You're beautiful Alana. Hi Alana,
Just want to let you know that you're beautiful...and you're making the most of your oversea travel...i love the pics you took...very nice...peace and happiness... in the USA...we don't have spots and history like in Europe...I've been some part of Ukraine, and Russia, Germany, Danmark... michael from Virginia Keep the nice pics coming. taurus050671@yahoo.com.
Rice truck near Varela Thought you'd like to know that the rice truck is still in the river, as of October 2007. The locals have flipped it 180 degrees into the river. You can read more of my walk through this area in my Gambia to Guinea-Bissau travelogue. Varela is a really forgotten beach resort, there wasn't one hotel left open!
Tuscany Villas Being a large group of people (19 people!) we did not think we could find something in the countryside in Tuscany to fit us all. On Villas in Tuscany we were able to find Villa Chianti, a sixteenth century farmhouse completely restored to a be a wonderful private villa with pool. The pool was gorgeous! Immersed in an olive grove and surrounded by lush plants and blossoming flowers, it commanded views of the countryside around Florence. The house was just unbelievable. Full of all comforts, it did not even need air conditioning as these ancient Tuscan villas have very thick walls and they function perfectly as a thermic insulation. The peace level, the privacy, and the food (we got a private chef for the week!) were simply gorgeous.
Our daytrips to Florence, Siena and many other small towns in the area were a pleasure since we were so centrally located in Tuscany. One day we even went to Rome and were back in the late afternoon for a swim in the swimming pool of Villa Chianti.
The owner, a French performer, gave us all comforts, such as cable Internet and TV, WI FI connection, fax machine, photocopier, and a wonderful international library.
Even during the occasional rainy days it was a pleasure to be inside this homely Villa Chianti, which internal architecture reminds of an old castle, in bright summery colors.
In addition we went for wine tasting in the chianti region, which left me with a much better understanding of this superb wine.
Villa Chianti in Tuscany is a lovely experience to try!
Odienne I grew up in Odienne. We used to take our vacations to Man and San Pedro as well.
It's really sad for me to read about the state of the country up north. Thanks for the report.
dude These pictures are my favorite so far... sunshine on pine needles. How expressive! And how wild that you would be present not once, but TWICE for random religious ceremony. One would feel very clean I would think... :)
You know, in half the "Madonna and Child" pictures, Mary looks stoned. She's always half lidded with this lazy little half smile... I'm glad your enjoying Paris!
Ahoy! Welcome home. You are still making me jealous! I wish I were in Washington! :) I took a bit of a road trip upstate to run a marathon this weekend and took along one of my girlfriends from high school who lives here now... she's in an accelerated nursing program up in Manhattan. The trip and our conversations and the way we bonded made me long for contact with more Pacific Northwesterners. Man, we're awesome. :)
Miss you, Katrina
Jealousy I miss you, Alana-- but your blogs are so well-written (and illustrated with your amazing photographs) that I know you are doing well and that brings me comfort. :)
I had the funniest dream about you and I and Alex the other night, but I will save it for a more personal forum.
Keel blogging and stay in touch! You are out doing something I'm afraid I will only dream about doing.
Love Always,
Katrina
damn Its all so green.... like when you see a post card of hawaii, and its obviously been over pixilated to be super duper blue and green. But thats just how it looks there. Its so beautiful....
Sawassdee Krup Glad you love Thailand as much as I do honey. I will be going on Nov 4th, but will probably see you here first. Very exciting times to be there. Please take photos of the tanks if you can, the guys from the restaurant really want some, especially if they have flowers or yellow ribbons. Be well, D
ghana hi daniel... yeah i was really disappointed that we had the experience we did in ghana. the whole week before we got to ghana i kept talking about how great it was going to be...pointing things out in the guidebook and what not, so i was expecting something a lot different than what we encountered. after we got there i kept asking alex if the US had, since guidebook publication, done something particularly horrendous to ghana that i didn't know about. ah well, sometimes you can't always meet the nice friendly people i guess...better luck next time.
Ghana I have been reading blogs on this site all th etime and has never come across such a sad reference to Ghana. where on earth did you tread? Maybe better luck next time. Ghanaians are generally very very friendly and do not abuse strangers!
OH MY GOD! You're like, our evening entertainment! Brent's cooking dinner..pork chops in the back yard, rice and beans in the kitchen. Everytime he goes in the yard, he's like, "wait wait, I'll be right back" and I have to force myself not to read ahead! I can't wait to see you alana... I wan't to hear more!
ok, totally stupid I read the date wrong on this one, so I didn't realize it was your latest entry until I went back to the first page and saw "last entry" so I'm a dumbass. Sorry! God, how much fucking fun! what do you read to the kids? Are your braids out yet? those sonsofbitches hurt like hell dont they! I can never sleep with them. Hope to read more soon!
Fabulous! I would have lost my shit... but then, thats why I'm not a trendy world travler. Its July 19th now, where are you today??? You must post more!
I've blogged on a few countries by now, often focusing on the food. I think it reflects both the people and the experience. When I'm not travelling I work as nurse practitioner in the Seattle area of the US. Please feel free to send me any questions or messages about my travels.
P.S. Auntie Tara I lifted this pic from your website...xoxo... full info
Michael
non-member comment
You're beautiful Alana.
Hi Alana, Just want to let you know that you're beautiful...and you're making the most of your oversea travel...i love the pics you took...very nice...peace and happiness... in the USA...we don't have spots and history like in Europe...I've been some part of Ukraine, and Russia, Germany, Danmark... michael from Virginia Keep the nice pics coming. taurus050671@yahoo.com.