In Paris I did not find Love, Just Art,and a freaky old man

When you grow up, there is always this dream to go to Paris, fall in love beneath the Eifel Tower and live happily ever after. I am more of a cynic when it comes to such things, so on a recent trip, all I expected was Baguettes and cheese, and more importantly the Champs Elysee. I must admit, I did not give Paris enough time, just two days, enough time to see the Louvre from top to bottom, say hi to Mona, pose with cupid and shop along the Champs Elysee. I must admit that that was the highlight, strolling into overpriced stores, eating at sidewalk cafes, and I cant help but think how difficult it must be to french and live up to all that expectation. Even the McDonalds tries so hard, calling themselves McCafe, like that would make their coffee any better, and even the girl serving you behind the counter is plastered with make up. I do admit that I was a little disappointed with Paris as it just did not live up to the hype and romaticised picture I had in my head. It was crowded, grimy, over-priced and exceptionally cold, although the last one is no fault of Paris. I did enjoy the time in the Louvre. All that art, grandeur, and tales of yester year, captured for eternity. I looked at the Mona Lisa through the crowed and watched her staring, half smiling back at me. I went to visit Napoleans aprtments adn saw the most amazing sculptures and I wonder why today, when we have all the technlogy and acuiment, me just do not produce such marvels, or maybe, our marvels will be appreciated when we are long gone. So I realised that it was time to leave when an old man outside the Louvre started hitting on me...seriosly grandpa, it was just not you lucky day...and to Paris, Au Revoir

Snowboarding...its extreme and so is the pain afterwards

I consider myself a bit of a cautious adventurer. I realize that that may be a contradiction of terms, but sometimes, self preservation is more important than adventure. This weekend I threw caution to the wind and decided to go snowboarding...and for those wondering, I have no clue on how to snowboard. I figured being a female of great poise and grace and balance, snowboarding would come easily. So before the crack of dawn, I was up and on a train to Feldberg, in the black forest, with a bunch of other crazy people heading off on our next adventure.

In my experience, once you look the part, you have more confidence to be the part, and so I looked like a right old snowboarder (what am I going to do with snowboard pants in South Africa is an entirely different blog) and off to the slopes I went.

Lets just say, that there is a lot of things I am a natural at, I have great beginners luck, unfortunately, that does not stem to snowboarding. For the better part of two hours, I spent most of my time falling on my ass, it was fun, painful, and cold, but the rush you get when you finally get up on the board, and snowboard down the slope in a perfect arc is priceless, its like flying though the snow, it almost makes you forget your crash landing at the end, when you are going to fast, lose your balance and end up on ur butt in a heap at the bottom of the slope.

All in all, it was a great day, completely exhausting but totally fun...the drawback however is the pain you feel the next day. Muscles you didnt even know existed are in excruciating pain, so much so that is is even an effort to put your socks on, and so you dont, you spend the day in bed, in solitude, because even talking hurts, but its still fun and still worth it, and that is why I am going snowboarding again...whoohoo

I hearby confess my love for Italy

I dont think there is a single person who goes to Italy and is not impressed. As for me, I spent just over a week in Italy, travelling South to North and the bit in between as well. So I started Genoa, the home of Christopher Columbus, a directionally challenged dude, who on his way East, discovered America. Genoa, is a great place, with the best Pizza I have eaten. Its warm and sunny and the people are really friendly and helpful. The next Italian City was Palermo, Sicily, and this is really where I fell in love with Italy. The beautiful Islands, the amazing history, the sights and sounds just engulf you and you cant help but be hypnotised. Then onto Napoli. I must confess that I was disappointed with Napoli. It was just a grimmy City. I unfortunately had no time to go and see Pompei, but I could see Vesuvius from a comfortable distance.

Next stop Florence. A really great place, filled with famous sculpures, mostly of nude guys, amazing shopping, and bags and shoes. My achilles heel. I like florence, quite, clean and less touristy then most of the other places. And then Roma, what can I say. I was in awe when I saw the colloseum. I just sat and looked at it. And yes Rome is totally over run by tourist, but it was still beautiful. My favourite place is the Trevi Fountain, and afterwards, Pizza at this little place nearby, where I ate the most heavenly piece of seafood pizza. Let us not talk about the gelato.

So Italy stole my heart, and while I enjoyed every minute of it, I regret to say, but it has been colonized. Yes, after centuries steeped in roman and Italian history, and after fighting so hard to preserve their culture and lifestyles, they have been colonized by Asians. Everywhere you go in Rome, there is an Indian person trying to sell you a miniature Colosseum or fridge magnet. Its sad, that I go all the way to Italy only to find more Indians, who assure me that I will get a good bargain if I buy a miniature sculpture of the Vatican...thanks, but no thanks...Despite all of this, I still love Italy, Italian lifestyle, food, clothes, shoes, bags...the list could go on, I am officially Italy's no. 1 fan

Those sneaky Persians

So yes, it has been a while since my last blog...where have I been hiding, you might wonder, or maybe hibernating due to the extreme cold and snow (what happened to global warming I ask you?). The truth is I have been on this crazy adventure, and the first stop is Tehran. Yes, that is the capital of Iran, the place where they have a nuclear programme, have wmds (weapons of mass destruction), oppressed women...so you can imagine my surprised when I arrived in Tehran, slightly apprehensive, to find a most modern society. So yes, women have to wear a headscarf all the time but have a higher enrollment in Universit than in the west, but there are no loud discos, and other than that, they are just a regular society. The people are friendly, the young guys flirt with you in the street, pretty much a normal City in every sense of the word.

They are a little stange though when it comes to foreign currency. I had the unfortunate luck to arrive at 4am, and too tired to change my currencly at the airport had only US dollars and Euros. Trying to get a bank to change foreign curreny in Iran is nearly impossible. They have their own banking system, they dont accept VISA, Mastercard, Dinersclub...i know...so after an hour of searching, and pretty much visiting every bank along the main shopping street, I found a kind soul who changed the currency for me...Other than that, I had a fantastic time in Iran. The place, the people, I just wish I had more time to see the sights and sounds of Tehran and Isfahaan. So if you considering taking a trip to Tehran, I say no matter how tired you are, change your foreign currency at the airport.