St Markss Square had a flood, and they moved the gondolas to the center…. May 28, 2009

Ciao from Venice!

Life is lovely. Who could complain about spending the day meandering around Venice and its 150 canals? I feel so lucky. I even got to run into one of my favorite people ever outside of St. Marks Square- Neal Bhagat! So far here, Ive seen Dan Kidle, Mike Spads, Kristin & Olivia, and Neal. Its a small world after all. Didnt get to see Jenny bc she had an allergic reaction and had to stay in bed. booooooooooooo. I stayed at the campsite the whole day that day with some friends just laying by the pool, then went into Rome at night and Backos and I ended up playing our own little game of angels and demons with Chris and Jagan. We traveled to all Romes good sites and had a bottle of wine at each. Then we came back and went to the bar. I had such a blast. My favorite thing about Europe is how cheap the wine is hahah.

Anyway, tonight we are having a toga party and i cannot wait! Its our group plus another group who is on a 7 week camping trip. i could NEVER do that. But Im excited to play with them. We are going to collect leaves in a few to decorate ourselves hahah. Then we have to be up at the crack of dawn again to travel to Austria!!!!!!

Things are good overall. Bachmos, Kay and I are a good trio. Only tough thing is how much i miss my phone, my internet, my mom, and my grandmas dolma. and the fact that i feel like i am contantly dirty. I packed so horribly for this trip lol. I literally brought only tank tops. 1 tshirt, 1 pair of shorts, and 3 dresses. In the first few cities, i was freezing cold and hated what i packed. and now im so hot and hate what i packed lol. every city in Italy has been over 32 degrees. aka, close to 100. im dying. i basically wear the same thing every day, but im scared to do laundry because of the fiasco we caused when we tried to do it in switzerland hah.After spending about $15 worth of swiss francs each, kaylins laundry was still soaked and covered in suds, locked in the dryer, and backos and i had to hang our clothes all over the cabins for the next 3 days because nothing would dry. And now everything kind of smells….. Eurotrips are not hygenic. Oh well, its all in a days fun.

Anywayyyyyyyyyyy, miss you all lots!! see you so soon 12 more days!

When in Rome! May 25, 2009

Hi friends!

Miss you all so much! We are in Rome now, just got in earlier today from Florence and took a big tour around the city. We got to see all the good stuff, but it was a struggle bc It is about 95 degrees here and super humid. Ive already done Rome, so I am going to spend part of tomorrow laying at the pool of our campsite. So excited. And we get to meet Jenny and Kris and Olivia tomorrow at the Spanish Steps! Dinner and drinks with my 2 favorite wlw graduates and our college friends . Who would have thought that would ever happen?

Everything is going super well. We had so much fun last night in Florence. Backos, Kay and I got a tower of beer (4 liters), and obviously got the party started at the karaoke bar. We were singing all night, such a hot mess but it was so fun. We all slept through breakfast again and wanted to die on the bus ride to Rome, but nights like that are always worth it. Florence is pretty but doesnt need much time. Its pretty chill. After Rome and Venice come the parts of the trip I am most excited for- Eastern Europeeeeeeeee. woo!!!

We are going white water rafting in Austria this week! so much to look forward to. We are all pretty run down though from all the city hopping and lack of sleep so tonight we are taking it easy. Hope all is well at home!

Update soon. XOXOX!

love it May 20, 2009

hi everyone! sorry i havent been able to write in a while. i couldnt get internet it paris and now im in switzerland and its just been so pretty i did not want to come inside. paris was beautiful. i was sick so i couldnt smell it this time and i actually liked it! we went to the louvre, walked around and shopped, did the arc de triomf, notre dame, a 4 hour bike tour, had a picnic under the eiffel tower, and did a river cruise of the Seine. it was a lovely time. We are traveling around with a bunch of austrailians and new zealanders. so fun! and im having a great time. i got really sick for a few days though and now backos is sick. boooooooooo.

yesterday we got to Switzerland and its literally the most beautiful place ive ever been. i took 100 pictures, but they could never do the place justice. we are in Luterbrunnen. i love it here! i went skydiving today and it was AMAZING. I fell in love with my guide. he was beautiful. and i got to go in a 15 minute glass helicopter ride over the alps before jumping out at 13,000 feet. i cant even explain how great it was. Except my ears popped horribly and now i cannot hear a thing. its kind of painful. boooooooooooo. but nontheless, im obsessed with it. so glad i manned up. before that i hiked around with backos and kay, and after that i went on a hike alone for a few hours and found a beautiful bench overlooking a gorgeous waterfall and sat there and wrote in my journal ha. im up to 40 pages. so fun.

im having a great time and im so glad this trip worked out. i looooooooooooooooooove everything about it. tomorrow we leave for Nice and Cannes and I think I am going to take a day trip to Monaco. We are here at the perfect time because this week is the famous Canne Film Festival and the Grand Prix is also happening in Monaco. Id love to see the races. woooooooo! The we are off for a week in Italy where I cant wait to meet up with jenny! miss you all lots! sorry i couldnt update with more stories. the computer here is super slow and all in german and my time is about to run out. hopefully ill be able to update again soon!

XOXO

Duo 1: Barcelona 0 May 13, 2009

So! We made it to Barcelona! After 2 hilarious plane rides (12 hours in which I did not sleep a wink despite prescription sleeping pills), we made it. They gave us free wine on the plane. I officially love Delta. It took us about 30 minutes to zip our backpacks back together, and about 10 minutes each to put them on. For reference, they are about 10x the size of every other traveler´s backpack. We broke the hostel closet TWICE trying to force them in hahah. Pretty sure we´re going to get charged for that. lol

So, after being awake for 25 hours, we checked into the hostel and searched the city. We strolled La Rambla, the main street, went to the street market and bought gross exotic things, and had some yummy paellea. And, we got a little lost in the local streets, far from the tourist spots. I saw my first live prostitute! yay! hahah.

We just woke up from a 4 hour nap and now we´re about to grab some food before the sangria party with the hostel and our first shot at Barcelona night life! Pregame starts at midnight, no big deal.

More to come. Miss you all!

 

PS!!! new news. MY BACKOS BOOKED HER TRIP YESTERDAY AND SHES MEETING US IN LONDON ON FRIDAY AND WILL STAY WITH US FOR THE REST OF THE TRIP. YAY!

And so it begins May 7, 2009

Yesterday,. I had lunch with my big/one of my favorite people ever. When we started talking about my upcoming 4-week trip across the pond, she asked me if I was going to keep a blog while I was gone. I of course replied, “No, I just bought a brand new, beautiful journal to keep all my memories and adventures in and I’m SO EXCITED.” And then, it hit me. I’m 75 years old, stuck in the middle ages, etc. I need to get with the 21st century and cave in to a blog. My lovely journal with flowers and designs all over the pages will thus become my private blog, and this, my public.

The planning was a struggle, but we finally got it all together: Barcelona, London, Paris, Lauterbrunnen, French Riviera/Monaco, Pisa, Florence, Rome, Orvieto, Venice, Tyrol, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brugge. Phew. so much to see.

So Monday is the big day, but I am about 2 weeks away from being ready.We’re going to 10 countries- a trip that takes us from Mediterranean beaches to the moutains and valleys in the Alps. From camping in Florence to strolling the casino in the swankiest city in France. From sightseeing churches to bars that peak at 6am. How I will ever be able to pack clothes and supplies to weather all the different climates and situations I’ll be in in the next 4 weeks is actually giving me nightmares. I’ve been collecting packing items for the past week- a 70L backpack, a sleeping bag the size of a tshirt (cost me my savings), camping towel, mini toiletries, guide books, etc. But the hardest parts are next: A) deciding which 5 outfits I want to take (and thus commit to wearing for 28 days straight) and B) making it all fit. Given that I am literally one of the worst packers on the face of the earth, I see trouble on the horizon.

Regardless, I am so excited I can hardly stand it.

So, here it goes. I’m not sure how often I’ll be able to update, given that I’ll be in a new city every few days, sans computer, and suffering from constant exhaustion, but I will try my best. Now, I won’t flatter myself that everyone cares what I’m up to, so feel free to save this page to your favorites, or delete it from your history- whatever you like.  I’ll try to keep it interesting. And let’s face it- two little girls let loose across a wild continent makes for pretty good stories. So be prepared. I’m embarrassingly bad at anything having to do with computers (evidence: my laptop just crashed and burned Tuesday and I lost everything), but I will try to post pictures for you so you can see all the amazing things I’m seeing! Enjoy reading! and don’t forget to keep me updated on how you’re all doing at home

Bon Voyage!