My second day I was given a map and recommendation by my 'host' for a local town to the south that specialises in apple wine. It was beautiful to walk there, with the fields being cultivated already and one small corner with the idyllic farmhouse: a couple young kids who were curious but had to have 'Canadian who doesn't speak their language' explained to them by their smiling mum, a wiener-dog who started off barking but - upon getting the mother's approval that he didn't need to defend them from me - immediately flipped onto his back for a rub and wouldn't move until I stopped petting him (I did because it looked like his fleeting loyalty to his family was not approved). There were also two playful tortie kittens with collars who didn't mind my picking them up for a quick hug and cuddle, which helped me miss my own cuddle-bug a little less. The town was nice and I had an ice cream followed by going to a tavern for lunch. It was later in the afternoon, as the barkeep's child had just come home from school, but she made me a quick soup (with strips of crepe, yum) and I sat outside with that and a glass of the wine.

The third day my host offered to drive me to a point close to his home (he only worked in the mornings until 10:00, and in the evenings). I walked quite a long way in the hills, getting lost at every opportunity, and eventually found myself at the top of a hill with a great view. Again, a later lunch and then a walk down to the train station where I went a couple stops to Ulmerfeld and 'home'. A great walk, but I was ready for the rest!

The fourth day I made my way to Graz by train. The green of the trees was great. I went to the youth hostel, a huge place and they ended up putting me in the basement. At least I got to meet a really nice person from Germany and we had dinner and then she joined me on the rail station to look for Ally. There was a moment where we weren't sure of the other, but soon enough I had picked the right person from the crowd. The three of us went to downtown Graz for a drink, and as it was late we then called it a night.

The fifth morning I met Ally by the clock in downtown and we went to the Graz castle, where we climbed up a bunch of steps to see the big clock and the most impressive view of the city. It's beautiful, with a river and that strange submarine-type building and some really lovely old roof-tops. Everyone has such nice things to say about the city and I can see why. We then made our way to the rail station and up to Vienna. We took a tram, which I love to do, to Ally's place. It's lovely! I loved it. Purple all over the place, and so big compared to what I expect in Europe. She really lucked out in finding that place. I was given then couch to sleep on and it was very comfy.

In order to try to meet my desire to swim in the Danube we went to a bridge that opens over it only to find that all entrances were sealed off for the winter. I admired Ally's enthusiasm for helping me on my task, even if it was ill-fated. She'd done her research as much as anyone could!

We then went past the UN buildings, and stopped at a station on an island that has concerts and such in the summer. That weekend they were planning a (bike?) race, and all the shops looked closed for the winter. I'll have to go earlier in the year next time...

Dinner was at a place known for its pork leg. Ally really seems to know her landmarks. It was in the middle of an amusement park and I wouldn't have expected such good food. A beer, pork, chips, and other appetisers that made for a really filling meal. We even had most of it for leftovers the next night and still had to give up and throw some of it out.

I flew to Vienna in early September, and on the way had a nice guy sitting next to me on the flight. I had previously heard about Emirates airlines but they exceeded expectations". Heated moist towels to start, good food, and extra wine when I looked happy to see the first mini-bottle. It happens that the guy I met had worked for several years in Ottawa and he works in a similar field so we had quite a bit we could discuss.

* Some men seem to have quite different expectations from Emirates airlines, and always seem happy with the results.

I went almost directly from the Vienna airport to the train station, and from there North to the small town of Ulmerfeld. There I stayed in a youth hostel that is a castle built over a thousand years ago. It was a bit plain but the guy who helped manage the place was really nice. He found out my birthday was the next day (when signing in they want your passport) and he was all excited. His daughter is 2 days older than me, and when I went downstairs for breakfast the next day he was all excited and gave me a marzipan rose. I'm not big on birthdays but his excitement was perfect, in addition to all the emails from friends and family. In return, at the end of my stay, I gave him one of the nicer (but still relatively really cheap) scarves as a birthday present for his daughter. He was so happy with it and somehow it was perfectly appropriate.

The first full day, my birthday, I started walking down the main street in town and kept going. It was just so pleasant and green and normal. By the time I got to a rail station I couldn't see much of interest on the other side and therefore came back to the hostel where the 'host' was quite surprised to know how far I had gone. At the end I stopped at a small cafe (as little else was open on a Sunday) for a lovely sandwich that was yummy, and a few items - delicacies to me at the time - from a grocery store.

I'll continue with the next day's entry tomorrow...

I'm finally home. Tired, and slightly anti-social (related to the tired I think), but home and all in one piece. I will start emailing and getting in contact with people over the next while, but if you want to hear from me sooner then please email me or reply to here. I would suggest calling but I can't publish it here, and my normal phone number won't be reconnected for a couple weeks (after my room-mates have moved out).

As you can tell, I finally sorted out the photos and the laptop and brought them all into one place. So, here are the options if you want a scarf...

DEADLINE: Last thing on Saturday, 14 February, although I may be able to get them for a while later but no guarantees

One: $10 - the border goes all the way around like that, with one colour being on the edge and one in the centre


Two: not sure, but I can probably get such ornate ones for $10


Three: $5 - checkered but with some silvery thread, about as feminine as plaid can ever get


Tell me:
1. How many of any of the three you want, or if you want yours to be more or less ornate.
2. Primary colour (or 'border colour')
3. Secondary and possibly tertiary colour
4. Are you picky about them, for example if I can't find a particular colour or design to I go for 'best next option' or 'no thanks'

Not for sale:

Photos of my trip...

Going up a side of the mountain, looking up towards the summit:


Sunrise at the top:


Zanzibar sunset:


Enjoy!

I have some things that people may want me to buy for them, with the plan that I will go and take photos of these things tomorrow and post them. I'm not totally confident that it will be tomorrow, because life remains very busy, but I have my camera in my bag and therefore this is more likely. So check out this site in the next few days.

They opened a scarf shop a few weeks ago and they have some gorgeous options so if you want one then I will post the designs and let people choose. They are more expensive than the usual ones at the market (those are $2) but these are worth it for $10. Plus one of the native guys wants to go with me because he likes to test out his bargaining skills, he does this for the coworkers he likes (although the list is pretty long, based on the number of people who come by!). Hey, I won't complain!

So... keep an eye out for the photos, and I have my travel photos on a mems stick so I should be able to post those soon.

My replacement has arrived. This was unexpectedly early so I feel like I haven't had time to relax today, although I did have a lovely coffee and chat with some colleagues early in the morning. We hadn't seen each other in a while and it was good to catch up on... our work projects. That sounds odd but it really was a good time.

I hate to admit it but... as I get closer to leaving I am getting busier and therefore don't have as much time to spend online. Be forewarned that this may drop off completely at some point for a week or two, and then I should have more than enough time to post. In fact, I am hoping at the end of the month that I can post some historical comments based on my travel. No promises as to the exact timeline, or that they will be interesting, but I'll do my best!

I played boardgames with a friend tonight, which is nice. I also starting on my next crochet project and that is going surprisingly well!

My computer battery has died so I am borrowing time on another one, Therefore this is going to have to be short!

I have photos to post, and plans to be more proactive. Unfortunately I have managed to suffer from a mild flu or something and am not very good about doing anything other than work. I think that I haven't been very active since getting back from holidays so I can blame it on multiple things. Still, I'll continue to post even small bits every few days for the next while.

It won't be too long before I'm home so the least I can do is try to post regularly until I'm back!

A few comments...

I finally finished my crochet blanket yesterday. I'll have to take photos and post them, but... in time. I know.

We had a BBQ last night and the steak (beef) was surprisingly edible. Apparently they marinated it all day and that really helped. Normally it's so tough and full of gristle that you have to question the effort required. In this case... yum. Plus someone had acquired a neat spicy Thai dipping sauce for the meat and it was great. A half-bottle of wine improved my mood as well, and a couple Lindt dark chocolate balls were a great treat. Afterwards I went with a coworker (I'd shared the bottle with him) to the British shop where he wanted to buy a coat. I happened to see a good mug and between my coworker's advice and the wine I bought it (plus they are cheap). It said "I like my men like my coffee... weak, pale, and bitter". I'll either keep it in my cupboard for guests or give it away, I'm not sure yet. After that we went across the way for ice cream. That man has been living here for nine months now and never knew about the ice cream shop (real hard ice cream, in cones). Well, I ended up having two scoops because I couldn't decide between the two chocolate flavours (swiss and mint). Definitely the best choice to skip on having to choose... they were both delicious.

A quick comment with regards to my earlier spice question... the best answer was that the most expensive spice is Posh Spice. I stuck to affording saffron.

I haven't been good about posting, but I do have some photos set aside for the future. I have been busy with work, and readjusting, and surviving some cold that recently invaded my body.

Hopefully in the next couple days...

I'm currently in the Spice Islands. Well, one of them anyway (I've heard that there are several). Any requests? I can bring back small packets of them if anyone has a particular request.

Requests must be attached to here as a comment or sent to me by email by midnight 18 January (so a day and a half?). I don't know exactly when they will get to you but within a month is a good guess, although no guarantees of anything as I don't know specifically what they offer. They do have cinammon sticks and dried vanilla pods and all sorts of dried and powdered options too...

Isn't there a really expensive spice? Can't remember the name though...

I survived the first half of my trip, and now on to the second half...

I am out of here for two weeks! I will try to post in about a week, but no guarantees until I get back at some random point in the near future...

I also have some fun photos, but for now I have no good way to get them off the camera. Ah well, when I return from the vacation I will have the opportunity to take them off and will post them on here.

Trees and water... here I come!

Unfortunately I haven't had too many opportunities this past week to write here. The holidays were a part of that, and some recent bad news. If you aren't sure what I'm referring to either email me or have a look at what has been happening the past few days. It would be hard to pick out the specific bad news that impacts me unless you knew to look for it, but this week has been a bad one! So sad...

Here things are going relatively well, partly because my vacation is nearing (yay!) and partly because things are slightly more calm than usual. Speaking of which... don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for most of January. I have no idea about the connectivity during my travels so assume that I will be unreachable during that time.

What else? There really isn't much news to share. I will try to think of something fun and post it tonight. I should really post photos of my blanket as it is nearing completion and I am quite happy with that!

Our current situation:



We haven't had rain in nearly a week, so you can see how the water just sits and doesn't get absorbed into the ground. In the front and back the land is nearly so dry that it is dusty again, and yet there is a huge muddy puddle.

Ick.

At least the daylight increases from now on!

Oh, and I would *totally* trade for some snow. I miss it! You can't ski on this stuff... I'll be back in the snow soon enough though, only another couple months.

Two steps forward, one step back...

The mud wasn't a big problem tonight. That is partly because we haven't had any rain in the last couple days so it is starting to dry up, but also because the weather is so cold that the water is freezing, so the mud is much more solid.

I have forgotten how to deal with the cold, and will have to pull on some warmer clothing, but I supposed that frozen mud is a step forward overall.

Mud, mud, everywhere...

The whole place is covered in mud. It is incredible. We keep getting rain, and there is nowhere for it to go. Literally. It won't absorb into the ground, and it will only slowly evaporate into the air. The land is flat, so it doesn't roll off into lakes or another convenient storage location.

For now my pants are covered in mud, and my shoes are permanently mud-coloured. They were permanently dust-coloured up until the rain arrived so there really isn't much of a difference :)

Only another couple months left of this muck!

I have finished my big work project, but I still haven't completely recovered my schedule and sleep. I still have lots of work to do to catch up, things that I delayed doing while I was too busy, but at least now I will feel like I am going somewhere positive (rather than the circle of heck that is writing reports for management).

The fun plan for tomorrow is to sleep in a bit, and in the evening I plan on going to the Lewis Black show. I think that the headline name is Kid Rock, but I don't care. I want cynicism please!

This is so exciting! Far better than the Dallas cheerleaders. They didn't do much for me :)

I won't write much because y'all probably don't want to hear much about the subject (I am well aware of the weather back home) but here it is so warm during the days that sometimes I can walk around without a sweater. It's wonderful!

It continues. First it was rain, and now it's fog. The weather is cooler too, and well... winter has arrived!

Today marks the end of a very long and painful week of work. It will still be bad, but at least the major deadline has been met and I can get back to my work now. I have been doing other work while a coworker is away, and although he's still on holiday there isn't so much of his stuff to do. My own work has been piling up so this should be great!