a blog to keep me sane in not-so-sane countries. also, updates on where in the world i am. other than that, general commentary, random hyperbole (you might even get a bonus hyperbola as well), maybe some verse, hopefully some funny regional photos, you never know.
keep track of my weight loss by clicking here. it's an online graph that tracks my weight loss, goal weight, and BMI. give me shite whenever you see me slacking, send congrats when i'm doing good, or lend moral support when i'm hitting a plateau.
so my time was done in egypt. on the advice of some of my teacher friends working in egypt, i'd decided to fly to jordan on my indirect trip home. i'd heard that it would be a sin to miss seeing petra when i was that close. i'd also heard something about aqaba, so i booked a flight there to jump off from. i really didn't know what i was going to do there. i was pretty burnt out from being in egypt so long, so i just wanted to relax. not even do vacationy things, i just wanted to catch up on sleep, have a few drinks, and wander aimlessly. that's pretty much what i did.
the taxi driver from the airport assured me he knew where my hotel, the golden tulip, was. i had a very general idea where it was from the airport because i'd checked on google earth just before my flight. now, my sense of direction is just south of shitty, but i still knew that we were heading the wrong direction as soon as we left the airport. i'd gotten him turned around with my broken arabic, and soon had him pulling over to ask directions from a police officer. after rounding the block several times because he kept missing the turn off, i was finally at my hotel. i checked in and went to my room to drop off my bags where i found this. yup, those are my bath towels folded on my bed in the shape of a heart and some swans.
i seriously didn't do too much here. as i said, i just wanted to relax. i wandered around town a lot. i made friends with the filipina bar maid at the hotel. she had a boys name like TheMax or something. that saturday night, she invited me to go out with her and her friends to a filipina bar. it was halfway up one of the taller buildings in aqaba. we went in through a shady back door, through some partially dismantled room with lots of insulation and not a lot of lighting. i was starting to get concerned, but soon enough the broken down rooms opened onto a rooftop bar with other filipinos. there was one or two other ex-pats playing pool or throwing darts. we ate pretzel sticks, and i drank beer while they chatted away in their own language, occasionally flirting or making fun of me. i couldn't tell, but then again, i never can. i dawdled doing nothing of much import for 3 days, reveling in the fact that i had no responsibilities, schedules, or timelines to follow, though in fact i did. not on those days, but i DID need to see petra while i was there and i was told i needed to see wadi rum as well. i was off to petra on the 17th, and i did an overnight in the wadi rum desert with a bedouin tour guide and a lovely british couple... kinda, but those are for upcoming and more frequent posts. until then, some pix from aqaba.
a tanker in the gulf of aqaba as seen from my hotel
one of the many mosques in aqaba
arabic burger king sign... and i can actually read it. there was a popeye's right next door too
i wasn't able to determine exactly what these domes are for
this is TheGateway. it's the westernized part of aqaba with a McDonald's, an irish bar, chinese restaurant, discos, shops, etc. i spent some time here.
this is possibly the first (oldest) purpose built christian church in the world, estimated to be built in 300 AD.
this weather station was pretty cool. i'd like to see more of these in bigger cities. i think it would motivate the people to take part in keeping the environment (and the government's part in it) cleaner. today was a good day, just a bit dusty.
sadly, social networking, work, life, etc., has dragged me away from this original form of getting the word out for me. i'm going to try harder. i should have posts about petra and wadi rum coming up soon. thanks for sticking with me. as per usual, you can click on the pics for bigger versions, and click here for the entire set.
wow, it's been a while. i'd like to blame being busy as to why i haven't updated. i'd like to blame trips to the hospital. i'd like to blame work. despite all of those being partial causes, the biggest cause was laziness. a brief update on the latest news...
in november, i finished work in egypt and went on holiday in jordan and spain. i have pix i still have to post. TheMom had a heart attack and i had to come home. TheMom got better, and i got worse. in february, i was diagnosed with diabetes. what kind? they can't tell. i've since regulated it with insulin, and i think if i get to exercising regularly i think i might even be able to come off that. i did a few small jobs around the US. i worked in oswego, NY where TheDad did some philandering. i worked near tampa, FL, and visited TheBrothers in Ft. Myers, then TheMom had an episode of flash pulmonary edema where she stopped breathing. i rushed home, she got better, we took her home, then a few days ago during a sleep study, she had another episode. Now we are waiting. That's the latest.
Today is the 5th anniversary of NT. It would've also been the 62nd birthday of TheDad. Today, TheMom is having her pacemaker/defibrillator installed (?). I apologize the TheSwedishChefDave who's been dogging me to blog while calling me out on my Mafia Wars addiction. i apologize to my loyal readers for slacking off, i'm really going to try to do better. i have a few other friends who like to call me out for my excuses (i claim my organizational OCD has gotten the better of me since several things need organized, but then that turns into an infinite loop, and i get caught up). they may be making a breakthrough.
sadly, with TheMom's surgery and the few other things i have to do, this update is about over. until next time, here are a few pics.
the superbus... seen at the OSU spring game
it's NEVER lupus! i saw this lovely piece of graffiti every time i went to the ex-pat bar in alexandria, egypt. so that was... rather often.
THIS is the effect of the 9/11 mandatory road naming. good lord!
this is so damn close to how i think i'm going to end up, it's scary.
TheMom and i found this lady driving through the bank drive-thru in her "hover-round"
happy anniversary to NT! my resolution is to make sure i don't leave you so cold and lonely anymore. love y'ns.
i'm sorry for the lack of updates. what with vacation, TheMom going into and out of the hospital, and the holidays, i've gotten quite busy (and a bit lazy). i will be posting to PTVR this week as well. i was going to add this guy (and still might), but i wanted you to see it first.
this guy claims to be pretty much the strongest man in the world bless by allah. i say claims because he's "afraid" of doing any displays because people might get hurt. he can't work because his fellow workers might feel inadequate. this guy knows some people who've pulled some strings to show him off as some sort of miracle of islam, when, it's quite more likely he's a fat slob on the egyptian version of jerry springer. i'm guessing egyptians have never seen fake coins. until he can prove his strength, i say he's a dickhead further weakening the true meaning of islam for his own publicity.
well, i've been in jordan for 4 days now. i decided to come to aqaba without doing much research, and that's my bad. it's good for divers, and i was contemplating getting certified, but that went away after i came to my senses. aqaba is pretty small, and i've walked most of it. i have booked a tour to go to wadi rum tomorrow afternoon. i'm taking a four hours 4WD tour, then they are dropping me off at a bedouin camp in the desert overnight. the next morning, i'm getting picked up again, and we are going directly to petra where i'll walk around solo seeing what i want to see and when i want to see it. when i've got my fill, the driver will bring me back to aqaba. i think this will be the longest i've been off-the-grid in a decade. no internet, no blogs, NO LAPTOP! i'm taking a phone, but only in case of emergency. what is wrong with me?! anyways, thursday will be a day of relaxing, repacking, and organizing everything to increase the chances of me making my tight connection in germany on my way to spain. there, i'll visit TheSwedishChefDave for a few days, then possibly on to barcelona over thanksgiving to see another buddy i worked with in italy, then ON IN to B-Town. i'll keep you updated.
i booked my tickets to take my back-to-back R&Rs. sadly, they are paper tickets, and TheGeneral thinks jordan is as unsafe as egypt so i need special authorization which was given today. now i just hope they can ship the tickets in time. i'm leaving egypt just before noon on the 12th on my way to aqaba, jordan for a few days. i might think about possibly taking scuba lessons, i have a week to waste. i'm going to go to petra for at least one day, maybe more. i've heard i have to check out wadi rum, so i'm just taking any and all suggestions.
on the 20th, i fly to malaga, spain to visit TheSwedishChefDave, an old buddy i worked with in turkmenistan. i'm a wee bit concerned i might either lose my bags or miss my final connection in frankfurt, but we'll see how it goes. i'm going to spend 4-5 days there, then try to hop down to barcelona to see another work buddy i met in italy a few years back. he might be getting together with some other americans for thanksgiving, and i'll see if i can barge my way in.
i haven't booked the ticket yet due to being crazy busy packing and such, but i plan to fly from barcelona to the states on the 28th, thus fulfilling my 330 days out of country, cementing my one year on this second assignment in egypt, and getting me home with not a lot of time to do all the american things i want to do (mostly visit friends, and have some 'merican food). i'll try to update while i'm on the road, i used to be better, but now that i'm excited about heading home, i think it will be far easier. i still have to post the taxi grand prix that hash held a few weeks ago. good times. hope to see as many of you as i can in less than three weeks. back to packing my checked bag, and packing my shipments home. here's to hoping that shipping with fedex is less of a nightmare than intermove egypt was from the last job.
R&R alpha - (day 14/15) - the end is nigh; ney... the end is here
it's october 14th... tomorrow, TheWayne and i would head our separate ways after an awesome time in germany and the czech republic. but it's not QUITE over yet. we woke up to try to hit "mike's bikes" for a bike tour of munich. it was rainy, and we were a bit late, so we missed the tour. as per usual, we walked a lot but my blisters were doing better now, or my brain had just rewired the "agonizing foot pain" nerves to go to my "let's just get drunk" drive. all was better. we walked to the english garden which is a very nice area of munich. relaxed, greenery, beer, food. speaking of beer, we stopped at the chinese tower in the garden for a sausage and some beer. my facebook profile picture was taken from said been near said tower in said garden (man, that pic is a year old? gotta find a new one i guess). after a nice buzz was packed one, we made out way back towards town. we walked around marienplatz center for a bit. TheWayne was looking for some soccer jersey of some sort. i walked around the store for a brief bit but soon got bored, so i went outside to one of the outdoor restaurants in marienplatz and ordered a beer and some potato salad. normally, i wouldn't remark about potato salad, but i do have to say, this was the best potato salad i'd ever had in my LIFE. fantastic! and brilliant me, i forget the name of the place, and i forget the name of the sports store TheWayne was looking in, but if i could find THAT sports store, i could find this restaurant. TheWayne finished his perusing, so we headed off to near nymphenberg. there is a cool lake we walked around for no apparent reason. there must've been a field trip or something as there were hundreds of french kids running around being all... french. a few beers more, then we made our way back to the hotel and cleaned up for dinner. we went out and ate at the hofbraü haus. it is a famous brewery in germany, and the restaurant was awesome! it was just like the hofbraü haus beer tent at oktoberfest but with more room to move. they even had the brass band playing on occasion! i had a great steak, my first white sausage... a generally awesome meal in a cool environment. TheWayne and i chatted up TheAnnabelle (or was it TheAnastasia)... i don't recall. she was our waitress and very friendly. we had a good time entertaining each other. after dinner, we walked around looking for a place to grab a few beers, but were very unlucky this day. we ended up grabbing a taxi home since (we thought) we'd wandered quite a ways. funnily enough, the taxi driver was spanish, and i was drunk enough to think i could remember enough to speak it. i think he was amused by my attempt... hey, at least he didn't drop us in the middle of nowhere. it ended up we were only maybe 6-7 blocks from where we lived, but i take no responsibility for this navigational error. it is widely known that i have no sense of direction.
we woke up the next day with a heavy heart. it had been a great 15 days and now it was back to real life. TheWayne was back to jersey and his IronMan training, i was back to cairo to close out the job there and move on to alexandria. we grabbed a quick breakfast, packed and hopped on the train to the airport. we partook in goodbye beers, then TheWayne bid me adieu with a tear in his eye. i, myself, had to turn away... and order another beer. looking back, i'm kicking myself for not going this year. if TheWayne is up for it (and anyone else), next year, i think we gotta go again. so there it is... R&R alpha, documented on the blogosphere, completed within 1 day of it's one year anniversary. talk about cutting it close. as a friend recently told me... "for god's sake, finish the blog... you have to let go of the past to allow new experiences into your life.", but one thing before i do that...
take a walk with me down memory lane (soft lawrence welk in the background, bubbles in the foreground, soft filter on the camera...)
TheWayne, throwin' one back
Mmmmm. half-meter sausage
Escalators are like moving chairs when you're drunk
TheTav and TheWayne still sleeping in Berlin
TheTav being a drunk, passed out punk... and TheWayne making sure there is photographic evidence of it!!!
TheWayne at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin
me and one of the lines denoting where the berlin wall used to run
TheTav, TheJen, and TheWayne
Da Boys!
Saw this while waiting to leave germany. REALLY?! "meat wagon" is " car rental" in german? AWESOME!
R&R alpha - (day 12/13) - things are getting blurry
12-october-2008 after having passed out around 5AM, we stirred a bit around 9AM, did some basic diagnostic tests, and realized we were still in non-functioning states. we tried again around 3:30PM with better results; that is, this time we made it out of our respective beds and managed to clean ourselves up. as i've stated before, TheWayne is a bit of a wandered, and that was the plan for the day. we knew a few places we wanted to check out for a drink or dinner, but if we didn't make it, so be it. after a bit of walking, we ended up at a place called "atmosphere". we grabbed dinner which included ONE ENTIRE POUND of potatoes. that's a LOT of fries. if i do recall, it was a decent place with funny drinking signs on the walls. after the grub, we wandered some more, and ended up at some sort of hipster bar called "kvarna praha" or something. baby blue walls, low lighting, and ABSINTHE!!! we grabbed a table where TheWayne ordered something sensible and i ordered an absinthe with a pepsi chaser. i've had absinthe before in india, and it tastes pretty foul. it's a strong licorice-like flavor, but worse, but hey, i'm all for legal tripping. it didn't work in india, i think we drank it too fast and just got drunk. this time i only had a small one, and i took it slow. again, funny faces were made, there were no hallucinations, but my face got flushed and i felt light for some reason. sadly, after this, again my memory fails me a bit. i think we went to a place called "musketeer", and maybe another place called "coyote"? my notes say something about arna beer being double trouble. i wish i could help you guys understand that, but that's what TheWayne is for. we must've had a good time, because i documented that, we again crashed out around 5AM.
13-october-2008 i think our livers were starting to fail. not really, but if they were, i wouldn't've been surprised. we dragged ourselves out of bed at 9AM to get cleaned up and checkout of the hostel around 10AM to get to the train station to make our way back to munich. we caught the train with no bother, and met two american girls who were backpacking around. they'd been touring some beer factories the day before and were now headed back to munich as well. we were running a bit late, and saw that our connecting train was already in the station as we pulled in. we barreled out of the train leaving the girls behind (they were going to wait and catch a later connection instead of hurrying with their big packs). it was short run, but i had a big suitcase so it wasn't ideal, but we did make it to the train with a bit of time to spare. we were surprised to see the girls decided to make the run as well and caught the train. TheWayne had found a small hotel barely a stone's throw away from the entrance to oktoberfest. we booked in, dropped our stuff off, and then made our way to the Augustiner for dinner. nothing much more in my notes. the end of the trip was nigh, and we may have been slowing down a bit, or the brain cells had been irreparably damaged. two more days and we'd be leaving germany and oktoberfest for good, and this, the longest story ever blogged, can be finished.
wow, it's been a long time, but i REALLY gotta try to get this done before the anniversary. for a recap, check out the previous posts (they were funny, it'll be worth it). the beginning, pfand, drucken, PROST!, fünf, checkpoint charlie, and yalla bina. there, now that you're all caught up, off we go again. keep in mind, all pix are clickable for more detail.
so, it's now 9-October, and we arrive in prague at the main train station around 8:30AM. TheWayne and i had tried to look up some hostels in berlin before we left but met with very little success. we disembarked the train, basically wandering for an exit when a middle-aged, slim lady came up to us handing us two business cards with her name (TheMila) and the name of the hostel she was representing, "manhattan" (on charvatova street, in the middle). she said it was very nearby, TheWayne and i exchanged glances of hesitant agreement, while i thought "hmmm, isn't this how that movie 'hostel' started... we're fucked!". TheMila told us is was very nearby, she gave us a brief overview of the city layout, where to go, etc. i assumed she was a retired hooker because, i mean, come on, prague has a decent redlight district, she was attractive for her age, and she knew hostels. before we knew it, we were being buzzed into "manhattan" and taken to the main office where we met TheMikhail. TheMila made some casual conversation with TheMikhail and left without asking for a tip. i was completely taken aback at this. nowhere in my 8 years of international traveling have i received a service without even a hint of lingering in expectation of a tip. she was cool. TheMikhail was a bit of a hippie with long graying hair and a black punk T-shirt that had "fuck" on it in some form. his english was good, we got a room for 3 days, but didn't have enough cash right off, so we gave a deposit and our passports telling him we'd be back with the cash later and made our way to the room. we were both pretty spent so we crashed for a few hours, then were up to steal some internet (that's a boy, TheWayne), hang some wet clothes, and find a laundromat.
we got our laundry done, got spiffy for the fine czech ladies, and went out for dinner. we found a place called TheTrilobite. we had a hot waitress named ThePetra, and there were lots of hot chicks there. i completely forget what the food was like, but i highly recommend it. we tried to get into a place called TheLucerne but all the tables were reserved despite there being MAYBE 10 people in the place! we wandered about because thatis what TheWayne is good at. we accidentally stumbled into the redlight district where guys are outside handing out cards to "their" club... "no committment, just take a look, best girls in town", etc. two guys were REALLY vying hard for us, one guy was trying to hand us a card, while another guy from across the street came up, all chummy, "don't mess with these two, i talked to them earlier, they're coming back to me" despite us never having been there. it was comical. we continued on until we found a bar called Rocky O'Reilly's. there we tied on drinkbag. 2x2 jameson's, stellas, patron tequilas, jägerbombs, and that's where i kept keeping track. i was on a mission. i also vaguely recall hot waitresses, irish girls, possibly on a hen-night, at the table next to us, and then we stumbled home around 1AM.
day 10... we got up around 10 and started out touring of the old town. my feet had blisters upon blisters from the dresden walk. TheWayne went out and found some sort of cream to try to help. i slathered, wrapped my foot with gauze, and prayed for the best. we grabbed lunch at Pivnice Beograd (pussy food? REALLY?!) and had beers. as is usual when i'm on vacation, i rarely have a plan besides taking in the local libations (i should co-host "3 sheets"). if TheWayne asked what we should do next, my ideas ranged from sitting down and having a Pivnice and think about it to sitting down and having Pilsner Urquell and think about it. from there we made our way to the national museum, but after seeing the price for entry, we decided that pictures from the outside were more than enough. the trains in prague are on the honor system as they were in germany. Our next stop was to be the Charles Bridge, so we hopped on the train at the museum and were immediately followed by a shady looking guy in a black jacket who asked to see our tickets. FUCK!!! we stepped off the train, TheWayne asked to see official ID, i tried the "i thought i gave you the tickets" routine, which failed miserably. After hearing about the fine of 700 Czech Crowns (~$40) EACH, TheWayne explained that we'd just go get a ticket now, but that was out of the question, we were nailed, so we forked over the money, and got a receipt which covered us to our next stop. TheWayne was fuming the whole time. i wasn't happy about shelling out the money, but we HAD been lucky up until that time. i was able to see the humor in the situation. the Charles Bridge is pretty cool, lots of caricaturists, painters, local-made crafts. there are some awesome sculptures on the bridge itself (some photos at the end). we made our way to the prague castle (again, more pictures at the end), despite it being a major uphill battle (for big ol' me and my broken feet), but we made it. the view from the castle was pretty impressive as well, looking down on all the red tile roofed houses and off into the misty (possibly smoggy) distance. after the castle, we stopped for a beer, and i decided to have a slivovice.
<ASIDE>the first time i ever had a shot of slivovice was at TheJRod'sWife's grandparents house. i believe it was easter, and i wasn't going home for the holiday, so she was kind enough to invite me to her family's house. her grandfather is a cool dude, really nice to this complete stranger, and funny. after dinner, he brought out some homemade slivovice. being the nice guy he was, he offered me some, though i hadn't noticed the family kind of gathering around. i took the shot and, GOOGLY MOOGLY, i thought i'd burned a hole in my esophagus. it was... an experience to say the least. everyone got a good laugh out of it... 'twas a good time.</ASIDE>
anyways, i figured i was in a country that served proper slivovice, so i'd try it, and again, i wasn't disappointed. TheWayne got a chuckle out of it as well since my face turned several difference shades of red. once my eyes straightened out, we agreed it was time to head back to the hostel to clean up for the evening.
i showered then TheWayne spent like 3 hours shaving his head. around midnight, he was cleaned and smoothed, and i was in agony, my foot was fucked, so i told him to go on without me. i crashed, he went out. i forget when he made it back, but he said it was lame (i know he meant because i wasn't there, hah). next time, you'll find me passed out on the bathroom floor... and, for once, it wasn't my fault!
cool cross embedded in the brick sidewalk at the national museum
TheWayne throwin' his game outside the municipal building
the (sadly) non-functioning astronomic clock in the "old town"
how i saw TheWayne throughout most of the trip.
a close-up of the hanging man sculpture from paragraph 2.
me trying to counteract TheWayne's hostility toward our train fines.
WOW! it's been a while since i've updated. i hate it when that happens because i fear i lose readers, and i LOVE having you readers. so, here's what's been up lately.
i went to sharm el-sheikh for two days at the end of ramadan. i had fun, but i would've had more fun if there were people to share it with. the first day, i went straight to the beach-side bar, got obliterated, went to my awesome room for a nap at 4PM set to wake up at 7PM to party... i woke up at 2AM, pooh! the next day, i paced myself, swam in 3 of the numerous pools, swam in the red sea, got drunk enough to go para-sailing, but i found out, though it was something new for me, it wasn't nearly as scary/exciting as i thought it would've been. still, it was cool. then back to work.
several weeks ago, i got a call on my mobile where the name came up as TheElectricalTA. i answer it, but it's not TheElectricalTA. the conversation went a bit like this:
caller: "do you know who zis is?" me: "um... TheElectricaTA?" caller: "no, zink a little bit harder, i know zat you can do zis" me: (of, fukk, shite, damn... oh, i know it... it's TheGerman who i thought was Dutch when i met him in india, oh fricksticks...) TheDETLEF!" caller: "very good, now i'm coming to see you"
it's a small world in this biz. i just though that it was funny that i haven't work with him in over 3 years, and from what i gather, as soon as he found out TheElectricalTA was from TheGeneral, he asked if i was onsite. i wonder if he does this on every site he goes to. THAT would be weird. we caught up for a bit. he's here for the next year or so. he told me he ran into TheEx in dubai (again, small world), and that shipping his land rover to egypt. it was good to see an old friend. too bad he's been so busy, we haven't been able to catch up over drinks.
i've been extended onsite until the end of october now, which sucks because i really want to get home to see friends and family, but it's also cool because i get to hang out longer with my hash friends, and after 21-oct, i get a SECOND R&R, so i can take a nice leisurely 16 day route to get home. i get my taxes back after 27-nov, so even if i spill over into november until say, oh, the 11th (which coincidentally would be my 1-year anniversary at this site), then with my 16 days R&R, despite missing thanksgiving, i'll have made my tax exemption criteria, AND i should have a decent argument for getting off through christmas.
i did say random so... the hotel movie theater currently has showing, along with it's arabic movies: "the final destination", "slaughter", and "the hangover". WTF?! i don't the know EXACT extent of censorship here, but when i watched the last 007 movie, IT was edited for content, and i know 007 isn't graphic. my guess is "slaughter" (having no idea what it's about except from the movie poster) is gory, and will be edited down to a bunch of dark scenes, instilling fear, then cutting to the scene immediately after the "slaughter". i think "the hangover" is going to be about 8 minutes long, yeah EIGHT, and no one is going to have a clue as to how ANYONE dies in "the final destination" due to cuts.
JUST finished watching "watchmen", and it was fantastic. i envy dr. manhattan. i learned that leonard cohen ORIGINALLY wrote "hallelujah", and i'm glad jeff buckley covered it and improved it immensely because the LC version in the movie is SHITE! i know i'm a bit slow on the uptake here, but malin akerman is HOTTTTT, especially in vinyl and garter-boots.
this time last year, TheWayne and i were struggling to make it to the last day of oktoberfest and planning on heading to berlin. never worry, i have 4 days left before the anniversary of the last post i wrote. i MIGHT be able to pull it off, but i'm cutting it close.
for the sake of me getting this out of the way, and on to other posts, i'll give a cliff's notes version of the rest of my scotland trip accompanied by lots of pix (all clickable to embiggen). after all, pic = 1k words.
still in the edinburgh area: midway through the trip, we decided we were going to see rosslyn chapel (click for some pictures since i apparently didn't take any). i'd never heard of rosslyn, but soon found out it was featured in several scenes in 'the da vinci code', and i like puzzles. we hopped my first double-decker bus ever, and i ran like a fool up to the top to sit right up front, over the driver. along the way to rosslyn, i realized there was a small hatch on the dash in front of me where i could look down directly on to the driver. i thought it was an odd idea until i found, just above me, a mirror, so he can just look up and see if the top is empty. pretty cool. the gang had to keep me in line, though, because i was having too much fun looking down at the driver and not getting caught **TOURISTS!!!** rosslyn has some pretty cool stories, there are some interesting mathematical layouts involved in it, small discrepancies in patterned carvings on the ceilings, face of "green men" carved into the walls with no real explanation. at the front of the chapel, you find "the master's pillar" and "the apprentice's pillar". the story goes something like, the master went away telling the apprentice to practice, the apprentice felt he didn't need to practice anymore and made the apprentice's pillar, and when the master arrived back to see that the apprentice's pillar was better than his own pillar, he bludgeoned the apprentice with a hammer in a fit of rage. lovely story, eh? i KNOW i took some outside pictures of rosslyn, but can't seem to find them (now that i think about it, i think they were on an SC card that corrupted). eh, you'll have to make due with my vibrant descriptions and a rental of 'the da vinci code'.... wait... WOOHOOO!!! i found some, thank the aether some other people took pix.
soon after the rosslyn trip, TheJay and TheEJ had to make their respective ways home. i'm not exactly who left when, though, since it was a virtual whirlwind of people flying in, castles, pubs, quiz nights, more pubs, pizza, people flying out, etc. i was lucky enough to have TheJulie and TheBill invite me along on their trip to stirling to visit doune castle (setting for much of monty python and the holy grail), stirling castle, and the wallace monument (after ol' braveheart, himself).
so, TheBill, TheJulie, and i decided to make our trip. they'd already booked a bed & breakfast in stirling that i wasn't able to reserve ahead of time. i made it to the train station early to grab some brunch (good ol' burger king) and get the tix. i took a cab as i figured it would be easier, and i hate being late. if i do recall, TheBill and The Julie decided to take the adventurous route of taking the city buses, not knowing that the bus they needed drops them off further away from the station than they had expected. we missed the train we wanted to take, but they run fairly regularly, so we prepared to hop the next one. when we showed the tickets to the operator, he told us we paid too much, there was no first class or such-and-such on this and we could go to the counter to get some money back. we tried, and for some reason or another that i forget, we ended up not having time to get the refund there. so, we hopped the next train, saw some pretty countryside, and soon were in stirling. it wasn't a very far walk at all to their B&B from the station, and i'd noticed there was a pub just down the road a spell that was selling haggis lasagna (YEA!). TheJulie and TheBill spoke with the owner, got their room and luckily for me, she had another room that she wasn't sure if she could rent because they'd JUST finished painting the off-suite bathroom for it. she said it would be dry by the evening and let me take the room.
after dropping off our bags, we were off we to the bus station to doune castle. we took it the area of doune castle, and we found a tourist shop that sold information about monty python's part of the history of doune castle. when we arrived, some VERY nice cars were pulling into the grass and a bagpiper was playing away. apparently, we'd come as a wedding ceremony and reception was about to go off. we were directed around the wedding ceremony, checked out all the awesome halls, and TheBill and TheJulie were nice enough to catch me up on (and re-enact) scenes that were filmed where (as i've not seen the holy grail in some time). after touring the castle for a few hours, we made our way back to the B&B for a rest, then went out for dinner at the place i'd seen earlier. the haggis lasagna was lovely. TheJulie went back to the room to read and relax a bit. TheBill and i (bad influence that i am) went to the bar attached to the restaurant we ate at. we walked in and GOOD LORD it was loud! we ordered our drinks and tried to talk, but it was no use. the speakers kept playing the same loud song over and over again. that's when i realized... most of the people at the bar this night were deaf. they were signing away, while TheBill and i were the minority in that we couldn't communicate at all. we finished our beers and set out for somewhere else that might not cause permanent hearing damage. we found a decent bar called o'neill's where we grabbed a few drinks and talked about the trip so far and what still lay ahead. before it got too late, and i got TheBill in trouble, we went back to the B&B and laid our heads down for the night. (for more doune castle pix, go here).
we woke bright an early in the morning for breakfast. that's when i noticed some of the deaf people who were at the bar were staying at our B&B as well. we had our breakfast, paid the nice lady, and were on our way to wallace monument. we'd gotten there just as they were opening. there was supposed to be a shuttle to the top of the hill, but for some reason, that didn't work out. we saw a shuttle, and a man driving it, but not really shutting anyone. we hiked to the top of the hill, and i was again regretting ever having gotten fat. we eventually made it to the top of the hill on what turned out to be ANOTHER fantastically sunny day (most people would not mind this, but i went for rain and gloom... it's my thing). the air was a bit brisk but would warm up soon enough. we paid or way, left our bags at the front desk, and with that, made our way up the 246 stairs, through the several floors, and finally on to the roof. one of the first levels had a cool mannequin, of sorts, dressed as william wallace with a projector showing on his face (picture in the wallace monument link). since the room is kinda dark, with a bit of imagination, it looked like william wallace was actually telling the story of his life. there was a project screen next to him that showed skits fleshing out the story. we carried on to the other floors where we found some cool stained glass (one of my favorites is below), replicas of "the wallace sword" (though i think the hilt is believed to be the original), busts of the important people of the time, and more. the walk up got a bit tedious because it is a very tight spiral staircase, and you go around in circles several times between floors. a person could get vertigo. walking down was far easier, though you had to time it so as not to pass people on the stairs, but rather, at the gallery floors. on the roof, there's an amazing gothic peak like i've never seen before. we all took pix of each other and ourselves and the landscape. toward then end of our roof stay, we were startled when the speakers blared that there would be a presentation downstairs at 12:15 by "a man from william wallace's army". we made our way down and listened to the actor portraying the army character. he was quite good, giving small anecdotes in the first person and engaging the audience with his weapon and how to stories might related to the audience. at one point he was telling a story about how the future queen was killed before she could arrive in the country to rule "because women aren't fit for that sort of thing", and he called TheJulie out when she may have looked upset over that statement. it was funny. after his performance, we spoke with him for a bit but had to cut it short as we were on our way over to stirling castle. (for more wallace monument pics, go here).
coming up to stirling castle, you first notice an amazing open lawn, peppered with statues of famous kings and warriors as well as tourists and locals lounging in the uncommonly good weather. we'd arrived just as a tour was going out, so we joined in to get a little more history about the place than what we'd just get from reading the placards. i couldn't tell you what we learned now, but, back in the day, there were queens and kings and births, and there were buildings being built and parties being thrown. the art was pretty amazing. most of it was replicas, and they even had a professional weaver there recreating full size copies of some really awesome christian tapestries. you could see wallace monument from the castle. strangely enough, some of the garrison were pointed directly at it. i really liked the layout of stirling castle. there were long rustic walls built on the edge of the hill that you could walk clear to the edge, at one point, it looked like you'd walk right off the hill. the guard towers were actually quite tiny, and we had to duck to go in and out of them. i'm not exactly sure why i was so fascinated by this castle more than the others. maybe it was the weather, the green grass, the numerous walking paths among the immense guard walls, but i found it to be a really impressive sight. (for more stirling castle pix, go here).
after the castle, we made our way back to the train station where we went back to stirling proper. i got off at the haymarket station near my hotel, and TheBill and TheJulie went back to their place. we'd made plans to meet up for dinner later, so until then, i went the the haymarket, a bar across from my hotel, for a few cocktails. it was quiz night, the EASIEST quiz night i'd ever come across, but by the time it had started, i had to make my way back to the hotel for a quick shower and down to dinner. dinner was good, nothing really memorable. we parted ways, as i had to catch my flight in the morning.
it was good catching up with friends i haven't seen in a long time. sharing vacations rocks. if you haven't noticed, i'm NOT in spain as my R&R countdown says i should be right now. one of my buddies that i was supposed to meet is off working in malaysia for a bit, and i'm stuck with no one here to cover for me, so i'll take it at the end of the job. now need to find somewhere to meet someone. i've gotten an invite to japan, but i'm not sure if it's going to fit into my schedule. any other offers? more pix and movies below. now on to finishing the R&R before, the oktoberfest posts... i only have about a month to finish them before it's been a year. A YEAR ALREADY!!!
DOUNE CASTLE
TheJulie and TheBill "taunting" per the scene in monty python and the holy grail
roof of the main hall
TheBill and me standing guard per the scene in monty python and the holy grail
massive fireplace (one of many)
doune castle as we approached
TheJulie and TheBill doing the horse scene from monty python and the holy grail
approaching wallace monument from way-the-hell-down at the bottom of the hill
the view from the top of wallace monument
what do you see in the bottom frame of this stained glass, keep in mind this is a religious piece? see something in the small pic? once you see it, click on it and zoom to enlarge. i hope you see it, because i REALLY thought that was cool.
STIRLING CASTLE
the aforementioned lawn leading up to stirling castle
stirling castle from the back being remodeled
the ceiling of the great after being remodeled, even using authentic wooden pegs instead of nails
TheBill pondering what i dubbed "the vertigo stairs"
the vertigo stairs... you fall over that right hand side, and it's a LOOOOOOOONG way down
so my time was done in egypt. on the advice of some of my teacher friends working in egypt, i'd decided to fly to jordan on my indirect trip home. i'd heard that it would be a sin to miss seeing petra when i was that close. i'd also heard something about aqaba, so i booked a flight there to jump off from. i really didn't know what i was going to do there. i was pretty burnt out from being in egypt so long, so i just wanted to relax. not even do vacationy things, i just wanted to catch up on sleep, have a few drinks, and wander aimlessly. that's pretty much what i did. 
the taxi driver from the airport assured me he knew where my hotel, the golden tulip, was. i had a very general idea where it was from the airport because i'd checked on google earth just before my flight. now, my sense of direction is just south of shitty, but i still knew that we were heading the wrong direction as soon as we left the airport. i'd gotten him turned around with my broken arabic, and soon had him pulling over to ask directions from a police officer. after rounding the block several times because he kept missing the turn off, i was finally at my hotel. i checked in and went to my room to drop off my bags where i found this. yup, those are my bath towels folded on my bed in the shape of a heart and some swans. 
