Day 1/Prague

So, today (really a combination of Saturday and Sunday s my day got jammed together a bit). My flight was eally long but I did get to watch a fewmovies on the plane that hadbeen in my Netflix queue for sometime (Last Chance Harvey, Doubt & Reservation Road).

I am doing fine. I am a bit lonely but that is too be expected, I haven't been here long enough to really get to chat with anyone. I basically walked around the Old Town part of the city today. Weaving in and out and gtting all kinds of torned around, but actually seeig quite a bit. Along the way I listened to a great tour guide, so I think I am going to take his tur tomorrow (I finally found a brochure about it an they are free, tips recommnded). So at 10:30 am that is where I should be. I will even learn something about the ton, what a thought. I lso stopped in at the Tourist Information office and was tld where to catch the bus for Cesky Krumlov the day after tomorrow although I am still not clear on how much to pay. Ah well, it will work out somehow.

The prt of town I was in today really does come stright out of a history book. With winding cobblestone streets, crowded sidewalks, oldbuildings with amazing facades and churches/synagogues/buildings that can say they ahve been here since the 1200s. What a history.

I want to try and go into one of the Franz Kafka exhibits while I am here as well. I just didn'thave thepatience to go in and do too much today. I slept on the plane but a few more hours would have been good.

So, I a doing well, I have tomorrow in Prague before hading off to Cesky Krumlov the next day and then Vienna. I will write again soon. Probably tomorrow as my internet access is free here.

Slovakia

I just realized that Bratislava, Slovakia is only an hour train ride from Vienna. Maybe I will head over there for a day as well. I would love to see another country. :) I might be opverly ambitious but I do love the single day visits to countries.

Almost Time

So my flight out is on Saturday at 1pm. It seems like it is really sneaking up on me. On Sunday I did all of my packing, well 98% of it. S, I feel much better about that.

I made a few mistakes with my trip scheduling, but I have it all worked out now.

May 30 - Leave US
May 31 - Prague
June 1 - Prague
June 2 - Cesy Krumlov
June 3 - Vienna
June 4 - Vienna
June 5 - Vienna
Night train to Venice
June 6 - Venice- Leave on cruise.

So, I am excited and a bit nervous. I don't feel completely prepared for this trip for some reason but I am sure it will work out to be a great time.

Less than a month to go

So my trip is pretty set up. I have my plane ticket and have reserved hostels for my 2 cities I will be visiting on my own.

I am flying out on May 30th, arriving in Prague, Czech Republic on June 1st. I am staying at The Prague Spot Hostel which is in a great location from June 1st through June 3rd. Then traveling to Vienna, Austria where I am staying the night of June 3rd and 4th at Westend city hostel, before taking a night train to Venice, Italy on June 5th. On June 6th I arrive in Venice at like 8am and board the ship for the cruise around 11am.

So, I have to all worked out. On the cruise I really want to take the all day tour of the cities of Turkey but the other 3 ports I hope we can just waunder around. We get back into Venice early on the Saturday June 13th and I fly out at 6:25am on June 14th, so maybe I will just stay at the airport that night. Should be a great 2 weeks.

Work in Progress

So, I was doing quite a bit of research this weekend for my trip in June. I don't think I mentioned before, but I am planning on a week on my own before the cruise with my friends.

I have my plane ticket and I am flying into Prague, Czech Republic.

So, here is how it is shaping up.
June 1-arrive Prague
June 2-Prague
June 3-Travel to Vienna, Austria
June 4-Vienna, Austria (hopefully night train to Slovenia)
June 5-Lubjana, Slovenia
June 6-Travel to Venice, Italy and leave on cruise at 5pm

So, I am really excited about Prague. I wanted to go to krakow or Budapest but they take me in the wrong direction when I have to be in Venice, Italy on a set day.

Next trip is almost planned

So, my friend Sara is putting together a cruise for a group of us (5 in total). I am really excited about the cruise. I will get to see Venice again, which I loved. We are setting off on a cruise to Croatia, Turkey and Greece before returning to Venice. I am really excited about the trip, spending it with friends, and enjoying the ride.



Itinerary Map

When you cruise to the "Cradle of Civilization," there's a natural tendency to be more, well, civilized - more relaxed. It's just a totally different feeling. The sun is warmer and so are the smiles. The colors more vibrant, the cuisine a little livelier. Mediterranean people know the secret of living life to the fullest. Best part is, they're willing to share.


Sailing Itinerary

Day Port
06-Jun Venice, Italy
07-Jun Dubrovnik, Croatia
08-Jun Cruising
09-Jun Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey
10-Jun Santorini, Greece
11-Jun Corfu, Greece
12-Jun Cruising
13-Jun Venice, Italy

I decided to take the week before the 7 day cruise for a trip of my own. So, i am flying into Prague, Czech Republic on June 1 (I leave home on May 30th of course). I will then hope to go to Budapest, Hungary and Vienna, Austria before going to Venice, Italy to head off on the cruise. I will leave the morning after we get back in (June 14th I fly home).

I haven't quite worked out the timing on my first week yet, but I will soon.

Cool Widget

It would be great to win a surprise trip.

North America

3%

Attractions in North America

Weekend in Portland

I went to the Portland area on Friday to spend time with my friends. I had not seen them in quite some time. I stayed with Sara in Tigard and we did venture around a bit even if not as much as we originally planned.So, Friday, I got out of the house by 9am and headed down to Portland. I made great time, and enjoyed a few snacks on the way. It was a nice drive and I made it tere just about the time I expected, even with drawbridge being up. So, I went down to Sara's in Tigard and we chatted while waiting for David to make his way. Once he did, we talked a few minutes before heading to a bowlingalley/arcade near by. It was great un, and we played two games. The only huge downside was that we requested bar and snack bar service and after an hour of bowling no one came to heklp, they checked in at all th other lanes but skipped ours. It was quite madding. When our bowling time was up, we headed to the bar to have a drink and more importantly something t eat, we were starving. We ended up eating a huge plate of nachos. Shortly thereafer Erin naughtylilsaint joined us, and she bought even more nachos. After eating and talking, we decided to play some arcade games. I don't remember ever playing before, but it was fun. In te end I had enough tickets for a deck of playing cards and gave the extras to david. Then it was off for some real food. We ended up at PF Changs, and the wait was 45 minutes to an hour, so we walked over to Borders to pass the time. When we were finally seated, our food choices were quite good, and it as nice to sit down. After dinner we went back to Sara's, talked for quite a long time, before watching Sydney White on DVD. I actually quite enjoyed it. It was almost 4am when David and Erin left, Sara and I stopped talking and we went to sleep.

Saturday Sara and I had a difficult time getting out of bed. Not only from being tired, but also because thr weather was not very good. It rained and rained. We finally ventued out for some wonderful sandwiches, before returning home to watch Moliere. It was pretty good, even though it was a bit odd. Finally it was time to go to The Blue Man Group concert we had been waiting for. We got there nice and early, and walked through the rain to find out the doors did not open for quite some time and it would be 15 minutes before the bar/restaurant openned. So, we played with a few of the glow sticks we bought. Then headed over for a drink, and a quesidilla and finally a slice of chocolate cake while we waited for the doors to open. When they did we headed in, found our seats and cracked the rest of our glow sticks. It turns out we had far too many for our own good, so we gave them away to children. The concert itself was amazing. My friend Sara put it best in her blog...It was so friggin' awesome!!!! The energy in the Rose Garden was humming and everyone, except for the couple infront of us - who seemed to be falling asleep - was very excited to be there. There was yelling, screaming, head banging, fist pumping, jumping, dancing, laughing, carrying on, and all around hullaballoo. They had a live band behind them that rocked! The opening act - DJ Mike Relm - who was amazing as well. It was great fun, and we were bouncing and excited for hours afterward. In fact David even came down when he got off work, and we played Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture, which of course he won easily.

It was a good night and the the next morning I had to go home, so I packed up my stuff. We ended up meeting David in Portland at a tiny whole in the wall hotcake place, with great but unhealthy of course food. I had a huge meal and didn't need to eat again all day. The drive home was good, even if there was a bit of snow in places. Once home, I relaxed fr a bit before dad and I worked on cabinet painting. Not for long but we did do a bit.

All in all it was a good weekend. I was nice to see my friends, and to have a bit of fun and the concert was just amazing.

March?

I am having a moment where I really want to travel. I feel the walls closng in an I want achance to fly away before a job comes through and life gets even more crazy.

So, I had weird thought that I could probably swing a 2 week trip to Europe in March, be back in time for jobs or whatever, not go broke because it would be a shorter trip and in the off season.

I am thinking...
Amsterdam 8, 9
Brussels 10, 11
Munich 12, 13
Vienna 14, 15, 16
Prague 17, 18, 19
Berlin 20, 21, 22

I am thinking from March 7th to March 23rd. In two weeks which means 2 or 3 days a piece but hey it would be a great trip.

I was just looking at plane tickets and it is about $700 for the roundtrip flying into Amsterdam and out of Berlin. Hostel stays for my trip will be between $400 and $450. The train tickets which add up to about $500. So without factorin in spending moey it is $1,600, with spending money I figure about $3,000.

It is something to think seriously about. I know I could swing the money, especially if I had a job fr the entire month of February, or maybe 2 jobs, whatever it takes. This is a month of making it happen and this I want to make happen.

Trip back on

So, I have been talking to Martin whom I met in London on my last backpacking adventure and I think my trip is back on. I really want to go, and although I ahve not been keeping up my research I really want to go to Eastern Europe before I turn 26, so my fares and such are cheaper. I had thought my trip would not happen what with this job I can't seem to end, and finances, but is looks like I will be sans job in August, which means I can either take another job right away or wait and backpack through Eastern Europe in September. I know it will be difficult financially but Eastern Europe is less expensive then Western Europe so I might just be able to pull it off.

Next trip to Eastern Europe

I have decided to take the month of September for another backpacking trip. This time to Eastern Europe. What I have figured out so far is I want to start in Amsterdam and work my way all the way south to Greece and fly out of Ameterdam.

I have been playing around and here is what one of my intineraries look like.
-Amsterdam 3 days
-Brussels 3 days
-Berlin 3 days
May need a travel day here
-Krakow 3 days
-Prague 3 days
Cesky Krumlov and Ceske Budejovse (can't quite read my writing, but I think that is the spelling)
-Vienna 3 days
-Budapest 3 days
-Ljubliana or Zagreb 1 days
-Split, Croatia 3 days
-Ancona, Italy Boat 1 day
-Greece 3 days
-Athens 4 days

I was also thinking I could head almost straight south-east from Amsterdam to Greece.
So hit a lot of countries.
-Netherlands
-Belgium
-Germany
-Poland
-Czech Republic
-Austria
-Hungry
-Romania
-Bulgaria
-Greece
What that would mean is that I have have about 3 days per country because I am figuring a month total although that might be too ambitious and I may need 6 weeks for this trip.

Photos on Flikr

So, I finally finished putting my photos up on Flikr. Sorry it took so long, I forgot I hadn't actually finished the project. So, http://www.flickr.com/photos/frenchtweety/ should have all of my pictures. I had to combine Switzerland and Italy, frankly because the Switzerland ones were not very interesting. I hope you enjoy them.

More Pictures

So, I am finally getting around to uploading my pictures from Europe. It has taken forever due to no having the best internet. Dial up and uploading photos do not tend to go hand in hand. If you have a facebook account I ahve completed uploading there. If not I have London and France uploaded at http://www.flickr.com/photos/frenchtweety/. I am working on uploading the rest but I though you should be able to see the work in progress.

Trip in Pictures

So, I finally made it through the 873 pictures I took on my trip. It took quite some time, but I definately had some good ones, I also have some terrible ones but you win some you lose some. This process got me thinking that I should post a single picture from each city I visited and tell you a bit about it and why it was worth posting for you. It will be a good challenge for me and hopefully interesting for you.

So, here it goes. My favorite from London is actually already posted, so I will pick a second one. It would be silly to just pick the one. This one was actually taken on the same day as the one from the bridge. I like this one beacuse it is the Royal Mews with the London Eye peaking over the top of the building. Martin and I had waundered a bit through the park before almost stumbling on the gravel practice area and then the building which was stunning. The sky and clouds were also quite extra ordinary. It was just a good time and it looks so British.

Next is Cambridge but my pictures are quite terrible from this daytrip. The reason is that is rained and hailed while I was there. The buildings are beautiful but also so very similar that it is hard to pick a picture. This one seems to sum up the college atmosphere of cambridge. I was actiually just trying to stay dry during a particularly strong burst of rain and it happened to be a school of some sort. The students were wearing uniforms and it just had this collegiate feel.




Paris the beautiful city was next. I had so very many pictures of Paris both this time and last time that it is hard to make a choice. So, I am picking the weird and trippy picture of the side of the Centre Pompidou. This is the inside out modern art museum. The pipes on the outside are color coded by their function and it is just a strange and intriguing building overall. So, enjoy the funkiness of this building.


I made a daytrip to Versailles the former palace of Louis the 14-16th. It is amazing and the literal size of a city. It was amazing both for the palace as well as for the gardens. The fountains, the actual garden space, and of ourse Marie Antoinette's private little village. I had a really hard time chosing just one picture to sum it all up. I finalyl decided nothing would sum it up and picked a picture of a bit of the gardens with a temple for Aphrodite in the middle, It is elegant and a little remote but a real part of the gardens. I just thought it was pretty.


After Paris I took a trip to Caen and Bayeux in Normandy. I actually did not take very many pictures during this basically 24 hours, but well, this one is pretty ok. This is a picture of the Catherdral in the center of Bayeux. Bayeux, the home of the tapestry was also the first city, all be in tiny to be liberated during WWII. This catherdral was the refuge for the people of the city and survived the onslaught. It is still the center of the city and a great meeting place for the people.



I next moved on to Alsace and the city of Strasboourg which I was skeptical if I would like the first night but ended up being a great place to spend a day. This picture is of a traditional Alsacian house in the typical style. If I remember correctly it is the oldest one in town. It was built by the grocer in town who used the arcades underneath for selling the produce. It is really a neat building with the exposed beams and is in the main square. The cathedral is next to it, which put it in the rich district in the past.





On to Switzerland. My first city was Lausanne in the French part of Switzerland. I really did not enjoy this city or the people very much, but well, they have a really big lake that looks almost like an ocean. There are sail boats and gulls galore. It was definately the nicest place I could find to relax after the stress of the trip and the terrible people at my crappy hostel for the night. The smell of the water reminded me of ebing home in some way, which actually might be why I did not have a good day there.

Thankfully I moved on to a great city next. Bern in the German speaking part was great, a wonderful place to walk around, lots of shops, but also a playground behind the cathedral that overlooked the city and the river running through it. This picture is from the little playground. It shows the mountains and the river, two of the most important parts of the city I think. It does not live up to the beauty of Bern, but well, I still like it.


After leaving Berne was Lucerne. This picture choice was actually quite simple. The most touching display on my entire trip was this lion in agony. It is amazing to stand under this memorial for Swiss mercineries from the French. The lion is caught in the wall in the final moments of its life and the agony and pain on it's face is palpable. It was one of the very few times I cried on the entire trip.

My next stop was Interlaken. A place to recharge in an area that felt like Montana only cleaner. I don't really have much to say about Interlaken itself, but the Alps were neat and relaxing. The hostel I stayed at was definately in my top three, both for everything that they offered and the great people that stayed there. I ended up picking a picture of the Alps with a paraglider in the shot. I wanted to go paragliding but I chickened out and didn't.

After a nice time in Interlaken, I moved on to Zurich. I actually did not spend very much time there, which was ok. It was enough time to find the national musuem which was in a great old castle style building, with neat little accents of leaves built into the stones. It was definately worth looking at and although I didn't go inside the outside was very well done. A nice way to finish my time in Switzerland.





Off to Italy. My first stop was Milan. It turned out to not be a very interesting city as I did not have the money or love of fashion to make it worthwhile. The ultra gothic cathedral was rather cool though. It seemed a bit like the textbook description of gothic times about 100, I loved it for it's over the top architecture. It definately had style all it's own.







Hooray for Venice. I really loved this city, from the cute shops all selling the same thing, to the canals filled with boats and gondolas to the crowded tourist areas of Piazza San Marco. I enjoyed walking around and getting lost, listening to a group of women talk even though I could not understand them, and most of all walking over so very many bridges.


Florence may have started out being rainy and uncomfortable, but the city itself was beautiful, vibrant and had amazing wine. One of the best places was standing in the campground and being able to see the city from above, especially as the sun was setting and the light was amazing. It was easy to see why this was the home of the renaissance and artists such as Michelanglo. Especially with a catherdral as unique and awe inspiring as theirs. So, as my picture for this amazing city I pick the catherdral in all of it's glory.




Siena was a surprisingly nice place with so much more to see than I expected. As the home of Catherine of Siena her house as well as the church she prayed at was of special interest. There was also a zebra striped cathedral and Il Campo which is the town square as a shell shaped brick square with a tower in the middle. I think Il Campo was where I spent the most time, including climbing the tower and reading on the bricks. It is also the perfect people watching local. So, it is my pick for this one picture journey.




Rome is simply overwhelming. There is so much to see and do that it is almost impossible to choose. From the Vatican to the remains of ancient Rome it has so many aspects and faces. I am not religious, but the Vatican was simply amazing. What really caught me was that around every corner there seemed to be another piece of ancient Rome. That being said, the ancient pieces are my favorite. I picked this picture because it seems to sum up the importance of the history of Rome and how phenomenal the remains are even if they just give a small idea of the greater whole.

Pisa was a quick stop on my coastal trip to Nice, France. The best I can do for this very quick stop of about 2 hours is a typical shot of the tower with a bit of the other buildings in it's compound. I don't really know what else to say about it, it is a tourist destination and well, I think I saw more tourists then actual sites in my quick stop.






Nice is the perfect place for me to have ended my trip. The sun, beach, people watching and French atmosphere were a great way to unwind and prepare to go back to the reality of the states. Here is the token picture of the beach and water as I spent an entire day laying or sitting there enjoying the sun and reading a book.




So, I hope you have enjoyed this one picture each trip through Europe.

London Picture

So, I decided to start going throughmy 873 pictures from Europe. It is actually quite a task. I managed to make it through editing my pictures from London. I was going to work on the Cambridge ones but none of them really turned out too well, it was raining and hailing while I was there so the colors are nt very good, and everything just looks sort of washed out. Anyway this one was my favorite of all my London pictures. I took it the first night from Waterloo Bridge which was the one Martin took me to.

Home again, home again

Basically my last night in Nice I began my journey home and it took close to 2days to actually getting home, but I made it. At 9pm I took a train to Marseille from Nice. It took 3 hours, but it was rather cozy in a reclining seat and I had a nice nap. Once in Marseille I had no way to get to the airport, which would have been a problem, except that I had one day left on my rail pass in France, so having a ticket in hand I convinced the rail workers to let me spend the night in the train station. There were 4 of us, and it was sort of like camp but with uncomfortable wooden seats as a bed. I survived though and took the earliest shuttle bus to the airport. I got there at about 6am, bought breakfast, checked in, went through security and made my way to a gate close to mine, where I curled up and slept for a couple hours. My it was comfy. As more people arrived I moved and began reading my time away beofre my 10am flight. That flight lasted an hour to Frankfurt, Germany. Where I had to change planes to go to WA DC. The Frankfurt security was quite intense, my passport was checked, and then I had to have my bag and my person go through security again. Ah the joy of a frisk search and being picked to have my sweatshirt tested. I made my flight with a few minutes to spare though, so all was good. That flight was nice and long so I dozed off and on. The next plane change was not so pleasent though. In WA DC I had to go through customs, which is normal but considering I only had a carryone bag it was terrible to have to wait through all the checked baggage as well. It took forever and I just knew I would never make my flight. Between the customs, and more security checks, I was no where near my gate when final boarding was called. So, I set off running and was literally the last person on the plane before they closed the gates. Bah, running withmy backpack. I finally made it to Seattle at 8pm Pacific time.

I ended up spending 19 hours in transit from Marseille. Yikes, plus the train trip etc.

I was so happy to go home, Mom made me eggs which I had really missed and I gave my parents their gifts and told them some of my stories.

I am really glad to be home and surprsiingly not very tired. There is so much going on in my head now that I am sure I will have further posts about my trip to come.

Pisa and Nice

I left Rome early, very early actually in order to make everything fit in my day.

I was excited to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The walk from the train station was quite a pain in the ass, 30 minutes in foot each way. It was so worth it though, so very worth it, it looks so much cooler in person especially with all the other matching building around it. I loved my break to see it, I really did even with the major sketching looking people and far too many tourists.

It took a grand total of 12 hours to get from Rome to Nice, what with my 2 hour break in Pisa. That is quite a long day on the train, well 3 trains actually. It makes me tired to write about it actually. I met several great people along the way, but it was quite a long day.

Once in Nice, I found my hostel, with a great location, although super tiny room. After checking in and taking a well needed shower, I took a walk to the beach which was surprisingly pretty considering it was after the sun had gone down. I went to be early but it felt good to have a bit of sea air.

The next day, my last in Europe I spent soaking up sun, and calming down at the beach. It was great, just a book, sandwich and sun and I was happy. I did spend some time with people though, shich was also nice, but I think the beach did me the most good.

Rome

So, Rome actually ended up being great. I don't know what I would have done without taking the guided tours offered through the hostel I stayed at. The tours of both the Vatican and a walking tour of Ancient Europe really sped up the process of seeing the important parts as well as allowed for all of the history to really make sense and put into context exactly what I was seeing.

I especially enjoyed seeing the Sistine Chapel. It is just so much more amazing than you expect it to be. I know, you all hear that a lot but it really is stunning especially as you look at Michelangelo's progress.

Rome

Wow, Rome is a bit overwhelming. I will have to write more later as people are waiting for the computer. I made it to the Vatican and saw the sights of ancient Rome. It was great, but I think I have a broken toe or at least sprained, so it has been tough to walk around. Tomorrow I am on the train tomorrow to Pisa and then Nice.

Siena

I loved Siena. The train ride was a bitch, but it ended up being a beautiful city. I loved how cute and tiny it was. The Il Campo, the town center is like a big shell. It was so fun to sit and people watch, which I did basically all day. I did climb the tower, which was a wonderful view of Tuscany. I also went to Catherine of Siena's home and then the place where she worshipped. It was rtaher surreal. The bacillica was not worth it, but well after so many churches they all start looking the same. I did meet a cool American girl and we must have talked for like 3 hours, she was great.