I am sorry I know I have not posted in a REALLY long time! I have been out exploring and have not had time. And my phone stopped letting me log into my blog for some reason. I only have 10 minutes left on my card at this internet cafe so I am going to catch you up really fast.
Last you heard from me I was in Lulworth, England. Probably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been!
Since then I have been too....
Dublin, Killarney and Galway in Ireland- Ireland was beautiful and the people are so nice and hilarious!!!
Brussels, Belgium- Smelled like chocolate and waffles and had delicious beer. Funny town, they love there satire
Amsterdam, The Netherlands- Got the swine flu and was pretty ill but still found time to eat a space cake:) Giggled for 5 hours straight. Definitely a city to see but is really seedy
Aachen, Germany- Near the intersection of The Netherland, Belgium and Germany. Has hot springs and a ton of energy. Really cool little town
Munich, Germany- Also has a ton of energy...loved Munich. Lots to see, including the beer gardens. Most Germans speak english so was really easy to get around
Prague, Czech Republic- The land of my people. Wasnt able to get into contact with any of my family but still had an amazing time. Prague is beautiful. And everyone from Prague thinks everything in Prague and about Prague is the best thing in the world. Hilarious to get them started on it
Cinque Terre, Italy- Absloutley gorgeous!! Hiked the entire coastline that spans about 8 miles and goes through 5 small towns along the coastline. Cant wait to post pictures!
Florence, Italy- In Florence now waiting for my dad!! Should be here in about 2 hours. Cant wait to see him!! Going to put him into Jamie sightseeing bootcamp today and then catching a 5 hour train to Napoli followed by a 2 hour Ferry to Capri tomorrow. Happy to show him what life has been like the last 5 weeks.
Love you all have 53 seconds so have to log off.
Promise to blog soon.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Lulworth
Took a coach(like our greyhound buses) to Lulworth today to visit Gabriella's parents. I think most of you know but for those who dont, Gabriella is one of my oldest friends. She is English but has lived in the states for a long time now. I think we have known each other for probably 15 years and I even lived with her family in high school for sometime. Her family still has a cottage and a home in a village called Lulworth and her parents are here for the summer. They invited me to come stay with them for a few days...but they are spoiling me terribly so I may not be able to leave. I have my own room with a HUGE bed, my own bathroom and shower, there is a hot top and I have been able to wash all of my clothing!!!! I am in heaven!!!
I will finish this later...my life is horrible and I am being forced to go to the beach and have an ice cream!
I will finish this later...my life is horrible and I am being forced to go to the beach and have an ice cream!
London
I am really sorry that I have not been blogging more. I have running around like crazy and haven't really had the best luck with internet in the hostels. London was amazing!!!! I stayed in a 12 person all female hostel room this time. Last time I will do that!!!! They are all soooo messy and most had so much luggage. Really irritating! Plus its very clicky which is not the point of traveling anyways. Its all about meeting people...or at least it is for me. Anyways, back to my coed rooms where there are no prissy girls with huge rolling luggage bags. So the tube stations opened up again on Monday so I was able to get into the city center pretty easily from Swiss Cottage(the area of town that I am staying in). I pretty much saw all of the standard sights...Buckingham palace where I saw the changing of the guard had a huge band playing Thriller...so random! Went to Westminster Abbey, Hyde Park(where I saw Brittany Spears), Green Park, Parlament, Big Ben, Tower London, Tower Bridge(which is the bridge you probably think of when you think of London Bridge), also saw London Bridge which is just a plain bridge. This was over a course of two days. In the afternoons of early evening I would go to the grocery store and grab a few veggies and some bread and have picnics in the parks. The parks here are absolutely huge and amazing. And everyone goes to them. You see hundreds of people in there business suits, dresses and heals having their lunches or dinners in the parks. They are so active here and just love being outside. I love that about London! I walked from probably one end of the city to the other which took me about three hours but I really got a feel for the neighborhoods. Every corner you turn has a different feel, with a different type of people and energy. Its really interesting. Last night I was in the hostel some new girls came in and we hit it off. Walked a few miles down the road to an area called Camden Town. Kind of the alternative area of London. Great people watching!!! Totally the short and sweet version of what I did in London but I only have a limited time on the computer and I was hearing through the grapevine that people were unhappy of my lack of blogging. Sorry miss Janice...I will try to be better.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Paris
All I have to say is I love Paris!!! If I could afford to live there I would learn french and move there in a heartbeat! People have always told me that the french are very rude...which they can be a little arrogant at times but mainly I think they are just sick of getting asked stupid questions by tourists. Which I saw a lot of! I think I heard more languages in Paris then I will in the rest of my life. There is just this feeling that is infectious...and its not swine flu. Everyone is walking around laughing with the biggest smiles on their faces. And for me it was because everything was even more amazing in person than in any picture I have seen. Ok enough I Heart Paris.
Got in pretty late the first night I was there so basically just found my hostel and crashed. The next morning I headed to Le Louvre. I think I could have even stayed another day there. Besides the Mona Lisa(which is tiny BTW) and the Venus de Milo which were amazing to see in person the whole building itself is art. It is almost as if they carved the whole building out of one piece of stone. And many of the ceilings had these incredible murals with gold lining...really cool. The Apartments of Napoleon XVIII was another one of my favorites there, completely over the top!! Love it! After that I grabbed lunch and sat in the park just outside of the Louvre and walked down the Champs Elysse. Went to an Andy Warhol exibit at the Palace, he had such an interesting outlook on life and it really shows through in all of his artwork. If you can ever go to one I really recommend it. After the Warhol exibit I went to the Arc of Triumph, it is at the center circle of town and all 12 of the major streets intersect there. It is really chaotic! There is a unknown soldier who is buried under the arc so every day at 6:30 they light a candle for him and any other soldiers who have given their life for their country. They have a huge live band playing and probably 30 vetrans holding flags from different countries. I cant believe they have such a big production everyday but I am glad they do and I was able to experience it.
Day two in Paris, I started out at Notre Dame cathedral. It is absolutely beautiful inside. I just happended to be there on the anniversary of my papas death so I signed the book and lit a candle for him as well as my grandma who has been battling cancer. Ended up being kind of an emotional hour actually but was really glad I got to do it. After Notre Dame I was off to the Catacombs, which were super creepy but I like creepy stuff so I thought it was pretty neat. There was an old cemetery in Paris that had become diseased so they had to exume all the bodies and move them somewhere. They buried them all in an old quarry but did so in a very artistic way. Each bone was placed for a purpose and the whole thing is incredibley organized. It does go for about 1.8km underground so I have to say that was a bit much to be underground with all of those bodies for that long. After that I went to Luxemberg park which is huge!!! The parks here are incredible and have so much going on in them. I then went to meet some friends from the hostel for a walking tour of Montematre, which is basically the most famous area in Paris. Probably the best walking tour I have been on in Europe! After that we ran back to our hostel to change quickly and left for a pub crawl. Our hostel locks the doors from 2am to 6am so if you are not home by two you are out of luck. The bars are open here until 5:30 so obviously the logically choice is to just stay out until the hostel opens again:) Was an absolute blast!!! The next day I went to Eiffel Tower which was of course a great experience did a bit of shopping and then sat in the park for sometime and just did some people watching. I know I did something else that day as well but I cannot for the life of me remember. This is why I need to do this right after.
Next day I left the hostel and headed for London. To take the eurostar from Paris to London(the fast train which goes through the chunnel) which cost 150euro I decided to get creative and take two trains to Calais, a ferry from Calais to Dover, the coach from Dover to London and then a bus from downtown London to my hostel. 13 hours from door to door!!! But totally worth saving almost 110euro!
Got in pretty late the first night I was there so basically just found my hostel and crashed. The next morning I headed to Le Louvre. I think I could have even stayed another day there. Besides the Mona Lisa(which is tiny BTW) and the Venus de Milo which were amazing to see in person the whole building itself is art. It is almost as if they carved the whole building out of one piece of stone. And many of the ceilings had these incredible murals with gold lining...really cool. The Apartments of Napoleon XVIII was another one of my favorites there, completely over the top!! Love it! After that I grabbed lunch and sat in the park just outside of the Louvre and walked down the Champs Elysse. Went to an Andy Warhol exibit at the Palace, he had such an interesting outlook on life and it really shows through in all of his artwork. If you can ever go to one I really recommend it. After the Warhol exibit I went to the Arc of Triumph, it is at the center circle of town and all 12 of the major streets intersect there. It is really chaotic! There is a unknown soldier who is buried under the arc so every day at 6:30 they light a candle for him and any other soldiers who have given their life for their country. They have a huge live band playing and probably 30 vetrans holding flags from different countries. I cant believe they have such a big production everyday but I am glad they do and I was able to experience it.
Day two in Paris, I started out at Notre Dame cathedral. It is absolutely beautiful inside. I just happended to be there on the anniversary of my papas death so I signed the book and lit a candle for him as well as my grandma who has been battling cancer. Ended up being kind of an emotional hour actually but was really glad I got to do it. After Notre Dame I was off to the Catacombs, which were super creepy but I like creepy stuff so I thought it was pretty neat. There was an old cemetery in Paris that had become diseased so they had to exume all the bodies and move them somewhere. They buried them all in an old quarry but did so in a very artistic way. Each bone was placed for a purpose and the whole thing is incredibley organized. It does go for about 1.8km underground so I have to say that was a bit much to be underground with all of those bodies for that long. After that I went to Luxemberg park which is huge!!! The parks here are incredible and have so much going on in them. I then went to meet some friends from the hostel for a walking tour of Montematre, which is basically the most famous area in Paris. Probably the best walking tour I have been on in Europe! After that we ran back to our hostel to change quickly and left for a pub crawl. Our hostel locks the doors from 2am to 6am so if you are not home by two you are out of luck. The bars are open here until 5:30 so obviously the logically choice is to just stay out until the hostel opens again:) Was an absolute blast!!! The next day I went to Eiffel Tower which was of course a great experience did a bit of shopping and then sat in the park for sometime and just did some people watching. I know I did something else that day as well but I cannot for the life of me remember. This is why I need to do this right after.
Next day I left the hostel and headed for London. To take the eurostar from Paris to London(the fast train which goes through the chunnel) which cost 150euro I decided to get creative and take two trains to Calais, a ferry from Calais to Dover, the coach from Dover to London and then a bus from downtown London to my hostel. 13 hours from door to door!!! But totally worth saving almost 110euro!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Barcelona/Nice
Sorry its been a few days, always seems the internet cafes are full or I have to many people to email back. My last day in Barcelona was awesome! I went with a few girls from my hostel to Montserrat. Its a mountain about and hour by train outside of Barcelona. We took the aeri (gondola) up in between the mountains where there were children putting on a show in the courtyard. They were singing and dancing and their voices were echoing off all the mountains. It was really cool! After the show we took a funicular up another 750 feet
or so. It is basically a slow moving train that goes straight up the mountain side. Kinda scary but really neat experience. After that we hiked up another 2000 feet to the top. It was so gorgeous! We had a 360 view of all of Barcelona and the surrounding countryside. The next morning I caught a train with the same two gals from my hostel and we headed to Nice, France. I didn't realize how helpful it was knowing the language in Spain until I got here. It is so hard to communicate even the simplest tasks. Nice is definitely easier to navigate then any city in Spain though. The Spanish streets have no real pattern. From what I saw on the 9hr train ride here and of Nice, France is beautiful! The land, buildings, coast everything! There isn't to much to see in the actual city of Nice and because I only had a day and a half really didn't have time to take any trips outside the city. I walked around all day and saw as much as I could then met up with the girls for a late dinner. Found a late night cafe afterwards and probably stayed out later than we should have. This morning definitely feeling the late night and cut it to close getting to the train station. I missed the first train so now will not get into Paris until late tonight...whoops. Because I am 26 I missed the cut off for a youth eurail pass by one year. This made me feel old at the but now I think its awesome! Because of my age and the global pass that I have I get free first class train upgrades. I cannot even tell you how amazing that is. The seats are huge! Plus we have our own power outlets, table and I can basically turn my seat into a bed. On one of the trains I sat in 2nd class with some of the friends I had made, not even close to the same! Finally it pays to be old!
or so. It is basically a slow moving train that goes straight up the mountain side. Kinda scary but really neat experience. After that we hiked up another 2000 feet to the top. It was so gorgeous! We had a 360 view of all of Barcelona and the surrounding countryside. The next morning I caught a train with the same two gals from my hostel and we headed to Nice, France. I didn't realize how helpful it was knowing the language in Spain until I got here. It is so hard to communicate even the simplest tasks. Nice is definitely easier to navigate then any city in Spain though. The Spanish streets have no real pattern. From what I saw on the 9hr train ride here and of Nice, France is beautiful! The land, buildings, coast everything! There isn't to much to see in the actual city of Nice and because I only had a day and a half really didn't have time to take any trips outside the city. I walked around all day and saw as much as I could then met up with the girls for a late dinner. Found a late night cafe afterwards and probably stayed out later than we should have. This morning definitely feeling the late night and cut it to close getting to the train station. I missed the first train so now will not get into Paris until late tonight...whoops. Because I am 26 I missed the cut off for a youth eurail pass by one year. This made me feel old at the but now I think its awesome! Because of my age and the global pass that I have I get free first class train upgrades. I cannot even tell you how amazing that is. The seats are huge! Plus we have our own power outlets, table and I can basically turn my seat into a bed. On one of the trains I sat in 2nd class with some of the friends I had made, not even close to the same! Finally it pays to be old!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Barcelona
Barcelona is nothing what I expected it to be! The only word I can use to describe it is chaos! It is like the whole city is on super charge all of the time. I booked my hostel after a referral from another traveler who had just stayed here. Wrong decision!! I am literally in the ghetto of Barcelona! It is so far outside of the city that it is not even on any of the maps. I guess I will be doing my own research next time. On the bright side, the other people that were booked in my room have yet to show up so I get the whole room and bathroom to myself...yatzee!!!! I slept so well last night!! I went out to dinner, and possibly a few clubs, with a couple of girls and their guy friend from the hostel. We had a great time but while running across the street last night I twisted my ankle pretty bad. when I woke up this morning it was huge and completely black and blue...whoops. Sightseeing must go on though so today we went everywhere and anywhere. Our last stop was Sagrada Familia, which was probably the most amazing things I have ever seen. It is a cathedral that has been under construction for over 100 years and is not expected to be completed until 2030. The entire thing is being hand carved and every single inch of the place has amazing intricate work. I can't wait to post photos so that you guys can see it. It is mind blowing! Things in Europe are crazy expensive so definitely have started to pinch pennies already. Helps that everyone here is in the same boat, if not worse. It has basically become my mission to see how many free tours, free breakfasts and any other kind of discount I can get my hands on. Who knew I could be so thrifty
Friday, June 5, 2009
So a bunch of us show up to go to a flaminco show two nights ago and the guy was running about 30 minutes behind. We asked him if we were going to miss the show and he just laughed and said no that it was basically a ¨homemade¨ show and it wouldn´t start until he got there. We didn´t really know what to think about it but went along anyways. We get to some bar in the middle of know where and they lead us to the back of the bar and down these steep cement steps that were basically crumbling apart and into some downstairs cellar. It was freezing cold and so humid that by the time we left an hour and a half later our clothes were completely soaked through. There were crazy manikin legs poking out of the walls and strange objects hanging from the ceiling...very strange. We were supposed to get a free drink with the show but apparentely the tap broke on the bar keg so they sent someone to get beer from the store. The guy came back with 40ś and started pouring them into glasses for us. So funny! Despite the crazy surroundings the show was amazing!! Basically there was a guy with a guitar and a woman dancing flaminco about 2 inches from me. We were so packed into this room that she actually ran into my knees during her performance. After that we went on a pub crawl...which is more like a discotech crawl because there bars are so loud here and everyone is dancing. We finally left around 4:30am because we were exhausted and actually got teased for leaving early! They live such a different lifestyle here its crazy. The next day I went to the Retiro Sofia(a museum) with someone from my hostel, which was really interesting. They have black and white tvs in all of the rooms with old silent movies and interviews with the artists playing. Really interesting. We went our seperate ways and I headed to the Museo del Prado but was not as impressed by it, although it is huge! After that hit up the Botanical gardens which were probably 10-15 acres and absolutely beautiful. Few hours later went back to my hostel to meet up with some people and we went to a bullfight. It was probably one of the craziest things I have ever seen. I won´t go into to much detail about it because I don´t want to offend anyone but I will say that it was an incredibley intense show. There were probably 30,000 people in the stadium we were in. They are in the middle of their bullfighting festival that lasts for 20 days and they fill the stadium every single day apparentely. Crazy!
Woke up and took the train to Barcelona today. The weather has been about 35 degrees celcius the entire time I have been here but today all of the sudden dropped 12 degrees and is pouring rain...yuck. This hostel is much smaller and only has 4 beds, we have our own bathroom to share, which is so great I can´t even tell you. Off to explore rainy Barcelona!!!
Woke up and took the train to Barcelona today. The weather has been about 35 degrees celcius the entire time I have been here but today all of the sudden dropped 12 degrees and is pouring rain...yuck. This hostel is much smaller and only has 4 beds, we have our own bathroom to share, which is so great I can´t even tell you. Off to explore rainy Barcelona!!!
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