Dan commented on all the pictures, even with his severed toe tendon!
See http://picasaweb.google.com/round.the.globe.in.100.days for bushels of fun.
As for life in general, Eric and I finally have our new place in a somewhat presentable form. Eric seems to be enjoying Imperial Oil and its oodles of money, and I'm quite happy working for IMV Projects.
I think I'll be updateing my personal blog instead of this one from now on, but it's been a slice!
Sep 17, 2007
Aug 19, 2007
Home again, home again!
We finally returned to Canada on Friday night, and we're staying in the Sheraton Eau Claire in Calgary for 2 weeks while Imperial Oil house-hunts for us. With all expenses paid, we've been living pretty high on the hog! I had a grey-goose martini on Friday night and was convinced that they watered-down the vodka. Then it occured to me that high-quality vokda probably doesn't taste quite as horrible as Mongolian vodka...
Anyway, I'm convinced that we live in the best country in the world. I'll try to think up some deep lessons learned for a future posting.
PS: Some new pictures are up... I highly recommend the Mongolia ones.
Anyway, I'm convinced that we live in the best country in the world. I'll try to think up some deep lessons learned for a future posting.
PS: Some new pictures are up... I highly recommend the Mongolia ones.
Aug 6, 2007
Mongolia at last
Quick post.
First off, Irkutsk wasn't much, and definitely NOT the so-called "Paris of Siberia". Lake Baikal was awesome though, and I think most of us agreed that we might return there. Maybe we'll post more about it later. One thing to mention was that Amber's bag was stolen at our last sketchy internet cafe in Russia. [this is called foreshadowing, read on]. On to Mongolia...
Our border crossing was not that bad (supposedly), it was only around 6hrs or so. We wandered around some shitty Russian and Mongolian towns buying beer and drinking since there was nothing else to do. We arrived in Ulaan Baatar at around 6:30am (half hour ahead of schedule, if there is such a thing as a schedule here).
We checked in our hotel and took a much needed shower. No hot water. Then we napped until 9am because the train was so hot we couldn't sleep. When we woke up electricity was out in our entire block. Sean showered in the cold and the dark. Hehe. I bought some tasty deep fried breadlet that had nuggets of mushrooms and tasty asianesque flavours.
We conquered a bunch of sites here, and then had lunch. Mmm... tasty mutton roast, Mongolian soup, and some tasty tongue. Tried Chinggis beer, which is ok. In typical Hepler fashion, we were offered vodka by some Mongolians (a few shots each: 3 for you, oh you're Canadian, then 4...). We were accosted by friendly children who wanted to try out their English, and then climb on tanks and get their pictures taken. Just about 5 minutes ago some guy tried to pick my pocket. I slapped his hand and then yelled at him. He was dressed in a suit.
Lots of fun! We're going to see a traditional cultural dance and then eat dinner (mmmmm tasty goodness). Tomorrow we leave for the Ger camp (they have airag, fermented mare's milk there!).
Dan.
First off, Irkutsk wasn't much, and definitely NOT the so-called "Paris of Siberia". Lake Baikal was awesome though, and I think most of us agreed that we might return there. Maybe we'll post more about it later. One thing to mention was that Amber's bag was stolen at our last sketchy internet cafe in Russia. [this is called foreshadowing, read on]. On to Mongolia...
Our border crossing was not that bad (supposedly), it was only around 6hrs or so. We wandered around some shitty Russian and Mongolian towns buying beer and drinking since there was nothing else to do. We arrived in Ulaan Baatar at around 6:30am (half hour ahead of schedule, if there is such a thing as a schedule here).
We checked in our hotel and took a much needed shower. No hot water. Then we napped until 9am because the train was so hot we couldn't sleep. When we woke up electricity was out in our entire block. Sean showered in the cold and the dark. Hehe. I bought some tasty deep fried breadlet that had nuggets of mushrooms and tasty asianesque flavours.
We conquered a bunch of sites here, and then had lunch. Mmm... tasty mutton roast, Mongolian soup, and some tasty tongue. Tried Chinggis beer, which is ok. In typical Hepler fashion, we were offered vodka by some Mongolians (a few shots each: 3 for you, oh you're Canadian, then 4...). We were accosted by friendly children who wanted to try out their English, and then climb on tanks and get their pictures taken. Just about 5 minutes ago some guy tried to pick my pocket. I slapped his hand and then yelled at him. He was dressed in a suit.
Lots of fun! We're going to see a traditional cultural dance and then eat dinner (mmmmm tasty goodness). Tomorrow we leave for the Ger camp (they have airag, fermented mare's milk there!).
Dan.
Jul 25, 2007
Russia... more than just Beets, Noodles, and Furry Hats
So we've been in St Petersburg Russia for 2 full days now, and tonight we head on an overnight train to Moscow. My observations thus far:
- The Russian language is much more difficult than one might think after studying it for 3 months.
- People in Russia generally don't like to smile, move out of a person's path, or be pleasant in any way (this is all part of the experience!)
- Food in Russia is much BETTER than you might expect. Last night we had delicious Armenian food, for example, and the Borshcht is to die for!
- Baggage loss on Russian flights is extremely common; but worry not, for baggage will be returned to your hotel within one day (albeit some articles may be missing from said baggage)
- Animal cruelty is acceptable and legal in Russia (this surprised me). It is not uncommon to see an average Joe parading a baby black bear or monkey around for tourist dollars. I asked our guide what happens to the baby black bears when they grow up big and strong enough to beat up thier evil owners, and she told me that the fate of the baby bears "eez not goot".
- Always keep your guard on. Don't look the police straight in the eye or they may harrass you for ID or money, and we hear that the Mafia really does dominate. Another interesting sight we saw today was a man laying on the sidewalk. He looked like someone had just freshly cut out his right eye, but no one seemed to care. (this WAS a sketchier part of town, but still...)
But really, this is a beautifully unique city, and 2 days is not NEARLY enough to do it justice. Besides wandering the side streets, trying to speak Russian, and sampling delicacies, we've seen the Hermitage and two other Palaces between the 4 of us. (one of which included the famous AMBER ROOM; a rediculous Amber stone paneled space within Katherine the Great's Pushkin Palace). And, we have a new travel mate named Sean. He's a Calgarian Nurse, and just splendid to have along. More on him later, I'm sure.
Sorry so short, but we have a train to catch! Please send good vibes, as I will be alone on our over night train to Moscow tonight and don't care to lose an eye.
Amber
- The Russian language is much more difficult than one might think after studying it for 3 months.
- People in Russia generally don't like to smile, move out of a person's path, or be pleasant in any way (this is all part of the experience!)
- Food in Russia is much BETTER than you might expect. Last night we had delicious Armenian food, for example, and the Borshcht is to die for!
- Baggage loss on Russian flights is extremely common; but worry not, for baggage will be returned to your hotel within one day (albeit some articles may be missing from said baggage)
- Animal cruelty is acceptable and legal in Russia (this surprised me). It is not uncommon to see an average Joe parading a baby black bear or monkey around for tourist dollars. I asked our guide what happens to the baby black bears when they grow up big and strong enough to beat up thier evil owners, and she told me that the fate of the baby bears "eez not goot".
- Always keep your guard on. Don't look the police straight in the eye or they may harrass you for ID or money, and we hear that the Mafia really does dominate. Another interesting sight we saw today was a man laying on the sidewalk. He looked like someone had just freshly cut out his right eye, but no one seemed to care. (this WAS a sketchier part of town, but still...)
But really, this is a beautifully unique city, and 2 days is not NEARLY enough to do it justice. Besides wandering the side streets, trying to speak Russian, and sampling delicacies, we've seen the Hermitage and two other Palaces between the 4 of us. (one of which included the famous AMBER ROOM; a rediculous Amber stone paneled space within Katherine the Great's Pushkin Palace). And, we have a new travel mate named Sean. He's a Calgarian Nurse, and just splendid to have along. More on him later, I'm sure.
Sorry so short, but we have a train to catch! Please send good vibes, as I will be alone on our over night train to Moscow tonight and don't care to lose an eye.
Amber
Jul 23, 2007
Oh, Russia...
So here we are in Russia finally, and it's already a very different world than Germany. Our baggage was lost, and it didn't really seem like a very rare occurance. They had a busy room dedicated to others who had lost their luggage. Fortunately this is the part of our trip where we met up with vodkatrain, so we have contacts who can speak russian for us.
Billy (Dan and my father) joined us in Germany for the last week, and we had a blast visiting with Susanne and Hannes in Hannover, and meeting their friend Peter Lindenberg in Berlin, who is a professional artist that makes beautiful work in Berlin. He showed us the artistic world of Berlin, which was incredible and very different.
There are lots of great stories to tell, but I'm too tired to write much more that's coherent right now, but we are alive and well! I'm not sure how often we will be able to write during the next 3 weeks (internet may not be available everywhere that we go), so don't be too worried if you don't hear from us frequently. Pictures may have to wait until we're back to be uploaded, but we'll see!
Dasvidania (or however you write goodbye in Russian),
Eric
Billy (Dan and my father) joined us in Germany for the last week, and we had a blast visiting with Susanne and Hannes in Hannover, and meeting their friend Peter Lindenberg in Berlin, who is a professional artist that makes beautiful work in Berlin. He showed us the artistic world of Berlin, which was incredible and very different.
There are lots of great stories to tell, but I'm too tired to write much more that's coherent right now, but we are alive and well! I'm not sure how often we will be able to write during the next 3 weeks (internet may not be available everywhere that we go), so don't be too worried if you don't hear from us frequently. Pictures may have to wait until we're back to be uploaded, but we'll see!
Dasvidania (or however you write goodbye in Russian),
Eric
Jul 15, 2007
Poznań, Poland's Potatoland
Dzien Dobry!
Eric and I were loving Germany, but finding it very similar to Canada; thus we decided to shake things up a bit (i.e. make traveling more complicated for ourselves) and head to Poland.
We traveled on Friday to a city of 500,000 called Poznań, and the differences were apparent as soon as we crossed the Germany-Poland border. The trains were more like Italian trains (slow, smelly, late, but charismatic!), and of course, the language was COMPLETELY different (sounds like Russian, looks like English, but reads like djghlfkjgfsdkgsk).
As for the food, I learned today that there are three different words for potato in Polish - pyry, kartofle and ziemniaki. The particular region where Poznań is located, Wielkopolska, is also known as "Pyrlandia" - literally "Potatoland". This is not the place to come to dispel stereotypes about Polish food! So far it has been potatos, potato dumplings, quark, borsht, and relatively flavourless cheeses. The beer is somewhat budweiser-ish, which is a bit disturbing after the delicious beer in Germany, but it keeps the costs down at least!
98 % of the people here are Polish and white as could be, or at least it feels that way. Poznań is easily the least multi-cultural city we have been to (as an example, I was brave enough to try a "burrito" here yesterday, which in Poland consists of a crepe "tortilla" filled with chicken and ketchup). Let's just say I don't think I will sample the Chinese food in Poznań! Of course, the 98% Polish population did not occur by chance... it was carefully planned, and well, seems to have stayed that way ever since.
Although the vodka costs the same as it does in Canada, there does seem to be a lot of alcoholics roaming the city (we already have many pictures of drunken Polish men air-guitaring and prepositioning me when we least expected it!). Anyway, we are thinking that Poland is a good intro to what's to come in Russia next week.
Currently Dan is in Denmark, and Billy will be meeting us in Frankfurt on Tuesday... until then, prost!
Amber
Eric and I were loving Germany, but finding it very similar to Canada; thus we decided to shake things up a bit (i.e. make traveling more complicated for ourselves) and head to Poland.
We traveled on Friday to a city of 500,000 called Poznań, and the differences were apparent as soon as we crossed the Germany-Poland border. The trains were more like Italian trains (slow, smelly, late, but charismatic!), and of course, the language was COMPLETELY different (sounds like Russian, looks like English, but reads like djghlfkjgfsdkgsk).
As for the food, I learned today that there are three different words for potato in Polish - pyry, kartofle and ziemniaki. The particular region where Poznań is located, Wielkopolska, is also known as "Pyrlandia" - literally "Potatoland". This is not the place to come to dispel stereotypes about Polish food! So far it has been potatos, potato dumplings, quark, borsht, and relatively flavourless cheeses. The beer is somewhat budweiser-ish, which is a bit disturbing after the delicious beer in Germany, but it keeps the costs down at least!
98 % of the people here are Polish and white as could be, or at least it feels that way. Poznań is easily the least multi-cultural city we have been to (as an example, I was brave enough to try a "burrito" here yesterday, which in Poland consists of a crepe "tortilla" filled with chicken and ketchup). Let's just say I don't think I will sample the Chinese food in Poznań! Of course, the 98% Polish population did not occur by chance... it was carefully planned, and well, seems to have stayed that way ever since.
Although the vodka costs the same as it does in Canada, there does seem to be a lot of alcoholics roaming the city (we already have many pictures of drunken Polish men air-guitaring and prepositioning me when we least expected it!). Anyway, we are thinking that Poland is a good intro to what's to come in Russia next week.
Currently Dan is in Denmark, and Billy will be meeting us in Frankfurt on Tuesday... until then, prost!
Amber
Jul 11, 2007
NEW PICTURES!
Ok, so since the weather is so pissy today, we are hanging out in an internet cafe triple teaming the photo uploading and captioning. We should have Rome, Cinque Terre, and maybe France and Germany by the time you check them out... Check back tomorrow in any case.
In case you forgot already, or are blind and can't see the text "CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS", here's the link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/round.the.globe.in.100.days/
Dan.
In case you forgot already, or are blind and can't see the text "CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS", here's the link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/round.the.globe.in.100.days/
Dan.
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