Springtime for Hitler...and Germany...

Okay, name where that line is from!  Seriously, I'm not telling you in this post, so comment if you know!  :)  I would like to talk about Germany a little bit, because I have been thinking/talking about visiting this country sometime next fall.  My plan is to have a "little" backpack through Europe type trip next year, I obviously need a starting point, and it's rather convenient that my friend will be studying there all next year!  So, the plan as of now, is to visit her and then do a little traveling (well...I'd hope a lot!) through Europe.  And...I'm also hoping to start learning German very soon, before the semester is out, and I hope to have a basic understanding of the language before I go.

Most attractive, are the opportunities to explore and have "adventures" in Germany.  Historically, there are endless opportunities for sites to see.  Two appealing options include touring The Castle Road, or the German Alpine Road.  Both include amazing sights of Germany.  The Castle Road includes both ancient castles as well as towns throughout your journey on this road.  According to, http://www.cometogermany.com/, the Alpine road offers meadows, gentle hills, craggy mountain peaks, green forests, romantic valleys and sparkling lakes .  Many areas of Germany also offer hiking or other activities.  Whether you want to be active or just relax, there are opportunities for both, just take your pick!

Ciao,

Lauren

Lesotho...wait, where is that?

I am going to make a huge assumption and say that the majority who read this blog, have never heard of Lesotho (officially Kingdom of Lesotho).  I hadn't heard of it myself until a couple years ago.  And because this is a place I know I am actually going, I wanted to do a little investigating and find out more for myself!


Next May, about a week after graduation, I will be spending two weeks in the country of Lesotho on a service trip with a wonderful group through the Office of Community Outreach at BW.  I don't know entirely what to expect yet, as we are still planning details, but I know we will be working with children, which I am so excited about!  This trip has been taken three times before in the past, and I have heard awesome things about it.


Now, for a little bit about this little country.  First of all, you might be thinking...where in the world is this place?  Well, Lesotho is located within South Africa.  Yes, a country within a country.  Here's a little map to give you a visual:

Thanks to CIA, The World Factbook, here are some quick facts about Lesotho:

-About the size of Maryland

-Population: 2,130,819

-Languages include: Sesotho (southern Sotho), English (official), Zulu, Xhosa.

This may or may not come as a surprise, but like the other places I've blogged about, Lesotho is indeed mountainous.  (Yay!)  I love mountains.  Throughout my investigation, I also found that among its 10 districts, there is one called Berea!  What a coincidence.  Like most of Africa, a huge issue in this country is HIV/AIDS, and the life expectancy is often low, with men around age 41, and women at 39.

A few places to see might include:

• Semonkong Falls — these falls near Semonkong drop 200m in single plunge! In summer, you can swim in the pond below while in winter the pond freezes over and an ice enclosure develops around the falls.
• Katse Dam — an impressive dam towering 185m in a narrow valley
• Dinosaur footprints — well-preserved footprints of these terrible lizards exist around the country, the most accessible are near Moyeni & Morija
• Rock art — found in many places throughout the country, the most impressive found within Liphofung Cave

Obviously, this is only a small part of what this country has to offer, and I can't wait to meet the people there, and learn more about the culture, and just...have an experience that I can't even really anticipate.  =)

Maletsunyane Falls

Volunteer...for a vacation?

Previous to...this past summer I guess, I had never really heard of a volunteer vacation.  I knew people went on missions trips to help people whether it was church related or service related, I knew about these trips.  However, when I heard about my friend's trip to Romania to volunteer at an orphanage, I was curious as to what one of these trips would be like.


While you still pay for the trip, you go for a particular reason whether it's manual labor, or in my friend's case, she went to work particularly with the children at the orphanage for three weeks this past summer.  Depending on the organization you choose to go with, the cost will differ as well as the locations.


The organization she chose is called United Planet, which you can check out at, http://www.unitedplanet.org/.  This organization offers a wide range of opportunities, including either short or long term trips, which may also depend upon which country you want to travel to, which is a range of over 40 countries.


So whether Romania and working with children is your interest, or your interest is all the way over to Australia, United Planet would most likely have something to catch your eye.


Also, a book I got at the library a while back, "Frommer's 500 Places Where You Can Make a Difference", is a really great insight to even more opportunities around the world.


Ciao,


Lauren

To Isengard! (Or New Zealand)

For some reason, the fall season always makes me want to watch the Lord of Rings films.  Whether it's because I associate the fall with the first time I watched these movies (I honestly don't even remember when I first saw them), or because this weather seems akin to the sort of weather they experience in Middle Earth, I have this odd, nostalgic longing to watch these movies.  And...you know, if possible I kind of want to visit Middle Earth.  However, you may or may not know this, but Middle Earth does not really exist, at least not in the sense in which J.R.R. Tolkien wrote about I'm sure, so the next best thing?  New Zealand.

All the way on the other side of the world, I can see no better reason to go to New Zealand, other than the fact that the LOTR was filmed there.  Nerdy?  Maybe.  However, from these movies and others that feature this country, it seems like NZ may be one of the best places in the world to have an adventure.

One of the most attractive things about this country is that it is in fact the youngest country on earth.  It has only been around a thousand years since people began inhabiting this land, making this place beautiful and mostly unscathed.

With mountains, beaches, and countryside, it seems no one could go wrong spending some time there.  The climate in New Zealand seems generally, perfect.  In the winter, temperatures are typically, 10-15ºC, approximately 70-75º F.  And to me, well that's just peachy.

Overall, New Zealand is described as a place of peace and relaxation, but also offers opportunities for adventure.  What more could you want?

Ciao,

Lauren


(Also, for those who don't know Lord of the Rings, Isengard is basically a large fortress.)  =)

Wanderlust...lust?

Okay, although this is now my third post, I wanted to give a small explanation for my blog's URL, as well as the title.  The URL, wanderlustisnotlost, was my best attempt in creating a somewhat catchy and hopefully memorable name.  Wanderlust is defined as,"a strong desire for or impulse to wander, or, in modern usage, to travel and to explore the world."  I love this word because this is often how I feel, like I have this impulse or instinct to see all I can see in the world.  And I suppose the other part of that is just that even though I may not have the means to travel and see all the places I want to right now, I'm holding on to this desire.


The title, for those who do not know, is a quote by J.R.R. Tolkien:

“Not all those who wander are lost.”  

And while it would be easy to sum this up in one sentence and say that it's natural to have curiousities, and sometimes those who wander already know where they are, but they have a desire to see more, I think this quote is open to interpretation for every individual.

And the quote on my page, while somewhat cheesy, is also very true.  Why would you only read one page of a book?  Unless you read one page and decide that you couldn't possibly make it through another page without keeling over in distress.  But for those who love books and the written word, reading only one page would be a tragedy.  And so for me, would be staying in one place my entire life.

Ciao,

Lauren

P.S.-Also for anyone wondering...the photo that appears at the top of the page is a picture I took one day when I was leaving the house I stayed at in Granada.  Yes.  I could see the Sierra Nevadas from the front door.  :)

Destination: Machu Picchu

Leaving Europe altogether, one place I have never been and have always wanted to go is South America, and specifically, Machu Picchu in Peru.  My desire to see this location is based on a couple things, one I love anything historical, and two, if you see a picture of this place...it looks absolutely amazing!

Built in the 1400's, this empire was abandoned when the Spanish arrived.  The site was unknown to most of the world until 1911.  Of course, now it has become a very popular tourist site and people come from all over the world to see this place.

As someone who loves mountains (ahem, Granada...), this location is very appealing to me.  Machu Picchu is still preserved as it was when it was built, where as other cultural landmarks were ruined during the Spanish Conquest.

Most interesting about this place, is that tourism has become a huge threat to Machu Picchu, as the number of visitors have increased each year, an attempt was made to make the area more touristy with an addition of a cable car and shops, however this was opposed by local Peruvians in fear that the ruins would suffer because of the increase of visitors this would cause, and the plan never followed through.

So while I've never visited this historical and beautiful place, I fully intend to venture up into these ancient ruins one day (hopefully sooner rather than later).


Ciao,


Lauren

The Rain In Spain Falls Mainly On The Plain

Since this is my first post, I thought I would write about a place that I have not only been, but I have fallen in love with.  This past summer, I studied in Granada, Spain for five weeks.  To some, this may seem like a long time, but believe me, no set amount of time would be enough.  While I love Spain as a whole, my heart belongs to Granada.  Surrounded by the majestic Sierra Nevada Mountains, nothing can compare to this place (at least according to my limited travel experience).


I decided to go to Spain mainly because I have a minor in Spanish, so I knew that the language would be something very challenging for me.  English is not commonly spoken, and if it is, it is often very broken English.  Not only this, but in the southern region of Spain, Andalusia, the people have very thick accents and their Spanish sounds nothing like what the typical American student learns in high school or college.


Of course a huge part of visiting another country, especially a European country, is experiencing culture shock, and if you spend any amount of time in Spain, this will most certainly happen.  Whether it's frustration with the exclusive use of Spanish or the different foods served in restaurants, when you stay in Spain, you must adapt to the culture.  For example, ham and potatoes are two foods that are served in or with a lot of meals, and somehow, Spaniards never seem to get tired of eating ham, and the mention of not liking ham is somewhat shocking to them.


As this post is already getting long, I'll give a few key things to do when visiting Granada:


-Go eat tapas!  You buy a drink, and receive food, kind of like a snack along with it (FOR FREE!), this is something unique to Granada, tapas do not come free anywhere else in Spain.
-Dance at a discoteca.  While this is essentially a club, nothing compares to dancing in a foreign place, especially Spain.
-Visit the Sierra Nevadas, whether it's hiking or paragliding (which is what I did!), you should have an up close and personal experience with these lovely mountains.

Paragliding.

-See a flamenco show.  Whether you enjoy dancing or not, flamenco is beautiful and a very intense experience.
-Visit the Albaicin and Alhambra.  Visit the links to find out more about these historical sites.

View of La Alhambra at night from the Albaicin.

I could write forever about Granada and Spain in general, but hopefully you have at least an idea of how awesome this place is.


Ciao for now,


Lauren