Florence

We're in Florence with little time to type - on our way to the Accademia to check out the David and other art stuff. Florence is a pretty rad little town, only half a million people and the city is very walkable from end to end. Nice and cozy. That's pretty much it, we're going to stuff ourselves silly tonight, drink a bunch of wine and then wake up early to fly back to 'Murica.

D&A

Capri, Vernazza and Pisa

Oh hey there,

First, a quick apology to our devoted readers - we haven't been able to blog much due to pretty bad internet connections in both Capri and Vernazza.

That being said, we wrapped up Rome Monday morning and were quite sad to leave. Rome stunned us with its beauty and realness. So much action on every street, definitely a city to visit again for a much longer time. We were also quite close to the "political manifestation" (as one Italian explained it to us) which occured in Rome near the Colosseum (actually took place on our hotel's street) and saw much of the post-demonstration destruction (cars reduced to burnt cinders, ATMs and store fronts smashed up, etc) and even heard a few explosions during. We were in the heat of the battle and almost jumped right into express our own anger - VIVA ROMA!

From Rome we took a train and a nice little ferry to Capri. This island is breathtakingly gorgeous, certainly one of the most naturally beautiful places either of us has ever visited. In our two days there, we took a private boat tour around the perimeter of the island (we're engaged, it was incredibly romantic and actually gave us a great perspective on what this island has to offer), put in a total of 15 miles of hiking (on some brutally hilly trails which were, once again, breathtaking) and partook in lots of wandering and exploring the two towns of Capri.

Next we trained to Vernazza, one of Cinque Terre's five tucked away towns. Everything slows down in the Cinque Terre, and we pretty much let it happen to us as well. Each of these towns is built into a mini-bay and the homes and buildings are built into the rocks, stacked on top of each other in a million different colors. One or two main streets wind through each town where everyone (tourists and locals alike) gathers. We had a cozy little room in our town of Vernazza (built by the hands of the man who rented it to us for our two day stay) and used every second of our time there to explore the trails linking the five towns, drink wine, eat whenever we pleased and take it all in. It's a bit strange that a group of towns like this actually exists, it's almost like a scene out of a movie. But its very real and we were a glad to be able to enjoy it during a part of the year when the crowds were much less than usual. There was a great sighting of fitness too - on one of the hikes we took between two of the cities of Cinque Terre, we saw one of the trail booth attendents (who are supposed to check to see if you have a hiking pass) doing step ups on a bench. As we approached, instead of stopping and attending to our needs, he continued working out and performed his job admirably. This might have gone unnoticed to a civilian, but not to the OTTC's Treasurer of Fitness. An honorary member of the OTTC was found this day.

We're now wrapping up a brief side trip to Pisa, which was meant to only be a three hour stopover but warped into a eight hour one due to a planned strike by TrenItalia (how polite of them). So, with nowhere to check our bags and an unplanned stopover in Pisa, we hauled our bags to the Field of Miracles (where the leaning tower and several other incredibly old (and under appreciated) structures are located. It was interesting and we had a perfect day of weather, but really nothing to write home about. We mostly people watched, planned our days to come in Florence and relaxed on the lawn next to the tower. Also of note, as we approached the Field of Miracles, we noticed a finish line banner and a few more subtle signs that an organized celebration of fitness may be occuring. We quickly figured out that, as we thought, a 12k road race was happening in the streets of Pisa today, culminating a mere 50m from the leaning tower and requiring that the hundreds of people swarming the street adjacent to the field to be cleared as the runners streamed through. We hoped for an epic swarm of runners plowing through all of the tourists, but we were informed that there were only 450 runners. Lame. There was actually a pretty legit winner in the race too - some guy wearing a Brooks jersey rocked a 38:25 final time weaving through all of those people, another honorary member of the OTTC.

That's pretty much everything. Bye.

Dan and Allie

Rome

We're nearing the end of our second day in Rome and we've gotten our asses kicked by awesomeness. Yesterday we took a phenomenal tour of the Vatican, where we were shown why Catholocism is a multi billion dollar entity - the artwork there blows minds. Two thousand year old statues from ancient Rome, 500 year old tapestries, etc etc etc. Our visit there peaked as we checked out the Sistine Chapel - flat out stunning. Nine years of solid work by Michaelangelo. We easily could have stayed in there that long enjoying the beauty.

Today we took an equally well run tour of the Colosseum and the Forum. Incredible info and sights regarding the beginnings of Rome and the centerpiece for Roman entertainment in its early years. We are taking a short break here at this glorious internet cafe, then we're on to the Pantheon, a gelato stop, dinner out (we're thinking Italian) and then a gelato night cap.

Besides these major sights, a majority of our actual time in Rome has been exploring the city. We've walked everywhere so far and have really enjoyed ducking into side streets and getting pizza/gelato/wine at small shops and cafes. Just an incredible city.

Tomorrow we wake up early for our train to Naples where we'll catch a ferry to the island of Capri. Our dogs are barkin' so we're looking forward to some rest in Capri.

Until then, take care of each other,

Dan and Allie

Italy and Stuff

Thanks for the lovely introduction Tim - and hello world!

Today's the day that my fiance Allie and I leave on our trip to Italy, a trip that we bought plane tickets for eight months ago and have been planning since then (to be fair, Allie has planned 99% of this trip, but I've given everything the final 'OK' - so, win-win-win).

Our eleven day trip has us flying into Rome where we'll be checking out the heavy hitters (The Vatican, The Colesseum, The Forum, etc) and also trying to take in some local flavor. Really looking forward to Rome and comparing it to some of the other major cities that I've been fortunate enough to visit.

From there we travel by train and ferry to the island of Capri, where we'll attempt to decompress a bit from the busyness of Rome . We have a (hopefully) spectacular boat trip around the island planned and then just looking foward to maxing and/or relaxing.

After Capri we'll take a train to Cinque Terre, which is a collection of five small villages along the northwest coast of Italy. We'll be staying in the village of Vernazza where's we'll hike between the other towns of Cinque Terre and explore the shops and restaurants that the area has to offer. More relaxing and taking things in during our stay in Cinque Terre.

Next, we'll hit the train again and head to Florence. But not without stopping for a few hours at everyone's favorite photo opportunity, Pisa! Upon researching things a bit, we really do wish we had a few days to spend in Pisa as well to explore the town outside of the touristy (yet strikingly beautiful and historic) Field of Miracles where the leaning tower is situated. Our trip will continue from Pisa to Florence, our final destination. In Firenzi, we'll see some major art galleries (Uffizi and Accademia) but even with seeing some world famous pieces of art and statues of naked dead dudes, the highlight might be the bike trip that we're taking through Tuscany. Wine and fitness, a nice little combo.

While we cannot promise the late night shenanigans and tales of browned-out makes outs that have been told through this blog, we will hopefully be bringing a new angle of excitement to the table. Waking up early for museum tours, enjoying brunch, staring into each other's eyes and responsibly consuming alcohol is exciting too! We'll do our very best to stop along the way for some in-trip updates.

Thanks for reading and take care of each other,
Dan

Announcement Time

We here at Stories for Stojic are excited to make another major announcement that will certainly bring a welcome distraction to your otherwise endless, depressing cycle of 9-5s. As this blog is dedicated to traveling adventures, and I myself will not be doing any significant traveling until late December, that can only mean that we have been able to add new writers to our staff. These new writers have been friends and more importantly travelers for quite some time, and we are excited (and admittedly nervous) about the new direction they may choose to take the blog.

I have put off making the announcement long enough, so here goes: I would like to formally introduce our newest writers, the future Mr. and Mrs. Daniel R. Walters (unless Allie pulls some feminist new age bullshit and keeps her own last name, very frowned upon, might as well tell Dan you hate him and get a prenup). The recently engaged couple will be leaving for Italy this afternoon and sharing their journey with the blog. Clearly this is a new direction from the blog, especially early posts about blacking or browning out, 4am KFC parties in Prague, and general immature male shenanigans. Quite frankly, we really don’t know what to expect at all, but we are always willing to explore new directions and see how our reader(s) respond. Expect more maturity and more love of a heterosexual nature.

I would like to think that I have already had some impact on the future posts from Dan and Allie, as this trip very likely could have been the time when Dan and Allie got engaged. Although this would have been great for the blog and could have brought in serious Kardashians level advertising money, I encouraged Dan not to propose on this trip, as the idea of carrying and hiding this ring through airports and foreign lands made me nervous for him. That just seems nuts.

Anyway, this post and posts in the future are not about myself, so I will end the announcement here and temporarily pass the reins over to the happy couple.

The writing team has risen to 5. Dools, Liska, Allie, Dan and myself, The Good Kid.

[I will try to add a pic of our new writers at a later time, or Dan can do so himself as I assume he will not like my choice.]

Melinka

First of all, to anyone who cares, sorry about the lack of posts for this blog. I just simply haven't been able to post much due to a lack of internet access on this trip and especially on this leg of the trip as we are currently on an island that doesn't even have a single ATM machine. We arrived on the island of Melinka a couple days ago. Again, I wish I could show you all (assuming plural people are reading this) pictures now, but I'll post them eventually as I've taken a lot. Digital cameras are pretty great. It's a small island (approx population of 1500) off the coast of the bigger island of Chiloe (about a 4 or 5 hour ferry ride). The island and hostel is quite beautiful, and we had a lot of fun walking around yesterday exploring. While the girls were making hostel reservations next door using their payphone, I walked around to the back of the house to take pictures of the coast. (I spotted a jellyfish with a spear in it. The spear was essentially a green broom stick and the animal torturer was the small boy whose lives in the hostel with his family. We had watched him jumping from rock to rock trying to hit it with the stick earlier.) Shortly after getting to the back of the house, I was greeted by two small and extremely cute 4 year old children (Ivana and Diego) who immediately wanted to know where I was from. Once again, I'm unable to blend in with the locals. They seemed quite curios about the fact that I had come from the United States as they had been born on this small island. They were calling me 'tio' which confused me as it means uncle in Spanish. Erin later explained to me that in Chile, 'tio' and 'tia' are used as simply a sign of respect.

We did some more exploring and later stumbled upon a group of 4 or 5 kids ranging in age from say 3 to 12 playing in a park. For God knows what reason, Carly and Steph immediately asked them about Justin Beiber. I can confirm, Beiber Fever has a stronghold on the small island of Melinka. When Erin also asked about Selena Gomez, a girl responded 'yep, Justin Beiber's girlfriend.' This is ridiculous. I'm sure these kids are pissed about the Grammy results too, but I didn't think to ask them about Arcade Fire.

Later in the day we traveled to the other side of the island. I don't know what I expected when we jumped in a van to head there, but it wasn't what I saw. It almost looks like a rain forest despite being too far South for that to be an accurate description. Either way, there were lots of trees, mountains, islands, and few signs of civilizations aside from the lone gravel road and a couple of very basic huts used by workers when they come to cut down trees for fire wood. We later stopped in an area where we picked up sticks, dug into the mud, stones, and shells on the coast line to find clams. We found a lot. Some of them we pried open with a pocket knife, scooped out and ate right there on the shore. Needless to say, freshest seafood I've ever had. Steph and iCarly were loving it. Vegetarians my ass. The rest though, we collected and cooked for dinner last night. Along with the wine we picked up, it was a sweet dinner with a sunset view over the ocean. (Really sorry to get all Nicholas Sparks on you guys.) After that, Carly and I headed down the street (some bullshit about nose goes and the tie breaker was complete crap, don't deny it Erin, you were playing favorites, again, complete bullshit) to pick up some more wine and some chocolate (for the ladies, I'm not a big chocolate eater). While we were in the store, I found a honey beer. Cerveza is bueno. iCarly loves honey, so I told her we had to get it and share it on the walk back. She tried to open it using the curb. Needless to say, not smooth as she broke out the bottom of the bottle so we had to get another one. We got the kid working there to open that one for us. It seriously tasted like someone mixed half a beer with a glass of honey. It was good, but sharing one was about my max ability to stomach this. The night then ended.

Today we're about to head to a boat for whale watching. Peace, bitches.

sorry for the delay from chiloe

(post from a few days ago)

Things have gone smoothly so far. I met up with the ladies in Puerto Montt, and we immediately boarded a bus to the island (part of the trip was a short ferry ride) of Chiloe. Fortunately this was just a short bus ride this time. Along with Stephanie and Erin is their friend Carly who was in the same program and also went to U of I. Anyway, we got to our hostel, which is pretty great. It's not much like a lot of the hostels I've stayed at in the past. It's essentially just a house that's been converted into a hostel, and we all really like it. It's quite welcoming and the young couple, Eduardo and Dina, that own it are pretty great. The first night we were here they were having a party at the hostel to celebrate their anniversary.

We decided to pick up a bottle of tequila, and ingredients to make guacamole. At the party we grilled out, drank some sangria, cervezas, and tequila, and chatted a lot with some Chileans. Fast forward a little while, and somehow the housekeeper of the hostel (wearing a jack-o-lantern t-shirt) is challenging me to take shots of tequila. Backing down was simply not an option. Essentially I had a small glass and she had a double shot glass. She insisted that the height of tequila in my glass be equal to the height in her shot glass. As a result, obviously mine was significantly more. No big, we each took our "shots" without incident. Then she started telling me how she beat me. I had no idea we were racing, especially because racing shots just seems ridiculous anyway. So of course I suggested a rematch. At this point Eduardo stepped in and called off the rematch as the housekeeper was hammered. Good times. We later went to a little club for a while where one of the Chileans we were with pulled me aside to tell me how based on my appearance I am very clearly not Chilean (I was shocked) and he'd have my back if something happened. No worries, nothing happened.

Our first full day in Chiloe, we woke up, had a quick breakfast and Eduardo took us out for the day. First we drove around a little bit, stopped at some absolutely stunning beaches, and even met some guys who were clam divers. After that, we headed to a different beach and stopped into a little restaurant overlooking the ocean for lunch. I wish I could post pictures of the food, but just trust me, we had some amazing seafood. After that we boarded a small boat, and headed out onto the ocean. One of Eduardo's friends took us out on his boat to see sea lions and penguins on small islands a bit off the coast. I got a pretty sweet sun burn. Also, the captain of the boat had a blast going over relatively large waves and watching Stephanie freak out. It was far from a reasonable reaction, and I simply began turning and watching her face every time we approached a wave. It was very enjoyable/pathetic.

That was pretty much it for the day. We're hoping to also go whale watching and eat 'curanto.' Curanto is a a meal of shellfish and carne (mixed meat). It's cooked in a hole in the ground that has a fire in the bottom, then stones, then the food is placed on top. The hole is then covered with large leafs so that the food can essentially bake in the hole. It's obviously a new concept to me, but the girls have been dying to try it for some time.

(Haven't had too much internet access at our hostel, for some reason my computer is having trouble accessing the internet despite being able to connect to the network. Pretty lame… so fast forward and here is what was supposed to be my next post)

Anyway, we had Curanto yesterday and it was very impressive. The first plate of muscles, clams, sausages, chicken, potatoes, etc came out and we assumed it was a plate for 2 people to share. Absolutely not. We each got our own plates and as a result, were more than a little bit excited. It was amazing, and somehow only cost about $10 each. We weren't even able to finish all of it and had leftovers which Erin and I mixed with pasta for dinner. Carly and Stephanie are "vegetarians" so they gave us their non-seafood meat. Long story short, they are the sorriest excuse for vegetarians I've ever seen. We also had a drink called pisco sour, which is lemon, egg whites, sugar and an type of liquor unique to South America, pisco. It's both good and strong.

We also hit up a thrift store (essentially a $2 USD store) on our way to the grocery store to buy pasta and such. The ladies all bought leotard/shirt type outfits. I'm not exactly sure how to describe them, but clearly the word 'sexy' jumps to mind quite easily. Personally, I purchased a purple corduroy jacket, that is, needless to say, awesome. It is a jacket that will wow my friends, family, and coworkers for years to come. It is a very nice, modern 2 button jacket that is best described as 'holy shit that's awesome.'

We are about to leave for an island a bit further south for the whale watching tour that will hopefully begin at 2am Wednesday. Based on recent reports, we are very optimistic about seeing whales and particularly giant blue whales. It is not in my nature at all to be optimistic though, so I'm still holding onto the belief that I won't see shit so that I don't have to get disappointed.

Mathilde I'm really sorry but we're locked out

This post is coming to you from Portugal but I would be remiss to not mention our adventures in Lyon. After my first night out in Lyon I needed a day to recover. Saturday was supposed to be my recoup day in order to get ready to attack the Alps on Sunday. After sleeping until about 3 on Saturday it was time to see a little bit of Lyon.

In order to ski Sunday morning we had to make a trek across town in order to rent the skis. I will do my best to insert some things that have been most interesting to me on my travels while appropriate. First of all public transportation in Lyon is amazing and makes the CTA look like it was designed by a four year old (this is especially impressive when you take into account that Lyon and its buildings have been around for five centuries or more) Any way we went to get our skis and I had my first encounter with French customer service where the customer is always wrong. Pause FREE SHOT...Elwood picked a fantastic hostel in Lisbon where you are required to take a free shot at 1130. Anyway after we got our skis we headed over to Elwood's buddy's house for Jimmer night. BYU was playing San Diego State and it was Elwood and Sebastian's first opportunity to see Fredette play. They (we) celebrated by opening a few bottles of wine (French people never stop drinking, even at work...) and streaming a game over the internet. Maybe not the best decision since the bus to take us to the Alps left at 6 the next morning. We finally left around 3 in the morning knowing full well the alarm was going to ring at 5 the next (same, i guess) day.


The bus ride to the alps was fantastic. France as I have already said is just so beautiful and the little residence secondaire (secondary residences) in the country are such a wonderful escape. Dan explained that many French people have these homes that have been in their families for centuries. After the country the Alps are upon you. I have been to Colorado to ski but they pale in comparison to the Alps. I guess the best word to describe the mountains is violent. They come from out of nowhere and the next thing you know you are 1000M above sea level. The Alps are not a place where people go to learn how to ski. We sat next to a kid on the chair lift who had been on the mountain since she was TWO. We held our own despite the limited visibility and severe cold. My personal highlight is when both Dan and I took a little detour off the trail and we both failed pretty miserably. I went first and almost made it down before a big time face plant. I could hear Dan's laugh from 100m's down the hill. His attempt was much worse. As I rolled over to watch he biffed it about 3\4 of the way down and got tangled up with his own skis and poles. I could hardly hold it together while lying on the ground. A couple French people stopped to make sure I was okay (mistaking my laughter for pain) only to see Dan STRUGGLING to right himself and then joining to take part in his humiliation.

Later that night as I sat in Dan's kitchen talking to Stojic I realized that in the food capital of France I had yet to enjoy a meal. All over the place are what are called boulangeries which are little bakery\cafes. Dan introduced me to gallette au sucre which is pure bliss. Saying that it is dough with a a sugary topping simply does not seem to do it justice even though that is what it is. They also make what I guess I can best describe as a calzone but taken to a whole other level.

Monday we slept late and made the trek up to Fourviere, the church on top of the hill. Elwood, Sebastian, and I found a little spot and just kicked on the hill while drinkin some brews. We explored the church and concluded the day with an authentic French meal. We had a little trouble with the menu but managed not to order Tripe which I count as a success. Elwood order French Onion soup which was indescribable. This we the best on earth. There was NO way that it could have been better anywhere else.

We headed back to Sebastian's for a night cap and as Dan and I returned to his place he realized he did not have his keys. After about twenty minutes of calling and ringing the doorbell we finally woke Dan's roommate who was none too pleased at being woken at 2AM having to work early the next day.

We got to Portugal today where it is 60 and sunny and again unbelievably beautiful. Elwood to no ones surprise is working the ladies at the hostel and attempting to push the music of Elton John and Billy Joel on the hostel lobby. Tomorrow we are off to the castles and beaches. Stojic...wish you were here.

Obrigado (thanks)

Liska


Elwood's Blog

Chile

Well I arrived in Chile just fine. Flight from Chicago into Dallas ran quite late on departure, so I was forced to hammer through the airport Home Alone style to catch my next flight from Dallas into Santiago, but no big and it will count as my workout for the day. Last night I took an overnight bus from Santiago to Puerto Montt. I unfortunately believe that I left my camera uplink cable in Chicago, so picture updates appear unlikely until after I return.

Anyway, some brief news of my travels so far. As I said, I arrived in Santiago yesterday and had time to kill before my over night bus. I had enough time to do a couple things Erin suggested.

The first activity was to hike up the trail to Cerro San Cristobal. Erin told me that there is ¨A big statue of Jesus up there or something.¨ I thought, great, Kuph would love it if I got pictures of a large Jesus statue for him to frame over his bed. Anyway, part way up the trail, (and this trail was a bitch, quite steep and in the Chilean heat, it was rough after being acclimated to the cold and being known as someone who loves the cold anyway) I realize, um, it´s a statue of the Virgin Mary. Way off Erin.... It was a nice hike though, great views overlooking Santiago.

After I finished that activity, I simply walked around town a bit. At one point a man stopped me and asked me some questions. (As much as I try to blend, it´s not too likely to happen. Oh, and I also don´t try, I don´t know how I could that wouldn´t be exceptionally offensive.) We chatted for a bit as he also asked me for help on his english a bit, translating sentences for him, etc etc. Eventually he asked me if I was in a rush or if I wanted to stop in and grab a beer and keep chatting and helping eachother with language. I said sure, why not. Anyway, Javier is 39 and a rather nice fellow, but it´s a weird situation when he doesn´t know much english, and therefore the phrases he wants me to translate come off rather weird when to a beginning speaker, it´s probably (read: hopefully) natural. The particular phrase in question was ´I like you very much.´ So, yea..... Anyway, he gave me a weird beaded necklace thing to remember him, and he also gave me his phone number and invited me to his neices birthday party next. What a guy.

After that, I wandered around some more. Went to a pretty cool market, and really loved some of the paintings artists had on display. That was pretty much it for my first day. I then boarded the overnight bus and fortunately slept most of the time as I didn´t get enough sleep on the flights. Erin and Steph are arriving into Puerto Montt in about an hour so I´m heading to meet up with them now.

Also, Chileans are big on PDA. teenagers are making out everywhere.

"Provocative Text Or Not"

"Provocative Text Or Not"

Continuation....this is the name of the game that Elwood and I payed as I was writing blog plost.

Lyon: Desole pour mon absence (sorry for my absence)

Bonjour, Comment ca va?

I made it. This post is coming to you from Elwood's apartment which has to have been built before America was founded. Thankfully no problems on the flight other than the miserable food which was compounded by the fact the whole meal was about the size of a decks of cards. Good thing I binged on Paul's and Chipotle before I left.

I arrived in Geneve, Switzerland at around 10:30....(fast forward this post restarting at 3:20 AM Lyon time) "Elwood's computer is dying and we are trying to figure out the power converter, "if it doesn't fit don't force it"( thats what she said). Just got back from the bars. Elwood's friends are so funny and have stories galore to tell about Danny.

Lyon is absolutely beautiful and tomorrow we are going to explore some of its sights. I am so exhausted from the long journey but I must say I toughed it out like a champ today and am looking forward to a nice long sleep tonight. Many more details/pictures to come tomorrow.

AU REVOIR

Scott

Deja Vu or A Glitch in the Matrix

Just noticed the following:


Local Weather Alert
Winter Weather Advisory for Chicago, Illinois
From 6:00 PM CST, Thu., Feb 24, 2011 until 9:00 AM CST, Fri., Feb 25, 2011
Issued by The National Weather Service
Chicago, IL
Wed, Feb 23, 2011, 11:00 PM CST

... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 9 AM CST FRIDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 9 AM CST FRIDAY.

* TIMING... SNOW IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN THIS EVENING.

* ACCUMULATIONS... AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES LIKELY... WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE. ACCUMULATION RATES MAY EXCEED ONE INCH PER HOUR LATE THIS EVENING.

* HAZARDS... SNOW. NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS GUSTING TO AROUND 25 MPH MAY PRODUCE AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW. VISIBILITY MAY DROP BELOW ONE-HALF MILE AT TIMES.

* IMPACTS... SNOW COVERED ROADS. RAPID SNOW ACCUMULATION MAY RESULT IN VERY TREACHEROUS ROAD CONDITIONS AND MAKE SNOW REMOVAL DIFFICULT AT TIMES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW WILL CAUSE PRIMARILY TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SNOW COVERED ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES... AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.

I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.

The last two trips I've been on have had significant problems caused by snow. Needless to say, I am not enthused as I fly out of O'Hare at 6:05pm. Many expletives are flowing through my mind right now.

Signing On

Ok, here we go. This is my first ever blog post. I have rarely written for an audience and will preface this adventure by saying that I am nowhere near as witty (although some may say offensive) as Tim. I would also like to say that I am taking an approach totally foreign to me for this trip. Other than buying my ticket to Europe Elwood has essentially planned our entire trip……..no joke.

Brief overview: Like Tim, my trip begins tomorrow (booked mine first by the way). First up is a day-long ski trip to Switzerland. From Lyon we will be traveling to (in order) Lisbon, Madrid, Rome, Dublin, and Paris. Like Tim’s trip some of the finer details are yet to be determined but in the words of Elwood, “why are you so worried about plans everything always works out”.

Things I’m most excited about: First, the food. According to Elwood Lyon is the food capital of France. He’s talked a big game and I’m hoping Lyon comes to play. Second, Rome/Vatican City. So much history so much culture. Thirdly, Guinness. If it's as good as everyone says it is in Ireland then Dublin is going to be a good time.

I’m not really worried about a whole lot but if Hollywood has taught us anything about French people it is that some cute guy will try to seduce me and sell me into some sex trafficking network. Lucky for me I’m pretty tight with an army ranger. So if you don’t hear from me for a few days call up Drake so he can go Liam Neeson on some fools.

That’s all for now. I’ll check in from the other side…of the pond that is.

And we're back...

Alright everyone, the time has come, and the revival of this blog is upon us. I may have stated quite some time ago that this blog was dead and buried like JonBenet Ramsey, but apparently I just didn't have much foresight.

Moving on, the blog has new life, which means that I'm heading on a trip soon. I thought about updating this blog to include posts about the trip a group of us took to the Kohlstedt's condo in Beaver Creek, Colorado. Quite frankly, I wasn't sure how interesting those posts would be, although a post or two may have been warranted due to the fact that we were forced to drive because of the early February blizzard in Chicago and Mr and Mrs Kuphall came to drink with us one night. It led to some great times. With that said, I could sum it up pretty quickly and fully by saying we did a lot of skiing, snowboarding, and drinking. I'm sure Rudy posted about it here anyway. This blog will remain about travels outside America.

I have a terrible habit of momentary thoughts driving my writing off on tangents, but I think I might be able to focus on the trips at hand now. Yep, trips. Twist! The blog has doubled it's writing staff. Current authorized writers of this blog has risen to 2 as Scott Liska has been granted author access. I'm hoping Scott can live up to the high journalistic standards this blog prides itself on.

My Trip:

Leave for Santiago, Chile on February 24th and return on March 8th. I'll be traveling around Chile and Argentina.

Liska's Trip:

Liska will be heading to Portugal, France, and Ireland I believe. Not sure if there are other destinations or if those plans have changed, but he can address that later.

That will be the extent of my writing about Liska's trip on this blog as he will hopefully fill in the rest of the details with his own posts. It was Liska's idea to contribute to the blog and, I fully support it and hope there could be days with an update from both, say, Portugal and Argentina. Hopefully Liska follows up and makes some posts. He will be with Elwood at least part of the time though, so all bets are off.

I'm still uncertain of the exact details of my own trip, I just know that I will be arriving in Santiago and then taking a bus to meet Erin and Steph (both recently finished a similar teaching program to Elwood). Potentially destinations include Chiloe, Valdivia, and Santiago in Chile and Bariloche, Argentina.

No post would be complete without some reference to the ramblings of my mother. She has a very real fear that my blond hair will inevitably lead to my murder, and she hates my new pea coat. I'm crossing my fingers she's wrong on both, especially the latter. It would suck if I was wrong about this coat.