Rome Day 3: Audio tours FTW

Today was full of ancient ruins! The Colosseum and Roman Forum are central to Rome's ancient history, and they're mighty impressive to look at. But even though I was here in 2012 and saw both I didn't take a tour, and of course I didn't look up any information before this trip because that would have been sensible.

Enter: The Rick Steves Audio Tours. If you've traveled much, you know the name Rick Steves. If you're like me and grew up on a television diet of PBS, you know him from the Saturday afternoon lineup (probably right after Bob Ross). He's a be-khakied, be-polo-shirted Very Nice Dude who has traveled the world and he brings it to your living room in soft-spoken, digestible 30-minute nuggets. It's delightful! And today we learned, he has an app for Europe. Day = enriched.

All four of us were able to download audio tours of the Colosseum and Roman Forum, then plug in our ear buds and meander on our own through the buildings and ruins. It worked really well for our group. We kind of stayed together without having to stay together or talk to each other. Plus we were still able to talk about what we learned afterwards. Each tour took about an hour start-to-finish, so if you play your cards right — or skip the line by buying your tickets ahead of time (this link is not an endorsement!) — you could easily get to both of these sights before noon. We took a bit longer than that, but we also didn't have a whole heckuva lot else to do today, so we definitely meandered more than we might have if today were our first day.

 

We also ate some delicious pizza, fried anchovies (surprisingly delicious!), perfect pasta, and of course MOAR GELATO. Because when you're in Rome, the food is as much of an attraction as anything else.

For those of you keeping track at home, today makes three gelatos in three days. Batting 1.000! I've tried lemongrass, pear and cheese, strawberry, giuliano chocolate (traditional Italian flavor), and "black passion" which was mega chocolate plus berries. OM NOM NOM.

Thoughts on traveling to Oslo in December

A few thoughts on traveling to Oslo in December (outside of tourist season, April - September)

• I had most of the tourist attractions to myself. I could spend as much time as I want at the ski museum and had the top of the Holmenkollen all to myself. I was legitimately startled when I came face to face with another person at the Kon-Tiki museum. 
• Hours are shorter for most places and some attractions don't operate at all. For example,  the Kon-Tiki museum was only open until 4pm, a free walking tour only operated on weekends, and the bike tour I found is by-appointment-only. Certain ferry routes and the Homenkoller giftshop were closed completely. Always, always check ahead and try as best a possible to communicate with a human (email or phone call). 
• Fewer people in general means empty restaurants and good service.
• It's cold! I was pretty prepared for this, but do be sure to pack your thick socks, warm boots, and a good set of hat and gloves. Everyone in the city is pretty bundled, so you won't stick out as a tourist too much of you're used to warmer weather. (Or better yet, buy a hand-knit hat or pair of gloves at a Christmas markets.)
• It's festive! I'm not much of a Christmas person (there, I said it), but the lights, garland, markets, warm bevvies, and evergreen trees everywhere really got me into the spirit of the season. 
• It's ridiculously dark. I mentioned this several times, but my mindset was mega thrown off on the first day when it was pitch black by 4pm. If/when I go back, I'll be researching museums, bars, or attractions that stay open late to combat feeling like I should be in bed when it's really only 5pm!
• Look into skiing! Apparently you can lug your skis or snowboard onto the T-bane and hop off (almost) directly onto the slopes. 
• Winter is also northern light season. I'm booking that next time fer sher.

And if I have the time, I'll gladly spend another couple of days exploring Oslo!

Day One in Oslo: walking, seeing, trying, buying

Greetings from Oslo, Norway!

(Did you miss out on getting an Oslo postcard? You can still sign up to get one from Germany or Italy! Details here.)

It's cold and dark here — the sun set before 4pm! — but Oslo's not apologizing. It's being totally relaxed about it. And it should! It's quite charming, with Christmas decorations and lit-up pedestrian streets, it has taken charge of the darkness and made something that is constantly cozy. 

I took today to knock out a couple of standard Oslovian (my term) sights, including the Opera House, Karl Johans Gate Street and general exploration of Oslo's street life. I think I'm gonna like it here. 

First two photos: Opera House Roof. You can scale a set of steps (2nd photo) to explore all around the roof of this structure, built to resemble a ship in the water. 

Muggin' (check out those creases between my eyes from squinting into the sun so much! The sun is so low in the sky, the angle is like constant late-afternoon. But who cares BECAUSE OMG SUNNNN!!)

Inside is decorated for Christmas:

Christmas market — stalls selling handmade items and traditional foods. 

I tried Solbærtoddy, a traditional warm mulled wine. According to google translate the description reads, "mulled wine with cloves, cinnamon stick and cardamom, served with almonds and raisins." I did not get almonds or raisins with mine and I'm okay with that. 

Adorable Norwegian sign. The only thing I understand is "Nordpolen" — North Pole. Oooh, and I think Holmenkollen is the famous ski jump north of the city. Will hopefully see that tomorrow!

And I bought a new head warmer! I somehow managed to lose two sets of gloves and my hat over the last week -- sad face! -- so I legit needed this. I pinky promise. Plus it is SOOOO FLUFFAAAAY!

And finally, glittery and gleaming street decorations on my walk back to my Airbnb. (Where I am now, and where I am going to promptly pass out.) Big day tomorrow, too!

Borough Market in Seven Photos

There's not a lot I can say about Borough Market that the internet doesn't already know. So instead, I'm dropping some photos here and calling it a day.

I did learn that Borough Market has been in operation in roughly the same area in some form or another for *literally* 1,000 years, which convinces me that my history courses were focused on the wrong things if such a glaring omission was permitted year after year.

Anywho, to quickly sum-up, wandering around Borough Market is definitely a fun way to spend an afternoon. If and when I go back, I'll hope to have a recipe ideas at the ready — there is a lot of local produce (here it's called "fruit and veg") and I would love to start buying local again! At the moment I still feel like we're in catch-up mode as we rebuild a pantry and figure out routines. ("Hey what's for dinner?" "I dunno, what have we got?" "Uummmm... yogurt and tomato paste." "Well, f---.")

Okay. No more typing.

Borough Market:

Pisa [Europe 2012: The forgotten blog posts]

You know what feels more productive than working today? Updating my blog about our trip to Europe last summer. Because I never finished writing about some of the best parts! Plus now Pinterest lets you pin things toa map, which is super cool. So, thus I start the first installment of Europe 2012: The forgotten blog posts.

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How iconic is the leaning tower of Pisa, when you think about traveling the world? To me, it’s one of my first memories of thinking “I want to see that.” I was probably in middle school I guess? I remember being fascinated by the story that Galileo dropped cannon balls off the side of it to prove gravity worked evenly on everything. You mean to tell me that something Galileo stood on is still standing (though tilted) today??

[The train ride from Rome was fine, except that the train car we chose didn’t have a working bathroom and I forgot to “go before we left.” My mother’s words haunted me for the last thirty minutes as I did everything short of dancing around the car to not wet myself. That might have been the most uncomfortable half-hour of my life, despite the comfy chairs and beautiful Italian countryside rolling by. To make matters worse, you had to PAY FOR the bathrooms in the Pisa train station (not uncommon in Europe, mind you) and I didn’t have any change. When I finally did get some change, I wound up hurriedly dropping my dime into the turnstile for — and then walking into — the MEN’S BATHROOM. Luckily the two restrooms were connected by a custodian’s closet, which was miraculously open, and the poor custodian cleaning the bathrooms — who spoke little, if any, English — frantically waved me through. Talk about a comedy of errors.]

So. Pisa. Yes.

The bus to the tower is just a normal city bus, so we had to figure that out. The herd of dazed tourists wandering from the station helped. We rode this crazily-driven bus through the tiny city (luckily with EMPTY bladders), trying not to fall on each other, until finally the driver yelled a few Italian words and we all decided that this must be the stop, even though there was no tower and no signs suggesting a tower.

So we walked. And walked a little more. I feel like it was at least a mile. B can attest that I’m a terrible judge of distance, but I distinctly remember wondering if we would ever see this tower.

We did, of course, and it was SO. COOL. The tower’s white façade against that day’s clear, blue skies was breathtaking, and it looked just like the photos! It was like seeing a celebrity on the street. I’d seen this tower so often in photos it had become like a myth. Seeing it in person, examining the foundation, realizing that a 4-degree tilt really does matter when something is 180 feet tall… it was just awesome.

And then we took silly photos. :D

Chiang Mai cooking class: OMG YUM

Before you ask: yes. I will gladly attempt to cook the following dishes again for you, and Britton will, too! (That's right - you read "Britton" and "cook" in the same sentence!)

A cooking class in Chiang Mai was highly recommended by several people before we left for Thailand, so I signed us up for an all-day class at Baan Thai Cookery School. 

This - so far - has been the highlight of our trip! Between the two of us we learned how to cook 10 dishes, and we got to keep a cookbook that explains the ingredients and has all the recipes, plus the recipes for several other dishes we didn't make. 

The school is a cute, open-air building tucked in a very backpacker-friendly part of Chiang Mai. Britton and I now affectionately refer to this area as Gringoland because it reminds us so much of Quito's Plaza Fosch (which is unofficially called Gringolandia).

The instructors were all about our age, and super nice. We sat on the floor at a table with seven classmates from around the world: Maryland, South Africa, Holland, Brazil, and Melbourne, Australia. Everyone was very friendly and eager to learn, like us!

First we walked a few blocks to a fruit/veggie market to learn about the ingredients. We got to smell and touch three different kinds of eggplant, none of which I've seen in the states; three kinds of basil, all of which I knew by different names; three kinds of ginger, only one of which I recognized; two floppy types of mushrooms; raw tumeric, which is supposed to be a natural relief from mosquito bites (must buy in bulk when I get home!); plus lemon grass, limes, and lots of little, spicy peppers. And mango! 

While at the market we got a smoothie, and boy do I feel American saying this next sentence, but: I was amazed at how much fruit went in to this smoothie. One-and-a-half bananas, half a papaya, and the juice of at least a dozen little oranges.  And then ice, and then blend. No yogurt, no protein powder, no nothin' except fruit and ice. So fresh! So yummy! So simple!

We made our way back to the school, ingredients in tow, and "suited up!" in aprons and handkerchiefs. 

First dish: Stir Fry

Ellen: Pad Thai!

Britton: Cashews with chicken

Second dish:

Ellen: (spicy!) papaya salad

Britton: (not spicy!) spring rolls

Third dish: Soups

E: Seafood in coconut milk

B: Chicken in coconut milk

Fourth dish: Curry!

E: Green curry

B: Panaeng curry

Fifth dish: dessert!

E: mango w/ sticky rice (aka, mango over rice cooked in ALL THE SUGAR)

B: deep-fried banana

So... Who's coming over for dinner and photos? :)

Thailand: the first 48

In one word: challenging. In two words: challenging & great.

Challenging because I do not speak one word of Thai. And granted, I knew this going in, and many people here know some English. But a few of the things we've needed to accomplish have been just slightly more difficult because we didn't know Thai, or the person we were talking to didn't know enough English. For example, ordering food has been a series of pointing and hoping and using Britton's phone, where he had the genius idea to find photos of common foods - egg, chicken, pork, etc. - so we could point to those in moments of confusion. 

Giving directions to our lodging is a feat. We have addresses written down (in English) but can't help with directions much since we don't know how to do anything but point and tap and say things in English. Luckily drivers have been very patient and/or knowledgeable about where they are going. While we were scanning for the hostel street, the tuk-tuk driver had the good mind to slow down AND drive on the left side of the road. Which is the correct side over here. But still was very strange at the time. :) 

The great parts, however, are really great. I arrived in Bangkok very late Saturday - around 11:30 - and the next morning we had to be back at the airport by 8am to get to Chiang Mai. Our host, Mac, is a US ex-pat, and has been wonderful, if a little on the chatty side. He gave us great concil on taking a taxi instead of trying to navigate the skytrain, and his wife (who I haven't met but have spoken to on the phone) arranged for one to meet us at the house at 7:30. 

Breakfast was procured from a small  stand in a busy alley around the corner from the 7-11 (which isn't difficult to do - 7-11s are everywhere!). The original woman we were going to buy from wasn't set up yet, so she motioned us over to her neighbor, who pointed at things and we pointed at things and then we got some food. Rice, fried chicken breast (the delicious kind, not the KFC kind), and a bag - yes, bag - of soup for 30baht, or about $1usd. We are LOVING the prices here!

We got to the airport just fine and on to our flight to Chiang Mai no issues. And as we disembarked from the airplane it hit me: the hot, humid mountain breeze. Which is when I realized I will be hot and humid and sweaty and sticky for the next eight days of my life. 

Such a great challenge. 

Chicken, rice, cucumber, cilantro, fish sauce(?) plus soup (not pictured) for $1.

What does it all meeeeeaaan??? (Sorry it's sideways - I'm typing on a phone!)