fall in d.c.

stuffed zucchini

steve's "shed"

galapagos slide show

galapagos 2008

hola from the galapagos

steve and i are having the time of our lives here in the beautiful and enchanting galapagos islands. we returned from our 5-day cruise yesterday and we are currently relaxing in porto ayora on the island of santa cruz at the red mangrove adventure inn. cute little inn, way overprized but really cool.

we took tons of pics and i nearly broke a bone hiking on lava rocks, felt like an idiot but alas, that is what happens to old people. typing of old, steve and i were the oldest people on board of the encantada motor sail boat. what a trip that was! it was more like a pirate ship than a cruise boat, no hot water, food was great and the fellow travelers a pleasure to be around. great, great experience. and very overwhelming!

my fav. were probably the albatross and blue footed boobie. the animals are not afraid of humans but it is strictly forbidden to touch them.

i do not want to return to the states. i think i will get a job here at the hotel, steve can work as a boat mechanic and we will live happily ever after. work - job - money - it is all so overrated. life is better here and this trip has changed me.

or maybe we will buy a sailboat and raise our kid there - far, far away from all the BS....i am just so afraid of returning to the states.....

3 hours til departure....

and steve has yet to pack!!!! one has got to love that man, i tell ya. he's sound asleep, not a worry in the world, was up late last night too, preparing paperwork for his new job, which he'll start upon our return from the islands. way to go, scuba steve!

our galapagos itinerary

04/15: we're leaving at ~noon and getting into guayaquil at around ~9 p.m. (local time); first hotel night: hotel unipark.

04/16: off to galapagos at 10:00 a.m. on AeroGal, arrive in baltra at around 10:40 a.m., where we'll be met by our guide and taken to the encantada.

THE CRUISE BEGINS:
4/16 (wed): Baltra, Santa Cruz highlands, Charles Darwin station

4/17: Floreana

4/18: Española

4/19: San Cristobal: Leon dormido, Isla lobos, Santa Fé

4/20: North Seymour, Baltra
END OF CRUISE

4/20: board ferry to santa cruz island, check into Red Mangrove Adventure Inn

4/21: chill

4/22: board ferry to baltra island, catch flight (~noon) to guayaquil, ecuador - check into unipark
4/23: return to the states

HOLY SH*T! THAT'S A FREGGIN AWESOME ITINERARY! lol

i'm feeling pretty alive just thinking about our upcoming adventure!

AHOY MATES!

i talked to my sis today. she's concerned our sail boat might get seized by some south american pirates. yeah, well, i don't know...it could happen! although i seriously doubt it. the encantada is definitely not one of the top-notch vessels that's cruising the galapagos islands, so much has to be said. it's a comfortable gringo class. that's just about it.

we're super excited, that's for sure, and we're leaving next tuesday (not soon enough). here's a pic of our motor sail boat, the encantada. she's a beauty, isn't she?

Horizons & Cottages: Bermuda Hotel

ESCAPE means nothing if you are the same person you were when you return to your trap.

greenland

so many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to live a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. the very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. the joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.

HELLO SWITZERLAND!

listening to sean dinsmore's mangalam as i'm posting this - definitely no yodeling going on here this evening.

our trip to austria came and went, but what a trip it was! i got to see my nieces (can't even describe how much i love my little angels), got to see my mom, my sis, all my friends - it was fabulous. we drank wayyyy too much at the pub and mom cooked wayyyy too much yummy food :) oh - and we even got upgraded to economy plus enroute to europe - it's like an upgraded sardine class, really not all that shabby in all fairness. we had plenty of legroom and i think i slept for 3 or 4 hours after i watched 'into the wild'. (needless to say i cried myself to sleep.)

then off to ischgl we went where we had some of the best skiing conditions i've ever experienced - but we also got stuck in complete whiteout on the mountain one day and that got my heart beating there for a second! i felt strangely alive and scared at the same time, and steve was such a trooper and reassured me that 'we are gonna make it' the entire time.

at any rate - we definitely had a grand time and enjoyed the slopes in switzerland just as much as the ones on the austrian side of the alps (pre- and post whiteout...)

if you're reading this post because you've googled the keyword ISCHGL then i have only one thing to say: GO. it's a charming little resort village, skiing is great there, food's awesome and the wine's are very tasty as well :)


we stayed at a little b&b - bergheim vergiel. mrs. pfeiffer was extremely sweet and spoiled us from the minute we stepped into her beautiful home -- the breakfasts she served us where from out of this world.

the two restaurants we loved the most were the walser stube in mathon (3 miles west of ischgl) and the baurakucha loba in the center of ischgl. both were fabulous, but the walser stube rocked! it's a 400-year old farm house that was recently restored and there's even a privately-sponsored museum in the farm's attic.

munich, here we come!

i'm feeling alive again - hibernation has come to an end, i'm learning spanish and i've booked two roundtrip tickets for steven and myself and we're leaving for munich on January - get this - 15!!woohoo!

life couldn't be better at the moment. i feel like i'm on top of the world and i'm having unusually empowering dreams lately - in my last one i showed off to all my friends how easy it was to fly. there ya go - try topping that one. so the answer is yes, i CAN fly [lol].

and i have resolutions for the new year, yes i do. wanna hear? ok, well, i'm the queen of LOL and i want to change that. no more lols. here's one last one....LOL.
i want to eat better. and less. and i want to live life to its fullest. i want to risk more, worry less, and travel more.

at any rate - i'm excited. looks like 2008 is going to be a grand year!!!!

good times at the iberostar! tracey, rich, julie, steve, and heidi

r there sonics in mexico?

BRIAN! I LOVE YOU - BYE! LOL

blah blah blah blah blah blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhoh, and did i mention i'm going to mexico on sunday?blah blah blah blah blah hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

good grief, i'm good and ready for a nice, long, warm, and relaxing vacation. sister tracey is almost on her way and steve and i will be arriving in CUN on sunday. a few last-minute things and off i go - and what's unsettling is that after mexico i have absolutely no trips planned. NOT GOOD.

hasta luego!

thank you!

Cuba Hotel Reviews

yes, i CAN fly.

yes, i CAN fly. i'm feeling remarkably free these days. free to do whatever the hell i want to. free to work as a cab driver in rajasthan, burning incense while driving some rich american motherf*ckers from udaipur to jaipur if i feel like it, free to travel to china, free drink three mojitos before dinner on a friday night. so yeah, in case you've wondered, i CAN fly. and it feels great.

my latest adventure was ROME. roma. the eternal city. the pic on the right depicts the air one plane descending into roman airspace. woohoo sexy roman dudes, here i come ;)

after collecting my luggage at leonardo da vinci airport (aka fiumicino, short FCU), i walked over to rome's central station (roma termini) and took the leonardo express (platform 2) into the city. Click for Schedule and return information.
(i followed the Stazione FS/Railway Station signs - very easy to find). i didn't get my ticket from a machine, there was a guy who waved me over and he asked me if i was going downtown and he wrote me ticket right there on the spot - it was 11 euros.

don't forget to validate your ticket by inserting it in the validation machine before you enter the train.

i had a few minutes and decided to purchase a roma pass (includes 3 admission tickets to sights in rome and a 3day metro pass. cost: 20 euros). HINT: some tabacchis carry that little red sucker as well!) the alternative would have been buying tickets for each individual metro ride (costs €1 and is good for a single metro ride or 75 minutes on the busses). tickets for both the bus system and Metro can be purchased from a tabacchi (tobacco shop), a bar, or vending machines at metro stations and major bus stops. a daily ticket (B.I.G.) is available for €4, (three days for €11) and a weekly ticket (C.I.S.) costs €16

when i arrived at rome termini (in the city center) i took metro line B one stop to cavour station, from there, i dragged my little carry on over some pretty massive cobble stone down on via_____then up on via dei goti, which is where the convent casa il rosario is located.

buon giorno, roma!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hi everyone!!!!!!! did ya miss me??? of course you did!!!!
so, let me just start this blog entry by saying I AM HAVING A HECK OF A TIME TYPING THIS as this keyboard is driving me insane! lots of keys that look oh so unfamiliar to me but alas -- i will manage.

cannot curse here i am in a convent. trust me, i would, but i am trying to keep it clean.

i flew air one from linz to roma via vienna this morning and got to the eternal city right after noon. i (along with all the other passengers of my flight -- all 10 of them....) waited at carousel 10 and we waited and waited and none of our suitcases showed. turned out the luggage came out on carousel 9. so, if you ever travel to rome, donàt trust the info thatàs depicted on the monitors.

then our flight attendendant from iad to fra had told me that when buying the ticket for the leonardo express not do validate it -- they never check it anyway, she said. well, little does she know. luckily i had validated mine, so i did not get into too much trouble.

the convent i am staying at is located in the ancient city, which means it is literally only 5 mins from the coliseum and the forum, and needless to say everything is pretty breathtaking!!!!!!!!!! i think i will takle the vaticane tomorrow, i am pretty hyped about seeing the sistine chapel. ironically, the pope is on his way to austria...oh well, perhaps our paths will cross another time....

i made it down to the coliseum today, had a really nice pizza and a heineken on the steps of some piazza very close to the convent and chatted with some locals. very low key, very nice though.

i am tired as heck; i think i am going to bed soon. plus the keyboard situation is killing me!

consider yourself hugged ;)

CIAO è tanti bacci!

h

EUROPE -- here i come!

i'm packed -- pretty much ready to go; my europe adventure begins!!!
i'm leaving at 5:18 this evening, i have overpacked as never before (i'm on an anti rick stevens crusade...) and i cannot wait to see my family. lucy and the kids are going to be at the airport - i'm sooooo looking forward to seeing sabine and melanie!

i'll be heading to roma on tuesday -- which will also be my first chance to go online. so, if you don't hear from me until then please don't worry.

tanti saluti e a presto!

ciao!

VITA NON EST VIVERE SED VALERA VITA EST

advice from a fellow TA member after hearing about my cube-smacker debacle:

Heidi, put the gun down and give me the Chalupa. Put the gun down. Don't make me hafta shoot you.

WOOHOO. we're officially open, the gvar data is streaming - and we finally managed to get our group shot done here at noaa. i wish I had more time to post but i've been so incredibly busy in between photo shoots and reasearching for my upcomging trip to roma - hence the abstinence from blogging .

so, all for now - i send you my love and please consider yourself hugged!

peace and noaa grease!

new pics of the shed!

VEGA$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

well well well! it took me a while to post those pics, but they are well worth the long wait! what a great time we had -- we, that is the YAHOO sistahood, a group of ladies who met on a cancun message board 5 years ago. or was it 6 years ago?! at any rate -- i arrived at the golden nugget on friday and headed straight to the pool where i pretty much remained for the remainder of the trip! it was VERY hot (103) and it seemed like a great idea to be in the pool, sipping mojitos and beer.

tracey and annie arrived at the nugget at ~ midnight on friday and even though i'd already been in bed, i promptly got up when i got their call and we headed on over to binions for their 3.99 breakfast deal. mmmmm! i love breakfast! it kind of sets the stage for an entire day, and what better food is there than breakfast food?!

andra, vickie, tammy, sheila, and lindy arrived in the early afternoon on saturday and after the new members of the sisterhood were given their necklaces we headed to our rooms and got ready for the evening, which consisted of drinking and singing karaoke at ellis island. well, lindy and i took care of the head banging while vickie and tammy sang karaoke!

it was just as hot on day two as it was on day one so annie, tracey, and i headed to the pool fairly early in the morning as we didn't really have anything else planned except hang out and drink beer and mojitos (see a pattern here?)

the beer was served in buckets, and we'd take turns buying them; it was almost like a ritual of such great importance as if our lives had depended on us having a bucket sitting in front of us at all times.

the beer bucket! and the fun thing about it is: you don't have to go to the beer store for them! you get them right from the pool bar!

at any rate, we had a blast!!!!

sunday night we were supposed to meet tammy and her gals at tryst - we waited at the bar because we got there fairly early and had some cosmos that really kicked our butts. i mean we were completely fine (except for that beer i'd spilled on freemont street a bit earlier...) until then.

so yeah, to sum it up, tracey and i putting on quite a show! i waved over some chicks that were sitting at the table right across from us and we enjoyed chatting with them thoroughly. i think! LOL

we entered tryst shortly after 11 and all i remember is that we danced the night away and that my feet hurt the next morning. oh yeah, and there was my little lesbian incident! i got kissed! by a chick! the chick from colorado came up to me (while i was grind-dancing with some muslim dude) and full-on kissed all over me.

yeah!!!!!!!!!! that's what i'm talking about!!! only in vegas, right?

needless to say i was confused and in a general state of dismay. kissed by a chick - i mean REALLY kissed by a chick.....AT TRYST, of all places!


we piddled around on the strip all day monday and i loved seeing vegas through annie's eyes -- she was all into it and we had a grand time snapping pics and checking out all the gorgeous hotels.

tracey and i got a bit sentimental as we walked into our favorite hotel -- the planet hollywood (PH), formerly the aladdin).

and on tuesday it was over.

status of the shed: roof's on and done, windows are in, currently waiting for the garage door to be delivered. i still can't believe that this thing is gonna have a freaggin' garage door.... :)

luzia: was sag'st zu meina neich'n hittn?

at any rate....we hosted a little bbq yesterday evening and i'm still 'suffering'. those mojitos were pretty potent and i'm not sure what all was said but i clearly remember O. andy threatening to send out a google to the people who failed to pay me for a photo shoot.

andy proceeded to interrogate me about things (illegal things) i've done in the past and i think i shocked him quite a bit when i told him that the worst thing i've ever done was to tell my friends that i had a pool at my house (it was a complete lie - i just wanted them to hang out with me and figured i'd have a better shot if i told them we had a pool).

the worst part was that they took off the minute they noticed that i didn't have a pool.

that's a desperate little kid right there....

she says it like it is!

dixie says it like it is. she won't pretend to like you if she doesn't - so, what you see is what you get.

dixi (79) and john (84) are steve's step-grandparents. john hates the germans and japanese and he has some of the most amazing war stories to tell.

they came over for cake and coffee yesterday and we really enjoyed their company. great folks -- great country -- happy memorial day!

typing of memorial day (weekend): this weekend marks the anniversary of a few milestones in my life; they are:

• 10 years ago: broke my hip rollerblading
• 3 years ago: received the american citizenship
• 1 year ago: got commissioned as a notary public in the state of maryland
  

airshow @ andrews afb

WOW! the airshow at andrews air force base was amazing!! from civilian to military demonstrations - there was not one minute of dullness at the joint services open house this year.

F-22 Raptor, F-16 (Fighting Falcon) Thunderbirds, The Skytypers, F/A-18F Super Hornet, Sean Tucker -- just to name a few of the attractions.

oh yeah - i got a big hug from sean tucker!!!! this guy is absolutely crazy if you ask me; he flies the oracle challenger bi-plane - a monster of a bi-plane with 400 HP (that's PS in the old world).

the pics on the right are of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. steve and i were disappointed at first because we favor the blue angels, but we were pleasantly surprised by this year's show the birds put on. RESPECT!

spring at the rowes

andy meets wild turkey

feh. i'm getting a headache just thinking about that night....two saturdays ago it was - it was raining, and we were suppose to go to old town alexandria and have a lovely afternoon shopping, dining, and what not.

instead, we wound up at casey jones and i don't know what happened but we stayed there until well after midnight and it's all very surreal to me but i think the night was concluded with a haunted-house ride (as andy described it) and i thought it was the end for all three of us.

i met andy's friend larry -- what a nice guy, and his mom, lovely lady as well. we watched the kentucky derby (or at least we pretended to watch it because everyone else seemed to be really into it....and in an effort to fit in we stared at the tv and showed interest. what can i say. we're crowd pleasers...).

at one point we were all looking at each other and we figured out the obvious: none of us was in a position to drive, which was the turning point and we all let ourselves go, so to speak. that's what happens when you have one too many diet cokes!

we drunk dialed and got drunk dialed by our lovely friend boobie lady in texas. boobie lady is an 'enabler' and she enabled platypus to drunk dial me, but it's all good - i'm a peace-loving person and i don't hold it against him! PEACE, BEERSTICKS!

at any rate, some unmarked taxi cab scooped us up in the wee morning hours and the rest is a blur to me. i remember andy asking the driver if he was a 'real' cab driver or some mass murderer that was going to take us to the woods to kill us. he also roceeded to ask the guy who the "man" sitting next to him was.
IT WAS THE DUDE'S GIRLFRIEND!!!!!!!!! WAY TO GO, ANDY!

you can run but you can't hide!

platypus…you've been exposed! thanks to the help of my good friends in law enforcement i was able to hunt you down, mr. drunk dialer!

i suggest you have a breathalyzer installed in your cell...lol...jk, of course!

************

"I have this disease late at night sometimes, involving alcohol and the telephone. I get drunk, and I drive my wife away with breath like mustard gas and roses. And then, speaking gravely and elegantly into the telephone, I ask the telephone operators to connect me with this friend or that one, from whom I have not heard in years.” ~Kurt Vonnegut

Drunk dialing is the glue that holds society together, damnit!~ Eric Cartman

boobs, boobs, boobs!

just returned from a fun-laden weekend in the big D -- where everything is bigger, including BOOBS. i have never in my life seen so many boobs before, and i'm not sure what brought it on - the booze, or a 'gypsy' fleetwood mac tune - i have no clue, but it doesn't really matter because it's history. oh yeah, and before i forget: mike's gf jennie purchased a brandnew set of boobs a few months ago - nice stuff there.
i was greeted at dfw by sister tammy and sister vicky and we headed straight to the next bar to celebrate my arrival.

we had some fantastic el salvadorian grub at gloria's and got spritzed by the fountains right outside of the restaurant -- it was grande! (note: i'm the only SNOWBIRD in the pic...lol)

oh, and i officially met lindy - our vegas companion and i must say: she's a great gal! i really like her!!!!

feh! here's the infamous pic of tammy and sheila making out! wooohoo! right on, sistas!

then they introduced me to SONIC (after the hockey game) and i indulged in my first corny dog - heavens, it was good....best 99c ever spent! the game was wild though - i've never seen a more rowdy audience (all 5 of us...) -- we were off-the-hook! drinking wine out of a box (that was another 'first time' for me!) and singing 80s songs - you just can't beat it. tammy and

vickie just about killed the dude that tackled ryan - an example par excellence for a mother and an aunt gone wild[e]! LOL

i drunk dialed the entire time - i bet i called at least 14 people....strangers, i might add....

the photo shoots went really well, too. we were blessed with gorgeous weather both days -- fun stuff. i did jill's family portraits on saturday and then summer's senior portraits first thing sunday am (at the dallas arboretum and immediately following i shot family portraits of tammy's clan.

NOAA is on a sugar HIGH!

the fundraisers for the orphanage in jaipur have been a full success. i have collected over $200 and my coworkers want more: more brownies, more pineapple up-side down cakes, more SUGAR.

needless to say i give them what they want.

you guys have no idea how hard it is to make that stuff and not indulge every now and then....it's HARD! but, so far so good, i've lost almost 10 pounds and i feel great.

here's the SCOOP for my rome adventure...

i don't like ice cream. let me rephrase that...i don't like AMERICAN ice cream - it tastes like crap. and i'm going to take it a notch further: this includes coldstone ice cream. if you have ever had italian gelato before, you know what i'm writing about.

the plan is to fly into vienna from linz on tyrolian airways and then connect to Leonardo da Vinci Fiumicino Airport on air one and get some decent gelato for the first time in over 10 years. that's going to be the very first thing that i'm going to do in rome....

my base will be the instituto il rosario on Via Sant'Agata dei Goti -- a convent administered by a dominican order of nuns. i almost booked a room at villa rosa, another convent in the midst of rome, but i'm not sure i can handle a bunch of irish nuns -- they might just drink me under the table, which is just not an option! besides, i hear irish people don't care much for americans....so i don't want to cause any trouble....LOL

so, i just came across this really cool tour operator, the name is angel tours. they sound promising!

we had a very nice and relaxed easter sunday lunch at andy and vera's....

what a treat it was to actually be able to sleep in after the photo shoot i had saturday night! AND it turns out that andy doesn't understand anything i ever say - or is it selective hearing?!

looks like i'll be going to rome after all, i got the tickets fedexed today...WOOHOO! i've been doing all kinds of research, staying up late, brushing up on art history, including michelangelo and botticelli's work. professor jeitler would be mighty proud me!

here's to some pretty crazy ladies!

we laugh together
travel together
encourage each other
tease each other
we cry together (ok, that's pretty gay lol)
we hope together
smoke together
dream together
we drink together (A LOT)
and we break picnic tables together

we ARE the yahoo sisterhood.

happy easter!

AF1

brownies rock!

oh yeah, i almost forgot: i'm at $140! this is great stuff, very rewarding, and i LOVE baking! brownies rock!

it's getting harder and harder for me to resist the sweet temptations though - i almost 'reserved' a slice of pineapple up-side down cake for me but i prevailed...

peace and brownie grease!

well, well, well!

what a sucky day. it's cold. no fun. boring. AND travelocity wasn't able to issue the tickets for rome........mothersuckers. i cannot believe that. why would they even list a flight on an airline that they don't have a ticketing agreement with?! i just don't get it.

i did find a decent airfahre on ytb legacytravel and i'm just sitting here waiting to see if they can issue the tickets.

again: what a sucky day. plus, i'm stuck here on the east coast while everyone else seems to be doing stuff, going places, exploring things.....gawd i hate this feeling!

BORING. i hate being stagnant. what a debacle....

I'M ALIVE!

great news on all kinds of levels: the vegas rooms are getting comped (WOOHOO) so that means extra moolah for ROME! yep, you've read correctly, i'm going to ROMA! i just booked, still can't believe it! all the times i've been to italy i never made it to rome, so i thought, heck, it's either now or never.

omg, this is CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ti amo, roma! ti amo, italia!

tanti saluti

peace

h

keks und kalorien

friday was the official kickoff for my fundraising activities for the orphanage in jaipur. it's going to be $545 to sponsor a child for one year, let's see how much money i can raise until my next trip....this shall be interesting! so far, i have $85 - not bad!

here's why i miss jaipur....

celebrating 4 years of yahoo sisterhood.....

There's a special kind of freedom sisters enjoy. Freedom to share innermost thoughts, to ask a favor, to show their true feelings. The freedom to simply be themselves.

guys, i just wanted to let you know how much you mean to me. we've come a long way -- from internet acquaintances to friends to yahoo sisters. you ladies are an integral part of my life and have given me so much joy and I simply find it hard to fathom a life without your calls, emails, and our annual sisterhood trips. i'm very much looking forward to our vegas adventure in june -- how much fun that's going to be! 7 yahoo sisters with one common goal: to enjoy life, each other's company, and some major BJ action! (for the newer sisters in the group, that's an abbreviation for BLACKJACK – in case you were wondering…).

PEACE AND BJ GREASE!

cube farms

i hate working in a cube farm - i really do!

as nice and shiny our new office building is (besides the occasional visit of some stubborn rodents), i very much dislike the fact that 500 of us "worker bees" are forced to share one gigantic office space. the lack of privacy, the TOXIC cube neighbors, the uniformity of this environment just blocks all creativity at the core.

so, if you're reading this, and if you have a suspicion that you might be a toxic cube person -- please better yourself.

lift your damn feet instead of scraping the floor, don't steal other tenants' office supplies, and shut up. chances are your cube neighbors don't want to hear you whistle, smack your food, or private conversations. and while you're at it, please change your "we are the world" ring tone of your cell phone to something more contemporary, preferrably "VIBRATE".

peace and cubicle grease,

heidi

a first-class kinda experience on BA....

LONDON - A first-class passenger on a flight from Delhi to London awoke to the corpse of a woman who had died in the economy cabin being placed in a seat next to him, British Airways said Monday. The economy section of the flight was full, and the cabin crew needed to move the woman and her grieving family out of that compartment to give them some privacy, the airline said.

The first-class passenger, Paul Trinder, told the Sunday Times newspaper that he was sleeping during a February flight from India and woke up when the crew placed the dead woman in an empty seat near him.

"I didn't have a clue what was going on. The stewards just plonked the body down without saying a thing. I remember looking at this frail, sparrow-like woman and thinking she was very ill," the newspaper quoted Trinder as saying. "When I asked what was going on, I was shocked to hear she was dead."

British Airways said in a statement that about 10 passengers die each year in flight and that while each situation is dealt with on an individual basis, safety is paramount.
"The deceased must not be placed in the galley or blocking aisles or exits, and there should be clear space around the deceased," the statement said. "The wishes of family or friends traveling with the deceased will always be considered, and account taken of the reactions of other passengers."

Because there was space in the first class cabin, that "allowed the family members traveling with the deceased some level of privacy in their grief," the airline said.

courtesy of AP, 2007

a site from the "heart"

i'd like to share with you all a site that really has touched me in many ways, it is phil servedio's "heart space". check out his india trip-planning guide, the travelogue, and slide shows - you won't regret it!

h

good morning, malé!

i've noticed increased traffic from malé in the recent days and just wanted to extend a friendly HOWDY to all my friends in the indian ocean!

rambagh palace deal....

hi andrea, yeah -- it's true, i landed an INCREDIBLE deal at the rambagh palace through expedia.

i fully expected that the hotel wouldn't honor the rate, but they did -- and it was truly the most magnificent hotel experience i've ever had. ranked amongst the Top 50 Hotels in Asia in travel + leisure’s list of the world’s best Hotels 2006 it was nothing short of amazing. the hotel also made the conde nast Traveler Gold List 2007 – The Best Places to Stay in the World.

i enjoyed every second at the palace.

lunch gone wrong

happy st. paddy's day.

this is what happens when you get 4 friends together on a sunny sunday afternoon in march: "lunch gone wrong", that is....

it was supposed to be a pulled pork bbq-kinda afternoon, but it all turned into a full-on jaegerschnitzel with williams fest, and i'm still feeling the aftereffect typing this....

whatever happened to the corned beef and cabbage? did i download the wrong recipe or what?!

and why wasn't there any green beer? well, didn't wind up having any beer....we stuck with the captain, wine, and at the end we're going for the white russians - we don't discriminate, no we don't.

it was fun! and i just realize that i STILL look like some 70s hippie chick, with the matching 70 hippie digital camera case, and guess what: i'm liking it!

we're thankful to have friends like you, andy and vera! you guys are the essence of life, you guys know how to have a good time, and i cannot wait to go to mexico with yall! (lol - now i sound like a texas chick! and i'm liking it!)

i just got back from my two-mile walk and boy it was a bitch. i can honestly say that i was too f-ed up to to walk a straight line.....so there i am, at 7:00 p.m. with my sunglasses on, trying to avoid any commotion in the neighborhood....when neighbor billy waives me down! heyyyyyyyy heidi! it's been a long time!

ok, billy, let's try to keep this short an move on, all i wanna do is go home and lay down.....but heck no! neighbor billy wants to CHAT! my head is still hurting, i'm not sure if it's because of neighbor billy or the white russian...i really don't care at this point. all i know is that i have to get up at 4 tomorrow....

but before i close, i want to say that i love yall, seriously. no, i'm not high. i'm just happy!

tammy and tim, if you read this: i love you! i'll see you in april! 40 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

peace and st. paddy's day grease,

heidi

in an effort to save the world.....

.....and make holi a bit greener and healthier, here's a link that everyone should check out. if you're not capable of doing your part, i recommend hugging a tree.

i hope you all had a happy holi!

peace and holi grease,

heidi

austria 2007

wow, what a trip that was! we flew over there, got massively drunk one night, and now it's over. BAM. just like that.

of course it's not that simple, there was a lot more to it, and it's all just slowly coming back to me. boy, i guess i had one williams too many.

it all started on the 17th -- with a police escort to dulles airport. we were right when we thought it couldn't get much better than that as check in was pure horror. i'm no longer a fan of etickets, especially if you have 3 passengers and 10 items to check in. what a debacle that was.

getting on the aircraft was equally chilling -- i felt like i was getting on some vietnam-era bomber that's been refurbished at least a dozen times. united + transatlantic flights = no good. it's as simple as that. we stopped over in zuerich -- wow, what an awesome airport. i'd only been to zuerich once before but i don't recall the airport being that nice then, they totally revamped it. then on to munich we flew - a short flight on lufthansa, i had about 30% more legroom on that flight than on the one crossing the atlantic ocean, how ironic. by then, the damage had already been done: we were all sleep deprived and jetlagged. we picked up our little toyota meriva and drove en route to the austrian alps -- a mere 2.5 hours and we managed not to get lost once (thanks to my excellent directions, i must say....and steve's excellent driving, to be perfectly honest).

we arrived at elfi's house at around 3:00 p.m., got situated, steve and vera rented their skis, and we had an AWESOME dinner at the walser stuba and then we all sunk into our wonderfully comfortable beds and puffy pillows - what a treat!

we woke up to the wonderful smell of fresh coffee and we all went downstairs for a fabulous breakfast. the mountains presented themselves as majestic as they get: snow covered, blue skies, fresh air - and about two trillion skiers from germany and the netherlands. we met anthony -- a sweet german guy who has been a regular in the kleinwalser valley for the past 30 years. the snow suit he was wearing confirmed this!

vera had a few drinks -- believe me when i say she needed them: we took her down the red and blue slopes like it was nothing and she managed and did remarkably well even though this was only her ~5th time skiing. you see, a blue slope in PA doesn't equal a blue slope in the alps. vera was brave from the beginning to the end and once she had met the williams birne she was even braver.

monday evening rolls around and we start thinking about dinner - so i suggest we go to almhof rupp. thing is, i met frank rupp some 10 years ago in some random "austria" chatroom. we became online buddies, emailed on a somewhat regular basis and never lost touch over the years -- how cool is that. i call to make a reservation but daniel informs me that frank only works there in the A.M. bummer. we go there anyway and find out that daniel had called frank at home to tell him that we had a reservation - how sweet of daniel. endlich einer der mitdenkt!

the evening at the almhof was wonderful and even got to meet frank's dad, and we made a pact to go on an himalaya trekking adventure next year. franks' dad -- if you read this, i'm holding you to it!

we stop by at the casino cafe for a "lick of baileys" and fall into our comfy beds by 11.....just like a bunch of old people. at this point we have no idea what the next night would have in store for us...

tuesday morning: we have breakfast, ski all day, drop off the rentals, exchange money for the 16th time, drink baileys (glasses of baileys, not licks!) and wine, eat dinner, and then steve drops us off at the pub. vera and i are having a great time just yapping and we get the party started with a few red bull/vodkas before steve joins us after dropping off the car at elfi's house.

all of a sudden vera's and my eyes open in disbelieve as we see the bartender (chrischt'l) fix up some wonderful baileys on the rocks, and it was with disbelieve that we realized that she was coming over to our little corner, and she placed them right in front of us. there they are, with a little halo right above them, saying: DRINK ME! DRINK ME! where did those little guys come from? who knew about our obsession with this ultimate taste sensation? who knew we loved the big B so much we'd do anything to get some of it? chrischt'l points at a mystery person further back in the pub and out of the darkness comes FRANK!

the rest of the night is a blur to me. we had more red bull vodkas, williams, baileys, i even recall having a cuba libre. last time i had a cuba libre was in mexico and all i remember from that night is that my bed wouldn't stop spinning.....

vera kept saying "i bet they all think we're a bunch of stupid americans" so i kept reassuring her that we did nothing that was out of the ordinary. i guess i didn't know what i was talking about then as i found 5 broken martini picks in my pockets the other day when i did laundry....that's because after you eat your pear / drink the schnaps you have to snap the picks and if you're last to do so you pay the next round. i think we paid quite a few rounds that night....

it's pretty safe to say that we all were still drunk when we woke up wednesday morning. we bid miss elfi adieu and took off way too late - i think it was 10:30 if not later, so we didn't reach salzburg until almost 12:30.

[ you know what's bad? i just realized that i look like some 70s hippie chick ]

here's what wikipedia has to say about salzburg:

Salzburg is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Salzburg. Salzburg's "Old Town" with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best-preserved city centers in the German-speaking world and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

The city is noted for its Alpine setting. It is the birthplace of Mozart and the setting for parts of the musical and film The Sound of Music. Salzburg is also a student city, with three universities.

we hit the getreidegasse as soon as we got there, did some souvenir shopping, and then hiked up to the fortress hohensalzburg.

we snacked on some nordsee goodies before we left for upper austria, stopped at landzeit for dinner and arrived at my mom's at 8:30. we were all beat!

i mostly hung out with mom on thursday, she cooked wonderful haschee knoedeln for us. [i just came across this cool website with a bunch of austrian recipes...] Friday was pretty much the same, except we had a little "run in" with the police....

vera wanted to get some patches and so i decided it would be a good idea to go to the police station and ask the guys if they had any "goodies" for vera. well, our little excursion turned into a huge photo op and before we knew it we had baumi looseing patches from an old uniform with his pocket knife and another really sweet cop whose name is escaping me got vera a hat and a shirt for officer andy. officer andy: you missed out big time!!! we had such a blast and i know for a fact that you would have had a blast as well! NEXT TIME!



on saturday we went to my sister's for breakfast and i had a chance to hang out with my nieces one last time before we left for munich....it nearly broke my heart to say good bye to them....here's why:




they are my little cutie pies and i miss them terribly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

message for lotus

the driver was recommended to me. he drives what we here in the states call a "compact car".
i trusted atma unconditionally -- i was so dependent on him the first day in delhi i would have been "lost" without him.

don't get me wrong: i'm a city girl - i've navigated through NYC, chicago, vienna, paris, florence, munich, san francisco just fine in the past, but delhi kinda puts everything in perspective in terms of size, people and traffic.

so yeah, if you are looking for an excellent driver, whom you can trust and who will never try to rip you off or take you to places you don't really want to go -- atma is your man.

published!!!!!

i was tickled to death when my good friend tom hill first asked me to lay out his second book, "I want to go to Mars" (a childrens' book)- didn't think he was serious.....


and now it's published!

check out tom's first book "Space: What now?" for an insight-filled journey through the past, present, and future of activities in space.

golden triangle tour -- on my own!

in this post i'm going to outline the itinerary i'd put together for my india trip last december. i wanted to cover the basics for the duration of 7 nights -- i didn't have a budget but it wound up costing me $1500.00 -- and that included the flight from washington/dulles (iad).

here's how i did it:

i was extremely flexible in terms of departure date, and i checked multiple travel sites MULTIPLE times per week, until i finally found a redtag sales fare on www.aua.com. departure was dec. 5th and return was scheduled for dec. 14th

hint: if you click any of the links below, i'd recommend using your browser's BACK button in order to get back to the blog. if you "x" out on it, you're gone. finished. kaputt.

- air fare (austrian airlines, via vienna) including taxes: $950.00 [SWEET!]
- 3 nights at the delhi bed and breakfast: $170.00
- 2 days driver in delhi (Atma): $70.00
- 2 nights at hotel pearl palace: $27.00
- 2 nights at the rambagh palace: $70.00 [EVEN SWEETER]
- train (shatabdi express) from delhi to agra: $16.00
- COMMUTER bus from agra to jaipur: $2.90 (meeting all the curious kids along the way: priceless....)

ok ok -- it broke down -- so what?! :)

A/C deluxe bus from jaipur to delhi: $15.00

just caught myself....

....looking for airfares to delhi. i also caught myself thinking: i have no worries or doubts this time -- i know i can do whatever the hell i please to do. anyone can visit poland or germany.....but I have been to india!

i'm proud to say that in 2007 i have not watched one minute of reality tv. so far so good.....

still dreamin' about india....

i'm finally through processing my india pics and i'm a wee bit disappointed. i did get some real good ones but most of them simply don't do india justice. i was unable to capture the greatness i saw with my rebel. perhaps this is the universe's conspiracy of making me go back this year. which reminds me: i should have followed nath's advice and gotten a 10-year visa. i thought i'd be able to get india "out of my system" but guess what: it didn't go anywhere. so, here's a good piece of advice for all you india researchers:

GET THE 10-YEAR VISA ($150.00 versus $60.00 for the 6-month visa).

here's a link to the application form

preparing for austria....

seems like i've just unpacked from my last adventure....i'm ready for a new one. we're going to the tiny valley village called "kleinwalsertal" located in the austrian alps for some well-deserved skiing action!

this time i'm bringing along my better half and our dear friend vera, who shares my obsession with skiing and all things snow related. we're leaving out of dulles, stopping over in zurich, and then connect to munich where we'll rent a car.

i have reservations at elfi holzer's house (small b&b, she doesn't have a website - but i can provide you with her number if you're interested). i've asked around and everyone concurred that elfi's house is "the real deal": you are a family member there, not a tourist -- which sounds very appealing to me because i hate all things touristy :)

h

email from a concerned traveler....

since the launch of my travel blog i have received countless emails from travelers all over the world asking me all kinds of questions about my experiences in india. given below is an excerpt:

"We are taking the plunge in April this year. Have wanted to go for ages but a few things have put us off i.e. poverty, dirt, being ill and pestering. We have been to Morocco and Sri Lanka and with people constantly pestering to buy, to take a ride, to have a guide etc. it put us off going to India, because I believe that is worse there."

dear reader,

i believe you have answered your own questions: don't go. india will bring out the best or the wrost in you, and i sincerely believe you're simply not ready for a country as great as india. you either have it in your heart or you don't -- it's as simple as that. it's definitely not like an acquired taste, not something you eventually get used to. at this point i recommend more "convenient" destinations for your travel enjoyment.

******************************************
then of course there are people like karin who GET what india is all about.

life's too short to be boring. get up and LIVE!

and to all the people that didn't think i could or would or should do it - well, i did it. and to all my supporters and believers: you are close to my heart, i cherish your friendship, and i love you like family.

stay tuned for pics of my amazing trip to india, and remember: be humble.

dec. 14th

this concludes my asia adventure. i'm currently approaching VIE; it's around 5:30 a.m. MEZ (middle european time zone). the route took us over pakistan, afghanistan, iran, irak, turkey, bulgaria, and finally hungary. i did manage to get some sleep but i'm still incredibly tired as i went to the airport last night straight from the wedding sudhir and his family took me to. sudhir and i had two whiskeys each before the event (he insisted, and i could not refuse...), which really helped me get over my fear of wearing a sari for the first time. lubna hooked me up though - even though she was so busy with the BBC crew being at her house and everything she took the time to dress me up in the sari i'd gotten at bapu bazaar in jaipur two days ago.

then at sudhir's home, i was spoileddddddddddddddddddd - got fresh french fries with ketchup and some other finger food - all of it really really delicious. i'm really thankful that i have met so many kind people, they helped make my adventure a very special one.

when i got to the airport last night (in the sari) i felt like some hollywood superstar. sure, there were other white people (a few of them anyway) but i did shine like a star, i have to admit LOL i'm so full of it...). the guy who checked my passport said: no, lady, that's not you. the lady on the pic is an american lady, but YOU are an indian lady! LOL

just a thought...

india has taught me many thing - the most important one of all: humility.

dec. 13 - last day in incredible india

i didn't have much time to write ....cest la vie. i'm currently en-route to delhi (from jaipur) and i'm actually amazed and surprised at what ease i'm moving around in a country so far from home - i can't read a damn sign after all and everything is so "new" to me it hurts.... ; however, things just kind of turned out ok, almost as if the universe has everything planned out for me anyway - nothing is left to chance, there seem to be no coincidences.

i've seen the best and the worst of india (whom am i shitting -- i doubt i've seen the worst per se...) and i'm not sure if by 2020 all this will change, but i do have great hope. what i've seen was only a glimpse, a brief glimpse into something so big and great that makes this country so special. there is something so pure, so magical, that seems to have gotten lost in so many countries that have been corrupted by the power of money.

i managed not to get sick until today - my last day in india, and i think that's pretty damn good. i had a bowl of fruit for breakfast and immediately felt so nauseous i wanted to vomit in the worst way (but couldn't). i didn't mess around and called the reception and they sent a doctor to my room (has been to john's hopkins, knows maryland really well) he hooked me up with some super pills that immediately put me back on my feet, total charge: 1090 ruppees. NICE! i'm actually totally ok now, not even a hint of nausea or dizziness...

so here's a great piece of advice to all you india researchers - as you stay up late, in search of useful info for your upcoming trip....take it all in. don't "overplan" your trip. keep your itinerary flexible. you want to be able to do whatever the hell you want to do and not have a bus waiting for you somewhere, full of tourists that whine and complain about stuff that's unimportant. be your own guide - risk meeting some locals and try not to depend on what other people tell you is good for you.

dec. 12 -- almost time to go home....

this is sad. i got up at 5:45am just so i could get the most out of my (almost) last day. i think i'm gonna get a massage today, maybe get my henna reapplied, and then off to delhi i go tomorrow (not sure how/when - i haven't booked anything yet; i'll get there somehow).

i ordered room service at 6 this morning and OMG - you should have seen it: it was so nicely arranged, they use fine bone china here (the real stuff) and i had nice, strong coffee (first one in over a week) and assorted freshly cut fruit that looked like a piece of art. lovely stuff....

but this is definitely not what india is all about, this is what's left of royal life here in rajsasthan, and i find the staff to be overly kind and sweet - almost fake?! i tell you what though: i throroughly enjoyed the bubble bath i took yesterday. first bubble bath in a loooooooong time.

ok, i gotta go catch the sunrise so i can snap some pics of the palace.....

peace and india grease,

love,

h

i lost track of time...

yesterday was busy.....met this super nice girl from finland with whom i had breakfast, then we went our separate ways in our rickshaws only to meet up again at the window palace. had a lovely lunch together also.
i shopped like a madwoman at the bapu bazar in jaipur yesterday: 2 saris, dolls, key chains, etc....it was amazing. even got some matching bangles for the saris.

in the evening i met with mr. singh (the owner of hotel pearl palace) and he took me to an ethnic village (choki dhani) where we had some excellent indian food. we were sitting on the mud floor (on a little carpet). it was a truly amazing experience that i will never forget - great entertainment, great food, great company!

3/12/07: Retrospectively speaking, the food at choki dhani was awesome but also made me VERY sick!

this morning i moved on to the rambagh place - guys, it is all and more i'd expected and hoped for. it's like straight out of a fairy tale, i started crying a bit when i saw the room. it is from out of this world. HUGE, separate sitting area, separate closet (walk-in, where you can store your luggage on a marble table) and the bathroom - OMG the bathroom!!!! jaccuzi tub (with pillow so you can rest your head on it), shower where the water comes straight from the ceiling (like a waterfall), and toilet with sprayer (which elimiates the pitcher entirely). absolutely amazing.

i took a quick shower this am and then i was off again for a full day of sightseeing. you can move around here for a day (in an auto rickshaw) for ~250 ruppees, that's around USD 6.00

i tend to tip way too much though, kinda messing up for the other poor travellers from europe who are not used to tipping - not a good thing. i should really be more careful, but at the end of the day i'm just so happy that i made it safe and sound back to the hotel without getting killed in this crazy-ass traffic that i just hand them 500 ruppes and say: keep the change.

i have had my picture taken 136 million times - people come up to me and ask me if i can pose for a pic with their families. makes me feel special every single time.

today i saw amber fort, tiger fort, and the observatory, where i had a really sweet indian boy who accompanied me to take my pics (didn't even want a tip, just talk to me so he could practice his english). everyone speaks english here btw.

back to the situation here at the hotel: just had some amazing merlot a rogan josh lamb with raita and naan for dinner with my finnish friend (she came over). i showed her my room and she took pics of it - this palace is a real palace, one member of the maharajha family (she's 85 now, her husband died when he was really young while playing cricket) still lives in jaipur during the winter months, the summers she spends in britain where she also has a palace. lucky lady!

i was welcomed with a fresh flower lei this morning, a welcome drink, and there are fresh orchids everywhere in my room. amazing place, and steve, you are missing out BIG TIME! but no worries, i have already made up my mind, i'm coming back very very soon.....

BAPU bazar rocks! if you come here, check out bubber beauty palace. i had an excellent shopping experience here and really enjoyed myself in bubber's store. it was fun!

when i got back from my sightseeing trip today, there was a tray of chocolates and fresh fruit waiting for me, and someone had pulled back the AMAZING comforter so all i have to do is hop into bed when i feel like it.

off i go, i'm pretty tired.....sending my love to all of you who read this post.

miss you!

h

hi - today from jaipur

greetings. it's been a rough day - i must admit. got woken up at 4:44 am, caught the shatabdi expres to delhi, did the taj mahal (more details later), and then i took what most would refer to a commuter bus from agra to jaipur (rajasthan). it was a rough 6-hour ride - can't compare it to a comfy 16-hour flight on austrian airlines....nothing like that. we had about 3 pee breaks but i missed the first one and when it was time for me to go, well, i didn't have my go-go card with me (shame on me, i know) and secondly, well, i didn't quite have the guts to say something to the bus driver and so i suffered for a short while until God spoke directly to me by having one of the tires almost fall off and we had to have an emergency break to a) go find a replacement part and b) pee. i'm the luckiest woman on earth, we were stopped where there was a semi decent WC (bathroom - indian style). gosh, i was soooooo happy, i can't even describe the feeling of instant relief!!!!!

i also made friends with a bunch of local kids - they all looked at me with their big brown eyes, and i saw a couriosity in them that i'd never seen before. at first they were suspicious, but i just started shaking all their little hands and that was an instant ice breaker. they all waved me good by when the bus pulled out of the sand lot (it's not a conventional parking lot)....

there were a few very helpful locals on the bus, one of them had a cell phone and he let me use it so i could call mr. singh here at the pearl palace and reconfirm my reservation. he had a driver pick me up a the central bus stop and i've been in heaven ever since. cleaned up, had dinner with my lonely self at the roof top restaurant, was invited to mr. and mrs. singh's private residency and now here i am - typing away.

today was probably the most overwhelming day of all so far during my stay in india. you think you've seen it all -nothing is going to surprise you, and then a monkey jumps down from a tree and makes monkey sex to a female monkey.

and then on the road en route to jaipur - i saw everything on the road - from bikes to rikschaws, to taxis, buses, cows, sheep, camels, to trucks. i wanna say we had at least 17 close calls but alas - i'm alive and well, and that (according to pervez) is all that counts. think PRESENT. not what could have been or would have been or was or will be....none of that really matters.

i have a big day planned for tomorrow - have a driver hired for the entire day and then one more night at the pearl palace before i move on to the rambagh palace down the road from here. i hear it's a magnificent place - not sure if i even deserve it.....but i'll take it!

all for now - must go nites nites!

later yall!

h

day 2 - wow!!!!

i don't even know where to start.....it was an amazing day here in the capital of india. i had a late start - totally overslept, didn't get up until 10; ate breakfast, and then pervez sent me off with a driver and he had 5 items on my itinerary (he didn't even ask me what i wanted to see really coz he just "knows"). first stop was the humayun thomb - took some awesome pics there. speaking of pics, i cannot upload them from here, pervez's pc somehow doesn't recognize my little canon -- so, no pics on this blog for right now. i'm moving on to agra and jaipur tomorrow, so perhaps i can make it happen there.

anyhooooooo.....after humayun's thomb the driver took me to a sikh temple where i took my shoes off, covered my head, and washed my feet (they were in dire need of it) and presented my offerings (and also got a receipt for). this is a place where few (if any) tourists go, because it is very much off the beaten (tourist) track, and that's exactly what i love the most. then i went to this amazing place - a mosque, but i was denied entry, not even my driver was allowed in there. i just checked out the market area in front of the mosque and it was a truly amazing experience. for starters, muslims don't bite. they showed me as much respect as i showed them, and i even had my pic taken with some of them. it was amazing. definitely off the beaten track also, but at no point did i feel unsafe. it seems to me there is a big big myth out there about muslims, because it's the unknown that people fear sometimes. i admit, i was suspicious too before i arrived here, sure, i'd read about india, but experiencing the country is much different than reading about it. VERY different.

i also went to this really cool artisan market where i got my henna done, also bought some stuff, but mostly i just took pics and enjoyed mingling with the people.

dinner was amazing, too. i had some of the best food i've ever tasted, here at pervez's and lubna's home. lubna is a very gifted cook, she uses only the freshest produce and prepares her meals with love. you just don't get that in a hotel, which is why i am so especially grateful that i came across their listing on www.tripadvisor.com.

lubna also teaches cooking classes (here at her home) and tonight she instructed eric -- a 28-year old professional from NYC -- how to prepare some typical indian dishes. eric is staying at one of pervez's friends house (also a B&B) and they took him over and they all had dinner with us. i have never in my life met such warm, welcome, and lovely people, who are genuinely interested in other cultures, people, and their life styles. turns out pervez loves the show "sex in the city" - he's hooked, which i find is totally hilarious!

it is now 10:36 p.m. and it is definitely time to get some rest. i'm beat. steve, you will be happy to hear that my battery charger is working here, no adapter needed. sweet, huh? i'm SO glad i have the small canon, it is a life saver here in delhi.

tomorrow i leave at 6:15 am on the shatabdi express for agra (taj mahal) and then from there to jaipur. so far, everything is on schedule, and i'm having the most amazing time.

thank you all for checking my blog, for all your support. i know you were all worried - but i can assure you that i'm perfectly save and ok here.

love you tons,

h

a little something something for mark and alicia...

mark, go to google and type in "french military victories" - select "i'm feeling lucky" for me, would ya??!!

LOL

pervez just did it, he's sitting right next to me on his pc joking around - i thought you'd get a kick out of that !!!!

one more thing....

i wore the "smell my face" shirt at the red fort in delhi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

no thong for diane yet.

h

day 1

so, here i am, at the official end of day 1. it was quite the experience, to say the least. it was wonderfully fascinating, overwhelming, and thrilling at the same time.

let's just start from the very beginning, the flight here, which went surprisingly well. i met this really nice indian family, the dad wound up sitting right next to me. not only did he give me 50 ruppees so i could tip my driver, he also made sure that i got picked up as promised by pervez. he said that i were not to leave the airport without his permission - he was gonna make some phonecalls and arrange for a driver so that i wouldn't be stranded at the airport in the middle of the night. well, turns out the driver WAS there, so there was no problem, and i got home (yes, this is a "home" away from home" safely.

the car ride was insane though, i have to admit. it's all and more i expected, i was quite prepared for this trip but what i didn't expect was that so many cars, mopeds, busses, taxes, rikschaws, and bike rikshaws (lemme call 'em "bikeshaws" would be out there at 2:00 a.m. -- going places. lord only knows where all those people go....

delhi, with its population of ~16 million, is something else.

vicky, no, i didn't see any cows and was madly disappointed. i think what pervez had mentioned was that they are trying to get rid of the cows and beggars in the city -- i don't think cows are a problem, i think it's the guys urinating on the side of the street!

delhi is a feast for senses: you think you've seen and smelled and heard it all: come to delhi. you'll prove yourself better. i started the day with a wonderful breakfast and then pervez proceeded to scribble notes on a piece of paper of places and things he wanted me to see today. there were about 6 items, i only got to see/do 4 things, i couldn't take any more. the driver pervez hired for me took me to the red fort (google it if you wish), then to the ghandi memorial (had to take my shoes off - boy did that feel nice, it's quite warm here). met a ton of super cool people (mostly girls from an all girs school from south of here) at that memorial - and almost felt a bit like a super star; everyone wanted to shake my hand, give me a hug, and have their picture taken with me :) .

then on we went to the cannaught place (nope, not a restaurant, it's a huge shopping district). i spotted a mcdonalds, a pizza hut, and a TGI fridays. the amazing thing: there were loooooong lines in front of each of those joints, you had to put your name on a list to get into them. amazing. after the cannaught place we went to a craft museum - then home for a quick shower before i left again for a dance that pervez had recommended: typical indian dance, very very nice, and very authentic. not a touristy thing at all.

oh yeah, one more thing: i feel very very safe here. it's a controlled chaos. everyone keeps telling me that rajasthan will be very different, more calm, a bit slower, and i really hope the air situation is going to be better there. the smoke really does get to me a times, but it's nothing that can't be managed. like pervez says: the future and the past don't really count. it's the present that really counts. and right now, i feel great.

well, this is it for now. i must get some long-overdue rest. i only slept about 6 hours last night...

take care yall, and i'm sending my love to all who care enough to read this blog!

peace and delhi grease,

alpengirl

I'M HERE!!!!!!

hi everyone, this is it! i'm here!! after a painful 16-hour plane ride on austrian airlines i finally made it here last night at around midnight. pervez had sent his driver to pick me up and sure enough - there he was with his "HEIDI ALPENGIRL" sign waiting for me.

customs was smooth but boy i was sweating bullets, it's quite warm here. the car ride to pervez's house was something else, something you don't see in the movies, it was an experience all by itself: people everywhere, in the middle of the night, cars, mopeds, autorickshaws EVERYWHERE. i made some friends on the plane from vienna to delhi that told me they'd take care of me in case the driver didn't show up, so i felt quite save in that respect, they even gave me some tip money so that i could pay the driver a tip (all they had at the money exchange at dulles airport was big 100 and 500 ruppee bills, that's too much for a tip).

i just had a very very nice breakfast with pervez, his lovely wife lubna, and one of the other B&B guests - she's from swizzerland. very nice lady, a bit on the crazy side just like myself. she wants to move to india and open her own bed and breakfast (in rajasthan, which is where i'm going on saturday).

well folks, i have to get going. pervez has arranged for a guide and a driver for me, and departure is in about 30 minutes.

i will post more later today, i will have some free time after my "delhi - first blast" tour and before the concert pervez wants me to go to - it's free, indian dance and music.

PEACE OUT EVERYONE!

love,

heidi

this is it!

the day before india!
holy crap, i've never felt more alive, more aware of things. i spoke with elliot and the class of dc101 this morning and told them about my upcoming adventure. after all it was his show that inspired me to start a list of 101 things i want to do before i bite the dust. india was (is) one of the items on my list.

i started packing yesterday but i didn't get very far...i did, however, get a back-up digital camera just in case the SLR goes apeshit. i'm bringing a combined storage capacity of 3 GBs, which should suffice.

the plan is to pack today, go to work for a few hours tomorrow, and then head on to the airport at around 1500 hours - my flight leaves at 1815 EST.

all for now. i'll probably post one more time before i leave - until then,

stay tuned and be good.

h

itinerary

dec. 5th:
IAD 6:15 p.m.

dec. 6th:
DEL 11:45 p.m.
driver will pick me up at the airport and take me to the delhi b&b, run by pervez and lubna. it's in a very posh neighbourhood in the south-eastern part of delhi. click below to see pics of their beautiful home: http://www.delhibedandbreakfast.com/photogallery.htm
O/N: delhi bed & breakfast.

dec. 7th:
spend all day sightseeing, taking pics, and shopping for some Salwar Kameezs . have dinner with the ahmeed family (that's lubna's last name).
O/N: delhi bed & breakfast.

dec. 8th:
happy birthday, lucy! (that's my sis). again, sightseeing, taking pics, more shopping. maybe get my henna done.
O/N: delhi bed & breakfast.

dec. 9th:
wake up early, throw on my salwar kameez and take the shatabdi express (that's a train) to agra. take an auto rikshaw to the taj mahal, take some pics, then back to the train station to board a train (2988) to jaipur, located in rajasthan. arrival: 22:20. mr. singh from the hotel (pearl palace) will send a driver to pick me up at the train station.
O/N: pearl palace.

dec. 10th:
sightseeing all day in and around jaipur (pink city), including elephant ride and jewelry shopping. amber fort, etc.
O/N: pearl palace.

dec. 11th:
check out from hotel PP and move to the rambagh palace.
O/N: rambagh palace.

dec. 12th:
not sure yet. probably just piddle around the hotel in the AM and say a prayer of thanks for the incredible deal i got for this amazing place. freaggin' bollywood celebreties hang out here - i mean, how amazing is that? get a driver and explore rajasthan.
O/N: rambagh palace.

dec. 13th:
jaipur bazars. look for presents for tammy, tracey, and emma. pm: take bus to delhi, check in with pervez and family, pick up suitcase from their house, go to airport late at night.

dec. 14th:
DEL: 2:30 a.m.
board flight en route to austria, stop-over in vienna (6 hours), then connect to IAD.