Tuesday, November 25, 2008








Mikhail Bulgakov's house

Monday, November 24, 2008

Outdoor Markets

Colorful and lively are a couple of ways to describe the markets in Europe. Virtually all the outdoor markets I visited had contrasting assortments of junk to jewels from artisan cheeses, dried fruit (dried coconut was my favorite), homemade wines, clothes, jewelry, exotic herbs TO fish heads on shaved ice, chickens hanging by their feet, fresh lard sold by the kilo, and some other things I thought were worth sharing.

Need a passport?Ukrainian passports found at one special market in Odessa.


Westerstraat market is one of Amsterdam's biggest open air markets. It had plenty of interesting finds. This historic market dating back to the 16th century is where major protests against the Nazis took place. Often the products found here are from local shops that recently went bankrupt. I found...

This classic:



A disturbing discovery:




Ironically, it was next to a statue of three figures bound to each other, a poignant tribute to the protest during the deportation of Jews.

Sleeping Cart on an Eastern European Train

Click here: Odessa, Ukraine

From Odessa, Ukraine

More Pictures from Munich: Click Here

Olympiapark, Munich
From Munich, Germany II

From Munich, Germany II

Inside of the statue of Bavaria
From Munich, Germany II

From Munich, Germany II

From Munich, Germany II


World's longest foosball table at the soccerfive arena in Olympiapark
From Munich, Germany II


BMW Museum
From Munich, Germany II

From Munich, Germany II

Click here Pictures of Ljubljana and Postojna Cave

From New Album 11/22/08 9:56 PM
Lbubljana, the capital city of Slovenia was full of canals and cafes. The city itself had many universities most everything catered to young professionals and students. I was tired when I arrived, but the liveliness of the city kept me energized. A rally for a social democratic group was being held in the city's center. The campaigns were for the Slovenian Presidential election. The opening band sounded like U2. All the local teenagers were singing along to the words. I wasn't into them.
From New Album 11/22/08 9:56 PM

From New Album 11/22/08 9:56 PM

From New Album 11/22/08 9:56 PM

I met another solo female traveler from Wilmington, NC. Megan had just finished her master's degree in Valencia and was traveling for a couple weeks. We paled around for several days in Slovenia and took a day trip to see the Postojna caves. The caves had dazzling formations of calcite, stalactites and stalagmites in an array of different shapes and colors from spaghetti hanging stalagmites to bright green calcite. It had been a warm day outside, but inside the caves the temperature dropped to 40 below. The deeper regions of the 20 kilometers of chambers and passages were stunning and bitter cold.
From New Album 11/22/08 9:56 PM
From New Album 11/22/08 9:56 PM

Saturday, November 22, 2008

After Three Months Away from TV, we have Snuggie?

Life before snuggie? Boring.

Yatzi in Snuggie.Incredible!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Slowly Intergrating into Daily Life.



I have a weekend to myself to relax and process my time in Europe. I plan on reading through my journals, while petsitting a beagle.

Integrating slowly into life in Boston. Baby steps are important for my own harmony.

Weekend plans include hiking with the beagle at Walden Pond.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008






In between unpacking and job searching, I'm testing my ear by creating this playlist.

I tried to broaden my music library by choosing unique style ranges and genres. I wanted to include my favorites, but also keep it fresh with new stuff. There are no correlations through genres or in song titles. And no connection between themes either. These songs are compiled according to how well they flowed together through tempos and rhythm.

Many of the songs inspired me while traveling. They helped me when I needed to tune out and through the lonely parts too.

Enjoy

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I made it...

three snow storms and 11 hours later. Interview tomorrow! Lots of rest is needed tonight. Luckily, I updated my resume and pressed my business clothes last weekend. All ready to go for tomorrow.

It's hard saying goodbye. Though, I am confident I did the right thing and I'm leaving when it feels right too. I will return to Ohio often to make sure my Grandma's comfortable. There was some family pressure for me to stay, but I know my Grandma better than most and she would have wanted me to continue on with my own plans. A positive out of this situation is that my cousins and I are now really close. They made me feel at home eating dinner together and drinking Great Lakes Christmas ale.

Eleven hour drive ahead of me. Thank God for news radio, coke plus, and orbit's pink gum.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Lake Shore Effect

Cleveland was hit by a huge snow storm and I need to be in Boston by Wednesday for an interview.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Sarajevo's pockmarked buildings

I met Rosa, a German photojournalist in Sarajevo. She just emailed me these photos.

The size of the bullet holes are unbelievable.

Most of them were the size of my hand.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Syracuse, New York (Click here for Gwen's website)






I feel inclined to drive to Cleveland and spend time with my Grandmother. Since July she has been in a coma and now her physical health is declining.


On the drive up, I stopped in Syracuse, New York and stayed with two of my sister's friends. Gwen and Joey are California based graffiti artists who attend art school at Syracuse University. The husband and wife duo have been creating art and graffiti since they were teenagers. I slept over on their futon, we drank yerba maté and ate portobello sandwiches. Syracuse is a perfect halfway point in my ten hour drive to Cleveland. I don't plan to stay in Ohio longer than a week, but things always seem to change when dealing with my Grandma's health issues.

Draft of Route 1

Not finished yet...


View Larger Map

Boston For A Day

I took the train from DC to Boston. The scenery and Dave Egger's book, "You Shall Know Our Velocity," kept me company along my ten hour ride. I was excited to get back to normalcy and to Boston.

My Aunt and Uncle picked me up at the train station. It has been six months since I've seen them last. Three months in Cleveland looking over a sick Grandmother and then three month overseas. I was worried what they might think about my stint in Europe.

My worries melted when I saw the expression on their faces. They were proud of me and interested in what I had to tell them about the countries I visited. My Uncle wanted to know what route I took when traveling by bus and train. I've started to map them out using google maps. First route is partially complete and posted above.

Friday, November 7, 2008