Austin, Etc.

Well, I am not doing well at my attempts to be productive today. I'm sorting through boxes to get ready to move and I keep running into files full of memories. I've been cringing (oh middle school), laughing (my freshman year in the dorms was possibly the funniest year of my life), and just generally being thankful for all the wonderful people and countless memorable experiences I have had over the years.

Speaking of memorable experiences, while I'm not being productive I thought I'd share some of what I've been up to--namely my trip down to central Texas!

I went down to Austin last weekend A) to see my brother Casey, B) to hear Buena Vista Social Club, and C) to get out of town!

I had a fantastic time. I toured a friend's coffee roasting facility, ate meal after meal of good food, heard five live bands/artists, made my best flan yet for the boys, sweated it out at Batfest (without seeing the bats...which was ok by me!), had brunch with an old friend and then poked around in small towns on my way back home.

I was too busy in Austin to take many pictures, but here's a few from the weekend: (you'll also notice from a few of the pictures that I was finally forced to break down and upgrade my 1998 version phone for an iphone!)

Touring Kohana Coffee's roasting facilities and getting the inside scoop on the entire process from the impossibly friendly owner!

Coffee beans from all over the world! She even had beans from Boquete, Panama! Piper was also kind enough to let me take some of the empty coffee bags with me--I ruffled through and found some good looking ones to go on my new walls. 

(I of course chose one from Boquete!)

I mentioned to one of Casey's roommates that I was on a flan making kick...and then of course I had to make it. I ran to the store and threw one together--surprisingly I think it was my best flan yet!

Buena Vista Social Club put on an amazing show! And let me tell you, 80 year old Omara Portuondo was the life of the party! Grandma can still get down!

On the way home I decided to humor my curiosity and poke around in some of the small towns I passed through on my way back to Fort Worth. When I saw the signs for Lorena, Texas I had to stop.

(I peaked into the windows of this old building to find a bank counter that looked straight out of It's A Wonderful Life!)

Then I made a stop in Waco for gas and drove around a bit: 

A shot from the Dr. Pepper museum!

Then, it was time for the best part of the drive: West, Texas! (Emphasis on the comma!) I stopped quickly in West on the way down to grab a kolache for Casey and me, but I did not hit the right bakery. This time I got it right, and, with time to be nosey, found some great old buildings and colorful locals. 

West was settled by Czech immigrants and still has a lot of Czech flavor...specifically in their bakeries! 

Yum!

You can also pick up some pickled pigs feet if that's more your style

My treasures--apricot and cream cheese kolaches, with cherry and cream cheese kolaches underneath them. I brought enough home to share with my family...but when Brian wasn't home, curiosity got the best of me and I ate his too! : )

Then I had a look around town: 

(An old theatre!)

Overall, a fantastic Texas weekend!

Go Ahead, Make My Day

My dad always went around telling me, Nothing in life is free. Which, ok, I kind of get. There's often a catch in those sounds-too-good-to-be-true offers. The thing is though, sometimes, you do get things for free.

And I love to get things for free.

It's not even the money I save when I get things for free (although that's nice). I just get some kind of thrill out of it. The system glitches, you find a loop hole, or most often, someone is generous--it feels like such a win.

And yesterday was a big win as far as scoring free things goes. I got to go into a ton of beautiful archeological sites and churches for free. It was already something like 95 degrees before the morning got started so I stopped at a fruit stand to buy an orange. I chose carefully and brought the orange to the guy in charge. He then told me, you picked a bad one! (Which I'm sure was true--I am, for the most part, horrible at picking fruit.) He went and picked me out the best one, gave me a bit of a sad face and then told me that these oranges were for juice not for eating.

Oh. (Again, I'm pretty useless with knowing these things.)

I thought maybe I should get a different fruit, but he told me don't worry, it will be ok, just take it. That's right, just take it--he wouldn't let me pay.


I walked along the streets tossing it into the air feeling oh-so-proud of my free orange.

And, the orange turned out to be delicious.

Next stop: Lunch

I had a really late lunch and by the time I found a nice little restaurant I was starving. The waitstaff sent over an older Greek waiter who turned out to be their go-to English speaker. He was super friendly and chatty and I had a nice meal all around. I'm horrible at getting waiters' attention to ask for the bill and so sat eating bread and tzatziki until I could catch him.

And for some reason, somewhere between me asking for the bill and it actually coming the owner-lady came out and brought me a giant beer. I tried telling her I didn't order one, that I was actually just waiting on my bill, until she had my waiter come over and he explained that it was for me, on the house.

Um...thank you?

I don't even like beer and here was this giant one. But hey, it was free!

Then came free watermelon! Ripe, heart of the melon, served with ice watermelon. Oh man. Some of the best watermelon ever.

And then when I ate everything (again) and asked for my check (again) the waiter looked a bit sad and asked if I would like a coffee--on the house. You know if I had the time. And if I didn't want to walk around in the heat. (Which I did, and didn't.)

All right, bring on the free coffee! He got excited and then asked how I wanted it.

Finally I pulled myself out of there, so full that I could barely walk back to the hostel, but smiling the whole way back.

Nice people are so lovely.

(Also, all these free things put me in an even more than usually generous mood, which led to a quite interesting story. But more on that later!)

Week in Review Sabbatical Style: Week 10!

Another week has come and gone. And let me tell you, this week has gone well. It's the week in review: 

• In the end I found an even cheaper deal for another night at my hotel here in Agia Napa...so I just stayed another night. No complaints.   
• Apparently I when I advanced my watch when I came to Europe it messed the days up (although any of you who have seen my watch lately will wonder how I see anything off of it). I couldn't remember what day it was this morning, and my watch said Sunday. So Sunday it was. Until about an hour ago when I realized my computer and the hostel booking devises were telling me otherwise. This makes the confusing conversation I had with the receptionist about the time change tonight make more sense. 
• Tonight begins "summer time" (aka the end of daylight savings time). 
• Tomorrow being Sunday also means that buses tomorrow are very limited. 
• I got another cup of Greek coffee from the same place. The first sip sent an actual shiver up my spine. (I will say though, the thing about coffee I really love is the little jolt you get about 2 sips in. This stuff? It sends caffeine fireworks through your system. I can barely type.)
• For those keeping track, I decided to start my Camino in Pamplona. 
• I also bought a small 4 euro bottle of contact solution. It is 120 ml, and here the limit for bottles that go in your zip lock bag for the plane is 100 ml. If they make me throw this one away too I will not be happy. 
• In Larnaka I got chatted up by the Arab waiter at the restaurant I went to. His name was Ibrahim. Imagine that. 
• In Cyprus people drive on the left side of the street. I have almost died crossing the road...twice. 
• OK, I probably wouldn't have died. 
• I have been getting a lot of reading in here, which was part of the plan. I read Love Wins and Northanger Abby this week. Kind of an odd combo, but hey, I enjoyed both. 
• Remember how I went on about the Central American sun being bright? Yeah well the sun is pretty strong here too. Hello sunburn!
• I had some great moments of depth perception this week. I love it when that happens. (See this if you are confused by that statement.) 
• I got a check in the mail this week to cover the replacement (and major upgrade!) of my laptop. The insurance covered ALL of it (including a copy of Microsoft Office that was on there). Seriously people, if you are students (and I am pretty sure even if you aren't) run to get yourself some student insurance: www.nssi.com/ (especially if you are as clumsy/accident prone as I am...)
• I've been catching up on the news since I have a TV with 2 English channels. Kind of glad I ended up nixing the Middle Eastern portion of my trip right about now. 
• The plan for the next few days: head to Limassol for a couple of nights (another coastal city), head into the mountains to see some villages and monasteries, then see the world's only divided capital.
• I just realized (again) that today isn't Sunday yet...so consider this a week in review a day early!  

Just a few pics below: 

My "beach recliner"

The view from the recliner. I had the beach to myself. 

Arabic on the tea, Greek on the cream, Hebrew on the Sweet and Low

The view from here. That coffee looks innocent enough, but whew. I'll be up all night. 

Solution?

So I made it to Cyprus! And I got here with only a few problems. But if this picture is any indication, I have figured things out:

I haven't had Starbucks since before I left in January, and, I must say, for as commercial as it is...it sure is tasty. (And considering an hour's worth of internet alone costs 3 euro here, I figured I might as well get a coffee and free wifi for a euro more.) The coffee combined with a sea view, wifi and a fantastic oldies playlist coming through the speakers makes for a pretty good morning.

Other solutions?

The first problem was that the security at Athen's airport is ridiculous. They have the airport sectioned off so that there are separate security lines for every couple of gates. That means no lines...but also that the security officers have a lot more time on their hands. Long story short, they took my contact solution. Never mind that I checked with the TSA before I left (even being assured by the agent at DFW that it was ok), my pleas that I needed that specific brand (I could be allergic to another one!), or the fact that it was a nearly full bottle (so expensive!), away into the trash it went. The unfortunate thing is that I nonchalontly pulled the bottle out and gave it to them, because I was so sure it was ok. I know that contact solution is difficult to spot in bags (or so I have read), so chances are if I hadn't pulled it out I would have gotten it through. Oh well, I'll just buy more. Cest la vie.

My other problem was that, well I had no plans whatsoever for my time in Cyprus. I had a hotel booked for my first 3 nights in the city I flew into, but how to get to town from the airport, what to do after that, etc. was all up in the air. I figured I would figure it out when I got here. And what do you know, I did. (Love it when things work out like that!) There was a TI booth in the airport and I found hands down the most helpful tourist information guy I've ever met. Transportation to town? He gave me three options. Map of Larnaka? Check. Other cities in Cyprus? He gave me a detailed map for every single one. He even gave me a history/guide book for Cyprus that is more helpful than my Lonelyplanet guidebook (Rick Steves where are you when I need you!?). He welcomed me to the country and told me not to worry--to use my 3 days in Larnaca to read everything and plan the rest of my trip. That was my idea exactly!

So yeah, it's nice when things actually work out well. I made it to the city center from the airport (for only 1 euro!), found my way to my hotel without getting lost, and the friendly receptionist even gave me a room with a great view. The room was a great deal for this beachside town, but I won't lie...it's kind of like sleeping in an easyJet plane. That's probably because, well, the hotel is owned by the same company. Anyway, my easyHotel room is full of that familiar orange and has a plane sized bathroom, but is clean and has a balcony--perfect for my plan of reading away my time here.

Oh, and I solved one other problem--my realization that it had been over 2 months since I had a hamburger. So what did I do? I became one of those tourists and treated myself to a nice McDonalds meal last night. Feel free to judge me, but I won't care--it hit the spot!

Pictures below:

Larnaka

New boats in the marina

 

Old boats in the marina

My easyJet/easyHotel room

 

My teensy airplane bathroom

The view from my balcony!

Coffee Tour: Finca La Milagrosa in Boquete, Panama

{Another catch up/Panama blog!}

It was a cold rainy morning in Boquete, but I wasn't going to leave town without a coffee tour. So up we went (myself and my friend Laura) to Senor Tito's Finca La Milagrosa. I got soaked, but then dried out, and then got really hyper sucking on raw coffee beans, chomping down on toasted ones, and drinking cups of coffee made by the owner himself. It was tons of fun and everyone there was so happy and young looking that it also definitely affirmed the benefits of coffee. 

Senor Tito made everything himself! Our guide was quick to point out every two minutes or so, that Senor Tito is sooo smart!

Ready to be go from: 

this

to: 

this. 

There were lots of different things involved in the drying process

Senor Tito roasting us a sample

Coffee beans starting to get toasty in there

taking a look (Senor Tito made that spoon--look closely and you see that its a spoon welded to a screw driver so it's long enough to reach inside the roaster)

light, medium and dark roast (or American, French and Italian)

The grinder (made from an old hand cranked corn grinder)

and our lazy friend.