Rick Steves Prague

From Goodreads

Rick Steves Prague & The Czech Republic

I'm giving this book three stars at the moment. As it is a travel book I reserve the right to amend my decision up or down when I make the trip. It's a good book, written well and informative. Steves makes it accessible and enjoyable to read. How do you rank a travel book without the travel though?

Portland - Day 6

Our final day was spent first by going to the Saturday Market. What a crowded affair that was! Erin bought some stained glass earrings, which unfortunately, she managed to lose one on the flight home the next day. Other than that it was time for me to try a Rogue Ale and simply admire the many crafts and street performers. While there I was describing to Phil the glorious invention of the Brits, the scotch egg. We happened to find an English pub that was serving scotch eggs for their brunch. Sadly, while they were tasty, they paled in comparison to the ones on the other side the Atlantic and they failed to serve it with Coleman's mustard.

After that we did a little window shopping on Hawthorne street before going to Echo Theater to see "Let's Play", a local version of something akin to Cirque Du Soleil. The show however began with a puppet show aimed at many of the children in the audience and I began to scowl at spending our last night like this. Phil and Erin conspired with the performers to get me onto the stage to sing "Bom Bom", as pictured to the left. But, after the children's show ended their ten minute performance the rest of the show was populated by acrobatics and a bit of comedy. While the comedy was aimed at the many children in the audience, the show was very enjoyable to watch. After the show we headed home and hung out for a bit before going to bed as our flight demanded we leave Phil's house at 5 the next morning. Erin and I woke up at 5 and nearly missed our flight! All in all, the trip to Portland was fun, but the best part was finally to get to see my brother in where he has chosen to live after many years of not getting out there.

Portland - Day 5

Sadly, this was the last day of my Mom's vacation. Actually, it wasn't the end of her vacation, though she might think her other travels less vacation than work. But, since she traveled to Thailand and Burma shortly after this trip to Portland and would be heading to England shortly after that trip in association with work I am inclined to think that this entire summer is an enormous vacation for her.

After we dropped my mom off at the airport we went to Mount Saint Helens and stopped at numerous points on the way to see the volcano from all different vantage points. It was truly spectacular and even the learning center we went to was fun and informative. We debated taking a helicopter ride over the mountain, but not too seriously as the cost was a bit prohibitive for us on our budget. Maybe the next time we will take this adventure.

After driving back we stopped in downtown Portland at Powell's Bookstore. It's size was almost overbearing. I could have spent a full day here, but spared my companions of that boredom. I picked up a couple of books after speed visiting the sections of this goliath. From there we went to another record shop and went up to Mount Tabor to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, we arrived hours before the sunset and unruly teenagers just let out from the last day of school made staying up there seem untenable for hours. We went to a food cart pod where we ate Poutine, a sweet crepe and oddly fascinating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They were not just any sandwiches, the two we had were as follows: first, there was the peanut butter with spicy thai chicken, basil, sriracha and jelly. Second, there was the peanut butter, homemade pickles and shredded pork with jelly. On top of the poutine it was impossible to finish the second sandwich and it served as my breakfast the next morning.

Portland - Day 4

Day four began with a coffee shop and a homemade poptart filled with rhubarb jam. The coffee was good and strong, the poptart, outrageous. After putzing for a bit we went back and woke Phil up and headed for lunch at Cheese and Crack, a restaurant that specialized in charcuterie with style. First, they make their own crackers and bread, which is phenomenal. Second, there presentation is topnotch. Third, it started as a food cart and evolved into a restaurant owned by a entrepreneur younger than me, inspiring. From there we went out to Sauvie Island for a little berry picking. It was pretty hot, but we ended up with quite a bucket full of berries at an incredible discount. After our little picking adventure we went back to the rental car to discover that both my mom and Erin had left their doors completely wide open. Thankfully, nothing was taken out while were picking.

This, little tidbit was only interesting because they day we had gone to Multnomah Falls my three companions freaked out when they discovered that the trunk to our rental car was open. But, it was only open because we had a rental car and I, being the primary driver, had approached another red car that I assumed was ours from a distance and popped the trunk. When I saw that a red car a few spaces down had its trunk opened by my command I realized my error and changed course. All three of my companions by this point had become aware of the open trunk and ran to check that nothing had been stolen and each scolded me for leaving the trunk open. I laughed at their reaction and told them what had happened and they responded in turn. When then, I discovered they had left not one, but two car doors completely ajar at the berry picking farm their responses were much more muted. "No big deal". "Stop freaking out". Oh, the irony! The light-hearted hypocrisy!

After berry picking we stayed on the Columbia River and had intentions of going in for a quick swim. But, it wasn't as hot after the drive so Phil and I barely waded in and we instead sipped on ales and read on the shore. We returned to Phil's home in Portland and showered and readied ourselves for Pizza at Ken's Artisan Pizza where my brother works. Delicious pizza. It is truly some of the best pizza I've had outside of Rome. After pizza we stepped into a pool hall for a game and Phil explained that he had shown some of his artwork here before.

Portland - Day 3

Day Three began with me enquiring a bagel food cart owner about the barriers to opening such an establishment. He estimated that it cost him about $40,000 to open and my ears perked up. Maybe we'll revisit that in the future. But, it was a family day and we were headed down to Corvallis to visit Erin's aunt and uncle. On the way down we stopped in Salem to poke about town and grab some lunch. We found an arcade/gastropub and enjoyed lunch and then a rousing game of four-person pacman, which I dominated. After that we headed to a winery where my mom and wife both got a tasting of five different wines. The countryside was absolutely gorgeous and the wine was pretty good. After our little Salem/Countryside jaunt we finished the day off with family in Corvallis and drove back up to Portland. But not before some excellent pizza and my first glimpse of a redwood. Very, very cool.

Portland - Day 2

Day two of Portland and Erin, my brother Phillip and my Mom went to Multnomah Waterfalls and had a little hike. The scenery was as absolutely breathtaking as the twelve switchback hike. After the descent hike we traveled back towards Portland and stopped for a picnic lunch at the Columbia River where there were some bold squirrels. Noticing that we were dining, they came right up and begged for food. After getting a couple of morsels they felt more comfortable and would eat the chips right out of hands! After a nap and a jaunt to the first of four record shops we went out to dinner at Trifecta where we had an absolutely enormous and fantastic meal. The seafood was top notch! I had this oyster slider that was out of this world. Just as a food coma was about to set in we were convinced to join the other diners at a sour beer garden where I tasted my first (and hopefully last) sour beer.

Portland - Day 1

After a long flight and layover we made it to Portland, OR!! It's a long way out, but we made it. Our first night was spent with my brother and mom. My guide (my brother) took us to a vegan place for dinner. Being someone who has no dietary restrictions to be spoke of and a bit of predilection for mocking those that have, I was nonplussed to say the least to end up at a vegan restaurant. That said, I had the best Bahn Mi sandwich in the world. Afterwards we went to a grocery store to buy wine for the night. I made a giant mess...

The Ales of London

(Originally written April 16, 2015)

Scotch Egg @ The Ship Tavern

British food has a bad reputation or had a bad reputation. But, I think this is unfair. There were a number of things that were outstanding. The traditional English breakfast was often good. I had four or five Fish and Chips dinners. The mushy peas that went with them were a new experience for me and quite a welcome addition. I had bangers and mash that was pretty good. The street food and ethnic foods of Borough Market and Brick Lane Market were great. And the Indian we had was excellent. But, the traditional Sunday roast at the Hereford Arms was amazing and I found that I love scotch eggs with a side of Coleman's mustard. But, while the food was good, their Ale game was excellent.

Cask Ale or Real Ale is hand-pumped because it doesn't have the co2 in it. It's also unpasteurized and it's not as cold. But, these ales were some of the best beer I've ever had. Some were dark, others weren't. Some were high on alcohol content (5%), others were very low (3.1%). I tried to drink as many of these as I could there and only had non-cask ale when nothing else was available. I also tried to drink the "House Ale" as much as possible. Here is the definitive list of the Real Ales I enjoyed in England at the pubs, (with the one exception being that I had London Pride on multiple occasions):

1. The Ship Tavern - Ship Tavern Ale
2. The Ship Tavern - Cornwall Ale
3. Hereford Arms Pub - London Pride
4. The Northumberland Arms - Wychwood's Hobgoblin
5. The Green - Old Speckled Hen
6. The Green - Sunny Republic Hop Dog
7. The Ale House - Bath's Gem
8. The Red Lion (Lacock) - Wadworth Swordfish
9. The Bell - Abbot Ale
10. The Bell - The Bell Cider
11. St. Stevens Tavern - Hopping Hare
12. St. Stevens Tavern - Tangle Foot
13. St. Stevens Tavern - First Call
14. The Garrick Inn (Stratford-upon-Avon) - Garricks Shakesbeer
15. The Rocket - Marstones Pedigree
16. The Rocket - The Reverend James
17. The Marlborough Head - Black Sheep
18. The Bridge (Heathrow) - The Bridge Ale

Day 9 of London

(Originally written April 11, 2015)

Sadly, this was our last day in London. We debated what to do and having spent 8 hours in a museum the previous day decided against any more museums. It was hard not to go to the Tate or the Tate Modern, but I think we made the right decision. We went over to Borough Market for an absolute feast. Between the two of us we downed a sausage roll, an éclair, a salt beef and pickle sandwich and some Indian cuisine. For the journey home I purchased three sausages from a vendor from the Rhone region of France. To share with friends I bought one of wild boar, one of duck and one of donkey. The boar was gamey and quite good. The duck was very fatty but excellent. The donkey had a bit of spice in it and was also gamey. Overall, I enjoyed the duck the best, but many others found the donkey to be their favorites.

From the Borough Market we decided to make it a Market day. We went to the Brick Lane Market and found where all the hipsters hung out. Erin got a pretty sweet deal on a nice leather overnight bag. I picked up a couple of records. Although neither of us were hungry we did discover a vibrant street food area that had food from all over the world and I got some strange Brazilian Hot Dog sandwich that was lights out.

From there we headed over to a pop up mall where once again I ate. This time it was a cronut filled with coconut and they called it the Croconut. Outstanding. Sweet. My stomach though was beginning to be annoyed with me. Then it was on to the third market, Riverside Market. This market was a bit of a dud though as it was only 3 tables of books.

After that we went over to Oxford Circus and went shopping at Marks & Spencer to buy some things to bring home. Sadly, this was the last of our trip as we flew home the next day.

Day 8 of London

(Originally written April 10, 2015)



After waking up a bit late we went out on search for Abbey Road Studios. Found it relatively easily and then looked for the Zebra crossing to recreate the picture as best as we could. Erin's app failed us again and we walked a mile away without finding it, but we had actually already crossed over it without realizing that it was the Zebra crossing. We took the obligatory picture and then got on a tube to the British Library.

The British Library was pretty amazing. We went to the treasures section and that was about it. Unfortunately, as was the case with the churches no photography was allowed, but we did get a book chronicling some of the most interesting things. Also, the Magna Carta was on exhibit so we didn't get to see that. Some of my favorite items though were to see the Codex Sinaiticus, the Celestial globe, a notebook of Da Vinci and a early copy of Beowulf.

After a quick lunch we went to the British Museum, another incredible highlight of the trip. After six hours of exploring in the museum though I was pretty overloaded. That being said, there were an incredible amounts of highlights in this overall highlight. The Egyptian section was amazing. The Assyrian section was my favorite. There were some pretty cool stuff in the Mesoamerican section, especially the Aztec stuff. The Southeast Asia and China sections were pretty cool too and while the Elgin Marbles are often touted as one of the most popular things to see, they paled in comparison to the Egyptian/Assyrian wings in my humble opinion. Of course there is the Rosetta Stone too, but it was always so crowded it was hard to get a good look at it. This is just a taste of the journaling about the trip and the more full description is going to be in the photobook when I get around to it. But here is a taste of my favorites:

Day 7 of London

(Originally Written April 9, 2015)

Day Seven was the second and final of our excursions. Unlike when we went to Stonehenge though we went to Stratford-upon-Avon via train without a tour guide which was simple enough getting there, but almost disastrous on the way home. More to come on that later. After a couple of sandwiches, a Cornish pasty and some Cask Ale in the train station we were on our way to see the birthplace and final resting place of one William Shakespeare.

We arrived at the train station and walked into the visitor center to get the tickets I had purchased online. We were informed that the church where Shakespeare was buried was being closed in fifteen minutes for a funeral so we rushed to it as it would've reopened with very little time for us to see it and still make our return train. The church was small but still pretty magnificent and besides a few stray tourists it was fairly empty. We explored the church for as long as we could before the funeral procession arrived and were politely escorted out after snapping a couple of quick pictures by his grave.

From there we went on to Hall Croft, the house of his daughter and son-in-law. It was a very pretty

house and had a lovely garden in the back. All of this tour was rushed given the fact that everything in town closed by Five O'clock. So after a quick tour of this house it was on to the house where young Billy grew up. After viewing the house and touring through the rooms we learned a bit of its history and got to see where he had spent his formative years before traveling on down to London to become the famous man he is. The guest book was pretty neat to see as a number of presidents had signed it and some pretty famous authors in their own right as well. In fact, Charles Dickens was one of the people that helped preserve the house as it had changed hands numerous times since William had lived there and had served various purposes including one as a pub called the Swan & Maidenhead.

After that Erin spent a bit of time in the gift shop while I popped outside to look at the high street where I was tricked into trying this homemade peaty and smoky whiskey that lit my entire body on fire. Needless to say I didn't come home with any. After that we shopped a little and grabbed dinner at a pub. After eating (and more cask ale) we proceeded to get turned around and nearly missed our train home. Luckily we had a cab pick us up and drive us three blocks and boarded the train just as it was taking off.

Another cool little spot in the town was this sundial where you stood in the middle and served as the dial for the sun to cast a shadow upon.

Day 6 of London

(Originally Written April 8, 2015)


Day six of London was a feast of English history! It started out with a tour of Saint Paul's Cathedral, inside and out. The Church is incredible and would've been incredible even without the impressive dome. We toured the crypts to the top of the dome. Among the highlights were a statue that I said looked an awful lot like George Washington, only to comment that I doubt that he would be given a place of honor for wrenching the United States out from England only to find another statue that was of George Washington honoring him for his achievements in life. Also in the crypt I found the inscription, which I'll paraphrase here, on the tomb of Christopher Wren, the architect. Many of the inscriptions were lavish and had statues and other adornments, but Wren's was plain and said to the effect if you want to see the celebration of my life in my tomb, simply look around this whole church. Boom. Up top, the whispering gallery was pretty neat although I had to speak in a soft tone for Erin to hear me across the way. There were too many others in the church to actually hear a whisper. Then the views from the top (after an incredible number of stairs) were pretty breathtaking.

From there we went on to the Tower of London. Seeing the torture rooms, the impressive walls of the fortress and the ravens was pretty excellent. But, seeing the crown jewels was pretty amazing. You see them via a slow moving automated walkway like in the airports (only much, much slower paced). After Erin's second and third pass at seeing the jewels I realized that I would have to start pocketing away as much money as possible to give her something remotely close to those - or pocketing enough money away to purchase a private army to conquer some unsuspecting weak nation that is rich in jewels. Both are as likely to happen as the other though neither is likely at all. But who knows what the future may hold.

After that we went on to the Tower Bridge and gave it a walk. It's very impressive and colorful but after walking it, I felt like I had just walked a bridge. That's not to diminish it at all, but the majesty of the jewels in the Tower of London, its history and a stroll through its armory were a hard act to follow for a bridge.

Then it was on to Westminster Abbey which had me giddy. Seeing the area where Edward the Confessor was laid really reminded me of the age and majesty of the building. Unfortunately, as was the case with St. Paul's cathedral photography was forbidden. But, being the rebel I am I snapped a photo in the whispering gallery of St. Paul's and Erin and I together in the Poet's Corner in Westminster. Luckily we weren't drawn and quartered.

After this we went to Fortnum and Mason where I proceeded to beg to be able to buy a Victorian picnic basket and was mocked mercilessly. I left with a bunch of tea and a basket shaped hole in my heart. Then it was dinner time and we went to the Fryer's Delight for some ... fish and chips. These were the best Fish & Chips I had on my visit, though the mushy peas were not as good as the other pubs. Unfortunately the Fryer's Delight did not serve Cask Ales or any beer at all, but I had managed a couple of pints anyhow in the day, so that wasn't as disappointing as it might have seemed.

Of course now that I've mentioned the Taboo photographs I can't find them, but I did snap this photo near the London Bridge and while in hindsight it probably had something to do with a medical condition at the moment I just thought it was odd...

Day 5 of London

(Originally Written April 7, 2015)

This was our first of two excursions from London on our trip. We left the hotel to get to the Travel Company in route to Bath, Lacock & Stonehenge. First, off we saw this, which was utterly disappointing and an indictment of today's culture. The line on the left hand side is a line for the Harry Potter WB studios tour and is filled to capacity. Two busloads of tourists would be going to this tour in the hour and two more in the next. The line on the right (two people) would be going to Stonehenge. That said, there was only about 25-30 travelers with us on the trip so we had the place basically to ourselves which was very cool.

The first stop on the tour was the Roman Baths at Bath. We toured the ruins, checked out the Abbey at Bath and sort of quick walked a little bit of the town. There were a lot of cool sites to see in the area. The statues surrounding the bath were pretty amazing, some of which were very well preserved. The main "bath" area however was a odd green color and we were instructed not to touch it for health and safety reasons. For once I suspect that this was not overkill as the greenness of the pool looked rather menacing. At the end of the tour though we were able to drink the water from the natural

Note the green water...

spring and it tasted a lot like mineral water because it was in fact, mineral water. Our tour guide was very informative and had a good delivery. She also had a dry enough sense of humor to suck all the moisture out of the room. One of the most interesting facts that I learned about why the baths seemed to have such great healing powers in them was how the minerals interacted with the Roman Britons and Medieval British drinking habits. Everyone always seemed to get sick back then and the likely cause was the fact that their drinking vessels and storing vessels for their wine were led-lined. So it's likely that they always had a mild case of led poisoning. The minerals in the hot spring seemed to suck the led out of the body when they bathed in it, so the people would feel much refreshed out of the bath. Unfortunately, they would go home and have some wine and once again give themselves minor led poisoning and have a need for another bath.

After Bath, was the village of Lacock. It was interesting, a good look at Medieval England, but we were only there for 40 minutes and I could've spent some more time exploring Bath and had another pint of Cask Ale.

The highlight of the day and probably the trip though was the trip to Stonehenge and the inner circle. Just coming up on it was incredible, though the landscape was blotted somewhat by the new Stonehenge Welcome Center and its hideous architecture. We arrived at Stonehenge close to sunset and to watch the sun go down over the horizon from the middle of Stonehenge was an incredible feeling. However, when I was asked if it was a "spiritual" experience I had to say "no". Being inside either Saint Paul's or Westminster Abbey or the Abbey at Bath was much more of a spiritual sensation than being in the middle of some rocks arranged in circular fashion, but then again I'm not much of an animist, shamanist, neo-druid or have much sympathy for reconstructed modern paganism either. In spite of the lack of spirituality at the site it was an incredible thing to behold.

Day 4 of London

(Originally Written April 6, 2015)

After another heavy breakfast at the hotel we made it up to Watford via the tube and replacement bus system for the Watford v. Middlesbrough match. With Watford winning 2-0 and the fans singing and chanting the experience was amazing. We took the bus and tube back down into London about seeing another game, but silly me I got Crystal Palace & QPR's schedules mixed up in my head. Crystal Palace was playing that night and QPR was playing the following day. We made it to Loftus Road to find the entire area abandoned. But, the prospects of us getting down all the way to Palace after my misstep and finding tickets for the game were pretty paltry and we were hungry. We grabbed some fantastic Indian food at Raj of India and grabbed some breakfast stuff and Sainsburys before the next big day. This was the first day and only day that we didn't walk more than 10 miles in our touring.

Fun day and the Naan Bread at Raj of India made Erin do this:

Day 3 of London

(Originally written April 5, 2015)

It was Easter Sunday and we had made tentative plans to get up and attend church, maybe St. Paul's or Westminster Abbey or even the local parish church. We decided on Bedside Baptist instead and rushed to make our lunch appointment at the Hereford Arms. Unfortunately the tube app let us down and we walked "TEN fast miles" (as Erin wrote in her notes with some hyperbole and a smidgen of truth) to arrive at the pub. Sunday roast was good. I had the lamb, Erin had the chicken and of course there was more cask ale to be had.

After lunch it was on to the Victoria and Albert Museum, the world's first decorative arts museum. Very cool stuff. The incredible blown glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling was absolutely astonishing. From there we headed to Harrods to find it closed. Then we made our way to Buckingham Palace and saw 10 Downing Street. After taking in the sights there we went back to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament at about sunset where we were scammed by a talking Italian mime for five pounds. After dinner and a couple more pints of cask ale we went to a grocery store for wine and Cadbury chocolates - which Erin ate until she felt sick.

Day 2 of London

(Originally Written April 4, 2015)

Day two was started by a big English breakfast at the Hotel and a couple of cups of tea. After gorging ourselves we went to Old Spitalfields Market and shopped around for lots of goodies and trinkets. It was a pretty neat place. After that we headed over to Hunterian Museum, which due to a massive underground fire was closed. At a loss we popped into The Ship Tavern to recalibrate and figure out what to do next. That being said, we did stumble upon "The Old Curiosity Shop" made famous by Charles Dickens.

At The Ship Tavern, I had my first Scotch Egg and my first Cask Ale - delish! After that we headed to Twinings Tea parlor, saw some really cool old buildings and I managed to break Erin's phone while we were searching for Temple Church. After a bit of mourning and bickering we headed over to Saint Paul's Cathedral, which was closed for some private event. From there we headed over the Thames and saw The Globe Theater and went into the gift shop. On the walking bridge we got our first glimpse of the London Bridge and Erin was attacked by a bird.

From there hoofed it over to the George Inn for fish & chips and more cask ale. After dinner, it was time to see Big Ben and the London Eye at night time, which was gorgeous. There was a desire to continue touring, but our feet wouldn't let us considering the 10-12 miles they had carried us, so we hopped on our first double decker bus and proceeded to get lost. Finally we found a tube station and made it back to our hotel.

Day 1 of London

(Originally Written April 3, 2015)

Day 1 of our London trip.

We arrived in London to find that one of luggage had lost its wheel on the flight. So we dragged it from Heathrow through the tube to our hotel. On that voyage we passed an Islamic center right at the time for Friday prayers. To make the street even more crowded some Londoners had stationed a protest of the Islamic center bringing throngs of journalists and policemen to the area. Not, the most pleasant of experiences.

After a quick check in we went out for the day, heading to Piccadilly Square, randomly finding the first ever red phone booth and putzed around the city a bit. We headed to the Kensington Gardens to see the Peter Pan statue before getting caught in the rain. We decided that it was dinner time and went to Islington to hit up this vegetarian Indian restaurant. Very good food, very strange décor. Before we got to the restaurant though Erin discovered a fruit shop where we got passion fruit, figs, green coconut, blood oranges, fresh dates, guavas and something called snake fruit.

Being jetlagged and a bit tired, we headed home for the evening and found that we could see the London Eye from our hotel room. Pretty good day overall.

From Sosua

(Originally Written October 3, 2009 in the Journal)

I sit and admire the beauty of youth. A soft breeze blows from behind me while the waves gently caress the sand with a lover's touch. There are four girls, not yet women, dancing among the waves. Green and white fishing boats litter the horizon.

Excuse me a moment - cuba libre.

Behind me is the ancient of France, here for the last time I suppose. The stench of smoke and age and sea and bloated self pride permeates the air. But in front, four girls blossoming into women dance amongst the waves. So I sit here and admire the beauty of youth.

How is it at twenty-five I feel closer to these ancients behind? Am I not in my youth as well? I have an aging soul made older still by two years of utter torment. But I like the boats, something refreshing seems to be on the horizon. Will I ever reach that horizon, I don't know. But for now, I enjoy looking at it.

A prayer from Haiti

(Originally Written February 25, 2009 in the Journal)

Today was awesome. We putzed around Port-au-Prince, Pétionville, and went to the Baptist Mission, and played with the children at the orphanage. This orphanage, if I understand correctly needs about $36,000 U.S. to operate a year. They receive only about $12,000. They need a new laptop because the old one was stolen. There is so much need in this world. Why can I do nothing about it?

Lord I feel so compelled to get the ball rolling for mission work like this. I'm good at getting people to open up their wallets - why can I do it for you? Lord I'm going to try and raise money for them. If I am successful then I know you will show me a way to do this more permanently.

I have a new idea to open up a missionary service that provides funds for missionaries. Lord the harvest is great and the workers few and the money even more sparse. Help me in this.

Poem #1

(Originally Written February 25, 2009 in the Journal)

Poem 1

The sun is setting my dear.
The sun is setting.
Tomorrow, I will wake anew.

So I went to Haiti today. I'm in Port-au-Prince right now! I came with Ms. Erin Adams and Cindy Hundley - a true motley crew we are. We're staying at an orphanage run by one of Erin's friends.

This is pretty amazing. I love traveling, but it was an arduous trip taking nearly twelve hours to get from Jarabacoa to here solely by gua-gua. They had dinner ready for us: chicken, potatoes and carrot, and a salad consisiting of lettuce, tomato, onion and a leafy green that reminded me of parsley but had a spicy after taste.

Well, I think I'm ready for bed. It's been a long day. By the way, Erin becomes more amazing the more I get to know her.

I didn't eat the chicken because I've given up meat for lent.

Lord, the Nazirite vow I took taught me very little. I failed you Lord. Out of this abstaining Lord I hope to gain insight on your true purpose for my life.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found.
Twas blind but now I ssee.

Poem 1

The sun is setting my dear,
The sun is setting.
Tomorrow, I will wake anew.