Istanbulians are very friendly people. That is the first thing I noticed when I got off the tram from the airport. People were stopping me in the street and asking me where I am from and how am I today. Very different from the western culture I grew up in. It resembles more closely the central asain cities I visited at the begining of my trip this summer. The city itself is full of trees and seaside views. It is a large city divided by the Bosphorus Sea which leads to the Black Sea. On either side of the sea is the "European Side" and the "Asian Side". Parts of the old city walls left from the times of the Byzantine Empire still dot the center of the city, and most of the popular tourist destinataions are located inside these remnents. My favorite excusion so far had been a ferry ride up the Bosphorus Sea. There is so much more to see here in Turkey, apart from Istanbul itself. I hope to come back to Turky another time and see other Turkish tresures such as the Kapidokia caves, which are old caves carved into calcium rock formatins which Greek Christians used to live in.
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Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
My four days in Kiev have been fun and interesting so far. I am able to practice my Russian now since Ukrainians seem to understand Russian, and the two languages are not terribly different. The hostel I am living at is a short walk from a little theme park along the Volga river complete with communist arch and sculptures. People here in Kiev seem to be fassionable and friendly, and love to chat. One of my favorite things is to walk underneath the roads where there are all types of resturants and people selling wears, candy, flowers and various things. It's like every major street has its own little bazar underneath, and they can be quite colorful. I have discovered that some of the outwardly hiddious looking communist era apartment buildings are actually quite nice inside. There arn't allot of museums here, but just walking around the city is interesting enough. It is not as much of a touristy place as the other cities I have been to.
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Friday, September 18, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Yagreb is nice city. It has a very zoung feeling to it. That is because it has had to be rebuilt after the last war with Serbia and Yugoslavia. There is allot to learn here walking around and visiting various museums. The hostel is right next to the main square where sits a sculpture of the national hero Josip Jelačić. He was a general who united Dalmatia and Slavonia (parts of Croatia) with the rest of Croatia. He opposed the Hungarian revolution, so he has a mixed reputation with people. Yesterdaz I walked around the upper city, and today I will tour the lower city. There was a time when the two cities were actuaklly at war with eachother.
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Sunday, September 13, 2009
My last daz in Budapest has been beautiful. I spent almost the entire day at the public bath house. There are dozens of bathes there and several saunas as well. It is really an amazing place. Full of people smiling and having a good time. The city has been real pleasant. I went to the Museum of Terror which is a museum based in a building that was occupied subsequently by the natzies and then the AVO (the Hungarian KGB), and was used as a prison and executin chamber for both these asociations. Now it is converted into a modern educational art museum with several floors of gruesumming horror. I also went to the Hungarian zoo which was quite big and an interesting place to wander around in alone. Much of the city itself is a UNESCO heritage site because of its unique and old architecture. the hostel I am staying at is itself a protected UNESCO site! The funest thing to do here is to rent a bike and go around the city, and especially veiwing the Danube at night. It is interesting to think of all the tribes of peoples that migrated through this region: Celts, Romans, Magars... It is really an amazing place. the hungarian language itself dervies from a language distantly related to Turkish, Estonain and finish. The Magyars were a Central Asian people who migrated to this region and that is where the language suposidly originated.
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Saturday, September 12, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Most old Synagogs here in Pecs Hungary h
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
My time in Prague has been nice. I like the atmosphere of the city, and this is the most English friendly city I have been in so far. Some of the highlights for me were a big toy museum featuring a barbie doll 50 year birthday exhibit, and a really nice museum about the history of the Prague castle. I learned how Prague used to be part of the Roman Empire, and that the castle's location has existed here for many thousands of years before the C.E. Although the Check people are a Slavic people their contact with the west has been going on for a long time. After the fall of Rome, western contact continued through France. Other highlights have been the quiet tram rides and nice people here at Sir Toby's hostel. It is a very welcoming city.
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Sunday, September 6, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Oloumuc is a city in the Chezch Republic. It is a quiet, nice college town with an old history. The Chezch Republic used to be part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire. After WWI it gained independance and was called "Chezchoslovakia". After it was liberated from Germany by the Red Army, the communist party won popularity and it became communisat rulled. There was dissillusionment with communist rule. Attempts made at reforming the communistv party led to an event called the "Prague Spring". In 1968 countires of the Warsaw pact invaded Chezchoslovakia. It wasn't untill the 1989 "Velvet Revolution" that the country became the republic it is today, the Chezch Republic.
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Monday, August 31, 2009
Krakow Poland is a culturally rich city teaming with restruants, museums, cathedrals and of course, in the old city, tourists. Every night the old city square beneath the hostel is thriving with people and things like pupet shows, fire dancing, breakdancing and lots of art dealers. Each old building has a beer garden beneath it full of inebriated tourists. It's quite a spectacle. Yesterday I visited the museum of the Aushwitz concentration camp, and then an old salt mine that is an UNESCO world heritage site. Inside the salt mine were ornament salt carvings of Polish national heros, and even a huge salt cathedral. It was amazing. The guide said that many famous people have visited the salt mine such as: George Bush and the composer Chopin. Tomorow its me off on a train to The Check Republic to a city called Olomouc.
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Saturday, August 29, 2009
My last night in Warsaw is tonight. I have been enjoying the relaxed nature of the city here, and there is fun to be had as well. Poland is, like most Eastern European cities I have found so far, a unique blend of both the old and new. There is a walking tour of the city which goes along what was once a jewish getto created by the natzis durring World War 2. What was once the most Jewish Country in Europe now has few jewish people left at all as a result of the war. Fortunatly the country is taking action to build monuments for the memory of Jews who perished standing up for their freedom, and there is a very special museum for them as well. Yesterday I took a walk along what was once the jewish getto and saw the remenace of the wall that was built to keep the jews seperate from occupied polland. Tomorow I have to leave this rich cultural city, and travel onto Krakow - the next leg of my journey. I have been reading along the way some nice books. One book is called "My Left Foot" by Cristy Brown.
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Thursday, August 27, 2009
When the buss pulled into Warsaw Polland this morning at 6:30 AM I was very tired. Finding the hostel on the public buss system is a bit of a challenge, because I don't speek Polish and neither can I pronouncethe street names. I was able to navigate succesfully though, and found the hotel which is located not too far from the beautifull old town. Poland is a catholic country, and the architecture reminds me of the north of Spain. Today I walkeds around the old town having a nice polish lunch and trying the local beer. Since, technically, you could call Poland a baltic country, there are still many amber jewlery sales people and the main Wista River here is an intrinsic part of the history and prosperity of this region. Traveling through these Eastern European countries is so very different than any traveling I have done before. It is like going to a different planet each time I cross the border, and yet the distance is not very far at all. I hope tonight to go dancing, and tomorow a bike tour.
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
It is a nice day in Vilnius Lithuania. Went out for a nice walk this morning. The hostel is located in the northwest of the city, about a 25 minute walk from the center of town. Once Lithuania was the largest country in Europe. It was encompased Belarus, the Ukrane, and parts of Polan and Russia. That was along time ago in the fourteenth century. In the sixteenth century it was part of a common wealth with Poland. It was broken up by other countries in the eighteenth century and then occupied like the other Baltic states by both Russia and Germany durring the second world war. The main religion here is catholisim, as opposed to its more Lutherin northern neighbors. This is probably partly related to the Polish-Lituanian commonwelath. Lithunainian language is an Indo-European Baltic-Slavic language similar to Lativian.
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Saturday, August 22, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Riga is turning out to be a nice experience so far. The city is the capital of Latvia and appears to be quite popular with the younger travelers like myself. The streets are filled with the usual pubs, hostels, hotels, caffes, tourist information centers and souvenier shops. There are quite a few amber jewlery shops as well, because amber trade has been a part of this areas economy for over a thoulsand years. I arrived last night and there was music here at the hostel. After a few drinks I went out to see the night life with some German kids. This morning I am going to check out an interesting modern art exhibit, and posably a bike tour of the city's interesting districts and archetecture. the cobble stone streets here in the old district are much more comfertable and pleasant for walking on, unless of course your wearing high heels.
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This latvian church was once the tallest
Monday, August 17, 2009
It's a cloudy day, and I'm on my way out of Tartu to the Latvian capital of Riga. I think of the big cities I have visited in Estonia: Tallinn, Parnu and Tartu, Tartu is my favorite in the astetics catagory because it has allot of parks and its realitively quiet and peacefull. It is really true that parks make a city much more pleasant, and probably safer as well. The one thing about Estonia, though, is that there doesn't seem to be as much diversity here as I'm used to, even in the big cities. Other than that I think its great here, and I plan to come back again some time. Hopefully to work on the organic farm in Hiumaa.
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Sunday, August 16, 2009
Arrived today in Tartu. Tartu is so far a pleasnt place and the B&B here is very friendly and family run. It was hard to leave the farm after getting settled in. Wwoofing is such a great way to get in touch with other parts of the world, and the hard work makes me appreciate the rest of my journey even more. I will be here in Tartu for two nights and then I go to Latvia.
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Saturday, August 15, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
In a few days I am leaving the farm here. I have gotten quite used to the way of life here and am expecting the usual shock of going from country to city. Yesterday Owain, Yosep and I all went to see some beautiful sites on the north coast of the island and we also saw old soviet bunkers and a few lighthouses, then at night we went to see a modern dance performance in the big village Kaina. I hope that I will come back to Hiumma in the future.
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Friday, August 7, 2009
Today Tiit, Joosep and I put up a fence measuring about 900 meters. The fence is an electric fence for keeping sheep in the field, and out of the neighbors land. The electricity doesn't hurt them it just gives them a quick shock. It was quite an accomplishment for one day, and it was nice to be out working with friends and getting my hands dirty again, like last summer in Ireland. Its also nice that there is a nice hot sauna waiting for me at night. I am learning as much estonian as I can while I work. It is a beatifull language, closely related to Finnish. Joosep tells me that J.R. Tolken got his idea for the elvish language used in his Lord of the Rings books from Finnish, and I can see why. Tomorow Joosep and I might go to an educational event at the old German manner which has been renovated into a school.
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Thursday, August 6, 2009
Pictures from Lepaniidi Farm (Alder Meadow)
Andreas Gabriel (8) Heinrich (7) Margus (2 1/2)
Tiit and Margus on the trackter. 
Here I am milking Tralla. There are six goats here four belong here and the others are being goat-sat. The names of the other goats are Sille, Illu, Muusa, Piibu. They are great fun.
Here I am with the neighbor Owain (the one with the kid on his back), Margus and the Joosep the other wwoofer who is from Estonian city of Tartu. 
I arrived yesterday at a nice farm on the small Island of Hiumaa Estonia. The owners of the farm are friendly and helpful. They are a married couple named Kaire and Tiit Vannas they have three boys Gabriel, Henry (Hanney) and Marcus. There is one other wwoofer here too named Yoseph. Every morning and evening we milk the goats together, and soon we begin construction on a fence for 100 sheep. I am making lots of friends here including cats who like to sleep with me and the neighbor who is a welshman comes over to talk as well.
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Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
Today I went to the national park of Lahemaa Estonia, the first national park in the former soviet union, and it was really spectacular. Many kinds of trees and wildlife. The youth hostel here is very nice with a good group of people from such areas of the world as: Italy, Basqe, Holland, China and USA. Estonia is a really fun and educational place to visit. Tommorow I have plan to vist the musseum of occupations.
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Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Hello from Tallinn Estonia - Arrived here yesterday after three weeks of touring in Central Asia which included some serious hiking in the Pamir Mountains of Kyrgystan. The people I met in Uzbekistan and Kyrgystan were some of the most friendly people I have ever met. Children often come running up of they see an American tourist and then ask to be in a picture with them. Sometimes they will ask for a donation, and sometimes they are just happy to do it. It is sad that the political climate, supported by post-Bush American foriegn policy, resulting from our "war on terror" turns it's head human rights abuses that are going on. Sometimes information obtained through torture is used by both our government and others.
Estonia is lovely so far. I can't wait for my luggage to get here so that I can change my shirt!
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Estonia is lovely so far. I can't wait for my luggage to get here so that I can change my shirt!
Windows Live™ SkyDrive™: Store, access, and share your photos. See how.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
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