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#and the bus stop is only like 100 meters from my house but i took maybe 10 mns to get home bc i had to take a break every three steps
history-matters · 11 months
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Miracles in America
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Every night I took the bus to work on Army-Navy Drive. I was in the night shift: from the midnight to 8 in the morning. I was never, anywhere, late, and this important streak was also reflected in my record. It was an unusually cold winter. One day, somehow, I got out of the house three minutes late at my bus stop on Columbia Pike. This meant that the transit, which worked like clockwork, has gone at least two and a half minutes ago. It meant disaster for me. 11:45 p.m. I should have something in five minutes. It's snowing, it's freezing, Christmas has just passed, there is no traffic on a driveway. The only way out may be a gas station if someone is refuelling, but where. The nearest one is opposite to my driveway, i.e. only vehicles going in the opposite direction enter there. I'm still trying my luck. I run in hurry about 100 meters to the gas station, where the only black Mustang driving in the opposite direction is parked. I frantically explain to the driver that I fell asleep and will be late for work, and this will be the first time in my life I have been late for work. Hurry up in the car, shouts the driver and quickly adjusts the bill to the petrol man. We turn around and he is driving me following my direction to work with great speed. We stopped at the parking lot. How much? - I ask. "Move on, time, time, the devil's gonna screw you and your money, one minute to go, one minute to go", almost is crying the unknown driver. I ran into the office. The superviser meets me with a stopwatch in his hand. "Ha-ha, you're a minute late", he shouts for everyone to hear. Me: No! And I dig the time card in the machine. I take it back and it says 00:00. Me: No, no, it's about time, about time. Francisco looks at the time card, can't believe his eyes and looks at the wall clock...
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muslim-flint · 2 years
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singing it to urself hits different fr. healing the inner child and everything
#second venting post of the day oof look away.#when i got off the bus after a ride of like 40 mns to get home from my class smthg happened#literally all the strength in my body evaporated. like i braced myself against a pole to not actually fall on the concrete#and the bus stop is only like 100 meters from my house but i took maybe 10 mns to get home bc i had to take a break every three steps#at some point i just sat on the ground. physically couldnt get up i had to try three times#almost got ran over by a car too bc i stopped in the middle of the fucking road#and when i finally got to my street i just. started crying and crying i couldnt stop#my whole upper body hurt and i couldnt think abt anything else just repeating 'it hurts so much' to myself sobbing for god knows how long#after a while finally got home. got to the kitchen warmed up some food. i could barely lift my arms up#oh and the crying kept going of course :) i was just so exhausted and so hurt it felt like my heart was physically breaking inside my chest#forced myself to eat cause i knew i needed it but it took so much strength to just. swallow it down. like my throat was tight as shit#finally got undressed and thank GOD remembered that i have a weighted blanket#ive been under it for two hours and a half now and ive calmed down but. yea#i think what happened is i just couldnt take it anymore ive been so so so strong trying to keep myself alive#and im really tired and i reached that stage in therapy where im like. mourning the care i was never given and coming to terms with#the fact that im never ever gonna get it from anyone but myself. and im gonna do it bc i deserve it and child/teenage me both deserve it#but god im exhausted and it just hurts so bad i cant let it go. no one is ever gonna give me the care my parents were supposed to. no one#i just wanna collapse into someone and be on auto pilot for a good fucking month at least just letting them take care of me. but i cant#i know its gonna pass eventually but for now im IN it and its. hard its rly rly hard. im rly tired i cant even speak#pulling words out of me today felt impossible i forced myself to do the bare minimum so no one would dig into it but wow#anyway. if anyone has read that far obviously dont rb with the tags lmao#rizcore#Spotify
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lost-in-the-80s · 3 years
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You Don’t Want My Love - Chapter 5
Pairing: Duff McKagan x reader
Words: 3,115k
Summary: Guns n Roses hires a new tour assistant, but nobody thought that Duff would fall for her.
In this Chapter: Y/N is back on the road with Guns n Roses. Will things with Duff remain awkward?
A/N: Hello, my friends! This chapter is very cute. I have a little spoiler about the next chapter: It’s going to be Duff's pov.  Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy it!
Tag list: @roger-taylors-car @ladieswttda @teasid @metalheartofgold  @slashscowboyboots @ginny-rose-sixx @rumoured-whispers @vinylvintage​ add yourself to my tag list :)
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It was a bright sunny day in Los Angeles when Y/N got inside a taxi to go back on tour with Guns n Roses.
The so-called one-month pause became two as soon as Nikki Sixx, the bassist of Mötley Crüe, overdosed and the whole band had to go to rehab, leaving Guns hanging without a band to open for.
She still remembered when Tom called her telling her that they had lost the contract and that the band was feeling very down. However, Aerosmith showed up with a golden opportunity, they wanted Guns to open for them on the European leg of the tour. 
So here she was, on her way to the airport to meet with five crazy rockers who, as much as she disliked to admit, she had missed a lot.
These two months out of the road were great for her. She spent the holidays with her family in North Dakota and visited her friends in L. A and finally helped Rose with a part of the rent for the apartment.
She also enjoyed her time doing one of the things she loved the most: go to the beach and get a good old suntan. That was the best part about living in L.A in her opinion, the whole year felt like summer, completely different from the snowy and cold winter in North Dakota.
One week before going back on tour she attended an appointment at her favorite hairstylist, renovating its locks that were now quite long. Giving herself a spa day before going back to the bus’ couch, as Tom would go with them on tour again.
These two months also allowed her to think a lot about Duff. In the first days she was feeling blue, the way he spoke to her during that afternoon and how he didn’t talk to her after that hurt. He even switched places with Steven on the plane back to L.A, just so he didn’t need to sit beside her.
During December she questioned herself about what had she done that could’ve let him so angry at her, but after spending two weeks away from Los Angeles, she got to focus on other things, and following her mom’s advice she decided to give time to time and see how things would.
Izzy helped her with that process too, they crossed paths one day at a park, she went there with her friend’s nephew as she was babysitting and he was skating there. The two of them talked for a few hours and he told her that Duff was just in a bad week, that she shouldn’t take it personally, which made her lose that guilty feeling she was having.
Guilty and Sad, that’s how she was feeling in the beginning. But now she had convinced herself that whatever she had felt for Duff was over. She told herself plenty of times she just felt like that because she was feeling lonely and he had been nice to her.
So now, arriving at the airport, she was 100% sure that she’d look at Duff and her heart wouldn’t skip a bit. They’d talk and she wouldn’t stutter or blush and things would go as they were meant to be.
Walking through the crowd of people inside the airport she finally spotted a tall fuzzy blonde head. Duff. They were just a few meters away from her, making a smile appear on her face.
“Y/N!” Steven shouted waving, not sure if she had seen them.
She raised her hand waving back at him.
“Hello, fellas.” She placed her bags on the ground stopping in front of them.
“Wow, look at you, all tanned!” Slash exclaimed, opening his arms and walking towards the girl to get a hug.
“You know, every time I was about to put a shirt on, I listened to your voice saying that they were the biggest expression of my bad taste.” He said when they let go of each other, smiling at her.
“So you stopped wearing them?” She tilted her head while smiling.
“Nope.” He turned around showing the back of this t-shirt, where “Fuck off I’m out” could be read.
She shook her head, giggling a little.
“I want a hug too!” Steven popped up beside her, involving her in a bear hug, lifting off the ground. “I missed you!”
“I missed you too, Stevie.” She giggled.
“Do you want a hug too?” She looked at Izzy, smirking.
“No.” He said and the two of them laughed. 
“Well, I want one.” Duff showed up in front of her, opening his arms.
She hesitated for a second, but moved forward and wrapped her arms around his body. 
When he involved her, a certain electricity ran through her body and she wanted to never let go of him. He smelled of cigarettes and cologne though she could smell a small hint of vodka, as if it had stayed in his jacket after he washed it. 
He lowered his head to hers and said close to her left ear. “I’m sorry for being an asshole with you.” His voice was low, as if he was sharing a secret that only she could know about.
The sound caused goosebumps on her body, as she answered in almost a whisper. “It’s okay.”
They let go of each other and suddenly she realized that they had been hugging each other for quite a while, since Tom had arrived and they didn’t even notice.
Duff moved away rubbing the back of his neck, starting some conversation with Slash.
“Hey, Tom! How were your holidays?” She gave him a quick embrace before stopping beside Steven, who hugged her from beside and rested his face on her shoulder.
“It was good, I was missing the kids already.” He smiled tenderly.
“You have kids? I didn’t know that.” She moved one arm away from Steven's grip so she could hug him back.
She looked down and thought that he looked just like a child when they’re bored and start to get sleepy.
“Yes, I do. Here,” He took his wallet out of the blazer’s pocket, showing her some small pictures he had in it. “this is Jenna, she’s 10,” He pointed to a ginger girl with lots of freckles. “and this is Brian, he’s 6.” He showed a boy wearing a baseball hat.
“They’re adorable, Tom! I can’t even imagine how hard it must be for you to be away from them all the time.” Y/N smiled at him seeing that he truly loved the kids.
“Yeah, it’s difficult, but it’s a part of the job. It’s thanks to my absence that they’ll be able to go to college.” He put his wallet back in the pocket and adjusted his glasses.
“You’re a good father, Tom.”
He grinned at her words.
“You really are. Can I meet the kids someday?” Steven asked, lifting his head off of her shoulder. 
“When the tour is over, let’s have dinner together. I’ll take them and Martha along.” He grabbed his bags from the ground.
“Sure! That’d be cool.” Steven smiled, letting go of Y/N.
“Anyway. Where’s Axl? We need to be on the plane line in 15 minutes.”
“He’s late.” Izzy showed up lighting up a cigarette.
“Not so late,” Duff said, pointing towards the other side of the airport. 
Y/N looked and at first, she couldn’t see anything, but then some ginger locks in a flannel shirt showed up. 
“You’re late.” Tom said, starting to walk towards the line. 
“Sorry, Erin was keeping me busy… if you know what I mean.” He smirked.
“Jesus.” Y/N made a disgusted face while following Tom.
Inside the plane, she found herself in a seat between Steven and Slash. Duff, Izzy and Axl on the other side of the corridor while Tom was sitting one line ahead, beside an old lady.
“Oh man, I wish I could bring Ana with me.” Slash complained.
“Who’s Ana?” Y/N asked smirking.
“My python. I bought her last month.” He smiled turning towards her.
“You mean a snake?” She widened her eyes. 
He nodded.
“You have a snake as a pet?” She shivered under the thought, she was terrified of snakes.
“Yes, they are lovely creatures.”
“I’m scared to death of them.”
“No way! But they’re nice!” He turned his body towards her a little, ready to start an argumentation.
“I grew up on a farm, Slash. One of them passed right in front of my feet when we were plowing the land.”
“Did it bite you?” He moved his hair away from his face, lifting an eyebrow at her.
“Well...no.”
“Then why are you scared? They aren’t violent animals. They just attack if you scare them. Dogs kill more people per year than snakes.” 
She paused for a second. “Yeah, you’re right. But still, I don’t think I’ll ever visit your house now.”
He giggled. “Do you have any pets?”
“We always had lots of dogs. They’re easy to train and help you with some chores.” He nodded at her. “I have a cat. Though I don’t know if I could call him mine yet.”
“What do you mean?”
“I left him in ND when I moved to L.A. I just see him when I visit my parents now.”
“What’s his name?”
“Thomas.”
Slash laughed. 
“What?”
“Thomas, you know?” He laughed harder.
Y/N frowned at him, not understanding.
Then Slash pointed to the seat in front of him, where Tom was sitting. 
She looked at Tom, then at Slash, then at Tom again and finally understood. Her cat had the same name as Tom. 
Y/N laughed, she had never stopped to realize that until now.
Out in the distance, she didn’t see Duff looking at her and smiling when she laughed. 
----
Arriving in London, they followed up with their normal activities. Did the soundcheck, had an interview and went backstage to get ready.
“Do you think I should tease my hair?” Axl asked Izzy who simply shook his head as a response.
“God, I’m nervous,” Duff said walking back and forth inside the room. “I need more vodka.”
“No more drinking, you need to calm down.” Y/N pointed at him, then pointing to a black couch at the end of the room, meaning that he should sit down.
“That’s why I need vodka, love.” He walked past her, going after more booze.
The nickname made her cheeks burn and she tried her best not to smile.
“Fuck, I’m nervous too.” Slash said.
“Why are you guys so nervous? You’ve done lots of gigs like this before.” She asked, frowning.
“No, we haven’t, Y/N,” Izzy said, sitting on the couch while looking for his cigarettes. “We’re in another country, a whole different crowd.”
“It’s our first time outside from home.” Duff said, reappearing in the room and sitting beside Izzy.
“Plus, It’s Aerosmith, fuck! We can’t fuck this up.” Steven added, while trying to choose a t-shirt. “Y/N. The black or the white one?” He showed her the two blouses.
“The black one.” She pointed with her pen. “You guys just need to breathe, everything will go fine. I’m sure about it.” She smiled at them, trying to calm their nerves. 
“Shit, I think I’m gonna freak out.” Duff exclaimed, drinking almost half the bottle down. 
“Not now. I need you good okay?” Axl crouched in front of him. “Just take long breaths, it’s no big deal.”
Axl started breathing slowly, soon being followed by Duff, that seemed to get calmer.
“Guys, you have to go. You’re in in five minutes.”  She said looking at her wristwatch.
“Fuck! I’m not ready yet!” Axl complained, rushing towards their bags looking for his clothes as he was still in his travel clothing. 
“Oh, God, not today!” Izzy rolled his eyes, starting to smoke the third cigarette.
“What do you want to wear tonight?” She asked, sitting on the floor beside him. 
“My leather pants and the leather waistcoat.” He looked at her. “Find them and I’ll find the shoes and my bandana.” 
Moving to Axl’s second bag she started looking inside, throwing some of the clothes on the ground. “Got the pants!” She yelled, throwing them in his direction. 
“Not this one! I want the cowboy leather pants.” Axl complained.
“Axl!” Izzy interjected. 
“Fine, fine!” He lifted his hands in surrender.
After a few minutes, he was ready, running down the corridors while putting his sneakers on. 
“You should watch the gig,” Steven said. “You’ve never watched one.”
“That’s because I always have to organize your mess.” She giggled a little.
“No, seriously, I think you’d like it.” 
Thinking for a second she answered shrugging. “Why not?” 
“Yeas!” He smiled before getting onstage. 
Finding some equipment boxes on the side-door of the stage, she climbed on a big one, sitting on it and placing her agenda on her side. 
The gig started and she understood why everybody was getting crazy about them. 
Axl moved around as if he had eaten batteries for breakfast, jumping, running, screaming and singing. His voice was incredible and he was fierce, just what you need for a frontman.
Slash had lost all his shyness. Dancing, jumping and playing like a god. Every note that left his guitar sounded magical, precisely right. And even though she couldn’t see his face, she could tell that he loved doing that.
Izzy was like a black cat in the night, that you just notice if you pay attention. He moved around calmly, playing his guitar and singing the backing vocals so peacefully, as if he was born to do that. 
Steven, well, now she understood why they called him popcorn. His hair bounced up and down as his head accompanied the drums he was playing. He smiled and sang along and if he could, she was sure he’d get up and dance to the songs.
But nobody caught her eyes like Duff did. The velocity with which he moved his fingers, the way his head kept up with the beat of the song. The way he walked so majestically with his long legs crossing the stage in a few seconds.
He was beautiful, a masterpiece in her opinion. And she knew that there was no use in trying to fight, she was already in love with him. 
----
After the gig, they did the check-in in the hotel, taking a quick shower before stopping in a restaurant for dinner. 
Joining two tables together, they sat down. Tom and Izzy taking the borders, Axl, Slash and Steven taking one side while Y/N and Duff took the other.
It was a simple restaurant, nothing fancy, and as they talked and ate Y/N couldn’t help but feeling like she was having dinner with old friends of hers.
“So I get home and grandma is complaining that Axl was sleeping on her couch and that she wants him out of the house.” Slash was telling a story about when Axl used to sleep in his basement.  
“I go downstairs and say ‘Axl, you have to find somewhere else to stay, bro’ and he’s like furiously throwing his things inside this backpack while giving me an angry look.”
Axl was laughing at this point.
“We got in my mom’s car and I started driving him towards the place where Izzy was crashing and I was like ‘Why did you sleep on her couch, dude? I had told you not to do that!’ and he looks at me with that ‘I’m gonna kill you look’, he opens the door and jumps out of the car!”
“What?” Y/N asked.
They were all laughing.
“I was pissed.” Axl answered.
“Pissed? None of us saw you for three days!” Slash added while Duff wiped some tears away from his eyes. 
“I needed time to calm down.” Axl replied calmly, still smiling as he lifted his glass to drink from it. 
“This is the best story you guys ever told me!” She said after she stopped laughing.
----
Leaving the restaurant they started walking towards the hotel, they all went in front, leaving Duff and her behind.
It was a cold night in London and Y/N had definitely forgotten that their winter was actually cold.
A cold breeze got her when she turned a corner and she shivered, hugging herself. Her sweater was definitely not enough for a night like that. 
“Here.” She looked to her side and saw Duff taking off his leather jacket and handing it to her.
“You don’t have to.” 
“Y/N. Take the jacket.” He smiled at her.
She took it, her cold fingers touching his warm hand slightly. 
Putting the jacket on she realized it was big on her, the smell of his cologne mixed with Marlboro hit her nostrils and she hugged the jacket closer to her body, wishing that it was him who was involving her. 
A few minutes passed by and they finally reached the hotel. Entering the lobby the warmth welcomed them in and she smiled. 
“On which floor are you?” Duff asked.
“Fourth.” She started to take the jacket off. 
“I’m on the sixth.” 
“Yeah, I know.” She smiled. “Thanks for the jacket, Duff.”
“It’s ok.”
They stopped for a second, looking at each other almost as if they were in trance. 
Duff put a lock of her hair behind her ear and licked his lips.
“Y/N.” Tom’s voice cut the atmosphere, making her jump slightly and look in his direction. “Are you coming?” He pointed to the elevator.
“Yeah, just a sec.” 
Looking at Duff again, she gave him a small smile. “Good night, Duff.”
He leaned down, lightly kissing her cheek. “Good night, Y/N.” 
Getting in her room she quickly changed into some comfy pajamas. She stopped in front of the bathroom mirror when brushing her teeth and soon realized that she was smiling.
Her face seemed to be tickling where his fingers had brushed ever so delicately over. And she could still feel the warmth of his lips against her skin.
“Oh, Y/N. You are so fucked now.” She said to herself, walking towards the bed and jumping on it. 
She laid there, but she couldn’t sleep, his face and voice filling her mind along with the memories of him playing onstage. 
Her hair, which had stayed inside the jacket during the walk to the hotel, was smelling like him.
She turned around, facing the illuminated building in front of the hotel while smiling.
Yes, she was fucked. But she was feeling so happy that she couldn’t even get mad at herself for feeling like this. 
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roswellroamer · 4 years
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Day 11. February 9, 2020. Invercargill to Te Anau. 182 km.
We had a leisurely morning allowing to finish yesterday's blog and pack up after an enjoyable 3 night's stay in the apartment. Left around 9:30 dissuaded from attending the street race by the morning rains. We loaded and rode to find the Burt Munro statue by Queens Park. We had turned around just short of it on foot yesterday and got some good/silly shots with our bikes feigning a racing victory versus Burt in his now famous modified 1920 Indian Scout.
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After checking off the last "must do" item in In'Gill we headed once again along the scenic southern route through Riverton and Orepuki. The cafe at the latter made such an impression the previous day that we again stopped there. This time for mushroom eggs benedict and blueberry wheat germ hot cakes. 👍 Back in the saddle we aimed for Tuatapere amidst innumerable sheep farms as we turned from the foamy and roiling sea with it's accompanying & unnerving 40mph+ gusts. They required near constant attention to maintain position within the left hand lane, often reversing lean angle on a moment's notice as the road ducked behind a small hill and the vortex/eddy forces instantaneous weight shifts to avoid being blown to one side and then the next. Reminiscent as I said previously of Patagonia. We are in the "Roaring 40's" with regards to latitude and notoriety of wind strength. The ever changing Fiordland weather then obliged us a shift towards blue skies as we turned north at Tuatapere onto unexplored roads at least as far as we were concerned. Saw loads of "HayHenge" stacks of hay wrapped in plastic as if to invite speculation on the etiology of the rows and stacks of waterproofed bales often exactingly placed about the Southland and Fiordland. A brown sign beckoned a turn from the route to explore the Clifden suspension bridge. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clifden_Suspension_Bridge
Aside from this still being the longest suspension bridge in NZ and dating from 1899, something pretty cool happened there today. I pulled up near the bridge and saw what appeared to be a couple of bikes parked on the bridge. As I neared the bridge I saw that there were a couple of Triumph's before the bridge and a couple of Rocket 3's on the bridge. I struck up a conversation with the 6 NZ folks riding the 4 bikes and it turns out that two of the guys were on Rocket 3 TFC's! 8 of the 750 sold worldwide were sold in NZ. One there was number 100 something and the other number 500 something. I just took delivery of #446 two days before my departure for NZ. It was fun talking with them about their new bikes which had endured the torrential rains and loads of dirt heading from the North Island to Burt Munro however had been cleaned immaculately since. The one guy gave me his email and I've since sent him a link to this blog. A local woman told me that the Waiau river flowing under the bridge was excellent for fishing at least according to her son. She was also a bit enamored by the TFC display. The Waiau River and lake Manapouri provided beautiful scenery and an interesting if not controversial hydroelectric history. New Zealand's largest hydroelectric plant there is capable of generating 850MW of power but has also depleted river flow dramatically and stirred controversy. The engineering marvel at one time generated something like 80% of NZ power. The tunnels that divert the water now on demand to Doubtful Sound utilize a 750' drop to generate so much power via tunnels 10km long through rock to do so. Impressive. Also note that the Waiau river was used for some key Lord of the Rings scenes towards the end of the first film of the trilogy as the river Anduin. NZ voted down the proposal to rename the river to Anduin in 2009.
We stopped by lake Manapouri in the little town of Manapouri for a view and a Coke Zero and a mince and cheese pie. Serene. Warm. Scenic. I could've sat there for another hour or more. But we remounted and headed the 25' around to Lake Te Anau and it's eponymous town. The bright sunny and warm day that emerged from the solemn and somewhat harsh Invercargill was a stark but welcome contrast. Loads of tour companies and souvenir shops were sprinkled between the lake shore road and the town's main drag. This is something of a jumping off point for trampers and folks looking to enjoy the scenic lake and all there is to offer in this pristine section of NZ. The lake itself is the largest freshwater lake by volume in the whole of Australasia and is the largest on the South Island. Volume is huge due to the enormous depth of the lake going to 1,368' deep putting much of the lake bed hundreds of feet below sea level. One of the topographical features that made this area one used in a number of scenes in Lord of the Rings are the 3 inland fiords (south, middle and north) on the western side of the lake. The only inland fiords in NZ. The area is a world heritage site, with 99% of the well over 4,000 square miles of the Fiordland National Park not ever coming into contact with human presence. This is how NZ looked before it was settled. Covered in trees and dramatic. Found the hotel I booked and was very pleased. It was a convent nearly a hundred years ago and converted into a special B&B type lodging. The confessional has been re-engineered into a dumb waiter in the lobby. Mark the owner is very hospitable and interesting. He owns the museum of language in Paris and also the DC-3 that we rode by on the tarmac at Manapouri airport. He informed me that I had reserved the "homestead" which turns out to be an entire house with 3 bedrooms, full kitchen, dining room, living room, etc. Sweet! Big, old, charming and a view of the mountains across the lake. Mark persuaded us to commit to his Greek chef's planned Hungarian dinner of goulash and also explained the myriad of touristic options. When we had stopped at lake Manapouri I had inquired at the docks regarding a boat trip to Doubtful Sound. More remote than the very popular and now for us canceled Milford Sound boat trip (due to the aforementioned road wash out) the agent informed me that all excursions for tomorrow were fully booked. However, Mark suggested at our Te Anau Lodge that the float plane excursion was a great way to see the Doubtful Sound as we as explore the many waterfalls and lakes of the Fiordland NP. I said yes right away and Ted was also in. A quick call revealed 2 open seats on the 6PM flight. Kismet in our favor today. After unloading our stuff we headed to the lake shore where it isn't difficult to spot Ivan's plane, the only float plane on the lake. We head to Bailiez cafe for some adult refreshments and soak in the beauty of the town, the screams the passers by at an outdoor high top table. At the appointed time we stroll back to the dock and find 3 folks from just outside Madrid (Spain, not New Mexico) also on our flight. We have a brief safety talk then climb into the six seater. Everyone has a window seat and headset communications make it easy to talk over the propeller/engine sounds. We taxi into the lake and as we gather speed watch a waterski boat make some much needed course corrections... the skier gave us a wave as we released from the light chop and soared overhead, about a hundred meters off our port (my) side. Pictures don't really do justice to the hidden lakes (13 of them, all super deep carved by glaciers), waterfalls, tree avalanches that take 400 years to repopulate, mountain tops and fiords. I put a couple here anyway. Lots of incredible views. Doubtful Sound info here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubtful_Sound
Our forty minute plane ride was so worth it. To see Doubtful without aerial assistance requires a cruise ship or seagoing trip or from here the journey involves a boat to a bus, over a mountain then down to another boat. About an 8 hour minimum to explore. On the way back we passed by Browne Lake and the largest waterfall in NZ at 2,742 feet tall, Browne Falls. But the falls are more of a water slide as it covers over 3,700 horizontal feet. This last issue prevents the falls from competing with Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall in the world. We got loads of pics of course and a lifetime memory of this stunning and pristine place. A brief ride back the the old homestead (😆) and we went right to dinner. A cherry yogurt like appetizer was tasty followed by an unconventional that was accompanied by a barley salad in place of the usual noodles. But very good it was. Dessert was homemade carmel "Hokey Pokey" ice cream and a poppyseed pastry. Conversations with a couple Oregonian women, a Danish couple and an Australian couple as well as wine which was included with the dinner experience. Great day and night!
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dieting-inspo-blog · 5 years
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Because no one else seems to care
Tuesday
I walk home from the bus stop after school with 2 friends of my older brothers, on the way home I see my brother (about 50 meters ahead of us) realising he ditched school but then he starts stumbling, physically unable to walk straight. He’s walking with a random girl (she seemed totally ok physically) the guys didn’t really know her. We run up to him and immediately realised he’s off his nut, he was on something. I’ve seen this from him once before but this was a bit different. One of his friends goes and talks to him as I and the other friend are slowly walking towards home. One of the friends sorta knows who the girl is and says that she’s not a good person, he refers to her as a ‘junky slut’ she’s a druggie kid. We ask her what happened, what he took. She told us that, they were at our house for a bit then he took a bunch of pills out of a drawer, she didn’t wanna say anything cause it was the first time they met up and she didn’t wanna judge. At this point we just want to get him home, we were about 100 to 200 meters away, we’re literally dragging him because he didn’t wanna go. Not that there was much of a struggle anyways. As we get into the driveway I see a tear roll down his face, with a blank, empty face and that broke me inside, all of us kinda just stoked for a sec abd was like ‘(insert name) are you alright?’ When we get inside we go into the lounge room and sit him on a foot stool and he starts to flop over as he’s passing out. We took off his jumper and shoes, his friends had to physically pick him up and drag him off and onto the long couch cause as soon as he sat down he was out. At this time dad was already in his way back home after his friend called and explained the situation. Dad gets back, I’m standing at my doorway and I see him kind of slapping him around a bit and calling his name in an effort to wake or stir him, even lifting an eyelid open but his eyes just roll into the back of his head. He calls a close family friend who’s a nurse. After checking him out a bit she says to call the ambulance immediately. He had od’ed. He admits to taking 4 or 5 endon and 2 pear ciders but we knew there was more. 5 out of a pack of 6 ciders are missing from a pack that he must have bought, after looking through the bins we find a full tray of 50 of lorazepam Gone but he must have been taking that over a long period not all that day. All of it is my mums old medication from 7 years ago when she was stage 3 terminal cancer then eventually died, being put to sleep by the same medicine.
Wednesday
He wakes up in the hospital and says to the psychiatrist talking to him ‘I can’t believe it didn’t work’ this wasn’t just an od it was a suicidd atenpt. Dads girlfriend is talking to him in the er and he tells her that he’s gonna get out of here as soon as he can so he can try again. I get to go in and see him there for a bit but I have nothing to say. I just sit silently crying as he sleeps. Around 3 he gets admitted into the children’s psychiatric ward since he is still 17. When he’s signing the papers he makes the comment ‘this is a nice prison’ and ‘I’m not crazy I’m just depressed’ when we talk to the people close to us they all say ‘I don’t want to go to another (insert last name) funeral’
Thursday
The doctors want to send him home for the weekend but we think that he’s just pretending to be ok so he can get out and just expect to come home and have everything be how it was before but nothings ever going to be the same again
I feel dead inside, I can’t do this again, if I’m being honest I’m not sure if he’s even going to make it to see his 18th birthday. I’m 14 and I don’t know how to deal with this, my dad is very angry and can’t even bare to look at my brother. Family friends are suggesting o get out of the house for a while so as not to accidentally get caught in his line of anger. When mum died he always seemed so angry at me and ny brother but I didn’t truly understand what was happening at tgd time, I was only 7.
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dahabiyacruise · 4 years
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My Cup Runneth Over - Oct 12/19
Up at 6 this morning to get an early start on the first day in Egypt that I planned myself. After breakfast I headed off early (just after 7:30) and walked about 2.5 km to my first stop at the Mahmoud Khalil Museum on the West Bank of the Nile, so it is actually in Giza. Walking may not have been my best choice, as rush hour smog in Cairo is even worse than I experienced in Beijing, Delhi or Bangkok and I arrived short of breathe despite a leisurely pace. The museum was the home of Mohammed Mahmoud Khalil Pasha and his French wife Emiline Lock from 1915 until their deaths (him in 1953, her in 1960) when it was bequeathed to the state and became a museum (with a brief interlude as the office of Egyptian President Anwaar Sadat). In addition to a valuable collection of French and Chinese ceramics, it also houses a huge collection of late 19th Century art which apparently is dominated by the impressionists (most of whom they knew) including Renoir, Monet, Lautrec, Rodin and Gauguin that were bargains at the time (Renoir for 200£E). Despite this amazing collection, I understand that it is only rarely visited by tourists. Its most well known work, the Poppy Flower by Van Gogh ($50 Million+ US), disappeared in 1977 and was found 10 years later in Kuwait. It was stolen again in 2010, apparently an inside job by officials in the antiquities ministry that I understand are still in jail. I have been unable to find out whether the painting was returned. Anyway, despite the website indicating that the museum was open today from 8 am, I discovered on arrival that it is currently a construction site and closed indefinitely. Once again, as in golf, Norm’s meticulous planning does not always lead to successful execution😬. Still it was not a total failure as I did not see a single westerner for over an hour and felt like I might have escaped my tourist bubble, if only for a moment.
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Disappointed, I turned around and headed for Zamalek (4km) an upscale neighbourhood of foreign expats and wealthy Egyptians on Gezira Island. On the way, I reached an area with high hedges and a wrought iron fence that appeared to be a beautiful park. Peaking through holes I could see tennis courts, a track and even an 18 hole golf course (apparently played on only 9 fairways?). I searched for an entrance only to discover that this was the very private 150 acre Gezira Sporting Club built in 1882. Originally restricted to British Officers, it now has about 40,000 Egyptian members, but I am still just the riffraff and was left to peer through the fence with envy. Once I reached the main drag of Zamalek, I spent some time “licking the windows” (as the French say) before stopping at a very nice coffee shop/bakery for a croissant and the best latte I have had since leaving home, including those I had in London. I sat for a while watching life go by and noticed a number of Europeans, none of whom appeared to be tourists. Instead they seemed to be locals (albeit wealthy ones) just going about their daily routine.
As I sat contentedly drinking my latte, I also browsed through my online guidebook only to discover that my planned last stop was scheduled to close in about an hour. I quickly took my life in my hands and hopped into a local cab after bargaining the asking price from 50£E to 30£E for a trip of 5-6km. How we arrived at this price is a complete mystery to me as, once were on our way, I discovered that the driver had no idea where we were going and spoke no English. After a lot of hand waving and a couple of lengthy detours, my GPS finally saved the day. This also gave me time to calculate the conversion rate in my head and discover that I had been in tough negotiation over $1.50. On arrival, I took a note from Lu-Anne’s book and gave the driver the original 50£E ($4) ask, to much smiling and thanks.
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The Al-Azhar Mosque is the largest in Cairo and the only place on the highlights list in “Top Ten - Cairo & the Nile” that I had yet to see. It was well worth the effort and was a beautiful and tranquil oasis in the chaos that is Cairo. After spending perhaps an hour, I crossed the street back to the Khan Al-Khalili market that I visited yesterday. I spent some time browsing the stalls and avoiding being trampled by the herds of bus tourists that seem to move in packs. My only purchase about a half a pound of fresh cumin from a shop filled with locals, as I have just run out of the supply we brought home from Marrakech. One more Turkish coffee at Fishwari’s and then a taxi back to the hotel. This time I did not even try to barter down the 50£E asking price (no Cairo taxi has an actual operating meter) as I was sure that any reduction would be far more valuable to the driver than to me. I was however warned repeatedly that, had I hopped in without at least agreeing to a price, I could easily have been charged 100£E or more on arrival at my destination.
While it is only 35C today, I will rest through the heat of the day and venture out for dinner around 7 or 8 based on a couple recommendations from yesterday’s guide, Beeko. Tomorrow I am out of the hotel at 6 am for another early flight, this time to London
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lichlover · 6 years
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If you’re taking prompts I’d love to know what you think would happen if one of the 100 worlds the seven birds went to was earth. Like how many milliseconds would it take lup and taako to get arrested/what would happen with magic/etc.
okay, so, admittedly i misread this, but it was already turning out in a super fun way so i just decided to run with it. have a little something from post-canon!
please consider donating to my ko-fi!
On the third ring, Joaquin has to step out of his math class, because whoever’s calling him is calling instead of texting and that means it’s serious.
All eyes are on him as he whispers an apology to his teacher and steps out into the hallway. He’s sure it’s not just because of the call; having magic powers tends to make him a target for people’s stares, nowadays. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to have gotten him much else. An exemption from math class, for example.
The door swings mercifully shut behind him, and Joaquin presses the phone to his ear. “Uh, hi, whoever this is?” he whispers, because one of the hall monitors is a few doors down and eyeing him suspiciously. “This isn’t a good time.”
“Hey, kid! Am I on the right frequency?”
Joaquin freezes and cranks up the volume. “Uh, sorry… is this—”
“Taako,” the voice on the other end drawls. “Y’know, from TV? And also the end of the world, keep fuckin’ forgetting about that one. Uh… listen. I’ve got a bit of a—uh, we have a bit of a situation here, and—”
“Whoa, just—hold on a sec.” The hall monitor is definitely staring now. “Where is here? Where are you? How did you even get my number?”
“World savior privileges. So the thing is—”
Joaquin blinks. “Oh my God, are you… are you here in this world? Like, actually here?”
He can practically hear Taako’s shrug through the phone. “Near as I can tell.”
“Oh my God,” Joaquin repeats. He’s starting to feel a little faint, and he’s sure it’s not because of his late lunch period. “What are you doing here? I thought that was against the—the rules, or whatever? Are you gonna get arrested by the dimension police? Oh, shit—” He breaks off when the hall monitor’s glare intensifies, and continues in a lower voice. “Am I gonna get arrested by the dimension police?”
“Probably not. Uh, speaking of which! They told me we only get one phone call, so we really—we really gotta make this one count here—”
“One phone call? Oh, holy shit, did you get arrested?”
From a few meters away, he sees the hall monitor unclip a walkie-talkie from her belt. Why his school has to go so hard with hall monitors, Joaquin will never understand, but he has a feeling his time is almost up. “Okay, okay, just—how did you—no, nevermind, that doesn’t matter. Where are you?”
“Uh…” Taako’s voice jumps a good octave. The receiver crackles, and Joaquin can hear a muffled question, followed by a brief, snappish argument. “This fuckin’ guy, I swear to gods—uh, the Miami Beach police station? Whatever the hell that means. They got better room service in the Eternal Stockade, and that’s—that’s sayin’ something.”
“Miami Beach police station,” Joaquin repeats. “Okay, I’m on my way. Just hang in there, and, uh, don’t do anything stupid, I guess?”
A scoff fizzles through the phone. “You don’t halfta tell me twice.”
“Yes, you do!” comes another, more distant voice. One Joaquin recognizes.
“Is that Lup?” he says, and now his voice is about to jump another octave, too. “She’s there with you?”
“Yeah, she’s—hey, Fantasy Terminator, I’ll tell ya when my time is up, alright? Listen, kid, bring a taco or two with you, alright? It’ll be ironic, and also, I’m fuckin’ starving. Cool. Thanks. Bye!”
“Um, okay, I will. But—” The connection goes dead, which Joaquin will admit he should have seen coming. He shoves his phone in his pocket and flags down the hall monitor, who has the walkie-talkie in her hand and looks about ready to bring out the big guns. “Hey, hey, uh,” he says, trying not to think about how her walkie might be as intimidating as the Hunger itself. “I—um, I’m sorry to disturb the peace and, uh, all that, but I really gotta go.”
The hall monitor walks him down to the counselor’s office, and when the counselor asks him what’s wrong, his brain barrels past “family emergency” and goes straight to “world savior stuff,” verbatim.
It turns out to be the better idea, anyway. Not ten minutes later, Joaquin is standing at a bus stop with the scrapings of a fare in his hand.
It’s strange to be downtown in the middle of the day. He stops by a locally owned Mexican place, feeling guilty all the way, and picks up two tacos with all the embellishments because he had said he would. The police station is a short walk from there. Joaquin recognizes a couple of the officers from their off-duty stops at the taco truck, and they wave at him as he hurries past, but he’s a little too frazzled to offer them anything but a weak smile in return. This isn’t the way he’d supposed he would spend his Tuesday. Granted, his weekdays are a bit unpredictable now, what with the impromptu interviews and the press showing up unannounced to his actual, literal house, but still. This is a lot different.
This is interdimensional.
And yes, it’s a bad and completely baffling situation, but Joaquin can’t help but feel a tiny thrill at the thought. His problems are interdimensional now. How many high schoolers can say that?
He promptly forgets about the cool factor of his morning when the main floor comes into view. There are several desks and a few annoyed-looking detectives between them, but that doesn’t stop Joaquin’s gaze from instantly snapping to the two lounging figures in the holding cell.
“Holy shit,” he says. It’s a perfectly fair thing to say.
From behind bars, Taako, from TV and the end of the world, lifts a lazy finger in greeting. “Took you long enough, huh?”
A bright red jacket hits him in the shoulder. “Don’t be fucking rude,” says Lup, and waves. “ ’Sup, kiddo?”
It occurs to Joaquin just then that he can never, ever tell his friends about this, because if they find out he’s met two of the Seven Birds in person, he can forget about his world savior glory forever. “Uh… I’m good,” he calls, doing his best to ignore the outright stares he’s receiving from the personnel in the room. “All good over here! Yeah.”
One of the detectives comes around her desk and shoots a dubious look at the holding cell. “You called Joaquin Terrero?”
“Is that his full name?” says Taako. Lup’s jacket nails him in the arm again and he tries to snatch it out of her hands, to no avail.
The detective sighs and turns to Joaquin with something suspended between an apologetic smile and an all-out grimace. “They’ve been like that ever since we brought them in. Um, Mr. Terrero—”
“Joaquin is fine.” Ever since Story and Song, he’s been called Mr. Terrero or sir just about everywhere he goes. Weirdness aside, it makes Joaquin feel like he’s always at a parent-teacher conference. “So what, uh… what happened?”
Detective Alvarez, according to her name tag, motions for him to sit down. He does, and she takes a seat across from him, still eyeing the holding cell as Taako and Lup bicker. “There were a few misdemeanors,” she says.
Misdemeanor means not serious. Joaquin silently thanks his social studies teacher.
“The thing is,” the detective continues, “these misdemeanors weren’t standard. I mean—” She sighs. “For one, they just appeared in the middle of a busy street and scared several pedestrians half to death. They said it was thanks to those belts.”
Only then does Joaquin notice the belts. He’d lumped it in with the rest of the twins’ eccentric style, but there they are, silvery and slim and otherwise pretty innocuous. “And that’s how they got here?”
“It’s science, babe,” Lup interjects. “We got it under control.”
She hooks a thumb over her belt with a conspicuous wink, and Detective Alvarez turns pink and clears her throat. “Of course,” she says, hurriedly. “That’s just not the point.”
There’s a look of extreme discomfort on her face, and Joaquin doesn’t blame her. It had been enough of an ordeal getting a call from one of the Seven Birds, nevermind keeping two of them in a holding cell. (There’s a joke there about birds and cages that he’ll have to remember for later.) “Then they went to a restaurant and tried to pay for their food with… well, this.”
Detective Alvarez opens a drawer, and Joaquin’s eyes go wide at the sight of several large, priceless-looking gems in an evidence bag. He opens his mouth, but nothing comes out, save for an awkward-sounding croak. He’d known Taako was rich—not rich.
Speaking of which. From across the room, Taako cups a hand around his mouth and calls out. “Those the jewels? They’re my husband’s paycheck, for gods’ sake! Are you gonna—are you tryin’ to tell me Death isn’t legit?”
The look on Detective Alvarez’s face seems to imply they’ve had this conversation before. “You can’t pay for food with giant jewels.”
“You can if you’re not a fuckin’ coward,” Taako murmurs, and slouches back against the wall. He takes another jacket to the chest for that.
Joaquin takes a deep breath. “Okay. Uh, Detective Alvarez, I’m really sorry that these two caused a disturbance.”
“Listen, these aren’t—the misdemeanors aren’t serious. We won’t hold them, and we won’t fine them—I mean, they’re the Birds,” says Detective Alvarez. “It wouldn’t be great for the universe anyway. The precinct just wanted to make sure they have someone here who can…” She lowers her voice. “You know, keep an eye on them?”
“They’re not super great at being on Earth, huh?”
“No. Definitely not.”
“I’ll take care of them,” Joaquin promises. “I’m really sorry, Detective.”
Detective Alvarez offers up a weary smile. “You’re a good kid. Just get them out of here, okay?”
“I will,” says Joaquin.
He does.
They emerge into a bright, warm afternoon, and Taako hisses, yanking a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. “Sheesh. How long’s it been? A year?”
“An hour,” says Lup, checking her watch.
“Oh.” He plucks one of the tacos from the bag in Joaquin’s hand. “Cheers, kid. Not as good as mine, but it—it’ll do, I guess.”
“Thanks for bailing us out.” Lup nudges Joaquin and flashes a brilliant smile. She’s definitely more intimidating in person, and also a full head taller than him, which means he has to crane his neck and squint to see her against the sun. “So, you’re taking us on a tour, right?”
Joaquin blinks. “I—uh, I have school.”
Taako snorts, which, yeah, he deserves that. “That’s gotta be the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard.”
“Lame,” Lup chimes in. She picks the other taco out of the bag and says, “Give us the grand tour, kid! We’re only here for… uh, two more hours, looks like. Gotta make the most of our time before we head back home.”
“Oh, yeah, that—you never said what you were doing here?”
“Visiting you, duh,” she says. “Taako wouldn’t shut up about how he realized your potential, and—”
“Yeah, speaking of shutting up!” says Taako, his voice shrill. He takes an unceremonious bite of the taco and tugs the brim of his hat a little lower. “You gonna show us around, or what?”
“That’s not speaking of shutting up, ’Ko.”
“Don’t—you don’t get to lecture me on semantics—”
Joaquin bites back a smile and says, “You guys wanna see the beach?”
“Hell yeah,” they say as one, and high-five without having to look. Drift compatible, Joaquin thinks. It really is a perfect day, and a little magical—not in the actual sense, of course, but there’s something thrilling about knowing school will drag on without him. He’s got some world savior stuff to do; if showing around two of the Seven Birds counts as world savior stuff, of course, and he’s decided that it does.
Of course, that doesn’t mean there won’t be consequences to his actions. But Joaquin’s pretty smart, and he’s already thought of a contingency plan.
“Um, hey, so,” he starts, as they set off down the street. “Lup, uh—I’ve got this friend, Stephanie, and she would kill me if I didn’t get an autograph, or something… do you have, uh, a headshot or something like that? Like, she’s been dying to know if you still have an undercut…”
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grgop · 6 years
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Geneva, the French and the Međimurci
After months of residing in the darkness of inactivity here comes a fresh review of the recent trip to Switzerland. Those 3 days were without expectations and with plenty of spontaneous decisions that turned out...awesome. I even managed get my Master thesis done and sent to print hours before the trip thus not having to bring my laptop there and work at the airport. I would also use this chance to thank again our hosts for the wonderful time we spent there as well as for helping us with the stay in Geneve. Merci beaucoup...or whatever you write it.  Now what was all this about, when, why and how...please start scrolling. The whole trip was planned a few months ago as one our best and closest Uni colleagues was going to get married. Since we were sitting next to each other since the day 1 of the University life (and were breaking the Erasmus Intership Exchange ice together writing the letters and creating our portfolios in the bars between the Uni lectures...) there was no way for me not to come there. Wait a bit more to see the wedding pics. The interesting story is that she had met her future husband during Erasmus internship in Paris while I was in Vienna (maybe I should apply again for the exchange?). One of the last things in life I imagined was ending up on a wedding in Switzerland and be surrounded with the French and the Međimurci. On the trip there and back again I was with a few colleagues whom we will refer to as “the Noone”. Let’s start with...
DAY 1: Travelling from Zagreb to Venice Marco Polo Airport. Getting lost in Venice. Evening arrival to Geneve 
Just before our trip there were several problems that were kept in secret in order not to spread panic. Our return flight with EasyJet was cancelled due to French Airline’s strike and luckily I was online to check us in on the next one an hour later. Had we not had the second flight the same evening things would gotten nasty with the bus schedule and arriving home on Monday morning to hand in our binded Master’s thesises. 
The second crisis emerged early in the morning around 3am when I realized:
a) I left the sunglasses at my barber’s desk the day earlier
b) I forgot the headphones on my desk!!
We travelled with Flixbus, direct line from Zagreb to Marco Polo Airport, at 7.30am and arrived a bit later than scheduled due to traffic problems on the Italian highway and a traffic mess at the bus station in Trieste (sorry Italians, it was another prejudice come true...). 
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We came to our destination around 2.30pm and had almost 5 hours free before the flight. And what should we do?
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Go to Venice of course! For the price of 15 Euros you get the bus return ticket from the airport to Venice. My colleague was there for the first time and for me it was the 3rd. I honestly didn’t expect going there but ... was worth it. The plan was to drink coffee somewhere but we didn’t have time as...umm... I wanted to make a tour around and we got lost on our way back...just a bit. : -) In the end we managed to get in time back.
The overall impression of Venice?
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Crowded, hot, stinky...few buildings and streets that impress you in the beginning and then you get bored and start counting nationalities and bricks in the walls. As well as the shades to hide in. 
Just before the security check in I realized that I totally messed up with clothes and items in the travel bag...bringing unecessary stuff that took plenty of space. Never again listen to the others and just keep it simple. So I was forced to put my pants, part of ceremonial clothes etc. into the bags of my colleagues. :-D Just like Voldemort with the horcruxes.
Speaking of food and water supplies on your trips and specifically at the airports...there are two kinds of people in this world. Those who buy the bottled water in duty free shops... and those who drink and fill them in the restrooms (toilets). During my 3 days I only drank water from the restroom. Save money, save the nature. 
Our flight was around 8pm and I spent most of it (one hour) sleeping dead tired. For those of you who’ve been following me from before you might remember I’ve already been to Switzerland but never in Geneve. (scroll down the blog for those posts).
Geneva airport? While going towards the exit you pass by numerous billboards of the Swiss watches...Rolex, Rolex, Rolex...and Rolex..and so on for the next 5 minutes. The good thing is that all the arriving guests have 80 minutes free public transport ticket so we went to the next stop (Geneve Cornavin). Our hostel (Geneve Hostel) was about 5-7 minutes by foot and close to the Geneva lake. Boys in one room, girls in another to avoid the potential problems. And unplanned weddings. 
At the hostel we were also given free public transport ticket that was valid for the whole Saturday and Sunday which helped a lot. It included the train, the boats, the buses and the tram within Geneve. Since France was super close (cca 4 km) there was even a tram line leading there (about 30 minutes)...we heard you can have a cheaper lunch there and planned “to visit France” on Sunday but plans changed. 
Before the sleep we searched around the hostel area for some cheap place to grab some food. Now, the word “cheap” in Switzerland is not as same as “cheap” here and the best for your psychological health is not to convert the currency. We found the Ali Kebab place right next to the hostel and ate Chicken Kebab with some salad and French fries for 17,5 Franks, a meal we split for two. This was relatively similar to some prices here so it was not that bad at all. I could have eaten though the whole plate again but my wallet couldn’t. No complaints anyway!
DAY 2: Morning tour around Geneve. Going to the ceremony. The wedding and the afterparty.
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I’m a morning person and Saturday morning was no exception. Woke up early, took a shower, breakfast when there aren’t many people and already ready to go at 7.30am. I got the public transport and city landmarks map at the hostel staff and  went to the lake with another early bird. Here are some impressions of the streets, people and cityscape.
Plenty of runners with bluetooth headphones, people walking with dogs, the cylists, expensive cars you see in James Bond movies, the specific architecture, plenty of hotels and banks, mostly clean sterile streets, the promenade and the boats. Pretty much international population and French language everywhere. And I don’t speak French except for few words but was interesting to be in an “alien” surroundings. The lake that is as huge as the sea yet fresh water. Ducks everywhere. What I loved was seeing the bike roads across the promenade and the streets of Geneve. More about it on Day 3. Speaking of traffic behaviour they all more or less stop when you approach the pedestrian zebra crossing and stop even 0,5 m before it if the red light turns on. On contrary, here you’d get run over even if you were sitting on your balcony.
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We went back to pick up the third early bird and started our little tour around. There were several bridges in the center and you had a boat connection with other side of the lake. There is the huge wheel with cafes around the big bridge. One of the Geneve’s landmarks is the huge fountain which we reached later and had a free shower. One of the things that pleasantly surprised me was (as I had found out later) the artistic project “Happy City” where there were ca. 20 painted pianos placed around the city’s squares, parks, streets and bridges...where you do as it says “Play, I’m here for you”. So I did what they required you to do. Playing piano on Lake Geneva was another thing I never thought about ... but now I can say “new achievement unlocked”. 
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We walked a bit more to the inside of the other side up and down the streets, seen some churches and lots of interenational bars and restaurants. Expensive exotic cars again..and then decided it’s time to go back to hostel. 
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On our way back we checked out Lidl and took some emergency food to have just in case of unexpected hunger. This saved us on the next day. I also almost forgot that right now I can buy and drink Rivella.
Travelling to Gland and the Wedding.
We jumped into our suits and wedding clothes and went to the train station around 2pm. We had to arrive to Gland which is ca 20 minutes away from Geneve and there our fiancée’s family was going to pick us up and transport to the ceremony’s place. While there we got to know our French roommates and colleagues offiancé.
What I liked (and probably others) there weren’t many people as it usually is the case here. I won’t go into details here and throw emotions but here are some things. Close friends and family from both sides, that’s it. The ceremony took place at the fairy location called Le Moulin du Creux. Beautiful house with garden, creek and forest around located 100 meters from the road. Check the nice photos of it and you’ll get the idea.
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We had two-three pastors, the French ones and the Croatian one. Since most of us didn’t speak nor understood French we had a translator. And it was funny because she was a Slovene translating into Serbian mostly. :)) Nevertheless, an interesting ceremony and a special moment for our now married couple!
What was also new was that after taking pictures and rushing to the tables with food and drinks we also had a game organized - seek and answer game. They hid around 30 photos around the area and we got the papers with questions in French and Croatian. For my team it was kind of a fail in the end. We were trying to learn a few useful French phrases such as J'ai soif which means “I’m thirsty” when sneaking around the table with served drinks.
The other games included a catapult and a cubic football. There was also a gigantic version of the Jenga Tower which was fun to play. We took and received as a memory the polaroid photo with our couple and later moved inside for the dinner and the rest of the show. We watched short movie clips that fiance’s family created about him and our friend. The only problem we had was that we didn’t understand anything as there were no subtitles. :-)
After few more games and meals it was time to go out on the field and light the lanterns. This was a cool thing and my first time to show up and do the thing actually, I think we all enjoyed it. I have no photos of it though but you can imagined what it looked liked having many of them flying up. Let’s hope non of them fell on the forest below. :-D
Soon followed afterparty with some dance music. Some people already had to part and leave. Finally, around 2am we also decided to leave as we didn’t want to miss our train back to Geneve. And of course we missed the first one by being 5 minutes late.
We came to the hostel around 4am and straight to bed.
DAY 3: Tour around Geneve one more time. Coffee & city bikes. Departure.
The final day is here. So far everything great! We made a deal to meet with friends from Nyon around 10.30h at the giant wheel in the center. Shower, breakfast and baggage packed and locked in the hostel. Ready to go. 
We took the boat to the other side and soon met with our friends. We then wasted around an hour going to the “old center” only to find nothing interesting there. However, we saw more of the public pianos and parks. For the next half an hour we were on a quest to find a solid cafe to sit and talk about life. 
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We ended up below the giant wheel and had a tiny cup of coffee for 4 Franks. Naturally, we stayed for 2 hours sitting & chatting there to compensate the loss. I ran out of cash and asked the waiter where to go. After all, Geneva is the city of banks and I hadn’t seen a single ATM machine there.  Before running for some cash we decided to visit the giant fountain. On our way there I stopped by the public piano which was now free of ambitious moms and their kids who just pressed random keys but had a cool photo. Actually, I was doing the same. It was funny to have the unusual audience around you. 
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Soon by the fountain. Time for a group photo! 
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  Time flew by quickly and our friends had to find the bus station as they were leaving sooner than us. We went to the center in search of places to eat and after parting with them three of the original squad left. We had a few hours left before rushing to the train station and the airport. Having lunch in France? Visiting France by trams? Visiting France on bikes? Using city bikes to go around? We rushed to the nearst bike station and...all the bikes were gone. Second chance at the one across the bridge. We somehow were lazy to walk and wasted time on the boat. What happened there? Only two bikes left. I agreed to run  to the other station as the rest follows me. But the guy working there couldn’t find the keys of the bike so we waster 10 minutes there filling the papers and waiting for him to come to common sense. The third and the last luck before giving up was using the tram to the Station No. 5 ... and...three bikes left, keys in the hands and off we go!
There is no better feeling than going around the new place by bike. Pure freedom and flexbility. We gave 20 Franks deposit and decided towards the north along the lake. Bike routes almost everywhere. Going between the streets was fun. No fear of the vehicles around us.
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We did cca 10 km in total in about more than hour stopping to take the pictues (the evidences). The idea was to go to France but by democracy 2:1 we gave up from that idea fearing something could go wrong and we get stuck in the middle of nowhere and miss the plane. So we returned the bikes close to our hostel, took the baggage and went to the train station. There we found a nice souvenir and chocolate shop....you can’t leave without one kitschy fridge magnet and a few Toblerones. We met the other Croats who were going back by plane to Venice and I again reorganized my bagge stuff into 2-3 bags of other people. The food from Lidl helped a bit. As well as the good old fresh water from the restroom.  I slept again in the plane this time successfully hiding my cabin baggage under my seat as the plane was crowded and full of passangers because of the cancelled flight. New achievement unlocked.  We had almost 3 hours to wait for the 2.15am Flixbus for Zagreb. Being dead hungry we checked the available offers at the backery there and found some snacks to survive till home. This time Flixbus didn’t have the second floor (on Friday we found the first row spots on the 2nd floor, the best view and the best way to get killed in an accident). But who cares, soon home! The route was shorter as we stopped only in Ljubljana...I woke up two times in total and the second on just at the Croatian border. The bus arrived precisely at 7.30am to Zagreb, to the most beautiful of the ugliest bus stations in the area. Finally, seeing “Mamiću cigane” grafitti around the station I can say “Welcome back home!”.
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benzilla80 · 6 years
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Waterous Trail on Foot 50 Miler – The Resurrection
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The Backstory
The lead up to this race had been a pretty solid one by my standards. WTF 100 miler in 2015 was a qualifier race for another 100 miler on the Australian east coast. After nearly a year of waiting, I was accepted to race in the Great Southern Endurance Run (GSER) A 181km 10,000m vertical gain alpine race. Fast forward almost another year and the race is fast approaching this coming November.
I will try not to wander to far from this race, but it was all part of my preparation. My GSER training program involved nearly a year’s worth of ‘racing diet’ Both for financial and racing effort reasons. Since Australia Day Ultra in January until GSER in November, there was to be only one race, and that was a ‘test and tune’ event. WTF50 was perfect. Local, I knew the course and it was a chance to test out some things under race conditions.
Training involved a good base of 100km weeks before training even started. Bread and butter weeks including one interval session, one tempo session and one long run as the foundation. The first few weeks were 6 days a week with easy volume runs filling in between the harder workouts, then I swapped to 7 days a week and targeted at least 2,00m elevation gain. The training week of WTF was a 130k week with an extremely short 3-day taper.
What The Actual Race Day
I got as early a night as I could, and rose on the first alarm, quietly got ready and drove myself to the start line with an instant packet of porridge warming my belly. The drive was dark, wet and not exactly inspiring for what lay ahead.
I arrived at the meet point a bit early and was not sure of the new parking area, eventually, I found the toilets and parking area and Sergio was also wandering about in the rain looking for the start. A few moments later a stream of cars rolled in and it was on. I parked and walked behind my car to get my gear out and stood in a large puddle…. great.
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Race director Dave Kennedy (DK) arrived in the big orange bus and we get through the drop bag process quick and easy then take the short walk through the early daw sunlight to the start line proper. It’s raining lightly and I am in two minds about keeping my hooded jacket on or not, I hate running in that thing, yet didn’t want to spend all day wet either, so it stayed on.
Race line brief, I hit my watch to get the location and it has an update waiting for me…. c’mon really? You need to do this now?! (I ended up starting the race without it tracking and got it sorted on the go, but that explains the minute difference between my watch time and gun time)
We set off and I’m about mid-pack and 50 meters into the race the lead guys run right by the first turn and take half the pack with them. I call out and everyone gets back on track among a few laughs. I find myself running with a person I didn’t recognise, Thomas with another lady I didn’t recognise Martina. Both looked springy and ready to go and as Chris and Andrew joined me they pulled ahead. The boys and I had agreed to run together for as long as it worked as a Runningworks Team, which I was happy for. The company was nice and I offered a few tips and laughs along the way. Both those guys had potential to win, and now there were two other factors I had not considered opening a gap ahead. I told the guys to be patient, 80k is a long way.
The first 5km is mostly downhill, so I tried to keep the pace comfortable but not silly. I said to Andrew “forget the split times and think of the split effort, consistent effort is more important than maintaining a specific number, some will be fast, some will be slow so think of the overall effort” I had planned my effort to be above training but stay below racing pace.
Things were going well, Martine came back to the group on one of the last big downhills before the river and Thomas opened the gap more and more. Our group of three crossed the river and began the next long 1.6km climb. I was happy to use my poles and run walk this, Chris seemed eager to run more and Andrew was happier to listen to his wife’s advice “winners walk the hills” Either way, we stayed pretty much together and were on the more runnable stuff into Kingsbury Drive Aid Station holding a nice pace and chatting away. Our average was pretty much 8 hours flat and Thomas was out of sight, a quick glance behind saw a few runners not far back, also in good spirits.
We round the last bend and I ask the guys if they were stopping and both said yes. I mentioned I needed to get my jacket off and have a pee so they might catch me then, but I avoid stopping at stations if I don’t have to. I had packed enough gear to not stop and ran right thought “307 in…307 out”
I would not see the boys again until Goldmine Hill’s out and back leg.
Running solo, I expected to slow down a bit, but managed to hold some pretty good pace on the hard-packed trail between the Kingsbury rd. crossing, around the plantation and into the ‘lil bitch’ (a term I use for my second most disliked part of the course, not an official name haha) the first of two rolling technical hills sections that can be tough in both directions, at least this year was a one way trip for me. A few hiking breaks and 6-7minute km’s saw me through to the Boyd Road section in pretty good shape. It was here my heart rate was elevated when I saw two rather large off leash Rottweilers running towards me with a small third dog in chase…. ALARM! The owner was close by and called the dogs and thankfully they had a great recall and decided against chewing on the skinny runner passing by! Just before leaving the road section I saw Chris’s wife Sandy and the rest of the support team at the junction. I appreciate the cheers guys. This was followed by a right turn and ‘big bitch’.
Part two of the rolling hill sections. It’s really not that bad, and many a runner would take it in their stride, but it’s enough to break your rhythm and technical enough to make you consider your footing and conserving the quad strength, it’s too soon to be burning them up. A few slower km’s and I took the chance to cram in some calories, after all the more you eat the less you have to carry! A couple of great single-track kilometres saw me popping out at the North Dandalup Dam Aid Station. 30km into the race and my first official stop. “307 in” and I was greeted by the lovely Kel, Harms and Jez at the table. “4 minutes behind the leader Ben” They took my rubbish and passed me my drop bag containing a kids sized packet of plain chips, a mini can of ginger ale and one Winners bar. I can’t remember if I had my bottles filled, I don’t think so?! I ate the chips, drank the drink and pocketed the bar “307 out” and was on my way. 30th kilometre was 7:15, so probably puts the total aid stop somewhere between 90 seconds and two minutes before setting out over the picturesque dam wall. 6 minutes behind Thomas.
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As I crossed the wall in clear blue skies and tried to take in the views I reflected on two things, one was immediate and one was more philosophical. Firstly, was race related, Thomas was 6 minutes ahead, that’s a pretty solid kilometre gap and I figured I would see him in the next hour, or I would never see him again and the dark house effect had taken place once again like a Survivor blind side. Only time would tell. Secondly was a conversation I had with a hiker one day during training “runners see twice as much but only half as good” SO I made the effort to take in the views on the go, to really see twice as much
From the dam wall to the Out and Back Aid Station is my favourite part of the course. Even though it’s hilly it is still my favourite. Rolling single tracks, perfect for mountain bikers. Bermed banks and bush right up to the trail edge. I didn’t even mind the puddles or diversion around large fallen trees, plus I was almost halfway and the average pace was still sub 8-hour finish.
35.5km and I pop out at the Out and Back Aid Station, this year a full aid station and I cruise right through to complete the out and back leg before stopping. The volunteers cheer and I start the climb over Goldmine Hill, now officially on the local favourite 6 Inch Trail Marathon course heading towards it’s start. I break out the poles and run walk my way over the top and part way down to the 50 mile turn around. All the while wondering “Has Thomas opened the gap and run away, or will I see him any second?” Passing the Dodd’s sign, I see him on the return trip and we both look at our watches. As we crossed I gave him a cheer but I don’t think he heard me as he had headphones in, he was also climbing and probably doing the maths, as was I.
I hit the run and take two steps more, just to be sure and start my way back with that number locked in my mind, I pass the sign and #margiemaths has the gap back to 4 minutes, so I had clawed back the two-minute aid stop but at what cost? Hiking over the top with my poles clicking away I see SJ, it actually took at least 30 seconds for me to place the face and name but I got there in the end and smiled my way over the hill, stowed my poles and ran down the backside of Goldmine Hill towards resupply.
“307 in” and I find a bin to drop my rubbish and grab my drop bag. I pass on the chips and just drink the ginger ale. Helped by Elise and another lady I recognised but could not place a name, I’m bad with names until I hang out with them, sorry for not being able to thank you by name! I donate my ration of snake lollies to the aid station kitty as I still had a few left from the start of the race and stow my re-filled soft flask bottles. DK mentions I am looking in good shape and I feel pretty good at the halfway mark. In the parting seconds of the stop I cross paths with the leader of the 100 mile race, Nate. He is looking fresh as a daisy! With the roar of four people clapping it’s “307 out” and I’m starting the longest leg, 25km to the fabled Treasure Island at Oakley Dam.
The first half of this leg goes smoothly, I see the 100 pack coming past on their journey to Jarradale where I started and they all seem in good spirits and fairly spread out. I wish them all luck and they all cheer back, some saying “he’s right there” or similar but I was yet to see Thomas through he tree’s so I dismissed it as well meaning motivation but maybe not entirely accurate, #margiemaths really was a thing after all! It took until the sharp left turn across the rickety old wood bridge before I caught a glimpse of first place. I didn’t push or try to close the gap. I just maintained the same effort and let the cards fall where they may. At almost 48km we were should to should at the base of a long climb. We hiked for quite a long time (about 9 minutes!) and chatted about all sorts of things while we worked the hill. I took the chance to get some calories in knowing there was some runnable km’s coming up before the Del Park Road crossing. We crested the main climb and started running together, Thomas stayed with me for a while but seemed to drop off the back. Not sure if he stopped on purpose for a toilet break or just slowly slipped behind but the last I saw him at that stage was a cheer as we passed 50.1km, I called over my should “happy distance PB” we laughed and I turned my attention to my own effort and now had to make some decisions.
The section to the road crossing seemed to take a while and I tried my best to just run by feel and not try to run away from Thomas. I felt he had gone too hard too early and would now slip back in the pack as Chris and Andrew would be not far back, they were about 10-12 minutes back at Goldmine when I saw them there. From here I tried to dial the effort back a bit, this was a training run after all so I fell into the habit of looking back (which I always try not to do) and let myself hike more than I would if I was racing super hard. This had a weird effect on me and I hit my first low point of the race. My right wrist was getting sore when using the poles and I had to stop using them after the technical section from Del Park Rd and just ran the gentle climbs like Deadpool with my sticks strapped across my back. Hiking more than I wanted but I was also in a bit of a funk. Running past Tuner’s Hill (Aid 1 at 6 Inch) I berated myself for so many little hikes and committed to run to the Scrap Road crossing, “all the way, no walking, this is all runnable” I wanted to cruise slowly and consistently, but found I would run fast and get tired and the urge to walk was overwhelming. Weirdly, I felt exactly the same here at last year’s 100, and was passed in the exact same spot to slip from 2nd the 3rd (hat tip to Rob) I found the urge and saw a car coming which I think had a relay runner in it, he said “are you coming first?” and I replied “yes mate” trying to smile on the outside and “ gave me a cheer “that’s awesome, looking great” “thanks mate” as I passed by desperately trying to stay running. I knew the road was close now and was confident I was going to hold up my end of the deal and run all the way, before I hit a small rise and without permission my legs stopped running and I turned into a real life Jekyll and Hyde, right there out loud arguing with myself like a crazed lunatic “You f#$%ing P#$%y” “it is a training run, I don’t need to race that hard” “a deals a deal and you folded” Seriously, the weirdest conversation I have ever had and I was all alone. The rise was over and I was back running, chin up chest out in a bit of disbelief regards the last 30 seconds of my life.
I pass the start of the 3 Inch Trail Half Marathon course and begin the climb to the radio tower. I run the flatter stuff and hike the steeper parts, but walked almost a km solid to the top, eating what I can and drinking what I need to. Looking back, doing (now silent) deals with myself. As I pass the tower with the rumble of the conveyor belts to my left I feel the pull of Treasure Island and running down the other side I feel the funk passing. I see the relay guys again at the turn and they tell me I look fantastic and I confess “I’m not exactly feeling it” “I don’t think you are supposed to at 60km!” I cross the conveyor belt overpass thinking that he is right, I’m on target for a 8:30 finish and I had let my nutrition slip a bit that last long leg so of course I was feeling it. I ate another gel to be sure as I passed the ‘scarecrow’ and made the climb up towards Treasure Island.
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I roll down the hill and can see signs posted for the runners, all pirate themed as the fabulous Treasure family embrace their name sake Aid Station. The road is lined with cars and there are people moving about. I hear a lady say to her daughters “her comes first place” and I smile. I don’t normally run this end of the field, only ever come first once before so it was a special feeling. I roll into Treasure Island to claps and cheers from a swarm of pirates. “307 in.”
I hand off one bottle to get me to the finish and leave one half full bottle in my vest. Blue is there with my drop bag, Frank fill my bottle and tried to give me a shot of rum, Ben and Shirley are right there packing my vest with my ‘to go’ bag and my other secret weapon, a small bottle of kids red fruit juice. That stuff sends kids crazy at parties, perfect for ultra-runners! I donate another small serve of chips and snakes to the aid station and finish my ginger ale. I mention that I really wanted to hit a sub 8:30 but I’m not so sure now and Blue does the maths for me “two hours to do 16 and a half kays’, no worries” (or to that effect) Going to be close but doable if I keep my head in the game. As I finish my drink Blue says, “don’t let us keep you” and two to three minutes later “307 out.”
Oakley Dam is a short 2km out and back that means you need to leave the marked Munda Biddi Trail. It also means you can once again see some of the field. I was expecting to see Chris or Andrew next, but was surprised it was Thomas, still holding on and still running. Kudo’s to him! Back to the scarecrow that is one of two danger points for navigation and has a history of runners missing the turn. As I was making the final turn back onto the trail I crossed paths with Aaron, but he was coming out of the trail and asked if he was going in the right direction. I confirmed the way to Oakley Dam and thought that was a good catch on his part in correcting the navigation mistake.
From here I was on the last leg, the final pull of the finish was there and the earlier pity party was wrapped up. The food was working and the mission was 16km in under 2 hours but to not destroy myself, maintain the faster than training, slower than race but should someone close the gap be prepared to run hard. The kilometres ticked by and I was happy with the effort. I drank my kids juice, tried to eat a bar but was over the dense food and only ate half of it. Not long later I ate two snakes, no point carrying them all the way and I continued to feel good.
Then it happened and for a moment I thought my race was done. As I neared the turn taken in the 6 Inch race that heads up to Aid 2, I began to cough. I had one almighty cough that was so violent my balls hurt and I doubled over and staggered to the side of the trail. Out of nowhere. I clutch my crotch and suppress the urge to cough again, I didn’t want the pain and I didn’t want to vomit. The urge passed and I got moving again, hesitant but moving. I had no idea where that came from and it worried me for a few seconds, but everything stayed down and the cough was a once off. I had a drink and decided to back off the eating for a little while. Pace came back and I was on my merry way, praying that didn’t happen again!
From here I hit a left turn onto the last of the notable climbs, mixed walk and run to get it done then steady pace, now alert for on coming mountain bikers heading out from Dwellingup. The effort is perfect, I do feel the miles but I’m not ‘running for my life’ Down the first powerline section and I have my final gel of the day and a drink. This section is open gravel road and I left the downhill flow, not even worried about looking back anymore. I feel if anyone catches me from here I can push it home. I just take in the trail, even saw a train! That’s a weird feeling seeing a steam train moving through the scrub where you had no idea there was train tracks! Now enjoying myself I sipped my water and did my best to avoid the run off puddles, one section of single track was impossible to avoid, it usually is so I just ploughed on through. Less than 10km with wet socks was fine, they had been wet most of the day anyway.
Second powerline section and into the Marrinup Maze. Five kilometres to home. One parkrun. Passing through the campground I have one last look back and can only see campers. I enjoy running the winding single track, taking in the berms and not caring about the puddles. Running well I think that this is what today was about. Not winning or leading or any of that stuff, but running well on tired legs. The training part of today. Manage the effort, be running well at the end and somewhere between 8 and 8.5 hours. A win was cream on the cake, or more accurately new shoes on my feet.
I pass the familiar farm with the hole in the shed and pigs, the dog barks at me as I run past, as Alexis predicted and now only 3km to go.
I pass some hikers and their border collie out for a casual walk, must be close now. I hear the noise of a country town and know in my bones it’s close and then I see a yellow trail marker. The original last turn to the finish. Now a four-way junction, and DK’s races have used all four in the past. There is no tape, I stand still in the junction and process my options and decide to follow the trail markers to the train tracks and see some tape at the upcoming road junction. I made the right choice and pop out once again on Del Park Road to a sign 50M to FINISH with an arrow.
I make the final turn and scan around looking for a finish line. The pub is busy, there are people in the park and I look both ways as I cross the train lines then ahead I see my youngest son running towards me, then comes my oldest into view and I choke back a sob. They had other plans that day and I didn’t expect to see them or my wife at the finish. I gathered them around my arms and jogged over the road to the group outside a small building. “where’s the finish line?” “you’re standing on it” and a wave of relief sweeps me as I pause my watch and look down.
It says 8:19.49, which was corrected to 8:20 and change considering my watch took a minute to sort itself out on the start line. Almost an hour faster than my 2014 race. I was pumped with the result, and stoked to have my family there to share it.
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A word of warning to runners in DK’s events, if you have an issue with the course marking, be prepared to do something about it! Dave grabbed some tape and joked about sending me back out, but I also know he was recovering from a 200 mile race himself. So, I gathered the kids and Alicia and we took a slow stroll back to the four-way junction to put some tape down for the next runners. Thomas ended up holding second for the last 30km running sub 9 hours on his 50 mile debut.
 A special thanks to DK and his wife Belle for putting on a great event, even getting us some sunshine during the day. To the aid station teams who put so much work, time, money and effort into helping us runners. Many are friends already and I can’t thank you enough.
 Fast and Dirty Stats
Distance – 81.8km, 8 hours 20minutes, average pace 6:06/km
Calories consumed – Approx. 1,000 – 1,100, (7,000 burnt)
Water consumed – 2.5 litres, Kids Juices – 3, Mini Ginger ales – 3
Shoes – Altra Superior 3.0’s, Innov-8 mud sock with Stone Free Running Gaiters (also recommend Treasure Gaiters if you are in the market)
Shirt – TEAM RUNNINGWORKS tech shirt, Innov-8 Race shell when it was wet.
Poles - Carbon Fibre Z Poles
Vest, Salomon S/Lab 12 set
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swiftedbethy13 · 6 years
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I’m now going to tell you about the most magical and amazing experience I’ve ever had and ever will have. This post is SO long so go grab some popcorn 🍿
So on October 2nd I was working a nightshift. It was little to do and just went in and checked my emails. I saw two emails from twitter saying Taylor Nation had sent me a DM!! I panicked so bad and went on my twitter to check if it was real. And on my twitter I have two DMs from Taylor fucking Nation. I stared shaking so bad and could barely breathe. The message said *CONFIDENTIAL MESSAGE* and that they have a secret, special event they would like to talk to me about, and to send my full name, phone number and best time to contact me. Have you ever tried typing in details like that while your hands are shaking so bad like you’re on drugs?! ITS HARD MAN! I obviously gave them my details (duh), and told them my lips are sealed and it sounds so exciting! Then I panicked cos I thought my reply was too late, and had to ask if I was too late, and then I apologised for sending them so many messages 😂 They said “haha you’re all good, thanks doll”. Then I was supposed to take care of newborns and their moms and stay calm at the same time. IT WAS SUCH A STRUGGLE! I had to go to the bathroom to try and breathe.
We were not supposed to tell ANYONE, but I just had to send my friend Lyndsay a message saying it’s important to check you DMs on twitter often. And she replied “I know, you too…” and I just KNEW she had gotten a message too. If she replied with something different I wouldn’t have told her anything. We started freaking out together and it was beautiful.
I didn’t know when to expect a phone call, all I knew was that I need to have my phone on sound at all times. Like you can’t miss the most important phone call of your life! I had an evening shift the next day and told work I just have to have my phone on sound cos I’m waiting for a very important phone call. Every time my phone rang I just immediately panicked 😂. I can’t remember the time but I was at work and in a patients room when my phone started ringing. I quickly said “sorry I have to take this” and ran out of the room. I look at my phone and it’s calling from New York 😱 I die and start shaking and answer. It was Ali calling from Taylor Nation!! She confirmed it was the right person she was talking too and gave me some more details. It was going to be a secret special event in London on Friday the 13th of October from 4pm-11pm. She asked if I was going to be able to make travel arrangements and I was like “duh YAS OF COURSE”. She told me I could bring a plus’s one, and since I knew that Lyndsay was already going, I gave them my friend Alex’s details. She told me again that this was confidential and I couldn’t speak about it to anyone except my parents, guardian and boss at work. I was going to get more information early the week following. I probably sounded like the most bored person cos I was IN SHOCK, like I was just “yeah” “uhu”, “yes”, and didn’t show any excitement at all 😂. She hung up and continuing work was the hardest thing EVER!
I made travel arrangements and sorted hotels with my friends. I was already going to London on the Sunday till Wednesday before the event on Friday, so I knew the week would go quick anyways. On Sunday evening I out of the blue get an email. I was at the hotel with my mom having a pamper evening, and I was SO THROWN OFF COS I THOUGHT I WOULD GET IT ON MONDAY OR TUESDAY. My mom filmed my reaction to getting this email and it shows how Taylor Swift makes me feel nearly 24/7 😂. The email again said that it was confidential and not to post anything about it or tell anyone. They gave us an address for a Holiday In hotel where we were going to meet up. They said not to bring too much personal belongings cos this was going to be taken off us as well as our phones. AT THIS POINT I STARTED TO BE MORE CERTAIN THAT I WAS GOING TO A SECRET SESSION. Hence my reaction to getting the email lol. I still tried to not get my hopes up, and tried to tell myself that maybe I’ll get to hear a new song and have a swiftie party. Good thing I was in London and could get myself an outfit. OMG IVE NEVER BEEN MORE STRESSED ABOUT FINDING AN GOOD OUTFIT EVER!! I did find it by the help of my really good friend!
THIS STORY IS GETTING SO LONG, sorry 😂 Well done for getting this far. I’m going to skip forward to Friday now (aka the best day of my life).
So, FRIDAY THE 13TH. I get up at 4am to catch my flight to London. My stomach is doing backflips trying to catch butterflies cos I was so excited and nervous and anxious at the same time. I couldn’t listen to any Taylor music cos I would just start to cry, so I ended up listening to P!nks new album (which is amazing btw). When I get to London I meet up with Lyndsay, Megan and Alex. We head to the hotel where we are going to stay and to meet up. Here we get dressed and as I was to put my makeup on I realise that I’ve forgotten all my make up and I go in a full on panic. IM SUCH AN IDIOT! Luckily Megan had makeup I could borrow. After we got ready we headed down to outside the hotel. There were loads of girls with red lipstick and dresses so we knew we were in the right place 😍. We qued up outside, they were running late, think we stood outside for 40 minuets maybe. We then got to the front of the line and inside (finally cos I was freezing my ass of). Taylor Nation was there ready to sign us in!! We signed a confidentiality contract and showed our ID and GOT OUR WRISTBAND!!! (KANDJFJRJDJ)!! It said United Kingdom on it, written in reputation font!!! SO EXCITING! We then went down the stairs to a room with lots of chairs in. There were refreshments, and hot drinks (yay for cold me!) for us while we waited for further instructions.
Then we were told to leave our stuff behind, including phone, and the first 25 people went on a bus. Me and Alex got on the second bus. Now I stared getting SO nervous, it’s ridiculous. Before we went on we where scanned by security. Then the bus took off! We drove a title while and was driving through the most posh neighbourhood EVER, like I WANNA LIVE THERE! The bus stopped and we were told to be quiet while we went off. I realised we were at a house, and you could only guess I was thinking we were at TAYLORS HOUSE!! There were lots of security while we were taken in a back entrance of the house and in through the basement. I had to knock on the door 😂 (so I could say I knocked on Taylor Swifts door, I know I’m extra 😂). We got scanned by security again before we were taken up to the kitchen. GUYS, THIS HOUSE IS AMAZING!! ITS SO HUGE. We still haven’t by this point been told where we are, but duh 🙄. I KNEW we were at Taylor’s house. Her kitchen is beautiful! She has 4 ovens!! There were lots of snack on the counters. Homemade chicken nuggets, fruit, cheese and fizzy drinks. There were also REP cookies!! And REP m&ms! SO COOL! Andrea and Scott was also in the kitchen talking to other fans. Me and Alex just hung around and talked to a few people. Then Lyndsay and Megan arrived, we hugged each other cos they also realised where we were. We then ended up talking to Scott. He has never been to Norway!! And I told him he neeeeeds to come here.
Her house smells AMAZING. I obviously had to see which candles she was burning so I could by them 😂. We were then told to get in a line as we were going to a different room. This was after everyone had arrived and had some food. Me, Alex, lyndsay and Megan were quite up front as we were taken to a living room. There were cushions on the floor and we sat down. I sat down not even thinking about where. Me and Alex chose a high cushion and shared it. A 100 people was going to fit in this room and it got really tight! When everyone had found a spot there was some whispering and the door opened a little. THEN THE QUEEN THAT IS TAYLOR SWIFT WALKS INTO THE FUCKING ROOM AND IM SCREAMING. We were so loud! I FUCKING LOVE HER SO MUCH 😭😭 Like I couldn’t believe she was like right there in the same room as me. As I was having difficulties breathing she sat down like 2 meters away from me and Alex, we had such a good view of her like OMG. Then she said we were going to hear the whole FUCKING ALBUM AND WE DIED. We now knew this was A FUCKING SECRET SESSIONS PEOPLE! SHE ALSO SAID SHE HANDPICKED EVERYONE! I FUCKING DIED! TAYLOR HAS LURKED ME FOR A YEAR WITHOUT ME KNOWING 😭😭 I’ve never had a like or a follow, and I don’t have many followers on any social media. STILL SHE FOUND ME! I’m got eye contact with her so many times during the listening 😭😭😍! SHE IS SO HAPPY TOO!! I JUST LOVE HER SO MUCH! AND IM TELLING YOU GUYS THIS ALBUM IS BLODDY AMAZING. (If you think you are stupid enough that I’m going to tell anything about the album, you are being funny, don’t bother asking 😉)
After she had pledged the album we got to look through the magazines!!! THEY ARE AMAZING AND IM SO HAPPY I WILL BE ABLE TO BUY ONE WHEN THEY COME OUT!! Then we waited to meet her JENFBDJSSHHSHDB 😭. I was getting so nervous by this point. Like I was going to meet the one person who has been there for me for so many years and I get to tell her how much I love her. We were one of the earlier ones to be sent in to meet her. Megan and Lyndsay were in front of us and a free they finished it was our turn.
I RAN OVER TO HER AND HUGGED HER AND SHE DIDNT LET GO UNTIL I DID 😭😭 I just couldn’t believe what was happening. She then hugged Alex and told me SHE FUCKING LOVE MY OUTFIT! She said “I love this whole outfit situation going on” I died. I told her that it’s not something I wear a lot and she said “you should definitely do!” IM OBVIOUSLY NEVER TAKING THIS OUTFIT OFF. Alex then said he wanted to wear the same outfit but we couldn’t match so he said I could wear it, and she laughed 😂 I love how we had a sarcastic conversation with Taylor Swift 😂 She then laughed at Alex’s apology for his bored resting face. I’m SO PROUD OF HIM SPEAKING TO TALOR, you have no idea! ❤️❤️ Then we were told to move to the side a bit cos they were going to open up the front door (so no one could see she was living there). This gave us more time with her and I’m so grateful! I then asked her about anxiety with singing and she gave me tips on singing and performing in front of people. TAYLOR FUCKING SWIFT GAVE ME ADVISE ON SINGING AND PERFORMING!! JJDNDJDJFJRJD. Alex then thanked her for giving him the best friends ever and she hugged us both again 😍 Then it was time for picture. We didn’t plan a pose, we just took one. SHE RESTED HER HEAD ON ME AND I SISNT NOTICED BEFORE I SAW THE PIC! It’s so adorable 😍 There were so much more I wanted to tell her, wish I had a few more minutes but I guess she had ALOT of other people to meet.
We then went out in the hallway and ended up talking to Andrea. She reminds me so much of my mom!! She is also a bit similar! I told her about my mom and that she was worried I was sleeping in the airport by my self the following night. We then talked about how happy Taylor is and she was tearing up 😭 It was so beautiful to see how happy her parents were for her 😍😍 We gave her a biiiiig hug and then walked down to the basement again. There we stood trying to comprehend what just happened. I still don’t believe it, don’t know if I ever will? We then got merch!!! We got a REP tote bag, pop socket, t-shirt, a sticker, a cap and the best thing ever, a exclusive keychain that only us on the secret sessions London got. IT WAS SO NICE OF THEM! We were then sent on the bus back to the hotel. There we spoke to Ali about confidentially again and what we could talk about and not. She is so sweet!! Megan and Lyndsay old us TAYLOR KNEW WE WERE IN NASHVILLE TOGETHER 😭😭 OMG!!
When we came back to the hotel I called my mom and SOBBED. I couldn’t even talk to her cos I was crying too much. Then I posted online on my social media about what happened and my phone wouldn’t stop buzzing.
I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR TALOR SWIFT. THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH FOR THIS!! And thank you to Taylor Nation for giving us this opportunity, it means so much to us ❤️ The picture ended up perfect and I’m going to hang it on my wall so I can stare at it everyday 😍 I’ve been crying since Sunday cos this has been so so emotional to me. I can’t even tell people what happened without crying.
@isturkeyanickname
I’m sorry this story is a mile long 😂
Thank you so much @taylorswift and @taylornation
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trekkingski · 3 years
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Guide to Nepal self-guided tour
Guide to Nepal self-guided tour, Annapurna ACT trek record
I want to say that I took an ACT trekking route last year. If someone wants to go to Nepal by themselves, I can share some experiences.
Of course, my answers are often based on my limited information and thin experience rather than standard answers. Therefore, these questions are all for inspiration. Everyone is welcome to share their experiences and ideas and discuss together, thank you!
ACT trekking routes in Nepal
Visa, internet, currency, time difference
How to apply for a mountain pass
Equipment, map
Do you want to hire a guide or porter?
Replenishment on the mountain and lightening the load
Actual itinerary planning and cost
Route information
Name / Annapurna Circuit Trek (Annapurna Circuit Trek, hereinafter referred to as ACT)
Location /Nepal, departing from Kathmandu
Path / Take a bus from Kathmandu to Besi Sahar, start walking from Besi Sahar, take a ride (Chamje to Chame) on the way, then walk from Chame to lower Pisang, finally walk to Kagbeni, take a ride back to Pokhara (Pokhara), the ACT route ends
Date / 2019.09.29-2019.10.12, a total of 13 days
Season / dry season
Starting point and highest height / about 900m and 5416m
Visa, internet, currency and bargaining
visa
Nepal’s visa policy is relatively free. Citizens of almost all countries (except for a few countries or regions such as Afghanistan and Somalia) can obtain visas on arrival when they travel to Nepal. So when you travel to Nepal, you don't need to worry about being denied a visa.
The internet
Basically, the route of ACT is only in teahouse (I call it: mountain house). The network signal of each mountain house is different. If there are more passengers, the network will drop significantly. I heard from friends that walking in the mountains of ACT Inside, no signal was found, so I didn't buy an extra network card.
Currency, buy water
From the airport to the hotel, you have to prepare some change to pay for the fare, etc. The rate at the airport is not good. The taxi fare from the airport to the hotel is uniformly set at $7. When you get off the plane, be careful that locals will deliberately bring it. You go to take a taxi, but you will be charged five dollars for a 100-meter walk. If you see someone following, you can drive him away. If you want to take a taxi, ask the driver directly, and then I go straight to ACAP (the agency that issues the mountain pass) and ask him to drive. I go to the restaurant.
In addition, the purchase of water will be reminded, because the grocery store will sell things much cheaper than the mountain house. Don't feel that bargaining is troublesome. Try to compare prices as much as possible and then negotiate with them.
It’s better to exchange currency in Thamel or Pokhara. Don’t exchange too much at the airport. You can exchange it for US$50. It’s about asking whether the local ACAP is willing to accept rupee for entry permit. If they are willing to accept rupee, basically You can save some expenses, and I will talk about how much you spend in a day, which can help you reduce the exchange loss problem. When the rupee is to be exchanged into US dollars, you can find a bank at the airport. You can do it in Pokhara or Tamei. It can be exchanged at a store, even in a hotel, but it is more difficult to exchange it into US dollars, so this is one of the reasons why you should not exchange too much in the first place.
How to apply for a mountain pass
In addition to preparing for the mountain pass, in addition to preparing US dollars, basically, you also need to prepare 3 photos of 2 inches (the impression is a bit vague, it is better to prepare a few more), the same does not require passport specifications, the most important thing is to buy mountaineering insurance first, the form will require You fill in the mountain insurance number. The entrance permit has TIMS and permit. Both ACT must be processed. To apply for these two, you must go to ACAP or the passenger office before 15:00. Otherwise, you must look for travelers at Besi Sahar. The office has applied, and if you don’t do it anymore and you want to go to Montenegro and get caught at the checkpoint of the ACT route, you have to pay twice the price.
In addition, if you leave the ACT route and you want to go back to the ABC again, you will have to apply for the mountain pass again. Therefore, when transferring from ACT to ABC, you must consider whether you should leave the last checkpoint of ACT.
Equipment, map
This time the maximum weight is about 17 kg and the walking distance is 20km. So when choosing a backpack, I would recommend buying a 60~70L backpack for boys. In fact, you don’t need to have that weight. I will talk about how to lose weight later, because I started from I start walking at an altitude of 1200m. I wear short-sleeved summer clothes. When I reach 5400m in the back, I have hiking pants with fleece. I would recommend wearing a long-sleeved sweatshirt and a short-sleeve, and a long-sleeved fleece in winter. A pair of summer hiking pants, winter hiking pants, and shorts. The coldest above is below zero, and there will be snow. Wear a down jacket. A good down jacket can help you lose weight. I wear montbell FP800. Basically You don’t need a sleeping bag to wear it to sleep, but I use a sleeping bag because I think the quilt in a mountain house is too dirty. I have only used the sleeping bag once and only use it at low altitudes. Basically, don’t be afraid of getting dirty when climbing mountains. Cut-out raincoat or a one-piece raincoat that can be covered with a backpack, two pieces of underwear, gloves, headlights, lip balm, medicine, two trekking poles, socks that match the thick socks of hiking shoes, one pair of thick sports socks, one pair Wool socks, I have an umbrella~ I think it’s very practical, a pair of slippers, food can bring chocolate or compressed biscuits, hats, sunglasses, sports headbands, clothespins, chargers, power banks, I have crampons, but I don’t use them The local guides felt that there was no need to bring them. Quick-drying towels. If you only bring two sets of clothes, you must go to the mountain house to change your clothes before 15:00 every day. The mountain is wet at night and it is not easy to dry. If necessary at night, just You have to sleep with your clothes. Finally, the most important thing is to remember to wear a mask, to wear a mask, to wear a mask, it is very important, so three times, people who are allergic to dust must wear it.
The map can be downloaded in advance and can be used as an offline map. Different people have different opinions on the paper map. I didn't buy it because I planned to walk with the local guide for a while. After learning their judgment, I will act on my own. Chame went to Muktinath Basically, you won’t get lost. There is only one road, but if you leave the villages in this range, the road is a bit complicated. It’s best to act in teams.
Do you want to hire a guide or porter?
The ACT route does not force the hiring of local guides and porters. The choice is mainly based on factors such as personal needs, financial resources, and physical strength.
I didn’t hire a guide or a porter this time. Although I was acting alone, the road to Chamje was basically a bit complicated from the beginning. I don’t know whether to take some shortcuts. The road is divided into general hiking routes and jeep routes. This is a hiking route. Basically, if you are really worried, you can walk with foreigners, but you must first make sure that you can keep up with their physical fitness. Otherwise, I think that after having the ability to judge, some sections of the road are quite comfortable to walk by yourself. of. The front part of Chame and the back part of Muktinath are best to be accompanied. Although the route is very large, there are always some forks that are difficult to distinguish. Offline maps can help you distinguish. Chame and Muktinath are the most common routes that everyone takes. Guides are also the most popular route for foreigners, and you won’t get lost if you follow in their footsteps.
Replenishment on the mountain and lightening the load
The mountain house will provide hot food, hot water, quilts, and charging. Only in High Camp and Tilicho lake Camp, charging is not provided, so you don’t need to cook by yourself. The higher the altitude, the more expensive the food will be. The last stop at 4800m In the high camp, my food expenses are not very low. I eat three meals or even four meals. The average daily consumption of food and accommodation is less than 1,000 yuan. They rely on food to make money. Basically, most villages can afford accommodation. Ask if you can waive the accommodation fee if you consume in the store. It is best to drink at least a glass of 750ML of water before departure early in the morning, carry 1L of water on your body, return to the mountain house and replenish the water. Basically, it can be reduced It weighs 1 to 2 kilograms, and there are villages for almost two to three hours along the way. Unless there is no general road developed in the back section of Manang, there are fewer villages or grocery stores, but I still think it’s enough to drink 1L of water for walking in ACT. Below 3000m above sea level, you have to drink a lot, and you have the opportunity to replenish it by the roadside. In addition, if you really want to reduce the burden, you must upgrade your equipment. This is a lot of money. There is no special recommendation for upgrading. It is based on personal needs. I think if you finish this ACT, you like to hike, then consider upgrading your equipment. , However, I sincerely suggest that if you have the ability, you can upgrade your equipment directly, because the ACT will definitely make you want to go again.
The food on the high mountains can be just as plentiful.
Actual itinerary planning
9/29
It takes about 30 minutes for me to leave the country (I heard that some people are later), and it takes about 40 minutes to get to the ACAP office. ACAP's business hours are from 09:00 to 15:00, and TIMS and Permit charge USD 50. One dollar can be exchanged for 112 rupees. I live in Holy lodge. Although it is highly rated on booking.com, I still want to remind you that the nightclub next door is still very high at three in the middle of the night. Remember to bring a pair of earplugs to travel. In addition, Kathmandu It is a very 'earth' city. The most important thing to come to Nepal is to wear a mask. Although the mountain air is very clean, it will definitely make you feel ashamed when you walk into the city or take a ride.
9/30
Besisahar to Bhul Bhule 2.5 hours
It takes eight hours to get to Besisahar by car early in the morning. After getting off the car, it rains all the way. It is not recommended to go alone because there are many shortcuts to BhulBhule. Travel time from 16:00-18:30, remember to prepare headlights, low-altitude accommodation costs money.
The long mountain road and the continuous drizzle, I hope tomorrow can give me a good weather.
10/1
Bhul Bhule to Chamje 7 hours
The journey was difficult, the amount of water was 4L, and there was a road with soil and rock collapse in the middle. I still had to bite the bullet and walk along. This way, I followed a fast-moving foreign man (should be 60 years old and had high blood pressure). I finally knew if it was I have too much physical strength and I have to follow it. I can’t see other individual travelers on the road, which can make me transfer the parasite. I want to reincarnate but can’t leave. The despair in my heart can reach infinity, and there are many in my heart along the way. Negative emotions and the voice of giving up, foldable walking stick manufacturer because of dragging blister feet and cramping legs, coupled with the collapse of the road, it has been raining, there are no scenic spots to see, and I keep asking myself why I want to come here and walk on my beliefs. Go on, there are infinite reasons for you to give up, but there is only one perseverance, let's go on and see, you can't be defeated because of your physical limits. So at the beginning, if there are friends who want to challenge the road ahead, they really need to train well. Otherwise, they have to pay in installments instead of walking as far as 20 kilometers a day.
10/2
Chamje -Chame(2713m) Ride a jeep 3hours $1500 rupees
Chame to lower Pisang (3190m) 4 hours
After getting off the car at Chame, it was a wet and cold rainy day, so I went straight to Pisang all the way. Pisang is divided into upper and lower villages. The two villages are separated by a river. After crossing the bridge, you can go to different villages. I settled today. The place is in Lower Pisang, because it’s cheaper, it feels better to live. The advantage of living in Upper Pisang is that you don’t need to get up too early to watch the sunrise. You can finally see Annapurna III here. The hard work of the whole road is at the most painful time To resolve, come here to watch the sunrise. The sunrise time is at 06:00. There are two routes to Manang for the next day. Upper Pisang to Manang takes 8 to 9 hours, and Lower Pisang to Manang takes 4 hours. Of course, the scenery is much worse. The scenery from Upper Pisang to Manang is more beautiful, but I chose the difficult route.
Lower Pisang Accommodation, internet, bathing and hot water are free of charge.
The clouds are up, Annapurna III.
10/3
Upper Pisang to Manang (3469m) 9 hours
The scenery can see Annapuna 2, 3, and 4 peaks. At present, I walked all the way to see the most beautiful scenery. The altitude rose from 2600 to 3,500, which took nine hours, ranging from tropical rain forests to desolate gravel deserts. From the beginning, the climbers gradually increased. When the temperature reaches the evening, you can feel the chill. There will be two villages along the way. Usually, some people will rest in the second village because they can go to Ice Lake the next day.
The body goes to hell, the eyes go to heaven, and the soul returns to the hometown. Some people use this sentence to describe the physical and mental experience of this journey. I really understand this sentence in my heart.
10/4 Manang rest day, highly adapted
Today, I went to Lake Annapuna and looked at Annapuna from the top of the mountain. You can see peaks 2, 3, and 4, as well as other magnificent scenery. It is very suitable for a day of rest here without wasting at all.
10/5
Manang to Sheer Kharka 4.5 hours
Because of the challenge of the branch mission, it is regarded as a high degree of adaptation, and the target is Tilicho Lake (about 5100m above sea level). If you walk this way, you will encounter the intersection of the main branch at the beginning, but the road signs are obvious.
10/6
Shree kharka to Tilicho Base Camp (abbreviation: BC) 2.5 hours
Store the big backpack in Shree kharka, and pack it lightly over BC. You can bring winter pants, down jacket, slippers, and power bank.
The scenery along the road is also very good. There is no electricity to charge in BC, and the food is obviously expensive. Please leave as early as possible because the beds are limited and the arrival time is about 10:30. Otherwise, you will have to sleep on the floor of the living room.
10/7
Tilicho BC to Tilicho lake 3 hours
Tilicho lake to Tilicho BC 1 hour
Tilicho BC to Shree kharka 2 hours
At Tilicho lake from store to downside 2 hours
Depart at 0530 in the morning. If you have the opportunity, you must go to the bottom of the lake to walk, but you must hurry. The wind on the lake is very strong after noon. Do not stay by the lake for more than 11:00. The return journey will take about 1 hour to the base camp for dinner. I will go downhill. There was an acceleration, because I had to return to Shree kharka, and I was delayed in the middle. The arrival time was about 15:30, and the journey was windy. If you are sure to get to Shree kharka, you must make a reservation the day before.
10/8
Shree kharka to yak haraka (4030m) 3 hours
The homestays here are a lot more expensive. You can find hot water and mineral water at a local grocery store. There is no money for internet, accommodation and charging, but hot water costs money. There are about 4 homestays here, and you can arrive before 11:00. Find accommodation.
10/9
Yak haraka to High camp(4800m) 4 hours
Yak walked forward for about 1.5 hours and cut across the bridge. After cutting, there is a shop. When you go forward, you will encounter a rockfall area. The rockfall just passed by, and almost went to another world to report. After this section, it is best to The other climbers acted together. phedi is in the gorge area, the wind is not suitable for staying too long, but the high camp is about 4800 meters, the air is thin, the scenery can see the magnificent Tilicho peak, Annapurna 3, etc., if the physical condition can adapt to the height in Tilicho Lake, you can choose Staying in the high camp for one night, it started to snow at noon here, and you can walk to the apex next to the accommodation to see the big scene.
On the way to High Camp, the tranquility seems to resonate with the mountains.
A short step can take as long as a century. High Camp (4800m)
10/10
High camp to Throng pass (5400m) 3 hours
Throng pass to Muktinath (3798m) 4 hours
The boarding starts at about 4:40, at about 0740 at the highest peak, and the return journey to the village of the four shops is about 11:00, and it takes about an hour from the four shops to Muktinath.
10/11
Muktinath to Kagbeni 5 hours
Kagbeni to Jomson (2743m) 1 hour
Muktinath is not easy to find a way to Kagbeni at the beginning, it is best to travel together.
I took the bus to Jomson at 15:30 in the afternoon. It was about 16:30. Some people walked for about 2 hours. Because of the dust, they were not in the mood to leave. The price is 150 rupees. The bus station is in the village. I know, it costs 3,500 points for seven people to ride a jeep. This price is driven by the porter. I don't know how accurate it is.
At the end of Jomson, the end point is the starting point for Pokhara. Get off the bus and buy tomorrow's ticket to Pokhara. The time is 0630, 0700, 1000, and the journey takes about 12 hours. It is best to buy the front seat position. There are few hotels in Jomson and the price is also It's better to be more accommodating and move in when you find something suitable.
The endless desert, that is salt, not snow.
10/12
Jomson to Pokhara 12 hours
The ride was bumpy and the bladder was strained for 12 hours. The car can shake up and down, or up and down from left to right, almost driving on a rock wall or cliff. Bring water or snacks on the car to relieve boredom. The local residents told the driver to be in Marphar I bought apples. They said that you can get off wherever you want to get off on the bus. I bought apple cider and apple juice for about 800 rupees. I went home and tasted it.
When you arrive at Pokhara at night, if the hotel is set at Lakeside, remember to ask the driver where to get off. After getting off, you can basically find the hotel on the phone map instead of taking a taxi, because the journey is within 2 kilometers.
The closer you are to the lake, the more expensive the price will be. Basically, I live in New Pokhara lodge, which includes breakfast for about Rs 1,100, but snow peak hotel includes breakfast for about Rs 1,200. You can eat fruits and it is more delicious. To be honest, I don’t recommend it. new Pokhara lodge.
Itinerary introduction, end.
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2wheelrubbertramp · 6 years
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Poco A Poco
   I’ve reached a personal milestone : this will be my first blog entirely written on the keyboard of my “smart phone”. So grab your seats, and hold on kids : 2 Wheel Rubber Tramp is back !     This newest installment comes to you from the back roads and crowded  highways of Colombia and Ecuador, where I’ll be cycling for two months.  Now, before we start I would like to make an Honorable Mention to the great people and nation of Cuba, where I did a 1,000 mile, one month bike tour of in 2016, but neglected it horribly on this blog.  My apologies.  The nation and people are amazing and their friendliness, generosity, and strength in dealing with continuing to exist after 60  years of crippling sanctions and low-level war from the US is hearthwarming.     Now,onto South Amerika.   This entry of my rubber tramping adventures begins in Bogota, Colombia - the capital city - 8 million people living 8,000 feet up on top of the Andes Cordillera Oriental  range. Bogota is a city constantly on the move : in the street and on the sidewalks. If you want to move, then you must follow the maze of humans winding through each other.  Before I began my ride, I’d wanted to spend a few days in Bogota. I’d booked a bed at at Chocolate Hostel in the Candaleria neighborhood of the city. A bit of a stereotype, as it’s where many gringos land when they come to the city.  However, it’s also in the center of the city and the oldest and most beautiful part of Bogota.  I immediately did not regret it.     I spent 5 days in Bogota, walking from one end of the city to the other for 8 or 10 hours a day.  My favorite thing to do in large foreign cities is simply to walk, take photos, visit museums, and learn about where I am.  I am a life time student of history , culture and political movements.  These things and the natural beauty of our planet earth are the passions that have driven me to see the world all these years, preferably slowly and  by two wheels.    I visited several museums in Bogota : the Military Museum (Museo Militar), which did an excellent job of not mentioning a single war crime committed by the army during the last 30 years of the Drug War; the Gold Museum (Museo De Oro)- I’m not a fan of gold. I don’t get excited by gold.  It’s a shinny metal to me, that’s it. But the Gold Museum was much more than that.  It tied the history of gold in Colombia to indigenous cultures and ceremonies and the art of hand-making gold pieces,and jewelry by indigenous cultures.  Last was the National Museum (Museo Nacional) , which also had several exhibits on indigenous cultures in Colombia and their contributions to modern Colombia.     One of the things I enjoy doing when I travel is learn as much about the culture I’m in while I’m there so I read as much as possible about them and visit historical landmarks and museums.  Cuba was no different.  I’m a history nerd.  I’m also a nerd about seeing the world through a perspective and lens is not Western or Colonialist,  so I appreciated that these museums showed that perspective.     In my daily walks around Bogota I tried to get a feel for the city.  The aguacate sellers with their speakers on repetitive blast, the hundreds of displaced  homeless wanderers and beggars sleeping on sidewalks and hustling spare change, old Colombian men gathered in circles shouting above the traffic.  The traffic, the endless and ongoing traffic and the the thousands  bicyclists who maneuvered through it.  Bogota has hundreds of miles of bike paths and the most bikers I’d seen outside of a Western country.  And better bikes than any city I’d been to in Asia.     There was the wealthy side of the city in the north that was talked about in the guidebooks, with it’s expensive shopping malls and dance clubs, yet no mention of the millions living in crumbling poverty in  the neglected south side of the city.  Everyone had a hustle - and many hustled on the street - selling jewelry, karaoke, gum. Whatever put food in their mouths.  Always people on the street.      Things I wanted to happen in Bogota before I left , didn’t . I wanted to see some live music but it seemed like all the shows were north, 80 blocks away.   I wanted to stock up on Cumbia vinyl but shipping it home cost half my plane ticket. I know - first world problems in the ‘developing world’.     I left Bogota on a high note : Ciclovia Day - each Sunday when major streets are blocked to traffic and thousands of families come out onto the streets on bikes, roller skates, skateboards and on foot.  I followed the trail on one of the bike paths that led me out of the city, my cargo biked loaded with too much food and too many bike parts.       8,000 feet up I began my decent down the Occidental range of the Andes, through suburbia and factorylandia,  stopped for lunch in the first town outside Bogota - Fakatativa and by nightfall I’d found a forgetful hotel in the town of Alban.     Next morning I woke at 5am ready to get off this mountain.  I knew there’d be another.  And another after that.  Fuck, all of Colombia was mountains where I was and I’d decided a long time ago I hated biking over mountains yet here I was, 8,000 feet and going down.  But every biker knows - what goes down, must come up. So for now, I was just enjoying the beauty and the view on Day 1 of the ride.  From up here you could see across the valley, cut through by the Magdalena River and my future: the long haul up the Andes Cordilleria Central range. 13,000 feet up peaked with volcanos in the Los Nevados National Park coming in at 17,000 feet.  Snow capped and feeding 37 rivers . That’s what I’d be facing in the days to come.     Day 2 was also merciful : coming down out of the Occidentals into the town of Cambao I road another 50 kms (30 miles) of flat, tree-lined road.  I found a spot for the night in Armero at a gas station that doubled as a hotel. On the map, it’s labeled “Armero Tragedy” and later I was to find out why: 20+ years previously one of the volcanos in Los Nevados erupted, killing 20,000 people in Armero.  All that was left now was this gas station at a crossroads and the now ghost town of Armero half a mile away.     From Armero I rode to Mariquita. And from there it started to hurt.  Only my 3rd day of riding, and I was to begin an ascent that took me took me 50 miles uphill into the Andes Cordilleria Central range , cresting at 4,000 meters (13,100ft). I loaded up on some tamales before the climb but it wasn’t much help. The traffic was rough- two lane mountains roads with an unending stream of semis, buses, motorbikes,and diesel fumes. I was already having to walk before the end of the day, I found it so hard to breathe. I hadn’t done a bike trip this hard in 2 years, since Cuba, and so I was still acclimating, and not doing it very well.  By nightfall, I’d gone only ten miles up.     There were no hotels up here so I just posted up in front of someone’s home on the side of the road.  There was no bushwacking to be had : the hills were too steep so I had no woods to go into so I was stuck on the side of the road, exposed to traffic and fumes. The family who’s home I put my tent in front of was nice enough to pro-active give me permission. The man there had been on crutches for 9 years and still didn’t know what was wrong with him ! ugh. And it was a hard night : a pouring rain soaked me inside the tent and a never ending parade of headlights, horns, and air pollution kept me on edge.  Many of the families who live on this road sleep within feet of this every night.  There is no quiet.  I never heard silence for more than 30 seconds while on this stretch.  I can’t imagine what spending your life living next to a freeway does to your psyche.      Day 4 : the view is spectacular.  I can see miles and miles down the length of the  Andes. Forested mountain sides with cloud banks blowing in around me. Shacks made of tar paper and wood hanging on the sides of cliffs, and families with two cows and several chickens.  Colombian rural poverty. For some, this well paved road only brought more noise and danger. Every has a dog and every dog chases you as you pass by.  The air is so thin I can only go 100 meters at a time before I feel like I’m going to have a hear attack and have to rest.        Poco a poco - little by little, I keep telling myself.  The beauty of these mountains makes up for the fact that it takes me an hour to go half a mile. I just can’t do it, but have no choice.  I have to rest every 3 minutes, the air is so thin. Periodically, there’ll be a home that sells cheese and instant coffee and bananas and I’ll stop and catch my breath. Everyone gives me the thumbs up - they know I’m crazy. But all these fools coming from Bogota take the night bus and miss the unending miracles of these mountains so I count my suffering as the trade-off for this rare treat.     That said, when I arrive in the small , regional town of Fresno I hunt around for a bus that will take me and the bike.  I still have 84 kms (50 mi.) to my endpoint: the city of Manizales, and don’t believe my lungs can take it. But all the buses are too small and so I have two options left : ditch the bike and end this bike tour 5 days in or sick it up and keep going - Poco a poco.  I go with poco a poco.     I start each day at 5am. The sun sets at 5pm, so I have a solid 12 hours of daylight to get as far as I can.  On a flat road, I could do 80 miles a day but up here at 10 or 12,000 ft I’m clocking in 25 miles on a good day.  As far as humans go - everyone is generous and helpful and encourage me along the way. No one tries to stop or discourage me.  I’m not the first Crazy Gringo on this mountain top.  I just wish they wouldn’t constantly try to murder me out of neglect with their blocks of metal on wheels. That’s all.  I spend another wet night behind a guard rail.  My books are getting wet, most of my clothes, the tent. It’s a mad house.  I pray for 430am when the sun starts to peak out and I can crawl my cold, wet as out of the tent.      Day 5 and I’m still in paradise.  Cloud banks drift in and out through out the day. Cows,hang by hoofs on the sides of bright green slopes. I can’t stop staring. The fact that this is actually three different mountain ranges - the Occidental, Central and Oriental Andes that stretch for 4,500 miles - the longest mountain range in the world.  It’s as long as NYC to Los Angeles and then LA to Houston. So I’m really just absolutely nothing up here.  I’m completely insignificant and matter not at all.  That’s just how incredible this one tiny part of the planet called Earth we live on is.  Ya know, for some perspective.     And by the end of the 5th day, I’d finally made it to that 13,100 foot point, which meant the entire next day was my sweet , sweet reward of 20 miles of pure, raw freedom. AKA in biker language : All. Down. Hill. 
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its-abroad-world · 4 years
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Adventure #4: June 6, St. Petersburg Day 2: all the art you could ever desire
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Our morning began with a quick breakfast on the ship and then Olga and Sergei picked us up at 8:30 am to take us on a driving tour of the Neva river before we followed it with a river cruise. Our first stop of the day was along the banks of the Neva where there were two large sphinxes. It didn’t seem like much until Olga told us that the sphinxes were original sphinxes from ancient Egypt that were about 3,500 years old. Of all the places I thought that I would see a relic from ancient Egypt, outside in Russia was the last place I would think of. They were bought by Nicholas I in the 1830s and they have sat there since. There is a discussion about bringing them to be displayed in the Hermitage to protect them from the harsh weather of Russia but as of now they still reside outside.
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After the sphinxes, we headed to where we were going to board a river cruise on the Neva River. The boat was tiny and most of the seating were metal chairs sitting under the sun and I was the only one in my family that opted to see the cruise outside. Taking the river cruise was an awesome way to see St. Petersburg because the river runs through a lot of the main parts of the city and has hundreds of bridges connecting various parts of the city. St. Petersburg is considered the Venice of the North. There are many small canals and one of the bridges that we went under, we actually had to duck lest we hit our heads. Most of these bridges were built during the time of Imperial Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries. On the cruise, our guide pointed out various landmarks that you could see along the banks of the river; she even pointed out people that were sunbathing along the banks, which was uncommon since it was rare that the weather was in the 90s in Russia.
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Neva River - 10 am
Once our river cruise was over, we headed to St. Isaac’s Cathedral, which used to be the main church and largest cathedral in Russia. It was built in 1818 and took 40 years to complete. It is most impressive because of its large golden dome. The dome, 21.8 meters high, took more than 100 kilos of gold leaf to cover. The large pillars, weighing about 80 tons each, on the outside of the cathedral were erected using a special pulley system. Everything about this church was massive: the dome, pillars, doorways, windows, and even the artwork. Many of the carvings on the columns inside were gilded and the walls and ceilings were decorated with large mosaics and paintings depicting different saints and scenes in the Bible. While it is still a church, it mostly serves as a museum and has services only on significant religious holidays.
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Under the main dome - 11:30 am
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As we were leaving the Hermitage our group joked with Olga that she was a magical tour guide with perfect time because while we walked to meet our tour bus, 3 large tour buses were arriving to join the already massive line to enter the museum. While all those people waited to go inside the museum, we went to go have a typical Russian lunch. We were served a cabbage salad paired with borscht, a soup usually made from beets and cabbage, for our appetizer. Our main course was chicken kiev, a flattened piece of chicken breast that is breaded and fried, with mashed potatoes. My favorite was the borscht, which was surprising to me because I detest beets, but you could hardly taste them in this soup. We finished our meal up with some Russian coffee which was super strong.
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Borscht soup with brown bread - 12:30 pm
The State Hermitage Museum along the Palace Embankment was right after lunch. This museum is the second largest one after the Lourve and is a highly respected art museum, housing roughly 3 million items of priceless art from all over the world over many different centuries. The collection of the Hermitage began in 1764 when Catherine the Great purchased 255 paintings from Berlin and continued to grow her collection. The main facade of the Hermitage is the Winter Palace, which used to be the home of the royal families of Russia for almost 200 years. However, the whole museum is made up of six buildings, 5 of which are open to the public: the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage, New Hermitage, and Hermitage Theatre. It was opened to the public in 1852 and became public property after the October Revolution of 1917, after which its collections were expanded in the 1920s and again after WWII. Because this museum was created using the old homes of royals, of course, many parts of the museum were ornately decorated and still maintained to look like how it did before, like the throne room and ballrooms.
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This museum is one of the busiest with thousands of people visiting every day; of the five open buildings, we went to the Small Hermitage and the New Hermitage. The New Hermitage houses paintings, sculptures, and other art from 15th and 16th century Italy, including the Raphael Hall where they have many of Raphael’s works ranging from the beginning of his career to the end of it.
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I would say that going to the Hermitage was the highlight of my day. I’ve always loved art and going to museums to see them, and to think that so many centuries and cultures were compiled and put on display is simply amazing. What shocked me the most was that none of the priceless paintings were properly protected. There was light streaming in from the open windows directly on the paintings and the air was not controlled so the paintings were exposed to the humidity outside. People could step as close to painting as they wanted; the palaces were better protected and maintained than the artwork here! For a place that houses thousands of paintings by renowned artists, I just couldn’t believe that the artwork wasn’t very cared for. Although the collection of paintings was stunning, my favorite exhibit was the Peacock Clock, built in 1777 and still working today. The golden clock is housed in a gold and glass cage with a peacock perched on a tree with a rooster and an owl on either side of it as well as various small animals scattered around. When the clock chimes on the hour, it begins with the owl turns its head and the peacock turns and opens its tail feathers to display a fan of gold and ends with the rooster crowing; this display is supposed to represent the end of the night and the rise of the sun to show the continuity of life. The clock is only winded once a week and unfortunately, we missed the show by just one day so we only saw the display in a short video the museum provides.
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Peacock Clock - 1 pm
As we were leaving the museum, we joked with Olga that she was magical and timed everything perfectly because there was a ginormous crowd waiting to enter the museum as more tour buses arrived to join the line. While those people waited in that monstrous line, we stopped by a souvenir store before heading to The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, also known as The Church of Resurrection or “Savior on Spilled Blood”.
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The church was built in memory of Tsar Alexander II and was named so because the church stands where he was murdered in 1881 when a bomb was thrown into his carriage. It took 24 years to complete the church and is best known for having jeweled-looking domes that are colorful; this decorative style is much like the Kremlin in Moscow. Unfortunately, the main dome was under renovation while we were there, so we couldn’t see the building in its full beauty. 
Just like all of the other places we’d seen in St. Petersburg, the inside of the church was opulent. There were saints and religious reliefs, mosaics, and paintings everywhere: the columns, the arches, the ceilings, the walls, and of course, everything was accented with gold.
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Interior of The Savior on Spilled Blood - 4 pm
After leaving the church, we headed back to the port to say our goodbyes to Olga (in the stripes) and Sergei (not pictured).
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After a long day in the hot sun, we unwinded in the room and then prepared for our nightly dinner at the fine dining with our waiter Alberto. Almost every single night of the cruise we sat in his section, getting to know him well, as well as a couple, Nina and Wade, and their church friend Fred. Wade has Alzheimers and Fred is an old widower and both were hard of hearing, so during dinner, Nina kept leaning over to tell us stories of her having to wrangle two old men both during the tours and around the ship. It was such a fun dinner. Afterward, my sister and I enjoyed the rest of the night in the karaoke room, bumping into Isabella and Lousie, before heading to bed.
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herrunawaythoughts · 6 years
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Follow me to:
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Destination: Prague, Czech Republic
I first learned about Prague when I watched the movie Chasing Liberty where it featured a glimpse of the city. I remember Mandy Moore saying how beautiful Prague is and since it was my favourite movie back then, (cliché as it may seem), I promised myself that I will visit this city someday. Prague is often dubbed as The City of 100 Spires, and while I don’t recommend taking the trouble to count them, what I and every first time visitor will see, absolutely no effort required, is the city’s absolute splendour. Arriving by plane from Abu Dhabi (we flew Etihad), as soon as we landed in Prague there was a lady driver waiting to take us to our hotel apartment. I actually opted to try AirBnb but my paranoid self told me that hotel is still a better choice so we stayed in a hotel apartment instead. I love the ambiance of this hotel! Clean, quiet and modern (Note: proximity to the center of the city should also be considered when choosing your travel accommodation). They also offer airport transfer so it was really hassle free and for only 15 euro it was a steal!
Although this was only my first visit to Prague, travelling with someone dear to me made the entire trip more enjoyable. I travelled with my ever so patient super-ex-boyfriend-now-hubby: Lanz (a.k.a my instant tour guide, my taga bitbit, my photographer and my life saver during the entire Europe trip). I swear I don’t know how I’ll survive without him, he made the entire trip hassle free for me cause I know I’ll get lost alone and I pretty much suck in remembering directions haha
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Our first day started out great as usual. We arrived in Prague early in the morning so we have the whole day to explore the city. We visited Prague last July, note that it was summer season in Europe so the sun usually sets around 9:30 to 10 in the evening. We have all the time in the world to stop by each tourist spots, we even had short coffee breaks in between the long walks, definitely no rush at all! Since we don’t have any specific place to visit on our first day, we just went to Charle’s Bridge and walked non stop until we ended up in the Old Town Square. I love this place! You’ll see local restaurants, shops, theatres, museums, cast of musicians, protesters, dance troupes, punks and vendors who make the square as colourful as the buildings that surround it.
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We were also able to visit Grévin Praha. This is a wax museum which features some of the world’s most famous contemporary personalities. 
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Mornings starts early in Prague during summer and probably just like the rest of Europe so it’s a bonus if you’re a tourist, you’ll have longer time to roam around! Hop on - Hop off buses made our trip more convenient and more organised, not to mention it is relatively cheaper and a waaay better option than riding a cab, a bus or a train to your preferred destinations. Bonus of being in a tourist bus like this is that there’s already a map of the city and an itinerary prepared, there’s a tour guide who speaks several languages and will explain everything in detail, free water bottles and raincoats are provided in case of sudden change of weather and the buses departs every 20 minutes.
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Before hopping in we went to the center and had a delightful brunch in an old underground restaurant, which specialises in local Czech cuisine. Prior to my exquisite three-course meal I had never considered the local cuisine to suit my tastes, but this gastronomic take on Czech cuisine left me completely in awe of the local flavours and textures. 
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Our second full day in Prague was to be spent doing one thing and one thing only: sight seeing and doing as much as we possibly could. With so much to see and do in Prague, we took the first ride in the hop on hop off bus and hit the hot spots first, including:
Castle District
The Castle District is of course home to the Prague Castle, but also home to the winding cobblestone streets Prague is famous for, and lots of cute antique stores to rummage through.
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Petrin Park
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Petrin Tower
I know, tall towers have a special place in my heart because I work in one, that’s why I had to visit Czech’s Eiffel Tower. The Petrin Tower is a 63 meter high steel building that almost looks like the legendary symbol of Paris. It’s not as big though, but on the other hand, I would say it has a much more beautiful setting. The tower is situated on a pretty high hill right in the center of Prague and the only way to be able to go up there is by a funicular. 
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Wenceslas Square
If you’re up for a spot of shopping, head straight for Wenceslas Square. Here you will find loads of international brands, ranging from Zara, H&M, Mango and many more.
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Prague Dancing House
Another popular modern-day favourite is the Prague Dancing House, which also goes by the name The Fred & Ginger House. Located on the Vltava, it’s a short 20 minute walk out of the way but entirely worth it for a pleasant stroll out of the tourist centre.
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Charles Bridge
Prague’s most iconic bridge is an essential first stop for any first timer, so we were eager and ready to cross and reach the end the bridge. We arrived at around 8:30 in the evening, which as you can see was still so bright and sunny.
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The Old Town & Prague Astronomical Clock
Over on the other side of the bridge is the Old Town and Prague’s famous Astronomical Clock. Be sure to stop by for some tourist snaps, but beware of the overpriced tourist haunts located in the square that offer far from the best food in Prague.
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Blog ends here, I did not include all the photos and other destinations that we’ve visited in Prague because this post might be too long. Prague has not been ticked off my bucketlist just yet because I will definitely go back again! Such a beautiful city! Děkuji, Prague!
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umichenginabroad · 5 years
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Bopping Around Barcelona
Ana Warner
Computer Science ‘22
Spanish Language, Culture & Industry in San Sebastian, Spain
¡Hola! This weekend was a very special one for the summer session of San Sebastian students because it was our first side trip! Almost all of us took the free weekend to travel to Barcelona in two groups. After a bit of stress involved in planning logistics like transportation (a 6-hour bus ride) and housing (a private room in a hostel), everything went flawlessly.
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We arrived late Friday night after the long bus ride and immediately flopped into bed in our hostel room. The six-person group was the perfect size to get an affordable private room.
First thing Saturday morning, we were up and out, on our way to the Park Güell, a gorgeous public space designed by Antoni Gaudí over 100 years ago. The famed architect wanted to make the park feel entwined with nature, and his genius shows through in every detail. 
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Kayla, David, and Bushra explore the columns in the Park Güell.
We also toured the house in the park where the architect lived, which had gorgeous views of the whole city and the ocean. In truth, it almost felt like a Dr. Seuss drawing, with surprising curves and shapes and colored bright salmon pink.
I thought the park was awe-inspiring, but I had no way to prepare for the sight that was La Sagrada Familia, which we toured in the afternoon. 
This was the most beautiful thing that I have seen in my whole life. La Sagrada Familia is a basilica still under construction, Gaudí’s greatest work. It is massive and heart-stopping, the outside adorned with ornate sculptures depicting Biblical scenes and figures. The inside, however, is designed to foster introspection and closeness with God. The magnificent stained glass windows flooded the space with color, and the ceiling stood tall supported by columns that look like a forest.
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The tallest center tower is still being built, due to be finished in 2026, 100 years after Gaudí’s death. His detailed plans and revolutionary process of modeling his ideas made it possible to complete the basilica in full compliance with the architect’s original vision. From far away you can see all the texture on the walls, giving a hint at the intense detail that they encompass. Photo Credit: C messier, Wikipedia.
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In this image you can see the dramatic columns that branch along the ceiling. Photo Credit: Pinterest.
Inside, I wanted to sit down and cry. I was stunned and spellbound. How could one man have this inspiration?
Moreover, every detail was expressly designed with a purpose; for example, the main tower is 170 meters tall, one meter shorter than the tallest hill in Barcelona, because Gaudí believed that something created by man should not be greater than something created by God.
He was the first to ever envision the shapes and structures that he incorporated in his designs, drawing inspiration from geometry and nature, like the curves of leaves or the spiral of a snail. 
One thing that I noticed throughout the day, as we walked up and down the beautiful wide main avenues and colorful side streets, were the abundance of flags in the balconies of apartments: the starred Catalan flag “La Estelada” the most prominent among them. I knew that Catalonians wanted independence from Spain and had a great regional pride, but I was surprised by how many of the nationalist symbols there were. We started to realize that all the flags with a crossed yellow ribbon, the word “sí” in a speech bubble, and black banners proclaiming “llibertat presos políticos” (”free political prisoners” in Catalan) were all political statements. Later in the day, we even walked through a protest.
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The energy and unrest were very palpable and a little frightening, as I knew that independence was a belief that the region would hold deeply and possibly bitterly. In our short day in Barcelona I realized just how prevalent the desire for independence is, and how strongly this affects life in the city. 
It was a pretty serious moment, but important. After this, we explored some of the old Gothic Quarter and went back to the Park Güell, then caught our night bus back to Pamplona.
Although we only spent a day in Barcelona, I fell wholeheartedly in love with its vibrancy, art and architecture, and unique style, and I know I have to go back some day.
Abrazos,
Ana
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cataloniadventures · 7 years
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Sydney Bridge Climb
June 10th 2017 
I always said I wanted to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge but just thought it was too much money. A few of my friends from spring break that live in Sydney went the other day during Vivid (a festival of music, lights, arts and much more. It lasts 3 weeks in the harbour and they have light projections on the Opera House and the Bridge is all lit up.) I had planned on going to Sydney for vivid one last time with my Australian friends. But due to unforeseen circumstances, one of them couldn't come and the other one never responded to me till later in the day. So I decided tonight would be the night I went and climbed the bridge all by myself. All my other friends were busy or didn't have the money or were terrified of heights. So I went to the library to study for a few hours before heading to Sydney for the night. I decided to leave the library and head in 2 hours earlier. I am glad I did this because there were delays on the trains due to the rain. The train I originally was supposed to take had to reroute to avoid water on the tracks. I got off a stop and had to wait for a bus that would drive us to a different train station that would get us to Sydney. I met a nice girl around my age. She was living in Sydney and going to UOW. We waited forever for the bus to come pick us up. Once it arrived we had a long drive but I am glad things happened like this because I was able to see the beautiful sea cliff bridge and drive through the beautiful scenery. I sat next to my new friend on the new train once it finally came. I couldn't pronounce her name or understand where she said she was from all I know is she was from somewhere in Europe! I'm glad I met her because talking with her kept me calm in the situation the weather had put all the Sydney passengers in (there was a lot of people going to Sydney that day). I got off at Redfern and ran to catch the train to circle quay. I tripped going up the stairs and banged up my knees pretty bad and I missed my train because it was 1 minute early. I only had to wait 5 minutes for the next one but this would bring me to Circular Quay by 4:50 and I was supposed to be climbing at 5:05 pm. Of course, it was a 10-minute walk from the station to the bridge climb place. I was supposed to be there 15 minutes early so once I got off the train I called the place to let them know I was running late. I was just stressed because I left at 1:45 pm and I just arrived there at 5 pm!!! All I can say is thank God for google maps! I was able to find the bridge climb place. I checked in and the front desk guy was very nice and made sure I made it to my group climb on time. My heart was racing cause I was stressed and late and about to climb the Harbour Bridge! I was surprised they breathalyzed me before climbing (after climbing it I can see why that want to make sure everyone is sober!) I put on this gray jumpsuit and had to go through a metal detector to make sure I had nothing else left in my pockets. Then my group heading into the preparation room. We put our safety belts on. I got to talk to the people next to me. There were a lot of couples and one older family (older than me and the other couples....like 40s/50s). We had a bunch of attachments to keep us warm or anything we might need up there. I got a rain jacket, fleece, handkerchief, head light, and headphones. Everything was attached to us so it wouldn't fall off out on the bridge. I was going to take the gloves but they didn't fit my hand and I couldn't find a right and a left. It was only 15-17 degrees Celcius (so about 59-62 degrees Fahrenheit) It was actually a really nice night out and I didn't have to put any of the jackets on!  We got neon green light up vivid vest. Before we left we had a test of the ladders we would be climbing out on the bridge. I made sure I held on tight and stepped on foot at a time. We climbed up the other stairs, out on our headphones and headed out. We had these things that we attached to a wire for safety. The headphones were used so we could hear our tour guide talking to us on the bridge. I was more nervous to climb this bridge than I was Skydiving or Bungee jumping! The scariest part was walking from the bridge climb center to the ladders. It was a very small walkway. climbing the ladders coming from underneath the cars to being above the cars was the scariest part. They were a lot steeper than the practice ones inside! I would have my foot on the stair and my knee could touch 2 other stairs above! I sang a song in my head to distract me. I was holding on to the handrails extremely tight. I had to keep telling myself one step at a time and not to look at the cars driving by below me. Once we got past this part I was fine. We took a picture with the rest of the bridge left to climb in the background. Our tour guide talked about the history of the bridge and how it was made. Like it took 3 people to put the rivets in the steel or that 16 people died in a span of 8 years it took to make the bridge (2 were crushed by falling granite and 1 died on his way to work...but with the health and safeties they had back then, it's surprising they didn't have more). Our guide told us how Elton John stayed at a hotel and had a piano put in on the top floor and when the hotel asked what he wanted to do with it after he left, he said to just keep it and its still there today (you can rent the room for $18,000 a night!!! and of course you have to stay a minimum of 2 nights). Also, he mentioned how Sylvester Stallone stayed at a hotel and the police raided his room for steroids but he had thrown them into the harbor. My tour then went to make a joke about how the harbor is the best place to fish because the fish are so big!!!  We would pause every once and a while to catch our breath or stop and look at the view or have our picture taken. Once we got to the top we were 134 meters above sea level ( 440 feet).Since we were doing the vivid experience tour there was a light up 70s style dance floor that we got to go and dance on. It was absolutely amazing. I had a 360-degree view of the city while standing in the middle of Sydney's famous Harbour Bridge! Just looking up at the 2 Australian flags I shut my eyes and took it all in to remember forever. We headed back down to earth facing the beautiful lit up city. A famous Australian actress, Cate Blanchett, and her kids walked by us. The people around me were like omg was that really her and I was just like oh cool who was that. I am just so proud of myself for heading into the city all by myself and doing the bridge climb alone. This was something that I did for myself. I am growing up and becoming an independent woman. I live to tell the story so I hope I didn't make anyone worried. It was very safe and the company took extra precautions to make sure nothing was left on our bodies that could blow off and possibly hurt someone or cause an accident below. This was an amazing experience and I'm glad I did it during vivid because it was 100 times better. I'm also glad the rain held out. It poured on my way here and I was walking around the markets and vivid after before it started to pour again and I left. I am always grateful to experience vivid and seeing the city from the harbor bridge!
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