Making Circles

This is one of my new favorite fruits… The skin is hard like a shell, bread-like on the inside, with strange tentacles. The edible part looks like fish or frog eggs, is slightly tangy and sweet- delicious!
I had to film this to show you how strange this thing is!

opening the Granadilla from Jessica Singerman on Vimeo.

Happy New Year- After getting to bed at 2am, I woke at 6 this morning to find a strange taught sensation on the left side of my upper lip. Looks like I fell victim to a mosquito again, this time the little jerk got me on the lip, and I look like I have Botox gone really wrong. Other than that, it is good to be at Rancho Margot. My good buddy Drea and I have been exploring since we’ve been here…
On our first afternoon here, we hiked to the Mirador, the lookout point over the valley.

This is the ranch seen from above.

Yesterday, we hiked to a small waterfall

and met some friends along the way
this scary-looking guy

and this little one sitting in the middle of the path

We saved his life and moved him off to the side.

Later while walking in the neighboring village, we saw some really cool looking plants and mushrooms. The ones that caught my eye were all the same crazy reddish-orange color…

and my favorite was this sprouting seed broken in half

There were some lovely cows

and we got a chance to go into the work area and chat with some local guys while they worked

Drea even got to help milk a cow

And we found this huge leaf with “fingers”

In the evening, there were plans to ride up to the Mirador for some fireworks. Drea and I rode in a tractor trailer up the hill, and before we got to the top, we saw that the SUVs following got stuck in the deep mud, so we had to turn around and head back to the ranch… She and I got to sit on the back of the tractor on the way down, and we sang at the top of our lungs in the pitch black all the way home. (the driver of the tractor had just a head lamp to see the way)

There was dancing and fireworks back at the ranch till late into the night… It was a great new year’s eve!

We’ve been in Costa Rica for a few days, celebrating mom and dad’s 30th wedding anniversary. Kinda weird to be in the tropics over Christmas…

Yesterday, we hiked in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve for a few hours, and saw quite a few birds, including the Quetzal! Pretty cool since it is rare, and I hadn’t seen one during my time here last year. We spotted a female, and waited for quite a while for a male since they are more colorful. Apparently the female sat on her branch for so long because she was digesting her avocado (a much smaller variety than the kind we humans eat), and if we waited long enough we might catch a glimpse of her spitting out the pit. Fascinating stuff…

We saw many varieties of hummingbirds, including this little guy in his nest…

This one was feeding

And this little warbler was mooching

Today, we went on a canopy tour, and man, it was awesome! (that’s me above) In addition to the zip lines—which were super long over the valley (some so long that we had to go two at a time to have enough weight to carry us all the way across)—there was a rappelling section, and then a “tarzan swing.”

That’s Adrian, my brother, bravely jumping off first. Then I had to go, and oh my god, I was so freaked out. I’ll pretty much do anything, but I do not like the sensation of falling—I feel my heart drop even in elevators—but the guide told me not to think about it, and that was that.

This is me falling off (I didn’t jump, the guide just let me go).

And this is me swinging back and forth; it was a huge drop the first couple times the rope swung back and forth…

and a close up because my expression is too good

I was happy I did it though! yay me.

My last week of work was spent in Croatia, putting together our new Dalmatian Coast trip for 2009. I spent a day in Dubrovnik

then took a ferry to Mljet by way of Ston, a little village by the port of Prapatno.

This wall around Ston is the longest one of its kind in all of Europe.

A view from Mljet of some of the tiny islands that dot the coast.

On the island of Mljet, are two large lakes. There is a monastery on an island in one of the lakes, and it is only accessible by boat. I found this engraved symbol on one of the stones on the floor… (It was the only mark I saw on the entire floor, which is why I thought it was curious.)

Back on the mainland, I climbed the wall around town, and this was one of the first views of Ston I had. What a strange landscape with the palm tree in the foreground.

A view of the wall from above


From the top, you can clearly see the salt flats on the right.

A small street in Ston

This is Korcula town, on the island of the same name, a little after sunrise. The town’s claim to fame is being the birthplace of Marco Polo! (I don’t think they are the only ones to claim this though.)

Hvar town seen from the ferry on the way to Hvar island.

Now, I don’t usually do this, but the next few pictures are of the hotel in Hvar town we (Trek Travel) will be using for our trips next year.
Hotel Adriana- Really gorgeous rooms:

and the view from the room

We wrapped up our week of research in Split. It’s amazing to see such prominent Roman ruins right smack in the middle of town.

Sadly the first thing I thought of when I saw this writing was Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Too bad the Vestibul is one of the nicest hotels in the city…

I think what I most liked about walking around the old town was the really cool textures and color I saw everywhere.

And on our last night, we found a movie theater close to our hotel. The new Woody Allen movie, Vicky, Christina, Barcelona was playing—in English! It was awesome to be able to sit in a Woody Allen movie in Split, of all places.

I finally have a second to post some photos since I’m now visiting family in France on the last leg of my European tour this fall. Since my last posting, I spent a couple of weeks working in Puglia, Italy, and then a week doing research around the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia.

The first place we take our guests to in Puglia is the Castellana Grottos, definitely the most amazing I’ve ever seen.

I could only take pictures in the first gallery, but after a couple of kilometers walking down stalactite and stalagmite halls, there is a beautiful room called the White Grotto made almost exclusively of calcium carbonate so it is, as the name implies, completely white. Very cool.

Driving around Puglia, this is a color combination I saw a lot, and that I really like—cool greens and white—very mediterranean.

The walls of Ostuni on the Adriatic.

Diane and Christian, my coguides, took this pic of me talking to some folks on the side of a road lined with olive trees. We were writing routes, and there were little fires all over the place along the road. We stopped when we saw these people so I could ask them what they were doing. It was almost harvest time, and the trees drop a lot of detritus which has to be cleaned off the ground before the olives are shaken off. So the ground is raked in circles and grids around the trees, and the piles are then burned to finish the cleaning.
The woman told me that she’d be in paradise if she could live in a house in the midst of the all the olive trees. Before I left, they gave me a bunch of grapes so I could try some of the local produces (which is all delicious, by the way)
Notice the hand motions and the purple glasses. Yes, I’ve been working in Italy for a while now.

This is like an extreme version of a typical Puglian landscape. The smalls walls are everywhere, but there were more rocks left laying here than anywhere else—a little surreal.

The Ionian Sea on the way back to Otranto.

Yes, this is just the dashboard of our rental car. But note the ignition. That block sticking out of the dash is a rectangular “key” and the small button below it is pressed to start the car. Crazy Alfa Romeo.

The entire floor of the cathedral in Otranto is covered in mosaics. The interesting thing is, it’s a catholic church, but the mosaics represent everything from astronomy, to Greek mythology, to pagan imagery.

The original puss in boots, apparently an image taken from an old Nordic legend…

the harbor in Otranto

Just another cool door with scooters shot

These are the trulli. Typically seen in the Puglian landscape, these were traditionally built without mortar to be easily dismantled when the tax collector came by. If you didn’t own a house, you paid no taxes on it. Smart huh?

Some toy cyclists I used to decorate my awesome Trek Travel picnic lunch

On the picnic table, I also used a small trullo figurine which was given to me by Giuseppe. In a small town called Locorotundo, close to Martina Franca (easier to find on a map) there is a public WC near the park. Giuseppe is the attendant, and he keeps the cleanest and probably the most entertaining public restroom I’ve ever set foot it. There is music playing, and even a small television and magazines in the handicapped stall. When you give him a few centisemi (€ cents in Italian) he presents you with a selection of Locorotundo postcards to choose from. Since we were bringing a whole group to the park for the picnic, I gave him a few Euros tip in advance. He insisted on giving me the trullo figurine.

These are homemade orecchiete, or “little ears” pasta, the most common in the region. They are made by making a roll with dough, slicing off a piece, then running a spoon over it, make it sort of pop into this shape.

Chitara or “guitar”pasta, made by pressing the dough on a device with strings running across it, kind of like a multi-stringed cheese cutter.

Look closely toward the back of the bike… Yes, one gear. This guy’s single speedin’ it cycle touring! Core. Ran into him on the coastal road up toward Otranto.

We took our guests to the best restaurant in Otranto on the last evening of the trip. The entrée was a cuttlefish risotto with a tomato-based sauce- A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

some on-trip shots from the last few weeks…

I still don’t get tired of the Tuscan landscape… This one is in the region around Volterra, which is, as you can see, very dry…

There’s a great view of roman amphitheater ruins in Volterra. I was actually more interested in the wall though…

just kidding! here are the ruins:

Just a little house in Volterra

me somewhere in Tuscany

sorry, couldn’t resist- another Tuscan countryside shot… last one, I promise

The Trek Travel van in all its splendor.

Alvaro is our cooking school chef. He’s actually quite the dirty old man, but don’t tell the guests that. It’s best they don’t understand what he says.

me on my bike, happy

Photo break with some guests on one of my favorite rides in the Chianti–up Monteluco, the highest point in the area

I was so happy they opted to do the whole extended 90 km ride that day. yay for me!

It’s hard work being a guide

lunch time at our friend Fabrizzio’s resto, Bar Dante in Radda in Chianti- We were comparing the color of a Chianti Classico and a Brunello (mmmmm). Really, I was just comparing the color of the wine.

again, hard at work

I wonder if the waiter felt bad for ripping me off for breakfast– €4.30 for a croissant and cappuccino (more than double what I paid the day before)–but I guess you pay for the view…

After a little stroll around the harbor, I headed to a little shop I’d checked out the day before and got a ring I had tried on multiple times. My right hand had been feeling naked.

Got back to my room, packed my things, and went to the station where I bought a ticket for Pisa. I hopped on the train literally a minute later and was on my way. We passed through Carrara where there are marble blocks all over the place, and mountains of the famous stone in the background.

A couple of hours later I got to Pisa, walked 20 minutes to the Piazza dei Miracoli and saw the hilariously crooked tower.

(sorry about the bad lighting–it was noon and the sun was really beating down)

After walking around the Duomo, I headed back down to the station. I thought the baptistry was really beautiful…

After three more trains, I got to Sinalunga, got a gelato (to soothe the sore throat I’d developed that day), and walked about 35 minutes back to the guide house. A half hour later, I was on my bike climbing for 40 minutes to meet Diane and Nate at the second trip hotel, Casabianca. They’d had a picnic that day and had some leftover unopened pecorino, mozzarella, prosciutto, rucola, and tomatoes–definitely worth riding for! 
20 or 30 minutes later I was back at the guide house with my goodies in tow.

Monday, I slept in till almost 8, did some yoga, showered, packed and left my little room to search for some breakfast. Had a cappuccino and croissant and got back on the trail–this time it was much more demanding, and I spent the next couple of hours going up and down on slippery rocks. On my way out of town, I spotted this huge locking mechanism on a church door…

and then made my way through small alleys leading to trail

After about an hour, I arrived to Vernazza where people literally live one on top of one another!

On my way down the narrow steps into town I discovered the secret of delivery men in the Cinque Terre.

I spent about 30 min walking around Vernazza, bought some bread, some goat cheese, and a couple of tomatoes for a picnic, and continuted on the trail to Monterossa, the last town, and the biggest of the five.

On the hike out of town, I learned how the grapes are harvested in the steeply terraced hillsides.

This guy’s little train was stuck.

I overheard him and two others trying to find a solution to the dilemma…

About an hour later I got to Monterossa, walked around town, couldn’t find an available room, and got on a boat back to Vernazza shortly thereafter. There were just way to many tourists there… A ten minute ride, and I was back in the little town. I quickly found a room for rent and was finally able to unload my pack. The room was super cute, with a tiny staircase up to the bathroom…

and I had an interesting view of the alley out my window

nothing is straight in these little villages! After changing out of my sweaty hiking clothes, I took a walk through town. I thought this view of everything hanging outside windows was really cool…

Went back to the room, took a little nap, and went back out for dinner. Found a pizza place, and grabbed a grilled veggie pizza and a beer, which I enjoyed on a rock by the harbor. awesome.

After eating, I hiked straight uphill for at least 20 minutes following some signs for a cemetery–which I never found–and got to a lookout point from where I could see all of Vernazza at sunset. sweet!

On Sunday I finally had some time to chill, so I got up at 5:30, got a ride to Arezzo with Diane and Nate who were starting a trip, and took the train to Florence. I had the intention of spending an hour or two bumming around town with Diane before she met the guests, but it turned out that a train for La Spezia left 30 min later, and there wasn’t an other until a few hours later… Sometime around 11:00 I got to La Spezia, got a ticket to Riomaggiore, the nearest of the Cinque Terre towns, and a few minutes later was on another train headed to the seaside. As soon as we got there, I booked it to the trailhead, got a trailpass, and started walking. I wasn’t the only one there–it seems that everyone and their grandma likes it there too. A few minutes later I got this view of Riomaggiore from “Lovers’ Lane” the mellow walk between Riomaggiore and Manarola, the second town.

About a half hour later and 362 steps uphill I had arrived in Corniglia, the third town. I stopped in the small piazza, and after eating my gorgonzola, tomato, and rucola sandwich I’d brought, meandered down a small alley where I found an organic frozen yogurt shop. I picked up a small cup of yogurt with coffee and chocolate sauce and nuts, and ate it as I continued up the alleyway. After turning a few corners, I found myself on another quiet little street, and saw some signs for rooms for rent. One door was open, and I saw an older woman on the terrace out back. She had a small third floor room available for the night, and I was able to get it for €45, so I was happy. The tile work on the floor was beautiful

and there was even a view

By 3 o’clock I had laid down for a nap, and at 6:40pm I woke up figuring I should get up for a bite to eat (hey, I worked non stop for a few weeks–I was tired!) I found a tiny restaurant, La Cantina di Manana, I think it was called, and had a plate of ravioli filled with some green stuff and covered in a walnut cream sauce, followed by a salad with buffalo mozzarella, then a walnut pie for dessert. It was delicious, and I had good company sitting by me: an anthropologist from Boston and his girlfriend from Alaska who was involved in politics for indigenous cultures as well as culture and language retention programs back home.