lightning re-cap

yes, it happened again, and again i was disheartened - i wrote this whole huge blog entry and then it just disappeared. so i had to walk away from the interwebs for a while and cool my head. now i am back with a highlights-package recap of the goings on since the last time i typed to you. here goes -
- cairo: we went to see the pyramids. they were amazing, the sheer size of them was overwhelming. under-whelming, though, were the crowds of men, women and children all trying to sell you souvenirs. it took some getting used to, but i learned to ignore them in the end. kept wondering what it would be like if ayer's rock were like that... also saw the sphinx. i'm almost ashamed to say i was a little disappointed, it seemed a lot smaller than what i expected - felt better again when i was informed that apparently that is a common complaint. cairo itself is crowded all the time - for example, a road that anywhere else would be considered a four-lane freeway does quite nicely for six cars across, including people crossing whenever they feel like it. also, no one drives with their headlights on because their use is reserved strictly for 'yelling' at the car in front - if you're really angry, you shoot them with the high beams. for all you internerds, it's like the difference between this and THIS. no one likes to be yelled at.
- istanbul. we went back to sultanahment for a couple of days after cairo to catch up on all the sights we couldn't make because of the pope's visit the first time around. we saw aya sophia, the basilica cisterns and topkapi palace. gave the blue mosque a miss because we ran out of time, and we saw its brother in cairo - the mohammed ali mosque there is an exact replica of the blue mosque, architecturally. istanbul is such a beautiful city, we loved every minute we spent there.

- amsterdam. we decided to check out amsterdam, original plan was to stay there for three nights (more on that soon). we went to the van gogh and rembrandt museums - rembrandt was my favourite by far. went to a 'coffee shop' and partook, then wandered round the red light district. the cabin ladies were quite confronting - i don't know what i was expecting, but it sure wasn't some middle-aged lady standing in her underwear lit up all red and having a good scratch at her bikini-line. also, it takes a bit of getting used to ignoring men who lean in close to your ear when you walk past them and whisper 'cocaine?'. donòt worry mum(s), we did not partake.

then the drama - we booked a cheap flight on ryanair to get to milan from where we were going to catch a train to venice. it took us 2.5 hrs to get to the airport (their version of avalon, i guess) by bus. we were early so an hour later we checked in. then we niticed the fog that was around all the way over was getting thiscker. and thicker. and then they made the accouncement ' all flights out of eindhoven airport were 'delayed indefinitely', but ours was special - it was cancelled straight off. we booked into a new flight to pisa for the next day, and spent the night at a nearby hotel. later on that night, at dinner at the hotel, it looked like everyone in the airport ended up at the same place we were at.

so, we catch our plane to pisa tuesday afternoon, and having lost our money on pre-booked train tickets, we begin our journey to venice - first to pisa centrale, then a 3.5 hour trip on to venice. but then the venice train was delayed for 30 mins... 45 mins... 1 hour 10. we finally got here to venice well past midnight, but are now happily settled in our hostel and mark is at the laundromat as i type this. we are here till friday. weather is clear and crisp, and i am not sure whether we will takje a gondola ride as they cost 67 euro.

have a glorious christmas and new year - our next stop is dublin for my first ever 'very o'farrell christmas (an new year)' - will try and update you from there.

take care all, and have some seafood and trifle for us, okay. ciao!