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Warsaw, Poland

Liz — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:38:06 +0000

Warsaw, Poland

Originally uploaded by liz315

Chopin monument in Warsaw, Poland.

Wroclaw, Poland (and a Travel Summary)

Liz — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:00:53 +0000

Wroclaw, Poland (and a Travel Summary)

Originally uploaded by liz315

Photo of town hall in Wroclaw, Poland.

Things are going well on my Europe trip. We first arrived in London and had a long day of sightseeing. See the earlier post with a great shot of Trafalgar Square and the London Peace Festival that we stumbled upon. We went to a town near Leicester for an afternoon – it was nice to get out to the English countryside.

Next was Vienna and it was very cold there! We toured old Vienna, which is as beautiful as they say it is. See the previous post with a photo of the Hofburg Haus. Then we are took a boat down the Danube River to Bratislava, Slovakia, for a day.

After all that we then went to Poland, first stop was Wroclaw. From Wroclaw we went to a few nearby smaller cities and Jesenik, in the Czech Republic.

Tomorrow we leave for Warsaw. And our last stop in Poland is Gdansk (from which we’ll go to two smaller cities). Then home.

More photos to come.

So, that makes five countries, and many cities, in two weeks. Vacations like this mean a lot of walking, packing and traveling – but more so, they result in my increased appreciation for some more areas of the world and styles of living. And of course, I am lucky to have such a wonderful travel partner, Piotr.

Hofburg Haus, Vienna

Liz — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:28:29 +0000

Hofburg Haus, Vienna

Originally uploaded by liz315

Today in Vienna.

London, UK

Liz — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:34:48 +0000

IMG00038.jpg

Originally uploaded by liz315
Now @ Trafalgar Square.

post-Asia, pre-Europe

Liz — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:41:26 +0000

With a great trip to Asia (the Philippines and Japan) completed, I am pretty excited about heading to Europe (UK, Austria and Poland). So, before I have more pictures, I thought I would post about a few of my Asia favorites. Who doesn’t love pictures and stories?

Tam-awan Village near Baguio, Philippines: Rainforest in the mountains. Amazing recreations of housing, as seen in the picture. Very informative guides and beautiful artwork. And you can stay there.

Pagsanjan Falls, Philippines: Think Apocalypse Now. The side cliffs on the way to the falls were stunning. This is a picture of some huts on the way and one of many waterfalls on the way to the big & famous one.

Gion Matsuri Festival, July in Kyoto, Japan: Coincidence that I was in Kyoto and happened to be on the street for this parade.

Sumida River Fireworks Festival, Tokyo, Japan: This is one of my best travel experiences ever. Fireworks in two places over the river, crowds (1 million people), kimonos, and good food. I stumbled away from the crowds and found a temple/shrine and the fireworks are in the background.

You can find more of my Asia’08 trip photos on Flickr (see the link on the right). I can’t wait to post about my Europe’08 trip!

Direct from the Philippines

Liz — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 04:09:00 +0000

At the time I am riding a bus towards Manila, on my way to the fourth largest mall in the world- the Mall of Asia. I am coming from Pagsanjan where I saw the most amazing waterfalls- as seen in Apocalypse Now. I also have gotten to experience Manila, the best part being Intramuros, the historical district and some cute restaurant in Malate. After which I travelled to Baguio in the mountainous Cordillera region to see some rainforests, in the pouring rain. And that was followed by crossing Lake Taal for a climb up Taal Volcano for beautiful views.

Its been an amazing trip so far. But that’s not all that I wanted to write about.

I love technology. I have had access to all of my regular addictions and conveniences. If it wasn’t for the change in content and strange times, no one would know I was really halfway across the world. The only thing I couldn’t do was attend the Twin Tech event. I hope it was as much fun as it sounded!

Photos to come.

The Downside of Gadgets and Travel

Liz — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:24:00 +0000

Next weekend I am heading to Asia- the Philippines and Japan to be exact. And besides loving the travel, I love that gadgets can help me stay connected while traveling. You all know how much I have blogged about gadgets and convenience (if not, just look).

However, one major point of frustration is the fact that I need a 3G phone for Japan. The last few days I have pondered my need for connectivity and what I could use to survive in Japan without voice, text, GPS and email at the tip of my fingers at all times. I think I have concluded that it will be WiFi with my Eee and calling cards with pay phones. Admittedly, this solution hurts a little. It is so old-school. I feel a bit lacking in my gadgetry that I don’t have a better idea. And renting a phone will just get me ripped off – I would be better off buying a 3G phone on eBay, which is also a waste, but at least you keep the phone. (Still, I might cave in to the rental idea.)

A day before I leave the new 3G iPhone goes on sale. It is so tempting! But I can’t imagine signing up with AT&T right now and parting with my BlackBerry – I want to wait for more options.

My final thoughts- I had believed that there were a lot of really cool phones out there. I am not sure why all “world” phones don’t support 3G. After this research, I realized that devices and service still have a way to go. However, maybe I will see some awesome and inspiring stuff in the electronic neighborhood (Akihabara) of Tokyo.