TALES FROM THE RADICAL SABBATICAL
Tales from the radical sabbatical
Hong Kong is a truly unique place with a harbor view like no other. It's dense and hectic at street level, but the chaos is controlled, the transportation network is great, the people are very friendly, and the street food and sidewalk cafes are outstanding!
After three months in the States visiting family and friends, it's time to load up the backpacks and start moving about. First up is China, and if you visit China, you can't miss seeing.....
Happy holidays to everybody! We are spending the season in Chicago with good friends, family and our doggy Zip. Many thanks to Bill, Pam, Haley and Taylor Click for taking such great care of Zip in their home while we are out and about. We would not be able to make this journey happen without their help.
We're in Chicago visiting family, friends and our dog for the holidays. Planning has begun for the next leg which will likely be Australia/New Zealand/Southeast Asia after the first of the year. It's nice to take things a bit easy after 6 months of travel and over 1,700 miles walked.
We're enjoying a few days in London with some Camino friends who are very gracious hosts. It's nice to be in a country where some sort of English is spoken.
On the bus ride from Tangier to Fez we pulled over for a quick food stop. At the first counter you pick up your raw ground goat meat. Then you take it to the second stall where it is mixed with cilantro and onion and then grilled. Add a piece of fresh local bread and an old style Coke in a bottle and you have fast food that beats any in the US.
Barbie had a very memorable Camino experience our first time out, which was told here on May 20th. Five months later on our second time through the story ended as it should, with another kiss and a photo with the lovely local man who's name is Angelo.
We have returned to Pamplona, Spain to walk one of our favorite 150 mile stretches of the Camino. Distraught at missing his chance to run with hundreds of bulls and thousands of other idiots during the annual summer festival in Pamplona, The Idiot decided to take matters into his own hands. "The rush was beyond belief and can't be put into words, either you've got what it takes or you don't."
We spent a week on the eastern coast of Sicily with a great mix of familiar faces from the US. It was a nice change to converse in English for 8 days in a row with somebody other than just ourselves!
A few days in Athens is not nearly enough time to see all there is to see, but we got in what could and had lots of great street food!
From our home base city of Lviv we were able to make a very special visit. Barbie's Mother was taken from her hometown of Czortkow, Poland during WWII. After the war it became Chortkiv and part of the Ukraine. This photo of her church was one of the few belongings she was able to take with her on her journey that ultimately took her to the United States. She never returned to Czortkow and only saw one of her sisters much later in life.
And here is the church today
The cultural differences between Turkey and the Ukraine hit us pretty quickly. When we arrived in Kiev there were soldiers at the ready on every street corner in the city center. Turns out the catalyst was hordes of soccer fans, not protesters.
According to the Idiot it's pretty obvious "if these babies don't get your mouth watering, you are without question a complete and total vegetarian."
Today we traveled from Bulgaria to Istanbul. It was a bit of a hectic and long journey, but as we neared our hotel we were rewarded with this nighttime view of the Blue Mosque.
This most American holiday tradition finds us celebrating in the Black Sea coastal resort area of Sozopol, Bulgaria. (Value alert: these 2 liter beers run about $1.25)
We managed to get out of Serbia intact and are now in the Bulgarian mountain town of Bansko. We were told this is the crew to see for the local scoop.
Since our main mode of transportation is by foot, we hope the signs continue to be translated.
