Where has the time gone??

Well, I can't believe I have only 10 days left of this adventure!! It has gone by so fast but at the same time, I feel like the beginning was about a year ago, hehe. I am utterly exhausted but am trying really hard to push through and make the most of these last few days! It has been an unbelievable time :)

Plans changed a bit after the last time I blogged...I ended up staying in Florence for another night. I really wanted to squeeze in Cinque Terre before I headed to Perugia but it just wasn't happening. I had already mentioned to Craig that I was going to be there for the weekend so I didn't want to keep changing plans on him. Soooo, on Friday I did a bit of Florence in the morning...saw a few more sights and of course went back to my favorite gelato place...then went to Pisa for the afternoon. It was only an hour by train and being a smaller city, very easy to see in a couple hours. Took a picture with the leaning tower...but I didn't succomb to the tourist trap and pretend I was holding up the tower! :) I saw plenty of people doing that though....hehe. Came back to the campsite later that night and just read and hungout for awhile. I have read SO many books on this trip, it's great. At a couple of the hostels, people have traded books with me so it's nice to not have to buy new ones....just swap here and there :) Got some pizza and wine with the girls at the hostel, not much more to do on a rainy night.

The next day I headed out early to catch a train to Perugia. I met Craig and his friend Greg at the metro station there and they showed me back to their apartment. Perugia is this quaint little city that is built on a steep hill...definitely worked the legs all weekend long! It has 2 universities within the city limits though, one which is a foreigners "uni". So Craig and his friends, all from England, are doing a Rasmus program there, studying Italian. They live in this really cute apartment right near the city center....the whole place feels like a medeival city. We hung out for the afternoon, caught up and I met his other roomies. Went out for Chinese food that night....haha I know what you're thinking, Chinese food in Italy!? But at that point, his roommates were so sick of pasta or pizza (and I didn't mind a break from it either) so even though the food wasn't great, it was a nice change of pace, haha. Went out to this AWESOME bar afterwards....tables close to the floor and pillows for seats spread all around the place. Fireplaces and everything :) It was very posh and also a microbrewery so we tried some of their local beer. We all had a lot of laughs and it was a great night. Craig admitted that since he's been in Perugia, he really hadn't seen much of the city. He just went where he needed to go and never gave much thought to sightseeing. So the next day we got up early and both enjoyed walking around Perugia...seeing what it had to offer (which really wasn't THAT much!) and taking pictures of the fantastic views of the countryside. There are plenty of great picture spots because like I said earlier, Perugia is on this immense hill....even a cloudy sky didn't ruin the view! We had terrible pizza for lunch...there IS such a thing here...and met up with his friends to go to a football match. It was SO much fun!!! I had never been to a professional match before and it was hilarious...the Perugians are VERY much into their Division 3 team and were rowdy, drunk, loud....just Italian I guess :) The game itself was entertaining, let alone the fans....the players could not stay on their feet and I counted 17 falls/injuries/times the little cart came out on the field! Craig's roommate Charly and I were in tears from laughing so hard at these grown men acting like women....so hilarious. Anyways we ended up going to a bar afterwards to watch the IMPORTANT football match...Arsenal vs. Manchester United. And of course, them all being from England, it was quite an interesting experience :) Relaxed a bit after that...it had been a long day already...before going out for what was known as the best pizza in Perugia. And it was!!! Oh I could have eaten 2 whole pizzas, it was unbelivable. Pizza Caprese...all fresh mozzerella, tomatoes, and basil. Pure bliss :) We met up with a couple of their friends after and barhopped a bit. Ended up at this place called Rock Castle where the bartenders hooked us up with all these free drinks...they were friends of Craig. Soo it was a fun night. Monday brought around a bit of sun for Perugia, and since this is a rare occasion, everyone soaks up the sun while sitting on the main steps in the square. So that's where we spent the afternoon before catching my train to Rome around 3 o'clock. It was a great weekend and I was glad I made it to Perugia...off the beaten track a bit and it was nice to see Craig again.

Rome was extremely intimidating at first but at the same time, approachable :) I got in during the early evening and found my way to Rome City Hostel (BEST one, it was fabulous!!) and got situated. Patrick, Kimberly, and Emon run the place and make you feel right at home....it was the smallest hostel I've stayed in, only 5 rooms, so everyone hung out and got to know one another. I wasn't ready to tackle Rome at night so we all made it a movie night....something I haven't done in 2 months, haha!! Left more energy for the next day :)

Made it to Vatican City the next morning...that area of Rome can take up a big chunk of the day so I wanted to get it done early. Went into St. Peter's which blew my mind....nothing like saving the best church for the end of the trip :) The lines weren't that long and even though it rained a bit, the Vatican still looked lovelier than ever. Wandered around there for a bit before heading into the Vatican Museums to see the Sistine Chapel. Completely got caught taking pictures in the chapel too....I wasn't using my flash or anything and tried to hide in the crowd so the guys wouldn't see me...but one of them came up from behind me, clapped in my ears and said "NO PICTURES!!!". Hahaha scared the crap out of me but I had already taken about a dozen pictures....ha ha, nice try Chapel guards. ;) The Sistine Chapel is breathtaking....can't imagine laying on my back and painting that whole thing....amazing. Wandered around the rest of the museum after that....tired easily of course since I barely knew what I was looking at, haha. I decided to get back out into Rome and crossed over the river to more sights. The Pantheon, Piazza Navaro, and ended with the Trevi Fountain. By far the coolest looking fountain I've ever seen...the myth is if you throw in 1 coin, you'll ensure a return trip to Rome but if you throw in 2, you'll fall in love in Rome. I threw in 4. What did that get me? The skies opened up and it POURED on me!!! Next time, I'll just follow the rules.....

Got back to the hostel around 6 because it was free pasta and vino night! Kimberly and Patrick cooked us this AMAZING pasta and my glass of wine was never empty. Met a bunch of people from the U.S. and Australia so we all hung out that night, went out for a bit, then came back with gelato of course :) It felt like I was at home there...they spoiled us rotten with good food and wine. It was one of the best nights in Italy.

I tackled the rest of Rome the next day....the Roman Forum, Paletine Hill, and the Colosseum...along with the Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popio, and others. It was the longest and most tiring day ever but SO beautiful! Rome is intense....if you stop to think how old it is and how much history seeps from every crack, it's mindboggling. The Colloseum was great (had the Gladiator theme playing on my Ipod, hehe) and I believe I took like 20 pictures of just its exterior. I tried an audioguide in the Roman Forum but that turned out to be a waste of money....I wasn't exactly "up" on my knowledge of Rome and the audioguide spoke to me like I knew every person and moment in history he was talking about. Oh well, it was worth a try. Wandered the rest of the city (well, as much as you CAN wander in a few hours) before heading back to the hostel....thoroughly pooped....by early evening. Patrick was there and cooked pasta for me, haha. See how amazing this place is?? I didn't want to leave the next day but knew I had to head on to other things. I booked a night train to Vienna so got to spend the day relaxing around Rome. Did laundry, watched Juno with Kimberly at the hostel, and just got mentally prepared for another city, haha. The weather was awful so I didn't feel bad making it a lazy day.

Caught my night train and it plopped me in Vienna, Austria at about 9 am. I decided to try couchsurfing again in Vienna because all the hostels were either booked or really expensive. I completely lucked out because Julia had just joined the couchsurfing organization like 5 days before I contacted her. I didn't meet her until 6 o'clock though so I stored my stuff at the train station...OH and took a shower there!! Hahaha you can pay to shower at the train station! I HAD to after my night train so it refreshed me for my day in Vienna...I know it seems weird but it was surprisingly clean and had hot water...what more could I ask for right? So I wandered around Vienna all day...humming Sound of Music songs of course....and found out it is such a beautiful city. Very prestigious and interesting with all the composers and musicians that lived here over the years. The day flew by and before I knew it, I had to meet Julia at the train station. I was so lucky with this couchsurfing experience (haha nothing like Scotland!) because Julia is such a nice girl and is completely fluent in English. She au paired/studied in New Jersey for a year so she knew a lot about the States and had travelled a bit...we had loads to talk about and got along so well! Met up with a couple of her friends for drinks and then a battle of the bands type contest in Vienna. It was a really fun night and half way through it, Julia and I made the decision to go to Budapest the next morning, haha! We were just like "hmmm why not?". So we crashed at like 2 a.m. and got up at 6:45 to catch a train to Hungary. It was only 3 hours away from Vienna so we fit in a couple more hours of sleep on the train and we ready to take on Budapest. We got a map at the tourist office at the train station and made a plan for the day over some breakfast. We ended up walking EVERYWHERE and it was awesome! Hungary is definitely bordering on the Eastern European countries and you can tell...it's a bit darker and poorer than the other cities I've visited so far but had so much character. We wandered down to the Danube River and checked out the bridges and castle that Budapest is known for. The weather was absolutely beautiful so we lucked out in that area! Saw everything we had set out to see...ended with this awesome castle in the middle of the city...including a moat and drawbridge! Pretty intense and gorgeous as well. Of course dark rain clouds rolled in right as we were heading back to the train station....oh and we completely snuck on every type of transportation that Budapest had to offer, haha. Our excuse would have been "where do you buy the tickets??? " hehe because we couldn't find them. But we headed back to Vienna that night and crashed after the long day. We both attempted to watch a movie but passed out almost immediately. I was so happy with my couchsurfing experience though! Julia comes to the States often so I told her if she chose to visit Charlotte, she'd be more than welcome at our house...Katie and Melanie, you'd like her too! :)

Well I'm about to catch a night train but I'm not exactly sure where to! I have a few ideas in mind but above all, I just need a couple of relaxing days before Germany on Wednesday. My left foot is swollen to twice its size....did I mention that already?? I can't figure out if I got bitten by something or it's just from walking everywhere because it's only my left foot. Strange, but it hurts so I need some R&R for a couple days. Soooo...I'll leave you in suspense and let you know where I am the next time I write......:)

Caio bella...it's been awhile!

Welllll I have slacked a bit on the blog but now I am back and have some time for the internet :) The last time I wrote I was in Sevilla, Spain enjoying the warm weather and about to take a siesta....haha. Anyways, my time in Sevilla was GREAT!! That night, after the last time I blogged, I went out for paella with Fiona who was staying in the hostel as well. We had a great time, even though she couldn't enjoy the delicious Spanish dish because she's pregnant (found out half way through her trip...how nerve racking!). Anyways, we met up with Johnny, Bobby, and John after dinner (all from Boston College studying abroad in Madrid). Turns out Johnny and Bobby, who are identical twins, are from Rockville Center, Long Island! Haha such a small world because they were born in the same hospital as my dad. John was from Connecticut too so of course not too far away :) They were SUCH great company, I had the greatest time hanging out with them. We went to see Flamenco dancing that night at a local bar across the river. It was definitely full of locals and we must have been the only tourists there, but that was the greatest part of it. No one spoke English and we were emersed in the Spanish culture....:) Flamenco dancing is incredible and the bar owner also sang a bit which was unbelievable. We had a great time just watching from the way back, standing on empty kegs. We all wanted to continue the night so we walked around Sevilla, thinking about another bar or club, but ended up just walking the empty streets instead. The other side of the river was an absolute ghost town!! We seriously did not see a soul the entire time, besides the street cleaners. Haha, we tried to find a way into the Alcazar....trying all these doors and attempted to squeeze through the gate (oh and contemplated climbing the 20 ft. wall, haha)....but had no luck. Eventually, by 3 am we made it back to the hostel, defeated :) My last day in Sevilla consisted of figuring out where I wanted to go next, meeting the boys for a donar kabob lunch in the gardens, and finally booking a night train to Barcelona! I had wanted to go to Granada to see the Alhambra but tickets were needed in advance and the hostels were booked solid. Soooo Barcelona it was :) The night train got me in around 10 am and I found my hostel in the outskirts of Barcelona. It was in a quiet neighborhood and SUCH a nice hostel! After a much needed shower, I headed into the city center and wandered down Las Ramblas for the afternoon. It is full of street performers and who knows what else, but it was a nice afternoon for the walk. It leads down to the port and beach but it was a little too chilly for that :) Walked around until late afternoon and headed back to the hostel to cook dinner and relax. I'm starting to get tired easily now....I feel like I'm starting to get to that exhausted stage of my trip! I knew it would happen eventually and I'm surprised I've held out this long. There's only so much you can see day after day before it wears on you ya know? But I still try to squeeze as much in a day as I can...knowing the days are limited. So anyways, the next day I allowed myself to sleep in a bit before I hit up Barcelona again. I made Sunday a Gaudi day. Barcelona is CRAWLING with Gaudi designs....buildings, parks, lamp posts, etc....he is such a fabulous architect. I thoroughly enjoyed Park Guell which felt like Disney World...on crack. I'll have to put up the pictures eventually for you to see what I mean! He designed a couple of other buildings throughout the city as well as La Strada Familia which was his masterpiece...even though he died before it was finished. It STILL isn't finished actually, and it's been 150 years. They're shooting at 2026 for the completion but who knows....it is still unbelievably interesting and so unlike any church I've ever seen. So after my Gaudi day, I had dinner and enjoyed the beautiful weather in a garden near my hostel. I had booked an early train to Switzerland the next day so I packed up and went to bed early. After a long day of traveling the next day, I arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland. BACK into the winter coat!! Haha I didn't mind though because Switzerland is BEAUTIFUL!! I mean, I was looking out my hostel bedroom window at the Swiss Alps....can you beat that?? Everywhere you go in Interlaken, you are sandwiched by the Alps, so there is no such thing as a bad view. The town was definitely in its "off season" but I didn't mind. I got in late that night but the next day I hiked a lot to different view points around Interlaken. The cold air felt nice, believe it or not, and the pictures were spectacular. The town itself is very small and you could walk from one end to the other in about 20 minutes. I wandered around all day, going in and out of shops, browsing for a cheap Swiss Army knife (HA...no such thing) and of course, tried some Swiss chocolate :) I was thinking about bungy jumping....was in the shop planning it and everything....then something got the best of me and I thought, well maybe I can spend my money elsewhere. It took a lot to walk out of there but I knew I would be thankful either coming home with that 180 bucks or spending it elsewhere. SO I made Stephanie promise me she'd bungy jump with me over the summer, somewhere in NC! Done deal :)

The hostel I was staying in was also a hotel with it's own great restaurant. I had a GREAT dinner there that night....soup, salad, and a special veal dish....and met Nigelle from Ireland who was staying in my room. We met up with some other Americans and watched the football match on the big screen there. It made me wish soccer was that big in the states...but here's to only wishing :) We watched the game along with the hotels mascot....a HUGE St. Bernard!! Biggest dog I've ever seen...his head was 3 times the size of Lily's! I got the biggest kick out of him and I'm sure gave him more hugs than he was used to. What a perfect dog in the Swiss Alps.....

My stay was short in Interlaken (Switzerland is tressssss expensive) and I left for Florence the next day. That's where I am today :) FINALLY in Italy!! I'm staying about 50 minutes outside of Florence...in the rolling hills, with the vineyards all around. I took a chance and booked this campsite which has dorms as well...even though I was really nervous about it. Turned out to be GREAT and such a nice experience being out in the Tuscany region. They have a great restaurant where I had my first Italian experience with tortellini and proschutto......amazing :) Headed into Florence today...the bus stops right in front of the campsite....and walked around all day. Saw the major highlights including the real David! Paid 6.50 euros to see a naked man....interesting. Haha. Anyways, Florence is incredible....a smaller city than I expected but so much to see! The weather was iffy...rainy at times, but nothing to stop anyone from enjoying the sights. Tried some yummy gelato....twice. Hehe. Picked up some wine before heading back out to the campsite and enjoyed an Italian pizza along with a good red wine....perfect :) I'm definitely enjoying Italy so far.....well, eating my way through it!

I'm heading to Pisa tomorrow to see the Leaning Tower then to Cinque Terre for the night and Saturday day. I hope to horseback ride through there....that is the plan :) I would have done it here in Florence but they only offer it on the weekends at this time of year. On Sunday, I'm off to Perugia to stay with Craig, whom I met in Bruges. He's from England and is studying abroad there. He recommended Perugia and offered me a place to stay if I was able to make it through there....they're known for their chocolate so of COURSE I'll make it through there! :) Can't believe I have less than 3 weeks left.....where did the time go??

Hola :)

Well I finally left Nice behind to moooove right along but the second I got into Spain, I wondered why I did such a thing! It's all good now but definitely threw me for a loop....

Tennille, my roomie in Nice, and I both booked our trains after the most relaxing day on the beach in Nice and it turned out we would be on the same train to Marseille the next morning. She was going onto Italy while I was going to connect twice to eventually get to Barcelona. I also booked a night train to move onto Seville that night so it was a long day/night of travel...I guess too long for my own good. The train from Montepelier (my other connection) to Barcelona was delayed a bit so I missed my night train by ONE minute...actually saw it pulling away. I didn't know what to do at this point because I had not read up on Barcelona yet...had no idea where to stay...no idea where I was really. I tried to talk to the ticket agents but they just kept saying "come back tomorrow, there are no more trains tonight". The guy saw me getting upset because the language barrier was a problem and I was trying my best to tell him I was without a place to sleep that night. Even though I didn't mean to, of course I started crying because I was frustrated, tired, hungry, and pissed at the train systems in Spain! So on top of it, now I couldn't get my words out. But eventually he pointed me around the station, mentioning there were hotels right outside the station. Yeah....80 euros a night, most of them! SO I came back to the station (now midnight) and was about to resort to sleeping on a bench when this Finnish guy came up to me and was like "Are you lost because you've been looking at that map for way too long!"....haha it was hilarious. Simon was so nice though and offered to show me the way to his hostel to see if they had any open rooms there. They did, it all worked out fine and I caught the train to Seville the next morning....I had a bad first impression of Spain but couldn't blame the whole country for a train delay :) Yet I could complain a bit that I had to fork over 40 extra euros because of the mess.

Anyways I got into Seville in the afternoon and made it to my hostel. I definitely get a different "feel" from this country...for the first time I feel like I'm in a foreign place. It could be because I cannot remember ANY of the Spanish I learned (except the bad words that Ciro taught me at work) or that their culture is just very different. It's so amazing here though...everyone is out and about all day long...they are not workaholics like us Americans and a lot of places shut down midafternoon for a "siesta". It is a bit harder to get around because the maps are in Spanish and everyone only knows a limited amount of English. Yet, Seville is easily seen just walking around the city, getting lost on any street. All of the streets are extremely narrow with the exception of a few major roads. The weather has been absolutely incredible...in the 80's and completely sunny. My first full day here was a long one but it was very productive. I checked out the cathedral which apparantly is the 3rd largest in the world....Christopher Columbus' tomb is inside along with the unbelievable architecture. The bell tower offers a great view of the city and the courtyard just outside the city is filled with orange trees. My favorite sight of the day, however, was the Reales Alcazares. It is the palace where Ferdinand and Isabel used to live as do the King and Queen of Spain when they come to visit Seville. The palace itself was pretty awesome but the gardens took the cake! Oh my goodness, I spent 3 hours in them and still didn't feel like I saw it all. By far the prettiest place I've been in in all of Europe....if THAT can't tell you how great they were, then I don't know what can! I mean, monuments and cathedrals are amazing but there's something about walking through a maze of gardens....with everything in bloom, the weather completely flawless, and getting lost in beauuuuuuuuuuty....that's really hard to beat! So I was in a great mood when I left there and walked around the city some more. I stumbled into an area called Santa Cruz which is known for its bars and "tapas". I sat down in one and ordered some gazpacho and another tapa (both really good), so I could experience some of the local food. I'm going to try Paella tonight too....that's my treat of the day :) Came back to the hostel later on and they have a rooftop terrace with hammocks and everything so it was the perfect place to read into late afternoon. It doesn't get dark here until 9 pm (and still it's not even completely dark by then!) so everyone eats very late and parties even later....a local was telling me most stay out until 5 or even 7 am...almost every night! I met up with 2 people in my hostel, Ali and Rob, and we went out for 5 euro pitchers of Sangria at a local bar. Drinks are finally cheap here :) We didn't stay out until 5 but it was a good night, haha.

Woke up to another day of sightseeing today and went to the Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza...where the bullfighting takes place! I paid 5 euros to see inside the ring and man, it was totally worth it. I don't know how I'd feel about going to an actual bullfight but it was great to see what it looked like. I believe she said it was one of the oldest in Spain (it was hard to tell, her English sounded just like her Spanish!) and it even had a place for the Royal family to sit up in the stands. Tickets for the bullfights are like 40 euro so I'll have to miss out :( The museum had all these pictures though and it looked pretty gruesome...not sure it would be my thing or not. I met 4 older adults from Wisconsin there and they were so helpful and nice. Mike was giving me suggestions about things to do in Germany and they were just a great group to bump into. We parted ways after the tour and I headed down to the river...had picnic and walked for around for a couple more hours. I'm ready for my siesta now so it'll be a relaxing afternoon :) I can't decide where to head tomorrow...want to do a couple more days in Spain but I'm also so close to Portugal. I'll have to do some research online and see what would work out best. Either way, I'm onto Switzerland on Sunday. Sooo I'll let you know what comes up!