nezca

We spent our last four days together in Prague, strolling the streets, eating meat and dumplings, drinking beer, and taking in the architecture while dodging the germans and spaniards dominating the streets. Lucky for us, we managed to score an apartment in an area of town right near the top of Wenceslas Square. While the apartment itself was wildly unspectacular, the location was perfect and gave us easy access to all the major sites and some interesting back alleys not often visited by tourists. Lucky for us, my friend Jon who is originally from Prague was in town on one of our last days there so after bumbling around on our own for a few days we got a more personal look at the city and sore feet from getting lost in the winding cobblestone streets ... read more

Citadels, Castles and Restored Villages Transylvania, known to many of us as the home of ¨Dracula,¨ was for many years a German colony. King Geza II of Hungary invited the Saxons to develop towns and cultivate the land of Transylvania during the late 12th century 13th centuries, fortifying and defending the borders of the territory during the onslaught of the Ottoman Empire. The Saxons enjoyed a privileged status and denied the Romanians citizenship and access to practice their crafts and arts - now the domain of the Saxons who dominated trade and mercantile routes. Brasov (Kronstadt in German) is where we started our trip around the area. The old city is fairly well-preserved and on our first day we took the cable car up to the top of Mount Tampa to get a view of the ... read more

My parents joined me in Romania and we spent one day in Bucharest. Enough time to see the major sights and appreciate the indelible mark Cecesceau left on the city when he destroyed swaths of historical neighborhoods in order to carve monumental boulevards and erect massive structures in a neo-classical style. An additional day was well spent wandering through the major park, people watching, drinking beer and easting ´mischi´which are grilled sausages with an indescribable hearty flavor. The Romanians like beer and enjoy summer evenings spent outside socializing whether in beer gardens scattered throughout the city or in row boats out on the local lake. Romanian is an interesting mix of languages and among them are spanish and italian. I can read advertising and understand every 5th word when someone speaks clear & slow. Not quite ... read more

Over the last few weeks I've spent several days in Kathmandu. When I first arrived, I was thrown into a flurry of local activity. I was lucky enough to meet some locals, among them members of the Royal Family, and I was invited into their homes and shared meals and conversation with them. I was very well taken care of. Upon my return from Pokhara, I hid out for a couple days so I could actually see some of the city's sights. I couldn't escape the locals though as every tea, momo and sweet shop I walked into would involve a couple hours of conversation with other patrons and the owners. Totally great. This is exactly why I have avoided the tourist center of Thamel and make it a point to eat wherever the local crowd ... read more