I love to ride my bike! Thats all I can say. We left our little abode, turned right and started riding. Fields of corn, sunflowers, creeks and lots or rain clouds. I was just so happy riding on the winding road but i know that Jeff was kvelling to do some heavy off road biking. After about two hours there was a very small sign that I happened to miss (what a suprize) that read: Stanjel 2 km. I looked at Jeff, I looked at the MOUNTAIN. What could I do?- 25 years of marriage I guess it's time to give in so I told Jeff: "only if I get some coffee up at the castle" As a good friend of mine once said. "If you want coffee go to Italy!" Made it up the hill ... read more

I already knew Slovenia was going to be different when we were waiting for our connecting flight in Vienna. All 30 of us were taken on a bus to a lear jet parking lot. The bus stopped in front of our little white plane and as we walked up the stairs into this lear jet - I felt like princes Diana ( may she rest in peace ) boarding her private plane to some private destination. I pondered as I was buckling up in my grey leather seat that if this plane crashes at least I'm going in style. One thing for sure : NOT ALOT OF PEOPLE fly to Slovenia. fast forward A half an hour later - we were exiting an airport so small it took about 5 minutes from plane to train. ... read more

Yesterday morning after flying around the world we finally arrived at home at 4:00 am. We slept till 11 and woke to the barking of our dogs at which Jeff and I looked at each other and said "were home!" . I am suprized to say that I feel very disorented. The lack of housing complexes neatly lined up for miles, the view of blue skies and the ability to understand the vast amount of conversations that are surrounding us as we eat at the local cafe are very overwhelming. I feel as if Scotty from star treck just beemed me back to the star ship. So being back on board , the laundry is waiting, the dogs need to be walked and dinner made. oh and I still have that paper for university to write. ... read more

Last night we traveled from Beijing to Xian by train. Why train? first of all I will avoid a plane whenever I can- so 13 hours is doable and secondly, I really wanted to see "inside China". Xian is in the center of China so even though we were traveling by night I figured we would have a few hours of sunlight to see the terrain. I wanted to rough it but rough it BRENDA STYLE which means ordering a luxury cabin. A Chinese luxury train cabin has a bunk bed and a bathroom compared to a regular cabin where you could be sleeping with drunks and bathrooms are communal. When we heard the boarding call, Jeff and I were sure we would get help with our four overweight suitcases, I mean we are going first ... read more

Good Morning Beijing! After flying on a plane thats "belly camera" was on during most of the flight-"Belly camera -What's a belly camera? " A Belly camera is a camera on the belly of the aircraft that films what's happening underneath the plane during the flight. This camera is on from before takeoff to after landing. That means that I was watching how the runway disappeared as we were taking off and how the new runway appeared a little too quickly as we were landing. I wanted to complain that this belly view of the world was not good for my nerves but instead I just flew with the blanket over my head. Jeff thought it was cool. I started my day staring at a rug in the elevator that said THURSDAY in English and Chinese. ... read more