Subject: FROM ROSANNE
From: Rachel S. Geylin <rachel.geylin@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Apr 4, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Dear All,
Quick note to update you on what is already proving to be an "interesting" trip.
Instead of taking off from JFK at 6:45pm Thursday, we took off at 10:45Pm. After leaving and returning to the gate TWICE, American Airlines decided we had to "deplane" and they would get us a "safe" plane ( thanks!). I so love to fly (as many of you know), so you can imagine my joy!
So now, clearly, I knew I would miss my flight from Barcelona to Croatia. Called Rachel in the middle of the night (6 hours ahead in Spain - she was already in a hostel in Barcelona waiting to meet me for my scheduled 8:20am landing, 3 hour layover, and our flight to Croatia). Finally landed at noon on Friday - BREATHTAKING view of the city and the sea - pilot shot out over the sea, at which point I thought we were going INTO the water, when he did a U-turn and landed - YEA!
So now, we go to Croatia tomorrow ( Sunday - 8:00am flight ). Ahhhhh, the best laid plans of mice and wo(men) ....
Dumped our luggage at the Hilton Barcelona (not a hostel yet - Rachel is being kind), and hit the ground RUNNING as one is required to do when travelling with the ENERGETIC daughter.
Saw the SAGRADA FAMILIA church, then 2 of the famous architect Gaudi's (pronounced gowdy) homes in another part of the city - LA PEDRERA and CASA BATLLO. Anyone interested? Google these and hit IMAGES for some of the most BIZARRE/interesting/beautiful architecture you've ever seen. FINALLY we stopped, ate at a great local tapas restaurant, and crashed for the night.
Went to sleep at 11pm local time, so I am now on European time -- yahoo!
Travelling with someone who speaks Spanish fluently makes it effortless to be here. I just sit back and let her handle everything, and as many of you know (Joe!) she is in her element when doing that. She had already mastered the subway system, so getting around is easy. Drivers here (like Italy) are maniacal so it is best to stay underground.
So today, a full day in Barcelona - know, we are going to the Park Guell, Boqueria Market (which opened in 1840), more churches and God only knows what Rachel has planned for me after that.
Tomorrow the REAL fun begins with the Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Bulgaria arm of the trip.
Rachel thinks I have a black cloud over my head when I fly and is afraid to get on a plane with me to Croatia tomorrow - HA!
Please send good karma our way for no more mishaps.
Happy Easter and Happy Passover!
Love to all,
Rosanne
ps- my personal email will not work here hence this is being sent via Rachel.
pps- sorry, clearly this isn't such a "quick" note
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From: Rachel S. Geylin <rachel.geylin@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Apr 6, 2009 at 8:07 PM
hi everyone, it is 7.05 pm here in Mostar, Bosnia. Dubrovnik was spectacular--not sure yet about Bosnia!!! Love, Rosanne
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From: Rachel S. Geylin <rachel.geylin@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 12:11 PM
Dear all,
First we left Croatia and entered Bosnia. We were only in Bosnia for about 10 miles (during which we stopped for a coffee break that wound up taking 45 minutes). Then we left Bosnia and re-entered Croatia for a little bit only to have to leave Croatia and enter Bosnia again. This is all because of the way the roads were built. The main road goes along the coast and Bosnia was given a small stretch of coast line after the war. You can only get to that coastline through Croatia.
The boarder control didn't want to stamp our passports when we entered Bosnia, but Rachel made them do it. She wanted to make sure we wouldn't have any problems leaving the country when we go to Serbia (the day after tomorrow). (For me, these dudes are intimidating....for Rachel, not so much).
Ray typed the above - keyboards in this part of the world are arranged differently - some of the letters are in different places so it is extra challenging typing. I survived my first night in a hostel! Sort of - at least until 3:20am when a chirping bird woke me up - what kind of bird chirps in the middle of the night ? I love birds, but I would have shot it with a smile on my face if I could have! And then the dogs started barking, and the roosters woke up, and then, at 5:15 the Muslim call to prayer began - loudly - this resonates over the city. Pretty cool to hear.
Mostar bridge is amazing. Yes, we came here just to see a bridge and hear the Muslim call to prayer! We're taking a 4pm bus to Sarajevo. Had Becks beer and broccoli pizza for dinner last night-found a salad with ''chicken chest'' for Rachel. Gave the rest of the pizza to a woman and her toddler begging for coins- that felt good to do. She was happy and the child got dinner.
Hope all is well.
love, Rosanne
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From: Rachel S. Geylin <rachel.geylin@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Apr 7, 2009 at 10:34 PM
Hey all,
If I'm filling your inbox and boring you to death, just hit delete when you see my name!!!
Rachel will send all these to my inbox, so this is serving as my blog since my memory isn't that of a 22-year-old.
We're now in Sarajevo, and staying at a Bosnian guesthouse called Kandilj Pansion - yea, we have our own bathroom!
Just crossed the Latin bridge where, in 1914, Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated, which led to the start of WWI. Rachel clearly loves bridges and this was another highlight....or "historically significant" - I am psyched because she is psyched! Joe, Mr. History Major, TAKE NOTE!
More mosques here than in Mostar. More calls to prayer - saw a woman in a head scarf. It wasn't a burka, but her entire face was covered in black - freaked me out.
Almost a full moon....check it out. It's 9:30pm here.
Tomorrow, we're going to look for "Sarajevo flowers" - places in the pavement where bombs or molotov cocktails hit during the war, creating the shape of a flower on the sidewalk. Use your imagination for this one...we saw some in Mostar. Many buildings have "pock-marks" here from the 1994-1995 war. Hard to imagine that this happened so recently.
Happy Passover tomorrow to all,
Love,
Rosanne
ps- free internet! maybe we'll send an update tomorrow.
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From: Rachel S. Geylin <rachel.geylin@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Apr 8, 2009 at 9:36 PM
Dear all,
Language here in Sarajevo has been a bit of a challenge, but we're managing. Luckily Rachel has her allergies translated into Bosnian/Serbo-Croat and Bulgarian.
We went to see the oldest Sephardic Haggadah (Passover prayer book) in the world, a mosque, and St. Anthony's, a Franciscan church. Emotional and religious day, and I don't consider myself religious, however, got down on my knees and prayed for friends and family and Rachel (awesome daughter of mine) ran a mini-Passover Seder at dinner tonight. I had tofu/veggie/fruit risotto - clearly not appropriate for Passover, but what else can you do in Sarajevo?
I am convinced we will have cancer from secondhand smoke by the time we leave Eastern Europe!! According to the Economist, the most cigarettes per capita are sold here...
Money-wise, we went from Euros to Kunas to Marks...tomorrow we'll be dealing with Dinars then Lev then Euros again. Imagine going from NJ to Del to MD to VA and to North Carolina (!) and having to change money every time you cross a border. Amazing Rachel is managing the money and we are leaving each country without superfluous local currency. No wonder there is so much divisiveness in this area of the world!!
The next 36 hours will be super challenging. Tomorrow we have a 6am bus from Sarajevo to Belgrade, Serbia which arrives at 1pm. After running around Serbia for eight hours we'll take an overnight train to Sofia, Bulgaria. More border crossings - this one may be a little dicey because Rachel's passport has Kosovo stamps and the Serbs hate the Kosovars. More intimidating dudes!
Hope to update once we get to Bulgaria.
Lots of love,
Rosanne
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From: Rachel S. Geylin <rachel.geylin@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 4:58 PM
Dear all,
Hilarious cab ride at 5:30 this morning. Cher blasting, "If I could turn back time, If I could find a way...." Cabbie ran all the red lights and we were laughing the whole way there. Of course, everything is funny at 5:30 am especially after being up since 3am.
I'm coming to terms with the fact that Rachel has a couple screws loose - "Why are we going here again, Ray?" Of course, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, so I accept full responsibility for her/my behavior!
8 hour trip on the bus to Belgrade would probably take three hours on a good US highway, but so many potholes, bumps, curves, pavers - like riding on a roller coaster that squeaks. Not for those prone to motion sickness (MM!). Impossible to knit- KGB take note! Leave it home if you're doing the Bosnia to Serbia route! At a rest stop, they brought a whole roasted pig on a spit out of a smoker/oven that was located on the side of the road. Carried the thing through the dusty parking lot, around the back and into the restaurant. Yea, we MIGHT eat that!
So, yes, they let us into Serbia. Confiscated our passports for a while, but eventually stamped them and let us in. This time, it was an intimidating "dudette" with bright blue eye shadow to match her nifty Serbian uniform...actually a little more difficult to get out of Bosnia. Our carry-on luggage was searched. Rachel had to try to explain her epi-pen and other allergy meds. Then we had to explain what a tampon was - he got that one pretty quickly and dropped it like a hot potato! Now we are in Serbia and all my dreams have come true! Actually, it really is a nice city. Everyone has been friendly and helpful, and they even let us ride the bus for free because the driver didn't have enough dinars as change.
Teary - miss my dogs. Lots of them running around here. Just saw St. Save - the largest Orthodox church in the world - or at least it will be if they ever finish it. (They started in 1935).
We are hot and exhausted - tonight we have a 9:15 overnight train to Sofia, Bulgaria.
Love from the woman that is seriously beginning to feel like a vagabond.
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From: Rachel S. Geylin <rachel.geylin@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Apr 10, 2009 at 7:41 PM
Dear All,
Happy Good Friday, April 10th!
We're in Sofia, Bulgaria - crossed another time zone, so we are now 7 hours ahead of you.
Rachel's environmental allergies have been horrific for the past four days and are only getting worse. Spring is in FULL swing here. I have convinced her to take Zyrtec every 12 hours instead of every 24 - helping a little, but from many years experience, I know she needs Prednisone and I may try to get her to a doctor in Madrid that will give her some. When her eyes swell and are bloodshot, I know she is in trouble.
Cyrillic letters are difficult to figure out - glad we only have another 24 hours to try.
Any idea how surreal it is to be sitting on a train platform in Serbia listening to "Total Eclipse of the Heart" over the loudspeakers?
9:15 pm train overnight to Bulgaria:
COOL- booked a private car on this ancient train, so we had our own "room" with two bunks (Rachel top bunk of course!)
NOT COOL- train stopped frequently, horn blasted constantly and they banged on our door at 4:45am for immigration to check our passports, ask questions, and stamp us out of Serbia and into Bulgaria. At least no luggage search this time.
Hostel- funky, I am by far the oldest person here!
Rila Monastery - two hour drive to it. We were lucky enough to catch a ride there with a Spanish couple in their 30s (Maria Jose and David) who were checking out of the hostel. They rented a car and invited us to join them. Very cute, very sweet. D, no English, me, no Spanish, so Rachel and MJ talked a lot and translated for D and I. Rila Monastery was interesting, founded in AD 927. Rila mountains, absolutely gorgeous.
After our tour, MJ and D left to continue on their trip through Bulgaria. Rachel and I took a bus back to Sofia and slept on the way. WHEW!
8:45 pm flight tomorrow night to Madrid, yea, back to where at least Rachel can understand the language and we can have tapas for dinner.
We'll be done with Eastern Europe. I have to say something we all know - MAN, even with all of its problems, we are lucky to live in the United States!
Love,
Rosanne
ps- not to get gross, but if I never see a "Turkish toilet" again for the rest of my life, it will be more than ok!
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