Rose's 1001 Travel Tales

Pics from Banjul, The Gambia, West Africa!

2010-02-18T23:45:00.001-08:00

*Opening gifts Christmas morning (the pineapple was our tree!). *In front of school children lined up for a parade on Kiraba ave. *No po po...haha. *Sunday brunch and cleanup with my new Iranian-Gambian friends!

Photos from the village - The Gambia, West Africa

2010-02-06T11:23:00.001-08:00

Photos from Austria and Italy!

2010-01-28T11:38:00.000-08:00

Photos from all over!

2009-11-21T03:37:00.001-08:00

Been traveling around the last month with my friend Anna and having a great time. We've visited Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Brugge, Bordeaux, Paris, Venice, Rome, and are now in Sicily! We have another week together and will see Austria and Munich, then I head off to The Gambia!

Photos from my Black Sea cruise!

2009-10-29T07:34:00.000-07:00

I Met my dad in Athens for a Holland America cruise of the Black Sea. Istanbul and Egypt were my favorites, we also stopped in Israel, Russia, and Bulgaria. Beside seeing so many amazing places, one of the best things about the cruise was meeting a group of fun friends to hang out with on nights at sea!

Photos from Santorini + a cool car

2009-10-28T12:46:00.000-07:00

Hello! I'm finally back in internet land and have tons of photos to share! Here are a few from my 5 day visit to Santorini Island in Greece (plus a really cool hybrid sports car I saw in Athens airport)!

Photos from Koln Germany

2009-09-24T11:08:00.000-07:00

I´m in Koln Germany now staying with my cousin Kiumars and his family -- they´ve been wonderful hosts and it´s comforting being around family and friends again! There was an Iranian concert here last weekend, we went and had a blast. I recognized a few of the songs as ones my cousin Mahtab bluetoothed to my phone while I was in Iran! We also visited a few towns in the area and went walking in the fields near our village called Hurth. Tomorrow morning I´m leaving for Santorini Greece...

Photos from Rome

2009-09-23T05:32:00.000-07:00

Rome is the most beautiful city I´ve ever seen! If you haven´t been it´s definitely worth visiting sometime. I arrived on Sept 5th with Mary, we stayed at a cute B&B and did the usual tourist things (vatican, colosseum, and downtown Rome). After Mary left I stayed in a hostel downtown called ´Yellow´, that felt a lot like an American frat house dorm. I noticed a lot of people with Lonley Planet guidebooks and decided I made the right decision NOT using one. I was lucky enough to have a two friends in Rome. Silvia, an Italian girl I met before leaving SF, took me out with her friends and showed me what young Romans do for fun. Courtney is a fellow american living in Rome and she introduced me to the best neighborhood in town, Trestevere. I liked Trestever so much I left the hostel and found a room to rent for my remaining week in Rome. My land lady, Yuria, was super nice and invited me up for a dinner party!

GTG!
Rose

Pictures from Bike trip!

2009-09-14T12:29:00.001-07:00

Sorry it took so long, but I am now able to post some great shots from our ride!

Mary

Made it to Roma!!!

2009-09-06T01:12:00.000-07:00

Hi - Mary here again. We did it!!! We completed our 6 day journey down Italy to Rome. We had the best time ever...I highly recommend biking as a form of transportation. Sorry we have not been blogging daily...it is so hard to find internet points and we were always so tired when we pulled into town. I will post pictures when I return...flying home tomorrow :-(

We left Sienna and continued on to San Quirico d'Orcia...a beautiful village inside a fortress. When we arrived at 3:30, everyone was taking their siesta's...a real problem for us along the way. We had to wake our host for the evening (Badr - there is a reason he was given this name!) He was not happy...he was napping and fasting for Ramadon (sp?) and we were exhausted! Our ride was tough that day, but soooo beautiful. We had decided to go up to Asciano instead of taking the highway and it was totally worth it, but it was a long day. This town is exactly what you think of when you think a village in Tuscany...lots of locals hanging in the square...we loved it!

The next day we were still tired from our ride the day before so decided to stay low along the highway. It was still a long ride...especially in the morning when we couldnt figure out why were going so slow...turns out we were slowly going up a mountain and with 30 extra pounds on our bike, it was tough! We were so happy to finally get to the tunnel that took us to the other side and could enjoy the long, easy down hill ride to the bottom...another amazing day! We decided not to stay in Bolsena that night and instead went the other way around the lake and stayed in a small town called Capodimonte! After over 40 miles of biking and almost 9 hours, we pulled into this cute town that was not used to tourists. It took us a long time to find the only hotel in town. A cute boy (Ramone) at the beach cafe told us how to get there and who to talk to...then we went back to cute boys bar and had a drink with him. He directed us to the best place in town to eat...it was a great experience to get to eat with the locals...and the food was amazing! After dinner we headed back to the beach bar and partied all night with Ramone's friends. Didn't get home until 1:30AM...we needed a night out having fun...every other night we had been in bed before 10:30!

The next morning we were exhausted, but fortunately we only had 20K to go that day. We rode to Viterbo where the locals where celebrating La Macchina di Santa Rosa...another town built inside a fortress. The locals all congregate inside the town to watch this giant lit up float get paraded through the town being pulled by 100 men. We went, but I only saw this thing for about 10 seconds...the streets were packed and small...I went home to bed and Rose stayed to get another look.

Our last ride was one of my favorites! We left Viterbo early and headed to Anguillara Sabazia...another beautiful town on a lake. This was the day we went up to and through a volcano...it was amazing! We saw fields of chestnut trees, beautiful lakes, and beautiful towns. At one point we had to push our bikes for 2K up to the top...it was incredibly steep getting there but so worth the climb! We made it to our destination and stayed at a small hotel on the out skirts of town. Took the bus in to do laundry and swim in the beautiful lake. When we got back we sat down to dinner at 7pm and told our hosts that we would be there all night...and we were. We met some people who were family of the owners and from the states and we partied with them all night...Rose ended up with a new cute haircut by a stylist from Florida...it was a fun night!

Yesterday we got up late and took the train to Rome...spent the day being amazed! It is really beautiful here. Today we will see the Vatican and tomorrow I will fly home. I have to thank Rose for making this all possible...she did a LOT of work getting this trip arranged for us and it was perfect!! Thanks Rose...your the best and I hope the rest of your trip is just as fun!!

Pisa to Voltera, Voltera to Sienna

2009-08-31T08:50:00.000-07:00

Hi again! Mary here...we just arrived in Sienna today. We were too exhausted last night to post anything...feeling much bettter today. Our ride to Voltera was AWESOME| The first 32 miles were really easy...we stopped for lunch with just 10K to go...but the problem was...Voltera is on a mountain! It was like going up Page Mill after riding for 30 miles...talk about tough! It was totally worth it though. Voltera is a town inside a fortress...so cool. And our hotel was perfect. We had the best pizza ever! This morning we were off again around 8:30am and on our way to Sienna. The landscape was beautiful...much better than our first day...lots of rolling hills, vinyards and castles in the distance...35 miles in all. We stopped at another town inside a fortress for lunch. We are now hiding out at an Internet point to escape the heat...then we will be off to see beautiful Sienna. Tomorrow is San Quirico dOrcia...yeah, I know...you will have to look it up :)

Not sure we will post pics...internet is SOOOO slow here!

We are living the Viva la Dolce!!

Bike Ride to Rome - Day 0

2009-08-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

Hi, this is Mary! Today I arrived in Florence with no travel delays. Rose met me at the airport and we immediatly embarked to Pisa to pick up our bikes...they are awesome! We had an excellent dinner followed with the best gelatto ever! I am going on 3 hours of sleep, it is now after 10pm...tomorrow we leave at 8am sharp for our first leg of the trip to Volterra...40 miles. It will be hot, so we plan to go slow and try to drink as much wine as we can along the way - wish us luck :-)

Mary and Rose in Pisa!

2009-08-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

Thoughts about Iran

2009-08-26T07:35:00.000-07:00

My trip to Iran was amazing. I was a little scared of going because of the political situation, especially as an American, but I didn't have any problems at all (aside from routine fingerprinting at the airport... and by the way the US does the same to Iranians).

Life in Iran was in fact more open than I expected. As you can see in my photos, rules on female dress are relatively relaxed compared to 20 years ago and to say, Saudi Arabia. Basically you have to wear a headscarf, and a long sleeve overcoat called a monto. Half the women in Tehran wear stylish or bright colored scarves that are worn so far back they're practically falling off (and it's not a big deal if it does fall off for a second). These women also tend to wear formfitting montos and expertly applied makeup. When I asked why they wear so much makeup they explained it's one of the only ways they can physically express themselves in public.

The other half of the women, who are more religious and traditional, often wear black headscarves with no hair showing, or long black sheets called chadoors (it's not a burka though, their faces are showing, not just their eyes!).

Even though I'm fluent in Farsi and am familiar with Iranian culture, in Iran I felt like I was in another world. There's so much more to Iran than the dress code and the government. As a more collectivistic society than the US, Iranians seem somehow closer with each other. Family units seem tighter, adult children usually don't move out until they get married. Same sex Friends are more physically affectionate with each other, usually kissing three times on the cheek as a greeting, and just touching each other more (yes even men).

Even 'strangers' seem much friendlier with each other, and politeness is to an extreme you only see in old British culture. When asking the price to pay for bread or a taxi ride, the customary response is 'oh it was nothing'... of course you do need to pay, but still!

The attitude toward foreigners in Iran is very very positive, especially to Americans (which is a contrast to how I feel a little looked down on here in Europe)! My cousin's friends were happy to meet me and chat about life and our cultures. And just in general people in Iran seem to love having visitors come stay with them. so being a guest in Iran is really the way to go. I felt pampered the whole time.

Another big thing I noticed was that people seemed to enjoy their time more. Sitting around with the family, talking, dancing (at home), eating together, they go on picnics and walks together regularly. Their stress levels seem lower, or maybe my perspective was skewed because I was on vacation!

Some key things are different between the west and Iran, but honestly many more things are the same. Probably the most striking difference, after the dress code, is the driving!! Think the opposite of Germany...the driving is totally chaotic and anything goes (including driving in the middle of two lanes, and backing up on the freeway.

Hope this gives a taste of Iran! If you have an opportunity to go I highly recommend it. You will be treated like royalty and have the chance to see inside a culture most people never get to see.

Photos from Iran!

2009-08-21T05:17:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

I've arrived safely to Florence Italy! They're in the middle of a heat wave here so I'm taking refuge at an internet cafe and catching up on emails - it's nice to be in touch again!

Here are some photos from my trip so far, hope you enjoy them. Iran was fascinating in so many ways, I had a great time. More to come in my next post!

Rose

Shahrzad Blvd!
Dinner with friends
Exploring a tourist spot in Tehran
House party!
New friend on the plane

The night before

2009-07-31T04:41:00.000-07:00

Even with months of preparation I still had LOTS to do the past two weeks to get ready. All the hypothetical 'oh I should do this at some point' types of things had to get done asap. I'm pretty much done with everything now; the mess-pile on my bed is all packed up, and I even have time for a quick (5am) blog update!

So here's the situation: tomorrow morning I'm flying across the world, and won't come home, or even have a home, for 6 months. I'm not sure how to describe how I feel. Tired for sure, super excited, a little nervous, and also relieved to finally move beyond preparation mode (and the tornado of busyness of the past few days). I've imagined this trip for so long, and honestly I've wanted to travel since I did study abroad junior year of college. Now it's about to happen and it feels like a dream come true for me. No, it IS a dream come true.

One thing I've learned so far is that disconnecting from society takes a lot of work. Now that I've uprooted myself, I feel all of the sudden very free. No job, no home, less stuff, less routine, less familiarity, new people, and new ideas. It's an opportunity for me, not only to see the world, but to explore myself too.

I really want to thank my friends and family for supporting me in this journey (especially all the work my parents did to help me move and pack, thanks Mom and Dad!). I hope to stay in touch with you all though this blog and email. I'll try to post updates from each place I visit, along with the thoughts and feelings those places inspire.

Thanks for coming on this journey with me, here we go! :>

Set up travel blog -- check!

2009-07-14T12:47:00.000-07:00

After years of silence on the blogging front, I'm taking inspiration from my namesake (and Jen!) to blog my upcoming trip abroad. I'll be in San Francisco for the next 17 days, with lots left to do, and then will head out for six months of world traveling!

Here's a peak at some of the places I plan on visiting: Germany, Iran, Italy, Greece, Russia, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, France, the UK, and The Gambia.

And a tentative Google map just for fun:

View Rose's Travel Map in a larger map

Okay I'm off!
Rose