Here graffiti is a romantic event. The island is literally from a Volcano, so there are white, red, and black beaches. Along this breath taking road, (not breath taking JUST because of it’s beauty, but because of how narrow the roads are, and how far of a drop it is to the bottom). Especially when the biggest buses they make, is coming your way, around a corner and you have to pull over. Not so bad going into town, because you get to pull over closest to the mountain. On the way back you have to pull over to the 1000 foot drop with no railing, kind of breath taking. My mom would love this place, however she would not like getting around the cliffy roads.
Anyway, along this one road to get to our town, there is this a red wall of volcanic rock. People use white rocks to spell out there name on the side. It’s very cool.
Santorini is clean, pure, and beautiful. One night, crowds of people were walking as though there was a concert or on the way to Church. So I investigated where the action was and it was simply to see the amazing sunset. The Churches are simple, yet make a powerful and pure statement by being so simple.
Date: Fri., 6 July 2001 14:12:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: Stacy Poulos
Subject: Swerland ; Gstaad – Erorpe 2001
To: Group
I have had the most amazing day. Yesterday was a warning, today was a blessing.
Yesterday we arrived in Gstaad, Swicherland. I took many photos and videos on the way. I highly recommend this trip to the Swiss alps. Every turn you make is like a post card from God. Even if you were to fall down and look up. It^s beautiful.
The air is clean, the water, the sky, the ground, and the people. The people are nice and have high values. Yesterday, when were all geared up to get off the train. Deana looked back and said, aww… look, the old man dropped his handkerchief. So I put down my purse, picked up two pieces of paper to scoop it up, and chased after him off the train, to give him back is handkerchief worth $2 American dollars. We were so enthralled with the good deed we did, we didn’t realize my mini backpack was on the train to the Alps, not a comforting feeling. Can you imagine anywhere in the Bay Area? In a panic, we tried to get together the resources to get the bag but the train had reached it^s last destination, and closed. It was 6:30 p.m.
The next day it was returned with 50 US Dollars cash, 200 Paris French Franks, three hundred AM Ex Travelers checks, and two of my personal checks. There was nothing we could do, I have good purse return karma, and sealed it with a prayer. Then I said screw it, rented a scooter and took some amazing photos. The next day it was in my hands un-opened and everything intact.
After a ride around town. I finally got a TRANSFORMER, not a converter. So I can charge my batteries for my camera. (It^s amazing how you can get lost in such a small town). We got on a river raft and road the river, it wasn’t as challenging as some California rafting trips I have been on. I wish I could have got the footage of that. Then we took another drive and I went all the way to the foot of the mountains.
We are in Gstaad, Swich. where the US Open Tennis tournament will be here the 7-7-01, this weekend. Check it out so you will see the town. However, I will not be here, gotta go. We are leaving at 6:30 a.m. our time to head to Florence, Italy. So far Swiss, is my favorite place. When I get to Greece I may not come home. ; ) There is one thing I learned about Europe, when you ask someone a question, and they say “yall” (i.e.. I thought… yes) it really means, I don^t know what the hell you are saying, go away, in that direction you just pointed.
Say Hi to Speilberg. Happy Birthday Kandie. Sandy, what^s up with my email? Write me. I^^m not home sick yet. There is no time, must go on. Caio’ for now.
You are all in my thoughts. God bless you, he is certainly looking over me.
Love Stacy.
Back log Europe 2001 **Read this first**
July 6th, 2001.
The emails I have sent you are usually all typed at a “Cyber Cafe” where you can rent a computer by the 15 minutes or half an hour or hour. First of all I was writing from a PC which is against my religion (I’m a Mackintosh die hard user) Navigating around a PC is foreign to me. Cutting and pasting is different, etc.
On top of that, I was writing on a foreign keyboard where I couldn’t find a lot of key things like a semi colon ‘ or a “@” or an “X” or the “Z.” For instance is the “X” is where the “T” is on a US keyboard. When you want to type a number i.e. “123” you have to push the shift button which is the opposite on a US keyboard. On top of that the web browser is in a different language if you wanted to copy and paste and go in the proper area it would be written in German, French or Greek, etc. Even the forward and back button etc., is in a different language. So in between cities on the train I used my Palm Pilot with a US keyboard to write more. The unfortunate part in getting it off the Palm Pilot into the emails. I simply cannot. Never the less you have been basically getting my notes from my trip. On top of the PC and foreign keyboard, I was always pressed for time. Either someone breathing down my neck to use the computer, or simply just limited time. In most cases I didn’t even get a chance to read my own emails before I pushed the “send” button. Hence, really bad spelling on top of my really bad spelling. So I apologize for this inconvenience of trying to figure out what I was saying.
Sooooo, you are going to get a back log of emails from the notes I took, in sequence. By popular demand, I will not send you the ending, before the beginning so we are going back in time to Switerland, our second stop on this wild adventure. I’m not going to even tell you if I’m in the “States” yet, maybe I went back to Greece, maybe I got married. Maybe I’m writing you from a jail cell because I video taped in places I wasn’t suppose to. Maybe I’m writing you from a Hospital because I got hit by a moped or bit by a bat …Or passed out from having to carry around a refrigerator on my back. Who knows. I have not given all these wonderful places justice. So here we go back in time… July 6th, 2001.
Back log Europe 2001 **Read this first**
We are now on our way to Florence; Italy, leaving Gstaad; Switerland, (Swiss) July 6th, 2001.
As we go down hill from Switerland, so does the surrounding CLEAN beauty. First of all, you would be amazed on how we find Hotels. For the most part Deana has two books, “Frommer’s Gay and Lesbian Europe” and “Europe on $60.00 a day” (i.e. US dollars). That gives us clues on where to start. When that doesn’t work out we use other methods. Like in Bern; Swiss, I asked this guy in a bar where a nice place to go was. He said “Gstaad: Swiss. That’s where all the famous people go and it’s not too touristy.” He said next year he will own a Bar there at the Hotel Bellerive. It’s in your budget, if you mention my name to the owner “Mr. Henry,” he will take care of you. If that doesn’t work out try this one…” Some other name. So I clued in the girls and they agreed to try it out. Mr. Henry said he would pick us up at the train station.
In Bern: Swiss, we did a lot of window shopping becausssssse everything closes at 6:00 p.m. That’s it. No more. During the day they close between about 12:00 and 1 for lunch. The only thing you can do is eat or drink. We did get to go in the stores however. If I ever want to shop, I would save it for here because EVERYTHING is made of the finest quality and material. No Chinese an Korean plastic crap, or American skimping and cutting corners. No, this stuff is made like a Swiss Army knife or watch. I highly recommend shopping here.
However, this common thing about “ice” has started to get on my nerves. In Europe you have to pay for a glass of water and if you ask for ice they don’t know what your talking about. If and when they figure it out, they think you are crazy for wanting it. At this one restaurant I asked for ice, I had to eventually point at my glass of water and say frozen water, then point to my place matt where I have drawn a ice cube, “aww” “blah, blah, blah” in there language. They come back with a glass with 3 ice cubes in it. What the hell. Sooo anyway. We ate, then rented bicycles and toured Bern. Well actually, since there are no billboards, advertisers lend out bicycles for free with there advertisements on it. Had we known that, we would have done this our first day in Bern. We are getting a lot of exercise from walking, walking and running to the train with our packs, walking stairs, riding bicycles, mopeds, etc. It’s quite a nice trip thir, there mascot is a bear. There are a couple in a Bear cage. Which I did not like because I just don’t like to see the wild locked up begging for food. Bern is beautiful. There is a huge river surrounding the town. The language is German. But don’t call them German. That’s a bad thing. They are Swiss and speak Swiss/German.
For the most part Deana has navigated us around. Even I can pronounce some of the Italian and French words within a country mile. German however, is very difficult for some reason. For one, the words are much longer and don’t come close to English, i.e.. British. I found it interesting watching Deana struggle with the words. She would say something like “we have to make a right on the “W… Y… street” Or the “Swer hot dog street” I laughed and said that’s what it’s like for me to read every day. If I don’t know a word, I just make up a word that is close so I can move on. The interesting thing about when it comes to reading billboards is it looks similar to something but I can’t really read it. So I look at it like a picture of words instead of attempting to read it because I know I can’t. Somehow I manage to get through life a lot like how we got through foreign countries, frustrated, half understanding, but manage. I mean imagine trying to get directions and they say make a right on Qualitätssieger Street, a left on Einrichtungsgebuehr Avenue, and another right on Grundgebuehrbefreiung Boulevard! How about a b-line to the nearest bar, to get a beir!
Our main concern is how to say where’s the bathroom, thank you, coffee, cream and ice. So we made it to Gstaad; Swiss. One more quaint town, less populated, and shops that close at 6:00 p.m.
As you read before about my purse ordeal, going off to the Swiss Alps and coming back all together, the Swiss are honest and it’s refreshing. Gstaad is a lot like Los Gatos or Sausalito, California. Quaint, small, expensive shops. But all quality stuff. Although nothing is more charming than having the ocean at your side. In Sausalito every once in the while, more often than not, you get the chilling saturation of a cold breeze from the San Francisco fog. In the Swiss Alps it’s the down breeze from the amazing massive mountain tops of snow. Even though we are here in the summer, the mountain tops have snow on them. Eventually, I rode my moped to the foot of the mountains. In some ways, the wind blew by me like a dam of water broke open and hit me. I was video taping while I was driving my moped and a gush of wind made me pull over and put it away. I need two hands to hang on. The closer I got to the foot of the mountains the more I felt the power of the wind gushing like a title wave of water.
When I finally made it back to the girls and then back to the Hotel, I passed by some local kids hiding behind a barn then running out to the street yelling something Swiss, then hiding again. It was a little game of hide and seek. So I drove by again, and then again, playing their little game, hanging on the horn. Yelling out Yaaa… Hooo!.
In our stay, we had the opportunity to go river rafting. Deana and Nachelle. Have never gone river rafting before. I however, have gone a few times. I told them just remember “go to the high side” when we hit a rock or if our boat is going to flip over “lean to the high side, where the boat is lifting out of the water.” We wedged our feet into the seat in front of us to hold us in. I tried to push Deana overboard with my paddle as a safety precaution to see if she knew how to use her feet to stay in the boat. “What the hell are you doing,” Deana said. I wanted to make sure you’re in. If I lose you, your grandparents will never forgive me, besides our train tickets are only good if we’re all together. I don’t want to have to drag around a dead body, as well as the refrigerator on my back. : )
The river wasn’t as wild as I thought it would be, being so close to the Alps, but it was a great ride. I didn’t bring any of my cameras for fear I would get them wet or drop them in the river. The ride down the river was beautiful, just looking at the different perspectives of the countryside. Some places were challenging and some were a smooth ride. As we passed by the cows I yelled out “are you happy cows?” They did not answer, but appeared to be happy. (This was at the “mad cow” disease time.)
Last night was our final night. We had to get up at 5 a.m., so Deana and Nachelle decided we stay up. “It’s only 3 more hours” Deana says. These two are usually packed before me. Of course I have a lot more gear and gadgets then they do. So I went up to pack. I learned never try to do it in the morning, especially when you have to leave.
When I was done packing, against my better judgement, I joined them in the Bar’ksh (as they say). There the owner/driver/matrodee/party animal/disco tech Dj/Mr. Henry, the bartender, and a couple of other locals, the ones D & N were partying with most the time, were in there drinking, dancing, and smoking. I keep asking Deana “How is the owner going to get us to the train station if he’s drunk?” “The bartender going to get us there” she says with the upmost confidence, as she swerves around in circles, moving her cigarette over to the side of her mouth to take another sip of Beer (Beir). I look over to the dance floor at the natives in their bell bottoms dancing with the Bartender who changed into her sweats, sipping off her drink. “How can she bring us if she’s drunk?” “She not drinking, she drinking soooda” Deana said. I just shook my head and said to myself, self, I better join them. So about 5:30 a.m. the sun was beginning to rise. I thought this would be a perfect photo opportunity.
So I hopped on my moped with my pajamas (PJ’s) on (When we go for long rides I like to ride in my PJ’s. I’m not worried what I look like, because we all look equally like hell.) So anyway, I went to the closest hill (a private road) parked my moped and sat on the road, you can do this here, and waited for the sun to rise. Well, that’s another thing that’s different here, the sun doesn’t really rise, it moves across the mountains. Apparently the mountains are taller than the sun, or it’s because here you are father away from the equator? Really, I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, but the sun was never straight above our heads. It was to my right when it fell last night, and is to the right this morning. Of course, they probably went over this part in school. That would have been the times I was taking an afternoon nap in class. Now I’m getting it, on the road lessons. At home it goes straight over my head from East to West. As I sat on this road pondering, my a’-ten-’cee-‘on (attention) was on this very common fence. The post is a thick wood branch thingie with a round metal loop nail thingie, with a piece of plastic ring in the center of the loop, that suspends a funny looking rope’ie wire’ie thingie. I think it’s an electric fence, ya know, to keep the sheep and the cows in. Giv’em a little buzz to keep them behind the fence. Well, earlier I came to the conclusion that’s what it was. As I sat there listening to this tingle/buzzing sound, I thought there should be some kind of warning sign, even if I could not pronounce it or know what it says, it should have something. What about children? So I was about to touch it to make sure that’s what it was. That’s what my brother Steve would do in this situation. Of course he has a lot of scars from these kind of experiments. He’d open a cupboard door and hit himself in his face too. In this case he probably would just grab it full force, as he’d say, “It can’t hurt you that bad”.
I however, picked up a piece of straw, and touched it with that. It started to vibrate. So I did it again. It vibrated again. Then I touched it quickly with my finger and felt a little tingle. In conclusion, I think it’s an electric fence. I would have further experimented if I had an extra day to recover from shock, but I must get on my moped and go. I sat my camera on the ground and snapped a photo of the sun hidden behind the massive mountains.
Anyway, that’s the way it is here, beautiful, clean, people are honest, they have values and they don’t have billboards. The children have pure fun and learn young, and adults are nice. All the homes and buildings are uniform and spread out on farms, and in harmony with the environment around them. Switerland is refreshing. (Unless your stuck indoors around a bunch of smokers). The fences are electric, the language is German/Swiss, and they don’t have hash browns, or Sierra Nevada, and they don’t serve a free glass of water with ice.
Now back at the ranch, I tryed to get the party animals rounded up and to the train on time.
As I locked up my last lock on my back pack, Deana and Nachelle contemplated staying another day. The owner offered a free room. They all fell in love with each other. Nachelle, “I don’t want to go.” “We were packed and ready to go”, I put my foot down (Considering I was the only sober one) and said “Lets go. We already made the decision.” I wanted to stay too. But this was far too spontaneous and we had reservations.
The entire Hotel staff minus the second bartender, took us to the train in a mad dash. I drove the moped and they followed so I could drop it off. They offered to take it back for me. I thought that was so sweet, considering the deposits on my credit card, and they are drunk, I said “It’s no problem… I’ll do it, let’s go.” At the station, they serenaded to us on the train. Sadly, we left Switerland. But I will be back someday, to shop and relax.
Date: Fri., 6 July 2001 14:12:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: Stacy Poulos
Subject: Swerland ; Gstaad – Erorpe 2001
To: Group
I have had the most amazing day. Yesterday was a warning, today was a blessing.
Yesterday we arrived in Gstaad, Swicherland. I took many photos and videos on the way. I highly recommend this trip to the Swiss alps. Every turn you make is like a post card from God. Even if you were to fall down and look up. It^s beautiful.
The air is clean, the water, the sky, the ground, and the people. The people are nice and have high values. Yesterday, when were all geared up to get off the train. Deana looked back and said, aww… look, the old man dropped his handkerchief. So I put down my purse, picked up two pieces of paper to scoop it up, and chased after him off the train, to give him back is handkerchief worth $2 American dollars. We were so enthralled with the good deed we did, we didn’t realize my mini backpack was on the train to the Alps, not a comforting feeling. Can you imagine anywhere in the Bay Area? In a panic, we tried to get together the resources to get the bag but the train had reached it^s last destination, and closed. It was 6:30 p.m.
The next day it was returned with 50 US Dollars cash, 200 Paris French Franks, three hundred AM Ex Travelers checks, and two of my personal checks. There was nothing we could do, I have good purse return karma, and sealed it with a prayer. Then I said screw it, rented a scooter and took some amazing photos. The next day it was in my hands un-opened and everything intact.
After a ride around town. I finally got a TRANSFORMER, not a converter. So I can charge my batteries for my camera. (It^s amazing how you can get lost in such a small town). We got on a river raft and road the river, it wasn’t as challenging as some California rafting trips I have been on. I wish I could have got the footage of that. Then we took another drive and I went all the way to the foot of the mountains.
We are in Gstaad, Swich. where the US Open Tennis tournament will be here the 7-7-01, this weekend. Check it out so you will see the town. However, I will not be here, gotta go. We are leaving at 6:30 a.m. our time to head to Florence, Italy. So far Swiss, is my favorite place. When I get to Greece I may not come home. ; ) There is one thing I learned about Europe, when you ask someone a question, and they say “yall” (i.e.. I thought… yes) it really means, I don^t know what the hell you are saying, go away, in that direction you just pointed.
Say Hi to Speilberg. Happy Birthday Kandie. Sandy, what^s up with my email? Write me. I^^m not home sick yet. There is no time, must go on. Caio’ for now.
You are all in my thoughts. God bless you, he is certainly looking over me.
Love Stacy.
Back log Europe 2001 **Read this first**
July 6th, 2001.
The emails I have sent you are usually all typed at a “Cyber Cafe” where you can rent a computer by the 15 minutes or half an hour or hour. First of all I was writing from a PC which is against my religion (I’m a Mackintosh die hard user) Navigating around a PC is foreign to me. Cutting and pasting is different, etc.
On top of that, I was writing on a foreign keyboard where I couldn’t find a lot of key things like a semi colon ‘ or a “@” or an “X” or the “Z.” For instance is the “X” is where the “T” is on a US keyboard. When you want to type a number i.e. “123” you have to push the shift button which is the opposite on a US keyboard. On top of that the web browser is in a different language if you wanted to copy and paste and go in the proper area it would be written in German, French or Greek, etc. Even the forward and back button etc., is in a different language. So in between cities on the train I used my Palm Pilot with a US keyboard to write more. The unfortunate part in getting it off the Palm Pilot into the emails. I simply cannot. Never the less you have been basically getting my notes from my trip. On top of the PC and foreign keyboard, I was always pressed for time. Either someone breathing down my neck to use the computer, or simply just limited time. In most cases I didn’t even get a chance to read my own emails before I pushed the “send” button. Hence, really bad spelling on top of my really bad spelling. So I apologize for this inconvenience of trying to figure out what I was saying.
Sooooo, you are going to get a back log of emails from the notes I took, in sequence. By popular demand, I will not send you the ending, before the beginning so we are going back in time to Switerland, our second stop on this wild adventure. I’m not going to even tell you if I’m in the “States” yet, maybe I went back to Greece, maybe I got married. Maybe I’m writing you from a jail cell because I video taped in places I wasn’t suppose to. Maybe I’m writing you from a Hospital because I got hit by a moped or bit by a bat …Or passed out from having to carry around a refrigerator on my back. Who knows. I have not given all these wonderful places justice. So here we go back in time… July 6th, 2001.
Back log Europe 2001 **Read this first**
We are now on our way to Florence; Italy, leaving Gstaad; Switerland, (Swiss) July 6th, 2001.
As we go down hill from Switerland, so does the surrounding CLEAN beauty. First of all, you would be amazed on how we find Hotels. For the most part Deana has two books, “Frommer’s Gay and Lesbian Europe” and “Europe on $60.00 a day” (i.e. US dollars). That gives us clues on where to start. When that doesn’t work out we use other methods. Like in Bern; Swiss, I asked this guy in a bar where a nice place to go was. He said “Gstaad: Swiss. That’s where all the famous people go and it’s not too touristy.” He said next year he will own a Bar there at the Hotel Bellerive. It’s in your budget, if you mention my name to the owner “Mr. Henry,” he will take care of you. If that doesn’t work out try this one…” Some other name. So I clued in the girls and they agreed to try it out. Mr. Henry said he would pick us up at the train station.
In Bern: Swiss, we did a lot of window shopping becausssssse everything closes at 6:00 p.m. That’s it. No more. During the day they close between about 12:00 and 1 for lunch. The only thing you can do is eat or drink. We did get to go in the stores however. If I ever want to shop, I would save it for here because EVERYTHING is made of the finest quality and material. No Chinese an Korean plastic crap, or American skimping and cutting corners. No, this stuff is made like a Swiss Army knife or watch. I highly recommend shopping here.
However, this common thing about “ice” has started to get on my nerves. In Europe you have to pay for a glass of water and if you ask for ice they don’t know what your talking about. If and when they figure it out, they think you are crazy for wanting it. At this one restaurant I asked for ice, I had to eventually point at my glass of water and say frozen water, then point to my place matt where I have drawn a ice cube, “aww” “blah, blah, blah” in there language. They come back with a glass with 3 ice cubes in it. What the hell. Sooo anyway. We ate, then rented bicycles and toured Bern. Well actually, since there are no billboards, advertisers lend out bicycles for free with there advertisements on it. Had we known that, we would have done this our first day in Bern. We are getting a lot of exercise from walking, walking and running to the train with our packs, walking stairs, riding bicycles, mopeds, etc. It’s quite a nice trip thir, there mascot is a bear. There are a couple in a Bear cage. Which I did not like because I just don’t like to see the wild locked up begging for food. Bern is beautiful. There is a huge river surrounding the town. The language is German. But don’t call them German. That’s a bad thing. They are Swiss and speak Swiss/German.
For the most part Deana has navigated us around. Even I can pronounce some of the Italian and French words within a country mile. German however, is very difficult for some reason. For one, the words are much longer and don’t come close to English, i.e.. British. I found it interesting watching Deana struggle with the words. She would say something like “we have to make a right on the “W… Y… street” Or the “Swer hot dog street” I laughed and said that’s what it’s like for me to read every day. If I don’t know a word, I just make up a word that is close so I can move on. The interesting thing about when it comes to reading billboards is it looks similar to something but I can’t really read it. So I look at it like a picture of words instead of attempting to read it because I know I can’t. Somehow I manage to get through life a lot like how we got through foreign countries, frustrated, half understanding, but manage. I mean imagine trying to get directions and they say make a right on Qualitätssieger Street, a left on Einrichtungsgebuehr Avenue, and another right on Grundgebuehrbefreiung Boulevard! How about a b-line to the nearest bar, to get a beir!
Our main concern is how to say where’s the bathroom, thank you, coffee, cream and ice. So we made it to Gstaad; Swiss. One more quaint town, less populated, and shops that close at 6:00 p.m.
As you read before about my purse ordeal, going off to the Swiss Alps and coming back all together, the Swiss are honest and it’s refreshing. Gstaad is a lot like Los Gatos or Sausalito, California. Quaint, small, expensive shops. But all quality stuff. Although nothing is more charming than having the ocean at your side. In Sausalito every once in the while, more often than not, you get the chilling saturation of a cold breeze from the San Francisco fog. In the Swiss Alps it’s the down breeze from the amazing massive mountain tops of snow. Even though we are here in the summer, the mountain tops have snow on them. Eventually, I rode my moped to the foot of the mountains. In some ways, the wind blew by me like a dam of water broke open and hit me. I was video taping while I was driving my moped and a gush of wind made me pull over and put it away. I need two hands to hang on. The closer I got to the foot of the mountains the more I felt the power of the wind gushing like a title wave of water.
When I finally made it back to the girls and then back to the Hotel, I passed by some local kids hiding behind a barn then running out to the street yelling something Swiss, then hiding again. It was a little game of hide and seek. So I drove by again, and then again, playing their little game, hanging on the horn. Yelling out Yaaa… Hooo!.
In our stay, we had the opportunity to go river rafting. Deana and Nachelle. Have never gone river rafting before. I however, have gone a few times. I told them just remember “go to the high side” when we hit a rock or if our boat is going to flip over “lean to the high side, where the boat is lifting out of the water.” We wedged our feet into the seat in front of us to hold us in. I tried to push Deana overboard with my paddle as a safety precaution to see if she knew how to use her feet to stay in the boat. “What the hell are you doing,” Deana said. I wanted to make sure you’re in. If I lose you, your grandparents will never forgive me, besides our train tickets are only good if we’re all together. I don’t want to have to drag around a dead body, as well as the refrigerator on my back. : )
The river wasn’t as wild as I thought it would be, being so close to the Alps, but it was a great ride. I didn’t bring any of my cameras for fear I would get them wet or drop them in the river. The ride down the river was beautiful, just looking at the different perspectives of the countryside. Some places were challenging and some were a smooth ride. As we passed by the cows I yelled out “are you happy cows?” They did not answer, but appeared to be happy. (This was at the “mad cow” disease time.)
Last night was our final night. We had to get up at 5 a.m., so Deana and Nachelle decided we stay up. “It’s only 3 more hours” Deana says. These two are usually packed before me. Of course I have a lot more gear and gadgets then they do. So I went up to pack. I learned never try to do it in the morning, especially when you have to leave.
When I was done packing, against my better judgement, I joined them in the Bar’ksh (as they say). There the owner/driver/matrodee/party animal/disco tech Dj/Mr. Henry, the bartender, and a couple of other locals, the ones D & N were partying with most the time, were in there drinking, dancing, and smoking. I keep asking Deana “How is the owner going to get us to the train station if he’s drunk?” “The bartender going to get us there” she says with the upmost confidence, as she swerves around in circles, moving her cigarette over to the side of her mouth to take another sip of Beer (Beir). I look over to the dance floor at the natives in their bell bottoms dancing with the Bartender who changed into her sweats, sipping off her drink. “How can she bring us if she’s drunk?” “She not drinking, she drinking soooda” Deana said. I just shook my head and said to myself, self, I better join them. So about 5:30 a.m. the sun was beginning to rise. I thought this would be a perfect photo opportunity.
So I hopped on my moped with my pajamas (PJ’s) on (When we go for long rides I like to ride in my PJ’s. I’m not worried what I look like, because we all look equally like hell.) So anyway, I went to the closest hill (a private road) parked my moped and sat on the road, you can do this here, and waited for the sun to rise. Well, that’s another thing that’s different here, the sun doesn’t really rise, it moves across the mountains. Apparently the mountains are taller than the sun, or it’s because here you are father away from the equator? Really, I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, but the sun was never straight above our heads. It was to my right when it fell last night, and is to the right this morning. Of course, they probably went over this part in school. That would have been the times I was taking an afternoon nap in class. Now I’m getting it, on the road lessions. At home it goes straight over my head from East to West.
As I sat on this road pondering, my a’-ten-’cee-‘on (attention) was on this very common fence. The post is a thick wood branch thingie with a round metal loop nail thingie, with a piece of plastic ring in the center of the loop, that suspends a funny looking rope’ie wire’ie thingie. I think it’s an electric fence, ya know, to keep the sheep and the cows in. Giv’em a little buzz to keep them behind the fence. Well, earlier I came to the conclusion that’s what it was. As I sat there listening to this tingle/buzzing sound, I thought there should be some kind of warning sign, even if I could not pronounce it or know what it says, it should have something. What about children? So I was about to touch it to make sure that’s what it was. That’s what my brother Steve would do in this situation. Of course he has a lot of scars from these kind of experiments. He’d open a cupboard door and hit himself in his face too. In this case he probably would just grab it full force, as he’d say, “It can’t hurt you that bad”.
I however, picked up a piece of straw, and touched it with that. It started to vibrate. So I did it again. It vibrated again. Then I touched it quickly with my finger and felt a little tingle. In conclusion, I think it’s an electric fence. I would have further experimented if I had an extra day to recover from shock, but I must get on my moped and go. I sat my camera on the ground and snapped a photo of the sun hidden behind the massive mountains.
Anyway, that’s the way it is here, beautiful, clean, people are honest, they have values and they don’t have billboards. The children have pure fun and learn young, and adults are nice. All the homes and buildings are uniform and spread out on farms, and in harmony with the environment around them. Switerland is refreshing. (Unless your stuck indoors around a bunch of smokers). The fences are electric, the language is German/Swiss, and they don’t have hash browns, or Sierra Nevada, and they don’t serve a free glass of water with ice.
Now back at the ranch, I tryed to get the party animals rounded up and to the train on time.
As I locked up my last lock on my back pack, Deana and Nachelle contemplated staying another day. The owner offered a free room. They all fell in love with each other. Nachelle, “I don’t want to go.” “We were packed and ready to go”, I put my foot down (Considering I was the only sober one) and said “Lets go. We already made the decision.” I wanted to stay too. But this was far too spontaneous and we had reservations.
The entire Hotel staff minus the second bartender, took us to the train in a mad dash. I drove the moped and they followed so I could drop it off. They offered to take it back for me. I thought that was so sweet, considering the deposits on my credit card, and they are drunk, I said “It’s no problem… I’ll do it, let’s go.” At the station, they serenaded to us on the train. Sadly, we left Switerland. But I will be back someday, to shop and relax.
Today is Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. and I am writing you from my hotel in Swerland. Swerland ISSSSS beautiful and clean. When they said we were on the 5th floor I wanted to pass out, I told Deana and Nachelle I can^?t make it up another step. The said they had an elevator. Whew! Our view is of a courtyard of a 4 to 8 stories high buildings and we’re over looking a very cool roof. It^’s picture^’esk. We have already been in town to visit Einstein’s house. I sat at his desk where he discovered the theory relativity… E=MC2. Tomorrow we hang around his home town Bern, Swreland and head off to the <ALPS TOMORROW, where we will river raft, and then head out to Florence, Italy.
I am having the time of my life, although my feet are tired. There is much to tell. I’m on my way to wake the girls from a nap so we can see how the night life is here.
Please give Speilberg my love. And I will be reporting from who knows where next?
God Bless you all.
Love Stacy $®¸p£‡ÈËÈ£
Date: Wed, 4 July 2001 12:39:40 (PDT)
From: Stacy Poulos
Subject: THE EAGLE HAS LANDED EROPE 2001
To: Group
THE EAGLE HAS LANDED in EuROPe, and the eagle has very, very, very, tired feet. :0
wHERE DO i START<<<? fOR ONE <<<<i^M NOT ON DRUGS, iM a dyslexic, on a Swerland computer, which is in a German language, yeeks! With all these extra ¸®$£‡ÈË!?` stuff where something else used to be. So I can^t find some keys? Bare with me here. I apologize for the extra e^mails. I`ve used Yahoo for years but never tried to `cc anyone. Anyway….
We landed in Paris on Sunday, I lived through my fear of flying gracefully. The plane was full of people from Tahiti, who also spoke French. So I got warmed up on the ride over not understanding anything. I have learned to point to a map, and act out what I want, or draw it. Ice for instance, after three tries with the waiter today, who happened to speak Spanish (as well as German and French), I pointed to the water he brought me, that I did not order, then
as he intently attempted to understand me, I drew a cube on my place mat and pointed to my coke. He finally got it. “Yellow!” he said. (‘ice’ in Spanish, actually ‘Heilo’). It’s a game of charades getting what you want, and where you want to go.
I finally know what it feels like to be a foreigner. Leaving Paris, I gave it another shot to call home to let my mom know I was alright. I bought a prepaid phone card and tried several times to call. I even had a man help, show me what to do, then another woman, then with the pressure of our train leaving to Swerland soon, I finally yelled out in the train station: “Does anyone speak English, so I can use this ËËÈing card!?” Two brave French women who spoke a little English helped me, then they got frustrated and went away as well. So I had to leave without calling again. When you pick up a phone in “The States”, as they say here, i.e. USA, the per-recorded operator gives you a choice to press “1” for English and “2” Spanish, they say the options in English, and then in Spanish. Here it^s just a prerecorded French operator that says something I don’t understand. That’s one situation where you can`t draw pictures or mimic what you need.
So what was the city of Paris like? Paris is beautiful. The buildings are 5 to 8 stories high and no more, unless it’s a monumental building of some sort. Every corner you turn is a 8 story long BLOCK of buildings with not even a crack between each other. Our first night out we were out longer than the metro and walked the streets home. At that time of night, I had a sense of “Gothem City” in the movie Batman. It was very strange to be there, somewhere so different and so far away from home.
We have been so busy hitting landmarks, catching metro^s (i.e. BART^s) We did not get to see the ^Eiffel Tower^ until our last day. I would have been too embarrassed to report back without seeing that. It’s very tall. It was built for the world’s fair. The French actually didn’t like it.
French people spend a lot of money on burring dead people. Every major street leads to this monument, “Arc de Triomphe”, where they honor the solders who protected their city. Facing that monument on the other side of town several miles away, is Napoleon’s Tomb. Also a huge building surrounded by beautiful sculptures and paintings. What I like most about the French is that they honor Art and Artists. And everywhere you turn you are reminded in some grandeur way.
Fortunately, we met a very kind woman named Sarah who spoke English and French. She was from “The States”, Florida to be exact. She helped plan some of the hot spots and volunteered to be our guide before she left. The one that I liked most was going to this area ‘Montmartre^’ that overlooks the city. You could see the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre (a world famous Museum that holds many treasured arts such as, The Mona Lisa, Michelangelo’s works, all who I got to see, and many more). From the view point you can also see Notre-Dame (famous in my eyes from the movie The Hunchback Back of Notre-Dame.)
Vincent van Gogh’s The Cafe Terrace
Before you get to the view, you have to go through the crowded streets of cafes, street artists, restaurant’s, etc. It is like a summer street festival that has the ambiance of tranquility. I wish this was something I saw on the first day. I just cannot explain. This is where many artist paint “store front french cafes” and “restaurants.” I believe this is where Vincent Van Gogh was inspired to paint Vincent Cafe, A Night Cafe Scene in Paris and Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec. Other artist like Dali, Picasso, Erik Satie, Mistinguett and Dalida also lived and/or worked there. Here is what the cafe looks like today [click].
On this particular night I split up from the girls to meet them later. It just so happens I bought a very unique cool bottle of Evian water (From the very near French Alps) that I wanted to bring home. It was uniquely shaped like a woman’s figure, the lid had a loop on it, for sort of a handle. As it got darker I went to walk home, or to the Metro before it closed. There were these birds flying wildly around those Paris looking tiki type lights. I thought it was odd that they would be flying around at night, maybe there’s a special Paris type bird that stays out late like the French? As one came close, it dawned on me that they were bats, at the same time I had that thought, one swooped down attacking me. I gripped the loop on the water bottle and swung at the attacking bat, the handle stayed griped in my hand, as the bottle flew off into the sunset. I started running away and did not look back. They hung around lights because that’s where bugs hang out. Every once in awhile, they like to entertain themselves and watch tourist run for their lives, like I was.
After these 3 days of walking, standing, and taking the maze of the metro everywhere, my feet were tired. Soooo very tired. I just wanted to get to the Metro before it closed and back to my pad without missing my train and ending up stuck with the bats. Trying to find my way home with French street signs I could not pronounce.
In Paris people don’t just point you in the right direction, they walk you in the direction. Several blocks. On our first night out, one man followed us for at least 20 Paris blocks. They also walk fast like they are on a mission. Deana kept up with our guide while me and Nachelle tried to keep up, as we wonder why we are following this man we did not know?
I thought it was just that night with Deana and Nachelle and that guy particularly. When I was on my own and a little freaked out about the bat situation, I didn’t mind that some man walked me 6 blocks to the Metro.
When we first arrived in Paris off the Train from the airport, the girls were tired and frustrated because we got off the wrong exit. But I was soooo happy and excited I was levitating, it was like a dream. (Luckily I had a refrigerator strapped on my back (my backpack) to hold me down). Here I lived through a long flight, which I am scared to death to fly, and I’m alive and …in Paris!
We had to walk many blocks to our hotel, but I was enjoying every minute of it, tapping my feet all the way. When we finally got to our “Hotel Notre-Dame,” all 3 of us could not get in the elevator at the same time with our back packs. When we open the door to our room, we all laughed. The beds were so small they looked like children’s beds. There was just enough room to walk around the beds. Deana got on one of the beds and said “This is two doubles… (as in the AD she read when she booked the room) notice the dividing line between them.” We cracked up laughing.
We went cheap, we were determined to pay only $60.00 US dollars a night, $20.00 for each of us. Deana made the reservations in the US. We had 42 days to pay for hotels. It ended up being 1,230 French franks (Approximately $176.50 US Dollars) for 3 nights. When I went to sign my credit card bill it said “Montant: (Amount) 1,260,00 FRF… Signature Du Porteur” Meaning when I get home I’m going to have to pay this off… 1,260 FRF! That I do not quite understand? Deana assured me it was OK. I was reluctant to sign the bill. To cover myself and understanding what I am obligated to, I put on all my receipts “Apx. the amount I thought, sooo… (In this case I put apx $162.75 US). That way if I had a dispute this, this is what I signed for. It’s very unnerving to sign for such an amount when you don’t quite get the exchange thing. I went through the same thing getting cash. Do you want 5,000 10,000 20,000 franks? etc.? It’s not good to stand at a ATM machine at midnight with a calculator in your hand like me and Deana did. Yeeks! That will be 8,500 for that Happy meal! “…Bono petite.” Most of the time I sat there like when I was in the Cayman Islands looking at my change as though my hand has transformed into this ugly hairy arm. The wise thing to do before you buy something is to do it with authority, like know just about what something is going to cost before you go up, not give the –the deer in the head lights look, hold out all your money so they can take what they need.
The toilets were similar to the USA except for the flusher. It was more of a large button than a handle. And nothing spit water at you like I had been told. The most frustrating thing that I ran into was about the electricity situation. I was to bring the blow dryer, and Nachelle the transformer. She brought a converter, which our US plugs, plug in the back of -converting the plugs… Not! Transforming it! A transformer changes wattage. Their 230 watts in to our 110 watts. Watt’s of electricity is what powers things, and kills people who get the electric chair. Science question: What happens to an American 110 watt maximum capacity blow dryer when you plug it into a European wall. A plug that belts out twice as much electricity then it needs, 230 watts of raging electricity? Answer: It lights up like a Christmas tree, smokes like a fire before it pops and never works again.
The worst part is that I bought a $3,000.00 camera that I need to charge the batteries for and couldn’t the 6 weeks we were there. Without the batteries the camera is worthless. You can not get a transformer in Paris either. We looked in many locations. You can get the plugs that will allow you to blow up your equipment, but not the transformer. This created a lot of stress. Especially when Deana was not happy with her hair.
NOTES: July 4th, 2001 better known as the “Fourth of July” in America. We are safely on the train, together with everything minus one blow dryer. I’m wearing my gray Old Navy tank top with the American Flag on it, pondering over the French country side from the window of the Euro train. I’m excited to be moving onto my next destination, Swisterland. I lean over to Deana and Nachelle and say “Happy Forth of July” and smile. “I guess they don’t celebrate the Forth of July over here.” No. Especially when we probably kicked their butt. (So I was wrong it was the British, what can I say I slipped through the cracks in school) I realize at this moment that there are other American traditions and holidays they don’t celebrate. Somehow, I feel as though I am being woken up about the world around me and the traditions I have known. Like Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays. It’s a time to see my family and pig out on Turkey.
As I ponder out the train window –I realize, have really made it to Europe!
Innies & Outies, Onezy-Twozy’s Frome the book Life In A Nutshell by Stacy Poulos
Some people have “innies” and some people have “outies” (belly buttons). It used to bother me that I had an “outie,” boys have “outies.” As I got older and more womanly like, I developed an “innie.” Basically, I got fatter and my stomach grew around my belly button. Now it bothers me I have an “innie.” Which brings me to another pointless point about “number one” and “number two”. It’s very traumatizing for a child not to know which is which. This is one of those tricky questions children ask you outside of the class room, “do you need to go ‘number one’ or ‘number two?” After awhile, I realized you don’t say “number two” under any circumstance, because I realized that meant you had to go “poop.” And that’s far too much information and ammunition for a child to have on you. Growing up can be traumatizing. It seemed as though everyone else got a manual that I didn’t. Even the how to ask embarrassing questions of other kids. I always seemed to have the wrong answer, I was a target for them. Going to the bathroom has been a stressful thing for me since elementary school. Even in college I would have people run the water so I could concentrate on peeing. If you had to use a butt gasket, the person in the next stall would know what you were up to.
Somehow I slipped through the cracks and never knew what was the true answer was until I was about thirty-four. By high school I was too far gone to ask, and I never trusted a friend well enough to ask either. I guess my mom never covered the ‘onezy-twozy’ thing because she called it like it was, where ever it was… “Honey, do you have to take a shit?” Not that turning to my grandparents was any better. I suppose it was passed down from generation to generation, because I recall my Nana saying the same thing. If you are a parent, even if you call it like it is, make sure your children know the difference! So here I am breaking away to Europe with little knowledge about the way things are out there, concerned about special European toilets spitting water at my ass.
Not too many know what goes on in my head. But for someone who didn’t do well in school, I think about a lot of fine details. I think a lot has to do with the combination of my mom and older brother. My mom’s a freak. If you have a cold, she doesn’t want you to touch her or anything that comes in contact with her. And my older brother likes to point out microscopic stuff. Like when he showed me a close up of my favorite “Blue Cheese” and the “blue” was mold. I haven’t touched it since. When he talks about any subject, he says it with such authority and conviction as though he invented it himself. That’s why we called him “Scout Master” as a young teenager. When I would ask him, “How do you know?” He would always reply, “I just know.” So I am very aware about microscopic things. Like did you know flies go “number two” and puke every time they land? That’s what the Scout Master joyfully told me. So I freak out when one lands on me or anything they touch. Whenever I see, one I’m self-conscious of where they are located, and I sanitize what they touch or not eat if they land on my food. My dad said that you catch people’s colds if you shake their hands. Hearing this leaves an imaginative three dimensionally visual person paranoid.
Before starting my adventure to Europe (the other side of the world to me), I went to the Pride parade in San Francisco with some friends on BART. Eventually we got separated,but I still managed to have a good time on my own. A few minutes before midnight I realized I only had five minutes to get to BART for the last train home. Well! In a panic, I ran out of this club looking for a cab to get me to the BART station. I had no time to wait so I ran like crazy to BART and caught the last one. Whew! Fortunately I already had prepaid for the ticket because that takes me a long time to figure out how to get the ticket out of the machine. Next thing you know I woke up forty minutes later at the end of the line in Pleasanton, eight miles from my stop (Castro Valley) where I should have gotten off. In a daze, I asked about a train going back. They said it was the last one of the evening. So there I was, at one A.M. in the morning, two days away from leaving for another country and I have to call my mom for a ride home because I missed my exit. Nothing like trying to make my mother worried, on top of worrying about me leaving the country. “What the *@&%!, I can’t believe you fell asleep on the F*@&%ing train!”, she says. Her way of encouragement and parental advice. My younger brother picks up the phone at the same time. They argue about what an idiot I am. My brother hangs up. My mom says, “What are you going to do in Europe?” I said, “Look at the bright side, I’m not calling you from Germany needing a ride. Deana will look out for me. Besides, our tickets are no good unless we are together.” Extra insurance! As I sat in the cold waiting for my mommy, I thought, “What if I was in Germany?” Yeeks! I tried not to think about it.
It just so happens there was a lot of coverage in the news that Europeans rip off tourists. The news show 20/20 did a report on how people stole wallets, etc,. Even though people never really talk about Europe, it seems everyone I talked to, talked about the pickpockets, and how they come up and cut the straps of your purse and run. Considering I’m bringing $3,000.00 worth of camera equipment, etc. I prepared myself. I was as prepared as I could be, I thought. I had reinforced my purse straps with cable wire so no one could cut it and run. I had an alarm I could attach to my bag and a chair, if anyone tried to move it, it would go off. I had mini locks on all my zippers, as well as a money belt. A metal cord went from my camera to whatever I hooked it on with a lock on the end, so it wouldn’t leave without me knowing. I had a warm sleeping bag, blow up pillows, eye patches, sanitizing wash, a mini first aid kit, a flash light, two alarms, two watches, one watch with three time zones and an alarm, two money calculator converters with alarm clocks, a waterproof container for my passport, as well as many other mini gadgets. I scanned the girls and my ID’s, passports, and our tickets and burned them onto a mini CD as big as a business card and kept it with me, and one at home in case we lost it. I was covered, and I knew what “number one” and “number two” was. I also had a lot of room on my VISA card to charge my way through Europe and home again. But I had nothing that would prevent me from getting lost or separated. I bought three walkie talkies so we could find each other in a two mile range. We lost one before we got on the air plane.
Date: June 29, 2001. By Stacy Poulos v4 Published in “Life In A Nutshell” 2008.
October 1998 my friend Cindy Kleinsasser went to Australia on this amazing adventure for over 2 months. She gave me permission to publish her letters and photos sent to her friends writing about her experiences. Enjoy.
Date: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 18:55:23 -0800 (PST)
From: Cindy Kleinsasser
Subject: Hello from Australia
Hi Everyone,
I updated my address book so many of you may be getting my e-mail for the first time if not please write me and I’ll insert you and you can be on the frequent mailing list. Well I’ve been in Perth for about two weeks at the Globe hostel. I was staying in Freemantle.
Perth is the largest city on the Western side of Australia but it’s still very small. A few gay bars with lots of straight people.
It is gay pride which has been all month long. I’ve went to two films being shown for the gay film festival. One was “Bent” and “Relay…It’s just sex” with Jennifer Tilly. Both were excellent.
When I arrived at the Hostel all my roommates had the flu or tonsillitis. I was fortunate until two days ago and I got really sick. I think bronchitis. So I’m taking it easy and drinking a lot of orange juice and tea. It’s helping. Just as long as I stay out of trouble. Australians party a lot and love to get “pissed” thats what they call drunk.
This weekend is the gay parade. I will go and then there’s a huge after party. Then after I that I will stay at Rottnest. A beautiful paradise island off the coast. The weather has been sunny but some days get cool. It should start to cook soon. This is
Australia spring and in the summer it stays in the 100’s. When I go up the Western coast I’ll be going at the worst time because it’s the wet season where it’s 90% humidity and over a 100 degrees. I leave up the Western coast Nov 13th. I will be in a big 4WD bus that will go up the coast for 14 days. I have to go. I pay for my e-mail time.
Kathy C quite e-mailing me electronic cards! The computers are often slow here and they use all my e-mail time. Just write a few words. How is work. I miss everyone. I hope all is well and there’s not a moment that I don’t miss everyone. Have a cuppa for me which is australian for tea. Cheers!
luv cindy kleinsasser
Perth Australia
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 17:57:05 -0800 (PST)
From: Cindy Kleinsasser
Subject: newsletter from Australia
Hi Everyone,
It’s that time. Time for the Cindy/Australia update. Now where did I leave off. I went to the gay games in Perth and it was small scale compared to SF. But well worth it. Very well put together and not the bad mob scene of SF. The funny thing is that the population of Perth is small so all the gay people that exists in the area were in the parade so all the spectators were straight. I dressed up of course the drag queen that I am. I was about the only one who was in the crowd. I sent pictures to Kathleen and Deana so if anyone wants to check them out they are good shots. They won’t arrive for a week though.
Tree Australia
After being in Perth for two weeks I wanted a vacation from the city and went back to Rottnest Island for a week with Marney. Now Girls this island is incredible. Its like Hawaii without all the tourism, people and completely untouched. I think we should plan a month vacation, rent out one of the cabins that overlook the picturesque ocean for cheap$$$$$$$$$$$$. We deserve this!!!!! Life’s tooooooooooooo short. Okay I’lll move on but I wish you all were here with me. I miss everyone by the way. Some nights my heart is heavy. But all of this is well worth it. I’m thankful I went out on the limb on this and said fuck it. I hope all of you if you haven’t at one time will do it eventually OK, Rottnest! At Rottnest I went snorkeling for two days. The island is surrounded by reefs and they are beautiful to swim around and see all the fish. I went running every other day where I run up a hill and when you reach the peak is fans out to a miraculous view of the ocean. I run down strip my cloths and dive into the water and swim out a ways and then swim back. It’s awesome!!! One day me and Marney rented Tandem bikes and rode bikes around the island. They are not as easy as they look. Lots of barbecues and eating. One night I had two bottles of the best wine. By the way Western is well known for some of the best wine and then continued with beer which are stronger here then the states and next day regretted the whole event.
It took about two days to recover and have not had a glass of wine since. I quit smoking and drinking coffee. After the stint with bronchitis I decided no more! It’s almost two weeks now. What helps is that my clove cigarettes are $11 each. OUCH!!
I leave for my 14 day trek up to Darwin Friday. So when I return I will have had a crash course in Western Australia. It will be really good. It hits all the beautiful stops on the western coast.
Most of it is really “bush” all natural. I hear that we don’t get a shower for four days. It will be roughing it. I think all my lipstick will melt out there. Not much civilization for my “drag queen” attire but if “prissila queen of the desert” could do it so can I. I’ll write when I get back in fourteen days. For now g-day mates.
Drink a stubby for me. luv cindy
Date: Sat, 28 Nov 1998 20:21:06 -0800 (PST)
From: Cindy Kleinsasser
Bus ride Australia
Hi Everyone,
I just returned from 14 days of bush camp. Yes, the “bush”. Low laying trees as far as the eye can see. Its incredible. Well lets start from the top. I left Perth and went to the Pinnacles which are all these limestone pillars that formed when the sand was wisped away.
Then off to some gorges which are deep fissures in the earth.Tropical Rain Forest deep in the Gorge Australia
We climb down into them and there were beautiful waterfalls where we were happy to get some refreshing swimming in. The weather is about 36 degrees to 41 degrees Celsius. Then it was off to Monkey Mia where the dolphins come up to the shore and right up to you. Two baby dolphins were present with the momma dolphin amusingly parading her baby around. Then to see Shell Beach which is a beach with out sand its covered in small shells. Then Ningaloo Reef. This is where I went snorkeling in the clearest water with beautiful tropical fish.
Stingray Australia
Also went swimming with the Mantaray. The plane spots the fish and we quickly boat to it then jump out and try to catch him. He was huge. About the size of four people. I swan right with him the entire time and then all of a sudden he became interested in me and came right up and brushed up against me. I was calm and excited until the guide got scared and yelled out to me then I got scared and backed out. It was truly amazing. The next few days were all Gorge walks and bush camps.
Cable Beach Australia
Our showers were either waterfalls or natural springs. Which sounds beautiful but after a week with no soap we were all smelling a bit “French”. Plus no laundry and wearing the same clothing as the first day. As we moved up the north the gorges were less rocky and more tropical.
Australian bird
When you climbed into a gorge the most luscious foliage was there. Straight out of the movies. Where its dry and desert like and then deep in a fissure is palm trees, cockatoos and waterfalls. I’ve sent all the pictures to Deana/Kathleen so if anyone should want to see some of these sites they are beautifully portrayed in the photos.
And “swertie” this is Deana not Deanna Dias. Sorry! Then I went on a small Cessna and went over the Bungle Bungles.Australia Postcard
These are massive natural rock formations. They are no longer accessible by road due to the Aboriginal claims. The Aboriginal people are incredible. I find myself fascinated to learn there culture and art. I want to get a picture of them but I don’t know how. They seem very unapproachable and there is history to some resentment that I sense. They are uniquely beautiful. I went to the art museum today where an aboriginal exhibition is displayed. There art is very traditional and all have similar style. I had a chance to buy an original piece in Katherine and now regret not doing so. Since the remote towns are so desolate then you can buy some of the art that isn’t commercialized.
Now I am in Darwin. Surrounded by beautiful ocean.
These crocodiles are the most dangerous. I went into some gorges with fresh water croc’s and you see them sitting on a rock or swimming and the guide says lets go and he expects this city girl to enter the water. “Hell NO! After much trepidation I do and they don’t bite. The fresh water croc’s stay away but if you accidentally kick or step on them they won’t take a second thought of taking a nice chunk of your leg. The fresh water croc’s are much smaller than the salt water ones but the salt water croc’s can get to 6 meters long and easily eat you as a nice foreign delicatessen.So what shall I do in Darwin. There is a really nice pool at the hostel and I bought a book. I want to go on a croc. tour where they feed them and they literally jump out of the water. I also want to go to an aboriginal tour. Besides that I’m lying low. I have to say I am sorry if some people wrote and I did not respond. I try to respond to everyone but for numerous reasons I may not have been able too. The computer systems in some areas are quite archaic and and even whether plays a part. I do have to say I am with drawling for a while. Some of the trip has been a passage for me as some of my friends know. The e-mails are wonderful but at the same time they are remembrances of the love you have and at times sadden me to a point that I have a difficult time pulling myself up. So I am giving myself a mental holiday. I will not get to my e-mail for an undecided time. I love and miss everyone. I have sent pictures, postcard and letters. I hope you receive them. Stacy where are you.
I sent you some gifts in the mail I hope you receive them. A special gift is in the mail for you that I am sending you. I “bared” it all to get you this. Miss and love you all. G-day Cindy
Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1999 21:41:23 -0800 (PST)
From: Cindy Kleinsasser
Subject: Re:
To: Stacy Poulos
Hey Staci,
I could use one of those days as well. Nothings wrong I would just love to see you again plugging away on the computer barely paying attention to the conversation with an occasional “uh huh”. But working hard at what you do best. I miss you. Tell me about how your doing with work and relationships. I leave for Kuala Lumpur tomorrow so I may not get to e-mail for a while but its not because your not in my heart because you are always in my fond thoughts.
g-day mate luv cindy
Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1999 23:00:25 -0800 (PST)
From: Cindy Kleinsasser
Subject: Aussie mail To: All
How’s it goin mates,
I’m doing great. Today is my last day in Australia. Yes I’m leaving the mother country of “crocs” and kangeroos. I’ll miss it but no fear I’ll be back!!! I want to see the east side so everyone get ready to pack your gear and come.
Now to update. I’ve had a really relaxing last month. I flew to Perth from Darwin just in time to miss the cyclone. Luckily it passed around Darwin. The last cyclone flattened the entire city. I was not about to sit through that. I want to come home in one piece. I took a didgeridoo lesson and loved it. Don’t worry I bought one and I will put on a concerto when I get home. I went to a concert last night it was Tiddas and the Waives. Excellent and a beautiful theater under the trees out in the bush.
Australia’s Cave
So let me back up when I got home to Perth Marney picked me up and I stayed there. Now at this time I was running out of money and did. Yes, not a “aussie” or American dollar to my name. You could say I was “shitting Bricks”. Then Santa Claus finally set my stock company straight and on Christmas Eve the check arrived in the best hands and Deana, who I can’t thank enough, rushed it to the bank and now, Yeah I’m rich!! Whew! I was scared. I stayed, yes, a block from the excellent coast of Australia. Yes, eat your hearts out. I payed $40 dollars for a month to stay here in a house with the ocean at my side. This is “aussie dollar” which would equate to 25-30 american dollar. SCORE!!!!! I have to thank Marney for allowing me to stay with her. I would of ran out of money a lot sooner if she wasn’t there. So I spent the last month of my stay at the beach basting in the “no ozone” sun. I did buy a skate board and am trying my skills in different ways. I learned to jump the curb. You have a lot of time on your hands when you have no money and no job. You have to be creative. I also mastered how to loose to Marney in Checkers which I still haven’t gotten over. This last month has been really relaxing and soothing. For Christmas I had a seafood brunch that was amazing and for new Years I partied until 6am. Yes the sun was up when I left to go out and the sun was up when I went home.
So now I leave tomorrow in pure chaos and histeria to Kuala Lumpur. I am alone and scared “shitless”. I believe that I arrive in the middle of the night and I don’t have a place to stay. NO FEAR, I’m getting used to the instability of travel but I am anxious. So the agenda is going to be intense. I plan to go Singapore, Thailand, Bali, Lombok and a few islands off the coast. I will be anxiously awaiting the arrival of Kathleen on Feb 15th in Bali. She is coming for my birthday and I couldn’t be more excited. If you want to give her a letter or get anything to me I would love to receive little thoughts from you guys, give them to Kathleen before the fifteenth. Nothing big because I can’t carry much with my travels. Kathleen/Deana I sent some things home because I had to lighten my load.
I’ve sent a load of pictures to Deana and Kathleen so if anyone wants to see some of my adventures they have them. Now I may not get to e-mail for a while I will be traveling a lot and mostly third world countries who may not have e-mail. It’s not that your not in my minds I will respond as soon as I can get to e-mail. I love my e-mails and I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. I have to go for now. Have a “stubby” for me and g-day mate. luv
Cindy
By Postcard Travelers Guest writer and friend Cindy Kleinsasser
There is one simple word to describe Kauai: beautiful. Even when there is rain there is beauty because the sun gently passes through the Kauai precipitation creating an enormous and vibrant rainbow that can easily fill the sky. The wind is constant and welcoming, fore without it visitors would be miserably hot. The mountain scenery is filled with lush, bright greens. The water is vast with a multitude of colors and clarity. One can’t help but embrace the beauty and gain a sense of gratefulness for living.
We managed to do a lot, relax a lot and allow all our stress to go by the wayside. The first day we simply took a ten minute stroll to the beach and flew a kite. My girlfriend is an exceptional kite operator. If you have never seen a skilled kite flyer then you are in for a treat. It was amazing to watch this little kite scream across the sky and twirl with ease. This is an example of what Kauai will give you: an appreciation for simplicity. While trick kite flying takes skill, watching and being exhilarated takes simplicity.
Day two we hiked a slightly challenging trail called the Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali coast which led to wonderful beach with amazing surf. The people you will meet on this trail are diverse. From locals to newlyweds to basic tourists like us. Day three we rode rented bikes to a vista point in Waimea Canyon which is considered the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. There we witnessed nature’s awesome creativity and a very cute pigmy goat. Day four we kayaked the Hanalei river. Day five was an exceptional morning of snorkeling in Puipu where we saw dozens of unique sea creatures with amazing neon colors. Day six was a trip to a local monument called Spouting Hole. A vista point where visitors watch water spray violently through a natural hole in the lava rock. Another case of simplicity. As each wave was thrust though the hole and sprayed sometimes 15 feet in the air there was an enormous sound, almost like a whale blowing air through its air hole, only louder. As onlookers to nature’s simplicity, we would all cheered in excitement with each spray.
Every evening we feasted on wine and gourmet food in our rented home. Kauai offers many unique seafood delicacies such as: Ahi, Mahi-Mahi and Opakapaka, or pink snapper. A wonderful treat because these types of fish are difficult to find on the mainland. In addition, you will have access to many unique and flavorful fresh fruits such as pineapple, mango and papaya.
If you are one to avoid exercise while on vacation then you would do well for shopping and dinning action in the town of Hanalei. There you will find several big name resorts such as the Sheraton which offer many non-exercise activities on site. In addition, Hanalei offers many other activities, for example, a helicopter flight through Waimea Canyon or a dinner cruise around the island.
Kauai has something for everyone. It’s not Waikiki, as it is much slower and there are virtually no big cities. Kauai is also not as crowded and yet not desolate either. So if you are looking for beauty, simplicity and paradise then visit Kauai.
Tips for Keeping Kauai Travel Cheap!
I found there are many options for keeping the spending down in Kauai. The total cost for my seven day trip to Kauai was $553.00. This was inclusive of air faire; house, car, bike and kayak rental; food; wine and miscellaneous. With a little forethought, you can do it to. Here’s how:
Keep your airfare low
We flew stand-by on a companion pass because my cousin works for the airlines. The cost is 10% of a full faire coach ticket for that day, thus my round trip air faire was approximately $100.00 total. Flying stand-by is a double edge sword because on one hand you could be bumped to the next flight, yet on the the other hand you can be bumped to first class. In fact, we flew first class both ways because we chose flights that were not full and flew during off season. Thus increasing our probability of being bumped to first class.
You can also save up those frequent flyer miles for a free ticket. If you are a business traveler this is not too difficult. For us cheap average civilians, accumulating frequent flyer miles is somewhat of a challenge. However, it can be done through the use of any major airline frequent flyer credit card. Use your credit card whenever possible. The trick is to pay it off at the end of every month. I have a girlfriend who was able to purchase a round trip ticket to Sweden by using her airline frequent flyer credit card for all her purchases for one year. I’m talking everything from a mocha to an oil change.
Choose to fly either at the beginning or end of the an off season. Then you will still be able to enjoy the tail end or beginning of lower air faires.
Rent a house instead of staying in a hotel
Rent a house and invite several of your fun friends and split the cost. My group of six each paid $170.00 for the entire week. With two couples and two single people, we each had our own beds in our own rooms (the two single people shared a room). One could easily pay $170.00 each night in a hotel in Kauai or anywhere in Hawaii. I suggest you call Kauai Vacation Rentals at 800-367-5025. Ranging from $600.00 to $3000.00 per week you can see pictures of their properties via their Web site. The house we rented was huge and comfortable. It had a lovely view of the ocean and Waimea Canyon from the living room, kitchen and the lanai (a Hawaiian deck). This house was a ten minute walk to the beach and we paid only $800.00 for the week-much cheaper than a hotel.
Bring your own wine
It’s well worth the extra effort to buy a case of wine and lug it on the plane. Remember, you won’t have to take it back. You will pay about $10.00 more per bottle in Kauai and your selection will be very limited. In fact, all food and wine is more expensive in Hawaii because they must ship the majority of it in from the mainland. So vacationer BE AWARE.
Cook your own food
Eating out is very expensive in Kauai or anywhere in Hawaii for that matter. For example, a simple hamburger, no fries, will cost you about $8.50. Cooking your own food as much as possible will save you a ton of money. You can cook simple or elaborate depending upon your preference. The fun part of cooking in Kauai is having access to unique seafood and fruits that are not readily available on the mainland.
Choose activities that don’t require a guide
You can save a lot of money by doing your own thing. For example, we spent the day kayaking for a $20.00 kayak rental fee. The gentleman at the rental place gave us suggestions of where to go, how long it would take and the level of skill required for each destination, and a kayak rack for our car for no extra charge.You can hike, walk, sit on the beach, snorkel, or visit breathtaking vista points all for free.
With a little planning you can cut your vacation costs tremendously.
Cake Mix
There I was, at my Nana’s side watching her mix up the chocolate cake batter, figuring out my plan of action to lick the bowl and leave my brothers to lick the beater sticks. My selfish nature is to get what I want. After all, I am the middle child. My little brother sits up on a high chair patiently awaiting his turn to get his licks in. ‘Oh gag me, that little twerp got to lick the bowl last time.’ I glance at him with the evil eye, and await my pray on the bowl. Of course, Nana’s the judge on who gets what.
Standing on my toes to see if the batter is done, I devilishly look over at my ‘happy go lucky’ brother as he awaits his cut of the leftover mix. You could see the happy hunger in his eyes. My cocky older brother is watching T.V. as if my Nana’s going to deliver it to him. If he got the bowl it’s only because of the bologna excuse “he’s older.” If my little brother got it, it would be only because he’s “the baby.” An even bigger bologna excuse yet. What about me! I always have to fight for what I want because I’m “THE MIDDLE CHILD!” Devilishly, I look at my little brother, turned my head to smile at my Nana, trying to win her over with my innocent charm.
NANA: “You want to finish mixing babe?”
STACY: “Sure!” my face lit up with joy.
She turned back to see if the oven was hot. I quickly stuck my finger in the bowl and whipped a taste into my mouth. Of course how could I be so stupid, now my little brother wants some and he’ll blow my cover.
STERLING: “Can I have some?”
My Nana turn’s to my little brother.
NANA: “You can lick the bowl when I’m done.” I wanted to burst into tears, I gritted my teeth and gave him a look to kill. He proceeded to reach over into the bowl to get a taste like I did and I pinched his hand, gritting my teeth. He started screaming as if I stabbed him with a knife.
NANA: “Hey, you guys!” she exclaimed. Sterling swung his arm to hit me. I dodged and he nearly fell off his chair. Him nearly falling off gave me this satisfactory smile on my face, where just licking one of the beater sticks was enough this time around.
By Stacy Poulos
1st entry 8-29-93
Draft: 6 8-29-93 Published: Neighborhood Grapevine Vol 3-1 August 1-15 1993 Published in ‘Life In A Nutshell’ 2008
the sky. The wind is constant and welcoming, fore without it visitors would be miserably hot. The mountain scenery is filled with lush, bright greens. The water is vast with a multitude of colors and clarity. One can’t help but embrace the beauty and gain a sense of gratefulness for living.
If you are one to avoid exercise while on vacation then you would do well for shopping and dinning action in the town of Hanalei. There you will find several big name resorts such as the Sheraton which offer many non-exercise activities on site. In addition, Hanalei offers many other activities, for example, a helicopter flight through Waimea Canyon or a dinner cruise around the island.
