Did you know that London has a canal? And one as pretty as this?

I gave him a smile and a head nod of acknowledgment and he gave me a proper raised eyebrow and reserved recognition as we swiftly passed each other shoulder to shoulder. A typical greeting among runners. I continued to dodge bicycles speeding by me as I ran along the canal gazing at houseboats and a few random cafes. However I wasn’t in Amsterdam – I was in London!

I had accidentally come across this London canal while running around my neighborhood during my stay in London. My Oh London apartment was tucked away far from tourist sites and next to Jamie Olivers restaurant and kitchens (which by the way were disappointing).  It was easy to find running routes around the local neighborhood, however I never expect to find a canal running route.

What I found on the canal run was a exposure to normal life in London. Away from tourists and crowded sidewalks I was thoroughly enthralled by this hidden canal and the people who commuted to work on bicycle and by foot away from buses and tube lines.  It was lined with residential upscale lofts, regular apartments, offices, industrial buildings, art installations, construction, graffiti, tunnels, cafes, houseboats, and locks.

The canal was full of surprises around every corner and way more entertaining than pushing through tourists on the Thames.

Join me on my run!

An industrial unknown structure...no, it's not a roller coaster!

Houseboat along the canal

Art installation along the canal

Flower Boot

Green Door

Bike Commute

The local Canal

Colorful Canal Cafe

Puma Nepal's Library thanks to Room to Read and a few book shelves

I walked into the brightly colored room with pillows and cushions strewn across the floor; the setting begs you to grab a book and lie down for a good read. Each wall was painted in a primary color; the little mountainside library was full of energy and fun. My eyes immediately went to the rows of bookcases neatly holding stacks of Nepalese and English books. I picked one up, flipped through some of it and saw the familiar logo on the inside front cover – Room to Read donated the books to this tiny village which I called my ‘Nepal home’. I was proud; proud I was a part of putting together this library in the little village of Puma, Nepal.

After volunteer teaching there a year prior in 2008, I had provided the principle with a financial donation to have the bulky library shelves be transported from Besisahar up to Puma which was perched high on a mountainside. It was such a treat to see that the shelves did actually make it up the mountain and had been filled with books just as we had discussed. The books were from Room To Read; an organization which works in collaboration with communities and local governments in developing countries to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children.

One of my Puma students reading a book

We all frequently read about companies and philanthropic organizations helping out in other countries, but when you can be a part of it, see it with your own eyes, and see the outcome – it takes on a different meaning. It’s one of the most rewarding things about my traveling lifestyle; being able to make a positive impact on a community, family, or person.

We take books for granted. They sit on our shelves, we probably don’t even think about them. They end up in old boxes in an attic, forgotten. But for other countries, books are a commodity in great demand.

Books lead to education, education leads to reducing poverty.

That’s why I was thrilled to hear that Passports with Purpose, the annual travel blogging fundraiser, would be working with Room to Read this year. An organization which I believe in, and I’ve seen in action first hand in Nepal.

Holiday Giving Back

Passports with Purpose raises thousands of dollars each December as they partner with travel bloggers and travel industry leaders to host a large raffle fundraiser; giving away amazing travel prizes for the small price of a $10 raffle ticket. The last few years they raised enough money to build a school in Cambodia and a build a village in India. This year we are raising money to build libraries in Zambia via Room to Read!

 The goal is to raise $80,000 through the travel bloggers who secured prizes from travel businesses. It’s really a wonderful way for the whole online travel industry to work together to improve the world in which we travel and do business.

Why should you care?

You should care because I’ve secured a kick ass travel prize from one of my favorite travel companies I worked with this year. In short, I can make your Europe travels this year cheaper and more rewarding – I guarantee it!

I’ve partnered with the good people of Oh-Barcelona European apartment rentals to provide Passports with Purpose an amazing prize to raffle off:

For a mere $10, you can enter to win a $500 voucher for an apartment stay in Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Florence, or Berlin this year! The voucher will provide you with an approximate 3 night stay for 2 people in one of these historical cities.*

In the words of a used car salesman…”You’d be crazy to pass this up!”

I’m so excited to work with a Oh Barcelona this year to give away such a coveted lodging prize. Why? Because it’s not just any company – it’s a company I used when I traveled in Europe this year. I have met the people there, I love how they do business, and I believe in the many benefits of staying in apartments when traveling.
Apartments for Extended Travel – Namely it’s a way to travel slow and integrate into local neighborhoods equaling a more rewarding travel experience.

So – as you do your holiday spending this coming month, take a moment to think about your future travels and consider helping the future of kids in Zambia. It’s a mere $10, such a small amount to make such a large impact. Hell – you’ll simply spend $10 for parking this holiday season as you shop away with no real impact. So put your $10 to good use this holiday and consider giving to Passports with Purpose and consider it a down payment on your future Europe travels!

A huge thanks to Oh-Barcelona apartments for donating the prize on behalf of Ottsworld. If you are planning travel to Europe this year – you must check them out for your Europe apartment rental! Plus – if you have any plans to travel in Barcelona, then don’t miss their Barcelona Blog – it was my best source of information on what to do in Barcelona beyond the tourist sites!

Click here to Enter the Passports with Purpose Raffle Fundraiser now!

*Prize Details:  Prize includes accommodation up to a maximum value of $500 in the vacation apartment of your choice selected from and booked on one of the following websites: Oh-Barcelona.com, All-Paris-Apartments.com, Oh-Rome.com, All-Berlin-Apartments.com or Oh-Florence.com   
All and any other costs related to the trip including additional cost of accommodation, transport, food etc. are not included in the prize. Bookings can be made up to 30 September 2012, for check-in dates of up to 31 December 2012.

If you won the Oh Barcelona $500 prize, which city would you visit to use your voucher? Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Florence, or Berlin? Share in the comments!

An essential item in Spain

We all know how to look like a tourist; carry a camera, map, wear tennis shoes and white socks. But how to you fit into a culture?  There are a few things I observed about the locals in Barcelona and with these tips, you can fit in too.

Carry a fan.

A woman on the metro fans herself

One of my favorite things about Spain culture is the fact that everyone carries a fan. I used to think those fans were just for show – but not at all. I saw them being used on the subway, in the market, walking down the street, by women, by men, and by all ages. I even bought my own.

Stay in an apartment in a local neighborhood.

A quiet neighborhood is a great place to meet locals

I found that by staying in an apartment in Barcelona it was a great way to learn more about the locals and see how to better fit in. After all, by staying in a local neighborhood instead of a tourist hotel I was forced to get out to the grocery store, meet neighbors, and see the day to day life in Barcelona.

Stay up late.

This culture is all about late nights. People don’t go to eat here until around 10PM, which means on a weekend they go to the bars at midnight and clubs not before 3AM. All ages seem to be out late – kids, grandparents, and of course teenagers. Granted – I don’t think everyone goes clubbing, but they do enjoy the late nights and being outside.

Take a nap.

Siesta in the Sun

The Spanish really do have the right idea – you are never too old for a nap. If you are going to stay up late, then you better make sure you get your siesta from 2 to 5PM. Prior to siesta, everyone goes to the market gets what they need, goes home, makes lunch, and then promptly takes a nap. Granted – not everyone does this, but they should!

Shop with wheels.

Locals don't go anywhere without their wheelie bag!

The sidewalks are littered with bags on wheels. Since Barcelona is traditional European city, there are no real big ‘super-stores’, instead the locals simply walk to their neighborhood market and get what they need on a frequent basis. Since everyone walks, they all pull a little bag with wheels to put all of their shopping purchases in and then wheel them back home. In grocery stores they even have a little ‘parking’ area for these carts so you can store your wheelie bag while you shop.

Eat Small.

Small bites frequently

It’s all about tapas – small bites with wine. I have yet to see many restaurants where you sit down and have a big meal. Instead people tend to eat small amounts and eat frequently.  My neighborhood was full of little tapa restaurants where the locals would sit, eat, drink, and gossip.

When you travel to Barcelona, make sure you wander out of the touristy Las Ramblas and see how the locals live when in Barcelona!

What other suggestions do you have to fit in like a local in Barcelona?  Please share in the comments!

Disclosure: Oh Barcelona Apartments hosted my accommodation in Barcelona. However, all of the opinions expressed here though are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Are you hungry? If not you will be after this post!

Instead of photos of grand landscapes,  today I tempt your taste-buds…with delectable Spanish food. I was in Spain for 3 weeks this summer and had the opportunity to eat at high end and rustic places. I even learned how to cook Spanish food for myself.  Spain is full of regional food specialties, however on this trip I was only in Valencia and Barcelona, but both were packed with food options. So, pull up a chair, tuck the napkin into your collar, pick up a fork, and join me for this photo feast!

Paella

Valencia is known for it’s paella.  A traditional rice dish normally made with meat, vegetables, or seafood is made in a special paella pan.  A very, very big pan.

Seafood Paella

Dishing up meat paella

Tapas

Tapas are part of the Spanish way of life. Whenever you go to a bar and buy a drink, you’ll be served small portions of food – anything from a few nuts or a bowl of olives to a mini gourmet meal. I went on a Tapas tour of Barcelona sponsored by Viator Tours  and learned a bit about the tapas culture in Barcelona…not to mention was able to taste a few too! The word tapa means ‘lid’ or ‘covering’ and according to tradition the first tapas were slices of ham placed over a glass to keep the flies out. Now they’ve turned into a artistic presentation of a variety of foods that you nibble with your glass of wine to hold you over until dinner time.

Pinchos are small bites served with toothpicks (pincho). At the end the server counts the pinchos on your plate and charges you accordingly!

High end tapas in Valencia at Sucursal Restaraunt - a feast for the belly and the eyes!

Tapas lined up for your choosing in Barcelona - no, not the men...the food!

Spanish Specialties

Pork

I fell in love with the cured pork called Jamón ibérico, (cured ham leg from the black Iberian pig).  I ate it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

It might not look appetizing...but it's like butter...pure bliss

The Spanish love pork...and what's not to love?

Tomatoes

Gazpacho – a cold tomato soup.  Mmmmm – so fresh!

Gazpacho with smoked cheese

Salted Cod

The flavor is magnificent!  You soak the cod and remove the salt before serving, leaving a flavorful fish feast!

Salted cod sold at the market

Drinks

And of course you have to have something to wash all of that yummy food down with.

Horchata (orxata de xufa) is the Spanish drink made from made from tigernuts, water, and sugar.  In the summer it’s served with ice and a little pastry for dipping!

Horchata poured for me at a Horchataria in Valencia

Or if you are looking for alcohol, then you must have a Mojito while in Spain!

Mojito

Bottom’s up and bon appetit!

What’s your favorite Spanish food?  Please share in the comments!

Disclosure:  Oh Barcelona Apartments is hosting my accommodation in Barcelona. My trip to Valencia and surrounding areas was provided by Tour Spain and Valencia Tourism. However, all of the opinions expressed here though are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

The grand entrance at the Natural History Museum

London has done it right, they’ve made their many museums completely accessible to everyone.  Unlike other art hub cities (ahem…New York City) – London has made their museum admission completely free encouraging everyone to enjoy and hopefully appreciate the art treasures inside.  I only had a short time in London, but I was able to get to a couple of museums thanks to the ‘free’ policy.  The free policy allows you to simply make a quick stop in a museum and stay for a couple of hours to maybe see a particular wing or exhibit and not feel like you have to spend the whole day there to recoup the value of the ticket.    My stops included the Natural History Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum (which is massive).  I ran out of time for the modern art I wanted to see, but I know that next time I’m back in London I can simply pop on it for a bit and check it out!

London is full of museums, so be sure to make a stop in a few of them…you don’t have to stay long!

Inside the Natural History Museum

A beaturiful glass exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum

Old Royal Navel College next to the Maritme Museum

Victoria and Albert Museum is a maze of balconies and massive views

Natural History Museum from the outside

Tombs at the Victoria and Albert Museum

The ornate glass art in the entrace of the Victoria and Albert Museum

The ornate entrance of the Natural History Museum

To learn more about the free museums in London and get a complete list of London museums, check out Visit London website.

Let the Lodging Games Begin!

London is getting ready; it’s digging, building, expanding, erecting, tearing down, wiring, and preparing for the world’s summer party – the Olympics. During my visit there this summer it was evident the moment I walked off the train in St. Pancras station.

My heart went a flutter when I looked up and saw the 5 shiny, colorful rings placed high in the rafters. That’s when I was reminded that London was getting ready for the world to arrive; so many nationalities from Europe would be arriving on a train like I did that morning. They will be pouring into London with anticipation and excitement to see the opening ceremonies.

When I stepped outside the station it hit me…jackhammers and horns invaded my ears and I looked around to see more cranes around me than trees. London was preparing rapidly and I wondered if they would ever get done in time. It reminded me of when I visited Beijing in 2007 as they were hectically putting the finishing touches on their big Olympic party preparations. Somehow they pulled it off and I’m sure London will do the same.

The London skyline with the new Olumpic equestrian track in the forefront

I looked around this already crowded, heavily touristed city and wondered – where will all of these people stay during the Olympics? I’m sure some Europeans may just take the train in for the day and not even bother with accommodations in London when it’s only an 2 hour train ride to Brussels or Paris. However people coming in from further distances will most certainly be fighting for hotel rooms and hostel bunks.

If you are looking for Olympic lodging, then don’t forget to check out the less obvious places such as Couchsurfing or Tripping (hospitality networks where locals invite you into their homes for cultural exchange), and certainly don’t forget short-term apartment rentals.

In my recent trip to London our Mongol Rally sponsor, Oh London, put us up in one of their short-term apartment rentals. Apartments have turned into my favorite ways to travel lately. This summer it was the perfect way to experience London, save money, and be ultra comfortable. Four of us stayed in a local neighborhood close to the tube, and were able to save money by eating in and doing our own laundry.

It’s most convenient to use apartments when you are traveling with a group of 3+ people or are staying in a location for an extended period of time.

For the 4 of us we had plenty of room to spread out, and had two bathrooms. We could all sit in the living room and utilize the wireless in comfy chairs. The cost of the apartment was about the same or slightly less than a hotel in which 4 of us would have been crowded into one little hotel room with two beds all sharing one bathroom!

Deb relaxing in the living room

If you are in a location for a longer period of time (5+ days), then you can also save money by going to the local grocery store and buying your own food which can be utilized over a number of days. Even if you just plan on eating breakfast in the apartment you can save money. Think about buying one bag of coffee for $12 that can be used for the whole 5 days of your stay or stopping at Starbucks and buying a latte every day at $3.50 for 17.50 multiplied by 4 people equaling $70 just for coffee!

While we stayed in our apartment in London we made dinner in our swank kitchen every night as well as breakfast and really only went out for lunch during the day as we were site seeing. It saved us oodles of cash…to be spent on better things like bottles of wine!

Deb and I cooking dinner

Dave and Rick working in our spacious living room

If you are worried that you will miss out on having a hotel staff or concierge, we didn’t miss that attention at all. When we arrived at the apartment there was a big binder with loads of information about nearby restaurants, shopping, bars, and maps.

If you are considering a trip to London this summer to watch the summer games, then start to consider your lodging choices early and make sure that you don’t overlook short-term apartment stays in London as a great place to rest your weary Olympic feet.

Learn more about the pros and cons of utilizing apartments when you travel.

The early morning empty street of Borough Market

I am a sucker for the ‘M’ word…no, not men…markets.  Markets are fascinating to me, I can wander around them for hours and looking at the perfectly placed produce, marvel at new shapes and smells, or watch the interactions with the sellers and customers.  I can appreciate dirty, smelly markets as well as upscale markets; yet I must admit that I prefer the dirty, smelly ones!  So when a friend recommended I go check out the Borough Market  in London this summer, I didn’t even hesitate.  I picked up my camera and took the tube to go check out Borough Market which was nestled under railway viaducts near London Bridge.

I went early to avoid crowds and figured that all the best stuff would be there early.  However, to my surprise many of the stalls hadn’t opened up yet!  Apparently this wasn’t like Asian markets where things opened as the sun came up in order to beat the heat.  I continued to wander around with my camera watching vendors get set up for the day feeling as if I wasn’t actually a tourist, but instead that I was part of the market atmosphere prepping for a date.  The upside was that I had the place to myself.  The downside was that there wasn’t as much food out to sample!

Borough Market was definitely more upscale than what I’m used to and had all varieties of prepared food as well as fruits and vegetables.  But I think my favorite thing about it was the location of it under the viaduct and the hundreds of tiny little restaurants which surrounded the market.  All looked so yummy and made me wish I could come back later that evening for dinner!  But, for this trip to Borough Market all I could do was look around, take pictures, and interact with the vendors.  Just what I love to do!

Daisies brighten up dreary London skies

Fluffy Merange Clouds of Yumminess

Produce Carts

Cheese Glorious Cheese

What more is there to say?!

Colorful Cookies

Market Restaurants

London Loaves

Prepared Food

To get more information on Borough Market, be sure to visit their great website which has maps of the market, directions, recipes, and other cool information on the history.  www.boroughmarket.org.uk

Canned meat...smells like cat food, looks like cat food...

“I’m starving!” I said as the Russian waitress brings out the menu with the usual cold grimace on her face. I eagerly open up the menu so that I can find something to eat, my eyes focus on the words and then it hits my brain; I have no idea what this menu says.

The only food word I know in Russian is borsch; but I’ve eaten borsch for the last 2 days – I can‘t face another bowl of scantily clad cabbage soup. I decide to be daring; I will play menu Russian Roulette. I turn a couple of pages of the menu, shut my eyes and point as if I’m pinning a tail on a donkey. My finger lands on the sticky, plastic menu page and I open my eyes. Looks like I will be having this:

Menu Russian Roulette

Living out of a car for 5 weeks poses some eating challenges. On top of it we were traveling through countries where there was very little tourism and English. My diet went to hell for the last 5 weeks, virtually no vegetables (except for the occasional shred of cabbage in borsch), and very heavy on junk food and carbs. During the 5 weeks all of the skin started peeling off of my fingertips and hands; I blamed it on my awful diet and poor nutrition.

Our first of many bowls of borsch

Apartment Kitchen

We started out in our Oh London apartment pretty well fed. We had access to grocery stores near our apartment and cooked up feasts that were well balanced. We bought cooking staples such as salt, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and pepper that would end up lasting us all the way until Ulaanbaatar. They were a great investment for camping and roadside lunches.

Living the good life at our Oh London! apartment

Friend’s Hospitality

Next we were absolutely spoiled in Belgium and Germany where our travel blogging friends, Cheeseweb and TravelDudes, hosted us to beds and absolute feasts of cheese, pasta, salad, beer, and wine.

Cheese plate from Cheeseweb of course!

Breakfast with Melvin the original Travel Dude

McDonalds

We are not ashamed. We are full time bloggers and we need internet…and sometimes we need a Big Mac to go along with that internet! Throughout Europe and into Romania we utilized McDonalds to get wifi connections and for food. I doubt we would have stopped there as often if it weren’t for the wifi – but a hot fudge sundae on a hot August day is always a treat!

Camping

We had run out of McDonalds and friends so we started to our camping portion of the trip. Dave and Deb had great supplies for cooking. With a small, ultra light burner for cooking, 2 pots, and some sporks an outdoor feast was created! The markets were quite limited in Central Asia, but we would stop at grocery stores and purchase pastas and sauce, rice dishes, canned meat (which pretty much smelled like cat food…but when you are hungry – you eat it.), eggs, oatmeal, bread, tomatoes, and spreadable cheese. While in Kazakhstan of all places we even found peanut butter – which provided weeks of sandwiches and sanity for us! At this point though the only vegetables we were getting were tomatoes and an occasional jar of mushrooms. We had virtually no dairy except Happy Cow spreadable cheese. However while camping in Mongolia we experienced local hospitality quite often when local herder families would bring us hard goat cheese that could crack teeth. One morning a young boy brought us a bottle of fermented mares milk. There’s nothing quite like drinking fermented mare’s milk at 9AM. It certainly adds some zip to your cereal.

Camping breakfast!

Our young visitor bringing us a bottle of airag

Camping dinner with Dave and his little camp stove

On the Go

We ate in the car and on the car. Tomato and cheese on bread was the most common ‘meal’. However, most days we never stopped for lunch. Instead we would eat horrible junk food that we could buy at gas stations. I consumed more chips and candy bars in 5 weeks than I have in my entire adulthood! Chip flavors are always interesting in other parts of the world – we became chip flavor critics. For the record we don’t recommend the fish egg flavor! Suckers also saved my life most days. They helped deal with the boredom, dry climate, and dust. Sitting on our asses in a car for 8 to 10 hours a day and eating chips, suckers, and Snickers bars probably isn’t the best life choice – but it kept us from having low blood sugar melt downs in the car.

Western chips...pretty tasty!

Restaurants

We actually ate at very few restaurants – mainly because it was so difficult to order once we reached Russia and Central Asia. There were only 3 times we actually had English on a menu – Barnaul Russia, Atrau Kazakhstan, and Kostanai Kazakhstan. We also found a German restaurant in Kazakhstan where we attempted to order sausage by miming the word sausage (use your imagination), and we received boiled hot dogs. There were virtually no restaurants in Mongolia along our route. However we did find a Seoul restaurant in the little village of Altai which had pictures on their menu. They served Korean food and sushi – yes sushi in the Gobi desert – talk about daring. But the waitress looked at us like we were insane when we asked for soy sauce!

Dave & Deb enjoying the Seoul restaurant in Altai

Eating and finding food is all part of the adventure in the Mongol Rally! Bon Appetite!

Crossing the Border from Russia to Mongolia

They say patience is a virtue.  I’ve learned to developed my patience through traveling, but the border crossings on the Mongol Rally kick it up to a whole new level of patience that is required.  For our last border crossing, “Wait” is the word of the day…and night.

This was it , our last border crossing to tackle and according to Mongol Rally history, it would be our hardest and longest border crossing yet; Russia to Mongolia. I had heard horror stories of teams being kept days at this border in western Mongolia thanks to paperwork; a slow bureaucratic process of importing a vehicle into Mongolia. Plus, as usual, it could also be bereft of border guards that simply didn’t want to deal with rowdy ralliers or simply wanted bribes.

After a fun evening in Barnaul (western Siberia) eating steak and bonding with team Mongolian Madness (3 seemingly insane Irish guys also driving a Nissan Almera), we got our final car supplies (tow ropes, ratchet straps, & extra Gerry can) and took off late in the afternoon to push as far as we could to the border. We camped overnight and got up before the sun to take off and finish our drive through the stunning landscapes and mountains of western Siberia.

The Altai mountains of western Siberia

Our drive to the border in Siberia

We pulled up to the Russian border crossing at 11AM and parked in a line of 12 other Mongol Rally vehicles; the waiting begins. It was sort of like a reunion, yet none of us had met before. Instead, we could bond on similar experiences up to this point.

Teams drank beer, smoked hookah pipes, played cricket, and socialized swapping unbelievable stories of bribery, robbery, losing their way, kindness of strangers, and mechanical difficulties. At 3PM things started to move. Everyone threw their chairs and food into cars and quickly inched up in the line assuring no space was left for locals to try to sneak into the queue. There really are no such things as queues in Mongolia. Strangely in a country with the most open space on this globe, people don’t like to give you any space when you are in a line.

Eating noodles while waiting at the border

The Russian process was actually pretty simple once they let us in; after all we were border crossing veterans by now!  Walk over to this window wait, walk to a different window wait, fill our a form for the car wait, go stand in the corner wait, fill out an immigration form wait, walk to another window wait, open your car for inspection wait, and answer no when they ask you if you are carrying firearms or drugs wait. After this waiting process we were unleashed into no mans land; the 6 km of territory between the Russian and Mongolian border.

We rejoiced with a team yelp of happiness, took pictures, stopped to pee because my bladder could wait no longer, and then we came across the real obstacle – the entrance to Mongolia. A big red livestock gate graced the road next to a little white hut. This was the hand off point between countries. On the other side of the gate the tarmac disappeared into a bumpy dirt road.

This really was the ‘end of the road’.

The end of the road...Mongolia

They let us through and we bounced through the bumps to the official Mongolia border crossing where a lovely looking Mongolian woman wearing quite fashionable black boots with heels gave a reserved but heartfelt smile at Dave and said “Welcome to Mongolia.” My stomach flipped a bit when I heard this greeting not only because we had made it this far, but because it was said with a warmth and sincerity that Russia and Central Asia lacked in the world of border guards.

We pulled into the border at 4PM and followed all of the instructions of paperwork and waiting – the usual border ‘dance’ we were all used to by now. We still didn’t have our proper original paperwork on the car, but we were hoping our copy of our V5 would continue to hold up to this final border test.

As the Mongolians worked through paperwork with Ulaanbaatar and London regarding the car import process, we were told to move our car into a holding pen – and wait. More and more teams were sent to the pen to join us as the weather turned dark and the wind picked up as if it were queued perfectly for the climactic scene from a Hollywood movie. Two Mongolian guards dressed in formal military attire walked over to the pen as we all eagerly waited for them to get closer and hear them mutter the words of freedom, but our luck had run out. Instead they informed us they were closing for the night and we would have to stay here overnight – and wait.

Our car banished to the holding pen at the border

The wind whipped up even more as we all looked around at our stark, cement surroundings and all collectively thought…where the hell do we set up camp here?! Everyone ran for cover as the storm blew through with a furry. The temperature dropped suddenly forcing me to dig out my long thermal underwear and puffy coat. I looked around wondering where in the world I could put the thermals on amidst all of these people. Then I saw toilets and ran through the pelting rain to the row of wooden outhouses. The typical two planks of filthy wood above a hole of shit and flies awaited me – not the easiest place to change into thermal underwear – but it had to be done. I held my breath as I balanced on one foot taking on and off my sandals and pants one leg at a time; one false move and my sandal would be dropping into the pit of shit.

The rain ceased as quickly as it arrived and teams started jockeying for camping positions within the fenced in area. It was so cold and wet that I had decided to sleep in the car that night and instead focused on something more important than setting up a tent – Deb and I went for a beer run. If we had to wait overnight, then beer would be necessary.

The strange thing about being held at the border is that it was really our cars that were being held, however we were free to come and go. Groups of ralliers walked into the little dusty town and cleared them out of beer, vodka and potato chips. As we were walking back with 12 beers in hand we were graced with a double rainbow after the storm. It was Mother Nature’s way of welcoming us to Mongolia and saying – if you have to wait, you might as well enjoy the view. Of course I missed the great rainbow photo op since my hands were full of beer and chips and I hadn’t brought my camera into town. Luckily Dave was able to capture it for us!

Photo by Dave at www.theplanetd.com

Surely this would be a good sign of the times to come! However before we could get too excited about crossing into Mongolia and driving towards Ulaanbaatar to the finish line…we had some more waiting to do.

The churches in Russia are stunning...they even twinkle!

As we rolled into Volgograd (the former Stalingrad) it was filled with boxy cement architecture and crazy drivers. We stayed near the town center in an apartment sponsored by Roomorama. It’s always interesting to get to see the insides of these buildings that look a bit depressing from the outside.

The apartment had it’s quirks, but at least it was a place to do laundry and stock up for our next leg of travels into the much less populated countries on our itinerary. We used the time to review our routes and stock up on camping food. Of course as I looked at our 3 bags of food I wondered where in the world we could fit all of this in our already stuffed car. But where there’s a will, there’s a way!

We put out some messages to other rally teams on facebook and twitter to determine what the road conditions were like going forward and made a plan A and plan B for Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. One of the wonderful things about the rally is that the teams really do band together an help each other – it’s necessary for survival.

This seems to be when many of the convoys begin as we enter into Central Asia – there’s certainly safety and support in numbers…plus – it’s people to drink and commiserate with!  After Russia we would be without our Compe GPS any longer…so extra people to read the map is always welcome!

There were many teams in Volgograd – in fact in some ways it felt like we invaded the town – or at least the few hotels in town!

Mother Russia - towering over Volgograd

In between socializing with other teams, shopping, and map reading – we had time to go visit the main tourist site in Volgograd –Mamayev Kurgan (Mother Russia statue). The park with the monument is a memorial complex commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad (August 1942 to February 1943). The battle was a decisive Soviet victory over Axis forces on the Eastern front of World War II. At the time of its installation in 1967 the statue named The Motherland Calls formed the largest free-standing sculpture in the world.  The memorial was spectacular complete with a changing of the guards, an eternal flame, and the names of all of the people who died in the battle in mosaics on the walls.

The statue itself is a  gianormous structure that apparently is like the leaning tower of Pisa – gravity is working against it and it may actually fall one day. I was happy to snap these photos now while it’s still standing!

How to donate to our charity - the Christina Nobel Foundation – we are still collecting donations along the way!

Russian apartment shared spaces leave something to be desired

This is my first time in Russia – and I’m sorry it’s so short.  However it hasn’t taken me long to get a bit of a feel for the Russian culture and it’s living conditions.  Most of the time when I go to a country for the first time it’s all about shattering stereotypes that I was brought up with.  I did come into Russia with a lot of pre-conceived ideas and sterotypes, and surprisingly not many of them have been shattered so far.

Bottoms Up!

The consumption of alcohol here is like no other country I’ve been to.  Every time we walk into a little cafe there are always people sitting at a table solo drinking a beer with a dour look on their face.  In fact – the cafes serve more booze that they do food.  To top it off – the drinking is done at all times of day.  We seen many people drinking at 7AM as we are stopping in to eat breakfast and get coffee.

It’s 9AM and notice the men behind me drinking already.

Architecture

The building are boxy and they are super fortified.  I feel like I’m going into a war zone every time I enter one.  but the cool thing about the Russian apartment buildings is that they look like a complete dump in the common areas; crumbling concrete, graffiti, poor lighting, and ancient elevators.  But when you get through the double doors to the actual apartment – they are opulent as if you’ve walked into a whole new world.

Our apartment 'lobby' in Volgograd

Dave entering the apartment building we stayed in at Volgograd Russia

Women

Seriously – you can’t help but notice the women in this part of the world.  Probably the most stunning women I’ve seen.  There are no such things as casual dress for women in this country!  High heels, short skirts, and beautifully made up is the norm…at any time of day and in any kind of job.  Even the female border guards are wearing pencil skirts, stilettos, and their cleavage is hanging out!

Serious

The Russian’s body language is one that is all business…and disgust.  Whenever we have talked to Russians there is no laughing and smiling – just a very serious look.  There’s nothing warm and fuzzy about the customer service either!  We’ve found a few good waitresses, but they are in the minority!

I”m sure if I spent more time here in Russia – I would defeat some of these sterotypes.  And I hope to do just that one day!

How to donate to our charity - the Christina Nobel Foundation – we are still collecting donations along the way!

St. Michael's Cathedral in Kiev

While on the way to Kiev we received the email that our official V5 paperwork had arrived! This was great news as it would provide us with the proper paperwork to get the car into our remaining countries and no longer have to use the Temporary V5 that seemed to be annoying most of the border guards and holding us up longer. The timing was great since we were coming into a big city and could easily stay there for an extra day while we had the paperwork express mailed to us.

We stopped at McDonalds on our way into Kiev in order to use their free internet…and get a sundae. We were quite the site – four of us walked into McDonalds, sat down at a table, and set up our ‘Operation Kiev Lodging’ situation room. Three laptops and a couple smart phones all browsing rapidly around hostel, hotel, and apartment booking sites for Kiev. Luckily we had our OneSim world mobile cards which allowed us to make calls all over the world so we were able to call the various lodging options to find out if they had any availability for the night. Two of us searching the web, one of us on our mobile phone making calls, and one on skype. Considering it was already 5, we had to work fast. We ended up finding a place with Grata Apartments for the night, it was small – but it was available and it was better tan sleeping in the car.

Deb drove us into the city maneuvering us through Kiev rush hour in our British car beeping at others making us fit in nicely despite our stickers. We were stunned and surprised with the massive buildings and Independence Square. The city was grand and well kept. Kiev was set up a bit better for tourism than any city we had been to in Ukraine yet as they actually had English menus in some places!

Independence Square Kiev Ukraine

We had planned to have the v5 paperwork mailed to us and wait an extra day in Kiev until it arrived. Easy and fun….wrong. We found out the fastest mailing that could happen was a week – but we knew we couldn’t wait a whole week for it.   Instead we decided to get a pdf scanned copy of the paperwork sent to us and see if we could make a good enough color printed copy from the pdf scan. It was a long shot, and we were all pretty sure that the border guards would know that it was not the original…but it was our best option and would allow us to leave the next day and stay on track.

We found a high end hotel and used their business center to get our color duplex copies made and crossed our fingers it would look good enough. After a few intense moments of replacing print cartridges – we left the business center with our V5 pdf printouts. The staff at the hotel even gave us little plastic covers to put the printouts in. I thought to myself, how could any border guard refuse paperwork in plastic covers?!

Rick, myself, and Dave showing off our 'forged' v5 paperwork!

We celebrated in Independence Square with a beer and then joined 3 other Mongol Rallly teams who also happened to be in Kiev for more beer and some Chicken Kiev! It was such a relief to meet up with other teams and know that we weren’t the last team and to know that other teams were going through challenges like we were. Everyone was having trouble with borders and trouble with finding accommodations. Maybe we weren’t so inept after all! The best part is that everyone seemed to be having fun on this crazy adventure – despite their mechanical issues or our paperwork woes.

The next day we sadly left Kiev only seeing a small part of it, but knowing it was a place to return to. However – we had our little V5 printouts safely in their plastic casing and were ready to head towards Russia with our convoy of Ralliers!

Kiev Photography

How to donate to our charity - the Christina Nobel Foundation – we are still collecting donations along the way!

Hitting the Highway

Today we were on what seemed like a super highway for Ukraine as we traveled from Odessa to Kiev.  Finally – some smooth tarmac – hallelujah!  However, as I sped down this highway constantly trying to go the ever changing, never-marked, speed limit I was stunned by the culture along the highway in Ukraine.

Imagine this highway as a regular interstate like the I-80 or I-5 in the US – big, wide, and busy with cars going top speeds.  In Ukraine anything goes along the side of the road on the shoulder.  I passed people hitchhiking, selling fruit out of buckets, sleeping along the side of the shoulder, rollerblading along the shoulder and of course biking in every direction along the shoulder was allowed!

Selling fruit along the busy 4 lane highway

Then there were the animals, ducks and chickens were frequently seen on the road just hanging out.  But when I looked up in the distance and saw a big animal  – I was shocked.  There was a cow walking down the middle of the highway!  Once I made this realization, I slammed on the brakes as the cow would clearly win against our Nissan in the game of chicken on the highway!
Thanks to Rick for grabbing his video camera quickly to capture this crazy cow moment!

Another surprise was the pedestrian crosswalks that were frequently crossing the highway.  Not on a bridge above the highway…but on the highway.  Not to mention the many places where Uturns on the highway were legal.

Crosswalk on the highway...typical in Ukraine

We stopped at a roadside stand to have some coffee and decided to play Ukrainian Roulette for breakfast by just pointing at a breaded rectangular shape and hoping for the best.  Luckily we made the right choice – it turned out to be an apple filled pastry…whew.  I doubt we’ll be that lucky all the time!

Ukrainian Roulette...will be lucky with our breakfast choice?

That’s the eternal problem traveling in the Ukraine – not being able to read the signs or menus.  As I sped by signs on the highway I wondered if they were important.  I had no idea what message they were trying to tell me – which was a bit concerning.

Deciphering highway signs - we need a translator!

All in all, the highway culture kept me engaged and in awe during my 6 hour drive today…better than any can of Diet Coke ever could!

How to donate to our charity - the Christina Nobel Foundation – we are still collecting donations along the way!

The Hot Box dodging water hazards in Ukraine

Every day brings with it a new driving challenge it seems – today’s was potholes.  We had heard horror stories about the roads in Ukraine, but it’s hard to really imagine and believe until your wheel has been swallowed up by a huge hole and you hear the sounds of metal hitting concrete.  It felt like today was just a day of a permanant cringe as Deb did her best to dodge craters the size of a NYC apartment bathroom.

It wasn’t just potholes, we were also introduced to a new Ukrainian phenomenon that we dubbed ‘pothills’.  It’s pretty much what it sounds like – bumps sticking out of the road that will grind the underbelly of your car in an instant.  Lovely.  Cringe.

We found ourselves driving through small towns turning heads as we passed through.  We clearly weren’t in Europe anymore…nor Kansas.  We even caused a cute little boy to wipe out on his bike (where he was also carrying his sister on the back) as we drove by and waved at him.  I’m pretty sure he hadn’t seen crazy Mongol Ralliers before in his town.

We spent the day skirting flooded areas, and dodging horse carts.  However, one horse cart offered to give us a ride, and I gladly accepted!  Once I got up on the cart and he took off with my rally teammates following behind us I realized that his little horse cart had better shocks than our Mongol Rally car!  Plus – it had better air flow too…it was a convertible!  My new Ukrainian farmer friend gave me a fresh tomato, jabbered to me in Ukrainian and I finally said goodbye and decided to join my team again.  It was a nice diversion AND I got a tomato for lunch…I was starting to like Ukraine!

Me and my new tomato friend...maybe the tomato was a ring???

We skirted slightly North of the Black Sea and into the Everglades of the Ukraine. We actually crossed over the Black Sea on a narrow bridge that connects the peninsula and kept us from going back into Moldova.  We stopped in small towns for borsche and fresh peaches sold by the roadside.  It was beginning to feel like the perfect travel day…except for those potholes!

A nice steaming lunch on a hot day...Borsche

We arrived in Odessa in the late afternoon – and that’s when our luck really started to change.  Since we are all professional travelers (if there is such a thing), we didn’t plan for any lodging and assumed that we would just wing it as we always have.  However – Ukraine was different in one very big way from other places we had traveled so far.  The alphabet.  We quickly realized that we couldn’t read any signs.  To top it off we didn’t have a map nor internet access. We were like travel superheros without our super power…the internet.   Add to the fact that Ukrainian buildings are old square Russian style buildings that are rather imposing and plain on the outside and often times have courtyard entrances and addresses that we couldn’t begin to understand how to read let alone find..  We basically spent the next 5 hours driving around Odessa aimlessly looking for lodging that wasn’t hundreds of dollars.  We finally gave up and started driving to Kiev instead.  Luckily we found a place near the highway to finally sleep.

As my teammate Rick Griffen said...we knew we were hopelessly lost when we saw this sign.

Our first day in the Ukraine was full of ups and downs…and potholes that took us up and down.

How to donate to our charity - the Christina Nobel Foundation – we are still collecting donations along the way!

"Welcome to Ukraine, for a small bribe we will let you in!" --via Rick Griffin

We unpacked the whole car in the McDonald’s parking lot only to repack it all up again.  We had to prepare -  prepare for our first border crossing into the ‘wild East’; Eastern Europe that is.  We moved electronics into secure places, I hid my cash in my feminine products such as my  tampon bag and my Diva Cup.  We all stealthily planned how much cash to keep, where to hide electronics so that we wouldn’t scream money.  We called it “Operation Downgrade”.  This was all done in hopes that when passing through the borders we wouldn’t look like an easy target to extract money from.  Now we would put this to the test for the first time as we passed through not one, but two borders – Romania to Moldova, and Moldova to Ukraine.

This border crossing in southern Romania was probably not used very often by westerners taking a road trip, so it was hard not to stick out.  We pulled to the border crossing line and were sandwiched in between huge, shiny SUV’s  with engines turned off and people mulling around outside of their cars.  We settled in for a long wait.

Dave taking a nap while we wait in line

A Romanian man suddenly came to our car and told us under his breath that we were in the wrong line.  The line we were in was ‘unofficially’ the Russian and Ukrainian mafia line, he advised us to move to the EU line.  He looked trustworthy, and the EU line was shorter, so we backed up and made the move as all of the Russian gangsters stared at us in our little Nissan car covered in stickers.

In our first line of many at the Romania border mixed in with the Mafia...'unofficially'

As we finally passed through the Romanian border control, they looked at our Temporary V5 (car title) document and said, “I don’t know if they will let you in with this, but good luck.”  They referred to Moldova.  I had forgotten about our paperwork woes until that moment in time.  I forgot we were traveling on temporary paperwork that would most likely cause us troubles.  Everyone warned us about troubles we may have getting into Ukraine, but I hadn’t considered Moldova being an issue.  Regardless – we had to get through both borders tonight as they were only 2 km apart anyway.  This may be a long night.

We moved on to the Moldova border and waited again.  The Romanian man came back over to us to chat and we thanked him for his advice regarding the line.  He asked us where we were going and we explained.  He looked surprised in an aloof way that all Eastern Europeans tend to have.   In regards to Ukraine he said to us in a thick accent,

“My advice, don’t stop.  Just stop shortly at big gas stations to get food and drink and keep going.”

Hmmm…not quite the advice I was hoping for.

We pulled up to Moldova and handed over our ‘temporary’ paperwork as I silently prayed that they didn’t understand the word “temporary”.  A woman asked us if we had ‘green card’ and Dave said no, and she walked away.  None of us knew what a green card was!  With my overactive imagination I wondered if she was asking for greenbacks.  This lack of green card brought a whole slew of people out to our car.  However the green card wasn’t the issue, it was the ‘temporary’ on our V5 that they focused on.  A middle aged man asked if we knew French.  We were in luck…we had Canadians on our team.  Dave and Deb looked a bit panicked though and Dave said to him that he knew a little.

All conversations after that took place in French and were done with Dave while we would get little updates occasionally.  They first said that Ukraine would not let us in without paying a fine of 8000 Euro…yes, you read that right.  However Vasil, the French speaking boarder guard would try to help us out as he was immigrating to Canada soon and had an interest in helping wayward Canadians apparently.  Rick and I, the lowly Americans just sat back and watched it all unfold!  The good news is that we had Vasil on our side.

Vasil went to bat for us and escorted Dave to the Ukrainian border to talk to his ‘friend in the other country’ to see if he could see if we could get in with the temporary V5.  They were gone for about 20 minutes and came back with good news.  The Ukrainian side said that they’d let us in without paying a fee…yippee!  Problem solved!

Not so fast…here came Natasha – the bleach blonde Moldova customs official who wore skin tight pants and clicky heals.

Finally finishing up at the last of 3 border crossings...5 hours later...

Natasha wasn’t so keen on letting us through Moldova (the whole 2 km of it) without the proper car insurance.  She insisted that we must buy insurance first before we be let through Moldova.  However, if we paid her directly, we could take care of it all ‘quickly’ and she would escort us to the border without insurance.  Her fee for the personal escort – 50 Euro – the same price as the insurance.

We had already been dealing with this border ordeal for 3 hours at this point – we banded together 50 Euro and paid clicky heeled Natasha and were escorted through Moldova.  Deb even got a ‘special’ ride in her car; what a bargain.

She got us to the Ukrainian border and the whole ordeal started again.  By this time the Russian mafia were long gone in their SUV’s and we were still ironically going through processing.  Dave explained (in English this time) why we had a temporary V5 and what we were doing.  Yet we were very careful to say that we weren’t leaving the car in Mongolia as that was a no-no with the temporary paperwork we had.  After another hour a man with a rather large belly came walking by our car with a little briefcase.  We learned this was the insurance man there to sell us the proper insurance for Ukraine and Russia.  Once again we cobbled together our US and Euros to pay the fees and finally after paperwork had exchanged hands about 9 times, and 4 1/2 hours later  we heard it…

The sound of our passports being stamped.  We were in!

How to donate to our charity - the Christina Nobel Foundation – we are still collecting donations along the way!

Everywhere you look in Eastern Europe are sunflower fields dotting the landscapes in yellow.

I spend a lot of time looking out the window of our little Hot Box.  Even though we don’t have time to really stop and experience the countries we are racing through, we can see a lot of the countryside that many tourists never see.  I think the weirdest things is to realize the we are moving ahead in time every day, adding hours as we pass through time zones, yet we are actually moving back in time when it comes to what I see out my window.

The living conditions seem to get more hearty and you see many more people sitting by the side of the road selling vegetables and seasonal fruit.  We moved from European cars to horse carts.  And each town seems to get boxier in architecture and a bit more run down. We travel in compartives as it gets hotter every day, the roads get worse, and gas gets cheaper.  Plus – the toilet conditions deteriorate slowly with every stop we make.

It’s weird to travel this way, to move backwards and forwards in time.  So much to take in and no real time to process it.

A run down industrial view

Road side fruit stands

A railroad 'hut' for workers who put up/down the crossbucks when trains come.

How to donate to our charity - the Christina Nobel Foundation – we are still collecting donations along the way!

The lovely parks of Brasov Romania...Probably the Best city in the World!

I must admit, the only thing I really knew about Romania when we blew threw the old abandoned border structure on the highway was that it was the homeland of Nadia Comaneci the gymnast.  However I quickly learned that I was entering the world of Count Dracula thanks to numerous signs, and hotel names.  I’m embarassed to admit that this was the first time that I realized that Transylvania was one – a real place, and two – that it was in Romania.  So much for researching a place before arriving; there’s no time to do that on the Mongol Rally when you are racing through countries.  Romania marked our 9th country in less than a week.

We drove into Brasov a town in the heart of Transylvania and found our apartment  sponsored by RoomORama who specializes in short term accommodations. One night was the definition of short term – and they provided us a lovely apartment with wifi near the town center.  We walked into the town center and were all surprised with what we saw.   I was expecting to see a whole bunch of cheesy Vampire tourist joints and shops, and maybe even some Twilight references, but what we found instead was a pristine town decorated with flowers and intricate old colorful buildings.  Parks were filled with couples enjoying dusk, people playing chess, and kids riding bikes.  Green mountains surrounded the town and even though it had a Hollywood style sign on the hillside, there was no mention of the movie Twilight anywhere!  Brasov was a breath of fresh air after the heavily touristed Prague.

Brasov was quiet, simple, and understated.  Which was exemplified by the slogan that was on many of the umbrellas at the outdoor restaurants, “Probably the best city in the World.”  Way to go out on a limb Brasov!!

Photos of Brasov

We walked to the main square and there we met yet another blogging friend, Matt from Nomadic Matt Travel blog.  When you are nomadic like myself, it’s amazing how many people you actually run into on this globe.  We all enjoyed a few beers, and I feasted on sausages which seem to be the staple food of this part of the world.  We enjoyed our last night in Romania as the next day we were heading for the border….leaving Dracula behind!

Deb and I enjoy a little beer in Brasov!

How to donate to our charity - the Christina Nobel Foundation – we are still collecting donations along the way!

Our Romania stamp signifying we brought a car into the country! Hope all borders are that easy!

Have you ever wondered why when you drive in a car in the UK or in the US the driver is always on the inside of the road so that when you meet another car the drivers are on the inside of the lane and the passengers are on the outside of the lane? Why does this matter? One word….passing.

When you have to pass another car on a two lane road – you want the driver to be on the inside so that they can see the oncoming cars and know when it is clear enough to pass. Simple.

Now its not so simple when you are driving a UK drive car in a country where they drive on the other side of the road than the UK. This means you are trying to pass people when you the driver are on the outside of the road trying to see the oncoming traffic. I actually wrote a post about it a long time ago when I was traveling through Laos – but then I was the passenger. This time I am the driver.

As I took my turn to drive from Budapest Hungary to Cluj Romania and it of course was pissing down rain. It seems that whenever I get behind the wheel it’s pouring rain. As if the giant gray rain cloud is just following me overhead as if I were an unlucky cartoon character.

Little did I know, but today was the day where we lost our lovely autobahn type interstates with smooth tarmac and 2 or 3 lanes to choose from. Today we entered the world of two lane driving and left the massive interstates of the western world behind.

Entering Romania

Passing was a team effort in which we had to perfect our signals. Rick and Deb were riding on the inside lane of the car as passengers and they were responsible for giving me the signals. A clear “Go!” if it was clear and a clear “No” when it wasn’t – none of this maybe stuff! Together we worked as a team to get past the massive trucks bunched up on the two land road. We celebrated after the first successful pass and we fell into a good rhythm.  However,  it pained me every time we had to stop and I knew that I had to start all over again getting around the slow vehicles I had just worked so hard to pass previously.

Video of passing cars – Dave and Deb from The Planet D have it under control!

Enjoying my driving success...Cheers!

This is one of the things about driving in the Mongol Rally that intimidated me most. Yet I actually found it really exciting in a way. It certainly gave me a rush to be a part of the driving culture and trying to learn all of the unwritten rules.

We crossed the border into Romania with a slight delay as the authorities took our passports and our car papers to do God knows what. We sat and waiting for abot 20 minutes and they handed back out passports with a new stamp in ti! Finally – a stamp! We had already passed through 7 countries in Europe and no stamps!

I settled down to a big Romanian beer once we reached our camp site. – a great team effort today!

How to donate to our charity - the Christina Nobel Foundation – we are still collecting donations along the way!

Old Town Square - the tourist center of Prague

We drove into Prague after a cold night of camping. For all of us this would be our first trip to this historic city. We had just secured a great apartment in the Jewish Quarter thanks to Prague-Stay apartments – a place where we could get a good night’s sleep, great internet, and a perfect spot for some very quick site seeing. We only had one day in Prague – which is actually just a tease if you ask me. But then again, that’s what this whole trip is about – quickly racing through countries and cities I’ve never been to before giving me a quick preview to see if I want to come back one day and see more.  The Rally is not actually a race…it’s a testament of will and ingenuity if you actually make it to the end.  But there is no prize for making it there first. However, my teammates and I all do have other commitments to do in September – so we do have some self imposed timeframes that we’ve given our team.  This means that we pretty much have to keep moving every day…and quickly.

Daniel from Prague-Stay Apartments met us and let us into our apartment. We ooo’d and aaah’d as we walked through the classic old Prague home with high ceilings, intricate French doors, and rod iron balconies overlooking the Jewish Quarter. Once again this convinced me that with multiple people traveling together, staying in an apartment short term is the most economical way to travel. Daniel gave us maps and oriented us to our surroundings. We quickly took our bags threw them in our palatial rooms and took off for some touring around Prague.

Our massive apartment in Prague

Dave, Deb, and Rick went off on a Segway tour of Prague and I took off for a bicycle tour of the city – both tours offered by Viator.com. After all of the sitting in the car day after day some exercise sounded good to me. However I hadn’t counted on getting sick. I woke up that morning with a sinus headache and hacking cough. And just think, my lucky teammates get to be locked in a small car with me for days hacking away!

My bike tour was a great way to get around the city fast. We saw some of the main sites and some of the more obscure sites too such as art installations by David Cerny that I never would have found on my own. The architecture of the city was what I enjoyed most; colorful, intricate buildings and grand theaters and churches. Everywhere we rode in the city was meticulously maintained and so many of the buildings had been refurbished. It was tourist heaven.

Colorful Architecture

Colorful Graffiti at the Imagine Wall

The bike tour was well run, yet the cobblestone streets provided some challenges for the less comfortable riders. Plus, dodging pedestrians and cars was a bit nerve-wracking, but overall I enjoyed the tour. We’d ride for about 5 minutes and then we’d stop and our guide would tell us about the history or importance of a place often interjecting unique stories into his history lesson. If photography is your thing though, I would probably recommend a slower walking tour of the city or simply go out early in the morning and wander around with your camera.

I spent the rest of my short time in Prague walking around the Old Town Square coughing, sniffling, and looking for a pharmacy with no luck. However I did find some yummy cabbage and pork pancakes – a Czech specialty. There’s certainly nothing light about the food in eastern Europe. The one thing that did surprise me about Prague is how expensive it was. We entered the part of the globe where beer is cheaper than water.

Even though time was short I was able to get a feel for the city and know that I’d love to come back and spend more time digging into it’s culture outside of the tourist trail.  But Mongol Rally duty calls and we must keep moving!

What would you do if you had one day in Prague?  Please share in the comments!

All photos from my short Prague stay:

How to donate to our charity - the Christina Nobel Foundation – we are still collecting donations along the way!

Disclosure:  Our apartment in Prague was provided by Prague-Stay.com and our tours were provided by viator.com.   However, all of the opinions expressed here though are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

The Mongol Rally campsite for the Czechout party

It finally came…no more being hosted by generous bloggers and big spreads of food and drink.  We are slowly driving out of our ‘area of online friends’ and into the unknown.  This would be the first time we needed to break out the camping gear for the team as we were headed for the European kick off of the Mongol Rally. The European Mongol Rally launch and the ‘legendary Czechout’ party take place in the depths of Bohemia in a huge medieval castle. It’s where the teams from all the corners of Europe to gather to celebrate the begining of their Mongol Rally adventure, joined by those (like us) who set forth from the UK to welcome the new Euro-brethren into the belly of the Rally.

After getting stopped by the cops in Germany and trying to revive my iphone, we were a bit behind schedule so had to eat our dinner in the car…the first of many dinners in our laps.

We arrived right before the sun went down and started setting up camp.  The field was filled with other teams and cars – it was a massively fun site to see!  Once again you could interact with other teams and see the gear they brought…or didn’t bring.  However there were many teams with some really tricked out camping gear and spots.  Mental note…we need to make friends with them.

Our little campsite with car parked close by!

The only problem with camping is that it was COLD.  I wasn’t expecting to be able to see my breath in July!  We had to dig out all of our warmest close already.  I hadn’t anticipated needing those until Mongolia.  Once the tents were set up we went off to check out the Czechout party.  The theme was Arabian Nights – and Dave and Deb were the only ones who had something packed along that could really work for the theme – their Bedouin scarves from their recent trip to Jordan.

Deb and Dave are dressed for the party

The party was a huge drunk fest with a great live band and lots of beer bongs.  I had flashbacks of my college days, but decided it was better to simply watch the craziness rather than partake to the extent that many teams were.  I really didn’t want the hangover in the car the next day; I guess that means I AM getting old!  We met a few other teams, but I hardly think they will remember us the next day.

One of the shisha rooms at the party. This was pretty tame, but the shenanigans outside was another story!

The next morning we were up and out to Prague bright and early.  No hangover, no headache…but somehow I had caught the beginnings of a cold.  I bet my teammates were thrilled about being shut up in a small car with me hacking for hours.  They may be kicking me out soon!

How to donate to our charity - the Christina Nobel Foundation – we are still collecting donations along the way!

Looks who's behind the wheel...on the autobahn

This was it – one of the main reasons I took on the Mongol Rally in the first place.  I had been scared to drive in foreign countries on 4 wheels for a very long time now – but that was about to end.  We left Brussels and I took the wheel for the first time.  There were so many things to think about, I didn’t really have a chance to be scared.  Shifting with my left hand, driving a right-hand drive vehicle on the ‘wrong’ side of the road, where were my windshield wipers, the center mirror was now on my left, and to top it off I had to deal with round-abouts!  It really is a lot of change to deal with at once.  But you just have to do it…so I did.

We left Brussels and headed towards Germany.  It was really exciting to think that everything between Belgium and Mongolia would be new to me…new countries, new cultures, and new driving rules.  The driving was a bit touch and go at first.  This is one time where I totally encouraged back seat drivers as it totally was a team effort at first to get me going.  One of the hardest things for me to get used to was the GPS unit and trying to figure out how to understand it’s instructions.

The last time I owned a car was in 2003 – there were no GPS units in cars then, so I’m not terribly comfortable with utilizing them. But with the help of my team I was able to manage – and only took one wrong turn!

When you introduce all of this change into your brain – it wants to fall back on old habits.  I kept first trying to reach instinctively for the gearshift on the right side and would slam my hand into the door which would jolt me back into remembering it’s new placement in the car on my left side.  My eyes instinctively went to my upper right looking for my rear view mirror…but it wasn’t there.  The weirdest thing is that my feet seemed to forget where to go on the peddles and I had to really remind myself where the clutch was (even though all the peddles are still in the same place in any type of car). To top things off – it was pouring rain and I had to figure out where the wipers and gadgets were!

But I did it.  And it felt like a huge accomplishment.  Check.

As I sped into Germany it was a great feeling reaching my 39th country since turning 30.  Plus – I was driving there on the autobahn which made it even that much more exciting.  Especially when cars would zip by us as if I were going 10mph.

Our Cologne, Germany beer

We were invited to Cologne Germany for the night by our friend Melvin and his family.  Melvin runs the popular travel tips website TravelDudes - so it was a treat to get to finally meet him in person.  Once again  we were welcomed with a bottle of champagne.  I seriously could get used to this!  After our toasts we sat down to a feast of pasta and salad and of course lots of German beer. Melvin and his wife were amazing hosts – ensuring we had plenty to eat and drink, snacks for the car, and plenty of power to charge all of our devices!  Clearly the first two days of the rally we were spoiled.  But I’ll take it whenever I can get it!  The only thing that doesn’t seem to be cooperating is the weather.  It was so cold in Germany that Melvin had a fire going and we all huddled around it trying to get the damp cold out of our bodies.  But quite frankly, it’s just how I imagined Germany; beer, warm fires, heavy food, great people.  So much for losing weight on this trip.

German Breakfast spread with our host Melvin from @traveldudes

Baby TravelDude...only 7 weeks old!

I told Melvin I didn’t want to ever leave.  His response which seemed very German to me, “You have to leave… Mongolia is waiting for the super-duper-bloggers!”

Here we come!

How to donate to our charity - the Christina Nobel Foundation – we are still collecting donations along the way!

Making friends with the German authorities

Oh yeah…that’s right…we are in trouble now!  This title might be a re-occurring one.  This was the first time we were stopped by the police – but I’m sure it won’t be the last.  These police men flagged us down (literally stood on the road and pointed to us to stop) in their small town and made us stop at the station.  We were in Germany, about 10k from the border of the Czech Republic.  We decided we needed to pull off the autobahn to find a toilet and food so we rolled into a random small town, looking lost as usual.  It’s weird when you are riding inside the car you totally forget how NOT inconspicuous you look from the outside.  I forget that we have stickers plastered all over our car and often wonder why people are staring at us.  Not to mention that the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car in all of these countries.

Apparently the police had their eye on us and when we drove back through the town after trying to park near a Ferarri at a cafe (we later found out the cafe was closed), and they ‘caught us’ as we were leaving town.

They asked for all of our passports and wanted to know what we were doing.  They asked for our car papers (our temporary V5 luckily passed), and then they proceeded to give us directions and tips on how to get to and drive in the Czech Republic.  And of course pose for pictures!

It was harmless…but I doubt all of our police stops will be that easy or enjoyable!

How to donate to our charity - the Christina Nobel Foundation – we are still collecting donations along the way!

The Social Media Syndicate team at the Grand Place in Brussels

We sped off from the Festival of Slow and drove a long day through 3 countries  – UK, France, and Belgium.  We were invited to stay with my friends Alison and Andrew from the Expat blog Cheeseweb in Brussels that night.  Boy of boy did they put on a big welcome for us!

First of all they sponsored our crossing under the Straights of Dover and into France.  A really cool ride on a train under the English Channel.  A highlight for a train buff like me.  You simply drive your car onto the train car and it takes you under the water.  I expected to see fish swimming by…but it doesn’t quite work like that!  Deb spent the day driving and handled the lane/driving switch from UK to the rest of Europe with ease.

People admiring our car in the Euro Tunnel train

We arrived in Brussels around 10PM and met Andrew outside of the city in order to park our car securely.  He met us with cold Belgian beers in hand…bottoms up!  He shuttled us back to their flat in the city center where Alison met us with champagne, and a spread of food that you can’t even believe.  Meats, cheeses, olives, salads, and plenty to drink.  We invaded their home like starving Mongols!

The Spread...

Champagne celebration!

We spent the next day doing laundry, eating Belgian waffles and frites,  and walking around the Grand Place since it was Rick’s first time in Belgium.  It was hard to remind myself that we had to go…this was only our first stop after all and we have a long ways to go!

Our yummy waffles with a side of cherries

Our wonderful, generous hosts Alison and Andrew

Thanks to Alison and Andrew for sponsoring our Euro Tunnel crossing, putting up with our Mongol invasion (a great post that Alison wrote), and just setting the bar so high that we are now spoiled!  How will we ever go from champagne, beer, cheese, and cured meats to camping and eating rice?  Time will tell…

View all Brussels photography from my housesitting stay there last summer.

How to donate to our charity - the Christina Nobel Foundation – we are still collecting donations along the way!

Wifi for your pocket...perfect for travel bloggers!

I’ve been walking around London all last week with a hot pocket…literally.  I’ve been carrying my Tep wireless hotspot device in my pocket as I ride the tube, visit Greenwich, the London Eye, Borough Market, Brick Lane, museums, and friends.  The Tep device was a life-saver providing me a constant dose of internet access, which for a blogger is as necessary as blood flowing through your body.

Tep provided my Mongol Rally teammates and I these tiny little devices for our week in London to utilize as we moved around the city prepping for the Mongol Rally, as well as while working in our London Apartment .  The Tep Pocket WIFI device is small and basically works through mobile signals.  It sends out a wireless signal and allows me to connect multiple devices (laptops, phones, ipads) and utilize internet via 3G.  This helps me get around the issue of not being able to use my American locked cell phone without becoming bankrupt form international roaming charges.

I used the pocket WIFI all week in London and it allowed me to communicate with friends who I was meeting, to find my way around the tube, make skype calls, and use the GPS maps on my phone to not get lost in the packed London streets.  But most of all it allowed me to stay connected and update my social networks while out touring around London.  This was a luxury I don’t often get when I travel with my locked US cell phone.  When I got back to the apartment it was my on-ramp to the internet and allowed me to write posts, upload pictures, and search the internet for the various gear we needed.

The Tep pocket wifi was the most useful device I have used for working and traveling abroad.

In addition to loving the connectivity and freedom it provided me in London, they were simple to pick up and return.  We picked the devices up at the airport and we easily return the devices by mailing them back in a provided envelope – sort of like NetFlix.  The devices came with the proper charges and plug adapters too…so honestly you don’t have to bring anything with you but your laptop and phone…turn it on and you are good to go!

Also, if you are coming to Brittan with your laptop or locked cell phone – check out this great promotion.

We are happy to have Tep as a Mongol Rally team sponsor.  They are also providing us pocket wifis for all of Europe with limited data so that we can stay connected as we drive towards Mongolia!

Disclosure:  Tep is a sponsor of our Mongol Rally team and provided our team with pocket wifis in London and Europe.  However, all of the opinions expressed here though are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

This bull is taking a little rest in Barcelona

I’ve already taken you to some of the main sites in Barcelona such as the Sagrada Familia and Gaudi’s creative tilework. But Barcelona is a diverse city full of architecture, food, art, and energy.  This week I bring you some of the diversity of Barcelona.    After all – there’s more to Barcelona than simply Gaudi!  To see all photos from Barcelona – please view my Barcelona Photo Gallery here.

To purchase any photos, simply click on the image for more instructions.

Colorful Barcelona!

Barcelona butcher shop...they love their pork!

Attention to detail in every building

Calella is a short train ride outside of Barcelona - a great beach getaway!

All locked up with no key

Guell Park a quilt of patterns and colors!

Brickwork and heavy doors

Zero Longitude aka Greenwich Mean Time

I was excited when my friend Vera invited me to Greenwich for a rainy Sunday afternoon. This was my chance to complete an important step in my global travels. I had already stood on the equator in Kenya when I began my travels in 2006, and now I would have the opportunity to straddle the Meridian line in Greenwich; I would experience zero longitude!

I hopped online to research the best place to get a picture of the famous line where time seems to stand still. Google delivered my answer swiftly. To get a picture straddling the Meridian line you would need to go to the Royal Observatory and head out in the courtyard where the center of world time is marked with a line and a monument. Perfect – mission accomplished.

People queuing up to get their expensive picture taken at the Observatory

Ahhhh – but wait a second. On my Google search results another headline caught my eye.

“Greenwich Meridian Line Visitors to Pay £10 – Travel News”

My mood dropped as I read the article. As of March 2011, the Observatory started charging 10 pounds to get into the facility, which was the only way you could really take a picture of your feet in two different days. I was quite upset about the whole thing. 10 pounds is 16 US dollars – all for a picture. Sure you could go visit other part of the observatory, but I didn’t really have the time or desire to do that, I simply wanted a picture; and I know I’m not alone in that desire. This new charge comes at a very convenient time as the 2012 Olympics arrive in London and specifically Greenwich in a year’s time. Sounds like the Prime Meridian Line will be prime source of income.

Being a budget traveler, I drew the line at paying $16 for a picture. Hell, the line isn’t just in the observatory, it runs from the North to South pole…I didn’t need the crummy observatory for my picture – I was now on a mission to find a way to get a picture of me on the line for free.

I continued to research online searching and studying maps of the line and where it ran through the city of Greenwich and if there were any markings. The search proved harder than I initially thought. However, I did come across a picture of a street with little dots on it representing the Prime Meridian and it had the title Park Vista. I found the street on the map and was on a mission.

Where to find the Meridian Line outside the Observatory

As soon as I arrived in Greenwich, Vera and I set out to find Park Vista. The location I had identified was just north of the children’s boating pond in the Greenwich Park. Look at a park map and go to Park Row Gate, there you’ll see the beginning of Park Vista street. Walk east on the street and watch the road carefully. You’ll come to some raised metal ‘dots’ in the road – those represent the Meridian! If you look south, you’ll see a little plaque that identified the meridian line too.

Mission Accomplished!

So, if you are heading to Greenwich for the 2012 Olympics in London and want to see and photograph the Prime Meridian, then be sure to save money and go to Park Vista and have your own personal photo shoot for FREE. That’s exactly what Vera and I did…enjoy!

Me in both Sunday and Saturday...

Vera balancing her time

Video of our free visit to the Prime Meridian:

Download a park map with the Meridian Line on it.

Have you ever worked so long and hard on something that you forgot what you were doing or why you were doing it? The idea of the Mongol Rally for me started back in June 2010; that’s when I found some teammates that agreed to come with me. Ever since then I’ve been working on prepping for it and planning haphazardly. However the real time has been spent in thinking and stressing out about it; having the ‘to-dos’ constantly on my mind. As I arrived in London last Friday ready to meet my teammates and pick up a car that I’ve never seen, I realize that I’ve lost focus on the actuality of what we are doing.

We are attempting to drive to Mongolia. Shit.

The sheer magnitude of what we are about to embark on hasn’t sunk in at all. It so easily rolls off my tongue – we’re driving to Mongolia this summer – so matter-of-factly. As if I’m saying, “I’m flying to the moon this summer. “ No biggie.

In fact, the more people act surprised when hearing about the endeavor – the more nonchalant I become about it. I have to remind myself that it IS a big deal. Normal people don’t do this. Normal people don’t want to do this. Until now I haven’t really given any thought to anything in between London and Mongolia at all besides border crossings and visas.

I’ve started to think about and anticipate what we may see and experience, the people we’ll meet, and the landscapes and cultures we’ll be exposed to. I think that process is challenging to imagine with simply 1 country, but when you consider 14 countries and 2 continents – it becomes really hard to grasp.

I’ve had a number of people tell me lately to live where I am, enjoy the present moment I’m in. It’s wonderful advice and it may just keep me sane during this adventure. The question is will I have the ability to do it?

I will try. I’ll take one moment at a time I guess. I’ll live where my two feet are at this very moment.

For me that’s London right now.

Presently we are trying to sort through paperwork, learn how to drive on the other side of the road and shift with my left hand, get to know each other, get supplies, try to see a little of London and learn how to use all of our new fun gadgets from sponsors. Here’s what we’ve accomplished in the last 3 days:

Car pickup and prep

Installing a roof rack on our trusty blue steed...

We picked up the newly cleaned car donated by Allways Rentals. The good news is that it runs! It even purrs…at least until we go 70mph…then it sort of growls and shakes. But seriously – how often will we go 70?!!

We have also prepped the car with a brand new roof rack thanks to 2 very kind last minute donors from our generous travel blogging community – Family on Bikes and Brooks on Break.

Paperwork

Dave displaying our new temporary V5 for our car...phew!

It didn’t take us long to get exposed to UK bureaucracy and paperwork. We spent Monday morning traveling to the DVLA (the UK version of the DMV) to try to sort out our car title woes that were threatening to not let us out of Europe. Luckily Dave was calm, cool, and collected as Deb and I bit our nails. We were able to talk to a DVLA agent, explain the situation, fill out more paperwork, pay money and walk out with a temporary title document for our car! The real thing will arrive in the mail in 3 weeks – just in time for us to take the car out of Europe…whew…crisis diverted. The first and I’m sure not the last.

Our Diggs

Me cooking up a fajita feast in our London apartment

We got settled in to our superb new apartment in London for the week sponsored by Oh London Apartments. We’ve been making trips to the grocery store and cooking up feasts! We all love our apartment – and we happen to be neighbors with Jamie Oliver…I can see his offices outside my window! I’m hoping he may have some leftovers to share with us!

Bonding

Deb and Dave drinking beer celebrating our V5 paperwork

We have certainly been tipping a few back while getting to know each other. Dave, Deb, and I have been having a wonderful time bonding. Here’s what I’ve learned about them so far:
• They are fearless. Dave got in the car and took off like he had been driving a stick with his left hand all of his life. Then Deb took over without hesitation even though she said she was nervous about driving and getting used to it. I was really impressed. I love the fact that they jump in…which is probably what got them in this spot in the first place!
• Deb’s most common phrase to Dave is, “Where’s the iphone?” Within our first day together I have decided that she needs a iphone lanyard to wear around her neck! Any sponsors out there want to help out on that one??
• They are brilliant at being in front of a camera. They’ve been taking video of our various outings for all of this prep and they are like seasoned television personalities. I on the other hand am used to traveling alone and rarely am in front of any type of lens…I’m always behind the lens. It will be a bit of an adjustment for me to travel as a team no doubt.
My final teammate, Rick, is arriving tomorrow – I’m looking forward to see what I learn about him next!

Gadgets

Dave and Deb getting instruction on our Track24 solo device

We have been learning how to use all of our gadgets from our sponsors. First – our Tep MIFI’s have been absolute lifesavers in the UK. They provided us these tiny little devices (smaller than a cell phone) that we can put in our pocket and it emits a wireless signal that we can use at all times. Hell, I’m writing this post on the Tep connection right now! I think it’s my favorite gadget ever for travel…mainly because it allows me to be online while I’m out touring around which is essential for travel bloggers!

Today we also stopped by the Track24 Solo offices in Soho to pick up our 2 way satellite tracking device. This literally is a lifesaver. Track24’s normal customers are military and security companies who work in dangerous areas around the globe. However these little satellite devices are also great for travel – especially for the Mongol Rally, expeditions, and NGO work. This will allow us to plot our coordinates along a map daily on our Facebook pages, and check in with people no matter how remote we are. It even has a panic button (red of course) that notifies our emergency contacts of our exact coordinates and information if we do run into any trouble.

Site-Seeing

Rainy London...

I have done very little of this so far – but it’s planned for later this week. It’s been raining non-stop, which has made it a bit challenging for photography and getting around. But hey – it’s London…rain is the norm.

The adventure is real now. It’s exciting, daunting, and very, very exciting.

We are driving to Mongolia!

Learn how to follow our team during our adventures with daily updates on social media!

Also – don’t forget – we are accepting donations for our charity during the rally – so if you haven’t given yet – please consider supporting our charity, the Christina Nobel Foundation.  Learn how to donate here.

The colorful tile of Barcelona is hard to miss

As you walk around Barcelona you can’t help but be memorized with the tile work and architecture thanks to Guadi’s many masterpieces sprinkled throughout the city.  The colorful, intricate and sometimes flamboyant tilework is everywhere bringing the city a warm glow.  Here are some of my favorite colorful works of art!

If you are interested in purchased any photos, just click on the photo for more information.

Gaudi's work

An apartment by Guadi - Casa Batlló

To purchase any of these photos, just click on the image to learn more.

Live like a Local in an Apartment

I sat outside in my neighborhood in Barcelona at one of the many outdoor cafes on Avenue de Gaudi. The avenue was lined with little shoe and fashion shops I had never heard of, coffee shops, mobile phone retailers, and some small tapas cafes. I was surrounded by locals of all ages at other tables drinking coffee enthusiastically and talking to each other in Spanish at a rapid pace. The sun was shining, but everyone was protected under the café’s tents. The atmosphere seemed lazy and laid back. Most of the people were clearly friends or neighbors catching up with each other this morning before running their errands to the market.

Contrast this with the Las Ramblas – the Times Square of Barcelona where most visitors to the city stay near. Las Ramblas is loud, packed to capacity, and lined with Burger Kings and Starbucks among Zara’s and H&M’s. The place is heaving with excitement, people trying to sell you things, and simultaneously take things (pick pockets). That’s what most people see when they come to Barcelona.

Don’t get me wrong Las Ramblas can be a ton of fun and excitement, but for me it’s not really what I look for when visiting a city and it certainly isn’t where I want to stay.

My apartment

As a long term traveler and nomad, where I sleep is quite important to me. Over the past few years I’ve been experimenting with various types of accommodations when I travel. I’ve done hostels , house-sitting, couchsurfing, guest houses, and regular hotels. But with my recent trip to Spain I decided to try yet another form of accommodation – short-term apartment rental.

I stayed in an Oh-Barcelona apartment for 2 weeks in a local neighborhood near Sagrada Familia. I had ample time to explore my quiet little neighborhood and critically look at the benefits and downfalls of staying in an apartment while traveling.

Benefits of Staying in an Apartment While Traveling:

Local Culture
This is one of the best ways to meet local people, understand local culture and feel like a local. You see the real culture of the city, not the tourism culture; trust me, there is a big difference. I met my neighbors, I learned where my local markets, pharmacies, and post offices were. I even learned about the grocery shopping culture which can be quite unique to each country! It’s hard to imagine, but as I walked down the street to my apartment, I felt like I belonged. Granted, you can stay in the more touristy areas, but I really loved visiting sites and then coming ‘home’ to my quiet little neighborhood.

Quiet Barcelona

Saving Money
This is probably the most concrete benefit. Short term apartment rental might be a similar cost as a hotel, however you save money in other ways that are huge. I went out and got 100 Euro worth of food which lasted me 4 nights of dinner, 5 lunches, and about 7 breakfasts. If I would have had to go out for all of those meals and cups of coffee it would have been about 300 Euros easily. In addition, the internet access was included and it was FAST. Most hotels make you pay for wifi these days – ridiculous rates for crappy bandwidth. Here it was all included. In addition, I was able to do laundry in my apartment which also saved money and made it much cheaper than a hotel.

Home Sweet Home
Basically you have a real home, a couch you can nap on, comfy chairs and a place to really relax. When I travel a lot one of the things I miss most is a real chair. I get tired of sitting on hotel bed or uncomfortable hotel ‘office’ chairs. My apartment also had an ipod doc, dvds, and a nice kitchen. You have your privacy and don’t have to deal with any front desk clerk or common space. It’s all blissfully yours, and because of that, it’s also more secure than staying in a hostel or hotel where people come in and out of your room.

Neighborhood
You will really get to know your neighborhood. After a few days I had figured out where the post office was, running routes, grocery stores, butchers, bus routes, and the pharmacy. A few more weeks and I’m pretty positive I would have known everyone on my block! One of my big surprises is that the nightlife in my neighborhood was very quiet. I used to have this vision of Spain as the party capital of the world, and it held true in the tourist areas I went to. But in my neighborhood, it was laid back, and comfortable. Restaurants closed at midnight and few people were out.

Barcelona without tourists

Concierge Service
It’s also important to note that most apartment rental companies make sure they you aren’t missing out on a concierge serve – they provide you with loads of information to help you get around your new location. My apartment had maps, subway routes, guides, and Oh Barcelona provided me with a huge stack of discounts for tours and sites. Oh Barcelona also provided great information on their Facebook page as well as their Barcelona Blog.  I honestly used it as my guidebook and to find out what events were going on in the city during my stay.

Disadvantages to Staying in an Apartment While Traveling:

No maid service
You’ve got to keep the place tidy yourself; if you are like Pigpen from the Peanuts gang, you may be in trouble. And if you are staying for an extended time then you have to clean the sheets and towels too – or you can opt for just being gross.

Supplies
You have to remember you are staying in an apartment – not a hotel. You don’t always get everything you need and end up having to buy daily things that are expected in a hotel – soap and toilet paper for example. Most places will have some staples for cooking such as oil – but there is no guarantee. My apartment didn’t have any soap, kitchen towels, pepper, or close-pins to hang up your clothes after washing them. In this respect, if you aren’t staying in the apartment for a short time, this can become expensive. You have to purchase all of these staples and you barely get to use them. Especially when you cook, you have to buy a whole bag of sugar, but you may only need a couple of teaspoons. I look at it as karma….leave the non-perishable things for the next person!

Dining Guilt
Here you are in a new city that is known for their amazing cuisine, but you have your own kitchen in which you can save money and cook for yourself. I went out to eat at restaurants very minimally for the two weeks I was in Barcelona because I felt guilty about having this great kitchen that I should be using. I sort of felt like I missed out on the food culture in Barcelona (however my pocket book was happy about it!). My best advice to combat this loss of country food culture is to take a cooking class when you arrive and learn how to cook the local cuisines. Then you can have the joy of learning how to shop in a foreign country, get your supplies, and cook up the local food yourself immediately practicing what you learned!

Local Butcher/Ham store...yum!

Isolating
If you are a solo traveler, staying in an apartment by yourself is a bit isolating. In hostels or couchsurfing it’s easy to meet people and other solo travelers, but when you have your own apartment, it becomes harder. I honestly think this is a great lodging solution for couples and family, but it’s certainly possible to do it solo too. If your solo, you’ll just need to make some extra effort to meet others which I actually prefer to do.

Conclusion

Overall I would absolutely recommend this type of lodging for travelers – especially long-term or career break travelers. It’s a great way to slow down, save money, and feel part of a community that is very foreign to you. You’ll connect more with the country and the people.

Rating my Lodging Experiments:
1. House sitting
2. Apartment stays and Couchsurfing (tie)
4. Hostels
5. Guest Houses
6. Hotels

Have you ever stayed in an apartment as part of your travels, what was the best and worst thing about it?
Disclosure: Oh Barcelona Apartments is hosting my accommodation in Barcelona. However, all of the opinions expressed here though are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

The art of La Boqueria

The colors are the first thing that grabbed me, a collage of vibrant green, red, and yellow swirling together from afar, but upon closer inspection each had it’s own boundaries. Once I was in front of the masterpiece, it appeared that each color was placed with care in such a precise fashion. Yet at the same time there is a chaos to it that is indefinable. It can’t be fenced in or contained. I feel like it wants to burst out on to the streets. I’m in Barcelona, but I’m not at the famous Picasso museum , the line was far too long for my patience, so I did the next best thing, I went to the colorful La Boqueria market along Las Ramblas.

I wandered the stalls taking in the colors, shapes, sounds and smells. Now this was a museum for the senses. It wasn’t only a place to purchase your food supplies for the day, but it was also a social meca where locals and tourists clashed in the typical fashion. Tourists with cameras (like me) slowed down the locals trying to simply do their shopping and socializing for the day. The locals who shopped at this market must have had a huge love for their local merchants if they were willing to put up with all of the slow, gawking tourists.

Colorful tomato at the market

La Boqueria market was also the first stop on my Cook and Taste workshop/tour provided to me by Oh Barcelona apartments. My first thought was that it was ingenious for an apartment rental company to offer cooking classes, as it’s the perfect complement to staying in an apartment where you have a kitchen at your disposal and can go back and practice what you learned immediately! The course not only taught you how to cook popular Spanish meals such as tapas and paella, but it also took you through the market.

Teresa, our guide and chef for the day, started by explaining the layout and history of the market. She rolled her little two-wheeled shopping bag into the heart of the market briskly passing the stalls in the front which were more expensive due to their prime real estate and touristic sales. She went to the market daily and like most locals had relationships with specific merchants who she bought from regularly. This is where the social aspect of the market came in. It wasn’t just about going and purchasing your vegetables, bread, and fish – it was about interacting and relationships. Imagine if you went to your local Whole Foods and actually knew the baker or the butcher and they knew about you, your life, and family? This is what I love about markets outside of the US, it’s more than just shopping and an exchange of money; it’s an experience.

Teresa purchasing fish from her friend's stall

We picked up fish, vegetables, olives, and about 4 dozen eggs (!); all fresh and nothing pre-packaged. We stopped to have some of the famous Jamón ibérico, (cured ham leg from the black Iberian pig) sliced right off the leg of the pig, a sight most Americans would be disgusted by, yet it of course excited me. The meat was like butter and practically melted in your mouth. Each leg can cost upwards of 200 Euro, a big investment, but totally worth it for a family…who really loves ham.

It might not look pretty but it tastes like heaven

After filling her shopping bag we wheeled it back to the Cook and Taste kitchen to start the process of preparing our dishes. The kitchen was long, narrow and enthusiastically designed. The bright yellow tile gave it a warm, welcoming feel and the long island counter in the middle served as cooking workspace as well as a place to dine. Theresa passed out the recipes and summarized what and how we were going to cook. We would prepare 4 dishes, gazpacho flavored with smoked cheese, a tapa potato omelet on tomato bread, seafood paella, and Catalan Cream dessert. As I flipped through the recipes it became clear to me why we had bought 4 dozen eggs.

The colorful, lively kitchen classroom

Teresa asked for volunteers to help prepare and be responsible for each dish and quickly handed out aprons and assigning people jobs while explaining to the whole class the history of the dish and how it would be made. We made one dish at a time so that it was easy to follow along, take notes, watch, and participate – the pace was perfect.

After the Catalan cream was prepared and ready to be chilled, Teresa opened up a bottle of red and white wine and poured us all a glass of our choice. Now I really felt like I was cooking! A very light social atmosphere fell over the group of 14 students as the afternoon progressed and we all flitted around the kitchen listening, watching, chopping, talking, and drinking. This was by far one of the most enjoyable ‘tours’ I had ever been on.

Teresa working on the paella

Frying it up in a pan...

Expert instruction!

Finishing touches

One of my favorite things about the class was Teresa’s instruction. First, she managed a class of 14 people single-handedly. Second, she not only taught you how to prepare a specific recipe, but she provided tips and techniques on cooking in general. She had been a chef her whole life and had previously worked in 5 star hotels, but now was happy to be doing this instruction of a profession she clearly loved. She taught people how to hold a knife and chop properly, how to check to see if oil was hot, how to blanch tomatoes, how to flip omelets with a plate, and how to present a meal like an artist. We learned all of her little tricks and techniques and came away with more than simply recipes to follow.

As we prepared each dish we drank more wine and munched on olives, but finally the time came where we could all properly sit down and enjoy all of our hard work. We had a feast! I would be hard pressed to choose my favorite dish as they all turned out scrumptious.

The fixings for our tomato bread

Finally, our 6 hours of cooking instruction was completed. We were all fat, happy, educated, and ready to go out and attempt the recipes ourselves…after a proper siesta of course!

The Cook and Taste workshop was my favorite thing I did while in Spain. Granted, I love to cook and learn about a country’s food culture, so the subject was of great interest to me…more so than going to a museum. If I consider the fact that we had 6 hours of instruction, a historical tour of the market, unlimited wine, and a feast of 4 courses for 72Euro ($100), this was the best value I experienced in Spain. For the same cost the night before I went to an Italian restaurant, spent 75 minutes there eating, met no one, and learned nothing.

If you are in Barcelona, and especially if you are renting an apartment with a kitchen – then consider taking the Cook and Taste workshop. Your stomach and kitchen will thank you.

In what cities have you taken great cooking classes?  Share in the comments!

Details:
Cook and Taste Workshop Website
Cost – 60Euro + 12 Euro for market visit (if you are staying in an Oh-Barcelona apartment, they offer discounts for the workshop)
Timeframes – 2 courses a day 10AM and 5PM

See all photos from the Barcelona cooking class and market tour:

Disclosure:  Oh Barcelona Apartments is hosting my accommodation in Barcelona. However, all of the opinions expressed here though are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Getting High inside Sagrada Familia

The church of La Sagrada Família (Sacred Family) is a work on a grand scale which was began in 1882 and is scheduled to be completed in 2025.  This religious and architectural masterpiece by Anontio Guadi is a short walk from my Barcelona apartment which means I can easily stop by and shoot pictures whenever I’d like from the outside.  My favorite time is the early morning when I run by the church and not a single sole is around.  Go after 8:30AM though and the big line of tourists is already forming to go inside.

It’s definitely worth a trip inside to get the grand feel of the place.  If you go, take a hat for waiting in line, 15 to 20 Euros for the ticket, and a good camera with a wide angle lens.  For more information on history, architecture, and times to visit check out the official website or the Oh Barcelona Blog

And if you can’t go for yourself, let me take you inside the Sagrada Familia with photography:

The door to the church is a jumble of letters and words

The crucifiction hangs over the crowd

Tourists roam inside all looking upwards

The colorful stain glass windows

To see all of my Sagrada Familia Photography from the inside AND outside – check out my Photo Gallery:

Disclosure: Oh Barcelona Apartments is hosting my accommodation in Barcelona. However, all of the opinions expressed here though are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

Me on my motorbike in Barcelona

I unfolded my stiff white document for the first time and ran my hand over the glossy picture; it had been tucked away in my passport holder for the last 2 months just waiting to be used. Now I proudly handed over my international drivers license to the young clerk at the motor bike rental agency in Barcelona.

As I became familiar with the neighborhood my cozy Barcelona apartment was located in, I saw a familiar site – motorbikes parked on sidewalks. Barcelona is not a huge city – but it is the 2nd biggest city in Spain with a population of 1.6 million. This was a perfect sized city with a great climate for motorbikes as evidenced by them zipping along the streets. I thought to myself – if I actually lived here I would definitely own a motorbike.

Even though Barcelona has an excellent metro and transit system which will get you about anywhere, I quickly realized it would be way more fun to see the city via motorbike with the wind in my hair zipping down the roads…just like old times in Vietnam. After all, since I was practically a local living in an apartment in Camp de L’Arpa neighborhood, I might as well cruise around the city like a local. Plus, it was a great chance to practice some driving skills before getting behind the wheel for the Mongol Rally!

Tree lined streets in Barcelona

Viator tours offered a 3 hour scooter tour of Barcelona which began in the Barceloneta neighborhood at a place called Cooltra. They not only run ½ day city tours, but they also rent motorbikes for the day or longer periods.

After a very short introduction to the motorbike, we took off following our guide Miguel. There were only 4 of us so it was rather easy to stick together among the traffic and stop lights. The feel and balance of the bike all came rushing back to me – just like in Vietnam. However the rules were different in Barcelona; namely there were actually rules!

Since there are more cars than motorbikes you have to keep a pretty close watch on the road when you are riding; after all, cars are bigger than a motorbike and they will win. In addition, I was all of a sudden aware of the fact that it was easier to go faster in Barcelona than it was in Vietnam. Saigon was throttled down in speed due to the mass congestion on the 6 million motorbikes on roads – and you were rarely ever able to get up speed at all. But in Barcelona there was plenty of open space on the roads with only stop lights to slow you down. Finally – there were a lot fewer reasons to use a horn , but I found myself with my thumb on the horn button poised out of habit.

We made 4 stops along the tour. The stops consisted of quickly parking the bikes, Miguel walking us to the site, and then he told us a little about the history. It was very short and sweet, but useful.

Port Olympic and Parc del Forum and Beachfront
Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia
Park Guell (upon entering it felt like Disneyland on crack)
Montjuic Park

Gaudi's funky Park Guell - Barcelona

The rest of the time we drove around the city following Miguel through every light and turn. The traffic was never too bad and I found the whole driving process really relaxing. I even had time to look around me and see the sites as I zipped by.

Overall I would recommend the motorbike tour as a unique way to get around Barcelona and be a part of the local culture. I was able to get a feel for the city outside of the metro, feel some freedom, and occasionally go fast! However I can’t say that the tour is without some needed improvements; if you do go, be aware of these things which were disappointing and slightly annoying to me:

• Very slow to check in – waited an hour (and there were only 4 of us total). The office and paperwork were extremely inefficient. A case of too many employees and no one knew what to do.
• They didn’t really have a great way to teach new people how to ride except for on the sidewalk. (and the other business owners were not very happy about that!). Out of the 4 people who went on our tour, 2 of them had never ridden before. There was very little assistance given in that respect.
• The guide was rather hands off until the tour started. He sat around smoking until the rest of the disorganized staff tried to teach people how to ride.
• I would have liked to have a map of where we were going and a bit of a initial introduction before we took off.  It would have been helpful but the only instruction or conversation we had from the guide prior to taking off was to try to line up two by two when stopped at a light and if we got separated to stay where we were and the guide would come and get us.
• It would have been nice to use the bikes to get out to sites that were a bit further away and not as easily reachable by metro. La Sagrada Familia, the number one tourist stop in Barcelona, was one of our stops yet I would have preferred to skip it and go more remote with the bikes.
• The bikes were ok and basic. However, they asked my friend to take one that died at stop lights since he was more experienced with riding. In my opinion you should never give a customer a bike that has issues no matter what kind of rider they are. The guide should have taken it or simply provide a different bike since there were many siting around.

Scooting around Barcelona

Tour Information:
Barcelona Scooter Tour – 50 Euro – The tour covered the bike rental, helmet, insurance, and a guide. Tips were extra.

Disclosure: Viator tours hosted me on this Scooter Tour. Oh Barcelona Apartments is hosting my accommodation in Barcelona. However, all of the opinions expressed here though are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!
Oh yes….and one more thing – the pictures provided were from another traveler on the tour, Brooks. There was no way I could have ridden the scooter AND take photos of myself!

Driving Discovery

Legend of Adventure Charles Brewer-Carias describes his role in life as “To Discover”. In fact he goes on to say,

“This is what keeps me going: discovery. It’s about transmitting information that has been shielded from humans for aeons.”

Who’s Charels you ask? He’s the Indiana Jones of Venezuela and he’s 71 years old.

I like anyone that has a verb as an ultimate goal….they have energy.

Travel is discovery to me. Everything is a new experience to dig into, enjoy, and understand. Lately I’ve been discovering Spain, but there is an underlying theme to this Spanish expedition…cars. In order to prepare for my upcoming driving adventure to Mongolia I’ve been getting used to being back on wheels again during my time in Spain.

First I was a spectator at the Formula 1 race in Valencia. I daydreamed about taking one of those F1 cars to Mongolia – now that would be a speedy trip! I’m guessing they wouldn’t make it through a river crossing though – and lord knows there would be no room for luggage, spare tires, and camping gear.

However I wouldn’t mind taking a pit crew like this one to help with tire changes! The fastest tire change I’ve ever seen!

Next I had the opportunity to ride in the Mercedes safety car around the F1 track – a once in a lifetime experience. The car purred…literally. Driving the track was such a unique vantage point to have. To see where all of the tire marks were, hugging the curves, dodging joggers and bicyclists! It was fun to discover what a F1 track is used for when they aren’t racing.

Dodging runners on the F1 track

I’m pretty sure that the Mercedes could make it just fine to Mongolia – but what kind of adventure would that be if we knew we would make it?

In a little over 2 weeks I will be circling yet another racetrack, Goodwood race track outside of London. Yet this time I will be driving…albeit slowly with 350 other teams in the Festival of Slow. The Festival kicks off our massive 10,000 mile adventure. Our car is no F1 car or Mercedes Safety Car…it’s a little Nissan Almera…just look at her…

She needs a name...any creative ideas??

This is the only photo and information about the car that we really have. I sort of feel like it should be on the back of a milk carton or something…Have you seen this car – if so please contact the Social Media Syndicate immediately!

Our car (which in a desparate need of a ‘name’) was bought online by AllWays Rentals and picked up and stored in Dorset by a guy named Danny that none of us know and we have been unable to get a hold of. In fact – we’ve never even talked to Danny before….this is all part of the adventure – right?

I’ve realized that in order to stay sane leading up to the Mongol Rally that I need to consider the preparation as discovery too.

For example, I’ve discovered that trying to organize a mechanical checkup for a car that I’ve never seen and don’t know the person who is storing it is can be nearly as impossible as climbing Kilimanjaro. (I’m hoping the car fares better than my failed climb up Kili).  I’ve discovered that trying to determine how to get a roof storage solution for a car that I’ve never seen in a country that is unfamiliar to me is also no walk in the park. But most of all I’ve discovered that doing all of this coordinating and attempted communicating online across countries is a big pain in the ass.

On a more positive note, I’ve discovered that people can be generous beyond belief. My friends at CheeseWeb purchased our team’s Euro Tunnel crossing. And most importantly – my friends and readers (yes…that’s you) have generously donated $4700 to our Mongolian charity – that’s amazing. You can see a complete list of donors on our team website.

The donations do not have to stop – we were hoping to raise $6000 for charity – and we are still taking donations during our drive…so if you haven’t gave yet – please do!

Donate Now!

Or – if you simply want to be a part of our car and you feel like donating money for us to get a roof rack to carry all of our camping gear – we’d be eternally grateful!

I’m absolutely positive that the next two months will be full of discovery for me and my teammates. And if you are looking for discovery and adventure – then follow us on our adventure this summer.

Here’s all the places you can follow along:
Twitter – @theplanetD |  @rickgriffin |  @ottsworld
Facebook – The PlanetD |  Mid-life Road Trip |  Ottsworld
Blogs –  The Social Media Syndicate

Most of all, don’t just follow, interact. This is going to be a long-ass drive with the same 3 people every day…interact with us (blog comments, tweets, and FB wall posts) so that we have more people to talk to!

And if you are in, or near the Philadelphia area – you can get one huge dose of discovery and adventure from Charles Brewer- Carias himself. The crazy people who put on the Mongol Rally are holding an Afternoon Tea presentation in Philly on July 9th with the 71 year old Charles Brewer-Carias.
More info and tickets:
Afternoon Adventure Tea
The son of a British diplomat, Charles Brewer-Carias has led over 200 expeditions in his native Venezuela, written an impressive array of books and discovered the world’s largest quartzite cave. Moreover, he has over 30 species of plant and animal named after him, has lived extensively with the Yekuana tribe and even holds the record for starting fire with sticks (2.7 seconds). Aged 71, he still does 80 pull-ups every morning and is busy planning his next expedition…..to El Dorado.

My 'money' shot...the perfect pan...

Speed – rapidity in moving, going, traveling, proceeding, or performing; swiftness; optimum rate of motion

The Formula 1 race I attended last weekend in Valencia provided a good photographic challenge for me.  The F1 race is all about speed, and when you are there you can easily see it and feel it as the noise vibrates through you.  But in a photograph speed can be hard to capture.  With the right lens and good camera you can pretty easily stop the motion of a speeding F1 car.  The picture is sharp, but it falls flat as the car might as well be parked on the track.  The challenge is really how to convey motion; very, very fast motion in your photograph.

I had lots of chances to experiment as I attended the time trials and race for the weekend.  I can’t lie, I am no pro so in this situation practice (i.e. lots and lots of shots) makes perfect.  In fact – there were many frames with no cars in them as I missed the cars completely!  But with enough tries, I was able to put together my speediest shots from the weekend.

A blur...

A little too fast causes this scene...

Too fast to capture

To get a real idea of the speed – here’s a video of the final turn into the straight away:

Disclosure:  My trip to Valencia and surrounding areas was provided by Tour Spain and Valencia Tourism.  However, all of the opinions expressed here though are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!

The crowd has it's own culture

Spain is a new country for me to soak in; it’s officially my 38th country I’ve been to in my short international travel experience of 11 years. A land of late nights, small bites, siestas, architects, and artists to learn about. Not only is Spain a new culture for me to visit and understand, so was the purpose of my visit – Formula 1 racing. I admit, I knew very little about Formula 1 racing when I arrived in Valencia. My only experience with fast cars was the Indy 500. I have vivid memories of huddling around the radio with my family as a kid listening to the call of the race on the radio over Memorial Day. Thirty years ago there was no live television broadcast of the race so the sounds of the cars and the crowd provided the fuel for my imagination.

My trip to the Formula 1 race in Valencia last weekend brought with it a whole first hand education on racing. Cars, teams, and drivers were the central focus of course but standing in the grandstand waiting for the race to begin, I found myself fascinated by the people around me just as much as I was fascinated by what was happening on the track in front of me. I started to see patterns in the crowd and attributed them to the racing fan culture.

The priveledged crowd above pit row

The crowd was heavily weighted towards men, but there were a few racing savvy women representing the ‘other half’. There were even families with young children present cheering on their favorite Spanish driver, Fernando Alonso, driving for Ferrari. Upon scanning the grandstand I quickly determined that if you were going to be a part of the crowd at a Formula 1 race that you needed a few key things in order to fit into the F1 fan culture.

Team Gear

Like any sports enthusiast – you need to get behind your team and make it clear to the people around you who you are rooting for. Granted – the Spaniards didn’t take it as far as Americans – there were no ‘face painters’ in the crowd, but there was plenty of team apparel. It is important to back a team or a driver proudly.

Camera

The cameras come in all sizes and models, but as a fan you must have at least one with you to capture the sites and sounds of F1. This was an area that I could actually fit in to the culture as I was carrying 3 cameras! (SLR, iphone, and video)

Tickets

You could hear the race from anywhere in the city miles away from the track, but to see the race you needed a ticket to get in. Tickets also come in all shapes and sizes – but the most coveted ones were big, glossy, and worn around the neck.

Noise

The sound of the highly tuned cars are one of the most exciting things about F1 racing. With sounds reaching over 110 decibels, if you don’t want your ears to bleed, you better wear protection. I found that ear protection came in many different forms in the crowd, high end bulky, to ear plugs with chords, to low end squishy.

Intensity

You could feel it in the air, the intensity of the grandstand crowd was compelling. As cars downshifted to round the last corner of the track putting them into the grandstand straightaway, the crowd instinctively stood up to watch their favorites go by. Raising hands in the air, they cheered on the cars on as they sped by in a blur of color and noise. They then resumed intently watched the big screen video feed and hung on every lead change and tight corner as the cars made it through the winding course. There was an intensity that you couldn’t help but feel and catch.

Reflecting Intensity

Even though you may not be a Formula 1 ‘super fan’, with these few key items you’ll blend into the Formula 1 culture no matter what country you are in.

Disclosure:  My trip to Valencia and surrounding areas was provided by Tour Spain and Valencia Tourism.  However, all of the opinions expressed here though are my own – as you know how I love to speak my mind!