Tena to BanosOct 18, 2010 South American Travels

We woke up farily early, still tired. We were suppose to meet the girls we met the night before for breakfest. We got ready and headed over to thier hostel. We had a lovely breakfest. After telling the girls that we decided to leave, we all went to our hostel so they could book their jungle tour. They left to pack and we went to get some supplies for the bus ride. When we got back it was about the time need to leave so we could also do a video. We left the hostel looking like pack muels and headed for the bus station. Oh by the way our hostel guy gave us direction to go straight and you can´t miss it. You will see the busses he says! YEAH RIGHT. We walked about 10 minutes too far and had to take a taxi to the station or we would have missed the bus. The bus ride could have been better, but ofcourse there weren´t any bathrooms and they didn´t stop. The bus ride was right at my limit for holding it. I probably could hold it longer if it was so crazy bumpy! Anyway we made it there at around 2pm or so. We didn´t know where the hostel, that they ladies recomended, was so we just started walking and asked along the way. When we finally got to the hostel we were disappointed because it was expensive. We couldn´t afford anything like that so we had to keep walking! We stumbled upon a hostel that was much for affordable but still nice.

Tena, EcuadorOct 17 & 18, 2010 South American Travels We had decided to go to Tena after church so that we could explore the amazon. We caught a bus at about 1pm and it took ruffly 5 hours to get there and cost $6 per person. We arrived at 6pm and got off the bus at a hostel. We hadn´t booked one before we arrived, so we had to just check prices and choose one. It was right during the dead season so our room cost 14 dollars for two people, but wasn´t much too look at. We went out for a walk and stumbled upon the only other 4 gringos in town. We talked for a while and made plans to meet up with them for breakfest. Back at the hostel we had a change of mind. We decided not to go on a Amazon tour. We just weren´t feeling it. We just wanted to relax for a while and not travel around. So we decided to leave the next day for Banos. It took me a while to fall asleep that night because I kept thinking there were bed bugs! Don´t worry, there weren´t.

It was a rather unevenful day, the first, but probably not the last!

What An Amazing City October 16, 2010

South American Travels Grand Plaza

I continue to be shocked by what I find in Ecuador. We went out exploring the city today. We took the electric bus, which costs 25 cents per person, to the Old Town. Wow, old town was really beautiful. The old town looks very European and has a great vibe.

We walked around taking it all in! We stopped at this little restaurant to get tamales. I had a sweet one with chicken, which a lady told me, is an popular Ecuadorian dish. We pooped in and out of little shops all day long. Everything in Ecuador is really cheap and you can find anything you need.

After eating the above food! We walked to the Grand Plaza. We walked around the plaza, people watching and then moved on to another area of Old town. We went by many churches, shoppes, bakeries, and a movie theater! By this time we were a little worn out and decided to walk back toward our hostel. We didn't get very far when it started sprinkling, so we hoped on an electric bus.

We took the bus back toward our hostel. We went to a book store in the Mariscal district, called Confederate Books, which has the largest collection of English books in South America! It started pouring rain so we went down the street to Mama Clorinda, which has amazing local food. I got an empanada with chicken and Davina got a dish that started with a Q! I can't remember! See picture below!

We headed home as soon as the rain died down. Then we have just been hanging out at the hostel watching friends and putting this blog up! Tomorrow we will go to church, then head to Tena! Can't wait!

The Border To QuitoOctober 15, 2010 South American Travels

We literally Walked Across The Border!

22 hours over... 5 more to go! We arrived in Ipiales at 6:30am, then took a taxi to the border. There we did our immigration stuff and walked across the border. On the Ecuador side we also had to go through immigration. After we got our stamps, we took a micro to Tulcan, a border city with buses to Quito. The border crossing was interesting because it didn't even seem like anyone cared whether or not we had a stamp in our passports! We could have easily just walked across and not gone through immigration! Or so we thought, until our bus got searched by the police multiple times and they asked for our passports, checking to see if we had stamps!

When we got to Tulcan, we found a bus leaving right away for Quito. The trip took about 5 hours and was beautiful. The bus wasn't as nice as the one in Colombia, especially since there were no toilets! So we had to go at a burger place when they stopped long enough! We arrived in Quito at 1:00pm. From the bus station we took a taxi to a hostel we found online. The Travellers Inn hostel is located in the Mariscal district.

We love our hostel! It's clean, quite and the staff is knowledgeable! After we got settled in, we went to explore the area around our hostel. We went to the fresh food market and then to eat dinner. We chose a cheap Chinese restaurant and it was delicious! Then we did some grocery shopping! We also found that Ecuador has amazing pastries! YUM! It was a long journey to get to Quito, but well worth it, we love Ecuador. Tomorrow we go exploring the city! Follow along as we travel through Ecuador!

22 Hour Bus Ride Through Colombia!

October 14, 2010 South American Travels

This is the route we took during our long bus ride!

I know what your thinking!! Crazy! Well my sister and I didn't plan before we came to South America! So we didn't realize that everything was far because the countries are big! So we didn't know that it would take us 24 hours to get to the border of Colombia and Ecuador! We had to make a decision on whether or not we wanted to see a few cities in each country or do a few countries and a lot of cities. So we chose few countries, many cites.

After making that decision we decided that we wanted to spend most of our time in Ecuador and Peru. So we planned a bus ride straight through Colombia to the border. We got up in the morning and wasn't quite sure what time the bus left. We left for the bus station at around 6am. We got there in perfect time to find a bus leaving at 7:30 to the Border city of Ipiales. It was a direct bus costing about $50 each, lasting 22 hours.

On the map above you can see the cities we passed through. The bus ride was beautiful, but slow at times due to traffic and construction. We slept a little here and there, but mostly talked. The bus was nice, with a bathroom and reclining seats. They also played The Patriot! Which was an interesting choice of movie for a bus ride! We stopped for lunch at around 1:00, in which I had soup and salad. Other wise they didn't really stop, except to let people on and off.

We ended up falling asleep for the night at around 9pm. I was surprised by how much sleep I actually got. I only woke up a few times here and there. Mostly because it was FREEZING on the bus! We didn't even arrive at the border until 6:30am, the next day! I was surprised to find that it wasn't that bad of a bus ride, considering how long it really was!

Colombia was expensive, but rather well put together.

Over The Ocean

October 12, 2010

We left NYC at 11 am only to arrive in Miami at 2:30pm. We had to do an emercancy landing for some unkown reason. We waited for them to tell us what to do for what seemed like hours. Finally at around 4pm, they told us that there was a flight to Bogota at 5pm. It was kind of fun, because we got to skip tot he head of the line in secutrity and rush to the gate. We made it with plenty of time to spare!

We actually landed at 7:15 which is at about the same time we would have anyway! We went through customs and exchanged some currency. Then we headed out to get a taxi. I was surprised that only one person asked us if we needed a taxi! We got our taxi and were are our way! It took us about 30 minutes to get to Hostel Fatima. Our hostel is alright. We have a private room which is nice but you can hear everything that goes on downstairs. All in all I would say the first day was successful!

Lets see what day 2 brings...

My sister and I have many reasons in why we decided to go to South America. First, I wanted to "Stick It To The Man" and secondly my sister wanted to finish writing her book, A Year In My Dreams. We have no set plans just a plane ticket and two hostel reservations! The rest is up to God. Follow us on our journey, exciting things are bound to happen!

My Home in Nicaragua! Located in Chinandega

Here are some pictures of where I live.

I really love my town. Its medium size, beach town and its hot!

The little shop located next to my house!

Where we get smoothies!

A random street!

Another Random Street!

This kids acts like he is 20, he is always walking around

Inside of my house!

Swearing-In

July 31, 2009

Intercontental Hotel, Managua

To become an official volunteer you have to be sworn-in, much like the president, except that we didn’t have the entire nation watching; just a few reps from various organizations, PC staff and our Nica host families. It was held at the Intercontental Hotel in Managua. They provided us with a light snack before with some drinks and then we began the ceremony.

They welcomed everybody, oh yeah this was all in Spanish, by the way, and then they gave awards of recognition to your families for hosting us. After that, 2 volunteers gave a quick speech of thanks and gratitude, to the families. Then 4 of the Agriculture volunteers sang a song called Dale Una Luz, (I’m going to try and get the video). Then we had a short recess where we had more drinks and a snack.

After the recess we sat in order of which they were going to call our names and the actual swearing in process began. We sang the national anthem of Nicaragua first (see below) and then the national anthem of the USA. Then the Ministry of Education gave a speech and then swore us in, in Spanish (which, for me really didn’t count!). But it was funny because we had to repeat what he had said, and he said a really long part, and nobody could repeat it so we just laughed and he said it again, but in smaller parts!

Then a representative from the Embassy gave a speech in English, which I enjoyed much more, and then he swore us in (see the oath below). After that, they called our names individually and we walked up, shook hands, received a Peace Corps pendent, and then signed our names into a book (not sure what the book was!). It seemed like graduation! We took a lot of pictures and ate cake and chatted, and then we headed back to our hotel. It started at around 8am and ended at 11am. It was weird how much work we had to do to get to that point and it was over in a flash! Crazy!

Himno Nacional de Nicaragua

!Salve a ti Nicaragua! En tu suelo

ya no ruge la voz del cañón

ni se tiñe con sangre de hermanos

tu glorioso pendón bicolor.

Brille hermosa la paz en tu cielo,

nada empañe tu gloria inmortal,

que el trabajo es tu digno laurel

y el honor es tu enseña triunfal.

Swearing-In Oath

In the name of God and for the understanding and friendship among people and Nations, I solemnly promise to work with dedication and enthusiasm in the task that are assigned to me, during two years, or during the time that I may stay in the country.

I promise to strive to secure bonds for affections and solidarity with the Nicaraguan people through mutual respect and sincere vocation of service.

For God, for Country, for Peace.

Granada, NicaraguaJuly 4th, 2009 It looks like Europe Here!

Jose, Igor, Sol, Jenifer and I went to Granada on Saturday for the day. We took a bus and arrived there in the morning at around 9. Right away we went to Kathy’s waffle house to have breakfast. It was just like an American breakfast. I had a plan waffle and Jose had eggs, bacon and home fries, we shared everything and it was delicious!

We were there for about an hour and a half. After breakfast we walked to the San Francisco convent and then we just walked around the city. We walked down to the lake and sat there for a while. After the lake we went back into the city and went to the old church. We sat in the church for a while, before searching for lunch. We ended up eating lunch at this place called the Garden cafe. It was great light food and they had the best smoothies. We were getting a little tired of walking around and it was hot, so we took the bus back at around 3pm.

The Finca & The Youth GroupJune 1, 2009 The Finca (AKA someone's back yard!)

Our Youth group invited us to a Finca, which is like a fruit farm. One of the girls in our group lives on a Finca. It took our training town (Juan, Igor, Jenifer and I) 30 minutes to walk there. Lucky for us had a guide to get to her house otherwise we would have never found it! At her house they gave us some cacao juice that tasted like chocolate and coconut. After our juice, we walked around and they showed us all the different types of fruits that grow there.

We tried fresh coconut, Mangos, and other fruits that I don’t know the name too! We walked further and further into the forest, down toward the lagoon. We passed a bunch of Monkeys and tried a lot of different types of fruits along the way. We didn’t make it all the way to the lagoon, thank goodness, but we make it too this pool that is at the bottom of a small waterfall. The kids were great, teaching us all about the forest and fruits! We probably spent 3 hours total at the Fina, before going back home.

Cacao Juice... UMMMM

Cutting the Coco!

Crazy Monkies Video!A Rondom Religious Procession!

Volcan MasayaJune 27, 2009 Ah Yeah It's Still Acitve!!

My training group had a technical session at the visitor center at the bottom of Vulcan Masaya, which is located in the department of Masaya. It is one of the many active volcanoes in Nicaragua, but not the biggest. After the technical session they took us up to the volcano. The volcano was releasing a lot of smoke, but we couldn’t see any lava.

We walked up to the lookout point and had a great view of Masaya. We hung out at the lookout for a while and then headed back to the van for a snack. After the snack we busted out José’s jump ropes and we all played double Dutch. It was funny watching people try and jump into the double Dutch. We left shortly after that and headed back to our training towns.

EstelíJune 14-17 2009What a beautiful city!

We were assigned sites to visit volunteers and see what volunteer life was like. I went to the department of Estelí. It was beautiful, hilly, and very green. I had to take a bus from Managua to Estelí and it took about 2 hours. I arrived on Sunday and left on Wednesday. It was a vacation because we didn’t really have anything to do. Her classes were cancelled and so we had a lot of down time.

She showed me around her town and I met a lot of people that she worked with. It was nice to see what life was like after training. She was only a month away from leaving so she was winding down on her work. The point of the visit was to help us decided what we do and don’t want in a site. After that visit I decided that I wanted a mid-big size site, with less teaching and more potential for secondary projects. What will I get….?

a dog feeding a kitten.. you dont see that everyday!

San Juan, Nicaragua

May 16-July 31st 2009

The main street in my town!!

I am living with my host family now! They are a well to do family and very nice. I have a nice room with a queen size bed!! YAY I have my mosquito net up. ( i will post pictures on my blog soon) The town is small and you can walk the entire thing in like 20 minutes! I shower using buckets! So i splash the water over me, and then dip my hair in another one!! We flush the toilet with buckets of water, and we don't put toilet paper in the toilet. I have cable tv with lots of channels that play movies and shows in english, with spanish subtitiles!! The internet cafe is right next to my house!!

Most days this week have been as follows:

Wake up at 7am get ready

Eat fruit, or eggs with beans and toast at 7:30 (we are having pancakes on Saturday!)

Spanish class is from 8-12

Lunch at 12, Rice, chicken, beans...

Applied Spanish from 1-3 (walk around and talk with people)

Shower by bucket

Work with group on homework, readings or prep for next class

Go for a walk to neighboring towns

Next week we will start a youth group and begin giving lessons (in spanish.. ahhh) on business and start our project with them. (creating a product or service to compete in the product fair!)

The days are long but its good because we are kept busy and then time goes by faster. I think my Spanish is improving, but I feel like such a child. I get frustrated trying to get my point across!

GUESS WHAT!!! I already got sick! they think it was food poisoning!! I had massive diarrhea and i was vomiting! I had to give a stool sample and that was amusing because the laboratory place didn't have a bathroom. So we were going door to door asking if I could use their bathroom. So i had to collect a sample of diarrhea in the most unsanitary conditions!! It was hilarious!!! I now get to check food poising off the list of possible illnesses!! I expect to go through them all! It only makes me stronger!!! At least I had the Peace Corps backing me!! They drove me around and talked to everyone and got my medicine and then called me like 20 times to make sure I was getting better!! Until next time....

Peace Corps Retreat in ManaguaMay 13-16 2009

Retreat area with a few buildings and surrounded by a barbed wire fence!

I am glad to say that I have finally made it, and I'm now a Peace Corps trainee! I still have a long way to go before I can become an official volunteer, but at least I have made it to Nicaragua.

Staging on Tuesday (in DC) went well and it was fun meeting a lot of great people. The early flight to Managua on Wednesday went by flawlessly! We arrived in Managua and were greeted by Peace Corps staff! They loaded up our luggage and bussed us to our Retreat site, just outside the City.

For the rest of Wednesday and all of thrusday we spent the day going over rules, regulations, formalities and what to expect at the training sites. We had to do our language interviews and lets just say mine was funny! I was using a lot of German words mixed in with broken Spanish! It doesn't matter, what is important, is being placed in the right groups according to your language skills so that you can learn more efficiently!

On Friday we went over more information and took a tour of Managua. Then on Saturday we were taken to our designated training sites and met our host families. We will be living with our host families and be in small groups of 4 people per town (the towns are close by so we can all meet up). We will then meet up each week with other business volunteers and do a group training. Training will last for 11 weeks.

More to come about how my time has been in my new city!!

My Adventures as a Peace Corps Volunteer!I will be starting a new adventure this year as a Peace Corps Volunteer!!!

Where: Madagascar, Africa. (I may live in a small town or big city, depending on need!)

When: Official Service: April 24, 2009- April 23, 2011 (I leave home on February 10, 2009 for staging, then I leave the states on the Feb 14 for a 10 week training program in Madagascar, before service starts.)

What: Program: Small Enterprise Development; Job: Small Business Advisor. (I will be assisting small businesses with a variety of business skills, advice, research, planning etc.; furthermore, I will work with Village associations, NGO's artisans and microfinance institutions to assist entrepreneurs in starting businesses or better managing existing enterprises. And much more!)

How: Main mode of transport is by bike or on foot! I will conduct business in Malagasy, the local language! AHHH I am very excited to be able to help people, while putting my education to good use! It is similar to most jobs, I work 9-5 (theatrically), 7 days a week, have vacation, get paid (through living expenses), but it will be hands on and the daily work will vary!

Visiting: Anyone is welcome to come and visit me. I will put you to work and show you what I have learned about the country and people. If you are thinking of visiting, it would have to be after September 2009. But we can discuss that when the time comes!!!

For more information about the Peace Corps go to http://www.peacecorps.gov/ .

I will keep everyone up-to-date as best as possible while serving. Many of you have already recieved the letter to friends and family that gives you my mailing info. If you do have anymore questions please feel free to email me.

Wish me luck and come and visit!!

Another year of amazing adventures and travels has gone by. I went to 33 countries this year, which is 20 more than last year!! I had an amazing time in Germany and living in Europe. Once again I was lucky to be able to travel as much as I did. Its good to be back in the States though! I hope 2009 brings as much excitement as 2008 did. I'm sure that will happen since I will be in Madagascar serving as a Peace Corp Volunteer. I will keep everyone updated during my service, so keep coming to this blog to stay updated!!Thank You 2008! Welcome 2009! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qLRx43B8ks

MarrakechNovember 20-25th 2008

A view of Place Jamaa el Fna from a terrace resturant at night!

Day 1

The trip to Morocco started in Reutlingen, Germany at 1:45am. Travis, Rogier, Victoria, Priscilla and I piled into a rented car and drove to Frankfurt Hahn Airport to catch our flight. I drove the 3 hours it took to get to the airport and I had a blast. At 3am there aren’t many drivers out on the road and Germany doesn’t have speed limits on the autobahns, in most cases. We had a nice Mercedes and I got that baby up to 200km/hr or 125miles/hr. Anyway we got to the airport about 2 hours early, checked in and went to our gate. We boarded a little late but we arrived in Marrakech 20 minutes early. We took bus 19 to the city center which took about 30min. Once off the bus we had no idea how to get to our hostel, the Equity Point Marrakech. This guy came up to us and told us that he new where our hostel was. We were a little skeptic, but there were 5 of us and 1 of him and it was day time; so we followed him. As we were walking, we picked up two more people staying at our hostel. We followed the guy to our hostel, through the souks, and random alleys, which made us a little nervous. But he got us there safely and wanted us to pay him 10euros, which was ridiculous so we paid him 4euros!

We couldn’t check into our room at the hostel, so we had to put our stuff down and check in later. We went out to explore the city and taking it all in. The first day was the craziest and very overwhelming. We ate lunch at a restaurant suggested in lonely planet and it was delicious. It was a great introduction into the Morocco food culture. After lunch we went back to the hostel to check in and relax. We hung out there for a while, playing cards or reading. At around 6pm we went out to find dinner. The first night there, we learned that at around sunset the market square gets crazy. Donkeys come in bringing food stalls, food, and gas powered grills. They are known as El-Fna Food Stalls and there were about 30 of them. The workers harass you until you sit down and eat at their stall. If you don’t choose theirs then they can get pretty nasty. Anyway we sat at one table and ordered a variety of dishes; from salads and fries to meats, calamari, fish fillets and dessert. After our meal we went back to the hostel and hung out before going to bed.

Day 2

We slept in as much as we could, but we still ended up waking up early. We ate breakfast, which consisted of bread, jam, cream cheese and orange juice. After breakfast we all got ready and then headed out. We were headed for the train station so that we could buy our tickets for the next’s day’s trip to Casablanca. We walked back to the main bus stop, got money out at the bank and then got on the bus. We got off the bus at the wrong stop so we had to walk about a mile to the train station. Once there we bought our tickets and then decided to continue to walk to see other sights. We walked down Ave Med VI to Ave de la Menara and went to the Menara, which is close to the airport. La Menara wasn’t anything special except the large “pool” behind the building that had some massive fish. We thought it might be nice to go swimming, but after seeing those fish we thought they might eat us! After resting there for a while we walked back toward city center coming to the fancier part of Marrakech. It was full of nice houses, large hotels and country clubs/spas. We had lunch at a famous restaurant called, Alizia, which is a mix of Italian and Moroccan food. After that we walked back to the city center and then down to the Royal Palace and Palais Badi. We couldn’t really get into the palaces so we just rested for a while in a courtyard, which was full of westerners, and then headed back to our hostel. We relaxed a little at our hostel and played cards. For dinner we went to a restaurant that was suggested by the hostel. Mabrouka restaurant was very nice and close to our hostel which was near the market. They had live music and good food. The only thing that was annoying to my friends was the amount of cats that were just walking around and staring at you while you ate! It didn’t really bother me, as my family has a lot of cats. After dinner we walked around the market square and souks until we ended up at our hostel. Then we played mad libs and went then went to bed.

Day 3

We had to wake up early to catch our train to Casablanca. So we woke up at 7am, everyone showered, got breakfast to go and then walked to the bus stop. We took bus 66 to the train station and were right on time. Our train was already there so we boarded and looked for an empty cabin. We left on time and we had a nice train ride, but it took longer than we expected to get there. (See Casablanca for more details.) We got back to Marrakech at around 10pm and there were no busses running so we had to take a cab. The cab situation was a little sketchy. With five people it’s a little more difficult to get a cab. We managed to find one, after being sketched out by this guy who wanted to take us in his van! Anyway, we finally made it to the hostel and went to bed.

Day 4

We didn’t really have anything planned for the day except souks shopping!! We woke up, got breakfast, then got ready and headed out at around 10am. It was so much fun just walking around and looking at all the stuff. It’s crazy to see how much stuff they sell, especially when you can walk 40 yards and see the exact same thing being sold at another shop. The plethora of shops works to your advantage. You can bargain at one shop, and if you don’t get the price you want, you can go to another shop and try your luck there! We walked and shopped for hours. We got a little lost and ended up at Palais Baha, which is really far from the main souks. We had lunch in a courtyard (the one with all the westerners) at a restaurant near the Royal palace, and then walked back toward our hostel within the souks. We bought a couple more things along the way to our hostel. At the hostel we relaxed, played cards and checked out our merchandise. Later around dinner time we went back out to find dinner. We ate at Hotel Ali, which had a huge “all you can eat” Moroccan buffet. It was delicious but not worth the price, since you can’t really eat 80dh (8euros) worth of Moroccan food! After dinner we walked around a little and then went to our hostel for the night.

Day 5

We had planned to go to Essaoura, a coastal city about 3 hours from Marrakech. We woke up early and took the bus to the train station. We found the bus to Essaoura, but it was sold out, so we were stuck in Marrakech. We went back to the hostel and ate breakfast and went out to get some last souvenirs/gifts. Once again we spent most of the day just walking around the souks. It really didn’t get old, I had such a good time talking to the locals and bargaining. For our last lunch we ate at a shawarma restaurant, and then we went back to the hostel. We played charades and cards while sitting outside and enjoying the sun. When it got dark we went to the market and ate on the rooftop terrace at Argana café. We had a beautiful view of the Place Jama El Fna (market square) and la Koutoubia Mosque. After dinner the girls got henna tattoos and the boys drank some OJ! Then we went back to our hostel after getting some snacks for the next’s day’s plan ride/drive. At the hostel we repacked showered and then went to bed.

Day 6

It was another early morning and a long day for us. We caught the bus to the airport at 7:20am and arrived at around 8am. We waited in line and checked in. Then we waited in line again to go through security, which was sectioned off into a male line and a female line! Then we had to wait in line again to go through passport control. After passport control we found our gate, and guess what, we waited in line again! Awesome! We took off relatively on time and landed on time as well. In Frankfurt we had to pick up our car to drive to Reutlingen. I was suppose to drive on the way back but the lady didn’t know what my Arizona’s drivers license’s code meant, so she wouldn’t let me; even though I had already driven to Frankfurt and I explained to her what it meat. Needless to say Germany is not known for customer service and she was a total jerk. Well we got the car and were on our way to Reutlingen by 3pm. We stopped at McDonalds for lunch/dinner. We were home by 6:30pm.

Morocco/Marrakech was a 3.5. I had a great time in Morocco. Good company, great weather, interesting culture, and amazing food. We saw a lot of tourist, but we also mingled with the locals. The people were very friendly and open, but aggressive. When you are shopping and or deciding where to eat dinner, be prepared to be surrounded, persuaded and then possible dragged to the destination. They won’t hurt you; they are just trying to make a living. Many of the locals thought Victoria, Priscilla and I were Moroccan and would speak to us in French or Arabic until they learned otherwise! It was a great Ice breaker though. The locals also loved to talk about Obama; they love him, especially his skin color! I would go back to Morocco in a second and explore the other cities such as Tangier, fes, Rabat and take a trip to the Sahara. I would recommend Morocco as an exotic travel destination to anyone!

CasablancaNovember 22nd 2008Hassan II mosque is the third largest in the world and it is massive!

Day Trip

Casablanca was a 2.5. It was interesting but the Souks weren't as cool as in Marrakech and there weren't as many sights either.

BerlinSeptember 19-21st, 2009View from the parlement roof top.

Day 16cont.

We arrived in Berlin and took the s-bahn to Alexander Platz, and then we changed to the U2 getting off at Rosa-Luxemburgstr. The Wombats hostel was right by the station and we were checked in quickly. It was a large hostel and very nice, but not as nice as the hostel I stayed at the last time I was in Berlin. We left right after we dropped off our stuff and went to Alexander Platz. We checked out the movie theater there and found that they were all in German, so we went to another theater. The theater in Potsdammer Platz had English original versions and we saw Tropical Thunder. We bought sweet popcorn and watched the movie. After that we went back to our hostel, and then to the grocery store. We bought breakfast and some soup just in case we got hungry. We didn’t get hungry; we just read, went to the bar for our free drink and then went to bed.

Day 17

We had to set our alarm for 9:20am so that we could be ready in time for our tour. We got dressed and went down to eat breakfast. We left for our walking tour shortly after breakfast. We had to take a bus to Brandenburg tor to actually start our tour. Once there we got some stuff at Starbucks then followed our tour guide. It was the same tour I had taken a year before with Brian, expect that we had a different person and we started where the other tour had finished. I liked the first tour best, I thought the guy was brilliant and knew much more interesting facts. Anyway, it was a good balance because I learned some stuff that I didn’t know before. After the tour we went to the parliament building so that Victoria could see the inside. We took the bus back to our hostel after visiting the parliament building. We hung around for while then decided to go out to dinner to celebrate our last day of travel. We went to Marcus Bräu, an authentic German restaurant, a little pricey but dang good. We went back to the hostel, read and then went to bed.

Day 18

We woke up at 9am again, got dressed, ate breakfast, checked out and went of a walk. We took some pictures of the Rathaus then had a coffee at a café. We walked back the hostel to get our stuff. We took the bus to the airport and checked in, ate our leftover cup of soup (we had to borrow some hot water!! It was pretty ghetto!!) and then went through security!! We boarded the plane and our September trip was over. Back to reality!

Berlin was a 3. Better the second time around.

LeipzigSeptember 19th, 2008 Square infront of the National Opera.

Day 16 cont

The train from Dresden arrived in Leipzig at 11am. We locked our backpacks up at the train station then walked to tourist information to find a map. After we got our map we walked toward the first sight on our very short list. On the walk we noticed that there was a lot of construction going on in the city. A few streets were closed because of it, but we could still see the main sights. We went to the Market Square, St. Peters Church, Nicholas church, the Old Rathaus, the New Rathaus, the Opera House, and through most of the shopping district, in an hour!!! We walked back to the city center and got something to eat at a Chinese restaurant. I had chicken fried rice, as usual. We walked back to the train station after lunch and still had an hour to kill before our train to Berlin left. So we sat outside and listened to music. Then we got some ice cream and went for one last walk in Leipzig. We went to the train station, got our bags out and then got on the train to Berlin at 1:51pm. Two cities down, one more to go!!

Leipzig was a 2.5. It was much more interesting after we learned more about the cities historical significants. Too bad we learned this info while we were in Berlin!

Dresden

September 18-19th, 2008

A view from the river.

Day 15cont. The train ride from Prague to Dresden was a little under 2 hours. When we arrived in Dresden and followed the direction to our hostel, Der Doofe. It took about 20 minutes to get to our hostel once in route. We checked into our hostel and were the only ones in our room. We relaxed for a few minutes and then headed out to see the city. We took the train to the river and then walked along it, seeing: the Ministry of Interior, and the Golden Rider. Then we crossed the bridge Augustus, passed the Blockhouse, Opera, Royal Palace, Zwinger, and the National Theater. We ventured into a large square to the Church of Our Lady. We sat inside the church for a few minutes admiring the craftsmanship and then left. We walked to city hall and he Church of the Holy Cross. It was well past 2 by this time and we were starving so we took the tram to the pedestrian zone. We got some money out and ate at Pizza Hut!! Very American, but it was good!! After our late lunch we went back to the square and bought post cards. Then we took the tram to our hostel and were in for the night. We read, did a crossword, and then went to bed.

Day 16 We had another early morning. Our train to Leipzig was at 9:21 so we dressed, ate breakfast and were out the door by 8:45. Once at the train station, we went straight to our train and were on our way to Leipzig.

Dresden was a 2. Interesting historical buildings but little to do or see.

PragueSeptember 16-18 2008 Victoria and I decided to walk along the river, thinking we could get to the bridge. We couldn't! We had to walk all the way back and go around!

Day 13cont

The flight from Krakow was very short and we arrived in Prague at 4pm. We bought tickets for the bus and took it to the metro station. We took the metro to the stop recommended by our hostel, the Riverbank hostel, and then walked to our building. We rang the bell and no one answered, so we had to go to a shop just down the road and use their phone. We called the hostel guy and within 5 minutes he arrived to let us in. We checked in and paid for our stay. We changed clothes and got ready to go to dinner. We were meeting Victoria’s cousins at a Cuban restaurant, La Bodequita Del Medio a Cuban. We took the tram to Powedergate and navigated our way to the bank to get some cash, and then we walked to the restaurant. We got to the restaurant before they did, so we ordered a drink and waited. When they arrived we were seated immediately. We ordered and then chatted while we waited for our food. Dinner was good and we were out of there by 9pm. We were supposed to meet our Australian friends again, at 10pm, so we had an hour to kill beforehand. We walked around to try and see if we could find the bar they were in. We couldn’t find them so we gave up and went for some ice cream. We finally met them at 10pm and hung out at a bar until closing time. Victoria and I walked home quickly at around 2am, and then we went straight to bed.

Day 14

I hate going to bed really late and still waking up early. It’s really annoying!! Anyway, we went to the grocery store after dressing and got breakfast. We ate and then headed to the Prague Castle. It was a long walk and it took us about an hour or more to make it all the way to the top. It didn’t help that we were stopping a lot along the way to look at souvenirs!! We took some pictures of the castle and the view from the castle and then headed down. We walked across Charles Bridge, stopped at a few stores, and then headed to old town. We saw old town again, but during the day which was nice. We took the metro over to the National Museum, by main shopping district. Then we took the metro to the hostel and took a nap. After our nap our friends had arrived and we went out for dinner. We chose an authentic Czech restaurant. It was delicious but not too expensive. After dinner we hung out at our hostel, playing mad libs, having a few drinks and doing a crossword. They left after 1am and we went to be around 2.

Day 15

We woke up at 8am, got ready to leave, ate breakfast and checked out. We went to the train station to buy our tickets. We waited in line for a long time only to find out that we were at the wrong train station. We bought our tickets there still and took the metro over to the other train station. It was a good thing we decided to be earlier than needed. Other wise we might have not made the train in time!!! But we had plenty of time, so we got some snacks to use the rest of our Czech money up. Then we boarded our train at 10:30am and were on our way to Dresden!!

Prague was a 3 the second time around. The weather was crappy and it was a lot colder than last year!!

Auschwitz Concentration CampsSeptember 15th, 2008 View of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of all Nazi concentration camps.

Day trip

I have wanted to visit to Auschwitz ever since I moved to Germany and have seen the Nazi history come to life. Auschwitz played a major role in the holocaust. We decided to do a private tour, in order to get the best experience. We took a bus from Krakow to the Concentration camp. On the way we watched a very graphic film shot by the Soviets when they liberated the camp. When we arrived at the camp we got our head sets and followed our tour guide. We toured the main camp Auschwitz I first. The camp was well maintained and very depressing. We were at Auschwitz for 2 hours, going through the barracks, administrative buildings and experiencing the horror that occurred. We finished up with Auschwitz I and headed for Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Birkenau was the main extermination site, and the largest Nazi concentration camp in Europe. Both camps are a perfect testament to German efficiency. The Nazis efficiently, registered, housed, beat, humiliated, controlled and killed hundreds of thousands people. Birkenau held over 400,000 prisoners of may backgrounds. The Jews were normally murdered right away, but the Pols and Hungarians were kept to work in the IG Farben factory or out doors. Millions people died over the 4 years the camp was in use; constructed in 1940-41 and liberated in 1944-45. It’s very difficult to describe how you feel when you are there. It’s so fascinating, intriguing and disturbing all at the same time. I’m glad I went and I think everyone should go at least once in there life.

Photos from Auschwitz II-Birkenau

Left picture: Tracks leading into the camp.

Right picture: Barracks within Birkenau.

Left picture: Bunk beds for prisoners usually slept 4 per bunk.

Right picture: Toliet facility for prisoners.

Photos from Auschwitz I Camp

Administrative buildings/prisioner holds

Left picture: Typical electric fence surrounding the camp.

Right picture: Crematoria for new arrivals.

Although Auschwitz was extreamly sad and depression it was a 4. Very interesting and a must see.

"If we don't learn about the past, how will we know if history is going to repeat itself?"

Krakow

September 14-16th, 2008 View of Karkow City.

Day 11cont.

We landed on time and found ourselves in one of the smallest airports I have ever been too. It had maybe 5 gates. Anyway we had to wait for the bus to take us to the train that would take us to the city center! We only waited for 20 minutes before the bus came. The train took us to the train station that was connected to a mall. We walked out of the mall and our hostel was right there. We checked into the Greg Tom hostel, settled in, booked our trip to Auschwitz for the next day, and then headed out. Krakow is small but nice. We went to the market square and took some pictures. We hung out around there for a while, and then went to get something to eat. We had more traditional Polish food, it was great and cheap! After dinner we met up with our Australian friends that we met in Warsaw. We just went to a bar and talked for a while, and then we all went back to our hostels.

Day 12

We had to wake up early because of our trip to Auschwitz (See above blog for details). After we got back from Auschwitz it was still fairly early. So we ventured over to the castle and explored that for a while. Then for lunch/linner we went to the mall. We ate in the food court, and then got some snacks for later, at the grocery store. We went back to the hostel and stayed there for the rest of the day. We sat in the living room and watched movie after movie. It was great. Then we ate traditional polish soup that our hostel made, for dinner. We went to our room and went to bed at 12am.

Day 13

It seems like we have been traveling for months. We are only on our 13th day and we still have 5 days left and it feels longer. I mean I’m not tired of traveling with Victoria; I am just annoyed with the weather. Traveling can be very exhausting! Anyway, once again we were on our way to the airport but this time we were headed to Prague.

Krakow was a 2.5. Smaller than Warsaw but still nice, clean and interesting.

Warsaw September 12-14th, 2008 The "Prague" looking side of Warsaw!!!

Day 9

When we arrived in Warsaw, it was a lot colder than it was in Scandinavia. We were a little upset. Anyway, we found the bus to the city centre and got off near the hostel. We walked for about 5 minutes and found the place. We checked in and put our stuff away. We went to get some money and food. We walked down Krakowski toward city centre. We found the bank, got money out and then went to KFC for lunch. After lunch we went to this Empire State looking building, that was a museum. We wondered around in there for a while, and then went to the indoor flea market. We bought some stuff then headed back to our hostel. Back at the hostel we paid, and asked where a grocery store was. We went to the store to get our food for our stay. Back at the hostel we pretty much just sat around and talked to some Australian guys the entire time. We exchanged information and planned to meet up with them in Krakow, our next destination. We went to be after 2am.

Day 10 This was our main sight seeing day. We went to the old town part of Warsaw. It reminded me a lot of Prague. As we walked down Krakowskie Street, in the opposite direction as the day before, we passed the Kopernika statue, University of Warsaw, a church, the National Theater, and the Opera house. We arrived at Zamkowy square, where we took about a thousand pictures. While in old town we stopped and looked at a lot of souvenir shops and bought some post cards. As we continued to explore old town we saw a lot more sights like, the Royal Castle, St. John the Baptist Cathedral Basilica, Our Lady of Charity church, and the Museum of Warsaw. After seeing almost all of old town we headed across Slako-Dabrowsky Bridge. We walked for 20 minutes in sleet and wind before we made it across. Once across we saw the more residential part of Warsaw. We passed a few more churches before we found the restaurant we were looking for. Well it’s actually not a restaurant it’s a Soviet Milk Bar, and its one of the few left. It’s called Zabkowski. The food is extremely good and really cheap. Mostly pensioners and students go there. After lunch we took the tram back to old town then walked back to our hostel. We were extremely tired so we just hung around the hostel, read, did a crossword and ate dinner. We went to bed around 10pm.

Day 11 I’m glad we were able to sleep in because we were really tired. But we only slept in until 9am but it was nice. We ate breakfast, messed around online, hung out and then walked to our airport bus. We were at the airport in no time and on our way to Krakow.

Warsaw was a 3. Cleaner, safer, nicer and prettier than I expected. It has an unique mix of Prague and Kiev.

HelsinkiSeptember 10-12th, 2008 Helsinki Cathedral, the inside is very modern and simple.

Day 7cont.We arrived in Helsinki, I got my bag, and we went to find city transportation. We decided to take the bus and bought tickets. The total travel time was 45minutes. We took the bus to the last stop, and then took the tram to our hostel. It wasn’t the easiest thing to find but we managed. After checking in, we went out to explore the city. We took the tram back toward the city centre and got off to see Helsinki Cathedral and Senate Square. The Square houses the Government Palace, University of Helsinki and the National library of Finland. We took many picture of the square and then wondered into the Cathedral. By this time we were starving so we ate at McDonalds, again!! After lunch we headed back to the hostel stopping at the Uspenski Orthodox church, the largest Orthodox Church in Western Europe, along the way. Back at the hostel we took a nap before heading out again. We took the tram back to the city centre to go to the Museum. After that we took the tram further toward the city outskirts. We visited another church, the National Museum of Finland and the Opera House. On our way back to the tram we saw a parade of Finish football fans going to the game vs Germany. They were escorted by police, it was quite the spectacle. We went to a traditional restaurant called Zetor, which is famous in Helsinki. The inside of the restaurant reminded me a lot of Texas Roadhouse! The food was amazing and the portions were very large. After dinner we went back to the hostel and read, then went to bed.

Day 8

Victoria had planned on going to Estonia for the day, and I planned on seeing some movies. However, the ferry to take her to Tallinn got cancelled, so her plans were ruined. I was already so set on seeing movies that I decided to go anyway. Victoria went to this castle on an island instead. I went and saw, Hell Boy 2, Once, and Don’t Mess with the Zohan, all very different movies but good. I had pizza hut for lunch in between the movies. After the movies I went back to the hostel and read for a while before going to bed.

Day 9

We arrived at the airport at 11am, after leaving the hostel an hour before. We did the usual airport routine and boarded the plan. 30 minutes later, we were headed for Poland.

Finland was a 3. Prettier than Oslo but not too exciting. They do have good movie theaters though!

StockholmSeptember 8-10th, 2008Stockholm is made up of many islands connected by one or two bridges!

Day 5cont.

We arrived in Stockholm on time and found the airport shuttle bus with ease. We bought a round trip ticket and got on the next bus. Once again the bus ride to the city centre was 40 minutes. Once the bus dropped us off we had to walk for 15 minutes before we reached our hostel. We checked into our hostel and went to buy groceries and get money out. We couldn't find a place that we could get money out so we paid for everything with the card. We changed into rain gear and made a game plan before heading out. We headed toward city hall, passing the Opera house, Royal Palace, the Riddal house and a lot of little shops along the way. We walked over to Sodermalm Area, and saw the city museum and a nice park. We walked back to the hostel, did a crossword and I finished my book. We went to bed at around 1am.

Day 6

We didn’t sleep all that well because we were in a 12 bed dorm. There were a lot of people snoring extremely loud and getting ready really early. We ate breakfast, changed and went to the city center. Stockholm doesn’t have as many sights to see, as Copenhagen, so we just walked around. We went to the main shopping district on the other island and hangout there for a while. Then we went to the Vasa Museum, which is dedicated to the Vasa ship that sank in the harbor right after it was launched in the 1600’s. The entire ship was inside this museum. They dug it up and fully restored it using 95% of the original parts. We were there for quite a while, enjoying all the ships history. After we had seen all we could, we walked back to our hostel. By then it was 4pm. We relaxed, read and then ate dinner. We left at 6pm to see Babylon AD at 7pm in the city center. After the movie we went back to the hostel, pack/organized and then went to bed.

Day 7

After a short nights sleep, we woke up, got ready and ate breakfast. We made it to the bus by 7:15 and arrived at the airport at 8:00am. We checked in, got through security, exchanged our money and boarded the plane 10 minutes later. It was perfect timing and we were on our way to Finland by 9:15am!!

Sweden was a 3. Bigger than Olso and much prettier, but I didn't like it as much as Copenhagen.

OsloSeptember 6-8th, 2008 Olso Main Harbor View from Akerscastle.

Day 3cont.

We landed in Norway at 10:30am and made our way to the bus. The bus ride from the airport to the city centre was about 40 minutes. The bus dropped us off at the bus station. We walked through the mall to the train station and exited the front. We got a little lost before we actually found our hostel. Our hostel had a great location, right in the centre of the city. After we checked into our room we went to explore the city. We saw Oslo Cathedral, Parliament, the National Theatre, Oslo University, Oslo city hall, the Nobel Prize Centre, and the Royal Palace. We got something eat at a Chinese restaurant and then went back to the hostel. We read in our room for a while, chatted with our roommates and then went out again. We got some food for the rest of our stay and post cards! We did a crossword puzzle and then went to bed shortly before 11.

Day 4 We slept in longer than we had planned but it was nice. We got dressed, at breakfast and then went to the contemporary arts museum. We spent about 30 minutes walking around, enjoying the exhibits. We walked over to Akers castle and took some pictures of the view and the castle grounds. We went back to the hostel, had a snack and then packed our lunch. We took our lunches to Vigelands Parken. It was massive, very green and about the prettiest thing in Oslo. We spent about an hour there walking around looking at all the statues and ate lunch. The statues were of naked men, women and children “living life”, it was very interesting. We caught the tram back to the hostel and were in for the night. We watched a few movies, laughed with our roommates and then ate dinner. After dinner we did a crossword puzzle together and then watched a movie and fell asleep.

Day 5 We woke up at 7:30am, got dressed, ate breakfast and then went to catch the bus. We took the 8:30am bus and arrived at the airport at 9:20. We checked in, I had to check my bag because they were being jerks, and then we went through security. We exchanged our money and then boarded the plane. We were on our way to Sweden by 10:30am.

Norway was a 2.5. Olso is small and a little boring. But I hear the western side is beautiful!!!

CopenhagenSept 4-6th 2008Nyhavn, Copenhagen's famous harbor.

Day 1 Copenhagen was our first stop on the Victoria and Ashley Scandinavia trip! We caught a flight from Stuttgart and arrived in Copenhagen at 1:30pm. We got off the plane and found the metro. We bought tickets and then took the next train toward our hostel. We got off at Forum station and followed the directions to our hostel. We got a little lost but people were willing to help us!! We were staying at “Sleep in Heaven” hostel, located outside the city centre. We had to pay in cash, so we had to go and get money out. We decided since we were already out, that we would just see as much as we could. We walked across the river to the main shopping district. We saw the National Museum and Christianebory. We sat in the castle’s court yard for a while then headed back to our hostel. We got money out and ate dinner at The Taco Shop. It was pretty good, but not quite as good as we hoped it would be. We walked back to the hostel, relaxed, read and then did a crossword before going to bed.

Day 2

We didn’t set an alarm because we had no specific plans. We woke up at 8:30am, got dressed and headed out in search of breakfast. We were walking toward the Tivoli centre as we thought it would be a good starting point. On the way we stopped and got bagels. It was like being in the states again; there are no bagels in Germany! We crossed Gyldenloves Bridge, passed the train station, and the town hall before coming to Tivoli. Tivoli is a large outdoor amusement park. It was closed when we got there and expensive so we didn’t really feel like waiting to go inside. Instead, we kept on walking past the Danish Design Center and NY Carlesberg Museum. After taking a quick rest we walked around the Orsteds Park. We sat on a bench and relaxed before going to the Botanical Gardens. I thought the first garden was prettier than the Botanical, so we didn’t stay as long there. Our next stop was the Royal Gardens and Rosenborg, the Royal summer house. The Royal Garden was impressive. We played cards there for a while and talked. We walk further through the city coming to Marble Church which was right in front of Amalienborg. We explored the church for a while then moved onto the castle. We walked through the castle to Amalie Haven Gardens and came out on Larsens plads which was on the water. On the other side, across the water, was a massive building, the Opera house. We walked along the water toward Kastellet, passing frined museum, St. Alban’s church, Gefion Fountain, and finally coming to the statue of the little Mermaid. We sang some songs from the movie for a while before heading toward Nyhaven harbor. After the harbor visit, we walked toward the hostel in search of food and pasted the Royal theater and Kongens statue on the way. We settled on McDonalds for our late lunch. We went back to the hostel, played mad libs, did a crossword, went online and decided it was time for dinner. We walked a ways before we settled on Pizza. After we ate, we went to see if there were any good movies playing. We made it just in time to see Wall-E, which was very cute! We walked home after the movies and went to bed.

Day 3 We woke up at 6:50am, got dressed and then checked out. It was raining which was a bummer because we had to walk to the metro station. It was early and nothing was open, so we had to wait to get breakfast. We got to the airport without any trouble. We checked in and went through security. We got something to eat and then exchanged out money. The flight was relatively on time and we were headed for Norway.

Denmark was a 3.5. Very pretty, and I'm not just talking abut the city. The people are all young and very attractive, both men and women!

Victoria and Ashley Trip!

LjubljanaAugust 26-28th 2008 The river walk has many resturants and an open air market!

Day 7 cont. I made it to Slovenia without any problems. I didn’t even get a stamp leaving Croatia, lame!! I arrived in Ljubljana at 10:30am. I went to the ticket office to buy my ticket in advance to go to Monaco. After I had my ticket I got a map and took a bus to the hostel. The hostel was really easy to find. I checked in and set my stuff down. I asked some questions before going to explore the city. I walked the crap out of Ljubljana!! It is an amazing city. I walked toward the castle, but didn’t go all the way up to it. Instead I sat out in front of the church and enjoyed the view. Then I walked along the river until I hit an open air market. At the market they were selling everything, from clothes, souvenirs, pottery, to gadgets and food! I got some postcards, a gadget or two and then continued to walk through the city. I had a pita for lunch, not traditional Slovenian food, but dang good! I walked some more along the river, sat and read for a while, then walked back to the hostel. It was dark by this time and I decided to stay in for the night. So I read and hung out until I went to bed.

Day 8 I had planned trip to Lake Bled for the day. I woke up well before I had to leave, so I got ready, packed a day bag and went to get some breakfast. I had a croissant and then headed to the bus station. The bus left Ljubljana at 10am and arrived in Bled by 11:15. (See bled for the rest of the post.) I left Bled at 3:30 and was back in Ljubljana by 5. I went to the hostel to take a nap before my train. I woke up at 10:30pm, read for a while, got dressed, ate some food, and watched TV until I had to leave.

Day 9 I walked to the train station at 1:15am. My train was due to leave at 2am. The train was 20+minutes late and there were a lot of people waiting to take the same train. The train was packed, but I had a seat reservation so I was able to get some sleep! We were in Italy by 5am. I got to Monaco at 3:45pm, a 13 hour train ride!!! AHHH

Ljubljana is a 5. Amazing, in the EU, on the Euro, cheap, clean, almost everyone speaks english and it's extreamly pretty. I would live there. One of my top two favorite countries in Europe!

BledAugust 27th 2008 Itsn't it just breath taking?

Day 8 cont. The ride from Ljubljana to Bled was short and nice. Once in Bled I headed straight for the lake! It was absolutely breath taking! I sat outside for a while, reading and getting some sun. I had some Ice cream that was delicious. Then I went for a little walk around the lake. At around 1pm, I decided to go into the recreational lake area. It is a section of the lake that has lockers, a food court, diving board, slide, docks, and grass to lie on. It was the prefect place to enjoy the lake and play in the water. I paid to get in, put my stuff in the locker and found a spot on the grass. It took me a long time to actually go into the water! I finally got the nerve to dive in and swim out to a dock. On the dock I enjoyed the sun and talked to some fellow travelers. They were Irish. After 30 minutes we decided to head back to shore. Once again it took me some time to get into the water! I didn’t really swim much after that. I just hung out and talk to the life guard for a while. Then I read and ate some French fries. I finally decided to leave at around 3pm. I walked back to the bus and caught the 3:30pm one. I had the most amazing time that day. I will definitely go back and I suggest everyone visit Slovenia.

Lake Bled is a 5. Its extremely pretty and relaxing. I wouldn't mind living there either!

ZagrebAugust 24-26th 2008You are looking at the train station! Isn't it pretty!

Day 5 cont. I arrived in Zagreb at 1:30pm. I could have taken a tram to the hostel, but I didn’t have a map and didn’t feel like getting lost. So I took a taxi instead. It was a 20min taxi ride and it gave me a chance to see a lot of the city. I checked in, got settled, and went for a walk to find food. I didn’t want to go too far, but everything was closed because it was Sunday so I didn’t really have a choice. I found a grocery store and bought some stuff for later, you know just in case snacks. I settled on pizza for dinner and took a tram back to the hostel to eat it. At the hostel I watched Scrubs and ate my dinner. Then I read for a while and then went to bed.

Day 6 I woke up early, dressed and then walked to the tram station. I bought a ticket and took the number 2 tram to downtown. I ate breakfast at a bakery then walked around the city. I went to Zrinjevac Park, Stross Mayerov trg, Tomis Lavov trg, and ended up at the train station. I checked times for trains to the coast, but there weren’t any. So I explored the city more. I went to the Botanical Gardens, the National Theater House, Marulicev trg, and then back toward the big square. I walked to St. Francis Cathedral and sat out front and read for a while. I visited another church up the road and sat and read again. I then had lunch at a Chinese restaurant. After lunch I took that tram to Zrtava, a big white round building! I read there for a while, and then walked back to the square. I got ice-cream, sat on a bench and ate it. I took the tram back to the hostel and hung out there for the rest of the night.

Day 7For this being my vacation I haven’t really slept all that much. I got up early, went to the train station, bought breakfast and then caught an earlier train to Ljubljana.

Croatia was a 3.5, a lot prettier and nicer than Serbia, but without the flare that Serbia had!

BelgradeAugust 22-24th 2008 View from the Citadel.

Day 3 cont. The bus from Sarajevo dropped us off at Belgrade bus station at 10pm. We had no Serbian Dinar so we got some money out, and then hailed a taxi. The plan was for me to go to her hostel and see if there were any cancellations. See I had booked a hostel for the next night but not tonight; because I was suppose to take an overnight bus, not the earlier one. When we got there the guy told us there were no rooms available so he called around and found a place for me to stay for the night. I took another taxi my hostel and my friend came with me, for moral support! I checked in dropped my stuff off, and then we went for a walk. We walked halfway toward her hostel and then parted for the night, with a plan to meet up the next day at 10am. I went back to the hostel and went to bed.

Day 4I woke up, got dressed, left my keys, and took a cab to my pre-booked hostel. I checked in, dropped off my stuff and went to meet my friend. We had breakfast at McDonalds, before we walked around the city. We walked all day with a few things on our list of things to do. We went to Republic Square, had a drink in the bohemian quarter, and then at lunch at a nice restaurant. After our late lunch we walked back to my hostel to ask about a movie theater in English. We figured out the times, made a plan to meet back at my hostel and then walk to the movie theater in 2 hours. The walk to the movie theater wasn’t long and we were there 30min before the movie started. We bought our tickets and went for a walk. We took some pictures of the Parliament building and then headed back to the theater. After the movies we walked back toward our hostels, parted ways, promised to keep in touch and said good bye. Back at my hostel I went to bed.

Day 5I woke up at 5:20am, got dressed, and had the hostel lady call a taxi for me. I arrived at the train station early, so I got some breakfast then sat on the train. In my cabin a German, Austrian, and Portuguese sat with me. We talked for a long time and laughed which made the ride go by quickly. I got off in Zagreb and they continued on!

Serbia was a 3.5. A lot more impressive, and bigger than I thought it would be.

SarajevoAugust 21-22nd 2008 A view from the "Turkish" side of the city! Day 2 cont.We arrived in Sarajevo, actually just outside the city, at 7:30pm. I was walking to a cab when a fellow traveler from Luxemburg asked me where I was staying. I told him that I had a place and that he could try and stay there too, so we shared a cab. We got to the hostel and they had room for him so we checked in. I was talking to this American Girl for like 30 minutes after arriving. My two new friends and I went out for some dinner. We walked through the city and found a bar/restaurant that was cheap so we ordered food. We talked and ate for a while then walked some more exploring the city by night. Then we went back to the hostel and watched TV for a while, then went to bed!

Day 3I woke up around 9am and got dressed. My American friend and I went out to explore the city. We were planning on taking a 3pm bus together to Belgrade that day so we had time to kill. We were walking in no direction in particular and stumbled upon a breakfast place that served waffles! YUM, they were good, cheap and we were satisfied! So we continued to walk checking out the people and architecture while talking. Sarajevo is an interesting city. Half of the city looks like a typical Eastern European city, but the other half has mosques, markets and a lot of Turkish influence. We explored both sides of the city, talking all the while. At around 12:30pm we went back to the hostel, rested, called a cab, and then grabbed our bags heading for the bus station. At the bus station we bought our tickets and ate lunch while we waited for our departure. On the bus we slept a little until our first stop when were able to walk, use the restroom and stretch. Back on the bus they put on two movies in English and we watched them, which made the bus trip fly by! By the second movie we were already in Serbia!

Sarajevo was a 3. It was a lot bigger, cleaner and more interesting that I had anticipated!

PodgoricaAugust 20-21st 2008A Thriving Metropolis!

Day 1My solo trip in August started in Stuttgart. I took a train to Dusseldorf to catch a flight to Montenegro. While in Dusseldorf I visited with some old coworkers before my flight, since it wasn’t until after 3pm. At the airport I checked in and headed to my gate. The flight was only a few minutes behind schedule and we landed in Belgrade on time. I didn’t have my boarding pass for the connecting flight yet and I was a little worried about how to get it. Then I found a ticket counter, without having to leave security and go through again. Then I proceeded to my gate with 10 minutes to spare. The plane to Podgorica was a little propeller plane, holding maybe 60 people. The flight was short and we were in Montenegro in no time. It was about 10pm when I finally left the airport to get a taxi. I had to wait 10 minutes before the taxi would take me to my hotel, which was odd since he was just standing there smoking! The taxi ride was 15 Euros, and inexpensive considering the ride was like 25 minutes! My hotel was really nice and I was glad to finally be there. I watched TV and went to bed around midnight. Day 2I woke up earlier than I wanted to. I watched TV for a while, and then went down to eat breakfast. Breakfast was surprisingly good. It was a typical cold buffet in Europe with bread, boiled eggs, cold meats, cheese and jam. But they also had fruit and juice! Well, after eating I took a shower and slowly got ready for the day. I didn’t have to check out until 12 and I wanted to stretch it as long as possible. I checked out, paid and ordered a taxi. I had to wait for 15 minutes for the taxi so I chatted with the front desk guy. My taxi took me through downtown to the bus station and I bought my ticket to Sarajevo. I had time to kill so I went out to explore the city. It wasn’t really a city to explore; I can tell you that, there were no sights. After a few hours of not seeing much and carrying my bag around I had had enough of Podgorica! So I went to the train station, had some lunch and read my book until the bus came. The bus ride was nice. Montenegro’s country side reminded me a lot of Macedonia and Kosovo’s, a few trees here and there, with sprawling hills. But Montenegro’s was better because we drove around a beautiful lake for 30 minutes, and it was great. After the lake we were in Bosnia, so for more about the trip, read my next post!

Montenegro was a 2.5. I'm sure the coast of Montenegro is amazing, but since I only saw Podgorica and country side I have to give it a 2.5. The 2 is for the city and I added the .5 for the lake!!

Cap Martin July 25-27th 2008View from the Villa where my sister lived in Cap Martin!

Day 1

I arrived in Nice at 11:40pm from Dusseldorf to visit my sister. She was living in a villa right outside Monaco in Cap Martin. She was waiting at the airport for me and we took a 120 Euro cap ride to the villa. What a rip off. Anyway we got there finally after a train ride, a flight, and a 30min taxi ride! We decided to sleep downstairs so we could talk. It was a garage converted into a very nice big room. After an hour of talking we decided to go to bed. When we went to go upstairs to use the bathroom, we realized we were locked out. We couldn’t get out of the room from that door, nor the door that leads to the driveway, both locked. So we finally got one of the windows open, but didn’t want to know on the door or ring the bell and wake people up. So in stead we used the hose to brush our teeth. Then we went to bed with the lights on, because the switch was outside the door! It was an interesting night, not one you would expect to have in a luxury villa in Cap Martin!

Cap Martin is a 4.5. It's beautiful, charming, rich and alluring!

EzeJuly 26th 2008

View from the top of Eze village.

Day 2

Night passed rather well despite what had occurred. We woke up early at around 7:30am after going to bed at 2pm. We went out through the window and into the front door of the villa. We told the story of last night and everyone had a good laugh. We ate breakfast, watched TV and then decided to go on a scooter ride. We took the scooter first to Eze, a small, but beautiful town north of Monaco. We drove a while, until we came to what looked like a fairly touristy spot. We parked, used the bathroom then walked up the hill to the church and garden. To get into the garden we paid 5 Euros, kind of a rip off once you realized how lame the garden was. It was a lot like the landscapes of the Arizonan deserts, lots of cactus, and sand. We hung out in it for a while, and then went back toward Monaco (see other blog for Monaco). We went back home after Monaco and watched a movie, then bed (not in the garage again!)

Eze is a 4. Its a small village, but the beaches are amazing. St. TropezJuly 27th 2008

I did not take this picture, but I wanted you to know what St. Tropez looked like. Day 3This was the big St. Tropez day. We were supposed to meet up with some people at a party down in St. Tropez, which is the Hamptons of France. This is where the rich people of Europe go to party and vacation. We took our time getting ready and left the villa at around 12. It took us about 2 hours to drive down there. We got a little lost trying to find the house where the party was, so we meet our friends in town, and then drove together. The house was large and the back yard endless. When you walk out to the backyard, where the party was, to the right was a covered patio, where the food was being served, and to the left was the dance floor and DJ stand. When you continued walking out of the door you a grand marble 2 directional staircase lead you down to the rectangular shaped pool. To the left of the pool was a grand bar, which was more crowded than the food area. Past the pool were scattered tables for guest to dine and chat. We ate the delicious buffet of grilled chicken, hamburgers, fruits, salads, pasta, and much more. We filled up quickly then went to mingle with the guests. After about 3 hours we had had enough, my sister and I weren’t really in the mood to stay and so we decided to visit St. Tropez more. We drove around then headed back toward Nice for my flight, cancelled so I had to stay at the villa until they could rebook my.St. Tropez is a 3. It is small and pretty, but its for a select bunch of people! Not me!

Monte-CarloJuly 26th 2008 View a long the cost of Monaco.Day 2cont.Monaco is a country within a country like the Vatican and San Marino. It is where the wealth of France and Europe goes to be with their kinfolk, and the other richies from around the world go to escape paying taxes! I don’t blame them, if I had endless amounts of cash I would live there too. It has beautiful architecture, breathtaking views, nice cars and a plethora of mansions. I got first hand experience at what Monaco was like because I went to visit my sister who was living in a villa in Cap Martin, which is right outside Monaco. We took a ride on the scooter around the city to explore its richness. It really is a world of its own. Monaco could possibly be richer than France itself, doubtful, but you never know! Anyway, we went to check what the open air, English original version theater was playing and at what time. I had already seen the movie that was playing, so we decided to go back to the villa and watch one there. It was a short trip to Monaco, but from the villa I could look down upon it and see its true beauty. It’s a place to visit whether you could ever afford to live there or not. I liked it a lot but I couldn’t spend a lot of time there, I would be aware of how little I fit in, every time I went anywhere. Nevertheless, I had a good time.

Monaco is a 4. It is a very rich, small, beautiful country.

VentimigliaJuly 28th 2008I took this picture from the car, before we parked! Not bad huh? Day TripThis trip was a continuation from the sister visit. We took a little trip over to Italy. We crossed the boarder like it was nothing. There was no boarder patrol, only a sign saying welcome to Italy! We entered Ventimigila, a small city right on the Italian boarder 30 mins from Monaco and about 1 hour from Genova. The city was very busy and it wasn’t easy finding a parking spot. We tried pulling into this one spot for 15 minutes but got laughed at and decided to try one that would actually fit the car. We finally got the car parked and then began walking, checking out stores as we went a long. We after stopping a few books stores and other random shops, we decided to sit in the park and talk for a while. After the park, we decided it was time to head back to the villa. So we took some pictures of the city and ourselves, made our way back to the car and drove toward France along the coastline.

Ventimiglia is a 2.5. Small, quite, and quaint.

Neuschwanstein, FüssenAugust 6th 2008 Every where I go there is always construction on the sights I'm visiting!! Annoying!

Day 2 cont. After arriving in Füssen, we still had to take a 10min bus to get nearer to the castle. Once at the castle area we had to walk for 5 minutes, so that we could stand in line for 1 hour! People really do spend so much of there lives waiting in lines! Is it all worth it? For Six Flags Magic Mountain rides heck yeah, for a castle? Not so much! Well anyway since we waited in line for so long, we missed the earliest English tour. So we had to take the 4:15pm tour, it was only 1:15pm. We explored a little of the surrounding area, ate lunch, and then decided to head up to the castle. Oh did I forget to mention that the walk up to the castle takes 25 minutes! How lovely! It wasn’t actually that bad, considering we were in no hurry whatsoever! When we made it to the top we still had 2 hours before our tour was due to began. To kill time we took some pictures of the outside of the castle. We also got some ice cream and just sat and waited, and waited and waited. 15 minutes before the tour, we took some pictures of the inner courtyard and view points. Then we went on the tour. On the tour we could see the 2nd, 4th and 5th floors of the castle, ending through the kitchen to the gift shop. The tour lasted a total of 30 minutes! 30 minutes, really? I have been to castles smaller than that, and much less famous, and the tours have lasted longer. What a freaking disappointment. I mean don’t get me wrong, I still had a lot of fun, but it’s a full day trip to see only see the inside for 30 minutes. Anyway, we walked a back route down to the bus, got dropped off at another bus stop, and then waited for that bus to take us to the train station. Then at the train station we had to wait 40 minutes for the train. We finally made it back to Munich at around 9:30pm!!

Neuschwanstein was a 3.5. Amazing but almost not worth the 12 hours that it takes to visit it!

MunichAugust 5-8 2008 Map of Munich for the Blind. How they get to it, no one knows!

Day 1It’s not actually day one of the Family trip! My dad arrived in Germany a day before we arrived in Munich. We took a 12 something train so that we would have to wake up too early. We arrived in Munch at around 3pm and checked into our hostel, 4U Hostel. We had a private room, not dorm style, and it was just like a hotel, except half the price and more teenage backpackers. After we checked in we decided to go explore a little of the city. We walked to Marienplatz, got some bratwurst at a stand and ate on a bench. After eating we walked toward the movie theater. We went to see Mama Mia and I’m glad it was better the second time! While we were there we bought our tickets for a movie in advance, just in case it was sold out! Then we walked back to the hostel and were in for the night. We went to bed early because we wanted to get up to go to Neuschwanstein the next day.

Day 2 Unfortunately we both woke up a lot earlier than we needed too, 7:30am. Our train didn’t leave until after 9, so we ate breakfast slowly and got ready. We headed for the train station at around 9 and caught an earlier train. We had a 30min layover in Buchloe, so we went to explore the city. We really only needed those 30 minutes to see the city. I mean it was cute, but extremely small. I’m betting that only old people live there! Anyway, we went back to the train station and got on our train, where we met up with Victoria (she came from Reutlingen). We arrived in Füssen at 12pm (See Neuschwanstein for the rest of this day in Füssen!) After we spent the whole day visiting the castle, we took a 7pm train back to Munich. We arrived in Munich at 9:30pm and ate dinner at subway, after checking Victoria into her room. We went to bed after midnight.

Day 3

Man, after day three of the “Family trip” I didn’t want to walk anymore; and that was only the beginning! I guess it doesn’t help that we went on a 3 hour walking tour of Munich! We meet the group at star bucks in the train station. Then we walked to the actual tour starting point, by the famous glockenspiel! On our tour we saw: St. Peters church, English Garden, old town hall, new town hall, Hofbrau haus, Max-Joseph-Platz, St. Jacob platz, Mary’s Colum, New Synagogue, the Church of Our Lady, and much, much more. We were beat after seeing so much and we were starving so we went to eat at the Hofbrau haus. We had traditional German food, and it was good. After lunch we went back to the hostel and rested before the movie. We got the movies, bought popcorn and then watched the Mummy 3. It was pretty good! Then we went back to the hostel and went to bed. Day 4After yesterday I was excited to be sitting on a train, even though it was for like 6 hours. Once again we woke up at 7:30 so we took our time leaving the hostel. We caught a 9:32 train from Munich to Venice St. Luca. The train ride was very pretty and it was nice to just sit back and relax!!Munich was a 4.5 the second time around. The walking tour made it all the more better, as did the English OV movies!!

VeniceAugust 8-11th 2008

Venice was magical and mysterious with so much to offer.

Day 4 cont.We finally arrived in Venice, found our hotel (Hotel Basilea) and checked in by 5:30pm. We were tired and didn’t want to see too much of the city without my sister, so we watched TV. We went for a walk/dinner hunt at around 7pm. We couldn’t really make up our minds as to which restaurant we wanted to eat at. So we passed a lot of places before settling on a somewhat expensive place. I got tortellini and Lee got Lasagna, they were the smallest portions I have even seen; and the total price was 23 Euros! Can you believe that crap? Anyway, after that annoying first dinner in Italy we decided to go back to the hotel and watch the Olympics. We were watching the Olympics for quite a while before we headed over to the train station to pick up my sister. Once there we learned the train was 45 min late, which was odd considering she transferred at a station that was only 10 minutes away. So she basically sat at Venice Mestre station for 45 minutes on the train, to go 10min! I was surprised that she wasn’t more annoyed, but she was always good at entertaining herself! Plus she got to see me, so of course she was happy!!! It was 2am when we finally got my sister, walked back to the hotel and went to bed!

Day 5

We woke up early, only because we didn’t want to miss breakfast, which was only served until 9:30. I went to eat first because we were sinking my sister into the hotel, and she insisted on eating breakfast! Who can blame her? Anyway, I went in first, ate, and then told them to come in because it seemed no one cared! After they ate breakfast, we all headed out to see Venice! We walked toward San Marco Square. On the walk we stopped in almost every store. My dad was determined to get all of his friends and close family a gift! We reminded him that we had plenty of cities left to see, and that he didn’t have to get them all there! Even after this remainder we still looked in all the shops, it wasn’t entirely his fault; my sister and I were also intrigued to see what Venice had to offer! Venice had a lot of handmade craft stores. There were glass blown objects, wooden toys, various hand sewn cloths, leather bound journals and much, much more! That day I think we each bought something. I got an authentic glass blown quill with ink, and a glass blown small multi-colored bottle. My sister bought a scarf and my dad bought a Venice inscribed apron and baby bib for his sister. We finally made it to the square, after all the shopping, and took a lot of pictures. It was well past noon at this point and we were hungry. So we walked away from the square (where the food is cheaper) and ate at a nice restaurant. Although the restaurant was nice the service was not! The waitress was a total jerk, but the pizza was freaking good! After lunch we went to a hotel to buy tickets for a concert to be held that night, by the square. We were tired after all this so we decided to go back to the hostel and rest before the concert started at 8pm. When we were fully rested we walked back to the square and made it to the concert on time. We saw Vivaldi’s four seasons. It was lovely, and short, a good combination for my dad and sister! When the concert was finished, an hour later, we hung out in San Marco square. We took some pictures listened to music and walked around. On our way back to our hotel we stopped and had a slice of pizza. At the hotel we watched TV for a while then hit the sack.

Day 6 Since we had seen most of Venice by now, we decided that a day trip to another city was in order. We caught a train around 12:30 to Treviso (see other blog). After eating lunch is Treviso we decided to take the train to Venice Mestre and see what it had to offer. Not much actually. It didn’t help that it was Sunday and everything was closed. The only thing we could really do was sit on a bench and hangout. Needless to say we didn’t do that for long! We headed back to the train station, and were back in Venice St. Lucia by 6pm. We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant, went back to the hotel to pack, and went to bed.

Day 7We woke up at 7:30am got dressed and went to breakfast. We all ate together this time, not really caring what they would say, since we were checking out. I was done eating first so I went to the train station to get the tickets. I had to wait in a long annoying line that is all too famous in Italy. Forever later, I had the tickets in my hand and was waiting for my sister and dad to arrive. I was a little agitated because the train was leaving soon and they still weren’t here. When they finally arrived we made our way to the track and found our seats on the train. Once we were settled I asked them what took them so long and my sister told me what happened: “When you left the guy at the front desk stopped us. He asked me which room I was staying in, and I told him I didn’t know. Then he told me that I was lying and that I was staying with you too (me and my dad). He yelled and said that I have to pay for breakfast. I said why? He yelled some more and we were going to pay him, but then he said ‘just get out of here’!” I was surprised at this tale and laughed at it, but my dad didn’t really think it was too funny! My sister and I laughed anyway. What did it matter? Everything worked out and we were leaving that place and heading to Florence now anyway!

Venice was a 3. Unique and pretty, but with a sinking future. What a shame.

TrevisoAugust 10th 2008

Like Venice, Treviso has many water ways. Unlke Venice, Treviso is dead on Sundays.

Day 6 cont.

From Venice St. Lucia we took a 12:30 train to Treviso, which is 45 minutes north of Venice. Upon arrival we looked for a map at the train station but didn’t find one, so we just started walking. We stopped in the first hotel that we saw and got a map there. Then we tried to decided what the point of interests where. There weren’t many. We stopped at McDonalds to share some curly fries and look at the map some more. We decided on a destination and headed there when the fries were gone. The destination was just a statue, which wasn’t very impressive. It was quite and all the stores were closed except food places because it was Sunday, so we ate gelato while sitting on some stairs. After Gelato we went to find lunch (kind of backwards uh)! We had pizza once again! It was pretty good, but it was ruined by all the smokers sitting by us. Yum, pizza and tobacco! Anyway after lunch we headed back to the train station since there really wasn’t anything else left to see. It was a short day trip but it was cheap and we wanted to explore more of Italy.

Treviso was a 2.5. I think if the stores were open and people were out, it would have ranked higher. But since there were neither I have to rank it at a 2.5.

FlorenceAugust 11-15 2008 Ponte Vecchio bridge at night!

Day 7 cont.

We arrived in Florence at around 11:30am; we took a taxi to our hotel from the train station. Once again we only had a hotel room for two people, so we had to figure out where the third person was going to stay. Our hotel was too expensive per night, so we got a room at the hotel next to ours. We put lee in that room and my sister and I shared the other. After we figured all that out, we headed out to explore the city. We saw a lot of sights but we mainly shopped. Florence has a lot of open air markets with many different trades selling their products. We got some leather journals and scarfs for ourselves and friends. After shopping we needed a little sitting break and a snack. So we bought some of the best gelato that I have ever had, which it better be for 4 Euros per scoop! After our expensive snack and rest we walked back to the hotel for a 2 hour break/nap before dinner. For dinner we found this mom and pop eatery with Panini’s. It was cheap and delicious! After that it was bed time!

Day 8 We decided to take a day trip since we had pretty much seen all of Florence that we wanted. We originally wanted to go to San Marino but it just didn’t seem worth the hassle. So we went to Le Cinque Terre and Pisa instead (see other post). We didn’t arrive back in Florence until 10:30 or so, and we were hungry. We found a not-so-good eatery still open and ate our sandwiches on the steps of the cathedral. After that we went to the famous bridge in Florence. We walked across the bridge towards our hotel. By the time we got to our hotel and fell asleep it was well past 2am.

Day 9 This was one of the first times we actually got to sleep in. We were packed, breakfasted and in our taxi to the train station by 11. We had to wait in another long line at the train station to get our seat reservations. We boarded the train and were on our way to Milan by 12:00.

Florence was a 3.5. I liked it a lot more than Venice!

PisaAugust 12th 2008

The Baptistery of San Giovanni, The Duomo, and La Torre di Pisa.

Day 8 cont. We took the train from Le Cinque Terre to Pisa. Our goal for Pisa was the Leaning Tower! We got out of the train station and found the bus we were to take to the tower. We passed our stop on the bus and had to get off at the next one and then go back! We took a lot of pictures around the Field of Miracles and hung out there for a while. Then we took a taxi back to the train station, since the bus has stopped running. We made caught our train on time.

Pisa is a 2. The tower is a 3! There isn't much to do in Pisa except visit the tower! Le Cinque TerreAugust 11-13th 2008 Isn't it beautiful?

Day 8 cont.. The train ride to Le Cinque Terre was 2.5 hours, but worth every minute. Le Cinque Terre or the five lands, is a string of coastal cities. The cities are small but very colorful with the best views from the ocean looking toward the shore. We went to the 4th farthest city Venizza, and then took a ferry along the coast to the Riomaggiore. We shopped there for a while until the next train was due to arrive. At the train station we got gelato and then caught our train to Pisa!

Le Cinque Terre is a 4. Very beautiful and picturesque.

MilanAugust 13-15th 2008

Castello Sforzesco, Milan, Italy.

Day 9cont. We arrived at Milano Centrale station at 3pm. We decided that we would get our tickets for the train ride to Switzerland; instead of waiting until the actual day of travel. After getting the tickets we got a map and asked which metro stop would take us closest to our hotel. We got off at the stop suggested and had to walk for 20 minutes, past two metro stops, until we actually found our hotel. Once there we got a room for 3 people and rested for a few minutes before going out to find food. We walked for a while before settling on this bar/restaurant. We paid 7 Euros for a drink, but got an all you can eat buffet with it! It was an extremely over priced drink but not considering you get the food to! Anyway, we stopped at a book store on the way back to your hotel and my sister and I bought some books. We went back to Hotel Ritter and watched TV or read. I went to bed around 11:30pm and my sister and dad didn’t come in until after 1am.

Day 10 Upon waking up we all thought that we had seen enough of Italy and were ready to be in another country. Unfortunately we still had another full day left in Italy! Anyway, we ate breakfast then headed out to explore the city. We ended up at a park where Castello Sforzesco was. We toured the castle by ourselves, taking pictures, and enjoying ourselves. We walked through a couple souvenir places and bought one gift. We walked further along the castle grounds and sat on a bench near a pond. We talked for a while. By this time it was after noon and we were getting hungry. So we walked toward some restaurants and settled on a little bistro with pizza. Of course my sister and I got pizza, since we were leaving Italy the next day, and it would be the last good pizza we would have for a long time! My dad got lasagna; he already had had enough pizza to last a year! After lunch we found where all the tourist were hanging out; by a grand cathedral on a large square, near the high-end shopping. We hung out there for a while, people watching, and then walked through the shopping district. We couldn’t afford any of the clothes in those stores but it was still fun to see all the latest summer fashion. At the end of the shopping district we found a McDonalds, went to the restroom and then headed toward our hotel. We stopped at an ice-cream parlor on the way back and got crepes and ice-cream. We hung out at the hotel for the rest of the night.

Day 11 We woke up and headed for the train station. With our tickets already purchased and in hand we boarded the train and took our seats. We were on our way to Interlaken by noon!

Milan was a 2.5. It was the wrong time of year to visit. All of the locals go on vacation in August!

Sliema and VallettaOctober 18th-21st 2008 View from St. Elimo's Fortress, Valletta, Malta!

Day 1This trip started on a Saturday in Reutlingen, with just myself and my backpack! I took a 2:49pm bus to Stuttgart airport. I checked in, boarded the plane and were airborne on schedule at 4:30pm. We landed in Malta after a rather long and uneventful flight. Although I had read the entire flight and wasn't actually bored, the flight still seemed long. I think it's becuase I hadn't been on a 2.5 hour flight in a really long time! Anyway, after landing I left throught the arrivals gate expecting to find my pre-arragnged ride, but was dissapointed when I saw that he was nowhere to be found. So I had to call the hostel to see what the deal was and they told me he would be there in 20 min. Which meant that he was leaving now, and was not stuck in traffic! I was starving and had time to kill, and when I excited the building I saw those golden arches! They were calling me to them, so as not to dissapoint them, I walked with my backpack on, through the airport parking lot toward them. It was the busyiest Mcdonalds drive through line I have ever seen! Thank goodness the inside wasn't as bad. I ordered quickly and walked even more quickly back to wait for my ride. Meanwhile, I had eaten my fries and cheeseburger! Shortly after I got back to my waiting post, my ride arrived. We drove in a convertable to the hostel where he (the owner/driver of the hostel) checked me in. I asked the necessary questions and went to my room. I settled in, watched tv, then went to bed.

Day 2

I woke up surprisingly early considering how awful I had slept that night. I dressed, ask for a map, got directions to a grocery store, and went to get milk! I came back shortly, and ate my cearal in my room and watched BBC world news. Then I headed out for some exploring. The night before I had learned that Malta had its own language, Maltese, but just about everyone there spoke English anyway. People from all over Europe came there to learn English, you know instead of going to the UK!! Anyway, all the signs, advertisements, menus, and movies were in English. They even drive on the opposite side of the road like the English; however the city resembled nothing of streets of London. It was very much like Tunisia with a French and Spanish flare. I noticed all this while walking toward my destination... the movie theater!! Well I wanted to explore, but I also wanted to see which movies where playing and when. So I walked the 40 mins to the theater, so that I could explore Sliema, St. Julian’s, and finally St. Georges bay (where the theater was). I checked the movie times and bought tickets for two shows, and then I went to the beach. I was at the beach for an hour or so reading, when I got hungry. I ate at this place inside the mall; it wasn't bad, but a little expensive! After lunch I headed to the movies and watched my two films. It was 6:30pm when I got out. I walked home quickly, since I didn't want to get lost in the dark trying to find the hostel. It only took me 30 or so minutes this time! I ate cereal for dinner, watched a movie and then went to bed!!

Day 3

I decided that I would take a bus first thing after breakfasting, to Valetta, the capital. I was at the bus stop by quarter past nine, and waited for 30 minutes before the next bus came. The ride to Valletta was nice, a little bumpy, but short. We arrived at the bus terminal, which is really a very large round-a-bout, full of busses going any which way they please! Despite the kayos I found my way onto a busy street with many shops. I deduced that this was the main shopping area of Valletta. There were many people milling about and I became one of them. I walked until I hit the water, then I walked along the water, and took plenty of pictures. I saw St. Elmo's Fortress, some other ruins and a garden, before looping back to the main shopping street. I was a little bored and wanted to be on the beach, so I took the next bus to St. George's bay. I arrived there at 11am and laid out for a few hours before I saw another two movies! Once again it was 6:30pm when I was walking home, and again it was 7:00pm when I arrived back at the hostel. I ate my cereal for dinner and watched 2 movies again before going to bed!

Day 4

Thankfully I woke up early, so I could enjoy the beach one last time. I walked along the harbor until it was time for me to catch the bus. At the hostel, I got my bag, dropped off the keys and headed to the bus stop. The bus ride was the same as before, short and bumpy, but nice. I waited for the airport bus, which took 20 minutes to finally come. I was at the airport at 11am after a 45min bus ride, this time long and bumpy, but nice. I waited in line for 40 minutes to check in, made it to my gate, and sat outside for 30 mins before boarding. We took off late, as usual, but arrived in Stuttgart on time!

Malta was a 3.5. Warm, sunny and interesting... but it didn't have that exuberant feeling that so many other beach towns do!

InterlakenAugust 15-18th 2008

The Swiss Alps are amazing.

Day 11 cont. We arrived in Interlaken Switzerland around 2pm. I was extremely bitter because the weather was terrible. Out of all the cities and places for it to be raining, it had to be Switzerland! AHHH. Well we didn’t really know where our Bed and breakfast was so we had to take a taxi. I got out some Swiss Franc for us to use and we got into the taxi and headed for the B&B. We were a little pissed that we took the taxi because it was only a 10 min walk away from the train station. But since we had no idea where it was in the first place it didn’t matter, we had to take it. Anyway, we check in, dried off and relax a little before going to get something to eat. That task was very difficult, because everything was closed until after 4pm. So we ate at a bakery and then walked in the drizzling rain through city. My sister and I didn’t want to be out in the rain so we went back to the B&B. My dad continued to shop. Later that evening we took Nina to the hostel where she was staying since the B&B was full for the night. We dropped her off and told her that we would pick her up in the morning. We watched TV for a while before going to bed.

Day 12As promised we met Nina at her hostel at 10am. Then we went next door to rent scooters. We rented two of them, Nina and I rode together and my dad on the other. We had so much fun riding them around. Granted I had done it a year before with my friend Brian, but it was fun showing them all my favorite places. We went to Beatenburg, around the lakes, and then to some water falls in the Alps. The four hours we had rented them for went buy really fast. We had a blast and it was great weather, a little on the chilly side, but sunny. We turned the scooters in then walked to Migros to get a cafeteria style lunch. We decided to go the movies in Bern to kill the rest of the afternoon. We went back to the B&B first to change and grab some stuff for the train. We took a 4:30 train and an hour later we were in Bern. We walked toward the movie theater and bought our tickets in advance, and then we just walked around the city and killed time until the movie started! After the movie we basically sprinted to the train station so that we could catch the next train perfectly. Back in Interlaken I stayed at the hostel this time and my sister stayed at the B&B. I got to the hostel and went to bed right away!

Day 13 After waking up at 9am, but sleeping better than I had at the B&B, I headed to the B&B to meet my sister and dad. We just hung out around the B&B for most of the day because we decided not to go to Jungfrau. It was really cold and we didn’t have the proper clothes to go up to that altitude! We did our own things, I was reading by the B&B, Nina went to the park and wrote, and lee went shopping. We all met back at the B&B when we were hungry for dinner. We had the best dinner at this hotel-restaurant than we had at any place so far on our trip. First we had cheese fondue, which wasn’t good at all, although it was suppose to be famous in Interlaken. For our main meal Nina and I split this breakfast type dish; it had potatoes, eggs, bacon, sausage, cheese and a gravy sauce all mixed together! YUM! Then for desert they had a chocolate fondue! We walked back to the B&B very satisfied after that meal. We hung out and watched TV for a while or read then went to bed.

Day 14We woke up at the butt crack of dawn in order to catch our train. We caught our 7am train to Reutlingen, Germany! The end of our family trip!

Interlaken was a 3. I had a great time with the family, but the weather wasn't as good as last year!