Home Sweet Home...
I am finally home after a long 3 days of travel. I'm not complaining though! I had thought I was saving time and money by taking a flight instead of the train from Spain to London. I ended up missing my morning flight from Barcelona by minutes and had to wait in the airport for 9 hours on standby... I had a relaxing last night in London though, I met a nice girl from Estonia in the hotel restaurant and we had some great conversation. The following day I cut my time to get to Heathrow entirely too short, arriving only 1 hour before my flight to Chicago (obviously didn't learn my lesson from the day before!). Luckily, I was able to find an American Airlines attendent who allowed me to skip to the front of the line, then another attendent allowed me to skip to the front of the security checkpoint. I walked on my plane with 10 minutes to spare!
When I arrived in Chicago and made it to my connecting flight to Syracuse, it was cancelled due to a lack of pilots. American Airlines put all of the passengers up in a hotel for the night and my flight was scheduled to leave for Syracuse the next morning. It actually wasn't a bad night, everyone from the flight congregated to the hotel bar and I met a lot of really nice people.
I took my flight to Syracuse the next day and my parents met me at the airport. It is really nice to be home with family. My sister arrives tonight and we'll all be home for the holidays! We had 10 inches of snow last night (and I think San Diego is still getting beach days). I'm looking forward to hitting the beach when I get back!!
My father asked me if this trip was all that I had expected it to be. I told him it was everything I expected and so much more. The places I've seen and the people I've met I will never forget. I wish it could go on but I knew this trip had to end sometime. To all the people who have been following my trip, and all of the people I've met along the way, I hope you have a happy holiday and a great new year!! I've finally posted some pictures from the last weeks of my travel, and I will post more soon!
Parc Guell...
I went to Parc Guell with some friends who hadn't seen it before.
Two australians and a girl from Arizona.
It was a fun day, just walked around the parc and then went for some paella afterward.
Sagrada Família
I went to Sagrada Família today, a church which started being built in 1882 and designed by Antoni Gaudi.
It is still being built and it is the most interesting church I have ever seen. You can climb into the towers and have great views over Barcelona and the architecture is amazing!
Horta Labyrinth Park
I spent today in Horta Labrynth Park. It was a bit strange at first as I exited the metro and started walking up the hill, with not a soul in site. It was a bit confusing to find but once I entered, it was so amazing.
I photographed almost an hour before even entering the labrynth mazes of shrubbery. The park was built in 1791 and is adorned with statues of various mythological figures. I walked all through the park, nice reflections in pools, fountains and water falls. All in all a perfect day for photographing, and I had the entire park to myself it seemed.
Hola!!
I have lots of updates for the past couple of days!! Barcelona is amazing, the city is beautiful and the nightlife just never stops. My second day I went to the Gaudi designed buildings and the Opera House, walked around the Gothic Quarter and to the markets. I've met some great people here, from Australia and Canada mostly.
On my third day I went to the Park Guell, another Anthony Gaudi design
http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/sp/gaudi/park-guell.html. It was an amazing place, the longest park bench in the world (all mosaic) and the most interesting walkways, fountains and pillars I have ever seen. I spent a few hours photographing there and it was great.
I met a photographer that I went out shooting with yesterday. He has a very interesting and appealing job. He works for a company that sends him to different countries for a
few weeks at a time and he captures the life of the traveller. He has some amazing work, and we've discussed some different possibilities for me getting into the company. It would be nice to get pulled in to that somehow, even if it was just a few jobs here and there just to pay for my travel. We'll see what happens but if you want to see the type of images that he captures, they really are beautiful.
http://www.photohype.comAnyway, we went to a beautiful Baroque church named Iglesia de Sant Felip Neri, in the Gothic Quarter and it's facade still shows bullet holes dating back to the Spanish Civil War. We went to an ancient burial site and then up to Tibidabo.
Tibidabo is the highest point in Barcelona with a beautiful church at the top. You have views over the entire city of Barcelona. I also saw my first Flamenco show last night, and it was great!! I'm going to go again tonight!!
So, that's all for Barcelona for now! I just extended my stay one more night, and may decide to stay in Spain until the end of my trip. There is so much to see, so many day-trips I could take that it seems silly to go all the way back up to Paris or Amsterdam for just one or two nights! I'm in Spain, I should try to see as much as I can before I go. I will try to post pictures soon, just no ability to at this internet spot! I'll talk to you all soon. December 14th is coming up too soon!
Barcelona
I arrived in Barcelona at 12:00 today. I'm still a little in shock that I am all the way in Spain as it was such an unexpected trip but I am happy that I now have the time to see Barcelona. The train ride was okay, I didn't sleep much at all so I am a bit in a daze today. I saw an absolutely beautiful sunrise from the train though, it looked as if the sky was on fire.
I only had one small problem when I arrived in Barcelona Sants train station. A guy wouldn't leave me alone when I was buying my metro ticket, kept trying to push buttons for me and tell me how to work the machine. I think they do that just to see if they can intimidate you, and then try to get at your money. I ended up telling him no, no, no and when he kept trying to push the buttons for me, I just slapped his hand and arm away and said no pretty loud. He got away fairly quickly.
The weather is actually pretty mild here, which is a nice change from the extreme cold in Austria, Switzerland and Belgium!! I just walked down Las Ramblas today, and down to the harbor. They have so many funny street performers!!
I went to Dunkin Donuts!! I thought I would have to wait until I arrived in NY to get my dunkin donuts coffee, little did I know I just had to go to Spain for a cup :o). I'll try to post more pictures soon, my hard drive is full so I may need to burn some to a CD now! I'm sure I'll have a ton after doing some sightseeing tomorrow!
Off to Spain...
Well, my friend in Paris was called in to work unexpectedly. I could stay at their flat in Paris but I've decided to head to Spain instead. I just made my reservations and I will be taking the train tonight (8 hours, ugh). I'm happy thouigh, I had wanted to see Spain and now I will. I will try to post again once I get there, very exciting. I better start studying my spanish on the train...
Brugge Belgium
I have been a bit lax with my posts of late, just been having a good time and meeting a ton of other people along the way. My first night in Brugge was really nice, I went to a pub and met a local couple. Griet is an artist and singer, very interesting and we talked all night. Unfortunately, there was a bad group of locals that came in toward the end of the night who are well known throughout that little town for drinking too much and creating havoc in the pubs they are in. Well, sure enough, it started so we left right away. It was a nice pub, just bad people who came in unfortunately. We made plans again to meet again on Thursday though.
I met some girls from the states, Vancouver and Australia and we ended up going out the next night. I also met a guy named Russ from Australia and we did some sightseeing on Thursday together.
We went to see the "Veneration of the Blood of Christ", a church that holds the blood of christ and there is a ceremony where you go up and touch the bottle and say a prayer. Then we went to see one of the only Michelangelo's to leave Italy at a small church. Of course we indulged in some fine Belgium chocolate and then had some belgian waffles with chocolate syrup. The houses here are so quaint and cute, all in Gothic style.
All of us went out to a pub last night that served over 300 Belgium beers, so much fun. We all stayed up a little late and then since we were all going to Brussels,
we rode the train together. Brussels is nice, I am going to do a bit of sightseeing today before I leave for Paris.
I will stay in Paris for the rest of my trip with a friend I met there, and go to Mount St. Michel and Normandy Beaches. We'll also probably make a trip to Amsterdam. I am having a great time, can hardly believe this trip is almost over... I will talk to you all soon.
Interlaken Switzerland and the Berner Oberland
Switzerland is beautiful. I got off the train and could see mountains on all sides... It's a quaint little town that I am staying in. Lots of swiss knives and watches in every store! On my only full day there, I took a train to the Berner Oberland. It's a little train that takes you up in the mountains to the higher altitudes (Kleinn Schedegg) and you can take gondolas to other parts or do some skiing.
I was thinking about snowboarding while I was here but I just didn't have the time. I took the train to Bern today as it was difficult for me to find accomodation in Luxembourg. I think I just might stop there for the day on my way to Belgium.
I have tons of pictures, unfortunately I haven't been at a computer that is able to post them. I will soon though! I can't believe I only have a little more than 2 weeks left. I thought I would be ready to leave, ready to come home but to be honest, I don't want this trip to end! I'll just enjoy my last
weeks to the fullest!
Dachau
The Dachau concentration camp memorial site was extremely moving. I just couldn't even fathom having to live through something like that (which so many didn't). I can't even really explain it, just extremely powerful and moving to go there. I almost wish I had made a side trip to Poland now.
The Romantic Road
I had planned on taking an organized bus tour of the Romantic Road in Germany (a road dotted with castles along 260 km) but all travel was cancelled out of Munich. I met a girl from Moscow the night before who had the same problem, and we decided to split the cost of renting a car and making the trip ourselves. She's very nice, from Moscow, loves to travel. So, we left at 9 am, picked up the car and drove to Fussen to start the trip.
We saw some beautiful castles, quaint villages and painted houses. It was very beautiful. We got lost a ton, both of us have the same bad sense of direction so trying to figure out where we were and where we were going was interesting!! We travelled as far up the Romantic Road as we could though, then embarked on the long journey back to Munich. Yes, we drove about 2 hours in the wrong direction before we realized it... :o) We saw a lot of Germany we hadn't even planned on but it was fun and we have some nice pictures! I almost forgot that it was Thanksgiving today until I received a couple of emails yesterday! Happy Thanksgiving, eat some turkey for me!!
Sightseeing in Salzburg
I woke up feeling like I might be coming down with the flu this morning. I have all of the symptoms (temperature, sore throat, body aches). I just hope it passes quickly!! I took it easy in the morning, I just wasn't feeling up to braving the cold but I did end up having a nice nice day of sightseeing in Salzburg. I went to the top of the town for some beautiful views and I did some Christmas shopping. It had snowed so much the night before that the whole town, all of the trees were just covered. Salzburg is so quaint, straight out of a storybook! I went back to the house after a bit of and prepared for my trip to Munich.
Trip to Salzburg
I took the overnight train from Prague to Munich (the only straight trip I could take to get to Salzburg, which is 2 hours from Munich). My friend Matt was nice enough to help me with my bags and walk me to the train station. I found out last moment that the train was going to split (one way to Frankfurt, the other part to Munich), so we had to book it to the 3 rail cars headed for Munich. I made it with all of maybe 4 minutes before the train pulled out. It was an empty car though, so I had a car all to myself. I rolled down all of the seats and turned it into a bed, and closed the shades so hopefully no one would want to come in. I had a nice amount of sleep (which was great because I barely slept the night before) until about 1:30 am when the door was slammed open, lights turned on and I was asked for my passport. They seem to love doing that in the middle of the night... Then I showed my ticket and I was able to go back to sleep. I had my alarm set for 6:00 am because I would arrive in Munich at 6:30 and then need to catch my train to Salzburg (and sometimes the stops are really short). Either my alarm didn't go off or I didn't wake up to it (probably the latter). I woke up to some german guy flicking the lights and clapping his hands, like RUSH RUSH RUSH!! I was in a daze, I grabbed my coat, my bags and booked it to the exit. I made it to my Salzburg train literally 2 minutes before departure!!
When I arrived in Salzburg, Giovanni had arranged for me to stay with his Aunt and Uncle, and since they were working, just had me pick up the key. They have a lovely home, beautiful views and just outside of the city. They are so nice to open up their home to me!!
I got a little lost getting here, but asked someone for directions. They actually started with, "You need to walk to over that mountain...". I'm attaching of the picture of the mountain I walked over, with a small hole in the middle! It was a nice walk, beautiful but it was snowing a ton and I had my luggage! I took some pictures along the way though and it was very nice.
I just spent the day walking around Salzburg. I saw Mozart's birthplace, old churches, the Christmas Market. It is so quaint here. I'm posting pictures but there will be more tomorrow, it was just snowing so much today!! I just heard San Diego is still warm as ever!!
Prague!!!
Well, I missed my train to Prague due to going to the wrong station!! I ended up having to take an alternate route through the center of Czech Republic but I wanted to get there. I hopped off the train to catch my connection in Breclav, and there was a girl who got off the train at the same time. I asked if she was going to Prague too, and she was.
She´s from Australia and touring Europe for a year before starting college (alone). We had great conversation, and sat in the dining car to eat breakfast and exchange stories.
It was a fun train trip.
Arriving in Prague was a bit of a culture shock at first, but I had an amazing time there!!! I hated to leave, it was so much fun!! I met a ton of people (mostly australians) and we walked the city together. Went to a jazz club the night before and had some great Czech dinners. I really hated to leave, but it just gives me a reason to go back!
Last Night in Vienna
I had a great last night in Vienna. I saw the city during the day, it started snowing and it was just beautiful! I went to the Christmas Market and then back to get ready for La Traviata that night. Rosvita was there early, so I was able to move up a little in line and we just chatted before we went in. The opera was amazing, so beautiful. It made me cry.
We went to get a poster and waited backstage for the performers. I had it signed by the conductor and all of the lead singers, which was nice. Then she said I couldn´t leave without trying some Vienna sausage before I left, so we bought some to go and then walked around the city for a while. I had to get up for a 6:30 am train so we made it an early night. We said our goodbyes and she told me that anytime I would like to come stay with her I am more than welcome. I just might take her up on that!! Next on to Prague!!
Vienna and my First Opera
If I had published this post before 5:30 last night, after my first day in Vienna, I would have said that it was pretty, and very cold, but I had seen enough and would be leaving for Prague one day early. I felt that the city was nice, but I was ready to leave after just one day of sightseeing. I tried to get tickets to the Opera, it was the one thing that I really wanted to do when I arrived in Vienna, little did I know that these seats sell out months in advance. They looked at me like I was crazy for wanting a ticket the night of the show :o). A man did tell me though, if I show up early, I might be able to get standing room only. So, at 6:30 I headed for the Wiener Staatsoper and stood in line, hoping I could get in. I was standing behind a lovely woman, early 50's and we had some nice conversation while we were waiting.. She grew up in Vienna, but lives in Minnesota now. She only comes back to Austria to see family and her mother, who is 99 years old. She just said to follow her, we grabbed our tickets, checked our coats and found our "seats". She then took me on a tour of the opera house, explaining everything about it's history. We had a quick cappuccino and went in to see the Opera. It was Salome,
Herod's daughter who danced so well that the Tetriarch promised to give her anything she asked for, whereupon she asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. It was an incredibly beautiful opera, even though the story and music was a bit harsh. I had never seen the opera, so I was curious if I would like it or not. I am in love with it. It also gave me new appreciation for some of the paintings I saw in Uffizi (Salome with the Baptist's Head by Alonso Berruguete).
After the opera, Rosvita took me to get a poster of the opera, and then took me backstage to get it autographed by the singers/conductor. She explained to the woman next to us that this was my very first opera. The woman looked at me with a very stern face and said "Be very careful... It's completely addictive", and smiled. She's right, I think I am addicted completely! When we were leaving the Opera House, she asked if I was in a rush to get anywhere. Definitely not! So, she walked me around the city, explaining the old churches, the monuments, the buildings. She told me about her life, and I told her about mine. She is a very beautiful person, I'm just very happy that I happened to be standing behind her in line!! I was planning to leave a day early, but La Traviata opens tonight and I think I will stay one more night. She told me how beautiful this opera is, and it would be a shame to leave without seeing it. I don't think I gave Vienna a fair chance and I am off today to do more exploring of the city, and of course to see La Traviata tonight, and hopefully will see Rosvita there!
Last Day/Night in Venice
I went to the colorful Burano on my last day in Venice, the houses are all different colors and very contrasting along the canal. It was a nice trip out there on the boat and I met a ton of people from LA/San Fran in a tour group. I joined them for a while, and it was fun to talk to them. I walked to the Rialto Bridge for dinner and relaxed in my hotel for a while. I went to St. Mark's Square just to savor my last night there, it's such a beautiful place. Some sites/monuments haven't been all that I expected but St. Mark's exceeded all expectations!! I just sat for a couple of hours and watched people pass by. I had been walking so much that it was nice to just sit and watch people pass by. I received hello's in about 4 different languages, watched couples stop and kiss in the center, kids chasing pigeons... Then the Carabinieri came up to my table.. "Italiano?".. No, no, Americano... "Oh, Americano, Americano!!!". Then they asked me how long I had been there, if I was travelling with a group, why was I travelling alone, then the dreaded question... "Documentazione?" Ugh. I know that I am always supposed to have my passport on me, but I was walking 10 steps from my hotel to St. Mark's and returning back after so I left my money belt (with all documentation) in my hotel room.. I had an expired driver's license which I use for internet cafe's in my wallet, and just handed that to them with a dumb smile on my face, hoping it would be okay. They radioed my information in, asking me in the meantime why I was travelling alone, where I was staying, what I thought of Venice, etc.
Then there is a problem, they can't verify my information, and the license is expired. I was starting to get nervous to say the least because they started telling me I was beautiful, where was my boyfriend, etc. We went through everything, and found the error. We use the mm/dd/yy format in US, and they use dd/mm/yy in Italy so the birthdate was called in wrong. Okay, that's a relief.. Then I get asked for my email address, phone number and if I want to go on a date. What? Did they stop me and run my information for a date? Amazing... I told him I was leaving tomorrow, and had to return to my hotel. Interesting last night to say the least in St. Mark's Square... After they left I promptly went up to my hotel room! I did have a great morning though, woke up for sunrise and it was beautiful with the fog... I went to get my last cappuccino and pastry, and went back to my hotel to pack. I have a 12 hour train ride to Vienna tonight. I am all stocked up on Lavazza and Illy coffee, even brought a little espresso maker :o). I am hooked on italian coffe! I will miss Italy very much, they have their own way of doing things and they run on their own schedules. For those who know "Donna Time", Donna Time and Italy Time are very much the same!! Anyway, that's all for now. I will write again in Vienna!
