine nearly yearround I decided to highlight a bit of my hometown. Getting out of the gloomy British weather and stepping into my sandals and sunglasses to Sarasota Florida is where I was 3 weeks ago. As we all know America does not have a long history but to tell you a bit of SRQ's background...it http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Sarasota/Siesta-Key/blog-55565.html Joe and I took a trip to see the newlys weds Shawn and Matt in Germany. You could feel the Fall season with colors of red orange and yellow surrounding the country. We had a quiet night in Schwietford sorry for the poor spelling though it didn't even seem like Germany since we were in a Mexican Restaurant and everyone around was speaking English. You see...there is a big American army base http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Bamberg/blog-36893.html I have found that many Brits ask why would you want to go to London or London is just a busy and dirty city but of course it is probably like coming to America and not seeing New York City. But I found London to be quite welcoming with loads to see. Now our trip was definitely not accomplished on a budget...Tiffany and I headed up to London on a train missing our scheduled train and sneaking http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-36851.html I have heard stories about Irish weddings and how no American wedding could ever compare and after experiencing one I can say that is true. The wedding had an early start at 1230 though we had a late start getting to the church at 130 just in time for another hour of the ceremony. Being that it was cold and rainy we had to go to the pub and being that we were in a pub we had to have a drink http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Galway/blog-36854.html