#i took so many pics on this hike it was so pretty

[teddylou]

[ultimateaclrecovery]

Pretty fall colors and views in New Mexico!

[a-tehta]

I painted a couple of traditional art pieces as Scribbles and Drabbles art submissions. Here is the first, "The Road to Rivendell". It is based on a pic I took while hiking in Lauterbrunnen. (I have lived in Switzerland for many years, so this is a pretty normal hike for me.)

[judysxnd]

Pictures you take of Pedro : Vacation edition

I don’t know why but I struggle to do these? Not like writing them, but with the pictures. Every time I put another pic, it just puts the same as the first one 😭

A week off from work and you were both gone to the beach, needing to feel the hot sun on your skin, and swim a little. You enjoyed to stay on the sand, tanning, while Pedro went to swim. At some point he came back and sat next to you. You were on your phone, reading some articles, often texting some of your friends.

“How do you even see the screen?” Pedro just said as he was watching you carefully, his gaze wandering on your body from time to time. You laughed.

“I-I absolutely do not struggle to read at all” you said sarcastically. “I was bored” you shifted to face him, still holding your phone.

“You should have joined me, the water’s good”

“And leaving our stuff alone?”

“Good thinking” you both laughed. Your eyes went back to your phone, but you both kept talking. You wanted to unlock your phone but instead you opened the camera, so you decided to take this picture.

You never went to Chile, and Pedro took things in hand and booked a flight for the both of you to go there for two weeks. And it was amazing, he showed you so many things. One time, as you were walking back from the beach, he noticed a stand where you could drink coconut water directly in the coconut. He took your hand and just walked there. He took two, and you both sat down next to the stand and started to drink. You took this picture, locking a memory for life. It was one of the greatest trip ever.

You went hiking one day as the weather wasn’t too hot. You traveled to your family for a week during spring, and, not going to lie, it was like you were lost in the middle of the forest. But you took advantage of this, and decided to hike. As you did, at some point, (don’t even know how), you ended to a lake.

“The water doesn’t seem to be that cold” Pedro said

“Wait- you want to go in?” You laughed “we didn’t even take bathing suits” he smirked at you

“Who said we need them? There’s no one around us”

“You naughty boy” he just took his clothes off and went it the water, just like that. You took your phone out and took a picture, already knowing how you could caption it : “I’m pretty sure the water is under ten degrees but he went anyway”.

“A little cold at the beginning but you get used to it. Come on!”

You touched the water with your hand and gasped.

“A LITTLE cold? Are you kidding? It’s freezing! You’re going to get sick!”

“It will only be worth it if you join me!” He said, giving you puppy eyes that he knows you won’t resist. And he was right. You sighed, anticipating the cold water and getting sick afterwards, but you took your clothes off and joined him.

“Oh my god- why!! It’s freezing” he laughed

“Come here” he took your hands to get you closer to him.

“I hate you”

“Sure” he smiled, and kissed you. You stayed very close to him so that his heat could warm you up, as you enjoyed the view, talking a little, and also being children and playing around. You both ended up being sick afterwards but you had a lot of fun. He was right, it was worth it.

After hiking for a few hours to the mountain hut where you were going to stay, you took a break to enjoy the view. The mountains around, the sun, the temperature was perfect. You really enjoyed being able to travel a lot with Pedro. You weren’t used to that and always regretted not traveling before, but it was worth the wait.

You were sitting on a bench, and Pedro was standing a little further in front of you, feeling the warmth on him. You were taking pictures of the mountains, but in the middle, you took this one. This trip was definitely going to be added to the best ones.

[drghostwrite]

Always You pt.2

Pairing: Larissa Weems x wife!reader

Summary: Read pt.1 for some background but basically reader and Larissa are finally married and they want a baby so the steamy shower turns into something more and they later get a very life "shifting" surprise.

********************************************************

You had packed up your things and started to head out of your office, you quickly stopped though checking your appearance in the mirror. You were teaching in one of the many atriums of the school today, it was in an older part of the school, less travled now. But the levels used to be filled with footsteps and gossip of students, now the levels were overgrown with beutiful vines that hung towards the floor the window on top still intact allowing for golden rays to seep down in and beautiful arrays of colorful flowers reached towards the sunlight. You were teaching on architecture and nature, Life Imitates Art and so this was the best spot, though it was a hike so you opted for some ripped jeans a long-sleeve henley, your curls were pulled up in a loose messy bun and your coordinating headband held the extras in perfect placement, you looked in the mirror approving and left locking your office behind you.

You felt your phone buzz in your back pocket and raised your wrist to see a text from Larissa, Hey I hope you don't mind if I come in a little later, kind of dealing with something.

You quickly replied and then decided that you would just stop by her office, you saw the large doors cracked and slipped inside hearing her voice filtering through the cracked door, when you stepped in your saw three other teachers in the room surrounding her desk and heard Larissa talking to them, before raising her voice and shooing them away with the swipe of her hand. You hated seeing her being made a spectacle like that, dealing with and being criticized for someone else wrong doing it made your heart race and blood boil, you knew she could handle herself and yet it made the gold swirl in your eyes flow stronger. She made eye contact with you and you stepped to the side, watching as the other teachers stormed out of the room in defeat.

You slowly approached her desk setting down at the corner facing her and watching as she massaged her temples, "What is it with some people?"

"What's going on baby?" you said stepping up behind her and massaging the tensed muscles.

"Some of these teachers think that we should be living in fear the old way, and towns people think we should be kept hidden, they're helping each others case while fighting for two different causes."

"I that why we were having a sacrificial coven meeting around your desk?" you chuckled, she let a side smirk slip by.

"So you saw that?"

"Mmhmm."

"Yea, some or the older teachers think that just because I'm newer that they own me and I'll do whatever they say."

"Mm, well tell them to bad. I licked it first so It's already mine." you said whispering into her ear and swiping your tongue over the pulse point of her neck.

She quickly crossed her legs and sat up a little straighter, you knew what you were doing, but you weren’t done yet. You reached up and let your hair down the gorgeous long curls falling over your shoulders, you took your headband off and ran your hands through your hair massaging your scalp, to you it was minor but Larissa loved your hair down, she loved to play with it and when in bed she loved rubbing her hands through it knowing that she’s the one that makes it a perfect mess. You let it fall around both of you and heard her intake a long breath.

“Mmm looks like someone might need a little work out later, looking a little tense there love.”

“Darling I… um….”

“Words baby words.” You said as she turned looking into your hooded eyes your signature smirk on your lips as she looked on wide eyed and gentle. She leaned up kissing you slowly rising from her chair to tower over you, you stood pretty tall for most women but next to Larissa you were shorter. She picked you up sliding you into her desk but you placed a hand on her chest breathing already heavy.

“Not here…Larissa not here.”

“But… it wouldn’t be the first time.” She smirked thinking back.

“Mmmm… I want it to be different I wanna try something new.”

“Wait like…” she gave you a questioning but excited look. You slowly shook your head yes.

“Are we going to try for a baby?”

”Why not, I told you once you out a ring on it and it’s been a year.” You met her eyes filled with excitement and the grin on her perfect red tinted lips.

“In that case.”

it wasn’t long before all her things were packed up and she was practically dragging you to the car and speeding ti get home, and your wife never sped that was your area of expertise. You made it into the door of the house and she quickly pulled you upstairs.

“Larissa hold on love I’ve been working in the old building all day and I need to shower.”

“Darling… please.” She pouted.

You gave her your look rolling your eyes and continued to the master bath, you put a little extra swag in your hips, you knew she couldn’t wait she was to excited. Did you need a shower yes, did you want to shower also yes but the intention was not to do it alone. Larissa stayed in your room warring with herself, she heard the water come on and the door softly thud closed, she waited not two minutes before deciding to join you stripping on her way to the bathroom, slowly closing the door behind her and getting in the shower.

“I knew it wouldn’t take long.”

“Mmm cause you know me so we’ll.” she said placing kisses on your shoulders and neck, she ghosts over your scars running delicate fingers over the ones on your side that ran from you me rubs down to your hip it was a sweet spot for you somewhere that you were always scared of people seeing but to her it was art and she loved reminding you.

“Well I am your wife after all.” She turned you in her arms standing over you but bending down to kiss down the front of you, placing kisses on your lips before she went to your neck and then breasts, then back up. You felt her hands traveling down your body as you explored hers, her fingers wrapped around the back of your thighs and hoisted you up pressing you against the wall.

“Indeed you are…” she smirked down ant you, “and now my beautiful wife is also going to be the mother of my children, because I’m gonna put a baby in you.”

“You sure about that?”

She let out a low laugh her eyes filled with lust, usually it was you who dominated rarely did you see this side of her but tonight was a whole different story. You were excited this was something new for both of you and it excited you to your core, you could feel yourself dripping for her, ready for whatever she was going to do to you. She leaned in close, “are you ready baby?”

You shook your head in response and that’s when you felt it the extra appendage that was never there before, pressed against your belly as she had you lifted and wrapped around her waist against the shower wall, the steam and water enveloping your bodies. You met her eyes knowing how sensitive she was, “are you sure about this?”

“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life, Y/N I wanna get you pregnant, I wanna watch you grow and have our baby, and then raise it together and have a bunch of mini me’s running around.”

You swallowed hard, you weren’t sure you could get any wetter but you just did.

“let’s start with one.” You said kissing her lips.

“see now that I can do.” She said you could feel her sick pressing against you and felt as she too her hand guiding it into you, she gave you both time to adjust before she slowly started moving her hips. You had your head thrown back agains the shower wall her lips leaving marks along you neck and collarbones that you’d have to cover in the morning, her hands gripped onto the back of your thighs before one arms snaked around your back, she thrusted harder and faster pulling moans out of you.

“Oh God… babe, oh god I’m gonna…” you loaned as you got closer to letting loose.

“it’s okay love I’m right here, I got you.” You loaned out again feeling her twitch inside you, you knew she was close. She held you close and got faster the closer you both got.

“God Y/N I wanna put a baby in you.” With that the rubber band snapped she let out one final moan as you gasped feeling the release. Your breathing still labored she let you down, you finished showering and made your way out to the bed, you continued through the night until neither could take anymore.

———time jump———

three weeks later and you were teaching a magic class, this was on elements and how they aid in your skills whether you can control them or not, you had felt off during the day and so a colleague took your last three lectures and you went home. Larissa caught wind and was by your side as soon as the day was done.

the next morning you were still feeling off and startled Larissa by a jolt in the morning with you running to the bathroom to throw up your guts. You felt better but decided to take the day off as to not risk the students health, Larissa decided she would take a half day and come home in the afternoon. While you were lounging in your downstairs living room you got and idea, quickly running out and picking up some pregnancy tests, you took them before Larissa got home but decided to wait to look until she got there, when you heard the door open you approached her.

“Hey darling how’re you feeling?”

“Better though I did something.”

“and what might that be?”

“I took a pregnancy test.” The room was silent for a moment before she looked down at you.

“Dear god it didn’t work did it?”

“I haven’t looked, I couldn’t do it without you.”

“oh okay.” You both quickly made your way upstairs and into the bathroom, you both hesitated before looking at the tests on the counter, there jn front of you were 3 positive tests, you tuned to Larissa and she pulled you into a hug before placing kisses on your lips.

“we’re going to be moms!” She said excitedly.

“yes, yes we are.” You said tears in your eyes.

[kuridel]

🌸 It's been a while so i thought it was the perfect moment to make a post while I have some spare time!!

WE MADE IT!! Can't believe we are already living in Switzerland! It felt like a dream a few months ago, but here we are! Rui's aunt was kind enough to give us some space to sleep for a while and I can't thank her enough, honestly. Moving Countries is not easy, especially if you don't speak the language LOL, so I feel truly grateful! However we may be moving on our own at the end of next week closer to my Hubby's work and i'm very excited!!!

Okay so we went hiking very close to Ginebra city and it was gorgeous!!! 🌿🌺🌷🌲We even got lost at some point and I loved that because it felt like a real adventure. I saw a lot of new type of trees and plants and I couldn't stop taking pictures. I feel my best at nature! At some point I called my parents and showed them how pretty everything looked!

The first week we walked sooooo much, that I couldn't feel my feet once the weekend arrived!! And guys, Swiss nature beauty is another level, and I'm telling this and we didn't even saw 90% of the rest of the Country! I reallyyyy really want to go Hiking in the mountains of the North, and see the beautiful lakes ☀️

Oh and there was this amazing store at Lausanne city that had me internally screaming. It had soooo many stuff, and sooo many figures, books, art & videogames, it was insane! the third floor was like a museum full of outstanding figures and I took a pic of my fave ones which were DBZ and Saint Seiya! (they were huge by the way) I promised myself to save money and buy some of the Saint Seiya ones because THEY'RE SO PERFECT! ;w;

Not everything's is pink colour since the moving and all the stuff to get done is kinda stressing, plus I still suck at French so communicating is truly hard, but I'm sure having a blast and I feel happy to be here, starting to feel like at home 🤍

[dear-wormwoods]

Happy New Year!

I know I haven’t been posting much lately, but I do like to write something every year on New Year’s Eve so I can look back on things if I want to in the future.

So 2023 was a pretty awesome year for me, to be honest. I really didn’t accomplish any of my goals from my last New Year’s post, except for continuing my Duolingo streak, but you know what? It’s totally fine. I set myself back financially and made no progress on getting in shape, but I had a lot of fun!! And that’s really what this year, particularly this summer, was about.

Travel Highlights:

Went to Colorado in June/July, had an amazing spa day and fancy dinner on my birthday, did a bunch of really cool hikes and took a ton of photos, had more fancy dinners, saw 4th of July fireworks over the Denver skyline, went to museums including the Molly Brown house and the best prehistoric exhibit I’ve ever seen, saw moose and elk, and generally had the best time ever.

Visited my aunts in North Carolina for the first time, and had a great time. They convinced me to treat myself while we were at a real jewelry store so I got myself some diamond earrings. Because why the hell not? I’m an adult with a salary, and I don’t need to save or put toward bills every penny I make.

Went to Ocean City in Maryland for the first time as well, which was a ton of fun even though I’m not the most beachy person ever. Ate crabs, got wasted, rode rides, saw wild horses, and then afterward went to Hershey Park which was also a lot of fun and had great roller coasters!

Went to Colorado AGAIN spur of the moment in November because we finally got invited to go to Casa Bonita. So we did that, of course, went on an awesome winter hike in RMNP, got massages, and had a fancy dinner at a Chianti event in Denver.

I also went to a few shows this year:

Iron & Wine in July which is definitely a highlight of the year because he is my favorite musician and I’d never seen him before. Super intimate acoustic show so I didn’t get any pics or videos but I’ll remember it forever, especially that he played my favorite song!

Modest Mouse, Lord Huron, and a bunch of smaller bands at a two day festival in August. Such a fun time, and both headliners were SO good. Lord Huron is a newer find, but I’ve been listening to Modest Mouse for over a decade and never saw them live!

Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service in September, for the 20th Anniversary Transatlanticism and Give Up tour. This was my second time seeing Death Cab but this show was special because both bands played those two albums in full, and Transatlanticism is one of my favorite albums ever.

Other cool things:

Went to a fancy tea room in Boston.

Saw Titanic in theaters TWICE during the 25th anniversary rerelease.

Saw a queer comedy show.

Practiced drawing more, but not as much as I’d like.

Went to the gym slightly more consistently.

Cooked some great meals.

Started writing a fanfic I love, which I truly do intend to finish!

Went on a couple of writing weekend trips to Maine which did of course include lobster and a dessert bar.

Had many snuggles with my cats.

Made sweet desserts for my family’s Thanksgiving and Christmas get togethers.

Played a billion hours of The Sims, and took hundreds of screenshots for my save’s very extensive family tree.

Cut down on waitressing hours at the expense of my savings account so I can have weekends back and not burn out so easily.

Other than all that, I went to work and that was fine, tried dating a few times but nothing panned out, and just kind of hung out and did my thing most days.

Huge shout out to @terieri who not only is my travel buddy, but also willingly came to all those concerts, and is the only person who is as invested in my Sims lives as I am! This year would have been super lame without her.

2023 was all about having fun, exploring, doing new things, and eating great food. It gave me a lot of memories and while I know I won’t be able to afford having another year like this for some time, hopefully I can make 2024 pretty great too!

I hope you all have a wonderful night doing whatever you choose to do on New Year’s Eve, and that 2024 starts off amazingly for you all. For myself, I like to get takeout and play video games so that’s what I’m going to do.

❤️

[lindszeppelin]

Tin foil hat theory: they’ll break up mid September.

Now, I’m not as certain they are PR as you are but my theory works for both options.

We all agree their body language is weird (well anyone who has a fully developed brain and a non 12 year old view of what a healthy relationship is) but Kaia has looked more off lately when usually she was fawning over him or posing while he looked annoyed. Now she’s also looking disconnected.

So let’s say they are real and not PR; everyone who’s been in longer relationships knows they sometimes die slowly. Speaking for myself, I once knew a now ex and I weren’t gonna make it but it took forever to break up. It was always something, including birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Like I would have felt like a huge jerk if I broke up with him the weeks leading up to his birthday. And honestly, I wanted to make sure we were really not going to repair ourselves so I didn’t mind waiting for a few milestone dates to pass to be sure. But I was white knuckling it. By mid September they’ll both have had their birthdays. The pressure will be off and there won’t be as much excitement to distract from their issues. I could see that house of cards falling in mid September.

Ok, but if the are PR I think a similar timeframe is happening too. What’s the point of a PR relationship but to get PR? People really underestimate that not over exposing yourself with PR helps keep people interested bc then you’re mysterious. If they are PR, this is the narrative they were going for. However, they’ve been way less mysterious lately. Tons of pap walks, activities (like pottery), and this latest pap dinner in Beverly Hills was more Austin centric when they tend to be more Kaia or both centric. He looked like a movie star and she was the trophy gf, instead of these casual hikes or weird get together where they are a bit more casual. Think about it: go out with a bang. Get more press, remind the public you’re a thing (many do forget they are dating who are not in the fan base as weird as that may sound-at least that’s been my experience) and then it’ll be even more shocking when they split…which will KEEP the public interested in them and whatever comes next. I feel like we’ve been overloaded with pap pics this summer after a drought…I doubt that’s an accident. They both had things to promote but both of those things are now out and yet last night felt like the most egregious “Hollywood couple in Beverly Hills date night pap walk” ever.

But if they’re real something is off and if they’re PR it’s being revved up for a reason. I think an implosion is coming or is about to be staged. I’m calling it now that this will fall apart in a few weeks. If they’re still together by the end of September, I’m wrong 😅 But I’m calling it! I’d say before or around 9/21 they’ll be done…and possibly break up rumors will leak or be planted first.

baby that's not a tinfoil hat conspiracy that is a pretty sensible and realistic way to look at the situation :) i second this motion of something is coming.

these pics and the video accompanying it made me laugh this morning. i have a lot of thoughts on them but i don't have too much time to dive deep into it. maybe later tonight. but i'll just say for now that your thoughts here mirror mine. we have to monitor this weird situation and see what happens. let the chips fall where they may. the shoe has to drop at some point

[fleurcareil]

East Quebec: Quebec City and West Gaspesie

I left Mont-Tremblant reenergized and with a plan not to get so much bitten; so far 4 days later I've succeeded! :)

On my way to Quebec City, I paid a visit to my ex-colleague Allen and his wife who live since his retirement off the beaten track at the end of an unpaved road in the municipality of Gore, an hour northwest of Montreal. Winters are harsh in Quebec but with a floor-heated solarium surrounded by forest I can imagine it being the perfect retreat from busy life 😎.

After a long & boring drive to the city (I might have gotten a speed ticket?!?), I checked in at the HI hostel smack in Vieux Quebec. For those who don't know HI hostels, they provide quality accommodation (in my case a private bedroom with table & chair) with clean, shared washrooms in well-maintained and noise-free facilities... I've stayed there several times before as it's perfectly located, safe (with your personal entry card) and even includes breakfast at a fraction of a hotel cost. HI is more expensive than "backpacker" hostels (and without parties) so the typical guests are older long-term travellers or families as you can often cook dinner as well. 

It was very windy in Quebec so I only went to see my two favourites; the Fairmont terrace with view of the river, and the massive trompe l'oeil mural depicting famous Quebecois, near the oldest stone church in Canada (which is always closed when I'm there).

Despite the cold, I sat like many other tourists on a patio for dinner which was luckily worth it; delicious cheese fondue, rabbit and rhubarb pie... Quebecois (and I) know how to eat well! 😊 The next morning I went to another favourite; the Musee des Beaux Arts, which has among others a rooftop with mathematically designed sculptures that align with the nearby church spires, an exhibit of Quebec designers (anyone interested in the 1994 workstation capsule?), and a modern art exhibit where the wooden BMW on top of little grass blocks is a statement about the uselessness of consumerism.

Then off to the Gaspesie, which initially seems to be a very long road to nowhere, but once you get closer to the St Lawrence River it's pretty to look out over the water to the mountains on the north side. After having set up the tent at park du Bic, I go to possibly one of the strangest art installations you'll ever see; a group of over 100 concrete statues that are standing on the beach and on the rocks into the sea. "Le Grand Rassemblement" at the Centre D'art Marcel Gagnon is meant to represent the human condition of being alone with our individual emotions while still bonded to others as we all experience the same.

I came here first in 2010 at high tide so most figures were in the water then, whereas now it was low tide so I could walk out to them.  There's something poetic about these statues just standing there in the sea and I'm really impressed by it. I stayed for dinner (pear-shrimp appetizer was a great combo!) so by the time I was done, the tide had come up halfway and the sun started setting, which made it even more special. On the way back, I also stopped at the lighthouse at Rimouski, a rare, buttressed structure that at 28m high is one of the tallest in Canada. Driving along the sea with the red sun beside me was magical!

Having had the first cold night since I started the trip (wearing hat & mittens in my sleeping bag!), it was hard to get out of bed in the morning so it took me a while to get going. I try to cook most of dinner in the mornings (as I can't be bothered in the evening) so now made a couscous salad with merguez sausages so that I only had to add the spinach & fresh tomatoes later. First hike was at the Canyon des Portes de L'Enfer (the doors of hell) where the Rimouski river goes through a series of waterfalls. I tried to make a video which didn't work out, but the pic is still impressive. There's also a really high suspension bridge over the valley which made for great views, luckily I've never been afraid of heights 😁.

Drove back to the park du Bic in time to do one of the coolest hikes in my life; scrambling across rocks at low tide around the park's buff Cap d'Orginal. You need to start 2 hours before the low tide to leave enough time to make the entire loop before the water comes up again, and there's basically no path so it's up to you to find the way over the cliffs.

The first part was quite hard pulling yourself up & over the rocks, but luckily I was not the only one on the "trail" so I could look ahead at what others were doing. Mid-way was a long beach that is fully submerged at high tide and then there was more, but slightly less extreme scrambling. Being relieved that I had made it in one piece to the other side, I was less happy when I realized there was still another 3k to hike partially uphill through the forest to come back. I did see a fox on my return at the parking lot which made me smile 😍. Spent the evening eating dinner overlooking the bay at sunset, life is good!

Slept like a baby and woke up warm but wide awake at 4:30am so it made for a very long day, which was mostly spent driving from the Gaspesie north coast to the New Brunswick south coast near Saint John, 604 km away. Before taking off however, I first went to check the seals lookout in the park, which didn't deliver any seals (I had seen one the day before on my hike) however a quintet of great herons and many eider ducks, which are the largest sea-ducks in Canada. A quick stop at a beautiful viewpoint (at 9am Monday when everyone else starts working 😜) was all I needed to get in the car and say au revoir to Quebec and hello to New Brunswick! 

Wildlife: 1 turkey (along the road), 20+ eider duck, 1 seal, 1 fox, 5 great blue heron and 2 deer (all at du Bic)

SUPs: none

Hikes: two small ones at the canyon and a 9k one at du Bic

PS: I had wanted to post a few days earlier but did not have any internet... still trying to post every 3-4 days when I can!

[rkhemlani]

June 14th - Fushimi-inari Shrine

The fan I purchased several days ago was such a good investment. I woke up around 8, got ready, and went to Starbucks to grab myself and Nico some breakfast while he was getting ready. We had class, where Professor Smith reminded us that we only have one week left here and I got kinda sad. Anyways, we headed over to the Fushimi-inari Shrine, which is the one with all the pretty red torii that you may have seen on Instagram. It was a beautiful shrine and of course Vishnu took great pics. A random lady took a pic with me and called me handsome, which made my day (Nico if you don’t believe it ask Jordan he was there). The fan I purchased was such a good investment as I was not that tired or out of breath, but the others were all hot and sweaty as we climbed up the mountain, so I tried to cool some of them off as well. Chelsea suggested that I use that to cool off girls at the bars, which may be a good way to start a conversation. I also wore my bathing suit shorts today (which were the only shorts I brought on this trip), because I would have died if I was wearing pants. Sometimes my genius is almost frightening. We walked through the torii as a group for about an hour and then we split up. Some of us continued hiking up many stairs to the top, which was slightly disappointing because there were no cool photo spots. Nico, Vishnu, Xander, Sebastian, and I walked back down, and we grabbed lunch. First, we stopped to pick up squid skewers and fried chicken, which were delicious. Afterwards, we sat down in a ramen shop and while the others had ramen, I had gyoza. I also got an iced coffee at a coffee shop next door, which was incredibly refreshing on such a humid day. We walked back to the hotel in the rain. Us guys really want to have a spa day, so let’s see if that happens.

Academic Reflection

The article for today introduced the deity of Inari and discussed the search for unity with regards for praising Inari. Inari has been worshipped in Japan since at least the early 8th century and is extremely widespread today in both urban and rural areas. Sites of praise can be found anywhere because praising Inari typically involves asking for successful endeavors, usually work or business oriented. Worship can be formal with priests performing special ceremonies and rites, but it is usually more casual as many people have sites of worship in their workspaces, offices, and at home. Nobody knows who or what Inari looks like, many people have suggested that Inari is represented as a fox, as rice, as jewels, or even as tofu. It was impressive to learn from the reading that Inari is extremely individual as there is no central authority or unifying body that wholly dedicates itself towards this deity.

The shrine that we visited today had beautiful and elegant statues of foxes everywhere, representing the importance of Inari. Furthermore, behind every tori (gate), included the names of businesses with a small message asking for success in its endeavors. It was a beautiful and impressive shrine that supports a faith which is not unified at all, but unifying in the way that people ask for success.

[jordanandegypt]

Petra - part II - Good bye to Jordan

September 19, 2024

Salam from Cairo, Egypt.  We have already visited the Egyptian Museum for a few hours today and OMG - I have so much to share - but….

Petra, Jordan, Part II

We left off - a hour into our trip at:

While water and wind have been the master sculptor of this land - the artists that carved this structure into the sandstone took those erosion elements  into their plan.   By “carving” this masterpiece recessed into the wall they have protected it.  Such BRILLIANT forethought sometime between 100 BCE and !00 ACE.  Not it is damaged - but the damage has all been manmade.  IDIOTS - I say!

Check this out:

Bullets holes galore because that statue was a woman and she may be been bare-breasted - OH THE INHUMANITY!!!

This is the urn at the top o the building and many people believed that “urn” was filled with great riches  - urns out the damned thing was just sandstone after all.

There is a basement and a gathering room carved but you can no longer enter.  I did find a photo on the gathering room on the Internet - so here it is...

Pretty cool - huh?

I forgot to mention that Petra was first believed to be a city of tombs. Many of the carved out "rooms" were indeed a place where families buried their dead. But it turned out it was more than that.

But this is nothing compared to what awaited us just to the left of  that structure.  Another hour’s walk revealed an amazing town…

We had lunch in the middle of this city and some of us said “ENOUGH!”  6 miles of downhill was fabulous - but with one way in and one way out - Mark and I decided we had seen enough and hoped to survived to enjoy these discoveries.  The more adventurous on our group opted for additional hikes before heading home.  One hike was to the Monastery  - and while we didn’t see it - we are good friends with many people who did.  Yes - we missed a fabulous place!

Another hike was to a church - missed that too…🥴. BUT we did see the outside.

But inside was this - which we missed too.  Oh well.

We opted for a golf cart ride out of this amazing city - and with more than 10 miles on the soles of our shoes - we were OK with that decision.  Back in the hotel - after a quick nap - we headed out to the museum.   AGAIN - what a great experience.  Here are just some of the things we learned:

Petra was once a thriving trading center and the capital of the Nabataean empire between 400 B.C. and A.D. 106.

The Nabataeans, before they were conquered and absorbed into the Roman Empire, controlled a vast tract of the Middle East from modern-day Israel and Jordan into the northern Arabian peninsula. The remains of their innovative networks of water capture, storage, transport, and irrigation systems are found to this day throughout this area.

Scholars know the Nabataeans were in Petra since at least 312 B.C.

The city sat empty and in near ruin for centuries. Only in the early 1800s did a European traveler disguise himself in Bedouin costume and infiltrate the mysterious locale.

Archeologists specializing in the Nabataean period have been excavating in Petra since 1979 and no one has yet found any archaeological evidence dating back to the fourth century B.C. The earliest findings thus far date back only to the second and first centuries B.C.

Only 15% of this city has been excavated.  REALLY!!  Imagine that!!!

The Nabateans were expert water engineers.  Here are some of their plumbing materials

They managed flood and drought.  Impressive.  Remember 100 BCE - 100 ACE

We finished the day with a lovely dinner with our fabulous trip leader, Nader.  I have lots of pics - but I LOVE this pic of Joe and Daphne Slater and Nad.  It truly sums up our entire trip in Jordan.  

We have LOVED Jordan with its long history and delightful culture and wonderful people.  I’m so happy we decided to come.

Tomorrow we head to Egypt and connect with the rest of our friends.  Much learning ahead.

Salam

[discjockeyetc]

Bar Harbor, Yarmouth, Halifax, & Pictou

Whew, what a busy couple of days! I'm a day behind on my updates, so this is going to be a LONG one. I'll explain why later.

At the end of my last update, we had arrived in Bar Harbor for the night. As the sun rose on Wednesday, we got up a little early so we could accomplish a couple things; check in to the ferry, grab some breakfast, visit Cadillac Mountain at Acadia National Park, and do a bit more exploration of Bar Harbor. We managed to do ALL of those things. What can I say? We pack a LOT of stuff into our adventures.

Breakfast was at a wonderful little diner called Jordan's. The best way to describe it? Well, if you've ever been to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, you might be familiar with a famous breakfast place there called The Log Cabin. It's sort of a hybrid of that and Waffle House.

Bar Harbor

Acadia National Park is amazing and the view from Cadillac Mountain is STUNNING. If you ever get the chance to visit here, make sure you go. We were ill prepared for hiking like most people were doing, so we didn't spend much time there. It was also unseasonably warm for this time of year in Bar Harbor. Next time we go, we'll do it right; proper hiking shoes, lighter clothing, more time, etc.

Cadillac Mountain at Acadia National Park

Before we left for the ferry, we grabbed some appetizers at a funky little place called the Dog & Pony Pub. It's the kind of place that has stickers all over the restroom doors. If you look closely at the pictures below, you'll see where I added a Disc Jockey Etc sticker to both. ;)

Do you see the Disc Jockey Etc stickers?

We made our way to the CAT Ferry, which was a highlight I was VERY much looking forward to. It goes directly from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia in a little over three hours. We drove right on to the boat and got the van all settled and secured. We then made our way up to the passenger area where we took our seats.

We played cards and also got to relax for a bit, too.

The views from the ferry were gorgeous. Driving on to a boat was also a first time thing for me, too. That was pretty cool.

CAT Ferry, Bar Harbor to Yarmouth

We arrived in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia and made our way off the boat. After going through customs (and figuring out how to use our phones in Canada), we headed straight to dinner. Yarmouth is a cool little town, but we had virtually NO time to explore it. Our hotel for the night was in Halifax, which was about three hours away. More on that later. We did manage to get these two pics there, though. Rudders was pretty much the only thing open and close to the ferry terminal, but it was lovely and worked out great. Yarmouth seems like the kind of town that pretty much shuts down at 8pm, but this place, Rudders, was still open... and, subsequently, quite busy. We saw quite a few familiar faces from the ferry there, too.

We had dinner on the outside deck which was perfect for sunset. These were the only pictures we got in Yarmouth.

Rudders, Yarmouth NS.

After dinner, we hopped in the car and started making the three hour drive to Halifax. Yes. THREE HOURS. In hindsight, it might have been better to stay the night in Yarmouth instead of trekking up to Halifax... because we didn't arrive there until a little after midnight... which is why I didn't post an update last night. We were all BEAT.

We actually got to sleep in a bit Thursday morning, which was nice (and much needed). We got ourselves re-packed and headed out to explore the city of Halifax. Like our time in Bar Harbor, we didn't have a whole lot of time, so we wanted to make the best of it. We found a cool little breakfast/lunch spot called Elle's Bistro.

Elle's Bistro, Halifax, NS.

Right next door to Elle's was the location of our pre-planned escape room adventure. We've done probably 100+ escape rooms in many different states. We wanted to add Canada to that growing list of locations. This place was super cool, and we totally CRUSHED that escape room! (and by "crushed", I mean we escaped with time to spare LOL).

Captured Escape Room, Halifax, NS.

After the escape room, we got to explore the waterfront area a bit. There are a ton of cool shops and eateries down there. And just like every area of coastal Nova Scotia, the water views were spectacular.

It's tough to see, but the four of us are in that rectangle next to the word CANADA.

Did you know that Lululemon was founded in Canada? Yep. And our girls knew that. So they HAD to visit the Lulu store in downtown Halifax. I didn't mind, though... because while they were shopping at Lulu, I got to visit this cool record store. I felt it was necessary to purchase an album from a Canadian act while at a Canadian record store. That just makes sense, right? ;)

Taz Records, Halifax, NS The purchase: "Fully Completely" from Tragically Hip, 1994.

It was time to make our way to the town of Pictou... which was the primary reason we went on this adventure in the first place. It's only about a 90 minute drive from Halifax to Pictou... by far, the shortest distance between two destination cities on this entire trip.

If you read my first update from before we left, you may remember that the reason I wanted to visit Pictou is because it's where my mom was born, and where my grandparents started their family.

At long last, we finally arrived in Pictou.

Pictou, NS

We're staying with Bruce & Eloise MacDonald who have known me since I was born. Bruce was a very close cousin (by guardianship) to my mom, and Eloise ended up being one of my mom's best friends. These folks were (and still are) a big part of my life growing up. We would visit them when they lived in London, Ontario pretty often. They also were guests at mine and Jill's wedding in 2002. On this trip, they were so incredibly kind to open up their home and host us for the next couple nights.

They also treated us to a lovely home cooked meal; something we haven't had since the night before we left for vacation. This is the only picture I got with them today, but there will be plenty more in the days ahead.

Bruce & Eloise MacDonald

After dinner, we went into town (all of 200 yards away) to explore a little bit at sunset. My goodness, how pretty is this town??

Pictou at sunset is just gorgeous.

It's hard to believe I'm actually here; a town I've only heard about my entire life. A place where my mother and grandparents walked and lived... and I get to experience it first hand. Even better, I get to do it with my OWN family. It's truly a blessing.

[ultimateaclrecovery]

Japan day 7 (11/16)

More Hakone and then Tokyo!

Started by trying to watch the sunrise from the onsen. We mostly missed the actual sunrise but it was still really pretty

We then got breakfast in the room which was this cute little bento box.

We then went back up the ropeway and it was so clear and we got a great view of mt Fuji! One of the legs up we even got a car to ourselves which was cool and the views were great.

We then tried to get a picture with the water Tori gate, but the line was crazy long and so slow moving so we took a quick pic from the side and moved on. But I still got a cute pic by an adorable bridge! Sadly my eyes were closed so you get the slightly blurry Live Photo from when they were open 🤷‍♀️

When we finally made it Tokyo station I got dipping ramen and it was the best ramen I ever had and it was like 7 dollars which is crazy.

I also found this adorable penguin in a Christmas tree which I managed to not buy the first time but then went back later to get it 😂

We then wandered around took in the city views and the lake in park. We got drinks at this adorable owl themed brewery my bf likes and then got dinner and then magi carp custard for dessert

Overly long travel diary

Day 7

In the morning we try to catch the sunrise in the onsen. Official sunrise time is 6:18 and we get down there like 6:05 but it’s already pretty light and not very many fun colors. It’s still pretty tho. A little while later the sky gets some nice pink to it.

After we get all our onsen time in we head back up to the room. We still have like an hour before breakfast and finally get some quality time. I am annoyed by how much better this makes me feel, but here we are.

Breakfast is also a lot of fish and I’m over having food I don’t like.

Sunrise onsen.

Breakfast in cute little bento box.

Rooeway which is extra great because clear day and can see my Fuji.

After breakfast we head back to the rooeway. It’s like 9am so it’s pretty empty here and we get a car all to our selves on the way up which is really fun. It’s a clear day today so we can see my Fuji from the rooeway car which is fun too see. It really sticks out above the rest of the landscape. All of the other mountains are full of trees and green on top and then there’s Fuji looming in the background with its giant snow covered peak.

We also get a great view of the sulphuric vents.

When we get to the bottom we go to hike around the lake to a water Tori gate. Some of our way there is on a lovely path through the woods where you can see the lake. And some of it is along the road where you try not to get hit by cars

Try and take pic with the Tori water gate but the line is too long and moves too slowly. Everybody has waited for a while so they want their full photo shoot and it takes like five minutes per group. We don’t want to wait for a picture for like 45 minutes So instead we just take pictures and a selfie from the side and it’s fine.

As we walk back we do cross a really cute bridge and my bf offers (actually offers! ) to take a pic of me on the bridge. I had been wanting a cute bridge pic so I love it.

And then we take a bus and two trains to Tokyo.

We stop at Tokyo station to get ramen. We have to wait in a line for about 15 minutes. Then we quickly order at the vending machine and are seated. The music playing is very fast paced and it feels like everything is rushed. But it is very efficient. We get dipping ramen Where the noodles are in a separate bowl and are cold, and then you dip into the bowl filled with hot broth. It’s so delicious. Sometimes I don’t get the timing of the dip amount right and the noodles end up too hot or too cold but mostly it’s perfect. Anthony paid on his suica card. Mine was 1040 yen. Which is so crazy cheap for the best ramen I’ve ever had.

After we walk through the Tokyo station character street. It’s filled with adorable shops. I find the most precious penguin stuffed animal that’s wearing a Christmas tree and I nearly die of cuteness. (I don’t get it because I do not need a 30 dollar stuffed animal that will just sit in the pile in my room)

There’s also a bear themed store where I find a bear cutout that can be used to make bear shaped pancakes or omelette a. And at 1300 yen I have to have it.

Hotel

Walk around streets

Laundry

Izakaya for dinner

We head to the hotel to check in and then walk around the streets. I think walking around the streets of Tokyo is one of my favorite parts of the trip. They are all lined with so many little stores and there are just people everywhere bustling about. The streets are all really clean and everyone is really polite. Like the queues for things are always so well organized even when they aren’t marked it’s remarkable.

We do laundry at our hotel and then head out to izakaya, which is a Japanese things where you get drinks and grilled items, small plates style usually for sharing. They typically require at least one drink and food item per person. It’s so weird to me that there are places in Japan that will require you to order a drink. It doesn’t have to be alcoholic but as someone who rarely orders drinks and almost never non alcohol with meals it’s a bit odd to me. It’s usually places that are really busy.

The place we go to seems rather American food themed but all of the other people in there are Japanese and not tourists. Our waiter tho has excellent English. I get a mango beer and Anthony gets about her highball, his favorite Japanese thing. And we get garlic bread and a meat sample plate. There’s way too much food and we struggle to make it through most of it. Anthony keeps pushing for us to eat more because he’s convinced it looks bad or something to not eat most of it or is wasteful. I’ve clearly been spending too much time on the intuitive eating side of Instagram so I’m just like my body is not a trash can. Also if I’m too full for it to taste good why bother eating it? We eventually give up on it and head back to the hotel.

[jordanprice]

June 7 - Mt. Takao

Happy birthday to Vishnu! He’s been a great roommate to me and is such a nice guy. I’m happy to have him around on this trip and am proud to say I got to be the first to wish him a happy birthday!! Best wishes brother <3

Today we visited Mt. Takao to hike it. The train ride there was pretty long, but not terrible and I’d say it was worth it for sure. Upon getting there, we had time to eat. Lauren, Bianca, and I got food and I tried katsu don (fried pork cutlet on top of rice). The pork wasn’t the best to be honest, and it was overcooked. But the rice definitely made up for it, as it was probably the best I’ve had so far on the trip. We then also got ice cream, which was pretty good.

Then, we took the chair lift up the mountain. It was a pretty long ride up, but I enjoyed it and the view. I sat with Lauren, and she is afraid of heights, so I made sure to reassure her on the way up. She did a great job and they had a safety platform built up under the lift, which was really nice and helped make it less frightening for her.

Once we got off the lift, we stopped for a couple pics, and the group had already left us behind. So, Lauren, Bianca, and I just did the hike alone. It was actually pretty nice as we got to take our time, stop where we wanted, and take time for pictures. The way up was a lot of stairs, but I didn’t mind. We eventually made our way up to the temple and the shrine, which were quite cool, then we continued up towards the peak. We did run into the group on their way back down, and fortunately professor Smith was able to catch us up on things.

Once we made it to the top, we stopped for pictures and headed back down. On the way down, they announced that they were closing down the chair lift at 4:30 and it was 4:23 at the time. We did not feel like doing the 40 min walk back down, so we hurried to get to the lift on time and fortunately were able to. The view on the way back down was even better than the one on the way up, so we take those.

We then went to a vegan restaurant for dinner and I got tomato soup, French fries, and tortilla chips. The soup was really good, and I was interested as to the fact that it had cabbage in it, which is something I’ve never seen in tomato soup. The fries weren’t the best, but the one sauce they came with went crazy. The only way I can explain it is if ketchup and salsa had a baby. It was actually so so good and it went well both with the fries as ketchup and with the chips as salsa. I was very impressed. The tortilla chips were very fresh, but the salsa they came with wasn’t my favorite.

After that, Lauren has been wanting to go to this one bar called Bar Lupin. This is because it was a place where famous authors would visit. I’m glad she got to see it at least, but I feel bad for her because they didn’t have enough seats for us and turned us away.

I had a pretty rough night last night, and was worried about today, but I had a great time overall and things improved throughout the day.

Academic Reflection

Today I learned about Mt. Takao and its forests. I learned that people didn’t really live up on the mountain except for some monks. People also believed that tengu (goblins) resided there. Since the surrounding areas were so densely populated, and since the mountain has many trees, people turned to it for lumber. The poor needed it for fuel and the rich needed it for castles and other buildings. The demand for wood was high, so people started taking it. The daimyo claimed plots of trees for their own usage, but peasants still would chip away more and more at the borders of the land.

There have been preservation efforts since then, and going today I wouldn’t have known it had been so heavily used for its wood. It was cool to see statues of the tengu thought to live there, and I also really liked the trees that were deemed to be spirits. Honestly though, I don’t know why some of the trees in particular were said to be sprits while others were not. Either way, it was a beautiful place to visit and I am glad it is now seemingly well regulated.

[umichenginabroad]

Dublin Week 7: More of The Same

Hi again. This post is gonna be a short week because it has been a pretty uneventful week here.

Following my trip to Amsterdam I was exhausted, so I took it pretty easy most of the week. In my stats class I had an assignment due on Sunday, so I spent many of my afternoons fighting with R (my new least favorite programming language).

On Thursday I did some climbing at the UCD wall with the mountaineering club, and afterwards a group of us went to the campus pub where we hung out for a bit and enjoyed some pints. It happened to be karaoke night, and although none of us participated, we enjoyed listening to some incredible performances. We also came to the conclusion that Take Me Home Country Roads by John Denver is the best song to choose for karaoke since the audience ends up doing all the singing for you.

After our pints, some of us went tree climbing which was great fun.

On Friday evening the mountaineering club held a bouldering competition at a nearby bouldering gym. Me and a couple of friends signed up and had a great time working our way through the problems. After that, some of us went to a club members house to meet their new kitten.

Saturday was very slow and pretty much just consisted of me doing homework and once a again getting frustrated at R and finishing up my stats assignment, occasionally interrupted by meals and walks around campus.

Today (Sunday), I went on a hike up Djouce in Wicklow with the mountaineering club. It was a difficult hike with a lot of ups and downs and very uneven terrain, but the weather was pretty good for most of it, and it was of course great to hang out with the mountaineering club folks.

Some pics of this Sunday's hike

Sorry for the boring post this week, I'm just as hopeful as you that next week is more eventful.

Sam Adler

Materials Engineering

University College Dublin

[fingfamily-blog-blog]

Third Visit to Bromo, and a Middle School Interlude

I'm not surprised that my blog posts are becoming more irregular. There are a few reasons. I'm more comfortable in Malang, Java and Indonesia now, so I'm not sitting around quite as much as I did in the first months. Last weekend, I went up to Mt. Bromo for three nights. It's still the rainy season and I was taking a chance that the conditions would be poor again, but going up for that period of time gave me the opportunity to rush up to the caldera whenever there was a break in the clouds. So, I stayed in a nice hotel - the Jiwa Jawa Resort - quiet (for the most part, details further down), with good food, and an interesting photographic art gallery in the lobby and the restaurant. There is even a room of dozens of old cameras. So somebody in management likes photography. I gather that this resort also has a jazz festival in the spring, at a lovely amphitheater on their property. The temps are cold at night, and the rooms don't have any heat, but the blankets were thick and warm, and it is nice to get away from the swelter of the lowlands. Luckily, the clouds broke on my first morning there, so I hiked about 3 km uphill (and I mean STEEP). It was a real workout. I took plenty of pics of the terraced farms, the flowers, the green trees, the blue sky. Then I had the whole caldera at my feet, with thick high clouds offering a strong contrast to the blue sky and green and gray ground, as well as casting shadows on the volcanic cones. A fantastic vision, although I was not so high up that I could see Mt. Semeru to the south. But shortly after I started walking back down (and I mean STEEP), the fog crept up the hillside and the whole mountain side was cast in mist. That mist held and worsened over the next 36 hours, so I was lucky I had any clear skies at all. The rain started falling that afternoon and kept falling until my last morning. But I was well provided for with food and drink at the hotel restaurant, and I had my guitar, my collage kit, and a book. So I just took it easy. If I'd stayed home, I would have been sitting around too, so I felt nice to be sitting around somewhere else! The second evening did have one kink in it. I had finished my dinner and was settling in for the evening, in fact, I had fallen asleep. When I went to bed at 9:30, I could hear my next door neighbors talking, but it wasn't disruptive...until after midnight. I guess they'd been drinking for those intervening hours and they woke me up with much louder talking, which was basically arguing, and crying and some crashing about. At one point the woman ran out of the room in tears, slamming the door, and things quieted down for a short while. But then she returned and knocked on their door, and he let her in and they recommenced their public display of recriminations. I called the front desk and complained, but the scene played out for another hour or so. Pretty pathetic. But I was able to get some sleep after all. I asked at the front desk the next morning if I could switch rooms. There weren't that many people at the hotel, but I was stuck next to the drunken honeymooners. They accommodated me quite nicely with an upgrade to a fancy room where I spent my last evening. All was well. But when I returned home to Malang, I have to say, I felt a bit disconsolate. That's another reason I haven't written as much fo rthis blog. My work situation is unenviable. The school, the administration, seem to care not the slightest what I do. I'm sure I mentioned some things in previous posts about expectations having been disappointed. This semester it seems they will ask even less of me. I asked for 3 or 4 classes of my own. They've given me one. That's all I have, well, I'll get into the other thing soon. One class on campus, two days a week, total 3 hours. Of course, there's some prep and grading, but I could hardly do less. They've talked about having me host different sessions at the school library or the writing center, but nothing has come up yet. The one thing they set up for me is 4 days a local Catholic Middle School. Now, my detached feeling about this is, "WTF?!?! Are you kidding me?!" But my actual feeling was, "I'll do it because I have so little else to do." So I've taught two days of 8th grade classes, and will finish my second day of 9th grade classes tomorrow. It's not been all pleasant. There is a reason why I never taught in middle school before - I have no (little) patience for 14 year olds. Who does? But the kids are polite, and the teachers at the school have shown far more appreciation for my presence than the university teachers. Still, it's a boondoggle. Tomorrow, I'll bring my guitar and play a song or two for the classes and then for a more general audience. This is a mascot situation, but I like to sing and play, so I'll enjoy it, and then I'll never have to deal with it again - hopefully. And tomorrow after school, I'll take a car to a new town, Blitar, where I'll spend another three nights in a decent hotel, relaxing, eating well, going to temples, waterfalls, a volcano and the beach. Plenty yet to discover of Java.