Firenze!

it was a quick jaunt to Florence; a weekend away from the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam perhaps. this time of year the weather is cool and rainy; it did not deviate from the norm on my behalf.

so what does one do with only a weekend to explore a historic, art-filled city like Florence? well, firstly you throw open the windows of your home away from home for a view of your surroundings.

next you amble through the narrow streets

and at each turn you marvel at the Florentine statues and architecture

later, you climb the 414 steps to the top of the Campanile (aka bell tower) for breathtaking views of the the Duomo and Florence.

beware the bells, they do toll!

and finally, at night you walk again, this time to see the Duomo.

looking ahead

still have photos to throw up here and a story or two to tell but that will have to wait a bit. for now i am back in the city by the bay to wrap up a few things. soon enough though i will need to catch this blog up as i have new travels ahead and surely will have stories to tell. the dreary grey and rain that is typical this time of year has been a bit of a struggle as i have been spoiled by lots of sunshine the past few months. i find myself saying, "how do people live in this climate?!" ah how soon we forget.

after numerous conversations it has been decided that i currently live nowhere and everywhere. friends have attempted to introduce me to new folks but get caught up in where i live. it's a problem we should all be so lucky to have i suppose. for now though, when it comes up, i have been reduced to saying the location of wherever i am in the moment. that hasn't gone over so well with those in customer service , imagine their frustration when i say, "well where am i now? oh Puerto Rico. great, yes that is where i live."

i have started a packing list for the next trip, it appears i am returning to Nicaragua. it is easier packing for a place i have been and hopefully i will find success in bringing what will be the equivalent of 2 carry-on bags. now if i could only find the list of things i "should have brought" that i wrote while traveling through Central America just a few months ago...

let's start from the beginning

from AZ i went to NYC to see the Diva in her own phenomenal cabaret show. NYC has much to offer and we enjoyed it all for the short time i was there. one of the best moments (besides the fantastic performance) ice skating...

and then before i knew it i was on a plane headed to Amsterdam!

here are a few photos from the first day. this one is a street corner close to Cafe Americain which served a fabulous cup of coffee :-)

as a way to get to know the city a canal tour was in order.

it was a perfect winter day, cool and sunny with a few clouds.

Houseboats!

Bikes!!

February

ok ok i am so ridiculously behind on the blog. i offer no excuses other than to say that February looked like this:

Arizona (country #1)

NYC (still in country #1)

Amsterdam, Netherlands (country #2)

Florence, Italy (country #3)

Amsterdam, Netherlands (back to country #2)

NYC (back to country #1)

Puerto Rico (technically country #1 as it is a commonwealth of the US)

NYC (back to country #1)

Arizona (stayed in country #1)

all that in 28 days.

i will put up photos of the Feb travels in the next week or so and in the meantime accumulate new photos from current adventures. i am happy to say i have no plans to leave the country for the next month or so. of course by next week i will probably kick myself for having that plan!

can you guess where i am now???

Parting words for AZ

it has been an interesting time here in AZ, certainly the best parts have been the times with friends. heck if they weren't here i wouldn't be either! i have a little over a week left before i head east and thought it was time to share some of my sentiments and a few photos.

Ode to Arizona

The desert makes a stunning base

For cacti, canyons and the coup de grace

Lush green courses for the pseudo ace

In the Escalade he must race

Three blocks to walk the furry face

At the bone-dry park he will deface

And then return to the living space

That lacks culture or a trace

of pigmentation beyond a shoe lace.

At the range he will embrace

the khaki clad pal whose club will chase

a shiny white sphere to its hiding place

beyond the trees and such a disgrace

that over drinks they will erase

this detail for the bejeweled blond grace

the plastic girl who is not out of place

with her botox, surgery and at this pace

she will become another test case.

The suburban folk fight to displace

The undesirables who need a space

To live, and as is often the case

They work for those who want to replace

Their homes with pavement and a showcase

To their elitist lives with their illusive tax base

of diversified money they will surely misplace

or loose at the local horse or car race.

Perhaps you wish to visit someplace

With MLB spring training within a walkable space

Where cars abound and almost outpace

The oranges, scorpions and guns without a case

Though there is at least one military base

And talk of visitors from outer space

So might I suggest that you brace

Yourself for anything to take place

But don’t bother with a can of mace

There is nothing here that it can efface.

2011: a time for new adventures

A new year offers hope for the future and a moment to consider the years past. I spent the first day of the new year on the road. I did it on purpose; it just seemed fitting. my destination was 1100 miles from my departure city and I had planned on making stops along the way but for some reason, once I was on the road I just wanted to keep going. so I drove over the mountains, through the snow, avoided the big cities and found myself in warmer weather with wind turbines all around me and cacti straight ahead.

i am now in the american southwest. cacti and palm trees are in abundance, clear blue skies and mid-70s weather are constants, and golf courses seem to be at every turn. i am not a golfer but i am trying to keep that on the down low as i am not convinced i won't be forcibly removed from the area for this obvious affront. aside from the golf factor i also show my 'visitor' status because i appear to be the only person who walks to get to places. car culture is alive and well here. so is meat, jerky to be exact.

plans for continued travel are bouncing around in my brain. as are thoughts of the infinite experiences i packed into 5 months of travel. i am certainly ready for more adventures in the year to come, hurray for 2011!

Nola in December

i find myself walking along a treelined street that boasts homes on the National Historic Registry at every turn. As i look above at the clear blue sky i notice the beads that hang as jewels from the trees, hundreds of them sway in the breeze and sparkle as the sun hits them just right. the streetcar passes at an appropriate southern pace and i wonder again how it happened that i am in New Orleans.

according to the locals it is cool for this time of year, usually it would be in the 60s, but for a few days, the days i happen to be here it is only inching towards 50. with a blue sky and bright sun i can forgive the lack of warmth and revel in being outside without the thought of an umbrella or raincoat. to be clear, i own neither so while i may think of using them in San Francisco or Oregon, i will not. instead i opt for withdrawing indoors or getting wet.

passing the time in the hotel sitting room i listen to the many languages being spoken, admire the architecture of this cerca 1800s building, and ponder the people that have sat in this same antique chair. it is a luxury as a traveler to have the time to sit and just take it all in, at least it is for me. there is no better way to get to know a place than to watch and listen to the people as they go about their daily activities. certainly museums and tours can tell you a lot, but so can just being in the moment with people, and the locale doesn't really matter.

and so today alone i will exchange my antique chair for a seat at a local lunch hangout, a park bench, a church pew, a bar stool, and finally a chair on the veranda.

more travel but this time to familiar places

hours ago I arrived back in the big city I have called home for the last 10 years. It has been about 7 months since I was last here. 7 months, 5 countries, hundreds of new friends, and infinite experiences later it feels as though I never left. I do not like this feeling. Best described, it denies the existence of the last 7 months and it shows how easy it would be to return to my life before.

Of course that is not quite true. I cannot return to what once was, nor would I want to. That being said, it is there, that sense, that feeling and I must reiterate, i do not like it. I did not anticipate this feeling AND am not surprised by it. in fact, it is comforting to observe it in action.

Flannel shirts, skinny jeans and True Colors

You with the sad eyes

don't be discouraged

5 months is a long time to be away and a significant amount of time to be traveling through foreign lands without stopping for more than a few days. i have been back in my home country for almost a month and am feeling a bit more at ease with the world around me (and my place in it) than when i first arrived. i can walk through a grocery store, restaurant and public setting without a flurry of thoughts and images bombarding my senses. i no longer marvel at the size everything or the quick pace at which our society moves. even my meltdowns or shutdowns, as the case may be, have decreased to a less embarrassing number.

oh I realize

it's hard to take courage

now i trip instead of fall.

it is the so called "little things" that cause me to stop mid-run or stare too long out the window or put down my computer or take a deep breath. it is the push to buy buy buy because there are holiday sales. it is the fear that i am losing my language capabilities. it is the realization that snow is on the mountains because it is WINTER. it is the recognition that i can take a hot shower whenever i want. it is the expectation that a car is necessary in this town.

it is the question, "so you are getting back to real life huh?"

in a world full of people

you can lose sight of it all

and the darkness still inside you

can make you feel so small

missing the act of traveling was expected. the longing to experience new cultures and meet new people continues unabated. the missed connections, phone calls and decrease in email has resulted in the painful realization that the distance, both physical and existential, may deter and possibly derail new found relationships and has led to sleepless nights and the inability to express myself in any language.

but i see your true colors

shining through

i see your true colors

and thats why i love you

so don't be afraid to let them show

your true colors

true colors

are beautiful like a rainbow

there are those who are patient, those who understand or try to anyway. those who see something is different and help me to understand or just be with the difference. there are those who want to hear about my experiences or who want to share their own or who don't want anything at all. there are those who work really hard to connect, sending messages so we can schedule a time to catch up as our lives or timezones don't quite seem to match up. there are strangers who smile as you go by, children who laugh at the wind and puppies that bark at your foot. each instance reminds me of the beauty of the moment.

show me a smile then

don't be unhappy

can't remember when i last saw you laughing

if this worlds makes you crazy

and you've taken all you can bear

you call me up because you know i'll be there

i never thought much about the importance of pop culture in our society; a week ago i realized the 5 month gap can cause a ripple of pop culture-related shocks. all of a sudden the fashion world raided my 10th grade closet and the soundtrack of my adolescence was being sung by a group of tweens awaiting their frappaccinos at Starbucks. it appears the ongoing effect of media on how we identify ourselves, and thus how we relate and live our lives means i missed 5 months of talked about tweets, tv shows, songs, movies, food, material goods, personalities and other topics that caught the attention of my friends and family. my much needed and desired media blackout has some negative effects after all. can i get a pop cultural guidance counselor please?

but i see your true colors

shining through

i see your true colors

and thats why i love you

so don't be afraid to let them show

your true colors

true colors

are beautiful like a rainbow.

Photo of the day...Suchitoto, El Salvador

A small colonial city in central El Salvador, Suchitoto was the little surprise you hope for as a traveler. in all honesty, El Salvador was the greatest surprise of my trip. i wanted to like it, i wanted to prove all those people wrong who told me to avoid it because of danger and history and poverty. what i saw, what i experienced was something very different and i didn't have to work to like it. the country and the people welcomed me and i would have had to work really hard to dislike it, and even then i don't think that would have been possible.

In Suchitoto i found a hostel that overlooked Lake Suchitoto and was run by a friendly local family. ok so the hostel was small and the sleeping area cramped, but the location was great and the owners genuinely want travelers to get to know their city and their country. this sentiment, the hope that foreigners will come and get to know the country and culture beyond the negativity and violence which is presented in the media, was prevalent in almost everyone i met in El Salvador. in Suchitoto, people recommended local artists, a visit to the church, local food, a boat ride on the lake, and a hike to the waterfall.

Ah the waterfall, a natural geometric masterpiece. the basalt blocks are in fact hexagonal and during the rainy season (the time of my visit) water rushed and fell with astounding speed. my pictures do not capture the beauty or power; as was the case throughout my trip, somethings could never be captured by a camera and must be held in my memory alone. as a friend and i walked through the outskirts of the town to get here, we were welcomed and directed by locals proud to help us to see 'Los Tercios'. imagine my happiness at discovering that this waterfall was on the land of a local farmer who welcomed us to walk down to the falls and then walk beyond to a marvelous view of the valley and the lake.

the above photo is from one of the streets off of the main plaza near the hostel, you can see the lake in the distance. this street is typical for this town and there were many others that were nearly identical, they even had horses grazing!