You know that part of a vacation when all you have left is the trip home... I hate that part... I'm sitting at Beads cafe in Stellenbosch waiting for the citihopper, my own personal taxi service, to pick me up so I can start the zillion hour journey home. I'll have an overnight in Vienna, which means I can grab some summer clothes, then about 11 hours in NYC to see my friend Jen, then I arrive into Portland just in time to go to a rehearsal dinner for a wedding that I probably won't even be in... I shipped my bridesmaid dress USPS Priority Mail, which should have taken 5 - 10 business days over a month ago, the dress never made it. I could not feel worse about it, but have NO idea what I could have done differently. I keep calling and e-mailing school to see if it arrived, but no luck. Today is my LAST hope. Sad. But anyways, back to the end of this vacation...
We had an interesting drive to Stellenbosch, we stopped at this great place called the Wine Village where we tried wine and olive oils, it was great! Then we eventually made our way here, checked into our hotel and then went and watched the England Germany game... talk about some bad calls! We were at this really cool champagne and tapas place though, the food and wine were delicious! We went back and hung out at our hotel for a bit and then went to the Big Easy for dinner and to watch another game. Very fun.
The next day was great, we went on the only kind of hop on hop off tour I like, the one that takes me to different wineries :-) They were all beautiful and the wine was good. We had a really fun day, wine tasting is definitely one of my favorite things to do. We "rested" back at our hotel and then went out to this amazing Indian dinner where I was reminded why everyone hates American tourists. There was the most obnoxious group of American men I have EVER seen in my life. They had bought one of those HUGE bottles of wine (25 bottles)while wine tasting and were so loud and annoying I was embarrassed for them. As we were leaving they were telling us they loved us and offering everyone in the place wine. Ugh.
The next day we went out to lunch in a different town, it was unreal how many different wineries we drove past. It was absolutely pouring down rain and Katie and I looked real cute in our bright orange ponchos. I was SO sad that it was our last day together! We had a hard time finding our way back to the airport, but we eventually made it and dropped off the rental car. I was happy to be rid of that thing. I only nearly killed us once, so that was good. We caught a shuttle back to Cape Town and watched the Spain Portugal game. We had great seats and the game was an exciting one! We were right in the middle of a bunch of crazy Spaniards, but it was fun! Tony, some driver we had met the day before while wine tasting, came and picked us up and brought us back to Stellenbosch, it was a long, but good day.
Katie left at 5:30 this morning for a safari and I am just waiting to start the long journey home... I can't believe this trip is OVER! S. Africa is definitely on my top 5 list and I am already planning my next trip here... and Brazil in 2014 too!
Can't wait to get back to Vienna for the night and then head home!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
USA! USA! USA!
So, you know when you think something is going to be fun and are really excited to do it and then it comes and you feel slightly let down? Well, that would be the exact opposite of how this trip has been. Cape Town was amazing and even better than I thought it would be. Seeing Katie and Nicole has been great too. Quick rundown... I met Katie at the hotel on Sunday, we watched all three games and ended up meeting up with the co-worker of a friend of mine and his friends and what was a relatively calm afternoon, turned into a long, long, but fun, night. My cousin Nicole arrived a couple days later for a few days before she moves to Zimbabwe.
As far as touristy stuff in Cape Town, we went up to Table Mountain and did the rappelling off the side, Robben Island tour, drove through Chapman's Drive, or route, down to Cape of Good Hope and then shark diving today. We spent a ton of time at the V and A Waterfront, watched a whole lot of soccer, ate a ton of good food and drank some pretty amazing wine. I NEVER want to leave the people are great, the city was full of this crazy fun energy, it feels completely safe and well, everything about this place is great. A few notes on the different things we did. Rappelling, not sure what made me think it was a good idea, we were standing on the edge waiting to go and I was fully just pretending that it was fun and I was comfortable, but I think it worked, because by the time it was my turn, I felt totally ready to go and just hopped on over and went for it. Midway down there was no longer a wall and you were just sort of dangling there, very scary. The hike back was actually more dangerous than the rappelling down. These British guys waited for me, which was nice, but we were all sort of wondering if one of us wasn't going to just slide right off the side of the mountain, which is 3000 meters high... Robben Island, half cool and half boring. The tour guide was a former political prisoner and listening to him speak and describe what it was like to be imprisoned there was very interesting and walking through the grounds and the prison cells was too. Although, it was so nicely kept that it was deceiving because it looked so nice and I'm sure it wasn't nice to be stuck there. The other part of the tour was a bus tour, and I just can't stand those.
We also went to two games, the Portugal vs N. Korea was amazing, seven goals and we were sitting right there at the corner. The Netherlands vs Cameroon game was also fun, but our seats weren't quite as good and the game wasn't quite as exciting. Our next game is Spain vs Portugal, it should be amazing! Watching the US game the other night was really fun too. We were at this place called Quay Four and they were showing the US vs Algeria and England vs Slovakia game, so it was a crazy mix of Brits and Americans. Very fun.
Yesterday we rented a car and drove around to where we are now, not sure of the name of the city, or village, it is outside of Stanford, another little town. The driving is crazy, the driver is on the right side, you drive on the left, it is all very confusing. We managed to make it all the different places we wanted to go, Cape of Good Hope, Penguins, Chapman's Peak Drive and a cool winery. We dropped Nicole off at a random train station, made sure she got on a train back to Cape Town and then we kept on our way. Of course it took way longer than we thought it would and it was dark, windy and a little scary to drive, but we did make it here. Our hotel is awesome. The guy drove us into town for dinner basically because I was so stressed after driving I didn't want to drive one more second and I wanted to have a drink. We had yet another delicious dinner and bottle of wine. Our room and the view is pretty amazing, it's right on the coast and you can see mountains and on some days whales... but not today. This morning we went shark diving. COLD. It wasn't actually as scary as I thought it would be, but the water was just freezing and being on the boat that long was hard because I was feeling seasick and people were just hanging off the side getting sick. Yuck. We've been lazing around the rest of the day, went out for some lunch, just watched Uruguay make it past Korea to the quarterfinals and now we're waiting for the US game to start in a couple of hours. USA! USA! Tomorrow we leave for Stellenbosch, and wine tasting. MY FAVORITE! I never want to leave.
As far as touristy stuff in Cape Town, we went up to Table Mountain and did the rappelling off the side, Robben Island tour, drove through Chapman's Drive, or route, down to Cape of Good Hope and then shark diving today. We spent a ton of time at the V and A Waterfront, watched a whole lot of soccer, ate a ton of good food and drank some pretty amazing wine. I NEVER want to leave the people are great, the city was full of this crazy fun energy, it feels completely safe and well, everything about this place is great. A few notes on the different things we did. Rappelling, not sure what made me think it was a good idea, we were standing on the edge waiting to go and I was fully just pretending that it was fun and I was comfortable, but I think it worked, because by the time it was my turn, I felt totally ready to go and just hopped on over and went for it. Midway down there was no longer a wall and you were just sort of dangling there, very scary. The hike back was actually more dangerous than the rappelling down. These British guys waited for me, which was nice, but we were all sort of wondering if one of us wasn't going to just slide right off the side of the mountain, which is 3000 meters high... Robben Island, half cool and half boring. The tour guide was a former political prisoner and listening to him speak and describe what it was like to be imprisoned there was very interesting and walking through the grounds and the prison cells was too. Although, it was so nicely kept that it was deceiving because it looked so nice and I'm sure it wasn't nice to be stuck there. The other part of the tour was a bus tour, and I just can't stand those.
We also went to two games, the Portugal vs N. Korea was amazing, seven goals and we were sitting right there at the corner. The Netherlands vs Cameroon game was also fun, but our seats weren't quite as good and the game wasn't quite as exciting. Our next game is Spain vs Portugal, it should be amazing! Watching the US game the other night was really fun too. We were at this place called Quay Four and they were showing the US vs Algeria and England vs Slovakia game, so it was a crazy mix of Brits and Americans. Very fun.
Yesterday we rented a car and drove around to where we are now, not sure of the name of the city, or village, it is outside of Stanford, another little town. The driving is crazy, the driver is on the right side, you drive on the left, it is all very confusing. We managed to make it all the different places we wanted to go, Cape of Good Hope, Penguins, Chapman's Peak Drive and a cool winery. We dropped Nicole off at a random train station, made sure she got on a train back to Cape Town and then we kept on our way. Of course it took way longer than we thought it would and it was dark, windy and a little scary to drive, but we did make it here. Our hotel is awesome. The guy drove us into town for dinner basically because I was so stressed after driving I didn't want to drive one more second and I wanted to have a drink. We had yet another delicious dinner and bottle of wine. Our room and the view is pretty amazing, it's right on the coast and you can see mountains and on some days whales... but not today. This morning we went shark diving. COLD. It wasn't actually as scary as I thought it would be, but the water was just freezing and being on the boat that long was hard because I was feeling seasick and people were just hanging off the side getting sick. Yuck. We've been lazing around the rest of the day, went out for some lunch, just watched Uruguay make it past Korea to the quarterfinals and now we're waiting for the US game to start in a couple of hours. USA! USA! Tomorrow we leave for Stellenbosch, and wine tasting. MY FAVORITE! I never want to leave.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Start of Summer break and WORLD CUP!
The last week of work flew by, I had another headache and ended up back at the hospital and then got an MRI, I wasn’t really too concerned about the whole thing till the jerk doctor at the hospital explained to me how stupid it would be to fly and/or go to S. Africa without knowing the exact cause of the headaches. He then mentioned how he would never give a “person like me” the needle in the back thing because I would likely flinch and end up in the hospital. Whatever. The MRI was fine, so off to S. Africa I went…
Anika and Steph helped me celebrate my last day of work by drinking a bottle of Moet and then a great dinner at this tiny Vietnamese place at the Naschmarkt. We decided that should really be part of our monthly plans next year. I mean, we deserve the champagne lifestyle. I’m still obsessing with the Swarovski Champagne glasses, I want them so badly and can usually justify purchasing most things, but… can’t seem to do it this time. Friday we watched the US game… that last goal TOTALLY should have counted!!! And then the English game after. We did break up the game evening by doing some Sake Bombs at a fancy Japanese restaurant, I’m sure they loved it… I think I’ve watched more soccer in the last week than I have in years or at least since last World Cup.
I was planning on taking public to the airport, but Steve was flying out the same time and came round with a taxi so we ended up at the airport way too early and then both of our flights were delayed. We just sat at Starbucks for hours for the second time that day. It was nice; I love Starbucks, it’s just like being home and they have soy milk.
I am right in the middle of a 23 hour journey to Cape Town. So far it’s been easy. I watched the Australia game in a bar at the London airport, got on the overnight flight to Johannesburg, had a glass of wine and Tylenol PM and woke up when they brought me my breakfast the next morning… Now I’m sitting at a coffee shop waiting for my flight to Cape Town. Almost there!!!!!!! Can’t wait to be there, just being in the airport feels exciting and there is World Cup paraphernalia everywhere and people running around in their full country gear… and down jackets. I’m going to FREEZE. I just couldn’t take the thought of putting on my long down jacket again, I mean; I was still wearing it in APRIL. Unbelievable. So, instead, I’ll just freeze. I thought about stealing the airline blanket so I could bring it to the games with me.
Ok, off to catch my flight…
Anika and Steph helped me celebrate my last day of work by drinking a bottle of Moet and then a great dinner at this tiny Vietnamese place at the Naschmarkt. We decided that should really be part of our monthly plans next year. I mean, we deserve the champagne lifestyle. I’m still obsessing with the Swarovski Champagne glasses, I want them so badly and can usually justify purchasing most things, but… can’t seem to do it this time. Friday we watched the US game… that last goal TOTALLY should have counted!!! And then the English game after. We did break up the game evening by doing some Sake Bombs at a fancy Japanese restaurant, I’m sure they loved it… I think I’ve watched more soccer in the last week than I have in years or at least since last World Cup.
I was planning on taking public to the airport, but Steve was flying out the same time and came round with a taxi so we ended up at the airport way too early and then both of our flights were delayed. We just sat at Starbucks for hours for the second time that day. It was nice; I love Starbucks, it’s just like being home and they have soy milk.
I am right in the middle of a 23 hour journey to Cape Town. So far it’s been easy. I watched the Australia game in a bar at the London airport, got on the overnight flight to Johannesburg, had a glass of wine and Tylenol PM and woke up when they brought me my breakfast the next morning… Now I’m sitting at a coffee shop waiting for my flight to Cape Town. Almost there!!!!!!! Can’t wait to be there, just being in the airport feels exciting and there is World Cup paraphernalia everywhere and people running around in their full country gear… and down jackets. I’m going to FREEZE. I just couldn’t take the thought of putting on my long down jacket again, I mean; I was still wearing it in APRIL. Unbelievable. So, instead, I’ll just freeze. I thought about stealing the airline blanket so I could bring it to the games with me.
Ok, off to catch my flight…
Friday, June 11, 2010
Jen's Visit to Vienna
I'm so sad that Jen won't be at my house when I get home! We had a really great week. I was laughing because before she arrived I had asked her what she wanted to do while she was here, and she wrote something like, I'm not really into old churches and museums, I just want to see you and where you live... Perfect! We had the best time, I think I made her walk just about a million miles, we tried a bunch of great new restaurants and wine bars. My kind of visitor! I love being able to show people from home what my life is like, they get to see all the great parts, cool restaurants, beautiful architecture, the weather was gorgeous, but then they also get to experience the craziness of trying to get things done around here. Or that my washer drains through a hose into the sink and you have to sit at home while it's going so that if the hose flies out, you can sprint into the bathroom, dodge the flying hose and fix the problem. Or what a fun adventure ordering breakfast can be, I mean really, you should have seen the size of the muesli Jen got one morning, it was about the size of a thimble... well, I exaggerate, it was the same size as the espresso cup... She's off to Spain and I need to catch up on my sleep! We're heading out right after work today to watch the first World Cup game, but it will definitely be an early night and hopefully I'll be able to sleep in tomorrow. Even though I NEVER do, I'm hoping tomorrow I can. We'll see! Tomorrow night we have a big table reserved to watch the US vs England game. Should be great!
Monday, June 7, 2010
HOME!!!
I am SO ready to come home!
I had a great weekend in the sun, finally, but last night right as I was getting ready to go to sleep I got this massive headache and burst into hysterical tears... but first the weekend. Friday night I met Anika and Steph at Wein and Co. for tasting and a glass of wine, went out to dinner with Steve and then early to sleep. Saturday was a beautiful day, met Steph and Anika for a run and Dr. Falafel, then we all met up again near the Danube canal, or river?? for some non-Viennese fun. And by that, I mean there were people with tattoos and accents and actually smiling, how non-Viennese. We laid out on concrete slabs and I loved to see the sun again, this was followed by dinner at Mas! (saltinis included) and a rooftop terrace birthday party and a VERY late night. Sunday Anika and I met at Stadtpark for more sun and some lunch at Le Bol. Then I met Steve for Starbucks and rented a few movies, we watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I liked it.
Ok, so now for the horrific headache and hospital experience. So, right as I was about to go to sleep, out of nowhere I had this instant headache that was so bad I could not stop crying and was gasping for air. We sat there at home for about an hour before I finally agreed to go to the hospital, I hate doctors and hospitals and kept thinking it would get better, but it just wouldn't. The doctor was nice enough and knew enough English, but it was just awful. I was crying the whole way there and then when we got there I was ok for a bit, then the headache would come in waves and I would be hysterical again. Walking through the hospital there were beds that had obviously already been used and had dirty/bloody towels on them, which of course set me off into more crying, then they would speak German to me and give me German forms I couldn't fill out, so I'd be crying again. And, my head hurt so bad I wanted to throw up. After a zillion tests and cat scans, they worked out that I was fine. There was some percentage of a chance that something could be wrong and they wanted to take spinal fluid which brought on another round of hysteria. I said no and had to sigh a waiver saying I refused the recommended treatment, but there was NO way I was going to let them do that, they couldn't even get the IV line in without blood squirting everywhere and running down my arm. Then they gave me three different options of what I could do and I just was way too tired to know what to do, all I wanted to do was go home so once again I just started crying. So I just said I wanted to do whatever it was that was going to let me go home the fastest. Little did I know they would give me some sort of IV fluid medication in this large room that looked similar to a medic tent in a refugee camp with people sprawled out all over the place and ugh, it was just awful. Although, once I finally got the medication (about 3 hours after arriving to the ER)the pain eased up and I was tired and delirious enough that I was able to sort of doze off while I got the drip. I think I was just out of it because of the pain, I really couldn't even think clearly and I have a hard enough time with decisions as it is normally. Anyways, the doctor finally released me a little after 4 in the morning and gave me an "entry ticket" to go back the next day at 8:00am (which I decided not to do...) and then they ripped out the IV thing and again it started gushing with blood. I held the cotton thing on there for a minute, then threw it away. As we were waiting for the taxi to go home, I felt something on my arm, looked down and there was a huge amount of blood just running off my arm and dripping to the floor. So disgusting. When we got home, I collapsed into bed and was asleep in like two seconds, but had to come to work today because there is far too much to do and the school year is almost over, but now I'm just tired and exhausted. Jen is coming today, in fact, she should have arrived by now, and is being dropped off at Wein and Co. near my house. Can't WAIT to see her, but it may have to be an early night tonight. My head hurts and I'm exhausted... All I could think about last night was how much I wished I was at home, with my Mom in the ER at ANY hospital in Portland.
I had a great weekend in the sun, finally, but last night right as I was getting ready to go to sleep I got this massive headache and burst into hysterical tears... but first the weekend. Friday night I met Anika and Steph at Wein and Co. for tasting and a glass of wine, went out to dinner with Steve and then early to sleep. Saturday was a beautiful day, met Steph and Anika for a run and Dr. Falafel, then we all met up again near the Danube canal, or river?? for some non-Viennese fun. And by that, I mean there were people with tattoos and accents and actually smiling, how non-Viennese. We laid out on concrete slabs and I loved to see the sun again, this was followed by dinner at Mas! (saltinis included) and a rooftop terrace birthday party and a VERY late night. Sunday Anika and I met at Stadtpark for more sun and some lunch at Le Bol. Then I met Steve for Starbucks and rented a few movies, we watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I liked it.
Ok, so now for the horrific headache and hospital experience. So, right as I was about to go to sleep, out of nowhere I had this instant headache that was so bad I could not stop crying and was gasping for air. We sat there at home for about an hour before I finally agreed to go to the hospital, I hate doctors and hospitals and kept thinking it would get better, but it just wouldn't. The doctor was nice enough and knew enough English, but it was just awful. I was crying the whole way there and then when we got there I was ok for a bit, then the headache would come in waves and I would be hysterical again. Walking through the hospital there were beds that had obviously already been used and had dirty/bloody towels on them, which of course set me off into more crying, then they would speak German to me and give me German forms I couldn't fill out, so I'd be crying again. And, my head hurt so bad I wanted to throw up. After a zillion tests and cat scans, they worked out that I was fine. There was some percentage of a chance that something could be wrong and they wanted to take spinal fluid which brought on another round of hysteria. I said no and had to sigh a waiver saying I refused the recommended treatment, but there was NO way I was going to let them do that, they couldn't even get the IV line in without blood squirting everywhere and running down my arm. Then they gave me three different options of what I could do and I just was way too tired to know what to do, all I wanted to do was go home so once again I just started crying. So I just said I wanted to do whatever it was that was going to let me go home the fastest. Little did I know they would give me some sort of IV fluid medication in this large room that looked similar to a medic tent in a refugee camp with people sprawled out all over the place and ugh, it was just awful. Although, once I finally got the medication (about 3 hours after arriving to the ER)the pain eased up and I was tired and delirious enough that I was able to sort of doze off while I got the drip. I think I was just out of it because of the pain, I really couldn't even think clearly and I have a hard enough time with decisions as it is normally. Anyways, the doctor finally released me a little after 4 in the morning and gave me an "entry ticket" to go back the next day at 8:00am (which I decided not to do...) and then they ripped out the IV thing and again it started gushing with blood. I held the cotton thing on there for a minute, then threw it away. As we were waiting for the taxi to go home, I felt something on my arm, looked down and there was a huge amount of blood just running off my arm and dripping to the floor. So disgusting. When we got home, I collapsed into bed and was asleep in like two seconds, but had to come to work today because there is far too much to do and the school year is almost over, but now I'm just tired and exhausted. Jen is coming today, in fact, she should have arrived by now, and is being dropped off at Wein and Co. near my house. Can't WAIT to see her, but it may have to be an early night tonight. My head hurts and I'm exhausted... All I could think about last night was how much I wished I was at home, with my Mom in the ER at ANY hospital in Portland.
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