Thursday, May 10, 2012
Back in Good Ol' PDX
Hey Everyone,
Today is my final blog about my trip. Sorry about all the spelling errors in my last blog, I was in a rush to board the plane and typing on my phone.
Anyway, I will pick up from where I left off.
The Jewish Museum was fantastic and I totally recommend it!! It is huge and even though I was there for three hours I only saw about half of it. At that point though I was reaching an astronomical level of Hanger (remember that's hunger/anger) and I needed to get out of there before I murdered. Random fact, The Jewish Museum was the only place I went in all of Europe (other than the airport) that had a metal detector you had to walk through. They also made me carry my backpack on my chest. Not sure what this was supposed to prevent. I actually think it would make it easier to steal valuables...
Anyway, I left the museum and made it back on the appropriate bus, sustaining myself on an apple. I was pretty tired just from being on a train all day and then walking through the museum. Back at the train station I committed one of the most egregious sins of my trip. I am ashamed to say I ate at a McDonald's. In my defense both an Austrian and a German told me to try it because it was different than in the States. The only difference I noticed was that the burger was colder and they gave me mayo for my fries instead of ketchup (I do not understand this obsession with my least favorite condiment-they put it on everything). Anyway, I apologize for the lapse in judgment. I would have done much better with a currywurst.
After my "meal" I found the bus stopto take me to Tegel Airport. A couple of things to know about TXL:
1. TXL is one of the worst airports I have ever been to (it rivals Oakland).
2. If you want to spend the night atthis airport there will only be five of the most uncomfortable benches to sleep on and you will have to battle the homeless for a seat.
3. No single female should spend the night in that airport. It was the only time on my trip where I really felt like I had done something foolish and was scared for my life.
4. At first look TXL appears to be a very recycling friendly airport until you realize that the people collecting the bottles out of the trash are nOt janitors but rather the same homeless people who will be gently snoring on the bench next to you.
5. Next year TXL will no longer exist because someone in Berlin realized it was an eyesore.
I have got to say. Having a flight out of a foreign city at 6am is quite a conundrum. Obviously you have to be to the airport by 4am for an international flight. I suppose you could get a hotel and sleep for a couple of hours but that seems like such a waste of money. It seems like such a better idea to find an uncomfortable bench to lay on, realize you aren't going to be able to sleep because that homeless guy is eyeing you (or sleeping with his eyes open), hug your purse to your chest and your chocolate even closer, and read 520 pages of a book to keep you awake. Yeah, that seems like a much better plan...
After what seemed an eternity (9 hours) the airport opened at 4am. I met a lovely older lady named Winnie who let me put my stuff on her cart and talked to me in American English (never before had I realized what a pleasure that was). We boarded our flight to Amsterdam and I literally fell asleep before we took off and only woke up when the landing gear touched down in Amsterdam.
I was a little disoriented and this is when I came to believe that I lost my luggage. This was because after I got off the plane you walk through baggage claim and then customs before you can reach the rest of the airport. I assumed everyone had to pick-up their bag and recheck it and nearly cried when the luggage track went by for the six hundreth time and my backpack full of chocolate was nowhere to be found. I went to the KLm window looking tearful only to be told that my bag had been checked all the way through to Portland! Score!!
I made it to my gate and boarded my flight back to PDX.
Some things to know about international flying:
1. Whenever possible it is important to ride on a plane that is less than half full because there will be whole middle aisles free for sleeping on.
2. It is also important to realize this fact before everyone else on the plane and you are just left with your window seat and the seat next to it.
3. Two seats is not really even enough to curl up in a small ball in.
4. It is disorienting to leave one country at 10:30 am and arrive the same day only one hour later.
5. Plane food never seems to get better and I am not sure a human actually makes these recipes. Does anyone actually taste that crap before making hundreds of hungry people choke it down?
6. No matter how hard you try jet lag always happens.
Well I made it into PDX and got through customs with no trouble at all. I probably could have smuggled in the meat I left at Helen's with none the wiser. My baby brother picked me up and away I went.
My return home has been great. My cat is huge and fat and my boyfriend has been loving and sweet.
I am glad to be home and so proud of myself for going on this adventure!!! Thanks for reading!
Cheers!
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Trying to get from Here to There
Hey Everyone,
I am exhausted so this will probably not be as funny or as long as normal. You don't have to read about my woes I jus want to remember them for some torturous reason.
Yesterday morning Helen walked me and my backpack full of chocolate to the train station at hat felt like the crack of dawn. This was the first that I did not have to change trains or risk half my train being left behind in order to get to my destination. I was on a direct fast train to Berlin. Yeah, Berlin is about six hours away so my day was mostly spent sleeping and reading.
Upon arrival to Berlin I not only managed to get off at the right stop (there are three that say "Berlin something", I also managed to find the baggage office and lock my bag up. The purpose of this was so that I could do a little sightseeing. I had a pretty strong desire to go to the Jewish Museum so I went to the tourism office and talk to not a very nice man who directed me to the buses.
Ladies and gents, I am now such a pro qt traveling in Europe that I could find my bus and get off at the right spot without ever having been there before. I am now an expert at reading maps. I alsO was then able to walk myself through a sketchy part of town to find myself qt my desired destination.
The Jewish Museum is amazing and only 5 euros so completely recommend it.
Apparently my plane is boarding I will finish later.
Ciao!!
Monday, May 7, 2012
Bread Museum, and the Stairway to Heaven has 764 steps
Hi friends,
Today is my last full day in Ulm, Germany. Helen and I greeted the day by chowing down on large quanitites of bread and cheese. This led us to the desire to know and understand bread in a more deeply personal way, so off we went to the Bread Museum. What, a bread museum? Yes, the Germans love their bread so much that they want the rest of us to know all about it. In case you were curious the Germans still believe in the old food pyramid of 6-11 serving of bread a day (I love these people). You would think I would come out of there more important bread facts but the only thing I truly came away with was those who were in the Bread Guild (kind of like the cult of people from The DaVinci Code) sat in chairs with pretzel shaped backs so people would know how important they were. Also, there are supposed to be 9 billion people in the world by 2030. Completely unnrelated to bread, but I think the Germans were trying to make the point of if we are going to invite that many more people to dinner we are going to have to make some more bread. Not so fun fact, the Bread Museum does not sell bread. They are missing out on a small fortune.
From there Helen and I went to a cafe outside of the Munster which is basically a Gothic or neo-Gothic church. We ate delcioius cake and coffee in preparation for climbing to the top of the tallest steeple in all of Europe. Let's just say, it did not prepare me for what was ahead. 764 stairs is about 760 more stairs than I ever really want to climb. However, the view was breathtaking. I could almost see Flo and Sarah's house in Austria. And by that I mean I could sort of see the Austrian Alps through the haze of clouds. Fun factoid: after getting married couples climb to the top of the steeple and put locks on the bars surrounding the steeple engraved with their wedding date to symbolize their eternal love. Pretty adorable. By the time we reached the bottom of the stairs my legs were completely jelloid.
From there Helen and I found a biergarten to sit and drink beer in, cause what else would you do? We talked about boys and strolled through a park just enjoying a meandering afternoon. Lovely.
Tomorrow I go on another big adventure. I arise at the crack of dawn to go on the "fast" train to Berlin. I will arrive around 2pm and then I get to explore and go to some more museums. I will have until about 10pm to explore all I want and then off to the airport because my flight leaves for Amsterdam at 6am. Egads. It should be a lovely night of sleeping in a chair on top of my stuff.
Doesn't really matter though! I am coming home with buckets full of chocolate and am excited to see Bryan and my friends and family again!
I love you all. If I get a chance I will post tomorrow night and again in Amsterdam! I will be back in the States the morning of Wednesday!!!
Ciao!
Today is my last full day in Ulm, Germany. Helen and I greeted the day by chowing down on large quanitites of bread and cheese. This led us to the desire to know and understand bread in a more deeply personal way, so off we went to the Bread Museum. What, a bread museum? Yes, the Germans love their bread so much that they want the rest of us to know all about it. In case you were curious the Germans still believe in the old food pyramid of 6-11 serving of bread a day (I love these people). You would think I would come out of there more important bread facts but the only thing I truly came away with was those who were in the Bread Guild (kind of like the cult of people from The DaVinci Code) sat in chairs with pretzel shaped backs so people would know how important they were. Also, there are supposed to be 9 billion people in the world by 2030. Completely unnrelated to bread, but I think the Germans were trying to make the point of if we are going to invite that many more people to dinner we are going to have to make some more bread. Not so fun fact, the Bread Museum does not sell bread. They are missing out on a small fortune.
From there Helen and I went to a cafe outside of the Munster which is basically a Gothic or neo-Gothic church. We ate delcioius cake and coffee in preparation for climbing to the top of the tallest steeple in all of Europe. Let's just say, it did not prepare me for what was ahead. 764 stairs is about 760 more stairs than I ever really want to climb. However, the view was breathtaking. I could almost see Flo and Sarah's house in Austria. And by that I mean I could sort of see the Austrian Alps through the haze of clouds. Fun factoid: after getting married couples climb to the top of the steeple and put locks on the bars surrounding the steeple engraved with their wedding date to symbolize their eternal love. Pretty adorable. By the time we reached the bottom of the stairs my legs were completely jelloid.
From there Helen and I found a biergarten to sit and drink beer in, cause what else would you do? We talked about boys and strolled through a park just enjoying a meandering afternoon. Lovely.
Tomorrow I go on another big adventure. I arise at the crack of dawn to go on the "fast" train to Berlin. I will arrive around 2pm and then I get to explore and go to some more museums. I will have until about 10pm to explore all I want and then off to the airport because my flight leaves for Amsterdam at 6am. Egads. It should be a lovely night of sleeping in a chair on top of my stuff.
Doesn't really matter though! I am coming home with buckets full of chocolate and am excited to see Bryan and my friends and family again!
I love you all. If I get a chance I will post tomorrow night and again in Amsterdam! I will be back in the States the morning of Wednesday!!!
Ciao!
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Let's Supersize that Schnitzel
Hola!
Today was a day full of too much food! If I could figure out how to add pictures to my blog I would show you. Let's just put it like this - my food baby (not a real baby Mom) is at least triplets!
Helen and I decided to wander along the Danube (which is a river in a lot of old poetry and kind of made my heart go "pitter patter" for the days when I used to see writing as my future) and do some sightseeing. However, the weather had different opinions and soon we were being rained straight into a brewery...oh what a shame. FYI, I was wrong. They do sell beers in half liters as well as whole liters. We ate some scrumptious food and started to drink beer while we waited for Marcus - Helen's German boyfriend.
Marcus arrived and I got to share all the nitty gritty about Helen since we have been friends for more than 15 years. I got a lot of joy out of seeing her squirm! We had a long lunch with at least one too many beers and then had to rush off to dinner at a schnitzel house.
It's time to learn some important factoids about schnitzel because schnitzel is the backbone of Germany and Austria...at least based on my experience.
Q. First of all, what is schnitzel?
A. Schnitzel is a large piece of meat, about the size of the original pig it came from, pound into a disk that is similar to a UFO. Then it is breaded and deep fried. It is also normal served with a cheesy noodly dish.
Q. Why did you want to eat schnitzel?
A. Well obviously I want to appear authentically German so, giant piece of meat it is.
Q. What do you drink with schnizel?
A. Beer...duh. I thought we had been over this. Beer goes with everything in Germany, and liters of it.
Q. Does schnitzel make you a better driver?
A. No. Schnitzel causes a food coma that only has a comparable comparison in the States on Thanksgiving after the turkey makes everyone sleepy.
Q. Will I continue being able to fit in my pants?
A. No. You are getting a new pair of pants made of schnitzel.
Q. Is there anything that can make a huge piece of schnitzel taste better (not that it tastes bad) and less dry?
A. No. Germans think it is acceptable to use mayo like I use ketchup at home. Yuck. Also, ketchup here does not taste the same at all.
Q. Should you eat schnitzel after you eat a whole pizza?
A. Well, since all of the men at the restaurant refused to eat anything the entire before schnitzel I am guessing not.
Q. Will you win anything for eating the biggest schnitzel?
A. Pride and beer. Beer, of which, you will not have room to drink one for at least five days.
Anyway, my day was full of schnitzel up to my eyeballs and then Helen, Marcus and I came home and watched Friends will drinking schnapps and apple juice (apparently apple juice is not just for kids here).
Tomorrow Helen and I may climb to the top of the tallest steeple in Europe. Or, we might conserve our energy for processing the remaining schnitzel.
I love it here but I am missing Bryan and regular sized food. Also, my own bed. Tonight I get the couch.
Ciao!
Today was a day full of too much food! If I could figure out how to add pictures to my blog I would show you. Let's just put it like this - my food baby (not a real baby Mom) is at least triplets!
Helen and I decided to wander along the Danube (which is a river in a lot of old poetry and kind of made my heart go "pitter patter" for the days when I used to see writing as my future) and do some sightseeing. However, the weather had different opinions and soon we were being rained straight into a brewery...oh what a shame. FYI, I was wrong. They do sell beers in half liters as well as whole liters. We ate some scrumptious food and started to drink beer while we waited for Marcus - Helen's German boyfriend.
Marcus arrived and I got to share all the nitty gritty about Helen since we have been friends for more than 15 years. I got a lot of joy out of seeing her squirm! We had a long lunch with at least one too many beers and then had to rush off to dinner at a schnitzel house.
It's time to learn some important factoids about schnitzel because schnitzel is the backbone of Germany and Austria...at least based on my experience.
Q. First of all, what is schnitzel?
A. Schnitzel is a large piece of meat, about the size of the original pig it came from, pound into a disk that is similar to a UFO. Then it is breaded and deep fried. It is also normal served with a cheesy noodly dish.
Q. Why did you want to eat schnitzel?
A. Well obviously I want to appear authentically German so, giant piece of meat it is.
Q. What do you drink with schnizel?
A. Beer...duh. I thought we had been over this. Beer goes with everything in Germany, and liters of it.
Q. Does schnitzel make you a better driver?
A. No. Schnitzel causes a food coma that only has a comparable comparison in the States on Thanksgiving after the turkey makes everyone sleepy.
Q. Will I continue being able to fit in my pants?
A. No. You are getting a new pair of pants made of schnitzel.
Q. Is there anything that can make a huge piece of schnitzel taste better (not that it tastes bad) and less dry?
A. No. Germans think it is acceptable to use mayo like I use ketchup at home. Yuck. Also, ketchup here does not taste the same at all.
Q. Should you eat schnitzel after you eat a whole pizza?
A. Well, since all of the men at the restaurant refused to eat anything the entire before schnitzel I am guessing not.
Q. Will you win anything for eating the biggest schnitzel?
A. Pride and beer. Beer, of which, you will not have room to drink one for at least five days.
Anyway, my day was full of schnitzel up to my eyeballs and then Helen, Marcus and I came home and watched Friends will drinking schnapps and apple juice (apparently apple juice is not just for kids here).
Tomorrow Helen and I may climb to the top of the tallest steeple in Europe. Or, we might conserve our energy for processing the remaining schnitzel.
I love it here but I am missing Bryan and regular sized food. Also, my own bed. Tonight I get the couch.
Ciao!
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Beer by the Liter, Lederhosen Everywhere, Rollercoasters, and Blisters
Hello Again!
Today was another fantastic day!! Helen and I woke up after a long night of her snoring and me clinging to the edge of the bed to prep for our trip to Stuttgart (I finally figured out how to spell it - I think). I met about ten of Helen's nearest and dearest friends at the train station and we had to mad dash it to the train. Unfortunately I lost some of my kinder chocolate along the way but the pull of beer was too strong to account for any stopping.
We rode a little more than an hour to Stuttgart for the Spring Festival (which is basically an excuse for another Oktoberfest) and along the way everyone was drinking beer...at 10:30 in the morning. Helen and her German friends were trying to convince me that not everyone is always drinking, but based on being greeted at the train station with beer today and yesterday, I am not so sure. Also, sidenote, they have something here that needs to become popular in the States, it is a special kind of beer where they mix it with lemonade. For those of us who don't like beer this is a dream come true!!
Upon arrival we made it into the tents and all ordered our first round of beers. It is important to note a couple of things when drinking in Germany:
1. Beer only comes in liters. I googled it, a liter equals about 2.11 pints.
2. Drinking is acceptable anywhere: on the train, in the park, in the bathroom - I am pretty sure they might also do it at church.
3. If you are drinking a bottle of water while everyone else is drinking beer it will be assumed that your bottle is full of vodka and the Polizei will make you throw it away.
4. Once you have a liter you will have another, and another, and another...
5. After your first liter it is perfectly acceptable, nay, MANDATORY, that you stand on the bench and dance.
6. The song "Sweet Caroline" will get stuck in your head for the rest of your life.
7. The best decision that can be made after a couple of liters is to find a WC (bathroom). In the WC it is important to donate your money to the woman sitting in the chair in the bathroom if you are satisfied with the quality of the bathroom.
8. You need to lift weights if your dream is to be a barmaid. They can lift ten steins at a time, full of beer. I could barely lift my one with both hands!
9. After drinking for awhile the best decision is to of course go on rollercoasters.
At the Spring Gestival it is basically like a State Fair on steroids. There are intense rollercoasters everywhere, delicious fair food (which kicks American fair food's ass), beer, and pretty much no children (my favorite part). Helen, her roommate Alex, and I decided that it would be best to ride some rollercoasters. Helen did not stay long because she was in search of her boyfriend so Alex and I rode about six coasters just on our own which was so much fun. I was so thrilled to have someone around who could speak almost better English than myself!
When we reconnected with everyone we decided to go to Stuttgart Center to eat some delicious paasta dinner. The chef gave me my drink on the house because I was on holiday. By this point everyone was exhausted and we all slept on the ride back to Ulm.
Tomorrow Helen and I are going to wander Ulm and possible walk to the top of the highest church steeple in Europe. I feel a great deal of pride in the 6 billion stairs I have walked here, so what's another 650 more? I do have more than my fair share of blisters (the last count was three) but I am taking them on as signs of how unbelievably awesome this trip has been.
Time to sleep (with earplugs - thank you Miss Snores Alot :).
I miss you guys but I am having trouble convincing myself to come home.
Ciao!
Today was another fantastic day!! Helen and I woke up after a long night of her snoring and me clinging to the edge of the bed to prep for our trip to Stuttgart (I finally figured out how to spell it - I think). I met about ten of Helen's nearest and dearest friends at the train station and we had to mad dash it to the train. Unfortunately I lost some of my kinder chocolate along the way but the pull of beer was too strong to account for any stopping.
We rode a little more than an hour to Stuttgart for the Spring Festival (which is basically an excuse for another Oktoberfest) and along the way everyone was drinking beer...at 10:30 in the morning. Helen and her German friends were trying to convince me that not everyone is always drinking, but based on being greeted at the train station with beer today and yesterday, I am not so sure. Also, sidenote, they have something here that needs to become popular in the States, it is a special kind of beer where they mix it with lemonade. For those of us who don't like beer this is a dream come true!!
Upon arrival we made it into the tents and all ordered our first round of beers. It is important to note a couple of things when drinking in Germany:
1. Beer only comes in liters. I googled it, a liter equals about 2.11 pints.
2. Drinking is acceptable anywhere: on the train, in the park, in the bathroom - I am pretty sure they might also do it at church.
3. If you are drinking a bottle of water while everyone else is drinking beer it will be assumed that your bottle is full of vodka and the Polizei will make you throw it away.
4. Once you have a liter you will have another, and another, and another...
5. After your first liter it is perfectly acceptable, nay, MANDATORY, that you stand on the bench and dance.
6. The song "Sweet Caroline" will get stuck in your head for the rest of your life.
7. The best decision that can be made after a couple of liters is to find a WC (bathroom). In the WC it is important to donate your money to the woman sitting in the chair in the bathroom if you are satisfied with the quality of the bathroom.
8. You need to lift weights if your dream is to be a barmaid. They can lift ten steins at a time, full of beer. I could barely lift my one with both hands!
9. After drinking for awhile the best decision is to of course go on rollercoasters.
At the Spring Gestival it is basically like a State Fair on steroids. There are intense rollercoasters everywhere, delicious fair food (which kicks American fair food's ass), beer, and pretty much no children (my favorite part). Helen, her roommate Alex, and I decided that it would be best to ride some rollercoasters. Helen did not stay long because she was in search of her boyfriend so Alex and I rode about six coasters just on our own which was so much fun. I was so thrilled to have someone around who could speak almost better English than myself!
When we reconnected with everyone we decided to go to Stuttgart Center to eat some delicious paasta dinner. The chef gave me my drink on the house because I was on holiday. By this point everyone was exhausted and we all slept on the ride back to Ulm.
Tomorrow Helen and I are going to wander Ulm and possible walk to the top of the highest church steeple in Europe. I feel a great deal of pride in the 6 billion stairs I have walked here, so what's another 650 more? I do have more than my fair share of blisters (the last count was three) but I am taking them on as signs of how unbelievably awesome this trip has been.
Time to sleep (with earplugs - thank you Miss Snores Alot :).
I miss you guys but I am having trouble convincing myself to come home.
Ciao!
Friday, May 4, 2012
Made it to Ulm Despite the Train System, Drinks with Helenco!!!
Hi friends!
Gutentag from Ulm, Germany - my final destination before I leave! Today has been a wonderful day. When I woke up Sarah and I got to dink around doing laundry and trying to find the post office again. We successfully found it thanks to Flo, but were unsuccessful at getting in the doors because the Europeans like to take hour long lunches. I also went to a place that I would typically shy away from - the land of snow. Florian needed to go up to the mountain and Sarah and I needed the car so we went up to the glacier with him. We have talked about the dangers of driving in Europe, let me add some special rules fro when driving on a mountain:
1. Make sure you are on the side the landslides are not happening on. Apparently, during the spring that can be expected multiple times a week.
2. A road as narrow as a goat path will still be driven on at about 80 miles per hour, despite cows and other cars. Say your prayers.
3. Marmots are not Mormons even though it sounds the same with Flo's thick Austrian accent.
4. I am afraid of heights, cars and snow so when all three things combine together you can bet your bottom dollar that my heart is racing and behind my sunglasses my eyes are firmly shut.
5. Even though there is only room for one car you will be passed if you are not going twice the suggested speed limit.
6. Just don't get in European cars people, not unless you have a death wish.
The glacier was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. I knew Austria was beautiful but it is completely different when it appears like you are at the top of the world.
After the glacier Sarah and I successfully mailed off our postcards. It's about 23 euros to send 14 postcards so I hope you enjoy because my bank account is empty :).
Let's talk trains. Never trust a train in Europe to get you where it says it is going. When the lady on the speaker is talking for what seems like an exceptionally long time in German she is informing you that before you reach your destination only one half of the train will actually go where you want to go, and obviously it will not be the part of the train you are already on. Luckily there is no fooling me now and those tricksy Germans did not manage to get me left behind in the wrong station. I would like to note that it is absolutely impossible to sleep on the train because of the level of paranoia I have reached about my train getting switched on me!
Well, I made it to Ulm and Helen was even here to meet me!! I was greeted in the appropriate German way - with a beer at the train station and a "Prost" before wandering to Helen's house. I got to eat some delicious food (again) and then we went out for a drink. I hate the fact that smoking in bars is still legal here. Flo actually told me it is not legal in some parts but everyone ignores the law because they don't want to lose the business. Once again my clothes smell like smoke.
Anyway, we are home now and Helen is snoring so that should make sleeping in the bed with her quiet and peaceful, just like childhood :). Tomorrow we are off to Stuggart (spelling?) for the annual Spring version of Octoberfest. I am getting ready for liters of beer.
Love you all!!!
Gutentag from Ulm, Germany - my final destination before I leave! Today has been a wonderful day. When I woke up Sarah and I got to dink around doing laundry and trying to find the post office again. We successfully found it thanks to Flo, but were unsuccessful at getting in the doors because the Europeans like to take hour long lunches. I also went to a place that I would typically shy away from - the land of snow. Florian needed to go up to the mountain and Sarah and I needed the car so we went up to the glacier with him. We have talked about the dangers of driving in Europe, let me add some special rules fro when driving on a mountain:
1. Make sure you are on the side the landslides are not happening on. Apparently, during the spring that can be expected multiple times a week.
2. A road as narrow as a goat path will still be driven on at about 80 miles per hour, despite cows and other cars. Say your prayers.
3. Marmots are not Mormons even though it sounds the same with Flo's thick Austrian accent.
4. I am afraid of heights, cars and snow so when all three things combine together you can bet your bottom dollar that my heart is racing and behind my sunglasses my eyes are firmly shut.
5. Even though there is only room for one car you will be passed if you are not going twice the suggested speed limit.
6. Just don't get in European cars people, not unless you have a death wish.
The glacier was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. I knew Austria was beautiful but it is completely different when it appears like you are at the top of the world.
After the glacier Sarah and I successfully mailed off our postcards. It's about 23 euros to send 14 postcards so I hope you enjoy because my bank account is empty :).
Let's talk trains. Never trust a train in Europe to get you where it says it is going. When the lady on the speaker is talking for what seems like an exceptionally long time in German she is informing you that before you reach your destination only one half of the train will actually go where you want to go, and obviously it will not be the part of the train you are already on. Luckily there is no fooling me now and those tricksy Germans did not manage to get me left behind in the wrong station. I would like to note that it is absolutely impossible to sleep on the train because of the level of paranoia I have reached about my train getting switched on me!
Well, I made it to Ulm and Helen was even here to meet me!! I was greeted in the appropriate German way - with a beer at the train station and a "Prost" before wandering to Helen's house. I got to eat some delicious food (again) and then we went out for a drink. I hate the fact that smoking in bars is still legal here. Flo actually told me it is not legal in some parts but everyone ignores the law because they don't want to lose the business. Once again my clothes smell like smoke.
Anyway, we are home now and Helen is snoring so that should make sleeping in the bed with her quiet and peaceful, just like childhood :). Tomorrow we are off to Stuggart (spelling?) for the annual Spring version of Octoberfest. I am getting ready for liters of beer.
Love you all!!!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Nap time, Germany's Next Top Model, General Laziness
Hello again!
Today was a day of complete and utter laziness. These days not only happen in the States but also in Austria, and I've got to say, when they happen here it feels like vacation! Today was an easygoing day of watching shows such as Germany's Next Top Model which is run by Heidi Klum. Flo (who apparently has watched a lot of GNTM), stated that unlike in America, the models in Germany actually become famous if they win. Also, they don't have to put up with Tyra Banks and neither do the viewers. Basically, everyone is winning!
Sarah and I also attempted to go to the post office twice. Apparently when you see a building called Gastrof Post that is not a post office but rather a restaurant. We went to two towns in search of anyone in possession of a stamp and a mailbox and completely bombed at finding anything remotely helpful. So those of you waiting on postcards...keep on waiting. I've also been told that I am looking at about 30 dollars in postage, so if you do receive a postcard perhaps you would consider giving to the Skylar is Feeling Poor Foundation. It's a worthy cause, and all donations will benefit me so you don't have to wonder where your money is going. Heck, it might even help pay for the postcards I want to get from Southeast Asia next year!
I ate way too much food today. I didn't think it was possible, especially based on my incessant hunger during the first half of this trip, but now I wish I had a second stomach to handle this situation. Once I start I cannot stop. Plus, it didn't help that Flo's dad fed me my second lunch of the day. He is very sweet and does not speak a lick of English, or really hear anything because he is 75 and losing his hearing. So my cries of "I'm stuffed" fell on deaf ears...literally. Hahahaha!
We also played with Katzel (cat) a lot. Katzel is the new kitten on the block, threatening to take Lulu's place in my heart because she is younger and cuter (basically I become a lecherous old cradle robber when it comes to kittens). Sarah is now pretty sure that Katzel is a he and not a she though and that does knock him down a few cuteness points.
Sarah and I really worked hard at unsuccessfully finding a post office and eating our ways through life so that of course meant we could reward ourselves with nap time. Sarah tried to suffocate Katzel in her sleep, but I managed to rescue him from Sarah's towering bum :).
I know this does not sound like all that exciting of a day, but seriously, sometimes turning into a vegetable is the best day a girl on vacation could ask for.
Tomorrow I go up to the glacier with Sarah and Flo, hopefully send my postcards, and head to Germany to visit Helen!!!! I am crossing my fingers that I make it to the right country and it is probably best if you do as well because we all know how well my last train trip went.
And because I cannot leave you without random factoids:
1. Apparently everyone here owns one of those fancy espresso machines with the million buttons and the million dollar price tag. I am officially addicted to coffee because it tastes so much better here!!
2. The German word for squirrel is aufkatzel which I think means "of the cat". I also could be completely making that up. But based on the stuffed squirrel in the hallway (Austrians like to kill things and hang them on the wall), squirrels here do have bizarrely tufted ears (which really has nothing to do with cats but I thought it was weird).
3. There is an actual limit to the amount of chocolate and cookies one can eat in a day. I now wish I had listened to Mother Hen Florian when he was telling Sarah and I that our stomachs would hurt.
4. Nobody owns upright refrigerators because Europeans like to buy their food fresh.
5. It's weird to shake hands, Austrians prefer to kiss on the cheek.
6. They don't have Netflix here.
7. There are castles on pretty much every mountain.
8. Austrians hate Germans. It's a rule.
9. Beef is not eaten here, mostly pork and chicken.
10. Don't ever try to be a vegetarian in Austria.
11. Dragons are real.
12. Number 12 is not true.
13. Or is it?
Time for bed!
Ciao!
Today was a day of complete and utter laziness. These days not only happen in the States but also in Austria, and I've got to say, when they happen here it feels like vacation! Today was an easygoing day of watching shows such as Germany's Next Top Model which is run by Heidi Klum. Flo (who apparently has watched a lot of GNTM), stated that unlike in America, the models in Germany actually become famous if they win. Also, they don't have to put up with Tyra Banks and neither do the viewers. Basically, everyone is winning!
Sarah and I also attempted to go to the post office twice. Apparently when you see a building called Gastrof Post that is not a post office but rather a restaurant. We went to two towns in search of anyone in possession of a stamp and a mailbox and completely bombed at finding anything remotely helpful. So those of you waiting on postcards...keep on waiting. I've also been told that I am looking at about 30 dollars in postage, so if you do receive a postcard perhaps you would consider giving to the Skylar is Feeling Poor Foundation. It's a worthy cause, and all donations will benefit me so you don't have to wonder where your money is going. Heck, it might even help pay for the postcards I want to get from Southeast Asia next year!
I ate way too much food today. I didn't think it was possible, especially based on my incessant hunger during the first half of this trip, but now I wish I had a second stomach to handle this situation. Once I start I cannot stop. Plus, it didn't help that Flo's dad fed me my second lunch of the day. He is very sweet and does not speak a lick of English, or really hear anything because he is 75 and losing his hearing. So my cries of "I'm stuffed" fell on deaf ears...literally. Hahahaha!
We also played with Katzel (cat) a lot. Katzel is the new kitten on the block, threatening to take Lulu's place in my heart because she is younger and cuter (basically I become a lecherous old cradle robber when it comes to kittens). Sarah is now pretty sure that Katzel is a he and not a she though and that does knock him down a few cuteness points.
Sarah and I really worked hard at unsuccessfully finding a post office and eating our ways through life so that of course meant we could reward ourselves with nap time. Sarah tried to suffocate Katzel in her sleep, but I managed to rescue him from Sarah's towering bum :).
I know this does not sound like all that exciting of a day, but seriously, sometimes turning into a vegetable is the best day a girl on vacation could ask for.
Tomorrow I go up to the glacier with Sarah and Flo, hopefully send my postcards, and head to Germany to visit Helen!!!! I am crossing my fingers that I make it to the right country and it is probably best if you do as well because we all know how well my last train trip went.
And because I cannot leave you without random factoids:
1. Apparently everyone here owns one of those fancy espresso machines with the million buttons and the million dollar price tag. I am officially addicted to coffee because it tastes so much better here!!
2. The German word for squirrel is aufkatzel which I think means "of the cat". I also could be completely making that up. But based on the stuffed squirrel in the hallway (Austrians like to kill things and hang them on the wall), squirrels here do have bizarrely tufted ears (which really has nothing to do with cats but I thought it was weird).
3. There is an actual limit to the amount of chocolate and cookies one can eat in a day. I now wish I had listened to Mother Hen Florian when he was telling Sarah and I that our stomachs would hurt.
4. Nobody owns upright refrigerators because Europeans like to buy their food fresh.
5. It's weird to shake hands, Austrians prefer to kiss on the cheek.
6. They don't have Netflix here.
7. There are castles on pretty much every mountain.
8. Austrians hate Germans. It's a rule.
9. Beef is not eaten here, mostly pork and chicken.
10. Don't ever try to be a vegetarian in Austria.
11. Dragons are real.
12. Number 12 is not true.
13. Or is it?
Time for bed!
Ciao!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Damn you Disney castle, GOATS!!!!!, and The Sound of Music
Hallo!!!
Today it was decided that we should go on our final castle adventure, all the way to Germany. Have I mentioned before how much I love how close other countries are when you live in Austria? In case you were wondering Austria is bordered by Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Liechtenstein, and Slovakia. I feel the need to share these pieces of information because of my own poor grasp of world history and geography. Anyway, the castle we were headed for was the same castle that Disney based his castle off of. That sounded like a sweet deal and the pictures looked beautiful so off Sarah, Flo and I went.
Along the way we stopped at a gas station for some petrol. Have I mentioned how much I love gas stations here? You can get the best pizza and lasagna at most gas stations. The U.S. really needs to up its game if it wants me to come back! We also went to a grocery store and purchased our lunch: fresh loaves of bread. I love that about Europe: carbs and meat. Why are Americans so bent on reducing the best two things out of their diet? After all, the Europeans are skinny. I am officially on the best diet/weight loss program in the world: eat bread and meat and walk 8 miles a day. Boom!! This is genius, I will probably make millions.
Flo has a conspiracy theory that I would like to share because it makes so much sense: Americans eat crappy bread, then they get sick and go to the doctor. If they just ate European bread they would be healthy and we wouldn't be in such a state financially and physically. So, my next plan to make millions is to open a true European bakery and charge the prices they charge here (not the ridiculously overpriced rates we charge in the states for any half-way decent bread).
Well, two hours later we arrive in Germany (formerly Bavaria - land of the cream puff) only to find that Schlossel Neushwangau was under construction. So much so that you couldn't even tell it was a a castle. Schnitzel!!!!! (This apparently can be used sometimes to express a dislike of someone)!!! So instead we went to the lower castle, Schlossel Hohenshwangau (Highlands of the Swan Castle). Skip ahead to the next paragraph if you don't want a history lesson. Hohenshwangua, heretofore referred to as the castle, was built only in the 1860's on top of an old knight's keep. As Flo put it: "this s#^t is for the tourists. This is not a real castle. Real castles smell". It was built by a man named Maximillian who had two sons: Otto and Ludwig. Otto was declared insane at the age of 24 and Ludwig inherited the castle. Ludwig was raised in a castle with neo-Gothic paintings all over ever wall and this apparently made him crave owning his own castle (because one is never enough). Thus he built the Disney castle for himself and watched its construction through a telescope by his bedroom. One last "interesting" factoid and we will move on. Ludwig repainted his dead father's bedroom's ceiling with the night sky, had some holes drilled in and would have his servants light oil lamps in the ceiling so it would twinkle like starlight (thus it has always been cool to paste glow in the dark stars to the ceiling). He even had the moon put in and the phases of the moon could be changed with the phases of the real moon.
Moving on. We rode home, nearly died a few times because once again we were in a car. I ate my first bratwurst which was delicious but Sarah's food was better: Curry sausage. Mmmmm. When we got home we enjoyed the last few minutes of sunlight feeding goats apples. As most of you will know I LOVE goats. This was the height of my trip. Hands down. Don't worry, there are about a million videos and photos.
\
I also deemed it necessary to see the movie "Taken" with Sarah because Bryan was certain that was going to have to happen to me. I think he partially wanted "Taken" to be a reality so he could act out the part of Liam Neeson's character. After finishing this movie Sarah and I started watching "The Sound of Music" because it is based in Austria. Needless to say, tomorrow will involve romping on the hills singing and reenacting the whole thing.
It is bedtime. Love you all :)
Today it was decided that we should go on our final castle adventure, all the way to Germany. Have I mentioned before how much I love how close other countries are when you live in Austria? In case you were wondering Austria is bordered by Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Liechtenstein, and Slovakia. I feel the need to share these pieces of information because of my own poor grasp of world history and geography. Anyway, the castle we were headed for was the same castle that Disney based his castle off of. That sounded like a sweet deal and the pictures looked beautiful so off Sarah, Flo and I went.
Along the way we stopped at a gas station for some petrol. Have I mentioned how much I love gas stations here? You can get the best pizza and lasagna at most gas stations. The U.S. really needs to up its game if it wants me to come back! We also went to a grocery store and purchased our lunch: fresh loaves of bread. I love that about Europe: carbs and meat. Why are Americans so bent on reducing the best two things out of their diet? After all, the Europeans are skinny. I am officially on the best diet/weight loss program in the world: eat bread and meat and walk 8 miles a day. Boom!! This is genius, I will probably make millions.
Flo has a conspiracy theory that I would like to share because it makes so much sense: Americans eat crappy bread, then they get sick and go to the doctor. If they just ate European bread they would be healthy and we wouldn't be in such a state financially and physically. So, my next plan to make millions is to open a true European bakery and charge the prices they charge here (not the ridiculously overpriced rates we charge in the states for any half-way decent bread).
Well, two hours later we arrive in Germany (formerly Bavaria - land of the cream puff) only to find that Schlossel Neushwangau was under construction. So much so that you couldn't even tell it was a a castle. Schnitzel!!!!! (This apparently can be used sometimes to express a dislike of someone)!!! So instead we went to the lower castle, Schlossel Hohenshwangau (Highlands of the Swan Castle). Skip ahead to the next paragraph if you don't want a history lesson. Hohenshwangua, heretofore referred to as the castle, was built only in the 1860's on top of an old knight's keep. As Flo put it: "this s#^t is for the tourists. This is not a real castle. Real castles smell". It was built by a man named Maximillian who had two sons: Otto and Ludwig. Otto was declared insane at the age of 24 and Ludwig inherited the castle. Ludwig was raised in a castle with neo-Gothic paintings all over ever wall and this apparently made him crave owning his own castle (because one is never enough). Thus he built the Disney castle for himself and watched its construction through a telescope by his bedroom. One last "interesting" factoid and we will move on. Ludwig repainted his dead father's bedroom's ceiling with the night sky, had some holes drilled in and would have his servants light oil lamps in the ceiling so it would twinkle like starlight (thus it has always been cool to paste glow in the dark stars to the ceiling). He even had the moon put in and the phases of the moon could be changed with the phases of the real moon.
Moving on. We rode home, nearly died a few times because once again we were in a car. I ate my first bratwurst which was delicious but Sarah's food was better: Curry sausage. Mmmmm. When we got home we enjoyed the last few minutes of sunlight feeding goats apples. As most of you will know I LOVE goats. This was the height of my trip. Hands down. Don't worry, there are about a million videos and photos.
\
I also deemed it necessary to see the movie "Taken" with Sarah because Bryan was certain that was going to have to happen to me. I think he partially wanted "Taken" to be a reality so he could act out the part of Liam Neeson's character. After finishing this movie Sarah and I started watching "The Sound of Music" because it is based in Austria. Needless to say, tomorrow will involve romping on the hills singing and reenacting the whole thing.
It is bedtime. Love you all :)
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Quicksand, More Pizza, Italy, and Laughing till I Cry
Hey Peeps,
Today was an awesome day, the first reason being that I got to go into another castle. Right now I am living in a house with my friends Sarah and Flo in Austria. If you are also a foolish American like myself you may not know that Austria has several states. The state I am living in is called Tyrol. The Tyroleans have an accent that apparently most Germans and Swiss and even some other Austrians can't understand. This, of course, is perfect because I can't understand anything anyway, so it is best that everyone else is just as confused as I am. Why did I feel it was necessary to tell you this? I don't know. Moving on...
Sarah and I went for an adventure on our own because Flo (Florian Von Achen Rainer) had to tape some videos of him snowboarding on the mountain (in case you don't know, I am living with a real, live, famous Astrian. If you are wondering why you have never heard of him, it is because you are an American. Don't worry, it's only a flaw when you leave the country :). Anyway, this adventure involved two Americans driving a stick shift through the Austrian countryside.
A couple of things to know about driving here:
1. Probably you just shouldn't do it.
2. Other driver's will pass you regardless of if it is safe, if you are driving fast already, or if they have nowhere to go.
3. When someone is driving in your lane straight at you and you are sure you are about to crash only to have them zip over into their own lane at the last moment - this is not a game of chicken, this is normal.
4. Don't get pulled over by the Polize here, they don't have anything to do so a full and complete inspection of your car will be in order (don't worry, this didn't happen to me but Sarah and Flo shared their horror stories).
5. If you are a bad (or scary) driver in America it will mean that you are an excellent driver here.
6. Not watching the road, drifting, talking on your phone, and texting are all acceptable here, regardless of legality.
Sarah and I finally made it to a Tyrolean castle in Landeck and got to explore! Nothing was in English, including the English guides. After the first page my guide turned to German. I guess I was supposed to have picked up enough German by then to be ready to go. We wandered through the castle making up reasons for why all of the "kinder" (kids) were supposed to go to stations throughout the castle's museum picking up rocks from different treasure chests. I read Sarah a children's book and had to make up all the meanings for the German words which harkened back to when I was a child and my German au pair left me with a German book about a cat and I never really knew why the cat looked so sad about his milk (another random, and useless piece of information).
Anyway, we got some great pictures in the top of the castle and decided food was our next destination because I was about to go all Hangry Hulk on Sarah. So, of course we made the only decision possible and decided to drive to Italy to buy some pizza, cause after all, where else would you want to buy pizza from?
I realize as I write these entries they get longer and longer but I keep learning all sorts of fascinating tidbits that my American education never deigned necessary for me to learn. After all, the 200-something years America has existed far outweighs the thousands of years of European history. Anyway, during WWII Hitler gave part of Austria to Italy as a gift. If you look at a map of Italy, basically a large chunk of the country that forms the top of the boot actually belonged to Austria. When the war was over many countries were given back to their original owners, this part of Austria remained Italian which is strange but convenient due to the fact that the Italian border is now so much closer.
We had the best pizza I have had yet (every time so far has been the best time) at a place called Hans Pizzeria which is literally across the border from Austria. On from there we drove to a strange part of town where a giant lake had been created by dams. There was originally a town in the location of the lake and apparently it was decided to move the entire town but just leave the clock tower. Those of you who are friends with me on facebook can see me standing in front of said clock tower rising out of said lake.
We decided it was important to go exploring for old spoons or forks that might have been left behind by previous owners in the dried out parts of the lake bed and instead I ended up getting stuck shin deep in mud. Sarah, who weighs a good 50 pounds less than me could go places that I should not have gone and we spent a lot of time laughing hysterically while trying not to lose my shoe or my leg to the vacuum that is mud. I am pretty sure that Sarah was just going to leave me there at one point and I started to understand the panic that many dinosaurs must have felt before sinking to their doom in a tar pit. We miraculously made it out, not so miraculously covered in mud, and made it home.
Our evening ended with a delicious dinner of homemade bread and local cheeses and meats, cookies and chocolate, as well as a show called Friday (maybe Saturday?) Night Fever, which is basically the Jersey Shore of Austria. Flo was quick to defend his show though and assure me that all of it is real and none of it faked, unlike the Jersey Shore. Haha, I love it here!
Today was an awesome day, the first reason being that I got to go into another castle. Right now I am living in a house with my friends Sarah and Flo in Austria. If you are also a foolish American like myself you may not know that Austria has several states. The state I am living in is called Tyrol. The Tyroleans have an accent that apparently most Germans and Swiss and even some other Austrians can't understand. This, of course, is perfect because I can't understand anything anyway, so it is best that everyone else is just as confused as I am. Why did I feel it was necessary to tell you this? I don't know. Moving on...
Sarah and I went for an adventure on our own because Flo (Florian Von Achen Rainer) had to tape some videos of him snowboarding on the mountain (in case you don't know, I am living with a real, live, famous Astrian. If you are wondering why you have never heard of him, it is because you are an American. Don't worry, it's only a flaw when you leave the country :). Anyway, this adventure involved two Americans driving a stick shift through the Austrian countryside.
A couple of things to know about driving here:
1. Probably you just shouldn't do it.
2. Other driver's will pass you regardless of if it is safe, if you are driving fast already, or if they have nowhere to go.
3. When someone is driving in your lane straight at you and you are sure you are about to crash only to have them zip over into their own lane at the last moment - this is not a game of chicken, this is normal.
4. Don't get pulled over by the Polize here, they don't have anything to do so a full and complete inspection of your car will be in order (don't worry, this didn't happen to me but Sarah and Flo shared their horror stories).
5. If you are a bad (or scary) driver in America it will mean that you are an excellent driver here.
6. Not watching the road, drifting, talking on your phone, and texting are all acceptable here, regardless of legality.
Sarah and I finally made it to a Tyrolean castle in Landeck and got to explore! Nothing was in English, including the English guides. After the first page my guide turned to German. I guess I was supposed to have picked up enough German by then to be ready to go. We wandered through the castle making up reasons for why all of the "kinder" (kids) were supposed to go to stations throughout the castle's museum picking up rocks from different treasure chests. I read Sarah a children's book and had to make up all the meanings for the German words which harkened back to when I was a child and my German au pair left me with a German book about a cat and I never really knew why the cat looked so sad about his milk (another random, and useless piece of information).
Anyway, we got some great pictures in the top of the castle and decided food was our next destination because I was about to go all Hangry Hulk on Sarah. So, of course we made the only decision possible and decided to drive to Italy to buy some pizza, cause after all, where else would you want to buy pizza from?
I realize as I write these entries they get longer and longer but I keep learning all sorts of fascinating tidbits that my American education never deigned necessary for me to learn. After all, the 200-something years America has existed far outweighs the thousands of years of European history. Anyway, during WWII Hitler gave part of Austria to Italy as a gift. If you look at a map of Italy, basically a large chunk of the country that forms the top of the boot actually belonged to Austria. When the war was over many countries were given back to their original owners, this part of Austria remained Italian which is strange but convenient due to the fact that the Italian border is now so much closer.
We had the best pizza I have had yet (every time so far has been the best time) at a place called Hans Pizzeria which is literally across the border from Austria. On from there we drove to a strange part of town where a giant lake had been created by dams. There was originally a town in the location of the lake and apparently it was decided to move the entire town but just leave the clock tower. Those of you who are friends with me on facebook can see me standing in front of said clock tower rising out of said lake.
We decided it was important to go exploring for old spoons or forks that might have been left behind by previous owners in the dried out parts of the lake bed and instead I ended up getting stuck shin deep in mud. Sarah, who weighs a good 50 pounds less than me could go places that I should not have gone and we spent a lot of time laughing hysterically while trying not to lose my shoe or my leg to the vacuum that is mud. I am pretty sure that Sarah was just going to leave me there at one point and I started to understand the panic that many dinosaurs must have felt before sinking to their doom in a tar pit. We miraculously made it out, not so miraculously covered in mud, and made it home.
Our evening ended with a delicious dinner of homemade bread and local cheeses and meats, cookies and chocolate, as well as a show called Friday (maybe Saturday?) Night Fever, which is basically the Jersey Shore of Austria. Flo was quick to defend his show though and assure me that all of it is real and none of it faked, unlike the Jersey Shore. Haha, I love it here!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Innsbruck with Sarah!!!
Just a little info on Sarah for those of you who don't know her: Sarah is my "wild" friend who has chosen to move to Austria with her lover Flo because she could not bear to be without him or the Austrian Alps. Therefore I am staying in their sweet digs which happens to be within easy driving distance of Italy and Switzerland. I will be adding those to my destinations for this trip!!!
Sarah and I rode the train to Innsbruck today and she was impressed with my Eurail competency (thank you two days of practice). We made it into the town and proceeded to walk almost as much as I did in Prague (not really, in Prague I walked for 11 hours, in Innsbruck I only walked for 8 hours). We made it to the mountain "home" (more like castle/mansion) of the Kaiser. The Kaiser's Kaiserin Maria-Theresa was a prolific woman and had about 16 children. Three of them did not make it past 4 years of age and in the portrait room there is a sad painting of the three of them floating up to Heaven. Maria-Theresa also believed that if your child died you should name your next child by that name until it stuck on a child who did live to a reasonable age. Thus: Maria-Karoline, Maria-Karoline and Maria-Karoline (who lived to be about 50). Oh, and Maria-Theresa named all thirteen of her girls Maria-Something. Maria-Theresa's husband died at the early age of 43 during the wedding of his oldest son and Maria-Theresa mourned him in black until her own death decades later. Apparently their wedding was one of the few love matches in the Austrian dynasty. Anyway, that is enough history for now.
Sarah and I ate tons of delicious food!!! The pretzel bread here is amazing and they stuff it with cream cheese and chives. Gelato is great until you accidentally lick your scoop off the cone and onto the ground only three licks in. Sad day. We also had amazing Italian food. My American-ness was showing since my complete lack of European geography did not make me aware of the fact that we were only minutes from the Italian border thus delicious Italian food is sometimes easier to find that traditional Austrian food. I tried proscuitto and marscapone pizza for the first time and almost died from the tastiness. That paired with fresh bruschetta and tortellini ragu made for my best meal so far (although I still stand by the fact that Czech hotdogs are amazing and I am craving one right now).
I have decided to stay with Sarah for a while longer and up on the agenda is a castle trip, Italian pizza in Italy, maybe Switzerland, and snowboarding. I talked with Sarah about how much cooler I will be as a person if I can say I have gone snowboarding in the Austrian Alps. In reality I will be spending most of my time falling on my bum, but it sounds exciting!! And for my critics out there, I know that I hate snow, but I am in a foreign land where I am pretending that public transportation, not speaking the language, and snow does not terrify me.
Miss you all!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sarah and I rode the train to Innsbruck today and she was impressed with my Eurail competency (thank you two days of practice). We made it into the town and proceeded to walk almost as much as I did in Prague (not really, in Prague I walked for 11 hours, in Innsbruck I only walked for 8 hours). We made it to the mountain "home" (more like castle/mansion) of the Kaiser. The Kaiser's Kaiserin Maria-Theresa was a prolific woman and had about 16 children. Three of them did not make it past 4 years of age and in the portrait room there is a sad painting of the three of them floating up to Heaven. Maria-Theresa also believed that if your child died you should name your next child by that name until it stuck on a child who did live to a reasonable age. Thus: Maria-Karoline, Maria-Karoline and Maria-Karoline (who lived to be about 50). Oh, and Maria-Theresa named all thirteen of her girls Maria-Something. Maria-Theresa's husband died at the early age of 43 during the wedding of his oldest son and Maria-Theresa mourned him in black until her own death decades later. Apparently their wedding was one of the few love matches in the Austrian dynasty. Anyway, that is enough history for now.
Sarah and I ate tons of delicious food!!! The pretzel bread here is amazing and they stuff it with cream cheese and chives. Gelato is great until you accidentally lick your scoop off the cone and onto the ground only three licks in. Sad day. We also had amazing Italian food. My American-ness was showing since my complete lack of European geography did not make me aware of the fact that we were only minutes from the Italian border thus delicious Italian food is sometimes easier to find that traditional Austrian food. I tried proscuitto and marscapone pizza for the first time and almost died from the tastiness. That paired with fresh bruschetta and tortellini ragu made for my best meal so far (although I still stand by the fact that Czech hotdogs are amazing and I am craving one right now).
I have decided to stay with Sarah for a while longer and up on the agenda is a castle trip, Italian pizza in Italy, maybe Switzerland, and snowboarding. I talked with Sarah about how much cooler I will be as a person if I can say I have gone snowboarding in the Austrian Alps. In reality I will be spending most of my time falling on my bum, but it sounds exciting!! And for my critics out there, I know that I hate snow, but I am in a foreign land where I am pretending that public transportation, not speaking the language, and snow does not terrify me.
Miss you all!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, April 29, 2012
The Never-Ending Train Day
Hey Peeps,
Today was not always fun. It is way better now that I am settled into Chez de Sarah et Flo (that should probably be in German and not French), and I will get to that story after I finish whining.
So I know that I have mentioned before that public transportation has been rough because of my terrible sense of direction and the language barrier, but that does not even compare to the level of confusion and frustration I reached today.
I was pre-warned that my train ride would have some obstacles. For example, I know that I would be taking a train from Prague to Linz and somewhere in there I would have to take a bus because part of the train tracks were broken? And then from Linz I would take a train to Landeck-Zams. Well, it went a little more like this:
1. Get on train and find a whole free car to myself.
2. Leave said car because I was sitting in the reserved section.
3. Find another car to sit in for three hours.
4. Get off the train and onto the bus with the help of the only English speaking person on the train.
5. Ride on the bus for an hour.
6. Get onto another train by asking people the word "Linz" because NO ONE spoke English.
7. Ride that train for an hour.
7.5 Change trains again. Why? Because we can.
8. Arrive at Linz and change trains. Don't use the restroom because it costs money.
9. Ride the train to Innsbruck Germany.
10. Frantically run off the train when I realize that my half of the train is staying in Innsbruck and only the front half of the train is going on to Landeck-Zams.
11. Find a seat for a half an hour.
12. Get off train to be greeted by Flo and Sarah.
In case you weren't counting that would be 5 trains and 1 bus to get from Prague to Landeck-Zams. I was on a train from 11:16am to 8:40pm.
Enough complaining! After all, I am in Europe!!!! Sarah and Flo picked me up and I cannot believe I am actually here! Sarah cooked a delicious dinner: pumpkin soup (did you know that pumpkin is a big thing here?) and noodles with tomato pesto. So good! Plus I just got to catch up with Sarah after way too long (I didn't not realize I would have to leave the country to track down this girl)!!!
I have an amazing room with a shower and a sink right in my bedroom. The mountains are literally in the backyard, there are chickens and ducks, the list just goes on. Plus, it is nice to not have to worry about my stuff for once and just throw my passport about willy nilly!!!
Tomorrow we are going to Innsbruck, then Tuesday we might go to Italy or on a quest for some castles. I have not asked Sarah yet but I may stay here for awhile longer and just go on adventures with her instead of going on a solo trip to Italy. I don't know if I could stand another day of trains like today for only one day in Italy. Also, everyone I have spoken to says to stay away from Venice because the food is no good, it's too crowded, and too expensive.
Random things I have noticed: none of the doors open the direction you expect them to, it is tiring to never hear your own language, Czech candy is kind of weird (chocolate covered sunflower seeds?), the bread here is amazing (even bread from crummy delis), sleeping sitting up does not work.
Anyway, I am off to bed and vastly enjoying myself!!!
Auf Wiedersehen!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today was not always fun. It is way better now that I am settled into Chez de Sarah et Flo (that should probably be in German and not French), and I will get to that story after I finish whining.
So I know that I have mentioned before that public transportation has been rough because of my terrible sense of direction and the language barrier, but that does not even compare to the level of confusion and frustration I reached today.
I was pre-warned that my train ride would have some obstacles. For example, I know that I would be taking a train from Prague to Linz and somewhere in there I would have to take a bus because part of the train tracks were broken? And then from Linz I would take a train to Landeck-Zams. Well, it went a little more like this:
1. Get on train and find a whole free car to myself.
2. Leave said car because I was sitting in the reserved section.
3. Find another car to sit in for three hours.
4. Get off the train and onto the bus with the help of the only English speaking person on the train.
5. Ride on the bus for an hour.
6. Get onto another train by asking people the word "Linz" because NO ONE spoke English.
7. Ride that train for an hour.
7.5 Change trains again. Why? Because we can.
8. Arrive at Linz and change trains. Don't use the restroom because it costs money.
9. Ride the train to Innsbruck Germany.
10. Frantically run off the train when I realize that my half of the train is staying in Innsbruck and only the front half of the train is going on to Landeck-Zams.
11. Find a seat for a half an hour.
12. Get off train to be greeted by Flo and Sarah.
In case you weren't counting that would be 5 trains and 1 bus to get from Prague to Landeck-Zams. I was on a train from 11:16am to 8:40pm.
Enough complaining! After all, I am in Europe!!!! Sarah and Flo picked me up and I cannot believe I am actually here! Sarah cooked a delicious dinner: pumpkin soup (did you know that pumpkin is a big thing here?) and noodles with tomato pesto. So good! Plus I just got to catch up with Sarah after way too long (I didn't not realize I would have to leave the country to track down this girl)!!!
I have an amazing room with a shower and a sink right in my bedroom. The mountains are literally in the backyard, there are chickens and ducks, the list just goes on. Plus, it is nice to not have to worry about my stuff for once and just throw my passport about willy nilly!!!
Tomorrow we are going to Innsbruck, then Tuesday we might go to Italy or on a quest for some castles. I have not asked Sarah yet but I may stay here for awhile longer and just go on adventures with her instead of going on a solo trip to Italy. I don't know if I could stand another day of trains like today for only one day in Italy. Also, everyone I have spoken to says to stay away from Venice because the food is no good, it's too crowded, and too expensive.
Random things I have noticed: none of the doors open the direction you expect them to, it is tiring to never hear your own language, Czech candy is kind of weird (chocolate covered sunflower seeds?), the bread here is amazing (even bread from crummy delis), sleeping sitting up does not work.
Anyway, I am off to bed and vastly enjoying myself!!!
Auf Wiedersehen!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, April 28, 2012
The Prague Walk
For those of you who would like to see an approximation of how much/where I walked to you can check it out here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=V%C3%A1clavsk%C3%A9+n%C3%A1m.&daddr=V%C3%A1clavsk%C3%A9+n%C3%A1m.+to:mustek+to:clock+tower+to:Old+Jewish+Cemetery,+U+star%C3%A9ho+h%C5%99bitova,+Prague+1,+Czech+Republic+to:Prague+Castle,+Prague-Prague+1,+Czech+Republic+to:Pet%C5%99%C3%ADn,+Prague-Prague+1,+Czech+Republic+to:Ricni+to:Charles+Bridges+to:mustek&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sll=50.08591,14.414025&sspn=0.019743,0.045447&geocode=FUw3_AId4hjcAA%3BFQwn_AIdmi7cAA%3BFU45_AId8BXcACk9Q6NG7JQLRzFnF4OlQk7k7w%3BFThE_AId-ArcACFq9qa3a1MaLg%3BFUtP_AId6fzbACEJsAqkFgp1pA%3BFYJR_AIdFbbbACGfJRKviDzPKg%3BFTo4_AIdkLfbACHpr3rsn2j2Rg%3BFU0w_AIdO9HbAClJ6JNb-5QLRzFvQNqsYDU88w%3BFVdC_AIdP-bbACFHBBS1grVcOg%3BFU45_AId8BXcACk9Q6NG7JQLRzFnF4OlQk7k7w&dirflg=w&mra=ls&t=m&z=15
Sorry for the ridiculously long URL but that was the best I could do.
As you can see from my map I walked about 6 miles. I am pretty sure I walked closer to 7 miles though because this map does not include the trip from my hostel or the 17 times I got lost. That seems to be the theme of this trip. I have started to conclude that my sense of direction is completely wrong because every time I get on a bus, tram or the metro I end up going the wrong way. Even if I have been on that same bus, tram or metro earlier in the day. I am pretty worried because tomorrow I am supposed to be going to Austria to visit Sarah. I am pretty sure I might end up in Poland. And these trains don't run every 15 minutes like the rest.
So, things I have learned today:
1. The post office is closed on Saturday and no one sells stamps but the post office so don't bother asking (this means all of you I have addresses for will be getting your Prague postcard sent from Austria but I wrote them today).
2. Do not cross the road when there is no "Green Man". When he is red he is trying to tell you that crossing will indeed cause you to have a near death experience via tram. Yeah, myheart rate shot through the roof.
3. Eleven hours of hiking through a city is about 4 hours too much. You don't need to walk more than you work in one day.
4. It's about a million stairs to the Prague Castle and about another thousand up to Petrin Tower. It is not necessary to do those climbs during the hottest part of the day (about 85F). It is also not necessary to walk to the castle and the tower in one day. My feet saw "owwwwwwww".
5. Czech hotdogs are life changing. Nothing like in the U.S. They are crispy on the outside and hot and juicy on the inside. So good, best breakfast of my life!
6. Czech people for the most part do not speak English and they are pretty grumpy. At least everyone I have met today and yesterday who was Czech and not a tourist has been quite irritable. These are quite the sweeping generalizations but that has been my experience thus far.
7. It is weird to not hear your own language for almost an entire day. Your ears almost get tired of not understanding anything that anyone is saying.
8. Sunscreen is a lifesaver.
9. Watch where you are walking - cobblestone can be life threatening.
10. Relax about getting lost, you are just always in a state of "lost", another word for that is "sightseeing".
Anyway, today was an exceptionally long day but so much fun. I saw what feels like all of Prague. I ate goulash for the first time, drank Czech beer. Saw the sun for the whole day!! I met an American couple at the place I went for dinner and got some travel advice. Food here is amazing!!!
Also, the Occupy movement is here. They were protesting in the Square and near the castle. It has spread all over the world now!
I am off to grab a beer with my roommate who just said "We should get a beer together since we are sleeping together". That translation did not work.
Ahoy!
http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=V%C3%A1clavsk%C3%A9+n%C3%A1m.&daddr=V%C3%A1clavsk%C3%A9+n%C3%A1m.+to:mustek+to:clock+tower+to:Old+Jewish+Cemetery,+U+star%C3%A9ho+h%C5%99bitova,+Prague+1,+Czech+Republic+to:Prague+Castle,+Prague-Prague+1,+Czech+Republic+to:Pet%C5%99%C3%ADn,+Prague-Prague+1,+Czech+Republic+to:Ricni+to:Charles+Bridges+to:mustek&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sll=50.08591,14.414025&sspn=0.019743,0.045447&geocode=FUw3_AId4hjcAA%3BFQwn_AIdmi7cAA%3BFU45_AId8BXcACk9Q6NG7JQLRzFnF4OlQk7k7w%3BFThE_AId-ArcACFq9qa3a1MaLg%3BFUtP_AId6fzbACEJsAqkFgp1pA%3BFYJR_AIdFbbbACGfJRKviDzPKg%3BFTo4_AIdkLfbACHpr3rsn2j2Rg%3BFU0w_AIdO9HbAClJ6JNb-5QLRzFvQNqsYDU88w%3BFVdC_AIdP-bbACFHBBS1grVcOg%3BFU45_AId8BXcACk9Q6NG7JQLRzFnF4OlQk7k7w&dirflg=w&mra=ls&t=m&z=15
Sorry for the ridiculously long URL but that was the best I could do.
As you can see from my map I walked about 6 miles. I am pretty sure I walked closer to 7 miles though because this map does not include the trip from my hostel or the 17 times I got lost. That seems to be the theme of this trip. I have started to conclude that my sense of direction is completely wrong because every time I get on a bus, tram or the metro I end up going the wrong way. Even if I have been on that same bus, tram or metro earlier in the day. I am pretty worried because tomorrow I am supposed to be going to Austria to visit Sarah. I am pretty sure I might end up in Poland. And these trains don't run every 15 minutes like the rest.
So, things I have learned today:
1. The post office is closed on Saturday and no one sells stamps but the post office so don't bother asking (this means all of you I have addresses for will be getting your Prague postcard sent from Austria but I wrote them today).
2. Do not cross the road when there is no "Green Man". When he is red he is trying to tell you that crossing will indeed cause you to have a near death experience via tram. Yeah, myheart rate shot through the roof.
3. Eleven hours of hiking through a city is about 4 hours too much. You don't need to walk more than you work in one day.
4. It's about a million stairs to the Prague Castle and about another thousand up to Petrin Tower. It is not necessary to do those climbs during the hottest part of the day (about 85F). It is also not necessary to walk to the castle and the tower in one day. My feet saw "owwwwwwww".
5. Czech hotdogs are life changing. Nothing like in the U.S. They are crispy on the outside and hot and juicy on the inside. So good, best breakfast of my life!
6. Czech people for the most part do not speak English and they are pretty grumpy. At least everyone I have met today and yesterday who was Czech and not a tourist has been quite irritable. These are quite the sweeping generalizations but that has been my experience thus far.
7. It is weird to not hear your own language for almost an entire day. Your ears almost get tired of not understanding anything that anyone is saying.
8. Sunscreen is a lifesaver.
9. Watch where you are walking - cobblestone can be life threatening.
10. Relax about getting lost, you are just always in a state of "lost", another word for that is "sightseeing".
Anyway, today was an exceptionally long day but so much fun. I saw what feels like all of Prague. I ate goulash for the first time, drank Czech beer. Saw the sun for the whole day!! I met an American couple at the place I went for dinner and got some travel advice. Food here is amazing!!!
Also, the Occupy movement is here. They were protesting in the Square and near the castle. It has spread all over the world now!
I am off to grab a beer with my roommate who just said "We should get a beer together since we are sleeping together". That translation did not work.
Ahoy!
Friday, April 27, 2012
Czech it Out!
Hello Again!!!
I have just enjoyed a delicious pizza. A whole, delicious pizza, all to myself. It basically changed my life, and by changed my life, I mean it prevented me from being overcome by a blind hangry rage and killing someone.
Just FYI, right now I don't have the ability to download my pictures but hopefully I will tomorrow. Today was a little rough. After my tour through Amsterdam my legs were aching, my stomach was growling, my head was in the grip of a bad headache. Just too much travel, not enough movement and food. Anyway, when I got out of the terminal I picked up my bag (which made it all in one piece!) and went to find the shuttle service. I was willing to fork out some Czech crowns so that I could just get to my hostel. Yeah, well they closed 5 minutes before I arrived. So that was out. A taxi was too much of an unknown on price so I decided to do the whole public transportation thing. Not my smartest move. But at the time I was deprived of everything including sanity so I bought my ticket and off I went to my bus.
Well, I missed the first bus 119 by about two seconds. That was alright though because another number 119 came around the corner right away. Yeah, it wasn't number 119. I was supposed to ride the bus until the end of the line. Turns out the end of the line for this bus (whatever non-number 119 it was) was the next stop. The bus driver was grumpy and told me to get off the bus (or I am pretty sure that is what he said and perhaps not as nicely). I got off and it was obvious to me that my next ride, the Metro, was nowhere to be found. Neither was another living soul. It took me two grumpy bus drivers,a flight attendant, and an hour and a half of nearly tearing up in frustration before I found my way onto the right bus.
I have a lot of pride in what I managed to complete. I took the number 119 bus to the last stop, found the Metro, rode the green Metro line for five stops, changed to the red line for one stop. Walked out of the metro station and found the tram line, took the tram to the correct stop and walked to the correct hostel. Not bad for pretty much everything being in Czech.
Anyway, upon arrival, not only did the girl at the front desk order me a pizza, but she also was just friendly and great and helped me plan my walking tour tomorrow (it's okay legs, you can do it). I went up to my room and met my roommate and I just realized I never learned his name. He is a pilot from Brazil and we may hang out some tomorrow. Probably after I learn his name. Anyway, I took a shower and it was fantastic. Now I need to sleep and recuperate.
Love you all!
I have just enjoyed a delicious pizza. A whole, delicious pizza, all to myself. It basically changed my life, and by changed my life, I mean it prevented me from being overcome by a blind hangry rage and killing someone.
Just FYI, right now I don't have the ability to download my pictures but hopefully I will tomorrow. Today was a little rough. After my tour through Amsterdam my legs were aching, my stomach was growling, my head was in the grip of a bad headache. Just too much travel, not enough movement and food. Anyway, when I got out of the terminal I picked up my bag (which made it all in one piece!) and went to find the shuttle service. I was willing to fork out some Czech crowns so that I could just get to my hostel. Yeah, well they closed 5 minutes before I arrived. So that was out. A taxi was too much of an unknown on price so I decided to do the whole public transportation thing. Not my smartest move. But at the time I was deprived of everything including sanity so I bought my ticket and off I went to my bus.
Well, I missed the first bus 119 by about two seconds. That was alright though because another number 119 came around the corner right away. Yeah, it wasn't number 119. I was supposed to ride the bus until the end of the line. Turns out the end of the line for this bus (whatever non-number 119 it was) was the next stop. The bus driver was grumpy and told me to get off the bus (or I am pretty sure that is what he said and perhaps not as nicely). I got off and it was obvious to me that my next ride, the Metro, was nowhere to be found. Neither was another living soul. It took me two grumpy bus drivers,a flight attendant, and an hour and a half of nearly tearing up in frustration before I found my way onto the right bus.
I have a lot of pride in what I managed to complete. I took the number 119 bus to the last stop, found the Metro, rode the green Metro line for five stops, changed to the red line for one stop. Walked out of the metro station and found the tram line, took the tram to the correct stop and walked to the correct hostel. Not bad for pretty much everything being in Czech.
Anyway, upon arrival, not only did the girl at the front desk order me a pizza, but she also was just friendly and great and helped me plan my walking tour tomorrow (it's okay legs, you can do it). I went up to my room and met my roommate and I just realized I never learned his name. He is a pilot from Brazil and we may hang out some tomorrow. Probably after I learn his name. Anyway, I took a shower and it was fantastic. Now I need to sleep and recuperate.
Love you all!
Just a Little Update on Amsterdam before Pizza
Hey Everyone,
I am finally in Prague. More importantly, I have finally showered and brushed my teeth for the first time in about 30 hours! This has been a huge amount of traveling for one person to do by themself.
I arrived in Amsterdam and had to queue forever to go through customs (got my Netherlands stamp!), queue again to exchange my money, and queue again to get a metro ticket. It took me two hours just to get out of the airport and into Amsterdam Centraal. I would also like to note here that the Dutch are not very good at moving queues efficiently or explaining the metro system. I have done a lot of trial and error traveling today.
However, Amsterdam itself is BEAUTIFUL!! All the gorgeous canals, narrow streets crowded with bicyclists attempting to run cars, scooters and pedestrians over, and beautiful tulips. Amsterdam also has quite a lot of shops that only sell marijuana, haha. Anyway, I wandered for quite awhile, mostly intending to go through the Red Light District for kicks and instead finding myself at the Anne Frank House. Really, those are two completely different experiences.
Anyway, I met a woman named Julie who went to the museum with me. Julie is a Floridian, a pilot, and a loud, noisy, pushy American. I was a little embarassed to be with her but she did get us through the line faster than I ever would have. We also met a lovely foursome from England whom I got to exchange London stories with.
The tour through the Anne Frank House took a long time and did not actually show very much, but I did get to go through the secret door and see pages of her diary. I then decided to return back to the airport because I was feeling dizzy and gross. Mostly due to an intense level of HANGRY-NESS (hungry anger). I found a pancake shop and ate a ham and cheese crepe the size of my plate which was fantastic!
I went back to the airport and just wanted to sleep. It was 6am my time, and I had been up straight since 6am the day before. However, Amsterdam has some of the most uncomfortable chairs I have ever experienced and sleep just did not happen.
I will share my traveling fiasco in Prague probably later tonight, but I have a pizza to eat!!!
Love you all!
I am finally in Prague. More importantly, I have finally showered and brushed my teeth for the first time in about 30 hours! This has been a huge amount of traveling for one person to do by themself.
I arrived in Amsterdam and had to queue forever to go through customs (got my Netherlands stamp!), queue again to exchange my money, and queue again to get a metro ticket. It took me two hours just to get out of the airport and into Amsterdam Centraal. I would also like to note here that the Dutch are not very good at moving queues efficiently or explaining the metro system. I have done a lot of trial and error traveling today.
However, Amsterdam itself is BEAUTIFUL!! All the gorgeous canals, narrow streets crowded with bicyclists attempting to run cars, scooters and pedestrians over, and beautiful tulips. Amsterdam also has quite a lot of shops that only sell marijuana, haha. Anyway, I wandered for quite awhile, mostly intending to go through the Red Light District for kicks and instead finding myself at the Anne Frank House. Really, those are two completely different experiences.
Anyway, I met a woman named Julie who went to the museum with me. Julie is a Floridian, a pilot, and a loud, noisy, pushy American. I was a little embarassed to be with her but she did get us through the line faster than I ever would have. We also met a lovely foursome from England whom I got to exchange London stories with.
The tour through the Anne Frank House took a long time and did not actually show very much, but I did get to go through the secret door and see pages of her diary. I then decided to return back to the airport because I was feeling dizzy and gross. Mostly due to an intense level of HANGRY-NESS (hungry anger). I found a pancake shop and ate a ham and cheese crepe the size of my plate which was fantastic!
I went back to the airport and just wanted to sleep. It was 6am my time, and I had been up straight since 6am the day before. However, Amsterdam has some of the most uncomfortable chairs I have ever experienced and sleep just did not happen.
I will share my traveling fiasco in Prague probably later tonight, but I have a pizza to eat!!!
Love you all!
Thursday, April 26, 2012
At Home
Okay everybody, this is the last frantic thing I am going to do before I set off onto an unknown adventure. Don't feel pressured to read every day, I am mostly making sure my mom knows I am still alive :) There is something about handing your mother an itinerary that just has the names of various countries and approximate, tenative, possible dates on it that just doesn't make her seem all that happy. So, Mom, this is for you!
It has been quite the mad dash to this trip. I bought my ticket just days before that lovely tree decided to crush my car in half. The timing of the smashing and subsequent bestowal of a pretty decent return for the crushed Quaddler leads me to believe that God, the Universe, or some mischievous poltergeist thought to his or herself "Hey, Skylar needs a vacation!"
So vacation it is! I will be backpacking through Europe thanks to the lovely Katie Shine, who shared her fantastic backpack that has already traveled once through the world. I feel there is a lot of luck in this bag because the Shine-ster and I met last year on another random trip - that time to Greece. Katie traveled all over the world and when we met on a boat in Greece we just happened to find out that we were neighbors in Portland.
Anyway, other random news: this morning not only did I go to yoga, finish homework for school, start a blog, and finishing packing, but I also bought a car!!! Thanks to Bryan and his lovely mom Judy I should have a Toyota Corolla when I return!
Just so everyone is on the same page, I will be flying into Amsterdam Friday morning, hopping out of the airport for a little bit, then flying to Prague. I have a hostel to stay in for two nights and then I need to figure out where and when I am going after that. Cross your fingers friends and family! I will post pictures and let everyone know where I am at as soon as I do.
Love,
Skylar
It has been quite the mad dash to this trip. I bought my ticket just days before that lovely tree decided to crush my car in half. The timing of the smashing and subsequent bestowal of a pretty decent return for the crushed Quaddler leads me to believe that God, the Universe, or some mischievous poltergeist thought to his or herself "Hey, Skylar needs a vacation!"
So vacation it is! I will be backpacking through Europe thanks to the lovely Katie Shine, who shared her fantastic backpack that has already traveled once through the world. I feel there is a lot of luck in this bag because the Shine-ster and I met last year on another random trip - that time to Greece. Katie traveled all over the world and when we met on a boat in Greece we just happened to find out that we were neighbors in Portland.
Anyway, other random news: this morning not only did I go to yoga, finish homework for school, start a blog, and finishing packing, but I also bought a car!!! Thanks to Bryan and his lovely mom Judy I should have a Toyota Corolla when I return!
Just so everyone is on the same page, I will be flying into Amsterdam Friday morning, hopping out of the airport for a little bit, then flying to Prague. I have a hostel to stay in for two nights and then I need to figure out where and when I am going after that. Cross your fingers friends and family! I will post pictures and let everyone know where I am at as soon as I do.
Love,
Skylar
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)