So excited to get the weekend started with my first guest post! One of my most favorite people in the world, a Tarheel transplant to D.C. who served her country as Peace Corps Volunteer from 2007-2009. Enjoy her wonderful photos . . .
28 Friday Sep 2012
Posted guest blogs, off the beaten path
inSo excited to get the weekend started with my first guest post! One of my most favorite people in the world, a Tarheel transplant to D.C. who served her country as Peace Corps Volunteer from 2007-2009. Enjoy her wonderful photos . . .
27 Thursday Sep 2012
Posted off the beaten path, road trips
in≈ Comments Off on Cotton Picking in the Hamptons of the Delta (Lake Village, Arkansas)
During the years that I was proud to call New Orleans home I evacuated for hurricanes on several occasions. Lake Village, Arkansas or the “Hamptons of the Delta” as it is fondly called by Teach For America corps members was my go-to hurrication destination. A Tarheel transplant to Lake Village always opened her home to me and several teacher friends from New Orleans.
My first time in Lake Village I noticed that there was a tourist information center and because I was “stuck” for a couple of days until the city opened back up I decided to check it out and see what I could find to do in the area. I walked in and approached the receptionist. At every other tourist information center I had ever entered this person normally talks your ear off, gives you way too many pamphlets, and tells you what you need to know. This time, not so much.
The gentleman actually told me to, “keep driving, there is nothing to do around here.” When I explained I was staying with friends while evacuated from New Orleans for the hurricane he then told me that the farmer up the road was hiring day laborers to pick cotton that week if I was interested. I ended up declining that networking opportunity, but in years since have wondered if I should have taken him up on the introduction and seen what it would be like to pick cotton. (photo of cotton fields below for your viewing pleasure)
While there was no “tourist attraction” (he was right on that one), Lake Village is still a beautiful little town. Especially the neighborhood that is built around the lake and if you are lucky enough to know a local there is a 95% chance they have access to a dock and a boat. The swimming is great and if you want to try fried green tomatoes those are also in plentiful supply at any local eatery.
12 Wednesday Sep 2012
Posted get around, history, off the beaten path
in≈ Comments Off on Surprising Sarajevo (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) was my first experience in a “war torn” country. (Yes I do have a problem, can’t just go on a cruise it’s just not interesting enough . . . ) Sarajevo remains one of my favorite cities in the world. I didn’t know what to expect when I stepped off the plane – the only local person I had ever talked to was the gentleman sitting on my DC-Vienna flight earlier that summer. Fairly new to the game of traveling at that point, I thought it would be a good idea to brush up on my Balkans knowledge by reading a book entitled “The Fall of Yugoslavia” on the plane. BIG MISTAKE.
We had barely lifted off the tarmack when this gentlemen points at my book and then tells me that he is going to tell me the “real story.” He talked the entire 9 hour flight with the exception of hushing his elderly mother when she would interrupt him. His real story was made up of conspiracy theories about how Tito (held various roles in Yugoslavia from the end of WWII until his death in 1980) was not even really from Yugoslavia and you could tell this from the hint of Spanish accent during his speeches. It was a long 9 hours, but I did get some great restaurant and gelato recommendations for Vienna out of the whole debacle.
But, back to Sarajevo, as you first leave the airport it’s what I affectionately call “commie condos.” CC’s are typically high-rise white concrete buildings that all look the same, with the token black satellite dish poking out from each apartment’s balcony. A constant throughout Eastern Europe. Then you enter the Habsburg area of the city and you could be in Vienna if you didn’t know better, and finally at the city’s center you find mosques and architecture reminiscent of the Ottoman era.
Where to stay? Highly recommend Hotel “Villa Orient”, the staff were amazing and it was a great location.
Transportation/safety concerns? From the airport it’s easy to get a taxi into the city. To explore you can walk many places and of course there is public transport . I felt safe at all times – even taking walks by myself in the early mornings in the 1-2 mile radius around the hotel. When exploring the rest of BiH I was fortunate enough to be doing a research seminar and had ground transportation from the OSCE Mission. I personally would not have felt comfortable traveling without the OSCE drivers when visiting other parts of the country. Beyond the safety concern, if your ability to move between cyrillic script and latin letters is not strong it can quickly get tricky to find your way between the street signs and available maps that switch back and forth between the two alphabets.
And I will leave you with the number one rule for BiH: STAY ON THE PAVEMENT. It’s a beautiful country, but it’s still recovering. Demining is a constant effort, and even if an area has been cleared after winter weather the mines can shift. So walking around the city, good idea. Hiking in the hills above Sarajevo, bad idea.