Delhi, India

Welcome to Delhi!

So Christina and I flew from Vancouver through Guangzhou to Delhi. Our flights were filled with colouring, movies and half sleep. It was interesting to be in Guangzhou as on the wifi Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat did not work. It took us a while to realize China had blocked them. I've never recognized how white and female I was until our flight to Delhi - we were the only white females on the plane. Indian men are very entitled as de,most rated by the sheer number of requests they gave the flight attendants the entire flight and how rude they were when I asked if he could put his seat up so I could get out.

In Delhi we were picked up by G Adventures. Thank god. This city is massive - 10 million people and vast. The highways have cars, trucks, tuk tuks, horse or Ox drawn carriages, bikes, motorcycles, and pretty much everything else. Lanes are not a thing here. They are constantly honking to let you know where they are. It's chaos.

This morning we went to Connaught Place just to see what it is. Plus we had a few hours before our trip. Not worth the time. It's just a bunch of American shops in two circles with a park in the middle. I think we should have done Old Delhi instead. Oh well.

It's 33 degrees, smells like pee and smoke and the food looks revolting. We're getting harassed constantly and I look like a troll. I'm in full capris and a long sleeve tee. The men here constantly are telling you where to go and trying to talk to you. It's funny to watch Christina in Asia for her first trip. She's learned the basic fuck off I don't want to talk to you hand. Two weeks of dudes telling me where to go and asking if I'm lost is going to drive me batty.

Update: we met our group. Not certain what I signed up for. I thought I agreed to a 18-35 trip but we have two families, one with a kid in Grade 7 and the other with teenaged boys. We also have 6 people over 45 easily. There are four lawyers, Australians and Brits with a majority of Canadians. It's a diverse crew.

On our Delhi walk, we saw the Indian Gate, which is spectacular. Whilst there Christina and I were bombarded to take photos with Indians. I guess it has to do with the blonde hair and blue eyes. Still bothers me that I get manhandled by strangers. Just don't touch me. The walk also included the Presidents House which spans 140 acres in the midst of New Delhi. It's host to 380 rooms and several extensive gardens. Only the president lives there not the Prime Minister. Not sure what the distinction in roles between the two is. Our final stop on our walk in 40C heat was this Golden Sikt Temple. Apparently the Sikh treat their God, as contained in a book like a person and put the book to bed and wake it up each morning. Their God is gender less and idol less. There is five things followers must do - not cut their hair or beards, wear a dagger, treat all equally, wear a metallic bangle and all temples have a comm unity kitchen.

For dinner we went out as a group and I had butter chicken and naan. Will let yall know if I venture out of that comfort zone - unlikely but you never know.

AFN 

I've got a travel bug...

Hello all,

To save myself some trouble next time I have to fill out a VISA application... Here is the list of countries that I have gone to thus far:

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Cambodia
• England
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hong Kong
• Hungary
• Indonesia
• India
• Italy
• Kuala Lumpur 
• Laos
• Liechtenstein 
• Mexico
• Monaco
• Nepal
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Romania
• Scotland
• Slovakia
• Spain
• Switzerland
• Thailand
• Turkey
• United States 
• Vatican City 

India, Nepal and Thailand ... Oh My!

Hello all,

It has been two years since I last set out on a global adventure, which is far too long. Law school is coming to an end. I graduate in 24 days and will be on a plane in 30 days. I will never sit in a class room again, except for CLPED but I don't think that counts.  So, I am going to succumb to my wanderlust again and head out to India, Nepal and Thailand with my good friend Christina as a grad trip.

Our India trip starts out in Delhi, India and ends in Kathmandu, Nepal.  Like most trips I take with Christina, we sit on her couch, plan the trip in a span of hours, and book it the next day. Oops we did it again. I also tend to book trips where I need to move and pack my entire apartment then get on a plane less than 24 hours later. This year I am moving back home but shipping everything and disappearing to Asia.

This week we are going to get the vaccinations required and actually apply for Visas. I am not looking forward to anti-malaria pills again.

This post is more so that I have it when I start drafting abroad for the spelling of places than for actual substance.

AFN
Brittany

Ain't Nothing but a Wee Stroll in the Park

So after months of hard training and team effort to push each other to our limits, I finished the Edinburgh Tough Mudder. What I didn't know about this lovely race is that it is a HALF marathon and obstacles. When I signed up I thought, very naively, that this was a short 10 km run with obstacles. I was wrong - just under a half marathon with obstacles. Tough Mudder was created by the US Special Forces for the purposes of basic military training camp then it got popular and they commercialized it. My friend, Lis from Calgary noticed this in about February and asked if I wanted to do it. I didn't take much thought to it and signed up. Goals for training are always welcomed. Over the next couple of weeks, I convinced a few more law school friends going to the castle to join in so that we could have a solid team. In the end three of us trained together for three months. The other two decided last minute to join which was fine. Tough Mudder sent us a training program to do - hilarious but oh so necessary. It was an hour and a half program that ran 12 minute straight programs of cardio, arm strength, or leg strength with three minute breaks in between sets. I can now do man push ups, burpee, wall sits, and skipping for three solid minutes. Running in Kingston was actually nice to train for but I didn't train enough for the Mudder to be running full tilt the entire time. Kingston does not have enough trail running for that to be possible.

We came to Edinburgh on Friday to get settled and carb-load. It felt like the day before competitions - not too much walking, a little bit of shopping, and a whole lot of pasta and chicken. Saturday was an early morning. We got up at 5 to paint our faces, warm up, and head out on public transit to Dalkeith where the race was taking place. We got there and it was incredible to see. There teams upon teams dressed up in team shirts or costumes. After spray pairing numerous Canadian flags in ourselves we joined in the collective warm up (think step class like). The atmosphere was a little like what I imagine a football locker room to be - a lot of chanting, groaning, and war cries. Before we eve got to the start line you had to jump over an 8 foot wall, which I am proud to say I did without help. Always good to get muddy before you even start the race - why else would they call it Tough Mudder? They make you chant once you get over the wall to get into the spirit of the race. The entire race is ran in about 8 inches of mud that they create specifically for this race. My runners were trashed at the end. Our first obstacle was an army crawl in the mud with barbed wire above us - key to this was keeping your bum down and sprawling. Some of the memorable obstacles were climbing through pipeline in pitch black, climbing up a 30 foot wall by rope only, jumping into an ice bath then swimming 40m in it, being electrocuted a couple of times, and the entire mile of hip deep mud. We got electorshocked twice - you had to army crawl the first time through this 50m course then run the second one. Half the team ran together which made it 100x worse, this is the only time that team work did not pay off. I ran alone after seeing our guy hit the ground in pain because the girls with him got hit. The worst one by far was swimming backwards with only your face above water because you were in a cage. I hate small spaces and that just about made me cry... Might have made me cry, don't know and will never admit it either way. A lot of the course was grit to get yourself through the obstacle or the running. Running in mud is harder than it looks, your feet stick and they slide and its not like you can just power through on straight aways. The one nice thing about Tough Mudder is that you do everything as a team because you have to, which makes it a lot easier than a normal half marathon. There is no way you can sheer climb a rope without someone holding the bottom or even get yourself up to climb over a 20 foot wall without a little bit of help.

Our team was pretty good besides one girl who whined and gave up and ruined that team spirit. Fair enough you hurt but you do not give up in the middle of no where because you are muddy. We all scraped our knees and elbows and other body parts hurt but you do not give up and whinge about it. I have more bruises and scraps than is imaginable but totally worth it. I would totally do it again but I would just run a little bit more prior to. My muscles this morning are on fire. Everything burns.

AFN

Castle (aka Herstmonceux Castle, Hailsham, East Sussex, England)

By the end of the 12th Century, the family at the manor house at Herste had considerable status. Written accounts mention a lady called Idonea de Herste, who married a Norman nobleman named Ingelram de Monceux. Around this time, the manor began to be called the 'Herste of the Monceux’; a name that eventually became Herstmonceux. Essentially, the cast was reclaimed by Henry VIII from the Fiennes family until the time of Elizabeth I. Seventeenth century England was rife with uncertainty and social unrest, yet the owners of Herstmonceux appear to have prospered, carrying out renovations and even were able to avoid the extremes of the 1640s when civil war gripped the country. In 1933 Sir Paul Latham purchased the castle and continued the process of reconstruction, completing the remodelling of the northern half of the castle. Extensive work was also undertaken on the gardens and grounds, with the addition of a tennis court, a swimming pool, extensive plantings and the excavation and flooding of the moat. Further changes to the castle came during WWII when it for a brief time housed the Hearts of Oak insurance company which needed a place where its’ records would be safe from Germany’s Blitz on London. While Herstmonceux Castle did not see any serious action, it still felt the effects of the war and was on numerous occasions strafed by German planes. An RAF camp, part of RAF Wartling, was established on the estate and a large air-raid shelter was constructed immediately south-west of the drawbridge. In 1946 Sir Paul Latham sold Herstmonceux Castle to the Admiralty, which established it as the new home of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. From the early 1950s until 1989 Herstmonceux Castle remained a centre of scientific research and home to one of the world’s leading astronomical organizations. However, "light pollution” from the nearby city of Eastbourne, along with other factors, combined to make staying at Herstmonceux impractical and in 1989 the RGO was moved to Cambridge. The castle was sold to developers who planned to turn it into a hotel and golf resort. The idea was opposed by a group of local residents who formed 'The Society for the Protection of Herstmonceux Castle'. After a lengthy battle the castle and estate were saved from the developers. In 1993 the Castle was purchased by Drs. Alfred and Isabel Bader and donated to Queen’s University, with the intent to establish it as a centre of international education. Queen’s International Study Centre was born, and in 1994, after extensive renovations to transform bedrooms into offices and work areas into classrooms, the first students arrived. Since that time the Bader International Study Centre has continued to grow and today welcomes students from around the globe. (See Herstmonceux Castle website)

In other news, caste life is awful. It is British boarding school food on a timed schedule (8, noon, and 5). Typical meals are slop, stew, and potatoes. It means a whole lot of spinach salads for all meals of the day. I appreciate meals outside of the castle and raw crunchy vegetables a little bit more now.

The photos below are the castle and the set of girls at the castle. The "bros" are an interesting crew for sure. Nothing much else is to tell about the castle - we hang out in classrooms or the pub on campus. It is a tame lifestyle that is very moderated and scheduled. 

Ibiza, Spain

Hello all,

Elisabeth, Alyssa, and myself found last minute flights to Ibiza to get away for the weekend. Ibiza is Europe's version of Vegas without the shows, or gambling, or things to do other than party. Oh well. The first day we got there was quite tame. The girls found Sangria at a small bar on the beach. I had the most delicious milk shake that was devoured in under four minutes. Castle food is brutal and revolting. We walked around Sant Antonio until we found a beach and just laid down for a couple of hours. Albeit, that only lasted until dinner time when we found a tapas place. The group decided to go to a day club to see the Ibiza party scene in a tame manner. The Ocean Beach Club was incredible. We watched Steve Aoki play live which I guess from other people is a major deal ad should have been more than the 20 Euro cover we paid. The club had a pool on the inside of it, which was hilarious to watch all of the people deal with and maneuver around. Of course we met several lawyers and had some great chats about how we should change our minds and work in London. English lawyers, for the most part, are regulated in their hours per week. We went for a quick bite to eat at a local place then out to the Cafe Mambo to rap up the night. I cannot believe that people do a day club, mid night club, then a superclub. The clubs in Ibiza close at 6 in the morning. We called it a night around midnight which was super tame according to the rest of the castle crew. I am not a partier nor will it ever be my thing. The rest of the weekend was spent on a lovely beach in Sant Antonio reading Commercial Arbitration and International Trade Law. Lis got one of the best burns I have seen in a while. It appeared to have given her wings (cue Red Bull joke).

As a whole, Brody would love Ibiza and the rest of the world should just pass. It is a constant whomping of awful dubstep music and a lot of drunken English people.

AFN

Castle!

I am finally at the Herstmonceaux Castle (also known as the Bader Institute) in England. This will be home for the next two months. My room has a lovely view of the gardens but has an awful wind problem making the windows rattle. I will just sleep with ear plugs in for the next couple weeks. The food so far is awful but that was expected - means I will just hopefully lose weight. Today was actually pretty sunny for a couple of hours. The gym is small but functional.

AFN

Athens, Greece

Athens was a sauntering day. We woke up at 9 am after a late arrival at 2 in the morning to the hotel. Athens charges you double in a cab between the hours of 12-5am. Expensive taxi... We did the Parthenon, Acropolis, Temple of Athena Nike, New Acropolis Museum, Agora, Agora Museum, hiked to the top of the Perithen Temple thing, saw the Olympic Stadium, and walked to the Parliament buildings. Athens is a city you only have to do once. We powered walked at a very slow pace. Athens can be done in six hours for sure in the low season. Nothing was super busy but the Acropolis was filled with small school children. I could describe all that is Athens but nothing is out of the ordinary or spectacular that you could not have seen in a photo. You should see it all for yourself though one day.

However, the more exciting part is that there was car bombings and riots going on in Athens the day we were there. They shut down the Acropolis and the Museum just after we finished eating lunch there. Giant SWAT teams, military, and police surrounded both locations that are directly across from each other. Surprisingly, they did not clear the streets around the locales though. It was a sketchy seedy feeling in the city after this all occurred. They would not tell us what was going on and one SWAT member suggested that we get on the train to the airport before they shut those down and we sure did what we were told to do. You typically do not ignore SWAT instructions lightly.

(Christina and myself with the Acropolis in the background)

Santorini, Greece

Our hotel included breakfast so after a late wake up at 1030 to mozy along down to breakfast. Thy have us traditional Greek yoghurt with honey, an apple, some delicious cake, an omelet, and some type of cheese toast thing. I could only bring myself to eat yoghurt, apple, and cake with coffee. Eggs are just not my thing. However, I have fallen in love with taziki. It is amazing over pasta, bread, or even just on a chip. We started Santorini by renting a quad to maneuver ourselves around this island. It is just this little 80cc thing. Nothing special and not fast at all. The speed isn't a bad thing since both Christina and I have a thing for speed and reckless fun in motorized vehicles. It's great to have someone with as much of a lead foot as you to travel with. We drove to Kokkivn (red sand beach) for our first stop. It is a hike and a half down to this dark red beach. It is strange to see red sand in a place like this. It is that red brilliant rock like Kauai but turned into sand mixed with the volcanic black sand. All morning was spent lazing on this beach. The water is too cold to swim. I think it's glacial still. Sunscreen was my new best friend. It was a savior to not be burnt. We then hiked back out of this beach in flip flops to the quad. We then sped along the highway to Perissa. A delicious little hole in the wall called Grandmas Place was lunch. I have never seen such big pita wraps in my life. Amazing local vegetables with chicken and taziki sause. We then meandered down to the black sand beach. It was colder than the morning with the wind but we toughed it out. The next adventure was getting back to Oia, where we are staying. After getting mildly lost, the quad bit the dust. The battery died. We got a local to call the rental company to come get us. After a Greek 5 minutes or a solid half hour, they delivered us  a new quad in the middle of nowhere Santorini. Getting back to the hotel meant nap time. Sun sleeps are the best. We went for dinner at this amazing Italian place with a pelican type name.

The next day we toured around Oia and Fira just to see what they are like. Both are major tourist traps. Not a fan of the cities but the beaches are incredible. Dinner was back at the Pelican place because it was so incredible. I would highly recommend it again.

Tomorrow we are doing a boat tour to the volcano then heading on a late ferry to Athens. Our boat tour took us from the Old Port to the Volcano then to the "hot springs". We did just the three hour tour because we had an evening ferry to Athens to catch. We took the cable car down because our public transport bus from Oia to Fira was late. I shouldn't have been surprised because it is Greece but I was a little shocked. On the road to Fira, the bus driver got so angry at another bus driver that almost scraped our bus and it was priceless. The walk down is a solid half hour and a hike and a half. The tour was interesting I guess. Something to do if you have not seen Hawaii before in my opinion. It takes you to the volcano, which is dormant active. The entire island is black lava rock and random active heat spouts. It smells like sulfur that kind of gave me a headache due to its strength. The view from the top is spectacular though of the entire group of Santorini islands. The boat then took us to the "hot springs" at a balmy 20'C. I personally think jumping into sea water that is 8'C to swim to a grossly dark brown "hot spring" is not sanitary. I did not get off the boat for that excursion nor did Christina. The weather was glorious and warm.

Our ferry was three hours late due to boat maintenance issues. No one informs you of when the ferry is to come nor why it was not there on time until it gets there. We arrived in Athens at 1 am as such.

AFN

Kos, Greece

Today was a slow day. We had our last traditional Turkish breakfast - olives, cheese, bread, tomatoe, cucumber, and Nutella. I am glad to be done these heavy bread breakfasts. Off to the ferry we went but the cabby had no clue and way over charged us to get to the ferry port. What can you do when you don't speak the language? We got on our 20 minute ferry to Kos, Greece after passing through the most lax security I have ever gone through for border control.

Kos was tame and pissing rain all morning. We decided to rent bikes and biked around to some beach 15 km away from the main city. It was nice to see a sand beach for once again. We biked a total of 30 km today in the poring rain. Lunch was McDonalds because that's what Christina was craving. We just lazed around all afternoon really until our night ferry to Santorini. I am so ruined out. I can't see any more for a while until Athens. Dinner was Italian because nothing Greek looked appealing today.