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......:)