An oldie but goodie.... I love this picture.  How happy does he look?  Maybe because he was done guiding us through 4 days of crazy-serious trekking.  Always with a smile and a goofy joke (that he may have told you a few km's ago, but it still made you laugh).  That cloud that we hiked through to get to Machu Picchu ended up passing and we enjoyed the beautiful sunshine that you can see in past Peru posts.  This goes out to my friends Heather, Ali & Tobi, who are getting ready to hit the trail next month.  You can do it, girls! 

I am often asked to name "my favorite place" I visited in my nearly 14 months of travel.  Unable to choose one, I usually recount the first memorable moment that comes to mind.  Of course there are a few particular favorites... BIG experiences.  But the small things, those are the ones that best reflect "a day in the life" of my travels.  And exemplify why a "favorite place" is impossible to determine... because so often it is the people or the experience that make it a favorite memory.   So yesterday, when asked this question, and here was my answer... 

Mustafapasa, otherwise known as Sinasos, is a formerly Greek village in Turkey.  Ages ago, the Greek villagers were kicked out of their homes, replaced by Turks who were living in a Turkish village in Greece.  Oh, these invisible borders...

When I arrived, just about noon, I couldn't find the Greek church I intended to visit.  I drove around, asking for help.  No one spoke English... I found an architect who spoke Spanish (!), and he directed me to the Tourist Police office.  You must be escorted by the Tourist Police if you want to visit the oldest Greek church of the village.  It is permanently locked because of vandalism.  The Tourist Police office was closed for lunch, so I found a cafe and enjoyed lunch as I waited for them to open.  When they did, I picked up a Tourist Policeman and we drove to the church, where the faces of many icons were scratched out (it was not nice to see and I did not take photos of it.  He said some kids/hoodlums did it).  While driving the Tourist Policeman to/from the church, we shared stories about our families, and it wasn't surprising that his family's village sounded a lot like my yia-yia's (grandma in greek) village.  It seems that their Muslim faith was the main difference.  But if religion isn't the focus of your daily life, because you're too busy plowing fields, raising cattle, taking care of your neighbors... that difference seems far less important.

So... after our visit to the church, I was invited to his family's home to meet his mother, aunt and others.  They have a large stone patio in front of their house, where their FRESH BREAD is for sale almost every day of the week.  It was about 3pm when we arrived and there was no bread for sale (it had already sold).  They were busy making tomorrow's dough, and I was invited to help!

My Policeman friend's English was not great, but we communicated well.  His family speaks no English, so through him they were asking me many questions - How old am I?  Am I married?  Would I like to stay for dinner?  Would I like to date her son?   He was quite shy about the whole thing, but the women and I were laughing together, communicating without words.   He posed below for a picture with his mother in the front, his aunt in the very back. 

After this experience, I went back to the cafe where I ate lunch earlier... it ends up that my Tourist Policeman's cousin runs the cafe.  There was a man playing guitar there... we must've talked for an hour.  Here is a picture of him, taken as I was leaving the cafe.  There is so much more to this memorable story... but I 'll have to save it for another day.

Sometimes I think that's all you need...

I watched scores of concertgoers at Lollapalooza walking around with clear plastic bags, gathering recyclable cups and cans all weekend long.  The same thing occurred with cups at Pitchfork Music Festival.  Best case scenario is everyone taking responsibility for disposing of their own items properly... but incentivized recycling clearly helps the monumental task of waste management at big festivals like this.  I talked to a girl named Jessica, weighed down by about 30 gallons of recyclables in her bag, with a friend helping her fill it.  When I asked her why she was doing it, her simple reply was, "It's easy!" 

I couldn't agree with her more.

I think of this picture.  My mom and my/dad's cousin Angela in Mykonos, Greece.  It was the day we arrived in Mykonos, sitting at a restaurant on the waterfront.  There was just no stress in us that day... we were perfectly happy and together in this faraway, familiar atmosphere.  It was so great to see my mom and cousin that relaxed and loose.  Greek music and phrases blowing around us in the breeze, sun shining, talking about everything, making plans for which beach we would visit that day...

My mom had never left the country before meeting me in Greece during my trip around the world.  I watched her confidence swell during our 3+ weeks travelling through Greece and Turkey together... finding her way around foreign countries, picking up on local culture, speaking Greek more than she had in forty years (and doing it well!), connecting with my dad's family and finding her own roots... I believe she regained her independent spirit there in the "homeland".

Since visiting Greece for the first time in 1992, I have pondered the thought of moving to the Mediterranean and working/running a taverna on the beach... making cocktails, meeting people, the endless blue sea as the backdrop for my everyday.

FOKOS (we joking call it "Fuck-offs") is a remote beach on Mykonos that Angela's friend bought and on which she opened a little guesthouse/taverna.  This is their backdrop.

Sunset view out Angela's kitchen window.

You know the feeling of PUSHING YOURSELF, beyond where you think you can handle it?  It's an exhilirating feeling... when you're done.  During THE PUSH it can feel like you're crazy for even attempting it, certain at any point you're gonna collapse or burst.  Believing in yourself makes it easier. 

That's the thought I woke up with this morning... and the image in my mind was the trek to Machu Picchu. 

the youngest & oldest trekkers I saw - together (a 10 year old and his grandpa)

After a 4-day trek along the Inca Trail back in April, through rain, wind and sun, with unimaginable ascents and too much weight on my back (carrying over 10 kilos, I empathized with the porters, although they can carry up to 20!), I arrived at Machu Picchu feeling I had worked hard for the beauty before me.  After our guide gave us a detailed tour of the grounds, we took a rest, laying in the grass among the well-preserved ruins, listening to the stories of how the British Museum will not return Inca treasures belonging to Peru, in large part because of the corrupt personnel in charge of protecting the country's cultural wealth. 

We were then left to explore on our own and meet up later in Aguas Calientes (a nearby town, accessible by bus) for lunch, hot spriings and a train back to Cusco.  I went on, taking photos of llamas and vistas and engineering marvels.  After exerting what I thought was all the energy I had, I ran into a fellow trekker who said if I went back up to the top gate - where we had passed through that morning, in full cloud cover - I would get the best view/photo of Machu Picchu.  UGH, is what I thought.  But I did it anyway, and am SO thankful!  Not only was it a great spot to relax and imagine the labor and vision that went into erecting this masterpiece, but I was also able to take the "classic shot" of MP.  A fitting finale to my 13 1/2 month trip around the world.  Hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu was on my "life list", of things to do, and see... and I did it.   Believing in myself...

I was touched by the pride, kindness and work-ethic of our spectacular guide, Victor MoGollon, with Peru Treks.

Last night my sister Kim, the three kids and I attended a tribute to Shel Silverstein (SHELEBRATION) at Millennium Park.  Ella Jenkins reciting some of our favorite poems was a highlight.  But my favorite (inappropriate) quote from the stage came when Bobby Bare Jr. invited his dad to come out and play with the "Bare Family Band". 

He introduced his dad as "The guy who's sleeping with my mom."

Bobby Bare Sr., his 74 year old father, walked out and said..... "The oldest one I ever slept with."

This could be an incredibly long entry... I have been daydreaming about hiking in the mountains, and having incredibly vivid dreams about SCUBA diving, doing flips in the water.  And thinking about big beers on ice and outrageous conversations and karaoke with "One" guy along the Mekong river in Laos. 

NATURE is one of the things I miss most.  I love Chicago in so many ways... but we are not blessed with mountains and streams and oceanside cliffs and volcanoes and waterfalls.....

I have FINALLY organized my pictures by country/city/event... I thought I had 3,000 but it was WAAAY more than that.  Anyway, looking at all these cool women in India, monks in Laos, children in Cambodia and friends I made along the way in many different countries, I miss THEM!

PEOPLE - TONS OF DIFFERENT ONES, with different perspectives and tastes and colloquialisms and accents... we have a unique, interesting, talented and diverse population here in Chicago.  No doubt about that.  But I'll show you some of these photos.  The laugh lines on these ladies -- they had stories to tell, which echo in my ears still.

WOW... I'm back. 

I am happy to say that I am happy to be home!  I was not quite sure how I would feel, really.  I felt a bit mixed, it seemed a bit surreal when I arrived, just as the sun set over the city... the colors were beautiful.  It looked so familiar, yet so incredibly FLAT after the Andes I have been travelling around and across for the last few months.  And I am sorry but there is just no beauty in strip malls.  Walking through O'hare towards baggage claim, I realized quite suddenly that I did not need to find a good map and secure transportation and a clean place to stay in a good part of town and somewhere to eat a tasty and affordable local meal and how/where to arrange transport to my next destination and...  Instead, Matt was picking me up and taking me home and we would probably order and eat Pequod's Pizza, then go to bed!  That complete thought gave me such a sense of peace... it is what I will remember in the moments that I miss the thrill of travel.

SO NOW WHAT???

I thought I had all the regular questions down pat.  When you travel, EVERYONE asks the basics, like "Where are you from?", "Where did you come from?", "How old are you?", "Where did you learn Spanish?", "Are you married?", "Barack Obama?" (a statement and a question).  But now that I am home, there are a whole new set of questions, the most common ones being: "How was it?", "Are you back FOR GOOD?" and "Now what?". 

Well, you'll have to check back for those answers, which are either really long or yet to be determined.  For now, I will share with you a few photos from Perito Moreno Glacier outside of El Calafate in Southern Argentina.  Thanks to a kind guy named Chris, my lost pen drive was sent to my house (with my early photos from Argentina) AND I have my home laptop to work with... so finally I will provide some more comprehensive descriptions and images of my world travel experiences.  Tech problems delayed me, but did not deter me from sharing. 

Thanks for being here.  All the best!  ~steph

The massive Perito Moreno Glacier as seen from the upper observation deck

This part of the glacier fell... so slowly it reformed as an arch

It is almost incomprehensible to see a glacier, tree-covered mountain and lava-looking rock formation all together (and look how dwarfed the cruise boat looks alongside them all!)

Hiking up the glacier in our crampons, not quite as technical as the ice climbers below... 

the whisky iced down with some chunks o' glacier were quite a fitting finale to our trek 

At long last, I have uploaded my photos from Patagonia... here are just a few images from my 5-day trek through Torres Del Paine National Park in the South of Chile.

It is nearly impossible to capture the immense size of a glacier in photos... but here is Glacier Pehoe, from afar and zoomed in to see its blue hue

Glacier Pehoe is on the right, the lake on the left.  After a short drizzle, the warm sun broke through the clouds...

The lakes are SO BLUE in Patagonia.  And rainbows are a daily vision in TDP, as bright sunshine is usually preceded with or followed by a dark rain cloud or sprinkle of snow or hail

LOS CUERNOS ("HORNS") DEL PAINE, as seen from Los Cuernos Refugio (Shelter/Lodge) where I spent one night

LOS TORRES DEL PAINE - Obscured By Clouds.  After cooling my heels for a day at the nearest refugio (Chileno) waiting out some bad weather, I was happy to make it to the top and the finish of the "W" trek... even if it wasn't a picture-perfect day.  The last hour of the trek to get here required scaling wet rocks and boulders on a steep incline... totally worth it. 

Ahhhh... a glimpse of my final descent, the peaceful and rare practically downhill-only trek from Refugio Chileno (usually each downhill is followed by a brutal uphill) - a beautiful way to end my rewarding 5-day, 70+ kilometer trek through Torres Del Paine.