Tour De France - Part 1

So Jacob came out for a visit, and we certainly packed quite a bit into the week and a half he was here. Touring around London, beautiful Milan and Lake Como in Italy, climbing Alpe D'Huez, eating our way through Lyon, not to mention meeting (and drinking) with Team Chipotle! Those stories will come shortly; it was a long trip, so I'll try to break it up into bite-sized pieces.

The general itinerary for our first few days: London, Milan, Lake Como, Milan. Luckily for us, Laura was able to take some time off work and join Jacob and me for this leg of the journey (and act as our Italian translator).

(Before we get into it, let me point out a fact that Jacob is sure to bring up... yes, I did manage to leave him waiting at Paddington station for 2 hours on Thursday morning. But seriously, I was prepared for customs to take at least an hour, plus the plane being a bit late, plus time for baggage claim, plus some extra time to catch the train. How could I have known that Jacob would take something like 5 minutes in customs and somehow bend the space-time continuum and arrive at Paddington at 7:30 instead of the expected 9:30? Oh right, cause the same thing happened when Mike Roy came here... so, maybe I'm not so good with picking people up at the airport.)

Anyway, we had some fun in London for two days, drinking our way from pub to pub mostly, all the while calling colleagues to remind them of the fact that it was 3pm, we were hammered, and they were working. Add to that getting in the requisite fish-and-chips meal, I think we pretty much had London covered.

I may have already mentioned that I love pub names in London. How can you beat "The Coal Hole"?

On Saturday, we all packed up and headed to Milan. We managed to get our rental car (and were thankful not to have to drive on the left), found our hotel and checked out the main attractions in Milan (aka. the Duomo and copious amounts of gelato).

In front of the Duomo

Mmmm... gelato.

Up early the next day for the easy drive to Lake Como. Beautiful. We checked into the hostel and walked around, taking in the sights. The city itself is fantastic, very old and picturesque streets, and the lake is fantastic. Nothing quite like being nestled in the Alps, sitting on a bench in the sunshine next to Lake Como (eating some gelato). The only downsides were that we couldn't go swimming right from the shore (too much muck around the harbour) and a 30 minute rain shower that evening. Other than that, it was fantastic.



Monday morning, up and walking around Como for some more pictures, then back to Milan to drop Laura off at the airport. Jacob and I went back into Milan, managed to find our new hostel (and not get a parking ticket in the mean time), then set off for the center of the city agin. Some more time near the Duomo, sitting in cafes, and a visit to the fantastic Peck, walk around the shopping district, then back to the hostel to find dinner and a few litres of vino.

Tuesday started the real Tour de France journey... but that will have to wait for part 2.

Notice something different?

Bobby (finally) gave me administrative privlages on our blog. What does that mean? I'll be playing around with colors/photos for the next few days to try and make it look less like a blog kept by a a 40-year-old man. Have patience.

Another New Link -------->

My friends are so international. I've added a new link for my friend Julia's blog (from my job in DC). Julia won a Fulbright fellowship to do research on slums in the Philippines (read her blog to learn more), so she'll be living in Manila for the next 9 months.

Enjoy!

If you're watching the Tour de France...

Watch for Jacob and Bobby. They're in Southern France this week following the bikers around (in a car, not on bikes), but they should be on the sidelines for the vast majority of it over the next few days.

But, since Jacob and Bobby are the only two people I know who actually watch the Tour de France, this post may be a waste of time....

Things I Miss About America, Part V: People Exercising in Excericse Clothes

When I got here, I joined a women's-only gym because it was the closest one to my house. Right away, I noticed that women there didn't really work out in what I would consider "workout clothes". Here's why-


My average workout-wear:

athletic shorts

t-shirt

sports bra (sometimes multiple)

socks

sporty tennis shoes


British woman's average workout-wear:

sweatpants

a shirt that I would wear to go clubbing in or, sometimes, a short-sleeved polo

normal bra (ouch!!)

socks

non-sporty tennis shoes (think bright-green pumas or the like)


The difference I noticed right away was the lack of sports bras. Not that I was looking, but its kind of hard not to notice when you're the only one running on a string of 10 treadmills in proper undergarments. Slowly, it became apparent that it wasn't just the sports bras that were missing. Why is the girl next to me on the elliptical in a sequin tube top?? At first, I thought it was just my women's-only gym. Maybe 40 year-old Bangladeshi women don't realize that you can buy sports bras? But girls my age in the gym were wearing odd clothing as well. Also, at lunch time in the park, I noticed people running in what appeared to be just slight alterations to their office-clothing.

After talking to bobby, I found that this odd-workout clothing phenomenon applies to men as well. I have no explanation for it. You can buy workout clothes here. Just like in the states, there are whole stores dedicated to that very subject, but people seem to ignore them.

*note, as in the majority of my blogs on cultural differences, this does not apply to all british women. I am, flagrantly, making generalizations about an entire culture. Some women do wear sports bras and work out in t-shirts instead of a see-through tank-top, but I would say it's about 50/50*

Family Vacation, Part II: The Amalfi Coast, Italy

For part two of our family vacation, I convinced Mom and Chris to go with me to a place I have long wanted to visit: the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Convincing them wasn't hard to do. I don't think many people would turn down a chance to visit this beautiful area after seeing photos of it. We flew from Paris into Napoli (Naples) and then took about an hour's bus ride to Sorrento, one of the larger towns that make up the area of Italy known as the Amalfi Coast, where we would be staying.

Here's mom and Chris in Sorrento the night we arrived.

Mom at Sunset, Sorrento

The second day of our stay in Italy, we took a ferry to the beautiful Island of Capri. Here's me on the Ferry.

Marina Grande (Big Marina), Capri

Marina Piccola (Small Marina), Capri.

All Chris wanted to do for the whole vacation was sit on the beach. So, when we arrived in Capri, I approaced a taxi driver and with my best VERY rusty Italian, I asked him to take us to the "most beautiful beach in Capri, one without many tourists". He took us here. It was beautiful, so I guess my Italian was successful (eventhough it turned out that he spoke flawless english, along with everyone else on the Amalfi Coast)


One of the biggest attractions in Capri is this cave called the Grotta Azzurra (the Blue Cave). Light refraction causes the water in the cave to appear this bright blue color. It really was amazing looking.

The tiny hole in the side of a cliff you must enter to get to the Grotta Azzurra.

Sorrento and the surrounding area is a huge producer of limoni (lemons). Here's chris with one of the crazy huge lemons the were selling in the market.

The Opera House, Sorrento



Mom, Tasso Square, Sorrento



Mom and I went on a walk from Sorrento to a small village called Pantano. This is an olive grove we found along the way.

The View of Sorrento from Pantano.





On our final day in Italy, we took a Mini-cruise along the Amalfi Coast. Here's me with the famous Fragolini Rocks (i frgolini) in Capri.



Chris at one of the stops on the mini-cruise, Positano

Positano turned out to be my favourite of the villages along the coast.

A beach in Positano.

Thats about it for the Italy leg of our vacation. We flew from Napoli back to London where mom and chris did a few hours of sighseeing before heading back home the next day. It was a great vacation and I thank mom and dad for paying for the vast majority of it!!

Family Vacation, Part 1: Paris

You know how I like my blog titles to have parts to them, and colons.

Anyways, as you may have ascertained if you read our blog, my family (well, everyone except Sara) came out to visit 2 weeks ago. This is really quite the feat considering the fact that Mom lives in Yorktown, Chris lives in Atlanta, and Dad was working in Tanzania at the time. But, we managed to pull ourselves together and all meet up. Everyone flew in the London, and we then immediately took the Eurostar to Paris (because, really, who wants to see London when you can see PARIS).

We checked into our swanky hotel on the Champs Elysee (Bobby and I were excited to be travelling and not staying in hostels) and then hit the town. As always, let’s let the photos tell the stories instead of me rambling on forever.

Here's mom and Chris on every fashionista's favourite street: the Champs-Elysees. Personally, I try to spend as little time there as possible. It is beautiful, but horribly expensive (even for Paris).

Day 1 included a Bateaux Mouches boat tour of London. We found that this was a great way to see most of the major sites (as they are situated along the Seine) and get your bearings in the city.

The Gentiles (+1 Harwig, as Bobby would say) at L'Arc de Triomphe.

For day 2 in Paris, Bobby and I took Mom, Dad and Chris on our favourite thing to do in European cities: a free walking tour. We've found this great company that does them all over Europe. Personally, i've done them in London, Prague and Paris and have always found them to be great!

Me and bobby on the walking tour. At le jardin des tiuleries.

Bobby hanging out on the seine.

After the walking tour, we did something I hadn't done since I was in Paris in high school (and bobby had never done), we went to the Louvre. It was much less crowded and much larger than I remember.

Me with Venus de Milo.

Bobby with Nike, Winged Victory

Mom, Dad, and Chris at the Eiffel Tower

Day 3 in Paris had us visit the city's most famous churches (without bobby, who had to go back to London for work). First was my favourite spot in all of Paris, la Basilique du Sacré-Cœur.

Next, we visited Notre Dame. This is a view from the back with it's famous flying buttresses.

That's about it for the Paris trip. 3 days of whirlwind sightseeing and not as many naps as i'm used to on mine and bobby's vacations. Bobby had already returned to London, dad packed up and headed back to Tanzania for work and Mom, Chris and I headed down to Italy to continue our vacation.....

Pictures from Paris & the Amalfi Coast

I've posted pictures from Paris and the Amalfi Coast (Italy). I'll try to blog about the trips this week, but you can see the photos here.

The 4th of July is More Important When You're an Ex-Pat.

This 4th of July marked my second year of celebrating America’s Independence while living abroad. I fondly remember my 4th of July last year, at an American Ex-Pats club in Uganda where I became horribly disappointed when the hot dogs the US Embassy had so unashamedly promised me in e-mails did not live up to my expectations.

Now, I’d like to tell you that I spent July 4th 2008 at a huge American themed party in London celebrating the overthrow of America’s oppressors, but the truth is that I was on a beach in Italy somewhere and, frankly, forgot it was the 4th of July. But, had I been in London, I would have been at a party with my American ex-pat friends that, I’m told, was attended by over 600 people. Now, that’s a party.

I’ve found over the years that the 4th of July is a much bigger deal when you’re an ex-pat. When Bobby and I were living in the states, more specifically in our Nation’s capital, I can remember opting to stay at home on the 4th of July because I just didn’t see it as that big of a deal. I would not define myself as a horribly patriotic person. In fact, I often bad mouth the US to my friends and relatives and have threatened to move to Canada or the UK countless times (well, I guess it wasn’t so much of a threat since it became reality.) But, I have found that while living abroad, I become a fiercely patriotic person. I defend my country’s good name whenever necessary and appropriate, and sometimes even when it’s not so. I remember being brought to tears once while defending the US Government’s involvement in the September 11th attacks to a Luxembourgian volunteer in Uganda.

I guess living abroad does change you a bit; even though I’m sure that when I move back to the states I’ll go back to my protesting and, some would say, un-patriotic ways.

So, in short, Happy (belated) 4th of July! Wish we could have been there to celebrate with you.

Paris Pictures - Part 1

So, Laura is currently relaxing on the beach in the Amalfi Coast in Italy, and I'm stuck in London. At least I had a couple of fun days with her and the family in Paris before I had to head back.

I've put up some preliminary pictures that we both took on Saturday and Sunday around Paris.

Laura will have more when she gets back from her fun in the sun.

http://picasaweb.google.com/harwig/ParisJune2008

Enjoy.