Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Indiana Primaries
10:22pm EST - Exciting and very close primary here in Indiana. Supposed to have gone for Clinton, but the split is only 4%.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Work and... more work
Daniel and I are on our first "work" trip ever (the AZ Academic Decathlon competition didn't really count - we were there for all of 24 hours) - we're in Oro Valley (near Tucson) in Arizona hosting (he's hosting, I'm helping) the National Finals for the World Scholar's Cup.
It's stressful, but very amazing to see these schools coming from all over the country to compete in the competition, and the teams who score highest will be going to Korea next month for the World Finals.
We got discounted food (I was disappointed to not get food outright donated, but we got pretty good rates for the food we did get), and about 60 students.
We're doing some last minute planning tweaking right now. Be back later with more.
Tucson is very very pretty, but the roads and highway system is the most ineffective I've ever experienced (believe it or not, LA actually makes sense compared to Tucson).
It's stressful, but very amazing to see these schools coming from all over the country to compete in the competition, and the teams who score highest will be going to Korea next month for the World Finals.
We got discounted food (I was disappointed to not get food outright donated, but we got pretty good rates for the food we did get), and about 60 students.
We're doing some last minute planning tweaking right now. Be back later with more.
Tucson is very very pretty, but the roads and highway system is the most ineffective I've ever experienced (believe it or not, LA actually makes sense compared to Tucson).
Friday, April 11, 2008
Finishing the journey
After getting stranded in Dallas for a few hours because American Airlines canceled many flights, I'm finally home, and hoping Daniel has a non-eventful trip back home tomorrow from Korea.
We'll write more later, but here are some more pictures.
(http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123635&l=dab8b&id=2401926)
We'll write more later, but here are some more pictures.
(http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2123635&l=dab8b&id=2401926)
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Atop a tower top
We've successfully climbed the cologne cathedral, which is a blend of
your average Italian duomo and a maximum security prison. We did this
on three lungs and nine layers of clothing between us. Five hundred
and nine steps below us, red-clad cardinals are gravely collecting
donations in boxes hung around their necks.
your average Italian duomo and a maximum security prison. We did this
on three lungs and nine layers of clothing between us. Five hundred
and nine steps below us, red-clad cardinals are gravely collecting
donations in boxes hung around their necks.
Sent from my iPhone
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Breaking News, and the Developed Story. Really now.
***Cynthia lost her wallet in Cologne. She was being very stupid and left her backpack open, and it must have fallen out at the train station. But all relevant cards have been canceled, and she has an appointment with the DMV on Friday morning at 11am to get a new driver's license.***
Where did we leave off?
Ah. Yes. We should finally explain the speeding ticket incident.
After spending the morning in Rijeka and cavorting with a giant bottle of Fanta (there was a promotional event going on for Fanta's new Brazilian flavor - we even got free samples), we were quickly (and quickly indeed) on our way through Senj to the Plitvice Lakes, then to Bosnia.
However, the fates (or the Croatia police) wouldn't let us get away with the "quickly" part. We were stopped at a speed trap, going 89km in a 60km zone. But EVERYONE was going that fast. So, like the good drivers we are, we pulled over.
The fine was 300KN (kune, the official currency of Croatia - about a 7:1 ratio to US dollars). We had 240KN on us. Hm. Problem. So, I pulled out a credit card. The police officer shook his head. We pulled our some Euro, some USD. He wouldn't take any of it, and insisted it had to be in Kune.
"Where can we make an exchange?" we asked.
"The bank," he responded. I could have heard the unspoken, "You idiots."
Huh. "We mean, for this situation now, we don't have enough Kune on us. What would you recommend?" ("You idiot," we responded in our heads)
He still insisted on the 300KN.
Finally, Daniel opened his wallet again, and withdrew 2,000 Korean Won. At that, the police officer burst out laughing, asked us where we were headed, and waved us on our way, with no fine.
This was right before we stopped by the little roadside restaurant where the owner, who didn't speak much English, asked us if we wanted "Fish or flesh?"
We finally made it to Plitvice. Cold, but very beautiful. And Daniel made me climb all the way up to a sightseeing point - I cursed him the entire way up, but the view took our breaths away. No more breath for cursing. It was beautiful.
Pictures posted here.
(http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2122773&l=c8bc6&id=2401926)
Where did we leave off?
Ah. Yes. We should finally explain the speeding ticket incident.
After spending the morning in Rijeka and cavorting with a giant bottle of Fanta (there was a promotional event going on for Fanta's new Brazilian flavor - we even got free samples), we were quickly (and quickly indeed) on our way through Senj to the Plitvice Lakes, then to Bosnia.
However, the fates (or the Croatia police) wouldn't let us get away with the "quickly" part. We were stopped at a speed trap, going 89km in a 60km zone. But EVERYONE was going that fast. So, like the good drivers we are, we pulled over.
The fine was 300KN (kune, the official currency of Croatia - about a 7:1 ratio to US dollars). We had 240KN on us. Hm. Problem. So, I pulled out a credit card. The police officer shook his head. We pulled our some Euro, some USD. He wouldn't take any of it, and insisted it had to be in Kune.
"Where can we make an exchange?" we asked.
"The bank," he responded. I could have heard the unspoken, "You idiots."
Huh. "We mean, for this situation now, we don't have enough Kune on us. What would you recommend?" ("You idiot," we responded in our heads)
He still insisted on the 300KN.
Finally, Daniel opened his wallet again, and withdrew 2,000 Korean Won. At that, the police officer burst out laughing, asked us where we were headed, and waved us on our way, with no fine.
This was right before we stopped by the little roadside restaurant where the owner, who didn't speak much English, asked us if we wanted "Fish or flesh?"
We finally made it to Plitvice. Cold, but very beautiful. And Daniel made me climb all the way up to a sightseeing point - I cursed him the entire way up, but the view took our breaths away. No more breath for cursing. It was beautiful.
Pictures posted here.
(http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2122773&l=c8bc6&id=2401926)
Gatwick
We're sitting here in the food court at Gatwick Airport waiting for our flight to Cologne. We're finally realizing why all the airlines in London advertise their move to Heathrow from Gatwick. Gatwick has to be the most inefficient airport ever.
First of all, the Easyjet queues to check in were less line and more blob. And apparently computer problems run rampant.
Second, the Gate system is just plain stupid. From where we are, it takes 20 minutes to get to any gate. They close the gate 20 minutes before boarding. It is currently 45 minutes before our flight, and they still have not posted which gate our flight is flying out from.
In any case. Daniel is searching for tea.
So, where did we leave you off last time. Ahh, I think Florence.
We left Florence the morning after our last long blog, and took a train to Venice. We didn't stay long in Venice (about 20 minutes). All we did was pick up our rental car from Avis, and drove out of the city - north along the coast to Trieste.
The drive took most of the afternoon, but was very pretty. We stopped by this little roadside diner and got some sandwiches and tea, and a really good lemon tart. After the really good lemon tart, we incurred injury #5...Daniel smashed his head in the toilette.
After driving though a thunderstorm, we reached Trieste near evening, and watched the sun set over the ocean, over a plate of pizza with a raw egg cracked over the top. We'll post pictures of this later. Our goal was to reach the town of Rijeka right inside the Croatia border that night. We drove through Slovenia to get there. Slovenia we will come back to later.
We reached Rijeka pretty late that night, and checked into our hotel. The lobby looked like a hail-back to the Communist regime. But the rooms were comfortable enough (though we found a couple of bug bites on Daniel's back)
We're going to look for our airplane now. The Gate system is still not showing which gate we're leaving from.
First of all, the Easyjet queues to check in were less line and more blob. And apparently computer problems run rampant.
Second, the Gate system is just plain stupid. From where we are, it takes 20 minutes to get to any gate. They close the gate 20 minutes before boarding. It is currently 45 minutes before our flight, and they still have not posted which gate our flight is flying out from.
In any case. Daniel is searching for tea.
So, where did we leave you off last time. Ahh, I think Florence.
We left Florence the morning after our last long blog, and took a train to Venice. We didn't stay long in Venice (about 20 minutes). All we did was pick up our rental car from Avis, and drove out of the city - north along the coast to Trieste.
The drive took most of the afternoon, but was very pretty. We stopped by this little roadside diner and got some sandwiches and tea, and a really good lemon tart. After the really good lemon tart, we incurred injury #5...Daniel smashed his head in the toilette.
After driving though a thunderstorm, we reached Trieste near evening, and watched the sun set over the ocean, over a plate of pizza with a raw egg cracked over the top. We'll post pictures of this later. Our goal was to reach the town of Rijeka right inside the Croatia border that night. We drove through Slovenia to get there. Slovenia we will come back to later.
We reached Rijeka pretty late that night, and checked into our hotel. The lobby looked like a hail-back to the Communist regime. But the rooms were comfortable enough (though we found a couple of bug bites on Daniel's back)
We're going to look for our airplane now. The Gate system is still not showing which gate we're leaving from.
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