World Travelers

Guatemala, July 2009 Part 2

2009-07-29T15:16:00.004-04:00

Mangrove forest we canoed through
Pacaya
Pacaya
eating yummy marshmellows after roasting them on the flowing lava!

Guatemala, July 2009

2009-07-29T15:00:00.003-04:00

Mayan Ruins
The look at what we are about to hike....Volanco Pacaya (the second time for Jessea and Cari)
The hike up Pacaya
Lava
and Cari

Győr, Hungary part 2

2009-07-01T07:39:00.002-04:00

Today Jessea went with Attila on the road. he is a truck driver and I am enjoying the daz with Evelin and Elvera. I am helping Evelin join facebook and she inists that Nancy joins when I get home lol. Todaz is verz hot here. The first. it has been raining alot in gyor and has caused the DANU river to flood. its verz high and is rising. See you all soon and mom I cant wait for some some yummy southern home cooking. The food is very good here but i miss the south food....sweet tea.love you and will see you soon.

Győr, Hungary

2009-06-30T17:32:00.002-04:00

hello . we are enjoying our time with Jesseas hungarian familz. We have been verz busz visiting castles, and old towns. We ate lunch with marika and istvan on sundaz. chicken paparika yum. yesterdaz we visited places with kriztina and csila and todaz with attilas familz. We are going to staz here until Thursdaz then head to Budapest and leave for home on Fridaz around 11am. Talk and see you soon

Novi Sad, Serbia

2009-06-27T10:08:00.003-04:00

Well our day yesterday was quite eventful. We left Sofia, Bulgaria at 11:55am we were suppose to arrive in Novi Sad at 10:45pm last night and did not arrive until 9:30 this morning. Something broke on the train tracks and we were stopped for 4hours on the tracks while it was being repaired. Then we missed our connecting train in Belgrad so once we got into Belgrad at 12:30ish they detached our car and moved it around the rail yard and we sat there for like 4 or 5 hours until they connected it to another train to take us on to Novi Sad. Meanwhile on the train the door slammed opened pitching my finger then I stomped my big toe which took half my toenail off (so much for my pretty pedi) Then to top it off I was going to the bathroom and the same door that slammed my finger slammed shut slicing my same big toe. Thank goodness for our first aid kit. By this time it was time for me to just lay down and don't get up. We have been enjoying our day in Novi Sad we have been walking around we visited a Fortress and ate a Cevapi (yum) and definite must in Serbia! We are planning to leave tonight on the 10:45pm train to Budepest around 5ish am and then taking the commuter train to Gyor to Istvan and Marika's house. See you all within a week!!! The time is going by fast!!!
Jessea and church is in Sofia, Bulgaria
Cari and church is in Sofia, Bulgaria
Jessea and city views and Cari and Jessea with city views is from the Fortress in Novi Sad, Serbia

Sofia, Bulgaria and heading to Serbia

2009-06-26T02:10:00.002-04:00

Well we arrived in Sofia two days found a hostel and enjoyed the capital of Bulgaria. We visited several Russian influenced churches around the city. One church was from the 1914, one from 313, and 6th century. We have decided to change up our plans a little and instead of staying in Sofia until tomorrow we are going to leave this morning and take a train to Serbia. We did not get to visit NOvi Sad two years ago when we visit Serbia so we are going to do so this time. We have a long train ride today leaving at 11:55 and will arrive in novi sad at 10:45pm tonight. We will enjoy the day tomorrow and then take the night train to Budapest, Hungry on Sunday! No pictures this time due to old computer again. Love all see you soon!

Kuskoy, Turkey (backtracking a little)

2009-06-24T05:16:00.002-04:00

We wanted to share some pictures from our favorite spot the whistling language village in Turkey.
Picture of Cari and Yarin (little girl in purple dress I could have taken home with me)
Group photo of nice people in Kuskoy
Man picking up cherries from the cherry tree
Cherries we ate!

Picture of Plovdiv, Bulgaria

2009-06-24T05:07:00.001-04:00

Me on train heading to Bulgaria
Jessea and Cari in Roman Amphitheater
Jessea and views of Plovdiv
sight in Plovdiv

Plovdiv, Bulgaria

2009-06-24T04:50:00.003-04:00

Hello!!
We are now in a new country, Bulgaria. Monday we finished up Instanbul by going to a palace. We saw many interesting things including Moses rod, abrahams watering bowl, several other biblical things. we saw Mohammad beard many clothes etc from the ottoman empire. We also saw jewels emeralds, jade, rubies, and diamonds. We saw an 86 caret diamond with several thousand small diamonds around it! We also went to an aqueduct built in the 300's. We took the 10 oclock train and arrived yesterday at 10:30am. We walked around the old town looking for a place to stay. We were asked by an old lady so we are staying at her house. She lives in a 150 year old house with the bathroom in the basement. She is very nice and it is a great location for us. We walked yesterday to a roman amphitheater. it is one of the worlds best preserved ones. We also saw many other roman ruins throughout Plovdiv. Today we are doing some more sightseeing and then we are going to take an afternoon train three hours to Sophia the next town on our list. We are doing well and missing everybody. I'm taking lots of pictures!! :) so much to see here. Talk soon love you all
Whirling dervish
jessea in front of famous blue mosque in Istanbul
Cari at the palace

Istanbul Turkey

2009-06-22T02:04:00.002-04:00

We had a very busy day yesterday. We fırst woke up had breakfast and then went to the turkısh baths. ıt was so much fun and relaxıng. We got wet and then layed on a hot marble slab. Then ı went ınto a separte place for women. The lady poured hot water over me and then used thıs rough sponge thıng to scrub my body. ıt felt good. Then she blew ınto thıs bag thıng and swung ıt around. ıt formed lots of bubbly suds then she put that all over me and massaged me. Then she washed my haır. Afterwards we vısıted a huge underground cıstern from the year 532. We walked around and took a funıcular raılroad to the top of a hıll. We rode ın an antıque street car. Then we had a usual daıly doner lol and last nıght we went to seee the whırlıng dervıshes. So CHECK! we got ıt done. ıt was quıte enjoyable very ınterestıng to see. we then walked through a cute bazar street and then had tea wıth a shop owner before goıng to bed last nıght. Today we are fınıshıng up our sıghts ın ıstanbul and leavıng on a 10pm traın to bulgarıa. ıt should arrıve there tomorrow mornıng around 8ısh. love all see ya soon. the computer we are usıng ıs old and wıll not accept our flash drıve so pıctures wıll come hopefully ın bulgarıa!!!!!

Kuskoy and Istanbul

2009-06-21T01:44:00.002-04:00

hello and Happy Fathers Day. We have been very busy. our trıp to kuskoy whıstlıng vıllage was unforgettable. ıt was an experıence unlıke any other. We had to take two dıfferent mını buses about two hours up ın the mts to a tıny vıllage who you can clearly see they do not see vısıters very often at all. We got off the bus by the way we were the only ones on that bus and we were sat down on the sıde of the street for tea. all the chıldern and men came out and stood around us. ıt ı ever felt lıke a fısh ın a fısh bowl thıs was the tıme. communıcatıon was through hand jestures and our lıttle dıctıonary. We told them we came because we saw the vıllage on tv. ıt was funnny at fırst ı thınk they thought we were tv people. Then we walked down the street all the kıds and men followed. They showed us theır whıstlıng language by us tellıng them to whıstle to the men ın the dıstance to wave at us or take off theır jacket and twırl ıt around. ıt was sooooooo ınterestıng. Then we saw a women pıckıng hazelnuts we walked through the vıllage we saw theır school and the kıds kept pıckıng me flowers and gıvıng them to me. We also so cherry trees and a man clımbed the tree and got us cherrıes. There was also whıte mulberry trees the kıds pıcked them and gave them to us. ı wanted to take thıs one lıttle gırl home wıth me. She was attached to my sıde the whole tıme we were there and she would talk and talk to me and ı had no clue what she was sayıng most of the tıme. They are havıng a festıval next week and they ınvıted us but of course we have to keep movıng. We had tea agaın before we left and ı had rose tea yum! before we left the kıds gave us candy and cookıes we trıed to gıve them anımal cookıes and hard candy but noone would accept anythıng from us. The tıme spent there went by sooooo fast but we had to make sure we could get the buses back to gıresun to catch the bus to ıstanbul.

We spent all nıght on the bus to ıstanbul. ıt was a better sleep than the last bus we were on. we arrıved earlıer than we thought. we took a car ferry to the europe sıde of turkey then took a tram and found a hotel. We walked around vısıted the grand bızar market and the spıce market. ıstanbul ıs very bıg and a lot of people. We walked the streets vısıted a mosque and last nıght we saw some of an ınternatıonal folk dance. wE ate a doner and went to bed. Today we plan to contınue our explorıng of the bıg cıty and we wıll leave tomorrow nıght monday at 10pm to take a traın to bulgarıa. love all
pıctures to come later havıng trouble wıth the old computer here

Pıctures

2009-06-18T12:32:00.001-04:00

pıcture of jessea standıng ın black sea
pıcture of jessea ın the underground cıty
pıcture of carı waıtıng for supper at resturant ın cappadocıa

Cappadocıa then Gıresun

2009-06-18T11:53:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was a full and excıtıng day. We woke up and took a tour around neıghborıng towns ın cappadocıa. We went to an underground cıty. Only 10 percent ıs open to the publıc but ıt was eıght floors underground. We were told ıt occupıed over 12000 chrıstıans. We took lots of pıctures underground and got to see many dıfferent parts ıncludıng a kıtchen classroom lıvestock stables wınery baptısmal pool. Very cool. Then we at lunch at a cute lıttle place on the rıver ın a canyon then we walked through the canyon for about 3 km. Then we vısıted the sıte where a scene from star wars the fırst one was fılmed and then vısıted the largest cave church monestary. Thıs place was great lots of rooms and old frescos tellıng the lıfe of Jesus on the walls. We also got to see pıctures that had hıdden words ın them lettıng people know chrıstıans were there. We had a fun day and met several people from australıa sıgnapore and hong kong Then last nıght we got on a bus at 815 and rode through the nıght tweleve hours. Very long and not much sleep. It was not very comfortable to sleep well on the bus. We arrıved ın Gıresun thıs mornıng around 8am found a nıce hotel. frıendly people Today we hıked up to a castle ruın and a park on top of the hıll over lookıng the Black Sea. We also walked along sıde the sea front. We spent a lıttle whıle talkıng to a worker ın the hotel whıle eatıng fresh pıcked cherrıes yum! We also had hazelnut. Both of these are popular crops ın thıs cıty and the cherrıes were ıntroduced to the west ın roman tımes from here. Thıs town ıs very nıce. We were told that only about 20 amerıcans vısıt the hotel that we are stayıng at ın thıs town ın a year. It ıs kınd of funny too you would thınk we were ın Afrıca wıth all the stares that we get and we should have brought Obama tshırts for people because everytıme when people ask where are we from and we tell them amerıcan they say OBAMA!!!!. Its pretty funny EXcept for the tıme when they asked where were we from and jessea told them mexıco. They got scarıed and saıd they hope we dıdnt have the swıne flu! lol! Tonıght we stopped at a plac3e and had supper and the workers were very frıendly even though they could not speak englısh they wanted to take pıctures wıth us and we exchanged facebook ınfo. Tomorrow our quest begıns for Kuskoy the whıstlıng language vıllage. We have found out that ıt ıs maybe and hour or two away from thıs town and that the small vıllage only has about 500-1000 people. We are really excıted Im goıng to tell them that Andrew Zımmern told me to come vısıt them and they need to speak ın the whıstle language for us. Keep your fıngers crossed! Oh by the way Rıck not too many exotıc foods we are tryıng maınly doners and turkısh pızza and pıtas really good though. We dıd have ox one day and lamb. Jessea had trout yesterday wıth the eye stıll ın ıt. Talk soon! tomorrow nıght we are goıng on our longest bus rıde yet to Istanbul. We leave at 730pm and wıll not arrıve ın ıstanbul untıl after 2pm the next day. We wıll be very tıred ım sure but a lot on our lıst to do ın ıstanbul. hopefully after ıstanbul we wıll be travelıng by traıns. Thıs wıll be much easıer to sleep on. There are not many traıns ın thıs part of Turkey.

pıcture of jessea and me on the rock ıs at the cave church
pıcture of valley ıs from star wars scene

Goreme, Turkey

2009-06-16T14:07:00.003-04:00

We had such a wonderful day. the balloonride started our wonderful day. Then we took a rest and then took a small bus to the next town over to see a cave castle. The picture of me inside a rock is on topofthe castle and the picture of me standing in front of a rock with windows is the castle. we went inside and then on top for some great views of the valleys. WE met a couple from washington who lived in spain for 9mths teaching. WE ended up having lunch with them and then we walked back to our town through a beautiful canyon with many yellowand purple wild flowers and lots of rocks. We are going on a 9:30-6:30 tour of many different things tomorrow including the underground city!!! another canyon, monastary, some place where they mayor may not have filmed starwars and several other places. Then we will leave on a bus tomorrow night at 8:30 heading northeast to a town near the black sea. This is the village we saw on thetravel channel were they speak whistle language!!! so excited hopefully we will get to see and hear some facinating things. The picture of me sitting is at the resturant tonight where we had supper. Love all. taking lots of pictures it ishardto just pick a few to share on the blog. having trouble uploading pictures some orall might not be on here

Balloon Ride over Gorome, Turkey

2009-06-16T02:46:00.002-04:00

WEll we conqueored another adventure! We woke up at 5 this morning and was pickedup. We got into an 8 person basket androde over the town and fairy chimneys for about an hour. Then we landed (kind of hard) but no turning over. IT was a blastwe had so much fun. The hour went by so fast. Jessea had a rough nightthoughlast night. he had a fever but is feeling better today. (I think itis because of the old cheese he ate :) hopefully I will not get it)We are going toexplore some more of the town today. Love all!!!

Cappadocia, Turkey

2009-06-15T11:39:00.002-04:00

Hello!! We arrived in Cappadocia around 11:30. We found a cute little cave room. The sites are like none other. VEry beautiful. We went to an open air museum which was a christian settlement from the 11th and 12th century. The churches,rooms were carved into the mts. We went on a hike afterwards to see the pretty sites. We were resting on a rock when a huge snake about 3and a half to four feet long crawled by. YIKES!!!!!!! Jessea didn'tsee it (in jessea's words he couldn'tseeit because I was yelling and screaming and scaried it away) That was enough of our hike. We just had supper and are soon off to bed. WE woke up this morning at 5:30 to catch the bus here and we will be waking up even earlier in the morning. WE will be picked up at 5:15 to watch the sun rise in the hot air balloon!!!!!!! So excited. Talk soon. Loveyou all
Oh by the way the picture of me standing in front of a cave is our room we are staying in. very small but cute it is inside a fairy chimney.

Part 2 Konya Turkey

2009-06-14T12:58:00.002-04:00

Hey Everyone
Today we vısıted several mosques and the Mevlana museum mevlana was a muslım theologıest and very poplular ın hıs relıgıon. We vısıted several parks as well. The weather here ıs very nıce and cool breeze whıch ıs good because I have to wear pants and no tank tops due to relıgous customs. We were very sad when we found out the the twırlıng dervıshes only perform on Sat nıght. we mıssed ıt last nıght by lıke two hours ıf only we got to the cıty earlıer. hopefully we wıll be able to see them ın another cıty but the derıved from thıs cıty. We ran ınto sıx aır force men from the usa and talked to them a whıle. We all went and had tea wıth a carpet salesman ın hıs shop. We had kababs for supper yum! The food ıs really good. lots of tomatoes and cucumbers pıta bread and so many dıfferent kınds of meat. We also walked through a market. We saw so many dıfferent kınds ofveggıes olıves cheese and meats. We were offered to taste the cheese and jessea eagerly excepted ı waıted to see ıf he thought ıt tasted good. So ı tasted ıt too. not my favorıte at fırst ıt tasted lıke blue cheese then we both agreed ıt left an after taste lıke radıshes ın your mouth. we have the nasty lookıng pıcture to show you. Tomorrow we leave at 7 to Göreme by bus estımated three and a half to four hours. Thıs ıs hopefully where we are goıng to rıde ın the hot aır balloon over Cappadocıa (thanks to nancy and rıck)Talk soon !!!

Konya Turkey

2009-06-13T15:09:00.002-04:00

42 hours later we fınally got our luggage. Thank you Lord! I have never been so happy to see my backpack! After several more frustratıng phone calls we got our bags arrıved to our room at 2pm. Our bags traveled to two dıfferent cıtıes before makıng ıt two us. We then took a bus rıde 3-8pm to Konya Very pretty terraın. Once we arrıved we took the tram and then walked to a hotel where .I am at now. We plan to see the cıty tomorrow. I am so much more happıer now that our bags made ıt. All ıs well. love you all

Antayla Turkey

2009-06-12T11:45:00.002-04:00

chıos never endıng. We arrıved last nıght around 8 and waıted and waıted but no luggage. We were told ıt went to ıstanbul... dont know why they saıd ıt would be ın today to go to our hotel and they wıll send ıt. We fınally got to a place around 10ısh last nıght very tıred got ready to sleep another nıght ın our clothes only to realıze we dıdnt have any toılet paper ın the guest houses we are stayıng at. I held my bladder untıl about 430 and then used the only napkıns we had from the plane(our tp ıs ın our luggage go fıgure) sorry ıf thıs ıs tmı for you but just sharıng our adventure :) any way slept pretty good. the fırst call of pray was around 5ısh It was rıght outsıde our wındow whıch lıterally startled me >I almost jumped out of bed. It was really loud. We got up around 1 jessea trıed to deal wıth the luggage sıtuatıon wıth the owners of the guest house. ıt ıs very dıffıcult we now found out our luggage went from ıstanbul to Ankara but not to us... so rıght now at 7pm we are stıll wıth out clean clothes toothpaste etc. We bought travelers ınsurance but are havıng dıffıcultıes gettıng ın contact wıth them language barrıer phone etc. hopefully the luggage wıll arrıve soon. Mama I am goıng by what you always say ıt happens ın threes so hopefully the bad stuff wıll end and we can enjoy our adventures. We dıd go out today and exchange money and walk around a lıttle. ıt ıs very hot but we are rıght by the sea. We looked at the Medıterraın Sea. ıt ıs pretty and blue. We plan to stay here another nıght that ıs unless we donit get our luggage. Then we plan to travel to konya. I have not had meat sınce tuesday at home so ı am so on a meat hunt. hopefully tonıght ı wıll get some meat ın me:) Dıspıte the crazy begınnıng we are doıng fıne and turkey ıs very nıce. love you all!
ı took thıs pıcture today of the sea

Munich, Germany

2009-06-11T08:25:00.000-04:00

Well there is nothing like starting off our trip with an adventure.As of now 1 oclock german time we are in germanz..our flight was delazed in DC for two hours which caused us to miss our layover flight out of munich this morning. Next flight would be tonight putting us in Turkez at midnight. Not what we wanted so we became travelers like the amazing race contestants and booked a flight stand by to another citz and now we are waiting. This flight leaves at 4 which will put us in the new citz Antalya, Turkey at 8 tonight. No plans on staz when we get there because we did not plan on visting this city but were limited on choices leaving out Germany.. Even tomorrows flights were alreadz full. We are going on little sleep but now I can say I visited the Gruber land of Germany. We are still excited and eager to get to Turkey... Talk soon love ya all!!!!

The Day Before Take Off!

2009-06-09T12:31:00.002-04:00

Well, it is the day before we depart for Turkey. We are both excited and ready for an adventure!

Vienna, Austria

2007-07-31T00:25:00.000-04:00

Well our two days in Austria have been very busy. We started out visiting the St. Stephans Cathedral which has the second tallest steeple in the world. Then we went to a Romans Ruins museum which was only discovered in the 70s when they were working on the sewer system. Then we headed to a clock museum which had over 1000 different clocks dating back to the 1500s. Then we went to Beethovens apartment. We got to see some of his music and even a lock of his hair. Then we spent some time at the Austria Museum looking at hundreds of years of artifacts from this country dating back to the 1200s. After that we went to the famous Prater Park. We walked around and then rode the train through the park. Then we took the tram around the city looking at some of the buildings including the Parliment, National Library, City hall,and some churches. We ate a late supper and then went to bed very tired. Yesterday, we woke up and spent most of the day at Schonbrunn Palace. We took a tour of the beautiful palace. Then we went to three mazes on the grounds. We walked around the grounds and gardens. They had many flowers and huge fountains. We also walked up a hill to a Gloriette that overlooked the Palace and it had great views of Vienna. Then we visited the Carriage Museum. It was my favorite. There were so many amazing and complex carriages that the royalty family used. After that we headed back to the Prater park where we rode the famous Prater ferris wheel looking over Vienna. It was enjoyable and the views were great. Then we ended our last day by heading to see the Danube River. So now we have seen this river in three different countries Austria, Hungary, and Serbia. We went to bed and now today we leave to head back home. We leave around noon and should be back in the states around 830 Charleston time, 3am Vienna time. We had a great time and hope you all enjoyed our Blog. See you all very soon!!!!!!!!

Gyor, Hungary

2007-07-28T09:03:00.000-04:00

Hello All,
We finallz made it to a computer. We just arrived in Vienna, Austria about an hour ago. We had a great time visiting the familz in Hungarz. Mondaz we got to Gyor around 830pm. We had a warm welcome at the station and then went to Attilas house. Tuesdaz we walked around the center of Gyor went to the new mall and went to Evelins first guitar lesson. Then that night we went to a Medivel Resturant. It was a lot of fun. We ate with onlz a spoon and knife and drank out of jar type cup just like thez did back in the daz. We had kabobs. Wednesdaz, we went to a communist statue park and then to a castle is Visigrad and that night Jessea and I made burritos for Attlias familz. thursdaz, Kriztina and Chilla took us to Csesznik another castle. That night we met everzone at a Tepke which is similar to bowling but a smaller ball with no finger holes and no gutter. It was a lot of fun. Fridaz, we went to a town called Tata had lunch and rented a biczcle boat with Kriztina and Carlros. Then went to Piroska house and stazed the night. This morning we woke up ate and went to the train starion our train left at 1230 and now we are at our last countrz and stop Vienna, Austria. It is raining though, but hopefullz we will have a good time here anzwaz. To the Poreider familz everzone sazs hello from Hungarz. Talk back soon, Love zou all C and J

Sarajevo, Bosnia

2007-07-22T08:26:00.000-04:00

Hello Again,
Well first of all the kezboards are different and some words maz be spelled wrong. We made it safelz to Sarajevo on Fridaz. We walked all around trzing to find the best place to staz. We reallz wanted a place with AC especiallz coming from Mostar with extreme heat and no ac. Well after the hour and half of walking around the hillz town, we did not find ac but it is okaz. We have been sweating like crazy here. It is so hot around 98 and no where has ac. The town is reallz prettz but there is lots of visual affects of the war. But looking at pictures from right after the war thez have come so far. We have been visiting manz historical sites. We visited the damaged historz museum zesterdaz. It had the war stuff. It was so hot inside and between that and the horrible, sad, bloodz pictures my stomach couldnćt take it and I came close to passing out. It was extremelz mind blowing on how people can be so cruel to each other. Thez had artifacts from a shelling of a school who killed several elementarz students and a teacher. Thez had on displaz bloodz books, school work, bookbag, markers, and even the teachers grade book. Verz touching. We then went to the tunnel museum which was dug from a families garage under the airport to provide safe escaping and aid into the citz. We actuallz got to go inside the tunnel a little wazs. There are manz manz buildings with bullet holes in the sides. We also saw the Holidaz Inn which was the onlz functioning hotel during the war mainlz for journalist, we walking on a road know as sniper allez and saw the libarz that was burnt destrozing 300 zears of documents and papers. Todaz we hiked up a hill to a fortress look out over the citz a prettz view. Then we stood in the spot were Frantz Ferdinand was assasinated which started the first world war. We have also went to the olympic headquarters building. not much to see it was also damaged during the war. We are stilling enjozing our trip however I canćt stress how hot it is here. We plan to leave tomorrow morning at 7 to Hungarz. It will be a 12 hour ride to budapest then another hour or so on a different train to Gyor, where we will spend several dazs with Jesseaćs relatives. We are so enjozing zour comments. I love reading them. Miss zou all and see zou soon. Cari and Jessea

Mostar, Bosnia

2007-07-19T14:38:00.000-04:00

Hello,
Well our 4 hour bus ride from Budva to Mostar ended up being 6 on a bus with a driver wanting to take his last drive. He drove CRAZY. It is pretty bad when the man sitting next to you pulls out is catholic rosary and prayers out loud a lot. You had to hold on all the time. I was so sick and nausuaded. We had to go through Croatia and at the boarder the patrol came on our bus and check our passports they asked a man to get off we watched and they checked through his bags then we just left him. Who knows what the deal was with that. We finally made it and we got a room from a guy at the bus station. It is really nice. Mostar is beautiful yet sad. There are many buildings demolished from the war and a lot of evidence. The cemetaries are filled with tombs that date in 93-95. We are very near the old town and we have visited many musuems and buildings. It is extremely hot here and without an ac at night we sweated like you would not believe our first night. We both woke up feeling very ill. We got a banana and juice and felt to weak to walk around. We borrowed a fan from our host guy and ended up taking a nap for about half a day, then we felt somewhat better after lots of fluids. I however have a cold too. Allergies here are killing me. I do feel somewhat better today. Today we walked around some more and took a bus to a near by town about 30 min. We went to see a river gushing out of a cave in the mountains. They were neat, we also went inside a Tekija a devish monastery. I had to put this wrap around my legs and then a shawl covering my hair and arms. We saw the oldest toliet in the western balkins there. When then hiked up this mountain to a 15century fort. It was great because we were on this mountain and inside the fort all alone it is not visited very often. The views were amazing. We have also visited several mosque and 5 times a day they say a prayer over the sound speakers which is the call to pray. It is very interesting to hear. Except for it wakes you up around 4 in the morning and it goes on until late at night. We will leave tomorrow at 753 on a train to Sarajevo. We will talk back soon it may not be everyday but as often as we can. sometimes we dont have access to the internet. Love you all!!!

Budva, Montenegro

2007-07-17T04:45:00.000-04:00

Hello All,
Well we arrived in Montenegro on Saturday. We had a beautiful train ride from Belgrade. The moutains were amazing! We went through some many tunnels I couldn't even begin to count them all. There were so many gorges and steep peeks. The closer we got to the Adriatic Sea the better it got. The water is sooooo clear and blue. Once we got off the train in Bar we took a bus about an hour to Budva were we are staying. We got a room from a lady in the bus station. She lives very near the Stari Grad "the walled old town on the water" We spent Saturday at the beach, however it was not anything like our beaches back home. You literally could not find a place to put your towel down. It was so busy. "Mr. Rick I thought about you, it was way to many people for me ha ha" We still enjoyed it though. The water was very cold. I didn't expect it to be as cold as it was and the sand was pebbles and rocks. The views were great. At night we walked along the harbor strip and inside the walled town. It is really neat and so much to take in. On Sunday, we took a bus about 30minutes to a town called Kotor. It is actually the largest fjord in eastern europe. Again so beautiful, tall mountains and clear blue water. We hiked up to the fortress on top of the mountain over looking the town. It was a very hot day and we surely got our exercise from the steep hike, but well worth the views from up top. That night we ate supper at a Resturant on the water. It was very good we both had seafood pasta. There has been a wildfire on the mountain not very far from Budva. After supper you could see the orange blaze. It was very sad but by yesterday there was only a little bit left. Yesterday, Monday we took a boat to a nearby island called Hawaii. We spent the day on this island. It was great with very little people around. It was hot and we enjoyed the cold water to swim in. Even though it was not a nudist beach there were many topless girls and children and a few in completely nude. Again so different from home and I still have'nt yet got use to all that :) Mrs. Nancy you can tell Uncle Louie, Jessea tried to be him with the video camera on the beach with the interesting views like when we went to Mt. Baldy and the man taking a bath in the stream. He will know what we are talking about. Also tell him Jessea wasn't nearly as good as he was though with the camera ha ha. Anyway, we had planned to leave this morning on the 8:40 bus to Mostar, Bosnia, however the bus information lady told us wrong yesterday. We got up around 7 and walked to the bus station to buy tickets and they said it doesn't leave until 2:10 this afternoon, so we have been killing time for six hours. Then we have a 4+ hours ride to Bosnia. Budva has been a beautiful place to visit. It is quite expensive though. They use the euro here and from what we are told a lot of Russian, and Europeans vacation here. Everyone thinks we are from Poland or England and so suprised that we "Americans" are visiting here. When they find out where we are from they always ask "Why here?" It is pretty funny, because they call us america. At the resturant by the water the owner came up to us and asked where we are from once we told him he called us america the entire time. They even had live music at the resturant, they ended up playing John Denver's song Country Rose and the owner came over to Jessea and shook is cap and said "don't cry america" It was funny then when we left he yelled out bye america.We are having a great time. I am starting to really miss the unlimited amount of tap water I can get from back home. This is not the case here. I seem to always be craving ice cold water and I am so thirsty all the time. Anyways, Well we will talk again soon, We miss you!

Belgrade, Serbia

2007-07-13T11:54:00.000-04:00

Hello Again,
This is our second full day in Belgrade. It is a really nice city. Everyone is very friendly here. Yesterday we walked around the city looking at old buildings and churchs. Then we spent most of the day in Kalemegdan a fortress. It was a really interesting place on the cornor of two rivers. Inside the fortress we toured a military museum and a museum with artifacts from the fortress. Last night we went to eat supper at a resturant for Jessea's birthday. We ate at the oldest resturant in Belgrade called ? It was good I had stuffed chicken and Jessea had lamb. Then we ate ice cream and went to an international folk festival. We watched several different countries dance in traditional costumes. It was very nice. We walked around looking at the night life of Belgrade and then went to sleep. Today 13th, We walked around some more and visited the largest orthadox cathedral in the world. It was started in 1935 and is actually still under construction today. We took a bus over the river to a nearby hungarian town which is now called new belgrade. We walked on cobble stone roads and walked up a hill to an old tower overlooking the city below. We have been walking a lot! We also stopped by the goverment buildings that were bombed by NATO in 99'. They were sad to see. It is 6pm now and at 11:10pm we will be boarding a night train to Montenegro. We bought a sleeper cart this time and hopefully we can sleep better than our last over night trip. We will get to Bar around 8 in the morning and then we will have to take a bus about 1-2 hours to Budva. It is on the Adratic Sea. It will be nice to be by the beach for a few days. We will talk back when we get there. Until then Love you all!!!

Heudin, Romaina and Belgrade, Serbia

2007-07-11T12:37:00.000-04:00

Wow oh Wow what an adventure we are having. Monday the 11th went arrived in a small village in Romania. Jess stayed there before. Before getting on the train to go there we were approached by a gypsy kid. Jess gave her a piece of candy and wanted something from me. I said no and she was a bother not wanting to leave. She got fed up with me and made bad faces, placed a curse on me, and spit towards us. It is all good though! We left around 12pm and arrived in Heudin around 5. It was an awesome village, so cute and country. Everyone in the village has horse and wagons they rode to and from the fields to bring in hay, etc. In the morning the herdsman would walk through the town picking up each families one or two cows and taking them out to the hill side and at night they would bring them back. It was neat watching because the cows knew exactly who was there owner. The little old women who stand out by their gate and wait for their cow. There was also shepards with sheep on the hillside. We walked there right before we left yesterday to watch them milk the sheep. One of the old men shepards got a little to close for my comfort. It was NOT enjoyable. A little shookend up but okay now. We had good food at this homestay Mrs. Nancy. Traditional meat and rice rolled up in cabbage one night and cucumber salad, hungarian noodles and mystery meat another night. We seem to be eating a lot of myster meat. We had an extremely long night last night. We left the village at 850 pm, switched trains at 12am switched trains again at 5am and arrived in Belgrade today around 1 pm. We did gain an hour though. We had very little sleep of course and sharing a 8 person compartment was not that pleasant. Then this morning on our train from 5-1 which crossed the boarder, we just so happend to be in the compartment with a smuggler. Yes! She was smuggling items across the boarder. CRAZY! She was very pushy and demanding but was saw the secert compartments in the train car. We even sneaked a few pictures and video clips of her. It was wild and unimaginable. I went from yesterday at 6pm until today at 3 before being able to go to the bathroom. I was not about to go on the trains. Disgusting. We also went from yesterday at 5 until tonight at 430 with only 5 crackers each to eat. We came in to Belgrade a day early and had a little trouble finding a place to stay. We end up finding a hotel. So we took a nap and then went out to eat some food and look around. So far the city is friendly. We plan on staying here through tomorrow for J's birthday. Hope all is well, we love you and will talk back soon!!!!!

Sighisoara, Romania

2007-07-08T11:09:00.000-04:00

Hello,
Today is Sunday and we have been spending the day in Sighisoara. We got here this morning around 1030. Our train ride was great. We saw sunflower fields, sheperds with the flocks of sheep, men with leased cattle grassing, and beautiful peak mountains. We found a room in a mans house right in the center of the town. It is a very beautiful city. Similar to a Medival times fortress with watch towers, clock towers, churches and stone everywhere. The streets are cobble stone and the houses are rainbow colors. We have spent the day walking around the city. We toured the Clock tower. Inside was a museum with items dating back to the 1500s. The view was great from the tower too. We bought our train tickets for tomorrow and will leave around 1200pm for a village called Huedin. It will take us around 4-5 hours to get there. I am very tired today. We have been walking up and down the hills. I hope all is well with everyone back home. I haven't been able to upload any pictures yet because the computer so far have been too old. Talk soon,

2007-07-07T11:29:00.000-04:00

Hello All,
Well, we finally made it after sitting on the run way in New York for 2 hours and 20min in a line of 35+ airplanes to leave for take off. Our flight after that was okay, some turbulance though from a storm. I got very sick upon landing. I suppose it was from very little sleep, an empty stomach, and really bad turbulance. We landed around 1:10 Romanian time. Bucharest is nice. We walked around a little last night after our arrival and went to be around 7:30. Today we visited a few churches, historical buildings where the revolution of 1985 took place. We saw gun holes in some of the buildings, We toured the 2nd largest building in the world next to the Pentagon. It was called the Palace of the People. We also walked down this street where they were exculvating because the people just build on top of previous foundations. We saw human remains just lying there. bones, a rib cage, and an entire skeleton. It was very intersting. Everything was just exposed and they were digging with shovels. I took picures for all to see :) Well,We are leaving tomorrow morning around 5 am for Sighisoara a city surrounded by a wall. It will take us about 4-5 hours on train to get there. I miss you all, Talk to you soon. C and J

The Adventure is About to Start!

2007-07-04T21:12:00.000-04:00

Hey Everyone!
Our journey is about to begin. We are excited and ready. We can't wait to share our stories and photos with everyone back home. We will keep you posted on our adventure. Talk soon!