A Beary Scary Adventure

After a few days of the tourist-filled ship and port procedures, I was exhausted and overwhelmed by the droves of people packing the small Alaskan port villages. Irritated with this type of tourism, I decided to go off on my own in Skagway and do my own thing.

This seemed like a great idea and I was relieved the minute I walked into the Nature Conservatory to pick up a map of the near by hiking trails. I spoke with a representative who pointed me in the right direction, and then I was off on my hiking adventure in the mountainous terrain of Alaska.

I was blown away by the beautiful scenery and lush vegetation. The view was spectacular from portions of the hike. I could see the port and the tiny town, which has been practically untouched since the days of the gold rush.

As I made my way up the trail, I noticed that I was the only person on the trail. I found this odd, and continued my journey up the mountain, but with little extra power to my pace. After a bit of this brisk walk, which was now a rough hike upward, I began to feel anxious that I was the only person on the trail. I worried that when I did encounter another living being, it would be a bear. Bears are thick throughout Alaska, and all journey long I had been hearing amazing stories of defeat over bears by the mountain men of Alaska. These defeats, of course, were with very large guns.

So there I am, practically running up the curvy mountain path, scared out of my mind that I was going to have an encounter with a bear that I was unprepared for. I usually carry mase in my purse, but I left it in my backpack which was at my stepsister’s house in Chicago. I tried to think back to when I breezed through the pages of a Worst Case Scenario book years ago, but drew a blank as what to do when encountering a bear. A bus driver the previous day had told us that the rules for what to do when encountering a bear had changed recently, but my mind drew a blank as to what the hell you were supposed to do!

I increased my pace to a brisk jog and continued up the mountain, sweat pouring out of my pores and my fear filling the air around me. I had heard that bears could sense fear, so I tried to be as quite as possible, keeping my breathing to a minimum. Turns out that this is the absolute WRONG thing to do, as bears are likely to attack if they become startled. Making noise in actually encouraged… stupid me.

I become panicked at his point, as I am now very high up into the mountain, and still haven’t seen a glimpse of another human being. I kept telling myself that I had to be close to the trail’s end, which was at a lake, but around every twist and turn there was no sight of a lake, nor a break in the trees where sunlight would shine through.

My anxiety got the best of me and I turned around, proceeding down the mountain as fast as I possibly could without losing my footing and tumbling down. On the way down, my panic increased and I hoped that he bottom would come soon. I have never wanted to be surrounded by tourists that badly before.

On my decent down, I ran into a group of people. One woman, seeing that I am drenched in sweat and alone, asked me “Did the bears get your partner or are you traveling solo?” This mention of a bear sent me back into a fit of panic after I had just been comforted by the sight of people. I passed a couple more groups of people and contemplating turning back and going back up, this time following others in case of a bear-sighting, but decided not to out of embarrassment.

I finally made it to the bottom and slowly walked in to town, trying to cool down before running into anyone I knew. So much for that though. I immediately ran into my stepsister and her husband, who laughed at me and my beary scary adventure.

Moral of this story – don’t hike alone if you’re afraid of bears!

So Luxurious

Ahh, so I am on a cruise ship sailing up the coast of Alaska. This is a much different vacation style from that of my Europe trip. In fact, I don’t really refer to the Eurotrip as vacation, but more as an experience. (My idea of vacationing isn’t carrying around a 40lb backpack with all of you belongings, hopping from place to place, sleeping on disgusting beds and showering with blood-sucking leaches and going through the emotional roller-coaster that comes with all of the above.) However, I still love backpacking and get such a rush thinking about it.

As stated before, I really didn’t think I’d like the cruise-ship type of vaca. I had a lot of trouble adjusting to being told what to do and when to do it. A time schedule and appointments are something I haven’t had to deal with for quite some time. I absolutely do not like it when people tell me what to do and when to do it, so I thought this whole cruise experience would be me trying to figure out a way to screw the system. I figured there will be tour guides carrying the flag at the front of the group, which I WILL NOT EVER participate in. Vom… those tour groups make me want to ralph.

However…

This cruise has been amazing. Imaging tons of food, booze, a huge ship, and beautiful scenery. I am currently sitting on the deck watching the world, or at least Alaska, go by. There are miles and miles of beautiful water surrounded by mountains and glaciers. It’s a bit colder than I would like, I’d prefer this scenery with Caribbean temperatures. But, I guess I can’t have my cake and eat it too (and I’ve been handed the biggest cake possible by this vacation).

So… Other than watching whales and water flow by, I will be going on a dog-sled training camp excursion and a sea-plane and train ride into the glaciers. I must admit, it is nice to do absolutely no planning, and have your pops pick up the bill for all the booze you drink… and for the granddaddy to pay for your ticket to ride! God bless family.

Well, I’d better get going… I have a wine-tasting in a few!

Culture SHOCKED

Culture shock is a funny thing. Although I wasn't too culture shocked at any point during my trip, the culture shock I've witnessed since being back has been frustrating.

My first experience being back in the states (other than the airport) was to a carnival in Crystal Lake, IL. My family and I sat down to eat dinner at one of the many different vendors lined up around the tables for "the taste of Crystal Lake". I watched this girl a couple tables away wolf down a slice of pizza that was bigger than her head and was immediately disgusted. Bigger really isn't better. Other things that I was surprised by/grossed out by: the Carnies, the size of coke bottles, the awful tasting beer, mosquitos (and other various bugs), obese people. I am sure that this list will grow as I continue to re-experience the American way of life.

I remember being a bit culture shocked last year when I came back, but I don't remember being mad and frustrated at the American way of living like I do now. I suppose it'll only be a while before I am too shoving life-sized pizza and 32 oz cokes down my throat. Gross.

I feel the need to cleanse my life and rid myself of all unnecessary material possessions! Ha, this idea might not last, but I did (successfully) live out of a backpack for 5 weeks.

I am headed for Alaska tomorrow. I am not sure how I will take to the cruise because I am used to going and going all day long. Sitting, watching the world pass by will hopefully be nice and relaxing, but hopefully I don't get bored. Either way, it'll be nice to see Alaska and spend some quality time with family.

Don't make me go!!!

I am leaving for London tomorrow where I'll stay with the Vavroch twins for the night before heading off to the U.S. I am not ready to go!

I received the best compliment today. We took a bike tour of Prague and the tour guide said that I was well traveled. This was coming from someone who had to go to the U.S. embassy to get extra pages for his passport.

That's my goal.... I have until 2013 to fill up all of the pages. I still have 41 stamps to go!

The tour guide also gave me some info on teaching English in Europe. I might have to look into that.

Since it's our last night, Megan and I are going out to celebrate our adventure! Ciao!

PRAHA! (but Buda Baths first)

I am currently in Prague, and it is (of course) awesome. We haven't done much as we just arrived today, but let me give you the low-down the the Turkish baths from our last day in Budapest.

First of all, Budapest is way too big and there's too much stuff to do in the short 3 nights we were there. However, per Reka's (a friend from the j-school who's from Hungary) recommendation, we visited Gellert spa, a Turkish bath. It was AMAZING!

We arrived and bought our day passes, and headed to the changing room to put on our bathing suits. The locker attendant lady asked us if we wanted to have massages before going to the baths, so we figured why not and coughed over the 2500 HUF (10 Euro, 12 U.S. dollars) for a 15-min full body massage.

We entered this massage parlor and the masseuse took each of us back to separate rooms. The rooms looked a little like a shabby hospital room with a curtain dividing two beds (both which were occupied). The masseuse then pointed for me to take off my swimsuit top, and then my bottoms. This freaked me out a bit and was incredibly awkward, but I did it anyway because I was in Hungary and well, why not? When Megan and I were reunited after massages, she told me that when she entered the room and saw a naked chick in the next bed she wondered what kind of massage she was getting. Little did she (and we) know that we would soon be in the same position!

I had an incredible massage, and then Megan and I headed up to the sunbathing terrace to try and catch some much needed rays. About 45 min into our pool visit, the pool turned into a massive wave pool with gigantic waves crashing into us, knocking us over. It's more intense than the beaches I've recently visited, and it was definitely the strongest wave pool I've ever been in. We flopped around like fish in the waves and kept talking about how we felt like kids again. It was great.

After peak sun time was over, we went to the Turkish baths. The first was 38 degrees C (106 F) and the second was 36 C. To be honest, they were pretty gross. The water was murky and the entire time I kept thinking about how disgusted I was (thanks mom for making me afraid of hot tubs). I did it anyway because I had to experience it... then I went under the waterfall that was steaming hot water and it felt great. I stopped caring about the dingy water at that point.

After the baths, we checked out the steam room. At first Megan and I thought we found the steam room and were terrified by the intense heat we felt... then someone opened the door to the real steam room and we realized we were only in the corridor! Stupid us. So, we went in for probably 2 minutes before running out gasping for air. It felt like we were breathing fire. We then dove into the chill pool (8 degrees C, 46 F) and it felt amazing. After that we went back into the steam room and sat for quite some time. The steam was so intense that you could not see across the room and had to use your hands to find the exit. After a while, we started to rub our arms, legs and face and the grossness from our pores came spewing out. After about 5 minutes of the intense heat (we're guessing 150 degrees F) we jumped back into the chill pool and it was the most incredible feeling ever.

Since then, my skin has felt amazing and I swear the spas are the best thing ever!!!

We passed out on lawn chairs for a bit after the steam room. It really took it out of us. We we awoke we felt rejuvenated enough to visit statue park, where we saw statues from the communist era. At first, we took lots of pictures, and then we got creative and posed with the statues to liven up the photos. We were a bit bored because the descriptions weren't in English so we really didn't understand what we were seeing. Our knowledge of communist history pretty much sucks, so we had do to something to entertain us. (we only knew Stalin and Lenin.)

Budapest Bums

Budapest has been lovely thus far. Upon arrival, Megan and I took a nap at our really awesome hostel. It's run by a bunch of Hungarian Hippies, and they practice yoga in the Zen room. Unfortunately for the rest of the hostel (a mixed-dorm room of 8), I asked this couple (who weren't sleeping in beds by each other) if they wanted to switch beds so they could sleep by each other and Megan and I could sleep next to each other as well. Well, they took the "room" that has some "privacy", (a big curtain around the beds) and they have not stopped making out since. Oh, did I mention that the guy is probably like 45 and the chick about 30? We are in a YOUTH hostel... It took all I had not to cough under my breath "get a room" to them. But, I am in the hippie hostel where you love all and I'm trying to abide by the 10 Indian Commandments they have posted on the wall for the duration of my stay.

Aside from that, Budapest (and our hostel) have been really nice. Budapest is really cheap, which is nice at the end of the trip. Today I bought "Gucci" perfume for like $15 at the Chinese Market, which a HUGE and really dirty market run by (obviously) Chinese people that sell really really cheap stolen or knock off goods. Megan and I also toured the Ethnography Museum, the Opera House, St. Stephen's Basilica, Parliament, and then took a nighttime boat cruise down the Danube River.

In order to tour Parliament, you have to ask the guard permission to enter to buy your ticket. We were given permission, and entered the grounds where we bought our ticket. The lady at the ticket window gave us no further instructions on where to go or what time the tour started, so we left left the ticket office the same way we came in and proceeded around the courtyard. We were headed toward the main stairway when the guard yelled at us and chased after us. He informed us that the entrance we were attempting to use was only for "Presidents and Royalty like Queens and Kings" and declined our entry up the grand stairway. We laughed at our mistake and he pointed us to the gate where we needed to wait for our turn to enter. I asked him "You don't think we look like royalty?" but I don't think he was amused or he didn't understand me. :) Actually, he was quite nice for a guard, possibly the nicest guard I've ever met (excluding the "dos besos" guard from the Royal Palace in Madrid).

Tomorrow's plans include a visit to the Royal Palace, Buda Castle, the Central Market, City Park and the Statue Park (A park with all of the communist statues). After all of that touring we're going to hit up Gellert Spa for some therapeutic Turkish baths.

Another funny story - we have become immune to almost all languages since being in Europe so far. So as we walk down the street we've started to play a game we made up called "Name that Language". The best part is there's no one there to tell you if we're right or wrong, and since we don't speak the languages, we're always right!

Also, we've been practicing our "mean face" since Slovenia. People in Eastern Europe have scowls on the face almost always. We've been practicing ours to try and fit in with the locals better. However, I'm not very good at it and usually end up laughing instead of frowning with the furrowed brow, which makes me stand out even more. It's not that they people here are mean, they just don't look happy.

Tomorrow's going to be a long day, so I best be going!

Buda or Pest?

Upon arriving in Budapest, I learned that Buda and Pest used to be seperate towns divided by the Danube. I'd rather be the Buda and not the Pest.

We walked along the Danube River last night until we were too tired to keep going. Sleeping on the train did got go well since we had 5 passport checks and 3 ticket checks. I'll update later when I've actually seen the city.

I am homeless

Dober Dan! (That is how you say hello in Slovenia) I am officially homeless until noon tomorrow. Megan and I are killing time at our old hostel in Ljubljana before our 2 a.m. train to Budapest. Let me fill you in on the past couple days...

Piran was okay. It rained or was cloudy most of the time, so we never even got to put on our swimsuits. It seems like it would have been a great place if it was sunny. There really wasnt a beach in Piran, just concrete slabs on the shore. A couple towns over there was a "beach". It was mostly grass, kinda reminded me of Lake Geode, except the sea and not stagnant water.

The first day we were in Piran, we caught up on sleep and did laundry since it was raining so much. We saved a lot of money by eating salami sandwiches from the market near the hostel. I am really sick of salami right now.

The second day in Piran was better than the first. The sky was overcast, but it wasnt raining so we walked along the shore to the next town, Portoroz. We were looking for the beach but never found it. We thought we found it, but it was filled with 60 and older people. We felt a bit out of place. We later figured out that this wasnt the real beach... the real beach was just around the bend. Soon after we had to turn around and go back soon after we got there because it looked like it was going to storm. It never did. Later that night we went back to Portoroz and had dinner. We ate at a Greek restaurant and pretended like we really made it to Greece. After dinner we went dancing at a club nearby. We had an absolute blast dancing and didnt want to leave, but finally we left because we had to get up early to come back to Ljubljana.

When we got back to Ljubljana, we had 20 minutes to catch the next bus to Lake Bled. We locked up our luggage at the station and got on the bus for a beautiful ride through the mountains to the lake. The lake is small, but it is the most beautiful lake I have ever seen. There is a tiny island in the middle of the lake with a church on it. Legend had it that if you ring the bell in the belltower and make a wish, your wish will come true. Hopefully mine will!

We also hiked up to the castle in Bled. This was on top of the bluff looking over the lake, and it was probably the most spectacular view I have ever seen. The water in the lake was so clear that in some parts, you could see the bottom of the lake from the top of the castle.

Right now we are waiting for 2 a.m. to come so we can catch our train to Budapest. I am not looking forward to this 8 hour train ride. I am already tired and really really dirty. I think we will go immediately to the Turkish baths to rejuvinate ourselves for our stay in Budapest.

Ciao.

Still in Slovenia

First of all, I want to thank everyone for the comments. It makes me feel good that people actually read my ramblings. I know most of the time they're not coherent (or is it incoherent? - prime example there) but writing on the fly without proofreading is pretty much all I can accomplish with my short time on the Internet. So trust me when I say I left the Journalism school with better writing skills than what you see here.

Today Megan and I arrived in Piran, Slovenia. It's a little town on the coast and it's quite nice. It beats the tourist-filled beaches of Italy for sure. It began raining as soon as we got here and got off the 3 hour bus ride, so when we arrived at our hostel we took a nap. We woke up to my phone ringing, but I didn't recognize the ring and realize that it was mine until it was too late, so if you're the one who called I apologize for not answering. Try again!

We're going to go to the market now and buy dinner and maybe a bottle of cheap wine and find some friends in the hostel and venture out to the beach.

When I get back to the States, I think I'm going to consider changing the focus of my job hunting. I think I will write a letter to Rick Steves (the guy who publishes the travel books I've been using) and beg him for a job. There's nothing better than getting paid to travel, and I love to write so why not?!

If this doesn't work then I want to let you all know that I am sufficently educated on the methods of getting about in Europe, so if you need a travel guide, you may hire me! Or, just pay for me to tag along and I'll entertain you.

Oh, and I'm also thinking of extending my stopover in Chicago (after returning from Alaska) to include a 4th of July in the Windy City. Hopefully it works out!

Ciao Ciao.

Ljubljana is my favorite!

I am in Ljubljana, Slovenia right now. It is a great town with a picturesque view of the mountains. Overlooking the town is a castle, which Megan and I hiked up to today. The view from the castle watch tower was incredible. We had a 360 degree view of the town and the surrounding mountains.

After making the trek up to the castle, we walked around town. A river flows right through the middle of town, so there are tons of beautiful bridges spanning the river. One really famous bridge is "Three Bridges". There is a traffic bridge, and then two pedestrian bridges that fork out from a town square.

Lined up and down the river are little vendors selling antiques and souviners. Imagine Snake Alley Art Fair, but bigger, and it happens every Sunday. Tomorrow we are planning on going to the fruit, vegetable and flower market. It is closed on Sunday but we walked by the area where it is held and it looks huge.

It just started raining really hard so we came back to our hostel and are planning the next leg of our journey. We are deciding between somewhere in Croatia, or going to the coast of Slovenia. We have heard great things about the Slovenian coast, but I want another country stamped in my passport. If I cant make it to Greece, I want to see the Croatian beaches, but I suppose any beach will do.

Flying by the Seat of my Pants

Greece got scratched. We didnt realize that the ferry was 36 hours and we only had deck seats. Yikes! Greece deserves its own trip anyway.

The most up-to-date itinerary is as follows:

Ljubljana, Slovenia the 9th and 10th
Maybe Croatia after this
Budapest and Prague are in here too
oh, and maybe Vienna too.

I know the details are really specific. We really have done a great job planning. (Val I miss your type A personality and slight OCD tendencies).

Today we enjoyed a long day that included the worst car ride ever between Innsbruck and Venice. Michael drives like a maniac and his girlfriend (who weighs probably 100 pounds) got to sit in the front the entire time because she gets car sick. Meanwhile Megan, Kayla and I were packed into the backseat of the Ford Focus. We joked as we crossed the Austria-Italy border that we felt like Mexicans in a truck trying to cross the U.S. border. I got car sick for the first time ever and spent the beautiful drive trying to contain my nauseus stomach.

Venice was nice. We walked around, rode some boats, ate some food, played with pigeons and thats about it. It was great to see Michael and meet his girlfriend and Kayla, another B'town native.

Ciao Ciao.

Innsbruck, again!

Slight change in plans...

Megan and I are in Innsbruck staying with Michael Gundrum, who Meg and I stayed with last year. We are visiting for the night before we go to Venice for the day and then we board a ferry to Greece!

We are very excited to be in Innsbruck. Its a beautiful little town nestled in the Alps and Mike is a great host and we always have a blast with him.

Today on the train Megan and I bought a reservation for seats instead of tickets. We wondered if we did something wrong because it only cost 7 euro, but went on the train anyway. When the conductor came around to check tickets he was like this is only a reservation, not a ticket. So... we somehow talked our way out of paying for 2 tickets and the conductor cut us a deal. If we send him a postcard from Kansas he would only make us pay for 1 ticket for two people. It was a good thing he loves the US because if he didnt, we wouldnt have gotten such a deal!!!

Munich mishaps

Oh, Munich. My stint here has been very interesting and fun. This will be a long post, but read on, I'll try to make it entertaining but I am really tired and am lacking humor at the moment. Let's start from the beginning.

Val and I arrived here a day later than we planned because we included Cinque Terre and Madrid in our trip. When we arrived here Tuesday evening, Benjamin (our host) and his friend picked us up at the train station. Val and I know Benjamin through Val's old roommate. We met him when he was in Kansas a couple months ago and we made plans to visit him in Munich then.

A little background on Benjamin -
1) he looks like Justin Timberlake and is incredibly gorgeous
2) He is a model and has done some print work, which we saw
3) His ex-girlfriend is a Playboy model and now lives with Hugh Hefner in the Playboy Mansion in Hollywood
4) He lived in NYC for 3 months last year and is planning on moving there permanently and becoming a U.S. citizen
5) Until he gets his paper work cleared, he is living in Munich and will be attending acting school later in the year

Back to the story. Val and I were both under the assumption that we would be staying at Benjamin's apartment. Turns out, he has no apartment because he lives with his mom. So we were going to stay at her house, but Benjamin doesn't get along with his stepdad and there wasn't a lot of room. Instead, we stayed at his 74-year-old dad's apartment, while he stayed at his "girlfriend" Edith's. Apparently, Ben's dad never got divorced from his first wife, which he hasn't been with in a very long time. So basically, we kicked his dad out of his house, but he was really sweet and hospitable. If we would've known all this would happen we could've stayed at a hostel.

The first night we hung out with Edith and Hans (girlfriend and dad) and Ben. Edith made us pretzels and we looked through family photos and watched a video of a tv show Benjamin was on when he was younger. We finally escaped the time warp and headed out to the streets of Munich to eat traditional Bavarian food. I'm not sure what I had, but it was good. We also hit up the Hofbrau Haus, the oldest beer hall in Germany. It was packed with tourists, and the two locals we were with had never even been there.

After this, Benjamin and his friend took us to this great club called 8 Seasons with amazing music and paid for everything. We were dressed in very casual clothes, and this was not a very casual place. Benjamin pointed out the "who's who" of Munich to us. One of the bartenders was an up-and-coming singer, some other people we met owned some of the nicest houses and ran important businesses in Munich.

Being as I was underdressed and wearing sandals, I cut my foot on a piece of glass while at the club and didn't realize it until we were at the subway station where Val dared me to run up the escalator the wrong way, so I did, and I tripped and also busted my knee. Both are doing okay now and the entire situation was hilarious.

The next day Val and I got to meet Benjamin's mom, who took us to a beautiful beer garden for lunch. I had schnitzel and I chipped my front tooth trying the spare ribs during this meal. It looks lovely, let me tell you - very Lloyd Christmas from the movie Dumb and Dumber. His mom was incredibly nice and we made plans to meet her at the bar Benjamin was working at later in the evening.

I finally met up with Megan after lunch, which was incredibly difficult. I began to worry when I hadn't heard from her, especailly because I knew my cell phone was about out of minutes. However, it is in Italian and I cannot decipher what exactly it means. Her tour group was in Munich yesterday morning, and they left her in the care of the tour director's friend, Chris, because she was unable to get ahold of me. Megan went to high school with Chris, who graduated from KU and it turns out we have a couple friends in common.

The three of us, Val, Megan and I walked around Munich all day waiting for 8:00 to come so we could go to Benjamin's bar and meet up with his mom. He made us reservations, which is the only way you can get in. At about 7:15 we sat down in front of the parliament building where the bar is and relaxed until it was time to go in. We questioned if this was the right place or not, and decided we would go ask at 7:50. Turns out we were at the Opera House, not Parliment. Oops. So.......

We spent the next 2 hours looking for this bar Benjamin works at called Nektar. www.nektar.de We asked locals, taxi drivers, more locals, more taxi drivers, and then finally called Megan's friend Chris to get directions. We then found a taxi who knew where we were going and he dropped us off, but at the wrong place. It was the winter location for the club, and they move to the parliament building during the summer. So, we took another cab to the address that was on the door and he dropped us off in the "vicinity". We had no idea where we were, but turns out we were just on the back side of the huge monstrousity of the building. We saw the red lights coming from the balcony, which Benjamin told us to look for, and we rejoiced jumping up and down in the street, even though we were two hours late for our reservation.

By this time we were so incredibly dirty, it was disgusting. Val and I contemplated showering that morning, but she decided we shouldn't b/c we'd have time later...and we didn't. Not only was I dirty, but I was wearing cargo pants, a tank top and flip flops. We were the most under-dressed people there. Everyone who was there was beautiful and dressed to the nines. Meanwhile, Meg, Val and I are obviously standing out as we were getting stares from people.

On the way in, we ran into Ben's mom who was waiting for us. We felt so bad that we got lost and missed seeing her. She checked us into the club, and they were expecting us. The hostess turns to val and says "Oh, are you Valerie?" in a very, "we've been expecting you and you must be important" manner.

Benjamin took good care of us once we got inside. He supplied us with free drinks, each that cost at least 10 euro each (12 U.S. dollars). A while later he brought us some food, which had to cost at least 120 euro. (side note- when we were asking locals where Nektar was, they looked at us like we were crazy and warned us of the really expensive prices).

There was a "show" at Nektar also. It was kind of opera/drag/Madonna "Vogue". A man came out singing dressed like he had just been plucked from European Royalty in the 1500s. He had on the long socks, puffy pants, an embroidered jacket, the white wig, and so much makeup that it was hard to tell if he was really a man or woman. It was a really interesting show. He started off singing in opera style, then transformed into 1980s Madonna. I enjoyed it.

There were no bar stools or tables at this club, it was all beds on the balcony of the parliament building. They had a few nice bean bag chairs, but for the most part you make your reservations and you lay on really nice white beds. They also gave you blankets and pillows. On the inside there was a woman giving massages and more white beds. This was the swankiest place I have EVER been to, and I was dressed like a slob. Oh well, I'll probably never see those people again. Benjamin introduced us to his friends, co-workers and the owner. Apparently they had already heard a lot about us, especially Val It was a really great night and next time I hope I'll be wearing more appropriate attire.

Val left this morning for Paris, then she flys home from London. I miss her already. After spending almost 3 weeks with her 24/7, we still didn't fight or get too sick of each other... travelling is the true test of friendship and we survived!

Megan and I are at Chris' apartment right now trying to plan out the next part of our journey. We're thinking Prague next.... I'll keep you informed.

ciao ciao.

La Dolce Vida

Cinque Terre was beautiful. It is five little villages along the coast in northern Italy. Each village is connected by a footpath and you can hike between them. Val and I took a hike and it was exhausting. It was straight up and then straight down, both were difficult. The views from the hike were worth it though. The sea was a beautiful crystal blue. It rivals Sorrento, Italy in southern Italy, but southern Italy was nicer in my opinion. Italy is still my favorite country.

I only have a few minutes, but I'll update you on my Munich adventures later.

p.s. Mom- Megan and I met up. It was a bit difficult, but it worked out.

When in Rome...

DO AS THE ROMANS DO!

Rome is such a great city. It is an interesting combination of old and new. Val and I spent two days here (the second of which has been raining) and we've decided to head to Cinque Terra for tonight then Venice for the following day. After Venice we're going to Munich to meet up with Megan and we'll be staying with Benjamin. He is Val's old roommate's cousin who we met a few months ago when he was in the States. He will show us a good time. It's always nice to have a local around to show you the ins and outs of the city.

Back to Rome:
We got here Friday night after a long day of traveling. Our flight was delayed in Madrid, and then it took us about 45 minutes to get our luggage once we got to the airport. Ironically, we were one of two flights at the airport and it still took forever to get our bags.

A shuttle from our hostel/campsite picked us up at the airport. The driver didn't speak English so we had no idea that we would be crossing town to the DaVinci airport to pick up more people before heading "home". The entire travel process took about 8 hours, which is much too long by my standards.

When we arrived at the hostel we were really upset. The campsite was sooooo far out of the City. Or at least it seemed that way because it took us about 3 hours to get there! Plus, we hadn't so much as eaten a meal the entire day... just snacks.

The next morning Val got up early and went to the Vatican. I slept in and did our laundry and caught a later train into Rome. I walked around by myself, and was pleasantly impressed by my navigation skills. Val's usually the keeper of the map, and I am the tour guide. It was nice to know I could do double duty if needed. I threw a coin into the Trevi Fountain, ensuring a future trip to Rome, sat on the Spanish steps watching all of the tourists, and then hopped on the metro and took it to Termini, the central station, where Val and I met up and did some more site seeing.

We visited the Pantheon and ate a fabulous dinner at a cafe near there. Then we had some amazing gelato (my second for the day) which wasa scoop of banana split and a scoop of coconut. We walked around some more and then headed back to the train station, which was closed, and then had to find our way back to the other train station that we needed. That was annoying but we made it back in time to catch the last train to the hostel.

Yesterday we bought tickets to go to Venice, but over dinner we decided we wanted to go to Cinque Terra instead. So, we changed the tickets today and booked a hostel and decided Venice can wait, it won't sink overnight.

I think our last stop in Rome will be to the Missoni store. I really really really want a Missoni shirt (sport line not the really high end line). They're so pretty. However, I have yet to look at a price tag, so I might just go to the store to browse.

Ciao Bellas!

Hola de Madrid

We arrived in Madrid on Wednesday and it has been interesting. Our hostel is pretty shabby, and the walls are covered in grafitti-esque artwork. The place is rowdy enough that I cannot sleep at night, but dull enough that we haven´t met anyone who speaks English and wanted to hang out with us. We´re both ready to move onto the next place (Rome). The halls leading up to the hostel smell like dead fish, and I have yet to figure out why or where the rancid smell is coming from.

Other than that, Madrid has been a bit of a let down. We wanted to see a bull fight, but there wasn't one while we were here. Then we wanted to see the Spanish Opera but it was dark the night we tried. We then tried to go to a movie, but they had all started by the time we got to the theater.

However, Madrid wasn't all that bad. We saw the Royal Palace, which rivals Versailles (according to our travel guide: Rick Steves). The intricate decor and extravagant furniture made me feel like I was royalty just standing there.

We encountered an interesting situation while touring the palace also. A young security guard who was on duty stopped us to ask us something. He started to ask us how our tour was going and if we were understanding what we saw. We said yes and he asked us (in very broken english/spanish) if we wanted him to show us some palace artifacts. (side note: At this point we didn't know that's what he was asking us, he just motioned for us to follow so we did). He took us through a couple rooms and tried to describe what some of the artifacts were used for. We pretty much just smiled and nodded. I understood about 60 percent of what he was saying and would translate for Val, but other than that we were clueless.

Pretty soon, (oh, did I mention that he's only about 5'0 and has a curly spanish mullet?) he tried to tell us that he was getting lost in our eyes and blond hair because he never sees girls like us. This phrase was obviously lost in translation.

A few minutes later he asks our names and for "dos besos" (2 kisses). As the Spanish tradition is two friendly kisses on the cheek, I complied. Then Val did too. At this point we were thinking "oh crap, what have we gotten ourselves into?" He then proceeded to invite us out to dinner and dancing (all of this is happening in Spanish so I'm only understanding bits and pieces). I quickly responded with a lie: Vamos a Rome en cuatro horas. (We're going to Rome in four hours). He still didn't take the hint and tried a little harder, but Val and I scurried out of the Palace at that point, looking back to make sure he wasn't following us. It was all in good fun, but it's amazing what you can get yourself into when you don't really understand the language.

The walk back to our hostel from the palace included a side trip to a monastery where we bought "dulces" (cookies) from some nuns. We buzzed the nuns who let us in to the convent. We then followed the signs to a lazy susan where we told her what we wanted and she wheeled the box of cookies around the lazy susan and then we wheeled over our 7 euro. That was really interesting, and the dulces were DELICIOUS!

Later that night I turned around on the street to someone saying "what's up guys?" It was Branden, a kid we met at our Barcelona hostel that we went to see the magic fountains with one night. I love that small world feeling. It was great to see a familiar face in Madrid. That's all for now loves!

p.s. I started this post when I was in Madrid but got kicked off the internet at the cafe so I am finishing it in Rome. Rome updates to come later.

p.p.s. We leave tomorrow (Sunday) but we haven't decided if we're going to Venice or Cinque Terra. I'll let ya know when I find out!

Ibiza!!

I am in Ibiza right now and it is beautiful. Everything is cheap, we have our own hotel room, everyone speaks english and they love tourists!

I think I might want to move here. I was talking to some people from the UK and they said it´s really easy to find work and it´s cheap living.

Tomorrow we leave for Madrid. We had a change in travel plans. We´ll be in Madrid for 2 nights then off to Rome. I am running out of minutes of internet time but I´ll update more later!

Greetings from Barcelona!

Quick update

I am in Barcelona right now. The rest of Amsterdam was great, except for when I realized that there were leaches in the shower. That was really really gross, needless to say I took a quick shower! We went to the Van Gogh museum and did the ¨Heineken Experience¨brewery tour. Heineken tastes better here than in the states. Oh, random. We ran into Colie from the Real World Denver at the McDonalds in Amsterdam. We were hungry and it was the only thing open. I didn´t realize it was her until she told us she was on the show. I just started chatting with her then she told us some of her castmates and her were in town.

We´re staying in a hostel located in la plaza royal in Barcelona. It´s a happenin square with lots to do. We are staying in a room with 20 other people. It´s not as bad as it sounds though. Yesterday we went to the Picasso Museum and today we layed on the beach like bums. Tomorrow will be busy and I can´t wait to see all of Gaudi´s architecture again.

Last night we met the first nice girls we´ve encountered since we came here. They were from New Mexico and one was living in Granada, Spain. We went out with them for a while.

It´s dinner time here! We´re going to get tapas somewhere. Yum.

Ciao!

Cheers Mates!

I have made my journey across the pond. Here are a few quick updates:

Val and I realized when we got to Chicago that we were on seperate flights. Long story short, I got on her flight and was bumped up to business class so I could sit next to her. The American Airlines lady was really nice and had to pull some strings to get me on the flight, then bumped up me. We had all the champagne and wine we wanted, along with our 4 course dinner. I sat next to an interesting fellow. He was grilling me about college b/c his daughter is a year younger than me. He worked for DeBeers diamonds and lives in Chile, but travels everywhere around the world.

We got to London and met up with Val's friend Evan. He dropped us off at his (extremely nice) flat and went to work, and then we rode the double-decker bus around London. We saw a lot in a really short time. After work, Evan and his friend took us to this pub for dinner. I was sad because they didn't have fish and chips, and that's what I wanted for dinner. Evan was a really great host and I hope that was the first of many new friends I will make on this trip!

Now I am Amsterdam, and we walked around for a long time all day. We visited the Anne Frank museum, which was great. We had Dutch pancakes for dinner. They were kind of like a combination between crepes and pancakes. I had tomatos, spinach and goat cheese in mine. Delicious! Amsterdam is really beautiful. The streets are lined with canals and everyone rides bikes.

That's all for now!

New Travel Blog

Hi all,

I created a new blog to track the tales of my travels. On May 21, I leave for a five week European trip, and after that I will in Alaska until the beginning of July. Instead of sending out e-mail updates, I wanted to create a blog that you can visit whenever you feel the need to know what I've been up to. I will upload photos and write about my travels regularly, so bookmark this page (www.TalesOfMiasTravels.blogspot.com) and visit it as often as you please!

If you want to post comments, you have to make a blogger account. It is free to sign up for, and you have to enter an e-mail, user name, and password.

So, here's my (tentative) itinerary:
We fly out May 21, and arrive in London at 7a.m. May 22.
May 22-25 Amsterdam, Netherlands
May 25-28 Barcelona, Spain
May 28-30 Ibiza, Spain
May 30- June 1 Rome, Italy
June 1-3 Milan, Italy
June 3-4 Zurich or Liechtenstein
June 4-7 Munich, Germany
June 7-10 Prague, Czech Republic
June 10-22 TBD

See you when I get back!