Sooo, poor little Ally was just sitting here with nothing to do (WAIT! - wow, how often does that happen??? Ally??? nothing to do??? *shakes head*... that one's gotta be documented for the history books :P ... the most shocking bit is that she genuinely has nothing to do - not nothing she wants to do - just, nothing to do... well... I suppose she could sit around and mope about the fact that evil-scary-souless-Harper just got voted back into power to rule (read, ruin) her country in a minority government - AGAIN. But that's just not pleasant to think about now is it *shudders*) *a moments pause where the non-ramble-y bit of Ally's brain glares at the bit responsible for the seguay, before continuing on with what it was saying before* so, naturally, she decided to post. :D
*Points to bit above* Wow, that was a long title...
Right. Moving swiftly along... lesse, what is there to update in the life of Ally? Term started as-per-usual, on the Sunday of the Thanksgiving weekend - only this time, tragedy struck! There was no word from the Canadian Society about their annual Pumpkin Pie, Timmy's and Hockey-fest to start off the year! Naturally, something had to be done. So, Ally, who had at this point already been in Oxford for two weeks writing up the research from her dessertation (nope, that's not a spelling error ;) and just generally hanging around and doing stuff during fresher's week, decided to bake!!! *grins* I made four pumpkin pies last wednesday and they didn't even last a week before they were all eaten!!! In fact, most of them were gone by the end of the day :P. The best bit was definitely making them though, what with me grating cinnamon sticks with a cheese grater and Julia whipping the egg whites by hand - with a fork no less!!! Heehee *giggles* They were yummy (as my pies always are ;) Hopefully I'll be able to find some more pumpkin in Oxford so that I can bake some more for the American Thanksgiving!!!
*Shakes head* yup, other'n that, and getting rediculously ill for a few days after getting back from my travels - Oh! And Papa's weekend visit to Ox and seeing Jersey Boys (which was AWESOME! I love Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons!) with him and Charlotte in London! Nothing much has been too exciting since my return... the trips which formed my 2-month long crazy adventure, however, were amazing :D!
Morocco was really cool - well, no, actually, it was absurdly hot ;) - and it was fun to be travelling with Nal (and Ma and John) again. We went everywhere well, 'cept the Rif, which wouldda been nice to see as well. We went to Casablanca, Rabat, Meknes (sooo my fav!), Fes, Merzouga, the Toudra Gorges, Ourzazat, Imlil, the Ait-Ben-Hadou Kasbah (Awesome!), Essaouira (the happy-hippy city!) and Marrakech - it was crazyli-fun and packed with stuff - wouldda been quite nice to have some extra days in some places but, overall a very cool trip. The food though, was quite possibly the best part. It was Incredible. I never realised how much I liked Moroccan food. Yummy :D. Ooh! ANd the trip into the Sahara was amazing! I never, ever want to sit on a cammel for over 3hrs, for 2 days in a row ever again though. never :P. The heat was insane during the day! It was 50-some-odd degrees!!! *shakes head* oh! but climbing the highest sand dune in Africa at a rediculous hour of the morining and sleeping outside on the roof and under the stars multiple times due to the heat were also amazing!
I have to say, Morocco was pretty cool, but the trip just kept getting better and better! After parting from John and Nal in Marrakech, Ma and I headed off to Turkey with a one night stop-over in Madrid. It was awesome, we got to the hotel - which was rather dissapointingly outside of the city - at 8pm - only to find that it was right next to a train line leading directly to city centre!!! So off we went exploring all of the sites of Madrid - and we managed to see most of them too! - before making it back to bed and waking up to travel onwards. Madrid is an incredible city. It's just gorgeous! I so wanna go back one day!!!
Turkey was equally, if not more amazing. Instanbul was just mind-blowingly awesome. We stayed right in the sultanahmet area near to the Topkapi Palace, the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. It was so unreal!!! We could even see them from our window!!! Instanbul marked my first ever passing into Asia with a cruise along and then a crossing over the Bosphorous straights *grins*! Istanbul really is amazing - definitely a place I wanna go back to... I'd place it nearly on level with Rome. And the people in Turkey!!! Their soo friendly!!! and the food is yummy too! And there are so many sights! After Istanbul ma and I headed on to Ephasus and Pamukale - which had the most incredible white travertine terraces! OMG, it was hilarious, from Pammukale we headed on to Cappadocia on an overnight bus only to arrive in what we thought was the middle of nowhere at four in the morning, fall asleep on a table in a coffee shop where the bus left us and get woken up by a man who owned the travel store next door and let us sleep on his couch *shakes head* it was too funny! awww, I love Turkey! Cappadocia was indescribable - it just had the most insane rock formations you could possibly imagine, and underground cities - and our hotel was in a cave!!! Next it was back to Istanbul for the night before parting ways and the beginning of the next half of my journey.
Jordan was amazing!!! And I got to go swimming in the dead sea!!!!!! *grins very very very widely* Aman was pretty cool. Travelling with Charlotte was awesome - so much fun!!! OOh! and going into Petra extra-early so that we had it (and the beduin) all to ourselves for several hours. and being led on top of the monastery because of it *grins innocently* and getting fee rides 'cause we were two girls and lots of yummy tea and *sighs* soo good. We also went to Wadi Rum for a night, which was equally as neat, before heading on to Aqaba for our crossing into Egypt! OMG! The Red Sea is amazing!!!!! I spent over 5 hrs snorkelling one day and saw fish and coral that I never thought I'd see without being able to scuba dive!!! Stunning. Oh! And we also got to climb Sinai for sun set, and see the burning bush, and the Suez Canal, and head onto Cairo to see the PYRAMIDS!!!! (to which I became rediculously addicted) and the Cairo Antiquities Museum which held the treasures of Tutankhamum and the mummy room and the Narmer Pallette - the Narmer Pallette!!! *jumps up and down excitedly*, and on to Aswan where we went swimming in the Nile, and played with baby crocodiles, and saw Abu Symbel and Philae, Onwards was 2 days on a feluca down the Nile (Ama-zing!!) and KomOmbo, and LUXOR (Thebes *grins*) and the West Bank!!!! and the Valley of the Kings, and Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple, and Dier el Bahri and Dier el Madina and the Ramasseum and the Seti I temple and the Collosi of Memnon and Medinat Habu and Gurna, but most importantly, the Winter Palace!! Into which Charlotte and I managed to get, be allowed to explore all of the famous fancy dinning rooms and have high tea *grins and sighs* sometimes I just love being a girl! Oooh! Next was Alexandria and her mediteranean charms (and pompey's pilar and her (new) library and her catacoms and numerous other sites ;) and then on to Siwa Oasis with the melted 13th century fotress of Shali and the Mountain of the Dead (Bones!!! :D) and the Temples of the Oracle and Amun, the innumerable springs and gorgeous saltwater lakes - and yummy yummy yummy dates :D!!! and then onto Bahariya and the Black and White Deserts, which were absolutely unbelievable, for some more camping out - they were incredible!!! Lastly, it was back to Cairo where we met up with Fady and had an awesome day with him visiting all of the Coptic sites and I managed to drag Charlotte to Saqarra and Memphis and Dashur!!! Dashur was awesome!!! And we even got to climb halfway up the Bent Pyramid (with a little bribing and some nicely directed smiles ;)!!!! Sooo much fun!
YupYup! So that was my crazy 3 continent-wide adventure! Marking my first entry into both Africa and Asia (Middle East really). It was just sooo amazing! And I've absolutely fallen in love with the Middle East- I want to go back!!! Travelling around during Ramadan was really neat too, lots of fun in the evenings! I'd just love to get to Syria! and more of Turkey, and Africa, and well, everwhere really, so that doesn't mark much of a change ;P.
Next adventures should be finishing my degree and skiing in the alps... after that, we'll see ;)!
PS. Links to Charlotte's videos of of our trips are at http://www.youtube.com/user/cisterland
PPS. She made me be serious! I was giggly most of the time (hence the shakiness of some of the filming :D)
*Points to bit above* Wow, that was a long title...
Right. Moving swiftly along... lesse, what is there to update in the life of Ally? Term started as-per-usual, on the Sunday of the Thanksgiving weekend - only this time, tragedy struck! There was no word from the Canadian Society about their annual Pumpkin Pie, Timmy's and Hockey-fest to start off the year! Naturally, something had to be done. So, Ally, who had at this point already been in Oxford for two weeks writing up the research from her dessertation (nope, that's not a spelling error ;) and just generally hanging around and doing stuff during fresher's week, decided to bake!!! *grins* I made four pumpkin pies last wednesday and they didn't even last a week before they were all eaten!!! In fact, most of them were gone by the end of the day :P. The best bit was definitely making them though, what with me grating cinnamon sticks with a cheese grater and Julia whipping the egg whites by hand - with a fork no less!!! Heehee *giggles* They were yummy (as my pies always are ;) Hopefully I'll be able to find some more pumpkin in Oxford so that I can bake some more for the American Thanksgiving!!!
*Shakes head* yup, other'n that, and getting rediculously ill for a few days after getting back from my travels - Oh! And Papa's weekend visit to Ox and seeing Jersey Boys (which was AWESOME! I love Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons!) with him and Charlotte in London! Nothing much has been too exciting since my return... the trips which formed my 2-month long crazy adventure, however, were amazing :D!
Morocco was really cool - well, no, actually, it was absurdly hot ;) - and it was fun to be travelling with Nal (and Ma and John) again. We went everywhere well, 'cept the Rif, which wouldda been nice to see as well. We went to Casablanca, Rabat, Meknes (sooo my fav!), Fes, Merzouga, the Toudra Gorges, Ourzazat, Imlil, the Ait-Ben-Hadou Kasbah (Awesome!), Essaouira (the happy-hippy city!) and Marrakech - it was crazyli-fun and packed with stuff - wouldda been quite nice to have some extra days in some places but, overall a very cool trip. The food though, was quite possibly the best part. It was Incredible. I never realised how much I liked Moroccan food. Yummy :D. Ooh! ANd the trip into the Sahara was amazing! I never, ever want to sit on a cammel for over 3hrs, for 2 days in a row ever again though. never :P. The heat was insane during the day! It was 50-some-odd degrees!!! *shakes head* oh! but climbing the highest sand dune in Africa at a rediculous hour of the morining and sleeping outside on the roof and under the stars multiple times due to the heat were also amazing!
I have to say, Morocco was pretty cool, but the trip just kept getting better and better! After parting from John and Nal in Marrakech, Ma and I headed off to Turkey with a one night stop-over in Madrid. It was awesome, we got to the hotel - which was rather dissapointingly outside of the city - at 8pm - only to find that it was right next to a train line leading directly to city centre!!! So off we went exploring all of the sites of Madrid - and we managed to see most of them too! - before making it back to bed and waking up to travel onwards. Madrid is an incredible city. It's just gorgeous! I so wanna go back one day!!!
Turkey was equally, if not more amazing. Instanbul was just mind-blowingly awesome. We stayed right in the sultanahmet area near to the Topkapi Palace, the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. It was so unreal!!! We could even see them from our window!!! Instanbul marked my first ever passing into Asia with a cruise along and then a crossing over the Bosphorous straights *grins*! Istanbul really is amazing - definitely a place I wanna go back to... I'd place it nearly on level with Rome. And the people in Turkey!!! Their soo friendly!!! and the food is yummy too! And there are so many sights! After Istanbul ma and I headed on to Ephasus and Pamukale - which had the most incredible white travertine terraces! OMG, it was hilarious, from Pammukale we headed on to Cappadocia on an overnight bus only to arrive in what we thought was the middle of nowhere at four in the morning, fall asleep on a table in a coffee shop where the bus left us and get woken up by a man who owned the travel store next door and let us sleep on his couch *shakes head* it was too funny! awww, I love Turkey! Cappadocia was indescribable - it just had the most insane rock formations you could possibly imagine, and underground cities - and our hotel was in a cave!!! Next it was back to Istanbul for the night before parting ways and the beginning of the next half of my journey.
Jordan was amazing!!! And I got to go swimming in the dead sea!!!!!! *grins very very very widely* Aman was pretty cool. Travelling with Charlotte was awesome - so much fun!!! OOh! and going into Petra extra-early so that we had it (and the beduin) all to ourselves for several hours. and being led on top of the monastery because of it *grins innocently* and getting fee rides 'cause we were two girls and lots of yummy tea and *sighs* soo good. We also went to Wadi Rum for a night, which was equally as neat, before heading on to Aqaba for our crossing into Egypt! OMG! The Red Sea is amazing!!!!! I spent over 5 hrs snorkelling one day and saw fish and coral that I never thought I'd see without being able to scuba dive!!! Stunning. Oh! And we also got to climb Sinai for sun set, and see the burning bush, and the Suez Canal, and head onto Cairo to see the PYRAMIDS!!!! (to which I became rediculously addicted) and the Cairo Antiquities Museum which held the treasures of Tutankhamum and the mummy room and the Narmer Pallette - the Narmer Pallette!!! *jumps up and down excitedly*, and on to Aswan where we went swimming in the Nile, and played with baby crocodiles, and saw Abu Symbel and Philae, Onwards was 2 days on a feluca down the Nile (Ama-zing!!) and KomOmbo, and LUXOR (Thebes *grins*) and the West Bank!!!! and the Valley of the Kings, and Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple, and Dier el Bahri and Dier el Madina and the Ramasseum and the Seti I temple and the Collosi of Memnon and Medinat Habu and Gurna, but most importantly, the Winter Palace!! Into which Charlotte and I managed to get, be allowed to explore all of the famous fancy dinning rooms and have high tea *grins and sighs* sometimes I just love being a girl! Oooh! Next was Alexandria and her mediteranean charms (and pompey's pilar and her (new) library and her catacoms and numerous other sites ;) and then on to Siwa Oasis with the melted 13th century fotress of Shali and the Mountain of the Dead (Bones!!! :D) and the Temples of the Oracle and Amun, the innumerable springs and gorgeous saltwater lakes - and yummy yummy yummy dates :D!!! and then onto Bahariya and the Black and White Deserts, which were absolutely unbelievable, for some more camping out - they were incredible!!! Lastly, it was back to Cairo where we met up with Fady and had an awesome day with him visiting all of the Coptic sites and I managed to drag Charlotte to Saqarra and Memphis and Dashur!!! Dashur was awesome!!! And we even got to climb halfway up the Bent Pyramid (with a little bribing and some nicely directed smiles ;)!!!! Sooo much fun!
YupYup! So that was my crazy 3 continent-wide adventure! Marking my first entry into both Africa and Asia (Middle East really). It was just sooo amazing! And I've absolutely fallen in love with the Middle East- I want to go back!!! Travelling around during Ramadan was really neat too, lots of fun in the evenings! I'd just love to get to Syria! and more of Turkey, and Africa, and well, everwhere really, so that doesn't mark much of a change ;P.
Next adventures should be finishing my degree and skiing in the alps... after that, we'll see ;)!
PS. Links to Charlotte's videos of of our trips are at http://www.youtube.com/user/cisterland
PPS. She made me be serious! I was giggly most of the time (hence the shakiness of some of the filming :D)