Notebook of Words & Images, People & Places
by Mariah Prescott
RacingJunk.com – Article published here
April 7, 2015
Every year since 1990, 300 women from all over the world head to Morocco to compete in the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles. It is the only all women’s off-road rally in the world. Armed only with a compass and map, participants choose their own route to reach the finish line but must drive the shortest distance to win.
December 27, 2012: Took two buses a few towns over to Lund and explored the old culture and beautiful city. Definitely worth another visit.
From our cozy little carriage house near Staffanstorp to the city of Lund wasn’t far, but with the bus, it seemed pretty far. In comparison to distance and transport at home, it wouldn’t be much more different than driving versus taking the bus from Northampton (Massachusetts) to Amherst. Our day started before sunrise as usual, but that’s not hard to do in Northern Europe during winter, and began with a ten-minute walk through the silent hamlet, we were staying in. The traditional stucco houses with clay tile roofs, enclosed by cute garden fences only 2-3′ tall, the little village was surrounded by fields for miles. Continue reading “Day Trip: Lund, Sweden”
With no other real reason to get up, I decided to attempt a Christmas breakfast; I had secretly bought gluten-free pancake mix the day before with the hopes of conjuring home holiday spirit. Although it was nice to have something homey, the gluten-free blobs were extra tasteless without syrup or jam or home, so we made do with crunchy peanut butter, courtesy of Mrs. Fancy. The day wasn’t anything special, filled with hot chocolate, Christmas movies, relaxing, and a wonderful walk through the countryside before sunset around 3. The whole experience was surreal. We’d look at each other and say, “Can you believe we’re in Sweden? This is wild.” Continue reading “Christmas Day in Sweden”
We got to our cottage in the dark cold and left early the next morning in the cold dark. Already in Sweden, we decided that it was worth it to take a four-hour high-speed train north to Stockholm; because, the chance of us coming back to anytime soon was slim. Drinking coffee at the Malmö train station, Ashton and I looked at each other and said, “What are we, nuts? Who are we going to Stockholm four hours away?!… Nah! It’s worth it.” And it was. It was the best way to see all of beautiful Sweden: the snowy countryside, evergreens, flat south giving way to rolling hills, all complete with falling snow. Continue reading “Day Trip: Stockholm”
I have drafts and I have drafts of things I would like to post and tell about. The issue is that it takes time and mental space do to that. In the past two weeks I have given a final presentation for my Smith Orientation Program, been to Berlin, and now am in the midst of orientation at the university. Boy do I have great things to talk about, but I am going to let you go see for yourself and hope that I will have a window to tell you a bit about all of this soon. It has been just about six weeks and I can’t even believe that. I miss New England fall, among other things, but I put that aside and enjoy my time here.
Sundays in Germany are unlike in the U.S. Everything is closed in Germany. It is a tradition that lives on, although many say it’s fading and won’t last. People are everywhere on Sundays though, they walk, bike, relax, window shop for when the stores are open. I have even seen a furniture store advertise that it was open, but only for viewing their items- It’s illegal to sell things. I got up around 9 and made a plan to go running. I couldn’t sleep past 10 even if I wanted to because the church bells outside my window ring for a good thirty minutes. I took the bus the 3 kilometers into the city to the Alster, a river that has been dammed into a lake, and started the 7k run around the perimeter. At 10 there were a decent amount of people, but as it got later, more and more and more walkers, joggers, and bikers piled onto the path. It was incredible. I stopped (more than I would have liked to, training-wise,) to take some photos and got very excited to come back with my real camera to get some great shots. After spending two hours around the lake and the city, I have a great appreciation for it and hope to be rowing and sailing on it at some point this year. Continue reading “Sonntags”
