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Category Archives: Big Cities
An Infamous Wall And Germans Baring All
After saying dag and au revoir to Belgium, we headed for Berlin where we’d rented an apartment for two weeks. Our choice to stay that long in Berlin had less to do with the city itself so much as felling the need to sit still for a bit, combined with proximity to where we were and availability/affordability of accommodations.
All told, maybe Berlin wasn’t the best choice for such a long ...continue reading
Posted in Big Cities, Europe, Germany, Sitting Still
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Beer, Frites, And Cobblestone Streets
After a beautiful spring week in Paris we hopped on a bus and headed into Belgium. We arrived in Brussels to weather that was much colder and grayer than what we had in Paris and London, but even with overcast skies it didn’t take too long to see what a beautiful city Brussels is, with lots of beautiful old ...continue reading
Posted in Belgium, Big Cities, Europe, Good Eats
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Paris, Je T’aime
Okay, I know the title of this blog post is basically the worst, but I couldn’t think of anything cleverer and also I’m not terribly original. To wit: This awful black and white photostrip of us in a photobooth at a movie theatre in Paris. Mark is mostly kissing my scarf, since I don’t believe in PDA.
We spent a week in Paris, in an apartment we rented in ...continue reading
Posted in Big Cities, Europe, France, Good Eats, Highlights, Sitting Still
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American Tanks And The Thames’ Banks
We finished off our time in Vietnam in the former South Vietnamese capital of Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City (though, confusingly, most people still call it Saigon and the central district is still officially called Saigon). We were somewhat surprised by how much more cosmopolitain it is than Hanoi, with modern architecture, skyscrapers, and posh shopping malls. The traffic actually ...continue reading
Posted in Asia, Big Cities, Europe, UK, Vietnam
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Goodnight, Japan; Good Morning, Vietnam
Well, it’s time to wrap up the Japan section of the trip. All in all, we loved Japan. It’s a beautiful country and we are so glad we went there. A month, it turns out, was a little long. By the end we were getting a little bored of shrines, temples, and Japanese shopping, and we’re really looking forward to a change of food.
We’re spoiled at home with a wide range of foods available to us, there ...continue reading
Posted in Asia, Big Cities, Japan
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Fish Tales and Monk-y Business
After three and a half weeks in Japan, I no longer have Turning Japanese in my head 24 hours a day; it’s been replaced by Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips. Oh Japanese-inspired pop ...continue reading
Posted in Asia, Big Cities, Good Eats, Japan, The Great Outdoors
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Mark and Pia Go To (A) White Castle
So…yeah. This is a restaurant we walked past in Kumamoto. We would have gone in but were too terrified of what we might end up ordering. I mean, cabbages are disgusting.
After leaving Takayama, we took a couple of trains farther south to Hiroshima. It’s a very nice city, with wide streets and super easy to ...continue reading
Posted in Asia, Big Cities, Highlights, Japan
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Vending Machines and Temperature Extremes
Well, we’ve been in Japan for a week now, which makes seven days of having the song Turning Japanese in my head. We’re loving it here. The people are lovely, there is so much beautiful old (and old fashioned) architecture, and I find Tokyo, despite being the largest metropolitan area in the world, to be remarkably calm ...continue reading
Posted in Asia, Big Cities, Japan
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Week One
Hello all! I’m writing this from Hong Kong International Airport, as we wait to board a flight to Tokyo. Mark is sitting next to me learning how to say the phrase “I am not Japanese” in Japanese. The past week has been an insane blur of planes and jetlag and delicious food.
We left Vancouver on Monday morning, after ...continue reading
Posted in Asia, Big Cities, Good Eats
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Butterbeers and Mickey Mouse ears
Note: If the above picture doesn’t terrify you, you are a braver person than me.
New York to Orlando: 1736 kilometers (1079 miles – have I mentioned lately that I detest the imperial system?), two and a half days of almost nonstop driving, and one visit to Waffle House (something I would consider moving to ...continue reading
Posted in 'merica, Big Cities, Sitting Still
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