Where In The World Is Ashley Now?

Vancouver to San Fransico Road Trip

2011-09-14T20:41:00.001-07:00

The Stone Man, Vancouver.

Seattle Above Ground

South America Day 7: What A Great Decision

2010-10-25T17:51:00.000-07:00

Tena to Banos

Oct 18, 2010

South American Travels

We woke up farily early, still tired. We were suppose to meet the girls we met the night before for breakfest. We got ready and headed over to thier hostel. We had a lovely breakfest. After telling the girls that we decided to leave, we all went to our hostel so they could book their jungle tour. They left to pack and we went to get some supplies for the bus ride. When we got back it was about the time need to leave so we could also do a video. We left the hostel looking like pack muels and headed for the bus station. Oh by the way our hostel guy gave us direction to go straight and you can´t miss it. You will see the busses he says! YEAH RIGHT. We walked about 10 minutes too far and had to take a taxi to the station or we would have missed the bus.

The bus ride could have been better, but ofcourse there weren´t any bathrooms and they didn´t stop. The bus ride was right at my limit for holding it. I probably could hold it longer if it was so crazy bumpy! Anyway we made it there at around 2pm or so. We didn´t know where the hostel, that they ladies recomended, was so we just started walking and asked along the way. When we finally got to the hostel we were disappointed because it was expensive. We couldn´t afford anything like that so we had to keep walking!

We stumbled upon a hostel that was much for affordable but still nice.

South America Day 6: A Change Of Mind

2010-10-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

Tena, Ecuador

Oct 17 & 18, 2010

South American Travels

We had decided to go to Tena after church so that we could explore the amazon. We caught a bus at about 1pm and it took ruffly 5 hours to get there and cost $6 per person. We arrived at 6pm and got off the bus at a hostel. We hadn´t booked one before we arrived, so we had to just check prices and choose one. It was right during the dead season so our room cost 14 dollars for two people, but wasn´t much too look at.

We went out for a walk and stumbled upon the only other 4 gringos in town. We talked for a while and made plans to meet up with them for breakfest. Back at the hostel we had a change of mind. We decided not to go on a Amazon tour. We just weren´t feeling it. We just wanted to relax for a while and not travel around. So we decided to leave the next day for Banos. It took me a while to fall asleep that night because I kept thinking there were bed bugs! Don´t worry, there weren´t.

It was a rather unevenful day, the first, but probably not the last!

South America Day 5: Quito, Ecuador

2010-10-16T18:16:00.000-07:00

What An Amazing City

October 16, 2010

South American Travels

Grand Plaza

I continue to be shocked by what I find in Ecuador. We went out exploring the city today. We took the electric bus, which costs 25 cents per person, to the Old Town. Wow, old town was really beautiful. The old town looks very European and has a great vibe.

We walked around taking it all in! We stopped at this little restaurant to get tamales. I had a sweet one with chicken, which a lady told me, is an popular Ecuadorian dish. We pooped in and out of little shops all day long. Everything in Ecuador is really cheap and you can find anything you need.

After eating the above food! We walked to the Grand Plaza. We walked around the plaza, people watching and then moved on to another area of Old town. We went by many churches, shoppes, bakeries, and a movie theater! By this time we were a little worn out and decided to walk back toward our hostel. We didn't get very far when it started sprinkling, so we hoped on an electric bus.

We took the bus back toward our hostel. We went to a book store in the Mariscal district, called Confederate Books, which has the largest collection of English books in South America! It started pouring rain so we went down the street to Mama Clorinda, which has amazing local food. I got an empanada with chicken and Davina got a dish that started with a Q! I can't remember! See picture below!

We headed home as soon as the rain died down. Then we have just been hanging out at the hostel watching friends and putting this blog up! Tomorrow we will go to church, then head to Tena! Can't wait!

South America Day 4: Entering Ecuador

2010-10-16T16:51:00.001-07:00

The Border To Quito

October 15, 2010

South American Travels

We literally Walked Across The Border!

22 hours over... 5 more to go! We arrived in Ipiales at 6:30am, then took a taxi to the border. There we did our immigration stuff and walked across the border. On the Ecuador side we also had to go through immigration. After we got our stamps, we took a micro to Tulcan, a border city with buses to Quito. The border crossing was interesting because it didn't even seem like anyone cared whether or not we had a stamp in our passports! We could have easily just walked across and not gone through immigration! Or so we thought, until our bus got searched by the police multiple times and they asked for our passports, checking to see if we had stamps!

When we got to Tulcan, we found a bus leaving right away for Quito. The trip took about 5 hours and was beautiful. The bus wasn't as nice as the one in Colombia, especially since there were no toilets! So we had to go at a burger place when they stopped long enough! We arrived in Quito at 1:00pm. From the bus station we took a taxi to a hostel we found online. The Travellers Inn hostel is located in the Mariscal district.

We love our hostel! It's clean, quite and the staff is knowledgeable! After we got settled in, we went to explore the area around our hostel. We went to the fresh food market and then to eat dinner. We chose a cheap Chinese restaurant and it was delicious! Then we did some grocery shopping! We also found that Ecuador has amazing pastries! YUM! It was a long journey to get to Quito, but well worth it, we love Ecuador. Tomorrow we go exploring the city!

Follow along as we travel through Ecuador!

South America Day 3: Colombia Country Side!

2010-10-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

22 Hour Bus Ride Through Colombia!

October 14, 2010

South American Travels

This is the route we took during our long bus ride!

I know what your thinking!! Crazy! Well my sister and I didn't plan before we came to South America! So we didn't realize that everything was far because the countries are big! So we didn't know that it would take us 24 hours to get to the border of Colombia and Ecuador! We had to make a decision on whether or not we wanted to see a few cities in each country or do a few countries and a lot of cities. So we chose few countries, many cites.

After making that decision we decided that we wanted to spend most of our time in Ecuador and Peru. So we planned a bus ride straight through Colombia to the border. We got up in the morning and wasn't quite sure what time the bus left. We left for the bus station at around 6am. We got there in perfect time to find a bus leaving at 7:30 to the Border city of Ipiales. It was a direct bus costing about $50 each, lasting 22 hours.

On the map above you can see the cities we passed through. The bus ride was beautiful, but slow at times due to traffic and construction. We slept a little here and there, but mostly talked. The bus was nice, with a bathroom and reclining seats. They also played The Patriot! Which was an interesting choice of movie for a bus ride! We stopped for lunch at around 1:00, in which I had soup and salad. Other wise they didn't really stop, except to let people on and off.

We ended up falling asleep for the night at around 9pm. I was surprised by how much sleep I actually got. I only woke up a few times here and there. Mostly because it was FREEZING on the bus! We didn't even arrive at the border until 6:30am, the next day! I was surprised to find that it wasn't that bad of a bus ride, considering how long it really was!

Colombia was expensive, but rather well put together.

South America Day 2: Bogota

2010-10-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

City Sight Seeing

October 13, 2010
South American Travels

The View From Hill Of Monserrate.

Today was an interesting day. We slept in a little, well actually we woke up at 6, and then went back to sleep! At 9am we decided to get up and get some stuff done. So we did my blog, yoga, ate breakfest, read, wrote, talked with our dad, got dressed and left the hostel at around 12:30!

We didn't have a map or any notion of where we wanted to go. So we basically just started walking. On our walk we noticed a tram that let up to a high peak that over looks all of Bogota. So we walked toward that. We asked for directions and after some navigating we made it. We paid about 6 bucks each to go up and back.

The view up there was fantasic. See first picture and the picture above! That is what it was like. We didn't realize Bogota was so expansive and vast. It was a little cold at the top but over all a very lovely day. After spending a few hours on the top of The Hill Monserrate, we walked back down to the city. We walked and talked, while somehow navigating our way back toward the hostel.

We stopped at a supermarket and got some much needed supplies, such as toothpaste and a lighter (for the stove!)! Then we ask a travel agency about how to get to Equador. He told us that we would have to go to the border city, then cross over there, and then take another bus to Quito.

After we left him, we decided to get some food. However, everything we passed didn't really look all that great, except for Crapes & Waffels. So we got a waffel there and then walked back to the hostel. We ate some leftovers for dinner and then just hungout, and planned our next day trip to the border city! A simple, but nice day!

And the fun continues!

South America Day 1: NYC - Bogota

2010-10-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

Over The Ocean
October 12, 2010

South American Travels

We left NYC at 11 am only to arrive in Miami at 2:30pm. We had to do an emercancy landing for some unkown reason. We waited for them to tell us what to do for what seemed like hours. Finally at around 4pm, they told us that there was a flight to Bogota at 5pm. It was kind of fun, because we got to skip tot he head of the line in secutrity and rush to the gate. We made it with plenty of time to spare!

We actually landed at 7:15 which is at about the same time we would have anyway! We went through customs and exchanged some currency. Then we headed out to get a taxi. I was surprised that only one person asked us if we needed a taxi! We got our taxi and were are our way! It took us about 30 minutes to get to Hostel Fatima. Our hostel is alright. We have a private room which is nice but you can hear everything that goes on downstairs. All in all I would say the first day was successful!

Lets see what day 2 brings...

South America... Here We Come!

2010-09-17T08:58:00.001-07:00

My sister and I have many reasons in why we decided to go to South America. First, I wanted to "Stick It To The Man" and secondly my sister wanted to finish writing her book, A Year In My Dreams. We have no set plans just a plane ticket and two hostel reservations! The rest is up to God. Follow us on our journey, exciting things are bound to happen!

Finally at Site!

2009-08-25T09:47:00.000-07:00

My Home in Nicaragua! Located in Chinandega

Here are some pictures of where I live.
I really love my town. Its medium size, beach town and its hot!

The little shop located next to my house!

Where we get smoothies!

A random street!

Another Random Street!

This kids acts like he is 20, he is always walking around

Inside of my house!

Official Volunteers

2009-08-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

Swearing-In
July 31, 2009
Intercontental Hotel, Managua

To become an official volunteer you have to be sworn-in, much like the president, except that we didn’t have the entire nation watching; just a few reps from various organizations, PC staff and our Nica host families. It was held at the Intercontental Hotel in Managua. They provided us with a light snack before with some drinks and then we began the ceremony.

They welcomed everybody, oh yeah this was all in Spanish, by the way, and then they gave awards of recognition to your families for hosting us. After that, 2 volunteers gave a quick speech of thanks and gratitude, to the families. Then 4 of the Agriculture volunteers sang a song called Dale Una Luz, (I’m going to try and get the video). Then we had a short recess where we had more drinks and a snack.

After the recess we sat in order of which they were going to call our names and the actual swearing in process began. We sang the national anthem of Nicaragua first (see below) and then the national anthem of the USA. Then the Ministry of Education gave a speech and then swore us in, in Spanish (which, for me really didn’t count!). But it was funny because we had to repeat what he had said, and he said a really long part, and nobody could repeat it so we just laughed and he said it again, but in smaller parts!

Then a representative from the Embassy gave a speech in English, which I enjoyed much more, and then he swore us in (see the oath below). After that, they called our names individually and we walked up, shook hands, received a Peace Corps pendent, and then signed our names into a book (not sure what the book was!). It seemed like graduation! We took a lot of pictures and ate cake and chatted, and then we headed back to our hotel. It started at around 8am and ended at 11am. It was weird how much work we had to do to get to that point and it was over in a flash! Crazy!

Himno Nacional de Nicaragua
!Salve a ti Nicaragua! En tu suelo
ya no ruge la voz del cañón
ni se tiñe con sangre de hermanos
tu glorioso pendón bicolor.

Brille hermosa la paz en tu cielo,
nada empañe tu gloria inmortal,
que el trabajo es tu digno laurel
y el honor es tu enseña triunfal.

Swearing-In Oath
In the name of God and for the understanding and friendship among people and Nations, I solemnly promise to work with dedication and enthusiasm in the task that are assigned to me, during two years, or during the time that I may stay in the country.

I promise to strive to secure bonds for affections and solidarity with the Nicaraguan people through mutual respect and sincere vocation of service.

For God, for Country, for Peace.

4th of July in Granada, Nicaragua

2009-07-11T13:10:00.004-07:00

Granada, Nicaragua

July 4th, 2009

It looks like Europe Here!

Jose, Igor, Sol, Jenifer and I went to Granada on Saturday for the day. We took a bus and arrived there in the morning at around 9. Right away we went to Kathy’s waffle house to have breakfast. It was just like an American breakfast. I had a plan waffle and Jose had eggs, bacon and home fries, we shared everything and it was delicious!

We were there for about an hour and a half. After breakfast we walked to the San Francisco convent and then we just walked around the city. We walked down to the lake and sat there for a while. After the lake we went back into the city and went to the old church. We sat in the church for a while, before searching for lunch. We ended up eating lunch at this place called the Garden cafe. It was great light food and they had the best smoothies. We were getting a little tired of walking around and it was hot, so we took the bus back at around 3pm.

Volcan Masaya With The Gang

2009-07-11T13:10:00.003-07:00

Volcan Masaya

June 27, 2009

Ah Yeah It's Still Acitve!!

My training group had a technical session at the visitor center at the bottom of Vulcan Masaya, which is located in the department of Masaya. It is one of the many active volcanoes in Nicaragua, but not the biggest. After the technical session they took us up to the volcano. The volcano was releasing a lot of smoke, but we couldn’t see any lava.

We walked up to the lookout point and had a great view of Masaya. We hung out at the lookout for a while and then headed back to the van for a snack. After the snack we busted out José’s jump ropes and we all played double Dutch. It was funny watching people try and jump into the double Dutch. We left shortly after that and headed back to our training towns.

Volunteer Site Visit

2009-07-11T13:10:00.001-07:00

Estelí

June 14-17 2009

What a beautiful city!

We were assigned sites to visit volunteers and see what volunteer life was like. I went to the department of Estelí. It was beautiful, hilly, and very green. I had to take a bus from Managua to Estelí and it took about 2 hours. I arrived on Sunday and left on Wednesday. It was a vacation because we didn’t really have anything to do. Her classes were cancelled and so we had a lot of down time.

She showed me around her town and I met a lot of people that she worked with. It was nice to see what life was like after training. She was only a month away from leaving so she was winding down on her work. The point of the visit was to help us decided what we do and don’t want in a site. After that visit I decided that I wanted a mid-big size site, with less teaching and more potential for secondary projects. What will I get….?

a dog feeding a kitten.. you dont see that everyday!

At A Finca With Our Youth Group!

2009-07-11T13:03:00.000-07:00

The Finca & The Youth Group

June 1, 2009

The Finca (AKA someone's back yard!)

Our Youth group invited us to a Finca, which is like a fruit farm. One of the girls in our group lives on a Finca. It took our training town (Juan, Igor, Jenifer and I) 30 minutes to walk there. Lucky for us had a guide to get to her house otherwise we would have never found it! At her house they gave us some cacao juice that tasted like chocolate and coconut. After our juice, we walked around and they showed us all the different types of fruits that grow there.

We tried fresh coconut, Mangos, and other fruits that I don’t know the name too! We walked further and further into the forest, down toward the lagoon. We passed a bunch of Monkeys and tried a lot of different types of fruits along the way. We didn’t make it all the way to the lagoon, thank goodness, but we make it too this pool that is at the bottom of a small waterfall. The kids were great, teaching us all about the forest and fruits! We probably spent 3 hours total at the Fina, before going back home.

Cacao Juice... UMMMM

Cutting the Coco!

Crazy Monkies Video!

A Rondom Religious Procession!

My Town and Daily Life

2009-05-21T17:45:00.000-07:00

San Juan, Nicaragua
May 16-July 31st 2009

The main street in my town!!

I am living with my host family now! They are a well to do family and very nice. I have a nice room with a queen size bed!! YAY I have my mosquito net up. ( i will post pictures on my blog soon) The town is small and you can walk the entire thing in like 20 minutes! I shower using buckets! So i splash the water over me, and then dip my hair in another one!! We flush the toilet with buckets of water, and we don't put toilet paper in the toilet. I have cable tv with lots of channels that play movies and shows in english, with spanish subtitiles!! The internet cafe is right next to my house!!

Most days this week have been as follows:

Wake up at 7am get ready
Eat fruit, or eggs with beans and toast at 7:30 (we are having pancakes on Saturday!)
Spanish class is from 8-12
Lunch at 12, Rice, chicken, beans...
Applied Spanish from 1-3 (walk around and talk with people)
Shower by bucket
Work with group on homework, readings or prep for next class
Go for a walk to neighboring towns

Next week we will start a youth group and begin giving lessons (in spanish.. ahhh) on business and start our project with them. (creating a product or service to compete in the product fair!)

The days are long but its good because we are kept busy and then time goes by faster. I think my Spanish is improving, but I feel like such a child. I get frustrated trying to get my point across!

GUESS WHAT!!! I already got sick! they think it was food poisoning!! I had massive diarrhea and i was vomiting! I had to give a stool sample and that was amusing because the laboratory place didn't have a bathroom. So we were going door to door asking if I could use their bathroom. So i had to collect a sample of diarrhea in the most unsanitary conditions!! It was hilarious!!! I now get to check food poising off the list of possible illnesses!! I expect to go through them all! It only makes me stronger!!! At least I had the Peace Corps backing me!! They drove me around and talked to everyone and got my medicine and then called me like 20 times to make sure I was getting better!!

Until next time....

Retreat in Managua

2009-05-18T14:58:00.001-07:00

Peace Corps Retreat in Managua

May 13-16 2009

Retreat area with a few buildings and surrounded by a barbed wire fence!

I am glad to say that I have finally made it, and I'm now a Peace Corps trainee! I still have a long way to go before I can become an official volunteer, but at least I have made it to Nicaragua.
Staging on Tuesday (in DC) went well and it was fun meeting a lot of great people. The early flight to Managua on Wednesday went by flawlessly! We arrived in Managua and were greeted by Peace Corps staff! They loaded up our luggage and bussed us to our Retreat site, just outside the City.

For the rest of Wednesday and all of thrusday we spent the day going over rules, regulations, formalities and what to expect at the training sites. We had to do our language interviews and lets just say mine was funny! I was using a lot of German words mixed in with broken Spanish! It doesn't matter, what is important, is being placed in the right groups according to your language skills so that you can learn more efficiently!

On Friday we went over more information and took a tour of Managua. Then on Saturday we were taken to our designated training sites and met our host families. We will be living with our host families and be in small groups of 4 people per town (the towns are close by so we can all meet up). We will then meet up each week with other business volunteers and do a group training. Training will last for 11 weeks.

More to come about how my time has been in my new city!!

Peace Corps Intro

2009-01-08T13:45:00.001-08:00

My Adventures as a Peace Corps Volunteer!

I will be starting a new adventure this year as a Peace Corps Volunteer!!!

Where: Nicaragua, Central America. (I may live in a small town or big city, depending on need!)

When: Official Service: August 1, 2009- July 31st, 2011 (I leave home on May 12, 2009 for staging, then I leave the states on the May 13 for a 10 week training program in Nicaragua, before service starts.)

What: Program: Small Business Development Job: Small Business Educator/Advisor. (I will be teaching business at a high school or secondary school. I will also be giving lectures to local business owners and providing advice as well as technical training and support. Furthermore, I will work with university students to provide mentors for my high school students. I will also be working with business owners to create internships for students interested in business as a career. and much more!)

How: Main mode of transport will depend on my location it could be by bike, on foot, bus, or even by horse (which would be sweet)! I will teach business in Spanish... AHHHH. I am very excited to be able to help people, while putting my education to good use and learning another language! It is similar to most jobs, I work 9-5 (theatrically), 7 days a week, have vacation, get paid (through living expenses), but it will be hands on and the daily work will vary!

Visiting: Anyone is welcome to come and visit me. I will put you to work and show you what I have learned about the country and people. If you are thinking of visiting, it would have to be after the end of September 2009. But we can discuss that when the time comes!!!

For more information about the Peace Corps go to http://www.peacecorps.gov/ .

Change of plans again! I was initially suppose to be going to Madagascar in February 2009, however it was delayed a month until March 9th. Now however, it has been cancelled due to political differences within the country. I have been re-assigned to Nicaragua, which I am very excited about!

I will keep everyone up-to-date as best as possible while serving. I will send out another letter to friends and family, with Nicaragua information in it!. If you do have anymore questions please feel free to email me.

Wish me luck and come and visit!!

2008 Recap!

2009-01-01T10:35:00.001-08:00

Another year of amazing adventures and travels has gone by. I went to 33 countries this year, which is 20 more than last year!! I had an amazing time in Germany and living in Europe. Once again I was lucky to be able to travel as much as I did. Its good to be back in the States though! I hope 2009 brings as much excitement as 2008 did. I'm sure that will happen since I will be in Madagascar serving as a Peace Corp Volunteer. I will keep everyone updated during my service, so keep coming to this blog to stay updated!!

Thank You 2008! Welcome 2009!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qLRx43B8ks

Morocco

2008-11-26T09:08:00.000-08:00

Marrakech

November 20-25th 2008

A view of Place Jamaa el Fna from a terrace resturant at night!

Day 1
The trip to Morocco started in Reutlingen, Germany at 1:45am. Travis, Rogier, Victoria, Priscilla and I piled into a rented car and drove to Frankfurt Hahn Airport to catch our flight. I drove the 3 hours it took to get to the airport and I had a blast. At 3am there aren’t many drivers out on the road and Germany doesn’t have speed limits on the autobahns, in most cases. We had a nice Mercedes and I got that baby up to 200km/hr or 125miles/hr. Anyway we got to the airport about 2 hours early, checked in and went to our gate. We boarded a little late but we arrived in Marrakech 20 minutes early. We took bus 19 to the city center which took about 30min. Once off the bus we had no idea how to get to our hostel, the Equity Point Marrakech. This guy came up to us and told us that he new where our hostel was. We were a little skeptic, but there were 5 of us and 1 of him and it was day time; so we followed him. As we were walking, we picked up two more people staying at our hostel. We followed the guy to our hostel, through the souks, and random alleys, which made us a little nervous. But he got us there safely and wanted us to pay him 10euros, which was ridiculous so we paid him 4euros!
We couldn’t check into our room at the hostel, so we had to put our stuff down and check in later. We went out to explore the city and taking it all in. The first day was the craziest and very overwhelming. We ate lunch at a restaurant suggested in lonely planet and it was delicious. It was a great introduction into the Morocco food culture. After lunch we went back to the hostel to check in and relax. We hung out there for a while, playing cards or reading. At around 6pm we went out to find dinner. The first night there, we learned that at around sunset the market square gets crazy. Donkeys come in bringing food stalls, food, and gas powered grills. They are known as El-Fna Food Stalls and there were about 30 of them. The workers harass you until you sit down and eat at their stall. If you don’t choose theirs then they can get pretty nasty. Anyway we sat at one table and ordered a variety of dishes; from salads and fries to meats, calamari, fish fillets and dessert. After our meal we went back to the hostel and hung out before going to bed.

Day 2
We slept in as much as we could, but we still ended up waking up early. We ate breakfast, which consisted of bread, jam, cream cheese and orange juice. After breakfast we all got ready and then headed out. We were headed for the train station so that we could buy our tickets for the next’s day’s trip to Casablanca. We walked back to the main bus stop, got money out at the bank and then got on the bus. We got off the bus at the wrong stop so we had to walk about a mile to the train station. Once there we bought our tickets and then decided to continue to walk to see other sights. We walked down Ave Med VI to Ave de la Menara and went to the Menara, which is close to the airport. La Menara wasn’t anything special except the large “pool” behind the building that had some massive fish. We thought it might be nice to go swimming, but after seeing those fish we thought they might eat us! After resting there for a while we walked back toward city center coming to the fancier part of Marrakech. It was full of nice houses, large hotels and country clubs/spas. We had lunch at a famous restaurant called, Alizia, which is a mix of Italian and Moroccan food. After that we walked back to the city center and then down to the Royal Palace and Palais Badi. We couldn’t really get into the palaces so we just rested for a while in a courtyard, which was full of westerners, and then headed back to our hostel. We relaxed a little at our hostel and played cards. For dinner we went to a restaurant that was suggested by the hostel. Mabrouka restaurant was very nice and close to our hostel which was near the market. They had live music and good food. The only thing that was annoying to my friends was the amount of cats that were just walking around and staring at you while you ate! It didn’t really bother me, as my family has a lot of cats. After dinner we walked around the market square and souks until we ended up at our hostel. Then we played mad libs and went then went to bed.

Day 3
We had to wake up early to catch our train to Casablanca. So we woke up at 7am, everyone showered, got breakfast to go and then walked to the bus stop. We took bus 66 to the train station and were right on time. Our train was already there so we boarded and looked for an empty cabin. We left on time and we had a nice train ride, but it took longer than we expected to get there. (See Casablanca for more details.) We got back to Marrakech at around 10pm and there were no busses running so we had to take a cab. The cab situation was a little sketchy. With five people it’s a little more difficult to get a cab. We managed to find one, after being sketched out by this guy who wanted to take us in his van! Anyway, we finally made it to the hostel and went to bed.

Day 4
We didn’t really have anything planned for the day except souks shopping!! We woke up, got breakfast, then got ready and headed out at around 10am. It was so much fun just walking around and looking at all the stuff. It’s crazy to see how much stuff they sell, especially when you can walk 40 yards and see the exact same thing being sold at another shop. The plethora of shops works to your advantage. You can bargain at one shop, and if you don’t get the price you want, you can go to another shop and try your luck there! We walked and shopped for hours. We got a little lost and ended up at Palais Baha, which is really far from the main souks. We had lunch in a courtyard (the one with all the westerners) at a restaurant near the Royal palace, and then walked back toward our hostel within the souks. We bought a couple more things along the way to our hostel. At the hostel we relaxed, played cards and checked out our merchandise. Later around dinner time we went back out to find dinner. We ate at Hotel Ali, which had a huge “all you can eat” Moroccan buffet. It was delicious but not worth the price, since you can’t really eat 80dh (8euros) worth of Moroccan food! After dinner we walked around a little and then went to our hostel for the night.

Day 5
We had planned to go to Essaoura, a coastal city about 3 hours from Marrakech. We woke up early and took the bus to the train station. We found the bus to Essaoura, but it was sold out, so we were stuck in Marrakech. We went back to the hostel and ate breakfast and went out to get some last souvenirs/gifts. Once again we spent most of the day just walking around the souks. It really didn’t get old, I had such a good time talking to the locals and bargaining. For our last lunch we ate at a shawarma restaurant, and then we went back to the hostel. We played charades and cards while sitting outside and enjoying the sun. When it got dark we went to the market and ate on the rooftop terrace at Argana café. We had a beautiful view of the Place Jama El Fna (market square) and la Koutoubia Mosque. After dinner the girls got henna tattoos and the boys drank some OJ! Then we went back to our hostel after getting some snacks for the next’s day’s plan ride/drive. At the hostel we repacked showered and then went to bed.

Day 6
It was another early morning and a long day for us. We caught the bus to the airport at 7:20am and arrived at around 8am. We waited in line and checked in. Then we waited in line again to go through security, which was sectioned off into a male line and a female line! Then we had to wait in line again to go through passport control. After passport control we found our gate, and guess what, we waited in line again! Awesome! We took off relatively on time and landed on time as well. In Frankfurt we had to pick up our car to drive to Reutlingen. I was suppose to drive on the way back but the lady didn’t know what my Arizona’s drivers license’s code meant, so she wouldn’t let me; even though I had already driven to Frankfurt and I explained to her what it meat. Needless to say Germany is not known for customer service and she was a total jerk. Well we got the car and were on our way to Reutlingen by 3pm. We stopped at McDonalds for lunch/dinner. We were home by 6:30pm.

Morocco/Marrakech was a 3.5. I had a great time in Morocco. Good company, great weather, interesting culture, and amazing food. We saw a lot of tourist, but we also mingled with the locals. The people were very friendly and open, but aggressive. When you are shopping and or deciding where to eat dinner, be prepared to be surrounded, persuaded and then possible dragged to the destination. They won’t hurt you; they are just trying to make a living. Many of the locals thought Victoria, Priscilla and I were Moroccan and would speak to us in French or Arabic until they learned otherwise! It was a great Ice breaker though. The locals also loved to talk about Obama; they love him, especially his skin color! I would go back to Morocco in a second and explore the other cities such as Tangier, fes, Rabat and take a trip to the Sahara. I would recommend Morocco as an exotic travel destination to anyone!

Casablanca

November 22nd 2008

Hassan II mosque is the third largest in the world and it is massive!

Day Trip

Casablanca was a 2.5. It was interesting but the Souks weren't as cool as in Marrakech and there weren't as many sights either.

Malta

2008-10-21T10:25:00.000-07:00

Sliema and Valletta

October 18th-21st 2008

View from St. Elimo's Fortress, Valletta, Malta!

Day 1

This trip started on a Saturday in Reutlingen, with just myself and my backpack! I took a 2:49pm bus to Stuttgart airport. I checked in, boarded the plane and were airborne on schedule at 4:30pm. We landed in Malta after a rather long and uneventful flight. Although I had read the entire flight and wasn't actually bored, the flight still seemed long. I think it's becuase I hadn't been on a 2.5 hour flight in a really long time! Anyway, after landing I left throught the arrivals gate expecting to find my pre-arragnged ride, but was dissapointed when I saw that he was nowhere to be found. So I had to call the hostel to see what the deal was and they told me he would be there in 20 min. Which meant that he was leaving now, and was not stuck in traffic! I was starving and had time to kill, and when I excited the building I saw those golden arches! They were calling me to them, so as not to dissapoint them, I walked with my backpack on, through the airport parking lot toward them. It was the busyiest Mcdonalds drive through line I have ever seen! Thank goodness the inside wasn't as bad. I ordered quickly and walked even more quickly back to wait for my ride. Meanwhile, I had eaten my fries and cheeseburger! Shortly after I got back to my waiting post, my ride arrived. We drove in a convertable to the hostel where he (the owner/driver of the hostel) checked me in. I asked the necessary questions and went to my room. I settled in, watched tv, then went to bed.

Day 2
I woke up surprisingly early considering how awful I had slept that night. I dressed, ask for a map, got directions to a grocery store, and went to get milk! I came back shortly, and ate my cearal in my room and watched BBC world news. Then I headed out for some exploring. The night before I had learned that Malta had its own language, Maltese, but just about everyone there spoke English anyway. People from all over Europe came there to learn English, you know instead of going to the UK!! Anyway, all the signs, advertisements, menus, and movies were in English. They even drive on the opposite side of the road like the English; however the city resembled nothing of streets of London. It was very much like Tunisia with a French and Spanish flare. I noticed all this while walking toward my destination... the movie theater!! Well I wanted to explore, but I also wanted to see which movies where playing and when. So I walked the 40 mins to the theater, so that I could explore Sliema, St. Julian’s, and finally St. Georges bay (where the theater was). I checked the movie times and bought tickets for two shows, and then I went to the beach. I was at the beach for an hour or so reading, when I got hungry. I ate at this place inside the mall; it wasn't bad, but a little expensive! After lunch I headed to the movies and watched my two films. It was 6:30pm when I got out. I walked home quickly, since I didn't want to get lost in the dark trying to find the hostel. It only took me 30 or so minutes this time! I ate cereal for dinner, watched a movie and then went to bed!!

Day 3
I decided that I would take a bus first thing after breakfasting, to Valetta, the capital. I was at the bus stop by quarter past nine, and waited for 30 minutes before the next bus came. The ride to Valletta was nice, a little bumpy, but short. We arrived at the bus terminal, which is really a very large round-a-bout, full of busses going any which way they please! Despite the kayos I found my way onto a busy street with many shops. I deduced that this was the main shopping area of Valletta. There were many people milling about and I became one of them. I walked until I hit the water, then I walked along the water, and took plenty of pictures. I saw St. Elmo's Fortress, some other ruins and a garden, before looping back to the main shopping street. I was a little bored and wanted to be on the beach, so I took the next bus to St. George's bay. I arrived there at 11am and laid out for a few hours before I saw another two movies! Once again it was 6:30pm when I was walking home, and again it was 7:00pm when I arrived back at the hostel. I ate my cereal for dinner and watched 2 movies again before going to bed!

Day 4
Thankfully I woke up early, so I could enjoy the beach one last time. I walked along the harbor until it was time for me to catch the bus. At the hostel, I got my bag, dropped off the keys and headed to the bus stop. The bus ride was the same as before, short and bumpy, but nice. I waited for the airport bus, which took 20 minutes to finally come. I was at the airport at 11am after a 45min bus ride, this time long and bumpy, but nice. I waited in line for 40 minutes to check in, made it to my gate, and sat outside for 30 mins before boarding. We took off late, as usual, but arrived in Stuttgart on time!

Malta was a 3.5. Warm, sunny and interesting... but it didn't have that exuberant feeling that so many other beach towns do!

Berlin, Germany

2008-09-24T06:14:00.004-07:00

Berlin

September 19-21st, 2009

View from the parlement roof top.

Day 16cont.
We arrived in Berlin and took the s-bahn to Alexander Platz, and then we changed to the U2 getting off at Rosa-Luxemburgstr. The Wombats hostel was right by the station and we were checked in quickly. It was a large hostel and very nice, but not as nice as the hostel I stayed at the last time I was in Berlin. We left right after we dropped off our stuff and went to Alexander Platz. We checked out the movie theater there and found that they were all in German, so we went to another theater. The theater in Potsdammer Platz had English original versions and we saw Tropical Thunder. We bought sweet popcorn and watched the movie. After that we went back to our hostel, and then to the grocery store. We bought breakfast and some soup just in case we got hungry. We didn’t get hungry; we just read, went to the bar for our free drink and then went to bed.

Day 17
We had to set our alarm for 9:20am so that we could be ready in time for our tour. We got dressed and went down to eat breakfast. We left for our walking tour shortly after breakfast. We had to take a bus to Brandenburg tor to actually start our tour. Once there we got some stuff at Starbucks then followed our tour guide. It was the same tour I had taken a year before with Brian, expect that we had a different person and we started where the other tour had finished. I liked the first tour best, I thought the guy was brilliant and knew much more interesting facts. Anyway, it was a good balance because I learned some stuff that I didn’t know before. After the tour we went to the parliament building so that Victoria could see the inside. We took the bus back to our hostel after visiting the parliament building. We hung around for while then decided to go out to dinner to celebrate our last day of travel. We went to Marcus Bräu, an authentic German restaurant, a little pricey but dang good. We went back to the hostel, read and then went to bed.

Day 18
We woke up at 9am again, got dressed, ate breakfast, checked out and went of a walk. We took some pictures of the Rathaus then had a coffee at a café. We walked back the hostel to get our stuff. We took the bus to the airport and checked in, ate our leftover cup of soup (we had to borrow some hot water!! It was pretty ghetto!!) and then went through security!! We boarded the plane and our September trip was over. Back to reality!

Berlin was a 3. Better the second time around.

Dresden & Leipzig, Germany

2008-09-24T06:14:00.003-07:00

Leipzig

September 19th, 2008

Square infront of the National Opera.

Day 16 cont
The train from Dresden arrived in Leipzig at 11am. We locked our backpacks up at the train station then walked to tourist information to find a map. After we got our map we walked toward the first sight on our very short list. On the walk we noticed that there was a lot of construction going on in the city. A few streets were closed because of it, but we could still see the main sights. We went to the Market Square, St. Peters Church, Nicholas church, the Old Rathaus, the New Rathaus, the Opera House, and through most of the shopping district, in an hour!!! We walked back to the city center and got something to eat at a Chinese restaurant. I had chicken fried rice, as usual. We walked back to the train station after lunch and still had an hour to kill before our train to Berlin left. So we sat outside and listened to music. Then we got some ice cream and went for one last walk in Leipzig. We went to the train station, got our bags out and then got on the train to Berlin at 1:51pm. Two cities down, one more to go!!

Leipzig was a 2.5. It was much more interesting after we learned more about the cities historical significants. Too bad we learned this info while we were in Berlin!

Dresden

September 18-19th, 2008

A view from the river.

Day 15cont.

The train ride from Prague to Dresden was a little under 2 hours. When we arrived in Dresden and followed the direction to our hostel, Der Doofe. It took about 20 minutes to get to our hostel once in route. We checked into our hostel and were the only ones in our room. We relaxed for a few minutes and then headed out to see the city. We took the train to the river and then walked along it, seeing: the Ministry of Interior, and the Golden Rider. Then we crossed the bridge Augustus, passed the Blockhouse, Opera, Royal Palace, Zwinger, and the National Theater. We ventured into a large square to the Church of Our Lady. We sat inside the church for a few minutes admiring the craftsmanship and then left. We walked to city hall and he Church of the Holy Cross. It was well past 2 by this time and we were starving so we took the tram to the pedestrian zone. We got some money out and ate at Pizza Hut!! Very American, but it was good!! After our late lunch we went back to the square and bought post cards. Then we took the tram to our hostel and were in for the night. We read, did a crossword, and then went to bed.

Day 16

We had another early morning. Our train to Leipzig was at 9:21 so we dressed, ate breakfast and were out the door by 8:45. Once at the train station, we went straight to our train and were on our way to Leipzig.

Dresden was a 2. Interesting historical buildings but little to do or see.

Prague, Czech Repbulic

2008-09-24T06:14:00.001-07:00

Prague

September 16-18 2008

Victoria and I decided to walk along the river, thinking we could get to the bridge. We couldn't! We had to walk all the way back and go around!

Day 13cont
The flight from Krakow was very short and we arrived in Prague at 4pm. We bought tickets for the bus and took it to the metro station. We took the metro to the stop recommended by our hostel, the Riverbank hostel, and then walked to our building. We rang the bell and no one answered, so we had to go to a shop just down the road and use their phone. We called the hostel guy and within 5 minutes he arrived to let us in. We checked in and paid for our stay. We changed clothes and got ready to go to dinner. We were meeting Victoria’s cousins at a Cuban restaurant, La Bodequita Del Medio a Cuban. We took the tram to Powedergate and navigated our way to the bank to get some cash, and then we walked to the restaurant. We got to the restaurant before they did, so we ordered a drink and waited. When they arrived we were seated immediately. We ordered and then chatted while we waited for our food. Dinner was good and we were out of there by 9pm. We were supposed to meet our Australian friends again, at 10pm, so we had an hour to kill beforehand. We walked around to try and see if we could find the bar they were in. We couldn’t find them so we gave up and went for some ice cream. We finally met them at 10pm and hung out at a bar until closing time. Victoria and I walked home quickly at around 2am, and then we went straight to bed.

Day 14
I hate going to bed really late and still waking up early. It’s really annoying!! Anyway, we went to the grocery store after dressing and got breakfast. We ate and then headed to the Prague Castle. It was a long walk and it took us about an hour or more to make it all the way to the top. It didn’t help that we were stopping a lot along the way to look at souvenirs!! We took some pictures of the castle and the view from the castle and then headed down. We walked across Charles Bridge, stopped at a few stores, and then headed to old town. We saw old town again, but during the day which was nice. We took the metro over to the National Museum, by main shopping district. Then we took the metro to the hostel and took a nap. After our nap our friends had arrived and we went out for dinner. We chose an authentic Czech restaurant. It was delicious but not too expensive. After dinner we hung out at our hostel, playing mad libs, having a few drinks and doing a crossword. They left after 1am and we went to be around 2.

Day 15

We woke up at 8am, got ready to leave, ate breakfast and checked out. We went to the train station to buy our tickets. We waited in line for a long time only to find out that we were at the wrong train station. We bought our tickets there still and took the metro over to the other train station. It was a good thing we decided to be earlier than needed. Other wise we might have not made the train in time!!! But we had plenty of time, so we got some snacks to use the rest of our Czech money up. Then we boarded our train at 10:30am and were on our way to Dresden!!

Prague was a 3 the second time around. The weather was crappy and it was a lot colder than last year!!

Poland

2008-09-24T06:13:00.006-07:00

Auschwitz Concentration Camps

September 15th, 2008

View of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of all Nazi concentration camps.

Day trip
I have wanted to visit to Auschwitz ever since I moved to Germany and have seen the Nazi history come to life. Auschwitz played a major role in the holocaust. We decided to do a private tour, in order to get the best experience. We took a bus from Krakow to the Concentration camp. On the way we watched a very graphic film shot by the Soviets when they liberated the camp. When we arrived at the camp we got our head sets and followed our tour guide. We toured the main camp Auschwitz I first. The camp was well maintained and very depressing. We were at Auschwitz for 2 hours, going through the barracks, administrative buildings and experiencing the horror that occurred. We finished up with Auschwitz I and headed for Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Birkenau was the main extermination site, and the largest Nazi concentration camp in Europe. Both camps are a perfect testament to German efficiency. The Nazis efficiently, registered, housed, beat, humiliated, controlled and killed hundreds of thousands people. Birkenau held over 400,000 prisoners of may backgrounds. The Jews were normally murdered right away, but the Pols and Hungarians were kept to work in the IG Farben factory or out doors. Millions people died over the 4 years the camp was in use; constructed in 1940-41 and liberated in 1944-45. It’s very difficult to describe how you feel when you are there. It’s so fascinating, intriguing and disturbing all at the same time. I’m glad I went and I think everyone should go at least once in there life.

Photos from Auschwitz II-Birkenau

Left picture: Tracks leading into the camp.
Right picture: Barracks within Birkenau.

Left picture: Bunk beds for prisoners usually slept 4 per bunk.
Right picture: Toliet facility for prisoners.

Photos from Auschwitz I Camp

Administrative buildings/prisioner holds

Left picture: Typical electric fence surrounding the camp.
Right picture: Crematoria for new arrivals.

Although Auschwitz was extreamly sad and depression it was a 4. Very interesting and a must see.

"If we don't learn about the past, how will we know if history is going to repeat itself?"

Krakow

September 14-16th, 2008

View of Karkow City.

Day 11cont.
We landed on time and found ourselves in one of the smallest airports I have ever been too. It had maybe 5 gates. Anyway we had to wait for the bus to take us to the train that would take us to the city center! We only waited for 20 minutes before the bus came. The train took us to the train station that was connected to a mall. We walked out of the mall and our hostel was right there. We checked into the Greg Tom hostel, settled in, booked our trip to Auschwitz for the next day, and then headed out. Krakow is small but nice. We went to the market square and took some pictures. We hung out around there for a while, and then went to get something to eat. We had more traditional Polish food, it was great and cheap! After dinner we met up with our Australian friends that we met in Warsaw. We just went to a bar and talked for a while, and then we all went back to our hostels.

Day 12
We had to wake up early because of our trip to Auschwitz (See above blog for details). After we got back from Auschwitz it was still fairly early. So we ventured over to the castle and explored that for a while. Then for lunch/linner we went to the mall. We ate in the food court, and then got some snacks for later, at the grocery store. We went back to the hostel and stayed there for the rest of the day. We sat in the living room and watched movie after movie. It was great. Then we ate traditional polish soup that our hostel made, for dinner. We went to our room and went to bed at 12am.

Day 13

It seems like we have been traveling for months. We are only on our 13th day and we still have 5 days left and it feels longer. I mean I’m not tired of traveling with Victoria; I am just annoyed with the weather. Traveling can be very exhausting! Anyway, once again we were on our way to the airport but this time we were headed to Prague.

Krakow was a 2.5. Smaller than Warsaw but still nice, clean and interesting.

Warsaw

September 12-14th, 2008

The "Prague" looking side of Warsaw!!!

Day 9
When we arrived in Warsaw, it was a lot colder than it was in Scandinavia. We were a little upset. Anyway, we found the bus to the city centre and got off near the hostel. We walked for about 5 minutes and found the place. We checked in and put our stuff away. We went to get some money and food. We walked down Krakowski toward city centre. We found the bank, got money out and then went to KFC for lunch. After lunch we went to this Empire State looking building, that was a museum. We wondered around in there for a while, and then went to the indoor flea market. We bought some stuff then headed back to our hostel. Back at the hostel we paid, and asked where a grocery store was. We went to the store to get our food for our stay. Back at the hostel we pretty much just sat around and talked to some Australian guys the entire time. We exchanged information and planned to meet up with them in Krakow, our next destination. We went to be after 2am.

Day 10

This was our main sight seeing day. We went to the old town part of Warsaw. It reminded me a lot of Prague. As we walked down Krakowskie Street, in the opposite direction as the day before, we passed the Kopernika statue, University of Warsaw, a church, the National Theater, and the Opera house. We arrived at Zamkowy square, where we took about a thousand pictures. While in old town we stopped and looked at a lot of souvenir shops and bought some post cards. As we continued to explore old town we saw a lot more sights like, the Royal Castle, St. John the Baptist Cathedral Basilica, Our Lady of Charity church, and the Museum of Warsaw. After seeing almost all of old town we headed across Slako-Dabrowsky Bridge. We walked for 20 minutes in sleet and wind before we made it across. Once across we saw the more residential part of Warsaw. We passed a few more churches before we found the restaurant we were looking for. Well it’s actually not a restaurant it’s a Soviet Milk Bar, and its one of the few left. It’s called Zabkowski. The food is extremely good and really cheap. Mostly pensioners and students go there. After lunch we took the tram back to old town then walked back to our hostel. We were extremely tired so we just hung around the hostel, read, did a crossword and ate dinner. We went to bed around 10pm.

Day 11

I’m glad we were able to sleep in because we were really tired. But we only slept in until 9am but it was nice. We ate breakfast, messed around online, hung out and then walked to our airport bus. We were at the airport in no time and on our way to Krakow.

Warsaw was a 3. Cleaner, safer, nicer and prettier than I expected. It has an unique mix of Prague and Kiev.

Finland

2008-09-24T06:13:00.005-07:00

Helsinki

September 10-12th, 2008

Helsinki Cathedral, the inside is very modern and simple.

Day 7cont.

We arrived in Helsinki, I got my bag, and we went to find city transportation. We decided to take the bus and bought tickets. The total travel time was 45minutes. We took the bus to the last stop, and then took the tram to our hostel. It wasn’t the easiest thing to find but we managed. After checking in, we went out to explore the city. We took the tram back toward the city centre and got off to see Helsinki Cathedral and Senate Square. The Square houses the Government Palace, University of Helsinki and the National library of Finland. We took many picture of the square and then wondered into the Cathedral. By this time we were starving so we ate at McDonalds, again!! After lunch we headed back to the hostel stopping at the Uspenski Orthodox church, the largest Orthodox Church in Western Europe, along the way. Back at the hostel we took a nap before heading out again. We took the tram back to the city centre to go to the Museum. After that we took the tram further toward the city outskirts. We visited another church, the National Museum of Finland and the Opera House. On our way back to the tram we saw a parade of Finish football fans going to the game vs Germany. They were escorted by police, it was quite the spectacle. We went to a traditional restaurant called Zetor, which is famous in Helsinki. The inside of the restaurant reminded me a lot of Texas Roadhouse! The food was amazing and the portions were very large. After dinner we went back to the hostel and read, then went to bed.

Day 8
Victoria had planned on going to Estonia for the day, and I planned on seeing some movies. However, the ferry to take her to Tallinn got cancelled, so her plans were ruined. I was already so set on seeing movies that I decided to go anyway. Victoria went to this castle on an island instead. I went and saw, Hell Boy 2, Once, and Don’t Mess with the Zohan, all very different movies but good. I had pizza hut for lunch in between the movies. After the movies I went back to the hostel and read for a while before going to bed.

Day 9
We arrived at the airport at 11am, after leaving the hostel an hour before. We did the usual airport routine and boarded the plan. 30 minutes later, we were headed for Poland.

Finland was a 3. Prettier than Oslo but not too exciting. They do have good movie theaters though!

Sweden

2008-09-24T06:13:00.003-07:00

Stockholm

September 8-10th, 2008

Stockholm is made up of many islands connected by one or two bridges!

Day 5cont.
We arrived in Stockholm on time and found the airport shuttle bus with ease. We bought a round trip ticket and got on the next bus. Once again the bus ride to the city centre was 40 minutes. Once the bus dropped us off we had to walk for 15 minutes before we reached our hostel. We checked into our hostel and went to buy groceries and get money out. We couldn't find a place that we could get money out so we paid for everything with the card. We changed into rain gear and made a game plan before heading out. We headed toward city hall, passing the Opera house, Royal Palace, the Riddal house and a lot of little shops along the way. We walked over to Sodermalm Area, and saw the city museum and a nice park. We walked back to the hostel, did a crossword and I finished my book. We went to bed at around 1am.

Day 6
We didn’t sleep all that well because we were in a 12 bed dorm. There were a lot of people snoring extremely loud and getting ready really early. We ate breakfast, changed and went to the city center. Stockholm doesn’t have as many sights to see, as Copenhagen, so we just walked around. We went to the main shopping district on the other island and hangout there for a while. Then we went to the Vasa Museum, which is dedicated to the Vasa ship that sank in the harbor right after it was launched in the 1600’s. The entire ship was inside this museum. They dug it up and fully restored it using 95% of the original parts. We were there for quite a while, enjoying all the ships history. After we had seen all we could, we walked back to our hostel. By then it was 4pm. We relaxed, read and then ate dinner. We left at 6pm to see Babylon AD at 7pm in the city center. After the movie we went back to the hostel, pack/organized and then went to bed.

Day 7
After a short nights sleep, we woke up, got ready and ate breakfast. We made it to the bus by 7:15 and arrived at the airport at 8:00am. We checked in, got through security, exchanged our money and boarded the plane 10 minutes later. It was perfect timing and we were on our way to Finland by 9:15am!!

Sweden was a 3. Bigger than Olso and much prettier, but I didn't like it as much as Copenhagen.

Norway

2008-09-24T06:13:00.001-07:00

Oslo

September 6-8th, 2008

Olso Main Harbor View from Akerscastle.

Day 3cont.
We landed in Norway at 10:30am and made our way to the bus. The bus ride from the airport to the city centre was about 40 minutes. The bus dropped us off at the bus station. We walked through the mall to the train station and exited the front. We got a little lost before we actually found our hostel. Our hostel had a great location, right in the centre of the city. After we checked into our room we went to explore the city. We saw Oslo Cathedral, Parliament, the National Theatre, Oslo University, Oslo city hall, the Nobel Prize Centre, and the Royal Palace. We got something eat at a Chinese restaurant and then went back to the hostel. We read in our room for a while, chatted with our roommates and then went out again. We got some food for the rest of our stay and post cards! We did a crossword puzzle and then went to bed shortly before 11.

Day 4

We slept in longer than we had planned but it was nice. We got dressed, at breakfast and then went to the contemporary arts museum. We spent about 30 minutes walking around, enjoying the exhibits. We walked over to Akers castle and took some pictures of the view and the castle grounds. We went back to the hostel, had a snack and then packed our lunch. We took our lunches to Vigelands Parken. It was massive, very green and about the prettiest thing in Oslo. We spent about an hour there walking around looking at all the statues and ate lunch. The statues were of naked men, women and children “living life”, it was very interesting. We caught the tram back to the hostel and were in for the night. We watched a few movies, laughed with our roommates and then ate dinner. After dinner we did a crossword puzzle together and then watched a movie and fell asleep.

Day 5

We woke up at 7:30am, got dressed, ate breakfast and then went to catch the bus. We took the 8:30am bus and arrived at the airport at 9:20. We checked in, I had to check my bag because they were being jerks, and then we went through security. We exchanged our money and then boarded the plane. We were on our way to Sweden by 10:30am.

Norway was a 2.5. Olso is small and a little boring. But I hear the western side is beautiful!!!

Denmark

2008-09-24T06:12:00.000-07:00

Copenhagen

Sept 4-6th 2008

Nyhavn, Copenhagen's famous harbor.

Day 1

Copenhagen was our first stop on the Victoria and Ashley Scandinavia trip! We caught a flight from Stuttgart and arrived in Copenhagen at 1:30pm. We got off the plane and found the metro. We bought tickets and then took the next train toward our hostel. We got off at Forum station and followed the directions to our hostel. We got a little lost but people were willing to help us!! We were staying at “Sleep in Heaven” hostel, located outside the city centre. We had to pay in cash, so we had to go and get money out. We decided since we were already out, that we would just see as much as we could. We walked across the river to the main shopping district. We saw the National Museum and Christianebory. We sat in the castle’s court yard for a while then headed back to our hostel. We got money out and ate dinner at The Taco Shop. It was pretty good, but not quite as good as we hoped it would be. We walked back to the hostel, relaxed, read and then did a crossword before going to bed.

Day 2
We didn’t set an alarm because we had no specific plans. We woke up at 8:30am, got dressed and headed out in search of breakfast. We were walking toward the Tivoli centre as we thought it would be a good starting point. On the way we stopped and got bagels. It was like being in the states again; there are no bagels in Germany! We crossed Gyldenloves Bridge, passed the train station, and the town hall before coming to Tivoli. Tivoli is a large outdoor amusement park. It was closed when we got there and expensive so we didn’t really feel like waiting to go inside. Instead, we kept on walking past the Danish Design Center and NY Carlesberg Museum. After taking a quick rest we walked around the Orsteds Park. We sat on a bench and relaxed before going to the Botanical Gardens. I thought the first garden was prettier than the Botanical, so we didn’t stay as long there. Our next stop was the Royal Gardens and Rosenborg, the Royal summer house. The Royal Garden was impressive. We played cards there for a while and talked. We walk further through the city coming to Marble Church which was right in front of Amalienborg. We explored the church for a while then moved onto the castle. We walked through the castle to Amalie Haven Gardens and came out on Larsens plads which was on the water. On the other side, across the water, was a massive building, the Opera house. We walked along the water toward Kastellet, passing frined museum, St. Alban’s church, Gefion Fountain, and finally coming to the statue of the little Mermaid. We sang some songs from the movie for a while before heading toward Nyhaven harbor. After the harbor visit, we walked toward the hostel in search of food and pasted the Royal theater and Kongens statue on the way. We settled on McDonalds for our late lunch. We went back to the hostel, played mad libs, did a crossword, went online and decided it was time for dinner. We walked a ways before we settled on Pizza. After we ate, we went to see if there were any good movies playing. We made it just in time to see Wall-E, which was very cute! We walked home after the movies and went to bed.

Day 3

We woke up at 6:50am, got dressed and then checked out. It was raining which was a bummer because we had to walk to the metro station. It was early and nothing was open, so we had to wait to get breakfast. We got to the airport without any trouble. We checked in and went through security. We got something to eat and then exchanged out money. The flight was relatively on time and we were headed for Norway.

Denmark was a 3.5. Very pretty, and I'm not just talking abut the city. The people are all young and very attractive, both men and women!

Victoria and Ashley Trip!

Slovenia

2008-08-31T01:17:00.005-07:00

Ljubljana

August 26-28th 2008

The river walk has many resturants and an open air market!

Day 7 cont.

I made it to Slovenia without any problems. I didn’t even get a stamp leaving Croatia, lame!! I arrived in Ljubljana at 10:30am. I went to the ticket office to buy my ticket in advance to go to Monaco. After I had my ticket I got a map and took a bus to the hostel. The hostel was really easy to find. I checked in and set my stuff down. I asked some questions before going to explore the city. I walked the crap out of Ljubljana!! It is an amazing city. I walked toward the castle, but didn’t go all the way up to it. Instead I sat out in front of the church and enjoyed the view. Then I walked along the river until I hit an open air market. At the market they were selling everything, from clothes, souvenirs, pottery, to gadgets and food! I got some postcards, a gadget or two and then continued to walk through the city. I had a pita for lunch, not traditional Slovenian food, but dang good! I walked some more along the river, sat and read for a while, then walked back to the hostel. It was dark by this time and I decided to stay in for the night. So I read and hung out until I went to bed.

Day 8

I had planned trip to Lake Bled for the day. I woke up well before I had to leave, so I got ready, packed a day bag and went to get some breakfast. I had a croissant and then headed to the bus station. The bus left Ljubljana at 10am and arrived in Bled by 11:15. (See bled for the rest of the post.) I left Bled at 3:30 and was back in Ljubljana by 5. I went to the hostel to take a nap before my train. I woke up at 10:30pm, read for a while, got dressed, ate some food, and watched TV until I had to leave.

Day 9

I walked to the train station at 1:15am. My train was due to leave at 2am. The train was 20+minutes late and there were a lot of people waiting to take the same train. The train was packed, but I had a seat reservation so I was able to get some sleep! We were in Italy by 5am. I got to Monaco at 3:45pm, a 13 hour train ride!!! AHHH

Ljubljana is a 5. Amazing, in the EU, on the Euro, cheap, clean, almost everyone speaks english and it's extreamly pretty. I would live there. One of my top two favorite countries in Europe!

Bled

August 27th 2008

Itsn't it just breath taking?

Day 8 cont.

The ride from Ljubljana to Bled was short and nice. Once in Bled I headed straight for the lake! It was absolutely breath taking! I sat outside for a while, reading and getting some sun. I had some Ice cream that was delicious. Then I went for a little walk around the lake. At around 1pm, I decided to go into the recreational lake area. It is a section of the lake that has lockers, a food court, diving board, slide, docks, and grass to lie on. It was the prefect place to enjoy the lake and play in the water. I paid to get in, put my stuff in the locker and found a spot on the grass. It took me a long time to actually go into the water! I finally got the nerve to dive in and swim out to a dock. On the dock I enjoyed the sun and talked to some fellow travelers. They were Irish. After 30 minutes we decided to head back to shore. Once again it took me some time to get into the water! I didn’t really swim much after that. I just hung out and talk to the life guard for a while. Then I read and ate some French fries. I finally decided to leave at around 3pm. I walked back to the bus and caught the 3:30pm one. I had the most amazing time that day. I will definitely go back and I suggest everyone visit Slovenia.

Lake Bled is a 5. Its extremely pretty and relaxing. I wouldn't mind living there either!

Croatia

2008-08-31T01:17:00.003-07:00

Zagreb

August 24-26th 2008

You are looking at the train station! Isn't it pretty!

Day 5 cont.

I arrived in Zagreb at 1:30pm. I could have taken a tram to the hostel, but I didn’t have a map and didn’t feel like getting lost. So I took a taxi instead. It was a 20min taxi ride and it gave me a chance to see a lot of the city. I checked in, got settled, and went for a walk to find food. I didn’t want to go too far, but everything was closed because it was Sunday so I didn’t really have a choice. I found a grocery store and bought some stuff for later, you know just in case snacks. I settled on pizza for dinner and took a tram back to the hostel to eat it. At the hostel I watched Scrubs and ate my dinner. Then I read for a while and then went to bed.

Day 6

I woke up early, dressed and then walked to the tram station. I bought a ticket and took the number 2 tram to downtown. I ate breakfast at a bakery then walked around the city. I went to Zrinjevac Park, Stross Mayerov trg, Tomis Lavov trg, and ended up at the train station. I checked times for trains to the coast, but there weren’t any. So I explored the city more. I went to the Botanical Gardens, the National Theater House, Marulicev trg, and then back toward the big square. I walked to St. Francis Cathedral and sat out front and read for a while. I visited another church up the road and sat and read again. I then had lunch at a Chinese restaurant. After lunch I took that tram to Zrtava, a big white round building! I read there for a while, and then walked back to the square. I got ice-cream, sat on a bench and ate it. I took the tram back to the hostel and hung out there for the rest of the night.

Day 7

For this being my vacation I haven’t really slept all that much. I got up early, went to the train station, bought breakfast and then caught an earlier train to Ljubljana.

Croatia was a 3.5, a lot prettier and nicer than Serbia, but without the flare that Serbia had!

Serbia

2008-08-31T01:17:00.001-07:00

Belgrade

August 22-24th 2008

View from the Citadel.

Day 3 cont.

The bus from Sarajevo dropped us off at Belgrade bus station at 10pm. We had no Serbian Dinar so we got some money out, and then hailed a taxi. The plan was for me to go to her hostel and see if there were any cancellations. See I had booked a hostel for the next night but not tonight; because I was suppose to take an overnight bus, not the earlier one. When we got there the guy told us there were no rooms available so he called around and found a place for me to stay for the night. I took another taxi my hostel and my friend came with me, for moral support! I checked in dropped my stuff off, and then we went for a walk. We walked halfway toward her hostel and then parted for the night, with a plan to meet up the next day at 10am. I went back to the hostel and went to bed.

Day 4

I woke up, got dressed, left my keys, and took a cab to my pre-booked hostel. I checked in, dropped off my stuff and went to meet my friend. We had breakfast at McDonalds, before we walked around the city. We walked all day with a few things on our list of things to do. We went to Republic Square, had a drink in the bohemian quarter, and then at lunch at a nice restaurant. After our late lunch we walked back to my hostel to ask about a movie theater in English. We figured out the times, made a plan to meet back at my hostel and then walk to the movie theater in 2 hours. The walk to the movie theater wasn’t long and we were there 30min before the movie started. We bought our tickets and went for a walk. We took some pictures of the Parliament building and then headed back to the theater. After the movies we walked back toward our hostels, parted ways, promised to keep in touch and said good bye. Back at my hostel I went to bed.

Day 5

I woke up at 5:20am, got dressed, and had the hostel lady call a taxi for me. I arrived at the train station early, so I got some breakfast then sat on the train. In my cabin a German, Austrian, and Portuguese sat with me. We talked for a long time and laughed which made the ride go by quickly. I got off in Zagreb and they continued on!

Serbia was a 3.5. A lot more impressive, and bigger than I thought it would be.

Bosnia & Herzegovina

2008-08-31T01:14:00.000-07:00

Sarajevo

August 21-22nd 2008

A view from the "Turkish" side of the city!

Day 2 cont.

We arrived in Sarajevo, actually just outside the city, at 7:30pm. I was walking to a cab when a fellow traveler from Luxemburg asked me where I was staying. I told him that I had a place and that he could try and stay there too, so we shared a cab. We got to the hostel and they had room for him so we checked in. I was talking to this American Girl for like 30 minutes after arriving. My two new friends and I went out for some dinner. We walked through the city and found a bar/restaurant that was cheap so we ordered food. We talked and ate for a while then walked some more exploring the city by night. Then we went back to the hostel and watched TV for a while, then went to bed!

Day 3

I woke up around 9am and got dressed. My American friend and I went out to explore the city. We were planning on taking a 3pm bus together to Belgrade that day so we had time to kill. We were walking in no direction in particular and stumbled upon a breakfast place that served waffles! YUM, they were good, cheap and we were satisfied! So we continued to walk checking out the people and architecture while talking. Sarajevo is an interesting city. Half of the city looks like a typical Eastern European city, but the other half has mosques, markets and a lot of Turkish influence. We explored both sides of the city, talking all the while. At around 12:30pm we went back to the hostel, rested, called a cab, and then grabbed our bags heading for the bus station. At the bus station we bought our tickets and ate lunch while we waited for our departure. On the bus we slept a little until our first stop when were able to walk, use the restroom and stretch. Back on the bus they put on two movies in English and we watched them, which made the bus trip fly by! By the second movie we were already in Serbia!

Sarajevo was a 3. It was a lot bigger, cleaner and more interesting that I had anticipated!

Montenegro

2008-08-31T01:13:00.000-07:00

Podgorica

August 20-21st 2008

A Thriving Metropolis!

Day 1

My solo trip in August started in Stuttgart. I took a train to Dusseldorf to catch a flight to Montenegro. While in Dusseldorf I visited with some old coworkers before my flight, since it wasn’t until after 3pm. At the airport I checked in and headed to my gate. The flight was only a few minutes behind schedule and we landed in Belgrade on time. I didn’t have my boarding pass for the connecting flight yet and I was a little worried about how to get it. Then I found a ticket counter, without having to leave security and go through again. Then I proceeded to my gate with 10 minutes to spare. The plane to Podgorica was a little propeller plane, holding maybe 60 people. The flight was short and we were in Montenegro in no time. It was about 10pm when I finally left the airport to get a taxi. I had to wait 10 minutes before the taxi would take me to my hotel, which was odd since he was just standing there smoking! The taxi ride was 15 Euros, and inexpensive considering the ride was like 25 minutes! My hotel was really nice and I was glad to finally be there. I watched TV and went to bed around midnight.

Day 2

I woke up earlier than I wanted to. I watched TV for a while, and then went down to eat breakfast. Breakfast was surprisingly good. It was a typical cold buffet in Europe with bread, boiled eggs, cold meats, cheese and jam. But they also had fruit and juice! Well, after eating I took a shower and slowly got ready for the day. I didn’t have to check out until 12 and I wanted to stretch it as long as possible. I checked out, paid and ordered a taxi. I had to wait for 15 minutes for the taxi so I chatted with the front desk guy. My taxi took me through downtown to the bus station and I bought my ticket to Sarajevo. I had time to kill so I went out to explore the city. It wasn’t really a city to explore; I can tell you that, there were no sights. After a few hours of not seeing much and carrying my bag around I had had enough of Podgorica! So I went to the train station, had some lunch and read my book until the bus came. The bus ride was nice. Montenegro’s country side reminded me a lot of Macedonia and Kosovo’s, a few trees here and there, with sprawling hills. But Montenegro’s was better because we drove around a beautiful lake for 30 minutes, and it was great. After the lake we were in Bosnia, so for more about the trip, read my next post!

Montenegro was a 2.5. I'm sure the coast of Montenegro is amazing, but since I only saw Podgorica and country side I have to give it a 2.5. The 2 is for the city and I added the .5 for the lake!!

Interlaken, Switerland

2008-08-19T04:54:00.003-07:00

Interlaken

August 15-18th 2008

The Swiss Alps are amazing.

Day 11 cont.

We arrived in Interlaken Switzerland around 2pm. I was extremely bitter because the weather was terrible. Out of all the cities and places for it to be raining, it had to be Switzerland! AHHH. Well we didn’t really know where our Bed and breakfast was so we had to take a taxi. I got out some Swiss Franc for us to use and we got into the taxi and headed for the B&B. We were a little pissed that we took the taxi because it was only a 10 min walk away from the train station. But since we had no idea where it was in the first place it didn’t matter, we had to take it. Anyway, we check in, dried off and relax a little before going to get something to eat. That task was very difficult, because everything was closed until after 4pm. So we ate at a bakery and then walked in the drizzling rain through city. My sister and I didn’t want to be out in the rain so we went back to the B&B. My dad continued to shop. Later that evening we took Nina to the hostel where she was staying since the B&B was full for the night. We dropped her off and told her that we would pick her up in the morning. We watched TV for a while before going to bed.

Day 12

As promised we met Nina at her hostel at 10am. Then we went next door to rent scooters. We rented two of them, Nina and I rode together and my dad on the other. We had so much fun riding them around. Granted I had done it a year before with my friend Brian, but it was fun showing them all my favorite places. We went to Beatenburg, around the lakes, and then to some water falls in the Alps. The four hours we had rented them for went buy really fast. We had a blast and it was great weather, a little on the chilly side, but sunny. We turned the scooters in then walked to Migros to get a cafeteria style lunch. We decided to go the movies in Bern to kill the rest of the afternoon. We went back to the B&B first to change and grab some stuff for the train. We took a 4:30 train and an hour later we were in Bern. We walked toward the movie theater and bought our tickets in advance, and then we just walked around the city and killed time until the movie started! After the movie we basically sprinted to the train station so that we could catch the next train perfectly. Back in Interlaken I stayed at the hostel this time and my sister stayed at the B&B. I got to the hostel and went to bed right away!

Day 13

After waking up at 9am, but sleeping better than I had at the B&B, I headed to the B&B to meet my sister and dad. We just hung out around the B&B for most of the day because we decided not to go to Jungfrau. It was really cold and we didn’t have the proper clothes to go up to that altitude! We did our own things, I was reading by the B&B, Nina went to the park and wrote, and lee went shopping. We all met back at the B&B when we were hungry for dinner. We had the best dinner at this hotel-restaurant than we had at any place so far on our trip. First we had cheese fondue, which wasn’t good at all, although it was suppose to be famous in Interlaken. For our main meal Nina and I split this breakfast type dish; it had potatoes, eggs, bacon, sausage, cheese and a gravy sauce all mixed together! YUM! Then for desert they had a chocolate fondue! We walked back to the B&B very satisfied after that meal. We hung out and watched TV for a while or read then went to bed.

Day 14

We woke up at the butt crack of dawn in order to catch our train. We caught our 7am train to Reutlingen, Germany! The end of our family trip!

Interlaken was a 3. I had a great time with the family, but the weather wasn't as good as last year!

Milan, Italy

2008-08-19T04:54:00.001-07:00

Milan

August 13-15th 2008

Castello Sforzesco, Milan, Italy.

Day 9cont.

We arrived at Milano Centrale station at 3pm. We decided that we would get our tickets for the train ride to Switzerland; instead of waiting until the actual day of travel. After getting the tickets we got a map and asked which metro stop would take us closest to our hotel. We got off at the stop suggested and had to walk for 20 minutes, past two metro stops, until we actually found our hotel. Once there we got a room for 3 people and rested for a few minutes before going out to find food. We walked for a while before settling on this bar/restaurant. We paid 7 Euros for a drink, but got an all you can eat buffet with it! It was an extremely over priced drink but not considering you get the food to! Anyway, we stopped at a book store on the way back to your hotel and my sister and I bought some books. We went back to Hotel Ritter and watched TV or read. I went to bed around 11:30pm and my sister and dad didn’t come in until after 1am.

Day 10

Upon waking up we all thought that we had seen enough of Italy and were ready to be in another country. Unfortunately we still had another full day left in Italy! Anyway, we ate breakfast then headed out to explore the city. We ended up at a park where Castello Sforzesco was. We toured the castle by ourselves, taking pictures, and enjoying ourselves. We walked through a couple souvenir places and bought one gift. We walked further along the castle grounds and sat on a bench near a pond. We talked for a while. By this time it was after noon and we were getting hungry. So we walked toward some restaurants and settled on a little bistro with pizza. Of course my sister and I got pizza, since we were leaving Italy the next day, and it would be the last good pizza we would have for a long time! My dad got lasagna; he already had had enough pizza to last a year! After lunch we found where all the tourist were hanging out; by a grand cathedral on a large square, near the high-end shopping. We hung out there for a while, people watching, and then walked through the shopping district. We couldn’t afford any of the clothes in those stores but it was still fun to see all the latest summer fashion. At the end of the shopping district we found a McDonalds, went to the restroom and then headed toward our hotel. We stopped at an ice-cream parlor on the way back and got crepes and ice-cream. We hung out at the hotel for the rest of the night.

Day 11

We woke up and headed for the train station. With our tickets already purchased and in hand we boarded the train and took our seats. We were on our way to Interlaken by noon!

Milan was a 2.5. It was the wrong time of year to visit. All of the locals go on vacation in August!

Florence, Pisa & Le Cinque Terre, Italy

2008-08-19T04:53:00.001-07:00

Florence

August 11-15 2008

Ponte Vecchio bridge at night!

Day 7 cont.
We arrived in Florence at around 11:30am; we took a taxi to our hotel from the train station. Once again we only had a hotel room for two people, so we had to figure out where the third person was going to stay. Our hotel was too expensive per night, so we got a room at the hotel next to ours. We put lee in that room and my sister and I shared the other. After we figured all that out, we headed out to explore the city. We saw a lot of sights but we mainly shopped. Florence has a lot of open air markets with many different trades selling their products. We got some leather journals and scarfs for ourselves and friends. After shopping we needed a little sitting break and a snack. So we bought some of the best gelato that I have ever had, which it better be for 4 Euros per scoop! After our expensive snack and rest we walked back to the hotel for a 2 hour break/nap before dinner. For dinner we found this mom and pop eatery with Panini’s. It was cheap and delicious! After that it was bed time!

Day 8

We decided to take a day trip since we had pretty much seen all of Florence that we wanted. We originally wanted to go to San Marino but it just didn’t seem worth the hassle. So we went to Le Cinque Terre and Pisa instead (see other post). We didn’t arrive back in Florence until 10:30 or so, and we were hungry. We found a not-so-good eatery still open and ate our sandwiches on the steps of the cathedral. After that we went to the famous bridge in Florence. We walked across the bridge towards our hotel. By the time we got to our hotel and fell asleep it was well past 2am.

Day 9

This was one of the first times we actually got to sleep in. We were packed, breakfasted and in our taxi to the train station by 11. We had to wait in another long line at the train station to get our seat reservations. We boarded the train and were on our way to Milan by 12:00.

Florence was a 3.5. I liked it a lot more than Venice!

Pisa

August 12th 2008

The Baptistery of San Giovanni, The Duomo, and La Torre di Pisa.

Day 8 cont.

We took the train from Le Cinque Terre to Pisa. Our goal for Pisa was the Leaning Tower! We got out of the train station and found the bus we were to take to the tower. We passed our stop on the bus and had to get off at the next one and then go back! We took a lot of pictures around the Field of Miracles and hung out there for a while. Then we took a taxi back to the train station, since the bus has stopped running. We made caught our train on time.

Pisa is a 2. The tower is a 3! There isn't much to do in Pisa except visit the tower!

Le Cinque Terre

August 11-13th 2008

Isn't it beautiful?

Day 8 cont..

The train ride to Le Cinque Terre was 2.5 hours, but worth every minute. Le Cinque Terre or the five lands, is a string of coastal cities. The cities are small but very colorful with the best views from the ocean looking toward the shore. We went to the 4th farthest city Venizza, and then took a ferry along the coast to the Riomaggiore. We shopped there for a while until the next train was due to arrive. At the train station we got gelato and then caught our train to Pisa!

Le Cinque Terre is a 4. Very beautiful and picturesque.

Venice & Treviso, Italy

2008-08-19T04:52:00.001-07:00

Venice

August 8-11th 2008

Venice was magical and mysterious with so much to offer.

Day 4 cont.

We finally arrived in Venice, found our hotel (Hotel Basilea) and checked in by 5:30pm. We were tired and didn’t want to see too much of the city without my sister, so we watched TV. We went for a walk/dinner hunt at around 7pm. We couldn’t really make up our minds as to which restaurant we wanted to eat at. So we passed a lot of places before settling on a somewhat expensive place. I got tortellini and Lee got Lasagna, they were the smallest portions I have even seen; and the total price was 23 Euros! Can you believe that crap? Anyway, after that annoying first dinner in Italy we decided to go back to the hotel and watch the Olympics. We were watching the Olympics for quite a while before we headed over to the train station to pick up my sister. Once there we learned the train was 45 min late, which was odd considering she transferred at a station that was only 10 minutes away. So she basically sat at Venice Mestre station for 45 minutes on the train, to go 10min! I was surprised that she wasn’t more annoyed, but she was always good at entertaining herself! Plus she got to see me, so of course she was happy!!! It was 2am when we finally got my sister, walked back to the hotel and went to bed!

Day 5
We woke up early, only because we didn’t want to miss breakfast, which was only served until 9:30. I went to eat first because we were sinking my sister into the hotel, and she insisted on eating breakfast! Who can blame her? Anyway, I went in first, ate, and then told them to come in because it seemed no one cared! After they ate breakfast, we all headed out to see Venice! We walked toward San Marco Square. On the walk we stopped in almost every store. My dad was determined to get all of his friends and close family a gift! We reminded him that we had plenty of cities left to see, and that he didn’t have to get them all there! Even after this remainder we still looked in all the shops, it wasn’t entirely his fault; my sister and I were also intrigued to see what Venice had to offer! Venice had a lot of handmade craft stores. There were glass blown objects, wooden toys, various hand sewn cloths, leather bound journals and much, much more! That day I think we each bought something. I got an authentic glass blown quill with ink, and a glass blown small multi-colored bottle. My sister bought a scarf and my dad bought a Venice inscribed apron and baby bib for his sister.

We finally made it to the square, after all the shopping, and took a lot of pictures. It was well past noon at this point and we were hungry. So we walked away from the square (where the food is cheaper) and ate at a nice restaurant. Although the restaurant was nice the service was not! The waitress was a total jerk, but the pizza was freaking good! After lunch we went to a hotel to buy tickets for a concert to be held that night, by the square. We were tired after all this so we decided to go back to the hostel and rest before the concert started at 8pm. When we were fully rested we walked back to the square and made it to the concert on time. We saw Vivaldi’s four seasons. It was lovely, and short, a good combination for my dad and sister! When the concert was finished, an hour later, we hung out in San Marco square. We took some pictures listened to music and walked around. On our way back to our hotel we stopped and had a slice of pizza. At the hotel we watched TV for a while then hit the sack.

Day 6

Since we had seen most of Venice by now, we decided that a day trip to another city was in order. We caught a train around 12:30 to Treviso (see other blog). After eating lunch is Treviso we decided to take the train to Venice Mestre and see what it had to offer. Not much actually. It didn’t help that it was Sunday and everything was closed. The only thing we could really do was sit on a bench and hangout. Needless to say we didn’t do that for long! We headed back to the train station, and were back in Venice St. Lucia by 6pm. We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant, went back to the hotel to pack, and went to bed.

Day 7

We woke up at 7:30am got dressed and went to breakfast. We all ate together this time, not really caring what they would say, since we were checking out. I was done eating first so I went to the train station to get the tickets. I had to wait in a long annoying line that is all too famous in Italy. Forever later, I had the tickets in my hand and was waiting for my sister and dad to arrive. I was a little agitated because the train was leaving soon and they still weren’t here. When they finally arrived we made our way to the track and found our seats on the train. Once we were settled I asked them what took them so long and my sister told me what happened: “When you left the guy at the front desk stopped us. He asked me which room I was staying in, and I told him I didn’t know. Then he told me that I was lying and that I was staying with you too (me and my dad). He yelled and said that I have to pay for breakfast. I said why? He yelled some more and we were going to pay him, but then he said ‘just get out of here’!” I was surprised at this tale and laughed at it, but my dad didn’t really think it was too funny! My sister and I laughed anyway. What did it matter? Everything worked out and we were leaving that place and heading to Florence now anyway!

Venice was a 3. Unique and pretty, but with a sinking future. What a shame.

Treviso

August 10th 2008

Like Venice, Treviso has many water ways. Unlke Venice, Treviso is dead on Sundays.

Day 6 cont.
From Venice St. Lucia we took a 12:30 train to Treviso, which is 45 minutes north of Venice. Upon arrival we looked for a map at the train station but didn’t find one, so we just started walking. We stopped in the first hotel that we saw and got a map there. Then we tried to decided what the point of interests where. There weren’t many. We stopped at McDonalds to share some curly fries and look at the map some more. We decided on a destination and headed there when the fries were gone. The destination was just a statue, which wasn’t very impressive. It was quite and all the stores were closed except food places because it was Sunday, so we ate gelato while sitting on some stairs. After Gelato we went to find lunch (kind of backwards uh)! We had pizza once again! It was pretty good, but it was ruined by all the smokers sitting by us. Yum, pizza and tobacco! Anyway after lunch we headed back to the train station since there really wasn’t anything else left to see. It was a short day trip but it was cheap and we wanted to explore more of Italy.

Treviso was a 2.5. I think if the stores were open and people were out, it would have ranked higher. But since there were neither I have to rank it at a 2.5.

Neuschwanstein, & Munich, Germany

2008-08-19T04:51:00.000-07:00

Neuschwanstein, Füssen

August 6th 2008

Every where I go there is always construction on the sights I'm visiting!! Annoying!

Day 2 cont.

After arriving in Füssen, we still had to take a 10min bus to get nearer to the castle. Once at the castle area we had to walk for 5 minutes, so that we could stand in line for 1 hour! People really do spend so much of there lives waiting in lines! Is it all worth it? For Six Flags Magic Mountain rides heck yeah, for a castle? Not so much! Well anyway since we waited in line for so long, we missed the earliest English tour. So we had to take the 4:15pm tour, it was only 1:15pm. We explored a little of the surrounding area, ate lunch, and then decided to head up to the castle. Oh did I forget to mention that the walk up to the castle takes 25 minutes! How lovely! It wasn’t actually that bad, considering we were in no hurry whatsoever! When we made it to the top we still had 2 hours before our tour was due to began. To kill time we took some pictures of the outside of the castle. We also got some ice cream and just sat and waited, and waited and waited. 15 minutes before the tour, we took some pictures of the inner courtyard and view points. Then we went on the tour. On the tour we could see the 2nd, 4th and 5th floors of the castle, ending through the kitchen to the gift shop. The tour lasted a total of 30 minutes! 30 minutes, really? I have been to castles smaller than that, and much less famous, and the tours have lasted longer. What a freaking disappointment. I mean don’t get me wrong, I still had a lot of fun, but it’s a full day trip to see only see the inside for 30 minutes. Anyway, we walked a back route down to the bus, got dropped off at another bus stop, and then waited for that bus to take us to the train station. Then at the train station we had to wait 40 minutes for the train. We finally made it back to Munich at around 9:30pm!!

Neuschwanstein was a 3.5. Amazing but almost not worth the 12 hours that it takes to visit it!

Munich

August 5-8 2008

Map of Munich for the Blind. How they get to it, no one knows!

Day 1

It’s not actually day one of the Family trip! My dad arrived in Germany a day before we arrived in Munich. We took a 12 something train so that we would have to wake up too early. We arrived in Munch at around 3pm and checked into our hostel, 4U Hostel. We had a private room, not dorm style, and it was just like a hotel, except half the price and more teenage backpackers. After we checked in we decided to go explore a little of the city. We walked to Marienplatz, got some bratwurst at a stand and ate on a bench. After eating we walked toward the movie theater. We went to see Mama Mia and I’m glad it was better the second time! While we were there we bought our tickets for a movie in advance, just in case it was sold out! Then we walked back to the hostel and were in for the night. We went to bed early because we wanted to get up to go to Neuschwanstein the next day.

Day 2

Unfortunately we both woke up a lot earlier than we needed too, 7:30am. Our train didn’t leave until after 9, so we ate breakfast slowly and got ready. We headed for the train station at around 9 and caught an earlier train. We had a 30min layover in Buchloe, so we went to explore the city. We really only needed those 30 minutes to see the city. I mean it was cute, but extremely small. I’m betting that only old people live there! Anyway, we went back to the train station and got on our train, where we met up with Victoria (she came from Reutlingen). We arrived in Füssen at 12pm (See Neuschwanstein for the rest of this day in Füssen!) After we spent the whole day visiting the castle, we took a 7pm train back to Munich. We arrived in Munich at 9:30pm and ate dinner at subway, after checking Victoria into her room. We went to bed after midnight.

Day 3
Man, after day three of the “Family trip” I didn’t want to walk anymore; and that was only the beginning! I guess it doesn’t help that we went on a 3 hour walking tour of Munich! We meet the group at star bucks in the train station. Then we walked to the actual tour starting point, by the famous glockenspiel! On our tour we saw: St. Peters church, English Garden, old town hall, new town hall, Hofbrau haus, Max-Joseph-Platz, St. Jacob platz, Mary’s Colum, New Synagogue, the Church of Our Lady, and much, much more. We were beat after seeing so much and we were starving so we went to eat at the Hofbrau haus. We had traditional German food, and it was good. After lunch we went back to the hostel and rested before the movie. We got the movies, bought popcorn and then watched the Mummy 3. It was pretty good! Then we went back to the hostel and went to bed.

Day 4

After yesterday I was excited to be sitting on a train, even though it was for like 6 hours. Once again we woke up at 7:30 so we took our time leaving the hostel. We caught a 9:32 train from Munich to Venice St. Luca. The train ride was very pretty and it was nice to just sit back and relax!!

Munich was a 4.5 the second time around. The walking tour made it all the more better, as did the English OV movies!!

Ventimiglia, Italy

2008-07-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

Ventimiglia

July 28th 2008

I took this picture from the car, before we parked! Not bad huh?

Day Trip

This trip was a continuation from the sister visit. We took a little trip over to Italy. We crossed the boarder like it was nothing. There was no boarder patrol, only a sign saying welcome to Italy! We entered Ventimigila, a small city right on the Italian boarder 30 mins from Monaco and about 1 hour from Genova. The city was very busy and it wasn’t easy finding a parking spot. We tried pulling into this one spot for 15 minutes but got laughed at and decided to try one that would actually fit the car. We finally got the car parked and then began walking, checking out stores as we went a long. We after stopping a few books stores and other random shops, we decided to sit in the park and talk for a while. After the park, we decided it was time to head back to the villa. So we took some pictures of the city and ourselves, made our way back to the car and drove toward France along the coastline.

Ventimiglia is a 2.5. Small, quite, and quaint.

Monaco

2008-07-29T13:36:00.001-07:00

Monte-Carlo

July 26th 2008

View a long the cost of Monaco.

Day 2cont.

Monaco is a country within a country like the Vatican and San Marino. It is where the wealth of France and Europe goes to be with their kinfolk, and the other richies from around the world go to escape paying taxes! I don’t blame them, if I had endless amounts of cash I would live there too. It has beautiful architecture, breathtaking views, nice cars and a plethora of mansions. I got first hand experience at what Monaco was like because I went to visit my sister who was living in a villa in Cap Martin, which is right outside Monaco. We took a ride on the scooter around the city to explore its richness. It really is a world of its own. Monaco could possibly be richer than France itself, doubtful, but you never know! Anyway, we went to check what the open air, English original version theater was playing and at what time. I had already seen the movie that was playing, so we decided to go back to the villa and watch one there. It was a short trip to Monaco, but from the villa I could look down upon it and see its true beauty. It’s a place to visit whether you could ever afford to live there or not. I liked it a lot but I couldn’t spend a lot of time there, I would be aware of how little I fit in, every time I went anywhere. Nevertheless, I had a good time.

Monaco is a 4. It is a very rich, small, beautiful country.

Cap Martin, Eze & St. Tropez, France

2008-07-29T13:35:00.001-07:00

Cap Martin

July 25-27th 2008

View from the Villa where my sister lived in Cap Martin!

Day 1
I arrived in Nice at 11:40pm from Dusseldorf to visit my sister. She was living in a villa right outside Monaco in Cap Martin. She was waiting at the airport for me and we took a 120 Euro cap ride to the villa. What a rip off. Anyway we got there finally after a train ride, a flight, and a 30min taxi ride! We decided to sleep downstairs so we could talk. It was a garage converted into a very nice big room. After an hour of talking we decided to go to bed. When we went to go upstairs to use the bathroom, we realized we were locked out. We couldn’t get out of the room from that door, nor the door that leads to the driveway, both locked. So we finally got one of the windows open, but didn’t want to know on the door or ring the bell and wake people up. So in stead we used the hose to brush our teeth. Then we went to bed with the lights on, because the switch was outside the door! It was an interesting night, not one you would expect to have in a luxury villa in Cap Martin!

Cap Martin is a 4.5. It's beautiful, charming, rich and alluring!

Eze

July 26th 2008

View from the top of Eze village.

Day 2
Night passed rather well despite what had occurred. We woke up early at around 7:30am after going to bed at 2pm. We went out through the window and into the front door of the villa. We told the story of last night and everyone had a good laugh. We ate breakfast, watched TV and then decided to go on a scooter ride. We took the scooter first to Eze, a small, but beautiful town north of Monaco. We drove a while, until we came to what looked like a fairly touristy spot. We parked, used the bathroom then walked up the hill to the church and garden. To get into the garden we paid 5 Euros, kind of a rip off once you realized how lame the garden was. It was a lot like the landscapes of the Arizonan deserts, lots of cactus, and sand. We hung out in it for a while, and then went back toward Monaco (see other blog for Monaco). We went back home after Monaco and watched a movie, then bed (not in the garage again!)

Eze is a 4. Its a small village, but the beaches are amazing.

St. Tropez

July 27th 2008

I did not take this picture, but I wanted you to know what St. Tropez looked like.

Day 3

This was the big St. Tropez day. We were supposed to meet up with some people at a party down in St. Tropez, which is the Hamptons of France. This is where the rich people of Europe go to party and vacation. We took our time getting ready and left the villa at around 12. It took us about 2 hours to drive down there. We got a little lost trying to find the house where the party was, so we meet our friends in town, and then drove together. The house was large and the back yard endless. When you walk out to the backyard, where the party was, to the right was a covered patio, where the food was being served, and to the left was the dance floor and DJ stand. When you continued walking out of the door you a grand marble 2 directional staircase lead you down to the rectangular shaped pool. To the left of the pool was a grand bar, which was more crowded than the food area. Past the pool were scattered tables for guest to dine and chat. We ate the delicious buffet of grilled chicken, hamburgers, fruits, salads, pasta, and much more. We filled up quickly then went to mingle with the guests. After about 3 hours we had had enough, my sister and I weren’t really in the mood to stay and so we decided to visit St. Tropez more. We drove around then headed back toward Nice for my flight, cancelled so I had to stay at the villa until they could rebook my.

St. Tropez is a 3. It is small and pretty, but its for a select bunch of people! Not me!

Bremen, Germany

2008-07-29T13:27:00.000-07:00

Bremen

July 19th 2008

Bremen is very picturesque, dispute the fact that it was raining!

Day Trip
Victoria and I took a train form Rheine to Bremen on Saturday to meet up with my sister and check out the city. We arrived at 11:15, shortly before my sister, and went to her track to collect her. We put her bag in a locker and left the train station. We went to tourist information first, to see where an original version movie theater was. We got directions, followed them, and arrived at the movie theater within 5 minutes. Unfortunately the OV movies were showing too late in the day for us to see, as we had to catch a train back at 4. After the disappointing trip to the movie theater we walked toward the center of the city. On the way we passed this nice little park area with a windmill-turned-restaurant in the middle. It was a lovely scene despite the awful, rainy, grey weather. After taking a few pictures of the park we ventured on, finding the shopping district of the city. We popped into a couple stores, but weren't really in the mood to shop so we decided to be tourist. We went to the Rathaus, the platz and medieval quarter. We got hungry so my sister ate a salad while we sat and ate Chinese restaurant. After lunch we walked toward the harbor stumbling upon a small festival. There we found this stand with mini pancakes, that would have been amazing, if cooked all the way! We were tired so we sat on a bench by the canal leading to the harbor. In front of us was a massive pirate ship! We sat and admired it for a while until it started to pour rain. After the rain let up, we headed back to the train station to catch our train.

Bremen was a 3. It was pretty especially for being one of the oldest cities in the north.

Greek Islands

2008-07-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

Sifnos

July 13th 2008

Sifnos is a mountainious island with much to explore.

Day 9
The last day of the cruise had come and Victoria and I had lost steam. We didn’t feel like renting a scooter or really exploring the island. The island wasn’t as inviting as the others had been. It was one big mountain and we were nestled in a cove. Sifnos was less windy than the others because the mountains blocked a lot of wind, which in return made the island seem smaller. After breakfast, we took our time to get to the beach, which was a hop-skip away from the ship. We weren’t really outside for that long because we were tired of the sun. We hung out on the ship a lot, reading, playing cards, and talking. We ate lunch on the ship too, because we planned to eat dinner on the island. We watched Fun With Dick and Jane after lunch and then I took a nap. By the time I woke up it was time for dinner on the island. So we changed and wore our black and white dresses for the occasion. We went to this cute little restaurant, not too far for the ship, and had traditional Greek food. We took our time eating, savoring our last day in the isles. After dinner we went for a walk, bought some souvenirs, and post cards. We headed back to the ship, took some pictures, packed our bags and went to bed. And that was the end of our Greek Isles cruise.

Sifnos was a 3. A lot less windy than the other two islands, but also a lot smaller.

Paros

July 12th 2008

Pretty day and night!

Day 8
This island is smaller than Mykonos, and flatter but just as windy and pretty. Once again we ported at around 11:30am. Vitoria and I were determined to get a scooter on this island, so that we could be in control of our own transportation. In order to do that we thought it best to be ready to disembark the boat as soon as it ported. This was not a problem since we hadn’t slept past 9 since the cruise started. We were showered, dressed and breakfasted with time to spare! We were among the first to set foot on land and we bolted for the nearest scooter stand. Disappointment came quickly. The first place was out, and the second, the third didn’t even have scooters. We searched for a while to no anvil. Instead we headed back to one guy and ask if they had 4 wheelers and he told us to go down the street. We did and lo and behold they had a plethora of scooters! We secured one with little difficulty, only a little harassment from the owner who said “are you sure you GIRLS can handle this, if not you can take a 4 wheeler it’s safer.” He continued with “I don’t want to have to charge you if you get in an accident it will be expensive, you can still change your mind.” I just wanted to smack that guy. He was making me doubt myself and I had driven one before, although briefly, and done fine. It just takes some getting used to, that’s all, practice makes perfect. We left with our blue scooter named Sasha Jr. (Sasha Sr. is back in Interlaken, Switzerland) and headed to fill her up at the gas station. Sasha Jr. wasn’t glamours, but she was sturdy and had spunk and we had a blast on her. We found our own beach on the other side of the island and hung out there for a while. We got hungry quickly and quitted the beach in search of food. We parked the scooter near the ship, ate chicken pitta’s at a little café, again, then rested on the ship. After our quick R&R we headed in the opposite direction to an unknown destination on the island. We found the wind surfing site, where we watched and Victoria tired driving the scooter. After she had enough we went on further and found a nice secluded beach. We took some pictures, played cards and relaxed. It was getting late so we headed back, watched the sun set at a beach near our ship, and then returned Sasha Jr. in perfect condition. Dinner and bed came shortly after sunset.

Paros was a 4. A perfect place to rent scooters, lay on the beach and enjoy great food.

Mykonos

July 11th 2008

The Windy Island

Day 7
Mykonos is a fairly large Greek Island, with beautiful beaches, lots of tourist and relentless strong winds. We ported the windy island at around 11:30, after an exciting safety drill, breakfast and a brief tanning session. Victoria and I caught the first shuttle bus to the main part of the island; as our ship ported away from the main town. The shuttle bus only rain every 30 mins until 2pm, then it didn’t run again until 7pm. (As if no one would want to do anything on the ship for 5 hours!) Annoyed by this aspect, but charmed by the island, we set out in search of a beach for some serious tanning. It was a long journey with no real reward at the end! After finding a dirt covered mound with dead grass to tan on, we realized why everyone took the other shuttle to paradise beach. There were no real beaches on the side that we were on; there were only small nooks around where few people could place a towel. That didn’t really bother us, the wind and he heat did more than anything. We made due with what we had though. We tanned and played on the rocks for a few hours then headed for food. We ate traditional Greek food at a small whole-in-the-wall joint in the center of town. After our, not too filling, chicken pitta’s we decided we had had enough of the sun and wanted shade and R&R. None of that come for the next hour and a half, because we decided to walk back to the boat! It was a long hot walk, but for some reason it was highly satisfying when we accomplished it. You could look back from the ship and see where we had come from and wonder “what the hell were we thinking.” Back on the ship we relaxed, ate dinner then took the bus back into town at around 8pm. We bought apple juice, got a crepe and walked back to the bus. We only took the shuttle again, because we were pissed that we would have paid 7 Euros to use it once. So we did our best to get our money’s worth and took it 3 times! After our quick in-town-adventure, we watch a move and fell asleep around 11pm.

Mykonos was a 3. Very pretty, but it is almost too windy to enjoy yourself.

Aegina

July 10th 2008

Day 6 cont..
We landed on Aegean at 8:30pm. We walked around, bought apple juice, took some pictures, got a post card, and then headed back to the ship. We went to bed around 10pm, falling asleep to Rush Hour 3!

Aigena was a 3. We weren't there long enough to really tell.

Athens, Greece

2008-07-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

Athens

July 10th and 14th 2008

Honestly I'm not sure what this building was, but I thought it was cool!

Day 6 cont.
After arriving on time to Athens I proceeded to the metro station. I paid 6 Euros to get into the city center/the port. I went the metro stop Monastiraki, locked my bag up, and killed time before Victoria was due to meet me. I walked around looking at all the cool shops and ruins mixed together. I was getting hungry and decided that the best way to kill time would be in an AC restaurant easting good food! I was there for an hour, then called Victoria who said that there was a strike so she couldn’t take the metro (that I just took) and had to take the bus. After about 30 mins she finally met me at my metro station and we headed for the port.

Day 10
We arrived back in Athens at around 11:30am. I didn't want to walk around the same area that I had been a few days ago, so I decided to head straight for the airport. Victoria walked around. I took the metro as before to the airport and arrived a few hours early. I attempted to catch an earlier flight straight to Dusseldorf but it would have cost a lot of money. Instead I decided to just get something to eat and wait for my flight. The airport in Athens is really crazy. There were so many people all over the place, I'm surprised I didn't feel more uneasy about my stuff. Anyway my flight left as planned and I got home at around 7pm.

Athens was a 4. I didn't see that much but what I did see I enjoyed. Athens has an amazing history and I still need to explore it.

Bulgaria

2008-07-20T12:05:00.000-07:00

Sofia

July 8-10th 2008

Sofia is surrounded by mountains and is

Day 4 cont

I landed around 5:40pm, ten minutes late, to Sofia. I got some local currency out of the ATM, (I love that in Europe they give you small money, not just 20’s) and attempted to find my mini bus. I soon learned that the mini-bus and normal bus only come go to the hold airport terminal; which doesn’t make a whole lot of since. Instead I took a cab. It was only about 5 Euros, which was worth it. I went into the hostel and they told me that my reservation was for the other hostel down the street. So the nice old lady walked me over to the other hostel and I checked in to the new place. I was in a room with about a dozen other people and I don’t remember signing up for a room that large, but oh well. I went out after checking in, just to get some fresh air because they allow smoking in the common room, and I was dying. I bought some water, tissues, apple juice, flip flops, an Ice cream cone, and took some pictures! Such random stuff! Then I went back to the hostel and watched TV for a while before going to bed.

Day 5

Once again I didn’t see a lot of sights. After breakfast and some morning TV, decided to head out with no map. I didn’t have a destination but I was in the mood to shop, I wanted a new dress for Greece. I probably went into every store, regardless of whether I could afford the clothing or not! I spent the entire afternoon checking out stores in search of a dress. It turned out to be the greatest idea, because I happened to see a lot of the city, and get a feel for the culture. I was not expecting to find so many shops in Sofia, but what they lack in sights, they have replace with shops. For lunch I had an American style hotdog, which was freaking good. It was so good I made a point to go back and have another. After the shopping I grew a little tired and in need of R&R, so I returned to the hostel. I hung out in the common room for a while, then went to read in the bed room, where luckily no one was. I read for an hour then took a nap; and what a glorious nap it was! After the nap I was ready to go back out and see some more of the city. I walked and took some pictures, growing hungrier by the minute. I stopped at Subway to add more Americanism to my day! I ate my sandwich in the park while watching some kids play. When I finished the sun had set and it was time for me to go back. At the hostel, I packed and prepared to leave the next day. I watched some TV then went to bed.

Day 6

I didn’t hear my alarm go off, because the night before I had put earplugs in, due to this annoying guy’s snoring. But fortunately for me I had woke up on my own, and started to get ready. This guy came in shortly after I woke up and said that he was going to wake me up because he hard my alarm go off. I thought that was really nice, and If I hadn’t woken up he would have saved my ass! Anyway, I fixed myself some breakfast since the hostel people were still sleeping. I had to wake them up though to call a cab and she didn’t seem too happy about that! I went down stairs to meet my cab and found it waiting for me. We encountered little traffic and arrived at the airport within 10mins. I checked in and was in the air at around 10am. I arrived in Athens at 11:45am… read about the rest of the trip on the next blog about the Greek Islands!

Bulgaria is a 3. Sofia has a lot of shopping but not many sights, those lie outside the city!

Romania

2008-07-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

Bucharest

July 7-8th 2008

The "Central Park" of Bucharest.

Day 3 cont
I arrived in Romania and instantly liked it better than Moldova. It was a much more developed and there public transportation proved to be more trustworthy. I did as instructed by the hostel and took the bus the correct stop. I found the street that the hostel was on, but I didn’t know which way to start walking. Right or Left? I chose Right, which to my luck was the correct direction. While walking to my hostel I saw several movie theaters, and made a mental note to inquire whether or not they have original versions; aka in English! I was ecstatic to learn that in all of Romania all their films are in English with only subtitles. HAZA!! I loved Romania instantly! Don’t think me wrong for seeing movies while on a trip to Romania. It was my vacation and as such I am free to do as I please. That and I had time to sight see later. I was tired, hungry and needed a little relaxation so I decided to grab food and see the 11am showing of Wanted. After the movie I took a little nap, ate lunch and then went to see the 14:45 showing of Hancock. I wasn’t tried and had energy so I went for the sightseeing. I walked for about 2hours, taking pictures, stumbling upon the central park of Romania, the house of parliament and national opera house. I went back to the hostel for some RR and to escape the heat; didn’t work the hostel was so hot. Anyway, I inquired about another huge movie theater that had more OV moves. After learning that the location was not that far or hard to get to I made plans to go. While waiting to leave I met a girl from the US who ended up going to the movies with me. We saw Prince Caspian. We caught the last bus to the hostel and I was in bed by 1am! What a good, long day!

Day 4
I vowed not to get out of bed until after 10am, I held strong and read until after 10! I got dressed and to my delight found that breakfast was supplied and free. The strangest thing happened and all of the sudden had a head cold. I thought it better to stay inside before I had to leave for the airport. I left for the bus at 1:30 and arrived at the airport at 3pm. I checked in and then waited for the flight. I really liked the bus ride to the airport, because it gave me a chance to see a lot of the city that I hadn’t. There was this amazing row of houses lined perfectly along the main road. They were of Vanderbilt style with as much Grandeur as the ones in Road Island. You could see the ball rooms form the road and the massive chandeliers that hung in them; quite unexpected for Romania. I suspect very rich or important people live there. Anyway, I was in the air by 4pm and on my way to Sofia, where the adventure continues.

Romania was a 4. Cheap, pretty and they have a lot of movie theaters with original versions!

Moldova

2008-07-20T11:38:00.001-07:00

Chrisinau

July 5-7th 2008

This Mosque is one of the prettiest buildings in the city, and the inside is as nice as the outside.

Day 1
I don’t know if it is just me or if bad luck follows everyone around? To be honest I can’t really complain because there was only one unlucky circumstance on my trip! My bad luck started and ended when my train from Rheine to Munster (where the airport is) was cancelled. The next train would arrive at the airport after the flight was supposed to take off. I was in a bind, I couldn’t take train, the best way to get to Munster, nor could I even think of taking a cab; it would have been 60 Euros, easy. I didn’t know what to do so I called Victoria and she asked her landlords if they could take me to Munster, thankfully they said yes. I got lucky again when I got a nice lady at the check in counter for Airberlin. My carryon luggage was a lot heavier then the allotted weight, but I had a really tight connection in Rome. I was so relieved when she said: I didn’t see the weight, you can take this as carry on!” It was a good thing too, because when I got to Rome I had to walk like 2 miles to get to the next gate, re-check in, and then board the plane. Anyway I made it to Moldova only 30mins later than expected. I found the “mini-bus” as they call them, and it took me to the bus station, which is just a little runoff where they all happen to stop; there is no formal sign or anything! I couldn’t find my connecting mini-bus so I just took a cab, for like 2 euros. I arrived at my hostel with much curiosity since it looked a bit run down! The inside was small but clean and not even close to being the worse I have ever stayed in. I dropped my stuff off, paid, and then went out for dinner. In Moldova they really don’t like it when you don’t order drinks (aka alcohol!). I ordered my pizza, and the waitress looked at me for a while, expecting me to get a drink. I did not budge! Even after she came over later with the menu and opened it, in front of me, to the drinks page; I simply closed it and resumed my people watching. After dinner I went back to the hostel, read for a little while and then went to bed!

Day 2
Today was a well different. I wasn’t really in the mood to do the “touristy stuff,” which is no surprise as that was a phase long since passed. I now consider my self, not as a tourist but as a wonderer. I take pictures like tourist do, but I do not seek out the most important sights to see, I simply wonder upon them. I roamed the streets, not in a hurry, yet not empathically. I people-watch, observe buildings, cars, noises and cultures. I often have a purpose, which is usually driven by hunger or thirst, but a purpose nonetheless! On this morning the purpose was food and thirst! I woke, changed quickly and went to fulfill my purpose. I found a supermarket, bought some bread, some bananas and apple juice! I ate as I walked. I walked to the city center. On my walk I passed a large church, which appear new, and park that was quite large. For most of the morning I simply walked and checked out the shops. I walked through all of “downtown” happening upon a mosque. I couldn’t go in because I was not dressed appropriately (it was rather warm and I was wearing a skirt). I ventured back in the direction I had hence come, when it started to train. I ducked into a Gallery full of shops and killed some time there. After the rain subsided I sat in the park and red my book. I ended up meeting this guy around 18, that was from Germany and staying at my hostel. We talked a little while we walked, then he showed me to the internet café. I was at the internet café for an hour, acquitting that I went back the hostel; where to my pleasure all the inhabitants were conversing! I joined in and we soon became fast friends; 7 in all. We all decided to go to dinner together. We went to a local place called Andy’s! They love their pizza in Moldova! I had chicken fingers to spice things up a little. After dinner we went to the supermarket to hangout and have drinks! Sounds weird but it was actually fun and there weren’t too many hobos hanging around! I went to be early because I had to catch a flight at 7am the next morning.

Day 3
I made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. I happened to get lucky again and was able to split a cab on there way there with a kid from the hostel. I had a little money left over and decided to use it to get snacks for the day and water. The money went farther than I thought and I got a little breakfast too! I boarded the plan on time. It was a little propeller plan and It was the smallest I have even been in. It is the definition of a puddle jumper! But it got us there and efficiently too. Thus my time Moldova was over. See Romania for more of my 10 day trip.

Moldova is a 2. Cheap, small but developing nicely. It could one day be a tourist destiation.

Ukraine

2008-06-30T00:24:00.001-07:00

Kiev

June 20-22nd 2008

On a bridge looking at Independent Monument Square.

Day 1

Waking up early and catching flights is becoming a regular event in my life! This time I did it to go to the Ukraine. I had to fly out of Koln/Bonn airport. So I took a bus to the S-bahn station, then a train to another train, and then finally arrived at the airport. At the airport I learn that my flight was cancelled! I thought, just great, I’m going to get there so late, or there isn’t going to be a flight at all! I had to wait in line for 30 minutes for them to tell me that I was already re-booked on another flight. Luckily I arrived early and had time to run to the other check in counter and still make my flight. I fly into Prague and had a lot of time in-between my flights. I tried to sleep but that didn’t work out so I walked around. I found this free place to use the internet and as I was getting ready to sit down at the computer I glanced over to the guy next to me and he was looking at Eastern European women; naked and doing interesting poses. He was taking notes and writing stuff down on a piece of paper!! I thought weirdo! Anyway, I checked my stuff online, walked around some more and then ate KFC at 10:30am, a first for me so early. After breakfast I went to board the plane. I finally got to Kiev by 2:30pm, and hour later than scheduled. I attempted to follow the direction that the hostel gave me. So I took the bus to the train station, got lost, asked for directions and finally found the metro. I couldn’t read anything so I just followed the crowd, going down, down and down. I asked this girl, by pointing, how to get to my desired stop. She pointed in response. I had no idea if I was going to the right place or not, but I had to take that chance. I got out of the metro station, baffled as to where I was or where to go. So I said, screw it I’ll just walk and take a taxi, and that is what I did. I walked and ran into some interesting stuff, took some pictures then hailed a cab. It took less than 2 minutes in the cab, indicating that I did in fact get off at the right spot! I checked in, rested a little, and then went to find food. I ate at this place called Pizza Leggera. I had lasagna and it was delicious! After that I just sat around, met some interesting people, chatted for a while, watched TV, and then went to bed.

Day 2
The bed was total crap so I didn’t sleep long even though the day before I had slept less than 4 hours. I felt more refreshed then I did the day before, so it wasn’t bad. I got dressed, and then went to the TV room to wake up more. I talked again with the people that I met the night before. They were heading out for breakfast so I joined them. We ate this bakery down the street, then I went back to hangout some more and these American girls that I met the night before were going out, so I joined them. We walked all around the city seeing the St. Sophia’s Cathedral, and Assumption Cathedral. We then ventured to Independent monument, which was a huge square with an underground mall right in the center of it. The mall was just like the ones that you would find in the states. I was impressed. Anyway we ate at Double Coffee the great chain diner that I mention I found when I was in the Baltics. They had it in the Ukraine too and it was just as good as I remember! After lunch we headed back to the hostel to take a little break. On the way I decided to go into St. Sophia’s Cathedral, which was a good idea considering right when I get in there it starts to rain. It was small on the inside but interesting and very old. After that I decided to go to the opera house and see if there was anything playing that night. There was so I bought a ticket. I didn’t know what the show was, but I didn’t care. I went back to the hostel and rested until the opera. At the opera I found out the name was Norma, an opera set in ancient Rome, so naturally it was all in Italian. The only downfall was that the translation was only in Ukrainian! But I read the acts before it started, so it was fine. After the opera I went to the hostel and talked to this German lady for an hour in German, which was pretty challenging considering it was late and I was tired! I finally went to be at midnight.

Day 3
As usual I woke up early, changed, watched TV, and then headed out for breakfast at McDonalds! After that I just walked down the streets that I hadn’t been before in hopes to explore more of Kiev. I succeeded. I saw some really nice parks and buildings along the streets I choose. At the end of one street, I found more underground shops. I went under to check it out, and then came up totally disoriented! But what I had stumbled upon was great. They were filming some type of old film in the city of Kiev. I’m not sure if it was American or Ukrainian film or what really, but they had all these old time cars, and the extras had 60’s looking clothing on. I hung out there for a while watching the movie come to life, but decide that I needed to rest so I headed back to the hostel. I watched TV for a while, and then the American girls were going for lunch so I joined them for another round at Double Coffee! After lunch I had to go back and get my stuff to go to the airport. I took a cab, and enjoyed the hassle free ride! I got to the airport early and yet the flight was still late. So that meat that I had to run to my next flight. I thought I was going to miss it, but oh wait it was an hour late; which meat that I was going to miss the train and maybe not get another one to Düsseldorf. AAAHHHH. It all worked out though although I did arrive home 1.5 hours later that expected!

Kiev was a 3. Big, pretty, modern with plenty of interesting people and good food!

Netherlands

2008-06-18T00:35:00.001-07:00

Amsterdam

June 14th 2008

This is Amsterdam minus the all the bikes, the cheese shops, and plethora of tall people!

Day Trip

Procrastination is the word to use when it comes to me seeing Amsterdam. I have been living in Dusseldorf for 4 and a half months now, which is only a 2 hour train ride to Amsterdam. Well at least I made it. The morning started early, but I didn’t get into Amsterdam until 12:00 because my train was late. Leaving the train station, we headed immediately for the Dam square with the historical museum and royal palace/town hall. Wandering east we walked through some of the Red Light District, which proved to be rather tame during the day. The only thing you really noticed was a slight hint of marijuana in the air. For lunch we first tried to find a local café that was recommended by one of our Dutch friends. Unfortunately, it was packed and the Dutch proved to be too much for us. We ended up eating at a café along the flower markets, trying “Amsterdam’s best pancakes”, which really turned out to be more of a crepe. We also stumbled upon one of the best used bookstores we have seen in Europe. They had three different floors of books, with every topic imaginable. It was basically just a “Half Price Books” (but not really half price because of the whole Euro thing!), but we hadn’t been able to find anything like it in Germany. The best we have is bookswapper.de where you can post and trade books. Anyway, the rest of our afternoon was spent people-watching in Dam Square and shopping. But before we got to the train station we decided to get some cheese, Dutch cheese is amazing, and eat it on a wall over a canal. Then we took a train back to Rheine, and that was the end of Amsterdam!

Amsterdam is a 4. The Dutch are great about keeping things real. They don't dub films, and they read English novels! Not to mention the city is beautiful.

Albania

2008-06-10T10:45:00.001-07:00

Albanian Boarder!!!

June 5th 2008

They don't really like you taking pictures of the boarder, so this is all I could get!!

My first Albanian Attempt...

Kosovo

2008-06-10T10:30:00.000-07:00

Prishtina

June 6th 2008

This is city centre in Prishtina! It reminded me a lot of Mesa, Arizona but with a few less buildings!

Day 3 cont

I took a bus from Skopje to Phristina. It was about a 2 hour ride. The Kosovo border control was a lot easier to get through than Albania’s, since I didn’t need a visa. We just sit on the bus, and the Macedonian police come and look at all the passports to clear you to leave the country. Then you go 2 seconds to the Kosovo border and they do the same thing, except that they actually stamp the EU and USA passports. Then you are one your way. We arrived in Phristina at around 1pm. I bought my return ticket for 3:30pm, because upon arrival I saw that I wouldn’t need anymore time! I walked around, just checking the place out. It’s really poor and desalinate. There is a lot of UN activity there since they are doing a mission to re-build the country. The UN activity is really good for travelers, because it has created a safer environment in the city. The city reminded me of Mexican cities, because it’s so hot, dry, and tree-less! Like Macedonia it is really hard to find shade. Anyway on my way back to the train station I bought some lunch and water, which was cheap even though they use the Euro. I got on the bus at 3:30 and started the journey back to Skopje. The ride back to Skopje was beautiful, and interesting. You see so many houses and from a distance they look so amazing, but then when you take a closer look you see that they are half done. They don’t have windows, doors or furniture, yet people still live there. The few houses that were done, however, were pretty amazing; I would have bought them in Arizona! Needless to say you don’t need much time in Kosovo, although I have heard the night life is worth wild.

This is the type of house you would find in Arizona!!
I want it!! Makes you wonder who lives there!!

Kosovo is a 1. Right now in Kosovo there is a lot of UN activity so it is safe to travel there. The only thing is, there really aren't any sights to see! It was a good experience, but it might not be worth the trouble!

Macedonia

2008-06-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

Skopje

June 4-8th 2008

This is the main square with a view from the stone bridge; which seperates the city from its outskirts.

Day 1 cont
The day continued from Thessaloniki, Greece to Macedonia. I arrived in Skopje relatively on time considering how long border control takes. On the train they come by and ask for your passport and tell you that you can pick it up in 10 minutes. So you go to the police office and they just call out the names, and only half glances at the pictures. That’s safe! Anyway, when I arrived in Skopje, this random kid was asking me where I was staying. I was a little taken aback at first but I warmed up and told him. He was just looking for a hostel to stay at. We met this other kid who was staying at the same place as me (Hostel-Hostel), so we all shared a cab. We arrived at our hostel checked in, then the three of us headed out to get some food. We ate at this great place, with traditional food. Everything in Macedonia is dirt cheap. We went to into the center of town to get drinks. We hung out for a while and then headed back to the hostel; I went to bed at midnight.

Day 2
I woke up at 10:45, ate two pieces of toast then went out to see the city. I walked, and walked without a map, or destination. I surveyed the people, buildings, poverty, and trades going on within the city. I was out for about 3 hours, and it was really hot. There weren’t that many places to seek shade unless you stepped into shops, but those shops weren’t even air-conditioned so that doesn’t help! I decided to leave Skopje early and make my way to Albania. I had seen enough. My new friend and I took a bus that left earlier than I had planned to; we made it to the border and had to come back (see Albania for details). So we went to a border city called Tetovo, which was practically Albania. We headed back to Skopje at around 5pm. The drive there and back is really pretty and it was kind of soothing. Anyway, since I had screwed my plans to go to Tirana, I decided to stay in Macedonia for the next two nights, and then head to Thessaloniki. On my way back from the train station I decided to walk a little then catch a taxi. While walking I met this girl who was look for a place to stay. She was from South Korea. I took her to our hostel, we talked, had pizza and then I went to bed early.

Day 3
Since I had an extra day that I wasn’t suppose to, I decided to go to Kosovo (see Kosovo for details). I came back at like 5pm, hung out and talked to the friends that I had made. Then I got food, made it and talked some more. I also went to bed fairly early that night too, because I had to wake up early the next morning and go back to Greece.

Day 4
Every day proves to be interesting when traveling in countries like these. You really have no idea what to expect, and it’s impossible to predict how long things will take. Our train to Greece was two hours late. My friend missed his flight and I missed crucial sun time for tanning! Oh well it all worked out nonetheless, and it’s not the end destination that is important is the journey in between; which is very true. Although you often weigh the end journey to the end destination and wonder if it was all worth it. In this case it was. I had a good time with the people I met, nothing bad happened and I didn’t spend that much money. It was a good journey and an interesting destination!

Macedonia is a 2. It is a very poor country, but they are working toward EU membership. The people are fragile, but interesting and make the best of what they have. It was an interesting trip to say the least!

Thessaloniki, Greece

2008-06-10T09:55:00.000-07:00

Thessaloniki
June 4th, 7th & 8th 2008

Not many beaches in Thessaloniki, but the city is unique with plenty to do!

Day 1
What a long travel day this was! It all began at 5:50 am in Dusseldorf Germany! My flight was 30 min’s late arriving in Greece, which was only the beginning of the long day! It was about 10:15am when I finally found fresh air again. Well almost fresh, everyone was smoking by the bus stop, which I had to take into town. The bus was due to come in 15 mins which was nice considering they only come every 30 mins! I bought my ticket for 50 cents, got on the bus and continued making process. My goal for the bus ride was to get to the train station; unfortunately I couldn’t read or understand Greek. So it was really just a guessing game! Randomly I decided to get off the bus. Then I asked someone how to get to the train station and was told to get on this bus and take it to the end. So I did and it took about 45 mins for us to get to the train station. Later I found out that I could have just stayed on the bus from the airport and it goes to the train station, oops! Anyway, I bought my train ticket to Skopje, Macedonia my end destination for the day! I had about 4 hours before the train left so I stored my bag in a locker and then went to explore the city. I went to the water first, naturally, and took some pictures then gazed at the boats far off in the distance. After day dreaming for a while I decided to sit down and read. I found these amazing outside restaurants with big cushy couches and tables. I sat down and ordered a chocolate milkshake. I was there for about 1.5 hours. It was great. But then I decided to head back to the train station. On the way I people watched and window shopped. I arrived at the train station got my bag and boarded the train and was on my way to Macedonia!

Day 4 cont
I arrived back in Thessaloniki after spending time in Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo! I took a train from Macedonia, which was 2 hours late, to Thessaloniki. I walked to the hotel that I booked the night before. It was cheap and I had my own room, double bed, bathroom, TV and balcony! How exciting! After checking in and putting my stuff down, I went in search of dinner. I decided on Goody’s, the Greek version of Wendy’s (not McDonalds because it has more healthy choices like Wendy’s does!) I had the Golden Special Green Edition. After that I walked around enjoying the weather and atmosphere. I bought ice cream on my way back to my hostel. After that I was in for the night. I was too excited to just relax and watch TV!!! I never get to watch TV, let alone TV shows that are not dubbed in German or that are LAME! I watched TV until late then fell asleep.

Day 5
I woke up at around 9am, unfortunately. I was trying to sleep in more considering my flight wasn’t until 8pm that night. But I stayed in bed for a while, watch TV, repacked, showered, ate breakfast then checked out. I stored my bag, so that I wouldn’t have to walk around with it. I went out and walked, walked, and walked. I ate a late lunch at Ruby Tuesday’s, and it was delicious! After lunch I read outside for a while, enjoying the fresh air. Although the weather was beautiful, I was a little tired of being outside so I want inside to watch TV at the hotel. Now don’t think that all I do is watch TV, it’s not that, it’s just that I never really get to at home!!! Anyway, at about 5pm I went to go to the bus stop that goes to the airport. It takes about 40 mins to get to the airport by bus. I arrived there at like 7pm checked in, and waited. I finally arrived in Dusseldorf at around 10:30pm

Thessaloniki was a 2. the city is nice with lots of shopping to do, but it lacked the beach scene!

Luxembourg

2008-05-06T03:41:00.000-07:00

Luxembourg

May 1st, 2008

Luxembourg is very interesting, it is built on valleys and ravines.

Day Trip
I decided that since I had not been to Luxembourg yet I would just make it a day trip. It is quite expensive to stay the night and it was only 4 hours away so it’s worth it. It’s funny because Mexico is so close to me in Arizona, but I don’t just drive 4 hours there and back for the day!! Anyway I took a train first thing in the morning and Jessica met up with me on the train. We got to Luxembourg at around 12. We walked around taking in the city, which was disserted, because of the holiday. We had a map that we got from the tourist info center. Luxembourg was crazy because it has many ravines, and valleys. Then they just built on hills and on the valley floors and it all came together nicely. We eventually become hungry, so we looked around for a good, cheap restaurant. Those are non existent in Luxembourg, well the cheap part. So we agreed on Mexican food. It was pretty good. So after lunch we just wondered around, coming across this little outdoor festival. We watched this band with dancers for a while. Then I bought some traditional Luxembourg cake and then headed back to the train station. It rained off and on a little, but it was sunnier than I thought it would be. Anyway I got back home around 6pm

Luxembourg is small but very pretty, on a sunny nice day luxembourg is a 3!

Nice, France

2008-04-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

Nice

April 26-28 2008

Nice was Nice, and I had a really good time, taking in the sun and enjoying the weather!

Day 1
Victoria and I left for Nice on Saturday at 11:50am. We had a direct flight from Dusseldorf to Nice. Once we arrived we caught the bus into the city centre. The bus ride was along the beach, which made us want to be outside, instead of on the stuffy bus! While on the bus, we were map-less, direction-less and clue-less! We were already later than we thought we would be to check into the hotel. We got off the bus at the wrong time, making us even later to check in. Once we got our bearings and found the hotel it was too late to check in because the lady had already left. She left a note saying she wouldn’t be back until 5:30, which meant we had to lug our luggage around the city! Despite that, we had a good time, we had lunch at this place on the main strip of stores then headed to the beach. We played cards while sitting on the ledge looking out to the beach. It was really nice to just sit and relax, which was the main goal of the whole weekend! After 7 we were finally checked in, rested and ready to go out and find dinner. We walked down the popular “restaurant” street, and had a nice dinner at a restaurant that was suggested by the hotel lady! We played more cards outside then went to our room.

Day 2
Upon arriving we had declared that the second day of our trip would be spent on the beach. We woke up around 9, and went out in search of breakfast. We ate at this cute little restaurant, just off the boardwalk. After breakfast we went back to the hotel to change and grab our beach stuff, then hit the beach. There were a lot of people out there tanning without tops on! I was really tempted to try but there were too many children around and I felt weird!! Oh well, maybe some other time! Anyway, the sun was shining and we were soaking it up, living the dream!! After a while though I started to fidget, it is really hard for me to sit out in the sun for too long. I felt like I was burning. So we got up and started playing volleyball! It was a nice break from just laying. After that we went to the water to test it out and it turned out to be freezing. I did not go in however; because I’m not a big fan of oceans especially ones that are freezing! After being outside for 4 hours or so, I declared it was time to go inside! It’s a good thing I did too, because I was burnt! We watched a movie, then changed and went for a walk, took some pictures then went to find dinner. We went to another restaurant in the area that was supposed to be good. It was good, although we couldn’t read anything on the menu! We went back to our room, showered, repacked, relaxed, and then went to bed.

Day 3
We once again woke up early. We went for breakfast, but this time at a grocery store! We had sandwiches and juice and it was amazing. We ate it along the boardwalk, and played cards, while enjoying our last day in Nice. After breakfast we went for a walk and did some shopping, but didn’t really buy anything. We want back to the hotel checked out and then walked to our bus. We were getting a little worried because the bus wasn’t coming to the stop we were standing at. So we had to walk to the main station, where we found the bus and got on. The ride to the airport is short and we had plenty of time before our flight was supposed to leave. We got back to Germany around 7pm. It was a really great trip, very relaxing!

Nice was a 4. Pretty, multicultural and great weather, what more can you ask for?

Scottland

2008-03-31T12:02:00.000-07:00

Edinburgh

March 22-24, 2008

Edinburgh Castle

Day 2
We arrived really late in Edinburg, but found the bus that we needed to take to the hostel. We got off at the stop that the direction told us too, but they were wrong! We were heading in the opposite direction. So we turned around found our hostel, checked in and then went for dinner. We found a nice place called McDonalds! The only place that was really open that late, so we had some food then went to relax back at the hostel. We played cards for a while then went to bed.

Day 3
The next day we created our own walking tour of the city, starting at the far west end up by these columns and working our way back to the castle. The old town was nice to walk through, and we would have spent more time there if the weather had been better. Despite the fact that London has more to offer in terms of attractions and things to do, I think we all fell in love with Edinburgh’s charm. To escape the rain we found a movie theatre...It was amazing to see a film in English without subtitles. Later dinner was in a Scottish pub and was followed by another movie. We wished that we had more time in Edinburgh and had been able to take a day trip up to northern Scotland.

Day 4
We woke up early and took the bus to the airport. We were tried but we knew we would have a long day still a head. We arrived in London at around 10ish, ready for more action!

Edinburgh was a 3. The weather was much nicer, and the city much quieter.

England

2008-03-31T11:18:00.000-07:00

London

March 21-25 2008

Parlament and Westminster bridge

Day 1

We flew from Düsseldorf to London Heathrow, arriving in London at around 2pm. We took the underground to our hostel; St. Christopher’s, checked in and headed out again. We took the train to St. Paul’s Cathedral. Once there, we decided we were hungry and ate at Cup of Noodles, good cheap food. Then we walked back to the Cathedral and went inside briefly. After seeing the Cathedral we took the train to London Bridge, walked across it and all along down the river past HMS Belfast ship, toward Tower Bridge. We walked across Tower Bridge, to Tower of London. We didn’t go inside the Tower of London, just sat on a bench outside. We started to walk back to the train station, and of course it started raining. Then it eventually started hailing, so we took cover until it stopped, then made our way to the underground. We went out to see Wimbledon. We made it there in the dark, but took some pictures nonetheless and then walked back to get some dinner. We had dinner at this great Thai restaurant. Then we went back to our hostel, and went to sleep.

Day 2
Today was a busy day. We woke up at 9:00ish went to breakfast, checked out, stored our luggage then headed to the sights! We went to Buckingham Palace, down Birdcage walk to Westminster Abby. From Westminster Abby, we went to we saw Parliament and Big Ben. As we were walking across Westminster Bridge, we came upon an interesting scene. There was apparently a jumper! Well they found a pile of clothes and no one there to claim them. Naturally the cops think that someone jumped but they were searching the river for a body, not sure if they found one. It could have been a prank. Anyway we continued our journey to waterloo station so that we could see where Bourne Ultimatum was filmed! Didn’t really look the same!! We left waterloo station to Covent Garden, were we ate lunch at Walk-about restaurant. We ate fish and chips then decided to see the Biggest Department store in the world, Harrods. We didn’t buy anything, not that we could really afford anything. We went back to our hostel so that we could get our luggage and go to the airport. (See Edinburgh).

Day 4
We arrived back to London at around 10am. We found our hostel, the Ashlee house, by Kings cross Station. We checked in left our luggage, and then headed out to Knotting hill, after Knotting hill we went to the London Eye. It was pretty cool, and expensive, but at least it was 30mins. We went to Charring Cross by St. Martin-in the Fields and found an Italian restaurant. After our late lunch we went to Kings cross, did the Harry Potter’s platform 9¾. Then we went back to take a little nap! But Victoria and I fell a sleep for a long time, and Travis didn’t wake us up. We woke up on our own and realized that we were going to be late for WICKED!!! So we literally ran to the train station, caught a train, and made it in perfect time to the musical. The musical was great, and we went back and hit the sack!

Day 5
We woke up early and packed our stuff and went to the airport. We made it back to Düsseldorf a little late due to the flight delay. I finally made it home around 5pm!

London was a 2.5. The city is amazing but the there are too many tourist and the weather sucks.

Lithuania

2008-01-28T06:38:00.000-08:00

Vilnius

January 25-27, 2008

The first somewhat sunny day that I could enjoy during my Baltic trip! Later it rained for hours!

Day 5

So after leaving Riga I arrived at Vilnius bus station at 17:30, and of course it was already dark by the time I got a Taxi and found the hostel. I got settled in, ate some food, talked to some people and watched Gold Member. It was hard for me to fall asleep because the other hostel members were having a party in the kitchen. But once I did it wasn’t half bad!!!

Day 6

This was an interesting day. I woke up around 10:30, saw the sun and decided I needed to be outside! I dressed quickly, grabbed my map and went out. Although the sun was shinning it was chilly and rain clouds were rolling in, how typical! But I took advantage of the time I had of good sunshine, and walked and walked and walked. But before I set off for the long journey I stopped at a grocery store and got nourishment (pigs in a blanket, GOOD)! Although I grabbed my map, I never used it once while I was exploring. I simply just walked on aimlessly. I wondered upon the Town Hall, where they happen to be filming something, although what, I’m not sure. Continuing on, I walked past, Holy Trinity Church, Holy Spirit St. Teresa, and the Gates of Dawn. After passing through the Gates of Dawn, the town became dismal and sketchy, so I decided it would be better to go back. So I went back the way I can, picking up some postcards along the way. I walked for hours, talking pictures, people watching and enjoying the day. I walked to the river that runs through the city, past Gediminas Tower, the Cathedral, past the National Drama Theater, which as this point was well out of Old town, and on! It was much nicer than the other side, out of old town. There were many shops and Double Coffee’s. I think Double Coffee is the equivalent to Starbucks of the West and Dunkin Doughnuts of the East in the States! One on every corner! On the last parts of my exploration I found a ZARA!! So I did a little shopping. It was fun and they had some good sales! After that I ate and read at one of the Double Coffee’s, because it started to rain. I was there for quite some time, passing time until the rain subsided. However, the rain was very persistent and wouldn’t let up, and it was getting dark so I had to head back. At this point I was really far from the hostel, so I walked quickly in the rain, for about 20 minutes or so. Back at the hostel, I talked to some more people, read and organized my taxi ride for the next morning and my things.

Day 7

I barley made my flight to Stuttgart on time. After waking up at 5am, and getting dressed I found my taxi waiting patiently outside. I got in and 40 minutes and 24 lht’s later I was in the airport past security and boarding the plane. The plane from Vilnius to Copenhagen was late, which of course made me late for my connection on to Stuttgart. Luckily there weren’t that many people on the flight, a total of 13, so they waited for everyone. I made it to Stuttgart eventually, then Reutlingen shortly after that! What a fun 7 days!

Vilnius was a 3, nice, average, but also better than I expected.

Latvia

2008-01-28T06:18:00.000-08:00

Riga

Janurary 23-25, 2008

Riga has many parks, which makes the city beautiful, even in winter!

Day 3

The bus ride continued. Backed up a little by traffic, but nevertheless arriving earlier than planned at Riga bus station at 14:00. As usually I didn’t know where the heck I was nor where my hostel was, and since I was alone, I paid for a Taxi. This time I was a little upset that I paid for a taxi. The hostel was really close to the train station, but it still would have been hard to find. I checked into the hostel, which was very quite. I had an entire 10 bed female dorm to myself. Anyway, I put my stuff down and then went back out to get some food. Guess where I ate? You guessed correctly McDonalds!!!! Cheap, quick and good! After that I just wondered around and arrived at an amazing Orthodox Cathedral. It was set on a wide space of green grass with trimmed hedges, many trees and benches to take in the scenery. I also stumbled across the opera house, which was as nicely landscaped at the Cathedral, but with a small creak running beside it. By this time it was almost dark, so I headed back toward the hostel. I sat by the river for a while before going inside to find warmth. Since it was still pretty early I took advantage of the “free” internet! I talked online for close to 7 hours!!! Some would say Lame, but I say it’s better than going to bed; which I eventually did around 1am.

Day 4
I slept in, waking at around 11:30. I dressed quickly, and headed out in search of some food. I decided on Fridays since it had been so long since I ate there. I had steak, potatoes and a smoothie, it was freakin’ delicious. Then I went to the opera house to see if I could get a ticket for that night’s performance. Unfortunately the lady said that it was all sold out, but they sell standing room seating only at one hour before the performance. After that I didn’t really get to enjoy Riga, it was snowing so hard that I could barely see my hand in front of my face. So I went to the movies to kill time. I saw Atonement, and Michael Clayton. Both movies were completely different, but good. After the movies it was time to go back to the Opera Theater and get a ticket. I paid $6 for the standing room ticket. Not bad. The opera was called Carmen, a story about Cuban prostitutes and the military. It was really good; the only thing that sucked was that I couldn’t see the translation boxes, so I didn’t really know what was going on! After the opera I walked back toward my hostel and stopped at the Double Coffee. A chain diner restaurant in the Baltic’s like Denny’s, but with European breakfast not American!!! It was really good and cheap. I ate and then went back to my hostel for bed.

Day 3

Of course when I woke, it was sunny and I had to be on a bus for about half the day! But there were storm clouds rolling in so I wasn’t that upset! For breakfast I ate at the Double Coffee my new favorite place. I had potato pancakes and ham, a little creasy but tasty!! After breakfast it was almost time to be at the bus station, so I went to the grocery store and stocked up on some food for the bus ride. I then walked among this out door market. I didn’t really find anything that great, although I was temped a couple of times to buy one of those Russian type hats, with the flaps!!! But nothing was that appealing. So I went to bus station. This bus was not nearly as nice as the one I took two days before, but I had a seat to my self which was nice. This trip was a lot longer for some reason than the other. Not sure why? But we eventually made it!

Riga was a 4. It's big, historical, modern and pretty. It has everything one needs and wants!

I I could actually live in Riga, its big and pretty, but it would be hard for me to adjust to the language.

Estonia

2008-01-28T04:54:00.000-08:00

Tallinn

January 21-23, 2008

The Tallinn reminded me a lot of Prague, especially in this picture!

Day 1
I flew from Stuttgart to Berlin Monday morning at 10am, then from Berlin on to Tallinn. I arrived in Estonia at around 5:20pm, and since it was already dark I decided to take a cab to the hostel. Which was a good Idea considering it was a new country; I don’t know the language and I didn’t want to figure out the buses or trams! I arrived at the hostel 30 minutes later, checked in, and spent the remainder of the night there. It was great. There were only 4 people staying at the hostel, but they were out for most of the night. So it was just me, the couch, and TV! I watched some shows in English and German, (it was weird that they had channels in German!) and some movies. It was relaxing and exactly what I needed after the exhausting two weeks of finals. I finally went to bed at around 11.

Day 2
Today I woke up at 10am, after a nice night sleep. I got dressed and headed out to explore the city. This is my first trip traveling alone, and although I was nervous at first, it turned out to be fun. I could see whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, and however fast I wanted! Don’t get me wrong, I love traveling with other people, it is much more fun, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be! Anyway, I basically just wondered around the city, without looking at a map, or thinking about where I wanted to go. Along my wondering path I saw many churches like, the Cathedral of St. Mary the Virgin, St. Nicholas’ church, St. Olav’s Church, Holy Spirit Church, and the most impressive of all was Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Besides churches I also saw Tallinn town hall, the town wall, and Kiek in de Kök (a massive defense tower). For lunch I stopped and ate at Old Estonia Restaurant and had Estonian Herring. (I thought I would get a good feel for the food culture!!) It was quite good. By 1:30pm I had seen all of old town I wanted to see and it began to snow, so I decided to go to the movies. The theater was really nice, showing English original versions! I saw P.S. I love You, National Treasure 2, and I am Legend. All very different types of movies! It was a good day!!! I got back to the hostel around 9pm, hung out for a little, watch TV then went to bed around 11.

Day 3
I woke up at 8:15 am, to catch a bus at 10 to Riga. I had to make my way to the bus station, which meant taking a tram and buying a ticket for it. I went to my stop, and found the little stand that sells the tickets, among many other things. The lady said “6 kroon.” I was like crap I only have 2 and some change, so I was going to chance not buying a ticket (people in Europe do it all the time), but instead I attempted to give her Euros. She wouldn’t take the Euros, but she gave me the ticket anyway. How nice! So I get on the tram, and took it to a stop, wasn’t sure which one because the announcement: one was in another language and two extremely incomprehensible! So before getting off I ask someone, “is this the stop for the bus station” and they were like yes, yes. So I got off, looked around and... “*%(#($*… *(#*$*$* No this wasn’t the correct stop!” Luckily for me, a nice girl whom spoke great English and told me to get back on the tram and take it 2 stops then walk back a little and you will see the bus station. So it did that and made it to the bus station! Finally! I sat there and waited for an hour, boarded the bus and was off to Riga…

It was so random seeing this resturant in Estonia!
I liked Estonia, people there are very independent. At the movies there were a lot of people, men women, and teens that went alone. It was not unusual to see that at all there, which was very refreshing!

I give Estonia a 2.5. It was better than I expected, small and cute. It would be great in summer.

2007 Recap!

2007-12-31T03:42:00.000-08:00

2007 was an amazing year!

I find seeing 13 countries in one year pretty amazing, especially since I just got my passport in January. I have a lot to be thankful for, especially my health, family, and friends. I am also very lucky for the opportunities that I have had this past year. I couldn't have asked for more. Being able to travel and live in another country have been a wonderful experience and I hope everyone gets a chance to do both. I hope the new year brings as much luck as the last!

Goodbye 2007, Hello 2008

My video of my travels in 2007!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtNEt6LtHmU

Tunisia

2007-11-30T10:20:00.000-08:00

Tunis

November 21-25, 2007

Tunis is absolutly beautiful and it is the most surprising country I have been to.

Day 1
Victoria and I left campus at 11:00 to catch our 11:47 train to Stuttgart. We arrived in Stuttgart on time and caught our train to Strasbourg. When we arrived at Strasbourg train station, we wanted to check our bags so that we could explore the city a little before making our way to the airport. We had a couple of hours to kill, but the stupid baggage storage cost 4 Euro per locker and we could not share one. So we just decided to walk around with them. However, when we got to the front entrance of the train station, we noticed it was raining, and that really put a damper on things. We decided it was not the best of ideas to walk around with our suitcases and get them soaked, so we sat in McDonalds until we needed to leave. We ate some food, played some cards, and got harassed by a couple of guys, the usual!! Ha ha. Anyway, we made it to the airport after taking a tram and bus, checked in and boarded the plane. We arrived in Tunis at about midnight, got our bags then looked for our driver. At first we thought he was the wrong person but it was too late, we were already on our way!!! It was really the car that threw us off, we were expecting a nice town car, but instead got an old beat up, Toyota Camry! We arrived at the correct house and deduced that it was in fact the right person! We settled in and hit the sack!

Day 2
We slept yesterday’s travels off until about 10am and woke up to a beautiful day. We went downstairs where Nora, the housekeeper, was making breakfast because the cook was out. We had a nice breakfast, and then got dressed for the day. Since it was thanksgiving, we decided to stay around the house. Aunt Cynthia had a few meetings and an early dinner with the US ambassador for Tunisia. Victoria, Maraion and I went for a little walk around the neighborhood. We were looking for a specific shop, but got lost until we asked someone, then we realized we had passed it two times! After the walk, Victoria and I decided it was too nice to be inside, so we went to the roof. We brought towels, cards, and music with us and spent the next couple of hours basking in the glory of WARMTH. It reminded me a lot of Arizona. The sun was waning, so we went inside and changed just before the guests started to arrive. Shortly after the guests arrived, dinner was ready, and it was a fest fit for a king! We ate, talked and laughed until people slowly started to leave. After the last person left, we changed into our PJ’s and watched CSI. It was so nice to finally watch American TV!!!! (The military had a TV network she had access to!) We went to bed shortly after 11pm!

Day 3
Today we ventured out into the city with Marwin, the driver for the ambassador. We went to La Mensa, the Cartage and Sidi Bou Said were we saw a lot of local life, and visited many shops. We saw some amazing seaside views of Tunisia. We spent most of the morning out and about, until we got a call form the ambassador. We had to go to her office and pick her up. So we drove over to the African Development Bank and sat in her office and waited for her for an hour. Victoria and I played cards. We left, went back to the house and ate a late lunch. We then drove over to the Tunis City centre, which is the most famous shopping mall in North Africa. We spent an hour there, and then went back to the house to get dressed for the Gala to be held in Aunt Cynthia’s (ambassador) honor. The Gala was really nice, good food, and many inspiring speakers. We went home and went to bed for another long day!

Day 4
Today Marwin took us to Sousse, which is a beautiful coastal town south of Tunis, but there were a lot of tourists! We spent the morning there looked in the shops, bought some stuff, then drove back up the coast to Hammamet. This city was so amazing, very pretty, small and a lot to do in the off season. We ate lunch at a nice small restaurant, I had steak and eggs, it was delicious! Then we took some pictures on the beach and drove to Nabeul. Nabeul is known as “pottery town.” The town has more pottery than I have seen in my life! We spent an hour in one store, bought some bowls and other dishes, then went back to the house. We had dinner together, watched the Island on TV, then packed and hit the sack for another early morning.

Day 5
Today was a long day. We woke up at 8am and ate breakfast together. Then Marwin took us to the Medina where we bought a lot of random gifts. I bought Converse’s and Victoria bought a lot of Pashminas! Then we went back home and had a small lunch and said good bye to everyone. We arrived at the airport and the day of travel began! We didn’t get home until 12:30. We even missed our train, but everything worked out anyway! We had a great time.

Tunisia was a 5. As beautiful and amazing as it was, Tunisia it is not indicitive of Africa. Don't be fooled!

Turkey

2007-11-15T02:02:00.000-08:00

Istanbul

November 8-11 2007

The Blue Mosque is amazing at night and during the day!!

Day 1

Travis, Victoria and I caught the 8:44 bus to Stuttgart airport. Our flight, living at 11:00, was on time and arrived in Istanbul, after a quick layover in Zurich, at about 4:20pm. When we arrived, there was a man holding a sign with my name on it from the Antique Hostel***. We had pre-requested a pickup service, since it would be easier and saver, and since we really didn't know the city. The ride to our hostel took about 35mins, and it was nice to see some of the city by car first. We checked into our hostel, put our stuff down then decided to go out find food and explore the area close to our hostel! We found this restaurant, that looked nice, and sat down. We were the only customers in the restaurant. We decided to split some courses, but the restaurant was bogus!! The pictures where nothing like what was served, and we shared a shrimp platter that had maybe 5 shrimp on it! Then we had stewed fish, which was actually good. They kept bringing us bread and we thought we had to pay for it so we kept refusing it!! All in all it was a terrible first experience, we paid quickly and left!

Day 2
We woke up around 9:00am ate breakfast, got dressed, and then headed out for the day. We went into the Blue Mosque, and had to take off our shoes and cover our heads. It was interesting inside, but other people were rude, because they didn't have their heads covered! Jerks. Anyway we headed over to the Hogia sophia, then further to the Topkapi Place but we didn't go inside either! We just walked and hit up: the Grand Bazaar, Nuruosmaniye Mosque, Yeni Mosque and later the Spice market! We had our first Turkish doner, it was okay but, I have had better in Germany!! After our doner, we headed to the Asian side. To a town called Uskudar. We got off the ferry and started to walk without a map or any idea where we were going. We found a Domino's (pizza place from the states) and I bought Cinna Sticks, while Travis and Victoria waited on a bench for me. After we ate we walked down to get an umbrella for Travis, that's when he realized that he didn't have his wallet. He had set it between them on the bench! Dumbass! Anyway, we start running back to get it and Travis pulls ahead panic stricken! He makes it to the bench and there is a couple sitter there, they look at him and say "lose your wallet?" Thank goodness they were sitting there and not someone else or that wallet would have been gone!! Needless to say, we weren't that fond of the Asian side after that! So we left and went to the hostel, then ate a pizza joint that was excellent!

Day 3
Today was a short day for me! I had been sick for the past week, and the cold and rain didn't make it any better. So we ate breakfast as usual, then got dressed, and headed out to the Topkapi Place. We spent about 2 hours there, and that's when I decided to head back and relax in the hostel. So we separated, and I bought some cooked corn and ate it on the way back!! I have had better! I watched some movies, and talked to random people at the hostel. Then Travis and Victoria come back and we played cards. Then we went and had pizza at our favorite spot!! When we came back we met another American and started talking the him, and then watched the Bourne Ultimatum, then hit the sack.

Day 4
Today was an interesting day. It started off nice, we woke up, at breakfast checked out, and then I was forced to give the hostel a review right then and there! But it was an decent hostel, so I didn't really care. We watched some TV, wrote in journals, read, and played cards. Then we went out for a little walk. We bought some gifts for ourselves and our family!! Then we went back to the hostel caught our ride to the airport at like 2:50, and arrived at the airport just before 3:30. We had to go through security before entering the airport, which was crazy!! Then we got the Swiss Intl. Airlines counter, they were rude right from the beginning. They made us check our baggage, "because the plane was packed" but we didn't have to check them coming to Turkey. Then we get on the plane and they were running 30 minutes late, which made us miss our connection in Zurich. Not only did we miss our connection in Zurich but we missed the bus and last train to Reutlingen. When we tried to explain this to Swiss air, they basically told us that there was nothing they could do so we might as well walk!! BASTARDS. Our flight didn't leave until 10:40 so we had to wait for 3 hours. When we finally arrived in Stuttgart, and guess what they lost my luggage! How convent, they made me check it after I refused 3 times to, then they lost it. Jackasses!! Anyway our friend Roger was nice enough to drive the 40 mins there and back to come and pick us up. Thank goodness to, because otherwise we would have had to pay 60 dollars for a taxi. Anyway we got home around 12:15. how annoying! Let's just say that I'm filing a large complaint!!

Turkey was a 3. It was cleaner, and safer than you would think, but I would never live there!!

Italy

2007-10-30T02:08:00.000-07:00

Rome

October 25-28, 2007

There were too many things to take pictures of!!!

Day 1
Jessica, Victoria, and Priscilla and myself left Reutlingen University at 11:33 and headed downtown. We went to the HBF first to check our train situation, because once again Deutsche Bahn was on strike. Once we figured it out and bought tickets we had some time to kill, so we got food. We took two trains, an S-bahn, and 2 buses to get to the Baden-Baden airport! I'm not sure if it is worth saving a little bit of money to do it like that! Anyway, we fly Ryanair so of course it was a little crazy and unorganized, but we made it too Rome safely by around 7pm. We found a cheap bus to get us within walking distance of our hostel for 6 euros. We checked into our hostel, dropped off our stuff and headed out for dinner. We ate pizza at an "okay" little bistro, and then took Priscilla to the train station to meet up with her friend. The rest of us went back to the hostel and played cards in the hallway, then went to bed.

Day 2
We woke up at around 9am and had our free breakfast that consisted of bread, coffees, jam, butter, and oh more bread! After that, filling meal, we took the metro to the Colosseum where we were meeting up with Priscilla. Jessica went inside, but Victoria and I waited for Priscilla, and killed time by playing cards. From the Colosseum we just wondered around hitting up almost everything including: Arco di Constantino, old Rome, Arco di tito, Vittroiano E Piazza Venezia, Pantheon, Fontana di Trevi, Piazza di Spagna, Colonna Traiana, Mercati Traianei, Santa Maria Maggiore, Repubblica, Piazza Navona, Campo de Fiori, San Carlo Quattro Fontane, Fontana del Tritone, Villa Medici, Piazza del Popolo, Palazzzo Montecitorio, Palazzo Chigi, and Teatro dell Opera. Basically everything and anything we could walk to! Later that night after we rested, Vic, Jess and I at dinner then dropped Jess off at the train station to meet up with Pris. Victoria and I had an Opera or actually an Aria at 8:30pm to attend at San Palo Church. The aria was amazing and we had a really good time. After that we meet up with Pris and Jess and hung out with some of Pris's friends and then went back to the hostel.

Day 3
We spent a bulk of the day at the Vatican (see below). When we were done with the Vatican, we went to Castel Sant Angelo and Palazzo Giustizia, where we sat and waited for Pris, but killing time, by once again playing cards! We went back to the hostel to relax and change before heading out for dinner. We got ready, then meet up with Priscilla and her friend at 8:30. We were a little late but we found them and went to a nice restaurant near Piazza Tritussa. After the dinner we headed home, because we were tired and had to check out early the next morning!

Day 4
We woke up at 9:15am, checked out, ate breakfast, then hit up the bus to go to the airport. We arrived at the airport at around 10:30 am. We had originally thought that our flight was at 2pm but it was actually at 2:45 so we were even earlier than we needed to be. We hung out, played cards, read our books and waited. We are literally the stupidest people around. It wasn't until we thought that our plane was really, really late that we realized that it was daylight savings time. So we were actually there an hour earlier than we thought. So we technically woke up at 8:15 and didn't have to check out until 10 nor be at the airport until 2:45!!!! How annoying! Anyway, we got into Baden-Baden took a 9 euro bus ride to Karlsruhe, then a 9 euro train ride to Reutlingen. We finally got home around 9pm. AHHHHH such a long wasted day!!

Rome was a 3. There were a ton of tourists, it was kind of dirty, and the food was okay!

The Vatican City
October 27, 2007

The Vatican was so packed and crazy, it was hard to enjoy it.

Day Trip

We decided to wake up early and go to the Vatican. Its a good thing we did too, because we found out later that everything was going to close at 1:30. We ate breakfast took the metro and was at the Vatican around 10:30am. I cannot even begin to explain how crazy the Vatican was. The main reason, I think, was due to the fact that the next day was going to be the last Sunday of the month and the Pope always holds a sermon then. So there were a lot of tours and people visiting that weekend. Anyway, we waited in line to enter the basilica for only 30min. Which was surprising considering it wrapped almost completely around the inside circle of the Vatican!! We went inside the basilica and it was free, thank goodness. There were so many people I could barley keep track of Jessica and Victoria. It was really quite amazing inside the basilica. After we finished with that we decided we needed to see the Sistine Chapel. So we waited in another line, this line however was about an hour wait. But the time flew by because we decided to play cards, yet again!! We make it to the front, payed 8 euros, and began the biggest, and most annoying maze of my life. There were, once again, so many people that I could not enjoy the beauty of the place. It took us an hour to get through the entire Vatican Museum just to see the Sistine Chapel. You can't go any other way, but through the entire thing in order to see the Chapel. AHHHHH! It was really terrible! Anyway, after that fiasco we decided to get the hell out of there. So we left, and went to this amazing Gelatto place. All in all i would never go back to the Vatican!

The Vatican was a 2. I was really pretty, but there were too many people!!

Burg Hohenzollern, Germany

2007-10-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

Burg Hohenzollern

October 21, 2007

This photograph was not taken by me. When we went there was a lot snow and fog.

Day Trip

This trip was a ESB function. They rented a small charter bus to drive us to the castle. We met the bus in front of our dorms on campus at 9:45am. This was slightly hard to do because most of us didn't go to bed until 5am. Not to mention that when we woke up that morning it was snowing. In the middle of October, that was the earliest I have ever seen snow! Anyway, about 17 of us made it to the bus, out of 24! The castle is located 50m outside Stuttgart, so the bus ride was only about 30-40 min, which wasn't long at all. When we arrived we were told that we could either walk up to it (20min) or take the shuttle, we decide to walk. I instantly regretted that! It wasn't bad, but it was cold and we were tired! Anyway we make it to the top, had time to kill before our tour began, so we got postcards, and drink coffee/hot chocolate.

We took the tour of inside the castle, which lasted about 40 min, then hungout for 20 mins; taking pictures, using the restroom and so forth. We had voted on where to eat and had unanimously decided on Burger King, because of their "Angry Whopper!" So we ate there, quickly, went back to the bus, and started our journey home. By the time we got home, which was around 2, everyone had been dying to get off the bus; I think it had something to do with the Angry Whopper, or hangovers, or perhaps a combo of the two! Anyway, even though I was extremely tired and it was snowing outside which ruined a lot of our view, I still had a really good time!

Burg Hohenzollern is a 3, it is biggest castle I have seen in Germany so far!

Brief History
Burg Hohenzollern is a castle, about 50 km south of Stuttgart, Germany, is considered home to the Hohenzollern family that came to power during the Middle Ages and ruled Prussia and Brandenburg until the end of World War I. The castle was originally constructed in the first part of the 11th century. It was completely destroyed after a 10-month siege in 1423. A second, larger and sturdier castle was constructed from 1454 to 1461 and served as a refuge for the Swabian Hohenzollern family during wartime, including during the Thirty Years' War.

Overtime the castle lost its strategic importance and fell into disrepair, which lead to the demolition of several dilapidated buildings. The third version of the castle, which stands today, was constructed by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV between 1846 and 1867, under the direction of Oberhofbaurat Stühler, who based his design on English Neo-Gothic style as well as the castles in Loire. No one lived in it until 1945, when Crown Prince Wilhelm took it as his home, the prince and his wife are buried there.

Ulm, Germany

2007-10-07T06:23:00.000-07:00

Ulm

October 6, 2007

The Danube river in another city in another country!

Day Trip

The Reutlingen gang took another day trip! Surprise surprise!! We used the Baden-Württemburg rail pass, which is good for the whole day, with up to five people anywhere in Baden-Württemburg. We left Reutlingen at 10:48am changed in Plochingen then arrived in Ulm at 12:47. It normally only takes an hour to get to Ulm but we are only allowed to take Regional trains with the pass, which slows you down a bit! Anyway we arrive in Ulm, once again without a map, but three objectives, to see the Danube, eat food, and go to the Ulm Münster!

We found food at a posh sushi lounge, which left us satisfied for about 30 min! We walked to the Münster, looked around inside, took some pictures, and decided we were hungry again. Jessica stayed behind because she wanted to climb to the top of the Dom and see the view, but the rest of us went to feast on chicken and Bratwurst! Later, we walked down to the Danube, took pictures with some guys dressed in cowboy costumes and then walked toward the Rathaus.

We saw the Rathaus in Fisherman's quarter, then walked down a little to see "The Crooked House," which is a house surrounded by water and is.. well.. crooked! It was interesting to see, so we took some pictures and then headed back to toward the train station. We caught our train back to Reutlingen at 17:00 and arrived in Reutlingen at about 18:20. Once again, perfect weather, and a very nice day trip here in Germany!!

Ulm is a 3. It's big enough to be noticed by tourist, but average as far as German cities go!