Tuesday, May 29, 2007
how could i forget
ummm i completely forgot to tell you guys about my favorite part of barcelona. i had the opportunity to see fc barcelona play on saturday night! they were playing gatafe, which is a team based out of madrid. this was a big game cuz one barcelona needs to win the rest of their games to win the league and two gatafe beat them 3 weeks ago 4-0 in a cup tourney. so needless to say the game was huge! my seat was amazing, on the 2nd tier right on the 50 yard line. i bought a ronaldinho jersey and headed to the game. the atmosphere was amazing, so many fans of all ages and sizes. the stadium itself was HUGE, much bigger than real madrids, it can hold up to 100000 people. i got there a lil early so i could take pics but the game started at 10 pm. within 7 mintues ronaldinho scored. i happned to get a pic of the goal as well. but then 15 minutes later ronaldinho got a red card and had to leave the game....but he pretty much deserved it. but as the game went on the ref was getting worse and the crowd was getting more roudy. they were saying chants like ¨die die die¨to the ref, it was insane. the crowd didnt quiet down till the final whistle too. fc won 1-0. the game was a great experience, something i am very happy i did. hopefully i will be able to see more european football matches in the future. ok gotta get some sleep...got an early flight home tomorrow :) night
Espanya
hola from spain, supposely the country that never sleeps and has siestas everyday because of it. I flew out of rome last wednesday and almost missed my flight because 1) the line to check in was ridiculous and 2) the security people stopped me in line and had to check and go through my bag. but i made it on and off i went to madrid. i had checked the weather before i left and it said it was raining in madrid so i prayed that it was wrong and i would get out of the metro and the sun would be shining, but nope it was downpour. made it to my hostel and decided to go to the prado museum. this is really known for 15th 16th and 17th century paintings as well as spanish paintings. to be honest it was a nice museum but pretty much like all the others ive seen throughout europe. but it was neat in a way because i started to see the difference between italian french and spanish paintings just because i have seen so many in my 2 months. after that museum i said to myself no more art museums because i was getting tired of seeing madonna and child pieces or christs cruxifiction....not that they are not nice or anything but when ive seen about 100 of them it gets a lil old. anywho i headed back to the hostel and went to get a few drinks with people i had met in my room so we went out bar hopping, everywhere we went people were standing outside their bars or clubs just saying free shot if you come in....so of course anything for free works for backpackers. we were out till about 3 then headed back and i hoped for better weather the next day. yea that didnt happen woke uand it was still raining. but i went to the real palace. it was the palace that the king of spain still lives in, so it was neat being able to walk through and see all the beautiful rooms and furnitures. then i just spent the rest of the day just moping around town. not too much to see. now the next day i had planned on going to seville for hte night so i could see an authentic flamenca show. but i went to the train station and found out i needed a reservation for trains so the next available train was at 6 at night and it wasnt worth it so i had another day in rainy madrid. but it worked out because i got to see the football (soccer) stadium. it was huge, got to go near the pitch and in the press room and everything. veeeeery nice. so that was madrid....as you can tell i didnt really like it but i think the weather had a lot to do with it. the next morning i took an early train to barcelona and made it to my hostel by 2. my hostel is right off the main street. la rambles. tons of bars and clubs and shops. and its a 15 minute walk to the beach. so the rest of the day i just walked around and went to the big food market. they had fruit veggies meat fish candy. everything you could possibly imagine almost. the next day i went to the beach. the weather has been gorgeous the whole time i have been here. sunny barely any clouds and a lil wind but it was nice laying on the beach because i didnt get too hot. the following day went with a few girls to see the torro ring and the sangrada familia (which is the goudi church that has been under construction for almost 100 years) then we went to the park guell which is where goudi lived. it was a neat place and plus the view of barcelona was amazing. that night we had happy hr at the hostel then went to get some GOOD sangria. same thing happened here as in madrid where everyone would say come into the bar and get a free shot....so needless to say this morning was a lil rough getting up. but i had motivation....beautiful weather and the beach! so thats what i did all day, just got more tan :) but tonight me and some girls are going to see a free flamenca show, so we will see how good it will be...atleast its better than nothing! i fly home tomorrow YAAYYYY. cant believe i have already been gone for 2 months, its insane and has flown by. so here is where i leave you. i hope everyone has enjoyed reading my blogs just as much as i have been living them! cheers everyone!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
When in Rome
you know i never understood that expression, ¨when in rome do as the romans do¨, because if the romans stood in line for the vatican, check did that, if the romans stood in a crammed pack metro bus or any bus for that matter, uh huh yup check, if the romans ate pizza pasta and gelato everyday, yea pretty much got that down, then i pretty much did as the romans did. but if they didnt do any of those things then im just a regular tourist trying to fit everything in rome into 3 days.
but let me rewind 2 weeks since i havent written since then. i left off in cinque terre i headed south to sorrento, now this was my ¨vacation¨ from my vacation. little did i know there was so much to do there. the first day i layed out on the beach, the disadvantage of not traveling with someone is i have no one to put suntan lotion on me, so i just went to th beach hoping for the best. well 6 hrs later i was burnt of course (but no worries the peeling is gone and i have a nice golden tan (sorry keri:) anywho the second day i climbed up mt vesuvio, which we all know erupted and covered the city of pompeii. the day i went it was cloudy, but to my suprise it was really cool. it gave the volcano a mysterious look. now before i left on my advanture i gave my roommates my full name and address so in case the volcano erupted ya´ll would know what happened to me :) haha but luckily no eruption. the following day i went to the city of pompeii and hurculaneum, two very different looking cities. in herculameum you could actually tell it was a city at one time where as in pompeii it was so spread out with random ruins everywhere it seemed like different towns as opposed to one city. THEN the next day i went on a day excursion to the island of capri. this island is known for its beautiful blue water and the ever so famous blue graddo. well on the way over it rained a little so the seas were a bit rough and unfortunately we could not go into the groddo cuz the hole to get in there was completely covered with water/waves. but when we docked on the island and the sun came out. me and these two girls from cali, kim and haley decided to hike to anacapri which is where all the big houses and ¨star¨hotels are. little did we know that this hike would take us scaling up rocks holding on to chains as we went up and climbing through bushes and weeds up to our waists. yea that was our hike, needless to say we got lost and just made our own way up but we eventually made it the top of the mountain and the view of capri and the italian coastline was breath taking, so worth the ¨narly¨hike. when we hiked down to anacapri we decided to get lunch at this place called il cucciolo. this place was definately off the beaten path but when we finally found it it was right off the coastline with a beautiful view of the sea and coast! the meal was the best i have had in all my trip. obviously every meal i have had has been from a different culture but everything involved, taste, presentaion, authenticity, company, service etc was over the top. we started off with the house wine. then had the antipasti. capri is known for their mozerella and tomatoes so we had that. i am NOT a fan of whole tomotoes, but paired with the mozerella i could have eaten those ALL day. next came homemade ravioli and tomato sauce then for dessert chocolate cake with walnuts. this meal was amazing! after nearly endulging everything on our plates we were ready to make our trip back to capri since our boat left in an hr. we hiked back into the middle of anacapri to catch the bus back but when the bus came no one was gettting on and it left, now we had 40 mintues to get 8 km back. so what else do we do we start walking with our thumbs out, yea thats right we were hitch hiking, after about 5 minutes this little red car pulls over and picks us up. to our luck it was a dad with his little girl. he takes us all the way downt to our boat with time to spare. so me and haley jump in the green blue water. very nice after the day we had. the next day i just lay out on the beach again but only for a lil cuz the rain came in so that day was spent mostly inside which was good cuz i needed a day of rest before roma.
now enters rome, luckily kim and haley were going to rome too and staying at the same place. so we traveled together. made it there and had an interesting time trying to find our campsite. but 2 hrs later we did and it actually ended up being like and hr metro ride away from the city and near the beach. i spent 3 total days in rome and did pretty much everything i wanted. the vatican, st peters basillica, colosseum, roman forums, palentine hill, villa gorhese, spanish steps, trevi fountain, pantheon, and all the piazzas. kinda insane huh? but rome was fun, a lot like paris, a lot to do with a lot of people doing it at the same time. but being at my campsite away from the city was a relief got some peace and quiet at night. the best pizza i had was at san castillo pizzeria, and now my new favorite cheese is buffalo mozerella and my favorite gelato in all of italy is near the vatican museums called old bridge gelateria. they had my favorite, black cherry, this taste just like the bubble gum icecream i used to have as a kid....so good!
i caught an early flight this moring to madrid and that is where i currently am. i got into my hotel around 2 and walked around the city. i went to the prado art museum which was nice but i must say it is my last one in europe, i have seen so my paintings and sculptures to last me ohhh quite some time. but i will go to the goudi museum in barcelona. i leave friday to go to seville which i will be there for a day then i head to barcelona till i fly out next wednesday. so one week left...cant believe it. the next enrty will probably be my last night in barcelona just to wrap everything up. hope everyone is doing well and is looking forward to me coming home :) i must say i am ready to stop living out of a suitcase thats for sure. until next time. ciao!
Kelly
but let me rewind 2 weeks since i havent written since then. i left off in cinque terre i headed south to sorrento, now this was my ¨vacation¨ from my vacation. little did i know there was so much to do there. the first day i layed out on the beach, the disadvantage of not traveling with someone is i have no one to put suntan lotion on me, so i just went to th beach hoping for the best. well 6 hrs later i was burnt of course (but no worries the peeling is gone and i have a nice golden tan (sorry keri:) anywho the second day i climbed up mt vesuvio, which we all know erupted and covered the city of pompeii. the day i went it was cloudy, but to my suprise it was really cool. it gave the volcano a mysterious look. now before i left on my advanture i gave my roommates my full name and address so in case the volcano erupted ya´ll would know what happened to me :) haha but luckily no eruption. the following day i went to the city of pompeii and hurculaneum, two very different looking cities. in herculameum you could actually tell it was a city at one time where as in pompeii it was so spread out with random ruins everywhere it seemed like different towns as opposed to one city. THEN the next day i went on a day excursion to the island of capri. this island is known for its beautiful blue water and the ever so famous blue graddo. well on the way over it rained a little so the seas were a bit rough and unfortunately we could not go into the groddo cuz the hole to get in there was completely covered with water/waves. but when we docked on the island and the sun came out. me and these two girls from cali, kim and haley decided to hike to anacapri which is where all the big houses and ¨star¨hotels are. little did we know that this hike would take us scaling up rocks holding on to chains as we went up and climbing through bushes and weeds up to our waists. yea that was our hike, needless to say we got lost and just made our own way up but we eventually made it the top of the mountain and the view of capri and the italian coastline was breath taking, so worth the ¨narly¨hike. when we hiked down to anacapri we decided to get lunch at this place called il cucciolo. this place was definately off the beaten path but when we finally found it it was right off the coastline with a beautiful view of the sea and coast! the meal was the best i have had in all my trip. obviously every meal i have had has been from a different culture but everything involved, taste, presentaion, authenticity, company, service etc was over the top. we started off with the house wine. then had the antipasti. capri is known for their mozerella and tomatoes so we had that. i am NOT a fan of whole tomotoes, but paired with the mozerella i could have eaten those ALL day. next came homemade ravioli and tomato sauce then for dessert chocolate cake with walnuts. this meal was amazing! after nearly endulging everything on our plates we were ready to make our trip back to capri since our boat left in an hr. we hiked back into the middle of anacapri to catch the bus back but when the bus came no one was gettting on and it left, now we had 40 mintues to get 8 km back. so what else do we do we start walking with our thumbs out, yea thats right we were hitch hiking, after about 5 minutes this little red car pulls over and picks us up. to our luck it was a dad with his little girl. he takes us all the way downt to our boat with time to spare. so me and haley jump in the green blue water. very nice after the day we had. the next day i just lay out on the beach again but only for a lil cuz the rain came in so that day was spent mostly inside which was good cuz i needed a day of rest before roma.
now enters rome, luckily kim and haley were going to rome too and staying at the same place. so we traveled together. made it there and had an interesting time trying to find our campsite. but 2 hrs later we did and it actually ended up being like and hr metro ride away from the city and near the beach. i spent 3 total days in rome and did pretty much everything i wanted. the vatican, st peters basillica, colosseum, roman forums, palentine hill, villa gorhese, spanish steps, trevi fountain, pantheon, and all the piazzas. kinda insane huh? but rome was fun, a lot like paris, a lot to do with a lot of people doing it at the same time. but being at my campsite away from the city was a relief got some peace and quiet at night. the best pizza i had was at san castillo pizzeria, and now my new favorite cheese is buffalo mozerella and my favorite gelato in all of italy is near the vatican museums called old bridge gelateria. they had my favorite, black cherry, this taste just like the bubble gum icecream i used to have as a kid....so good!
i caught an early flight this moring to madrid and that is where i currently am. i got into my hotel around 2 and walked around the city. i went to the prado art museum which was nice but i must say it is my last one in europe, i have seen so my paintings and sculptures to last me ohhh quite some time. but i will go to the goudi museum in barcelona. i leave friday to go to seville which i will be there for a day then i head to barcelona till i fly out next wednesday. so one week left...cant believe it. the next enrty will probably be my last night in barcelona just to wrap everything up. hope everyone is doing well and is looking forward to me coming home :) i must say i am ready to stop living out of a suitcase thats for sure. until next time. ciao!
Kelly
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
BONJOURNO!
hey ya'll
sorry i havent written since ummm yea long time, but its been very crazy since the last time i wrote! i dont really have much time to write but ill just give the short version of my trip so far. ok left munich and went to interlaken switzerland. arrived on a wednesday and on thursday i decided to hike into the swiss alps. easy right?? well i guess i took a wrong turn and went up and i quote a "trail for experienced and equipped hikers" not that bad right?? well 4 hrs later i eventually made it to a point that was 2000 meters in the air! needless to say i hike up the side of the mountain, but the views i had of both the snow top mountains and the regular mountains were GORGEOUS! got some with me in them too! well i hiked for 6 hrs and thought that was plenty enough plus my legs were about to fall off. friday i had just planned to sit and relax since i havent done that at all my entire trip and luckily enough (but sad at the same time too) it rained that day...first rain ive had all trip. so eh whatever didnt plan on doing anything anyways. but then on saturday i had planned to do my "adventurous" thing which was cannyoning but the rain was so bad the day before the water was too high so it got cancelled. so i changed my plans around (cuz i had orginally planned to leave on saturday night) and i stayed an extra day. well on sunday again the water was too high so we could only go half a day. but it was so much fun! we jumped off cliffs, slide down cliffs, and rapelled down them as well. although it was only half a day it was a fun experience. definately worth the extra day. i took an over night train that night to venice. left at 1030 pm and arrived in venice at 8 am. i walked around venice the entire day...there are no cars, no scooters just alley ways to get lost through! it was a neat little town, but definately only a days trip worth i think...depending on how many alley ways you would liketo see. then the nightmare of a trip began. i had the choice of spending 30 euros and getting an over night trip to cinque terra or have a free train and have a 4 hr layover in genova. well u know which one i took. i got to genova ar 1230 am and pretty much had no where to go so i went inside the train station and just layed down. about an hour and a half had past and someone kicks my foot....yea its the police. they ask if im ok and what im doing and i say im waiting for my train that leaves at 430 am. they say that this train has arrived and that i can just sit on it until it leaves. i get onto the train and run into 20 woman who are all over 65 years old. turns out these woman are from norway and headed to riogimorre (same place as me). so i sit with them and talk with them and dirnk wine with them until 330 in the morning! needless to say these woman had A LOT to say. jenny and lexie i can see us being these woman and being on a train at 3 in the morning drinking wine btw :)
finally made it to sleep but only for about 3 hrs when we finally get to riogimorre at 7 am. i walk up to my hostel and it doesnt open till 10 am GREAT. so i walk around the town for awhile finally got my room and decided to walk to the 5 towns of cinque terra. along the way i meet 2 people from new york city and we just start talking and end up walking together through 4 of the towns together. we stop and have lunch in the town of venezza. i had the best pesto i have ever had...gnocchi with pesto...AMAZING. as well as 2 glasses of cinque terra wine...pretty much heaven on earth. we made it to the last town of monterosso which had the beach. i layed out and swam in the intalian riveria :) and that is where im writing ya'll from right now.
so yea as you can see pretty hectic. im headed to florence tomorrow and staying there a bit but not in the city but in the tuscan area...very excited to say the least about the wine i will be experiencing!
hope everything is going well with everyone...cant believe i only have 3 weeks left :( ill write more when i can.
Kel
sorry i havent written since ummm yea long time, but its been very crazy since the last time i wrote! i dont really have much time to write but ill just give the short version of my trip so far. ok left munich and went to interlaken switzerland. arrived on a wednesday and on thursday i decided to hike into the swiss alps. easy right?? well i guess i took a wrong turn and went up and i quote a "trail for experienced and equipped hikers" not that bad right?? well 4 hrs later i eventually made it to a point that was 2000 meters in the air! needless to say i hike up the side of the mountain, but the views i had of both the snow top mountains and the regular mountains were GORGEOUS! got some with me in them too! well i hiked for 6 hrs and thought that was plenty enough plus my legs were about to fall off. friday i had just planned to sit and relax since i havent done that at all my entire trip and luckily enough (but sad at the same time too) it rained that day...first rain ive had all trip. so eh whatever didnt plan on doing anything anyways. but then on saturday i had planned to do my "adventurous" thing which was cannyoning but the rain was so bad the day before the water was too high so it got cancelled. so i changed my plans around (cuz i had orginally planned to leave on saturday night) and i stayed an extra day. well on sunday again the water was too high so we could only go half a day. but it was so much fun! we jumped off cliffs, slide down cliffs, and rapelled down them as well. although it was only half a day it was a fun experience. definately worth the extra day. i took an over night train that night to venice. left at 1030 pm and arrived in venice at 8 am. i walked around venice the entire day...there are no cars, no scooters just alley ways to get lost through! it was a neat little town, but definately only a days trip worth i think...depending on how many alley ways you would liketo see. then the nightmare of a trip began. i had the choice of spending 30 euros and getting an over night trip to cinque terra or have a free train and have a 4 hr layover in genova. well u know which one i took. i got to genova ar 1230 am and pretty much had no where to go so i went inside the train station and just layed down. about an hour and a half had past and someone kicks my foot....yea its the police. they ask if im ok and what im doing and i say im waiting for my train that leaves at 430 am. they say that this train has arrived and that i can just sit on it until it leaves. i get onto the train and run into 20 woman who are all over 65 years old. turns out these woman are from norway and headed to riogimorre (same place as me). so i sit with them and talk with them and dirnk wine with them until 330 in the morning! needless to say these woman had A LOT to say. jenny and lexie i can see us being these woman and being on a train at 3 in the morning drinking wine btw :)
finally made it to sleep but only for about 3 hrs when we finally get to riogimorre at 7 am. i walk up to my hostel and it doesnt open till 10 am GREAT. so i walk around the town for awhile finally got my room and decided to walk to the 5 towns of cinque terra. along the way i meet 2 people from new york city and we just start talking and end up walking together through 4 of the towns together. we stop and have lunch in the town of venezza. i had the best pesto i have ever had...gnocchi with pesto...AMAZING. as well as 2 glasses of cinque terra wine...pretty much heaven on earth. we made it to the last town of monterosso which had the beach. i layed out and swam in the intalian riveria :) and that is where im writing ya'll from right now.
so yea as you can see pretty hectic. im headed to florence tomorrow and staying there a bit but not in the city but in the tuscan area...very excited to say the least about the wine i will be experiencing!
hope everything is going well with everyone...cant believe i only have 3 weeks left :( ill write more when i can.
Kel
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Munich...beer capital of the world!
hello all. sorry for the delay in writing, but internet is mad expensive here and i am really using my time booking where I am staying for my next desination. but anywho i am currently in MUNICH germany, also called muchen which means young monk,also called the beer capital of the world! but let me back up to where i left you guys...i was in prague and the bone church by the way was creepy but neat at the same time, ive never been in a church that has been so cold! kutna hora was a neat lil town, there was another cathedral there and the cathedral had an amazing organ...SO BIG and beautiful. in prague i had to make my plans for my next trip. i had planned on going to munich but they did not have anything available for friday and saturday so i was like hmmmm where should i go? so i researched a lil online and saw that this town called heidelberg germany had a castle. so i said sure why not. the train ride (with transfers) was 10 hrs long...needless to say it was a long day. i got to my hostel...which was more of a bar and restaurant but i think the owner was like hey i have 2 extra rooms why not make them into a hostel. so yea thats what he did. when i got there i asked if he had anything available for the next night (because i had booked two different hostels) and he said that he did. so i called my other hotel and cancelled my reservation. me and the owner got to talking and he asked why i just didnt book for two nights and i said cuz the internet said u had nothin available. he looked more closely had his sheet and it turns out there was a bachlore party coming in and in fact he did not have anything available...so basically im out a bed. well he said i could stay in a "cramped" room for FREE. i said free sure why not. well it ended up being in the restaurants store room! there were tables, fridges and drinks. but there was a matress so it ended up being an ok sleep...for free anyway. but the town was cool. it had a 17th century look to it as well as an industrial look to it, so it was split...it even had a hard rock cafe!!! the best part was obviously the castle. this was so much better than the one in prague...it actually looked like a castle.
on sunday i arived in munich and walked around for awhile. i ended up in the english gardens which is a big park. i saw my first nude beach...far too many old mean walking around! and there was even surfing, hard to explain but ull see pics. at my hostel i met this guy ross from new york and a girl hanna from sweeden. both really cool people, we went down to our hostel bar and had a few drinks. on sat the 3 of us went on a walking tour around munich, very cool got to see the main attractions, learned more about germanys history and got to see the most famous beer hall in the world...haufbraus beerhaus. needless to say later that night me ross and hanna went there for dinner...it was good. had my first experience with shnitzel...basically fried pork. yesterday i went to cinderellas castle. SO AMAZING! it was everything i had hoped it would be. took amazing pics. the picture that is on the right of my blog..yea i have one just like it :)
today i am headed to interlaken swtizerland....can not wait for the alps!! now they are known for their extreme sports so i need to figure something out of what i want to do. suggestions would be nice.
over the past 2 weeks i have been informed that my friend, roommate and teammate from college, laura redmond has been daignosed with A.L.L. it is a type of lukeima that affects the bone marrow. at such a young age, 23, she is in the fight of her life. i would like to ask everyone to please have her in your thoughts and prayers as she battles through this to recovery!
i need to catch my train so ill write more later. hope all is going well, i cant wait believe its already been a month :)
kel
on sunday i arived in munich and walked around for awhile. i ended up in the english gardens which is a big park. i saw my first nude beach...far too many old mean walking around! and there was even surfing, hard to explain but ull see pics. at my hostel i met this guy ross from new york and a girl hanna from sweeden. both really cool people, we went down to our hostel bar and had a few drinks. on sat the 3 of us went on a walking tour around munich, very cool got to see the main attractions, learned more about germanys history and got to see the most famous beer hall in the world...haufbraus beerhaus. needless to say later that night me ross and hanna went there for dinner...it was good. had my first experience with shnitzel...basically fried pork. yesterday i went to cinderellas castle. SO AMAZING! it was everything i had hoped it would be. took amazing pics. the picture that is on the right of my blog..yea i have one just like it :)
today i am headed to interlaken swtizerland....can not wait for the alps!! now they are known for their extreme sports so i need to figure something out of what i want to do. suggestions would be nice.
over the past 2 weeks i have been informed that my friend, roommate and teammate from college, laura redmond has been daignosed with A.L.L. it is a type of lukeima that affects the bone marrow. at such a young age, 23, she is in the fight of her life. i would like to ask everyone to please have her in your thoughts and prayers as she battles through this to recovery!
i need to catch my train so ill write more later. hope all is going well, i cant wait believe its already been a month :)
kel
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
praha, czech it out
haha ok that was a bad joke, but im in prague, or as the townsmen call it praha. got here after a 6 hr train ride, which was nice because we followed a river in and out of the mountains of czech. when i got here i took a nap because the night before i got no sleep cuz this guy was snoring SO loud, it got to the point where i had to wake him up and say "u are snoring really loud" (HATE HOSTEL LIFE). for dinner i met up with a guy i had met in berlin and i had a real pilsner urquil (they brew it in czech). its much different than the one in the states. then i just walked around town and kinda got a feel for things. today i woke up pretty early and walked the entire town for 6 hrs! i went to the prague castle, which doesnt look like a typical castle but the view of the town was good. the cathedral inside the castle was amazing, the stainless glasses it had was breathtaking, so full of vibrant colors. after the castle i hiked up this mountain that had an eiffel tower on top. it wasnt the actualy eiffel tower obviously but they made a tower just like it on top of this mountain that made it 1 meter high then the one in france. but the view was gorgeous! i could see the entire city of prague..definately worth the 2 mile hike. i then walked in the direction of my hostel and saw what called the fred and ginger dancing building...shaun i think you would really like the architecture of this building it was crazy. cant really explain it but i have pics. tonight i am going into old town and taking some pics. everyone says they cant wait to see my pics...but i must warn everyone i have taken over 1000...haha so be prepared to sit for awhile :) and im only half way through my trip
tomorrow i am going to a town called kutna hora. its about 70 km away from prague, but there is a church that has over 40000 human bones built into it. i dont know about anyone else but i think thats interesting.
not much else to write, im gonna head out on the town and have a budvar, which is the original budweiser,brewed in czech, except some american came over and took it back to the states and called it budweiser, king of beers...that is probably why the czechs arent too fond of americans.
thanks for people that respond, and im glad everyone is enjoying the blog :)
Kelly
tomorrow i am going to a town called kutna hora. its about 70 km away from prague, but there is a church that has over 40000 human bones built into it. i dont know about anyone else but i think thats interesting.
not much else to write, im gonna head out on the town and have a budvar, which is the original budweiser,brewed in czech, except some american came over and took it back to the states and called it budweiser, king of beers...that is probably why the czechs arent too fond of americans.
thanks for people that respond, and im glad everyone is enjoying the blog :)
Kelly
Monday, April 23, 2007
THE BERLIN WALL IS COMING DOWN!
ok ok so its already come down, but you can guess where i am, yup berlin germany. ive been here since friday night. the train ride in from amsterdam was interesting. so im on my merry little way hop on the train and head towards berlin, well i thought it was a direct connection boy was i wrong. we came to a stop and i went to the bathroom the intercom came on and said something in dutch. idont know any dutch so i payed no attention. we started moving again then stopped all of a sudden. well when i walked out of the bathroom everyone was gone and the train was in the middle of the tracks...I WAS STUCK ON THE TRAIN! i ran up and down and no one was there i yelled out the window for help and they had to get security to come and get me...so embarressing to be the white american girl stuck on the train because she didnt know dutch. well after that i got on another train and made it to berlin. my hostel it nice, its called baxpax. its a little out of the city, i think in the west part of berlin in kreuzberg. anywho on saturday i woke and went into town to take a tour of the city. the tour was amazing, now it was a free tour so the tour guide only worked for tips, so his enthusiasm was on point and made the 4 and a half hr long tour so worth it. anywho we started in pariser platz. this is where the brandenburg gate is. this is the last remaining gate in berlin. the tour guide said that when the french invaded germany they marched through the gate and napoleon stole the statue on top of the gate. well when the french went to war against the english i think the germans stole the statue back and called the women lady victoria (for victory) and the square around the gate pariser platz to kind of make fun of the french for the defeat. kinda interesting huh? well across from the gate is a hotel that is the most luxurious hotel in the world, hotel adlon. this hotel is where micheal jackson hung his baby outside the window...and you know i got pictures of that window haha. we proceeded to the holocaust memorial for the jews. this memorial is like no other. the designer wanted people to interpret their own way and not really have an explanation of it. its an area of different sized stone slabs going from small on the outside to tall in the middle. the ground itself gets deeper as you go in. some people think of the slabs as coffins, or graves or tombstones. my interpration came in the middle with the tall slabs, i felt very secluded and small standing there, and thats how i think the people in the concentration camps felt. its an intense feeling. we then walked to the only remaining nazi building in berlin. its actually interesting because after hitlers reign they pretty much destroyed all the buildings, well the ones that were left after the bombings in the war. but this one the communists kept around because inthis particular building their was a big conference room that hitler liked to have his meetings. well the communists needed a board room as well so thats why they kept it around. across the street is the remains of the berlin wall. its not wide at all but the tour guide said getting over it was not the problem. there was actaully 2 walls, the berlin wall and the inner wall. the space between the two was called dead mans land...if you were caught going from the east to the west in this area you were gunned down. next we walked by checkpoint charlie, which is where any american )journalist, soldier, etc) stayed/had to check in during the war. the actual checkpoint isnt there anymore but they have a fake one in its place. we then went to musuem island where we got to see the berlin dome. its a beautiful church inside and out. the tour was over after that, and like i said it didnt seem like 4 hrs. i learned a lot of the history behind the war and hitlers reign, and its a lot different than learning it from school because im actually in the city that it happened so it was a lot more interesting. anywho i went to dinner with a guy i had met on the tour and he knew of a good german place to go to. i had the traditional bratswarts and saurkraut with potatoes. and to my suprise i liked it! the saurkraut was not like anythin from the states, it was sweet so thats why i liked it. the sausage was also cooked and served in a beer sauce, so of course that was good! at night iwent on a pub crawl. it was only 9 euros and we got free beer for an hr and free vokda shots all night long. we went to 3 bars and then a club. the club was awesome. it had 5 different rooms all with different music. there were 3 dance floors and there were even dancers in cages. it was fun but i felt like i was back in freshman year, where everyone was 18 and really couldnt handle their alcohol. me and this one guy who was 29 and from london i think were the oldest ones there. but it was still fun.
yesterday i went to sachsenhausen concentration camp. this camp was the "model" camp for all the others. this is where they actually sat down and decided what to do with all the jews. it was an hr away from the city by train. when we got there there were a lot of soldiers with different uniforms on. it happened to be the anniversary of the camps liberation. so seeing the memorial (although in german) was amazing. there are actually 2 anniversarys of the camp, let me tell you a little history. the nazis heard that the soviets were coming into the camp so on april 21 they took over 33,000 people away from the camp and walked into the forest. now the soldiers themselves were afraid they were going to get caught so they left the people there in the forest. the next day, april 22nd the soviets came to the camp and found 3000 people left in the camp. these were the people that were too weak to walk, everyone pretty much in the infermaries. the people the forest were found between may 3rd and may 6th. but 7000 people had died in those 12 days, which is why its called the death march. so thats why there are 2 anniversaries. the desendants of the people who walked in the forest walk the same path that they did in remembrance of them. so theres a little information for you :) we walked through the camp and it was very intense, more intense than the holocaust musuem because we were stood on the ground where the people were murdered, starved, burned, beaten, everything horrible you can imagine. the tour lasted about about 3 hrs, it ended with us seeing the cell where they kept the dead bodies and we saw the actual wheelbarrel that carried the bodies to the fireplaces. i really had no feeling for awhile after the camp just because it was so intense and mind boggeling to hear the stories of the survivors. but i feel that everyone should go to alteast one concentration camp, just so we will never forget what happened. its like the saying goes, if we foget about our past it will come back and kick us in the ass. this is why i am glad people have these tours, so we will always remembe what people had to go through...ok enough preaching. after the camp i went back to the hostel and just hung out with people in the common room playing pool.
today i just went around town and took pics, berlin is a very big city a lot of ground to cover so i tried my best.
tomorrow im headed to prague, check republic. im really excited about it because there is a castle!! but hope things are going well back at home. i miss everyone but im having an amazing time :) ill write later.
Kelly
yesterday i went to sachsenhausen concentration camp. this camp was the "model" camp for all the others. this is where they actually sat down and decided what to do with all the jews. it was an hr away from the city by train. when we got there there were a lot of soldiers with different uniforms on. it happened to be the anniversary of the camps liberation. so seeing the memorial (although in german) was amazing. there are actually 2 anniversarys of the camp, let me tell you a little history. the nazis heard that the soviets were coming into the camp so on april 21 they took over 33,000 people away from the camp and walked into the forest. now the soldiers themselves were afraid they were going to get caught so they left the people there in the forest. the next day, april 22nd the soviets came to the camp and found 3000 people left in the camp. these were the people that were too weak to walk, everyone pretty much in the infermaries. the people the forest were found between may 3rd and may 6th. but 7000 people had died in those 12 days, which is why its called the death march. so thats why there are 2 anniversaries. the desendants of the people who walked in the forest walk the same path that they did in remembrance of them. so theres a little information for you :) we walked through the camp and it was very intense, more intense than the holocaust musuem because we were stood on the ground where the people were murdered, starved, burned, beaten, everything horrible you can imagine. the tour lasted about about 3 hrs, it ended with us seeing the cell where they kept the dead bodies and we saw the actual wheelbarrel that carried the bodies to the fireplaces. i really had no feeling for awhile after the camp just because it was so intense and mind boggeling to hear the stories of the survivors. but i feel that everyone should go to alteast one concentration camp, just so we will never forget what happened. its like the saying goes, if we foget about our past it will come back and kick us in the ass. this is why i am glad people have these tours, so we will always remembe what people had to go through...ok enough preaching. after the camp i went back to the hostel and just hung out with people in the common room playing pool.
today i just went around town and took pics, berlin is a very big city a lot of ground to cover so i tried my best.
tomorrow im headed to prague, check republic. im really excited about it because there is a castle!! but hope things are going well back at home. i miss everyone but im having an amazing time :) ill write later.
Kelly
Thursday, April 19, 2007
ohhhh amsterdam
greetings from amsterdam! sorry its been so long since ive written but its hard to find a good internet cafe that doesnt charge you an arm and a leg for one hr of service. but anywho...where did i leave off?? ahh yes brussels. i arrived in brussels and walked around the city, theres not much to see, and plus it was a sunday so a lot of things were closed. but i saw the manneken pis, which is the famous statue of a little boy peeing, but yea thats about it for hte city, and plus i was so tired from traveling i wasnt really in the mood for exploring. but i met these 2 people from cali who were traveling together for 2 weeks. we decided to go to a bar that had 2004 beers. the book to list all them was huge. i tried 21 of them, didnt even put a dent in the thing! but for dinner i had mussels, because apparently thats what ur supposed to do in brussels...well belgium in general. but at the bar i met these 2 brothers from canada and they said they were leaving for amsterdam in the morning so i decided to go with them. the train ride was 3 hrs long. i was tired from the night before and the train ride but when i get to amsterdami got my second wind. i searched for about and hr for my hostel but i eventually found it and went walking around the city. as i was walking i saw 2 people that i had met in brugges so i hung out with them for the day, then when we were walking together in the redlight disrict we ran into the 2 brothers from canada...it was reeeaaally weird seeing 4 people that ihad met before in a differnet city.
the next day i went to the amsterdam beach but it was a litttle cloudy so the water wasnt warm at all, but the sand was nice, hardly any rocks. at night i just walked around amsterdam. the architecture here is awesome, the buildings actually lean in on you, its like a harry potter movie...i took plenty of pics so you guys dont think im on crack or anything.
yesterday i met up with more people who i have met along the way and we went to see the infamous amsterdam live sex show...yes mom and mrs. lyn i went to a sex show. ..its one of those things that you can say "yea i went to one of those in amsterdam" kinda stories. but it was interesting but more funny.
theres food everywhere here, obvious for one reason, but i tired a goner sandwhich which is lambmeat shaved up...its good esp with this garlic sauce they have.
today im headed to the tulip fields with over 8000 bulbs, i should get some really good pics from those! and tomorrow i am headed to berlin germany and staying there 3 nights. from there its uncertain, but ill write more later. i miss everyone.
Kelly
the next day i went to the amsterdam beach but it was a litttle cloudy so the water wasnt warm at all, but the sand was nice, hardly any rocks. at night i just walked around amsterdam. the architecture here is awesome, the buildings actually lean in on you, its like a harry potter movie...i took plenty of pics so you guys dont think im on crack or anything.
yesterday i met up with more people who i have met along the way and we went to see the infamous amsterdam live sex show...yes mom and mrs. lyn i went to a sex show. ..its one of those things that you can say "yea i went to one of those in amsterdam" kinda stories. but it was interesting but more funny.
theres food everywhere here, obvious for one reason, but i tired a goner sandwhich which is lambmeat shaved up...its good esp with this garlic sauce they have.
today im headed to the tulip fields with over 8000 bulbs, i should get some really good pics from those! and tomorrow i am headed to berlin germany and staying there 3 nights. from there its uncertain, but ill write more later. i miss everyone.
Kelly
Friday, April 13, 2007
In Brugges
Hello from Brugges!
Well i find myself in Brugges Belguim, and loving it. i got here yesterday around 7, and immediately fell in love with the town. all the roads are stone paved and every building is touching so the only space in between the buildings are the streets dividing them. i did laundry for the first time, and trying to do laundry when its written in dutch is like rocket science, luckily there were 2 americans doing it as well and they should be how. while doing laundry i met these 2 girls from california, they have been traveling since the beginning of march. they were only in town for the night and headed to amsterdam today. we traded information and im going to meet up with them when i get there on monday. in my room there were 3 sisters, one 18, one 22 and one 25. they have been traveling for 4 months, they only have 2 weeks left. they were telling me about all their travels and what i should look out for. the hostel, named snuffel youth hostel, is a pretty cool place. there is a bar downstairs which has happy hour from 9-10 and they have a band come in every other week, which luckily is tomorrow. the only downfall about this place is you have to go through the bar then the kitchen just to get to the showers. but eh, nothing like walking through a bar in my pj's, not like i havent done that before.
anyways today i rented a bike and was riding around, i saw a sign that said OoStende 22. i thought oh 22 miles isnt that far well almost 2 hrs later i made it. about an hr into the ride i saw another sign that said oostende 15 miles....so needless to say the signs were wrong. when i was tempted to turn around i thought of finding nemo and what dory said, just keeping going just keep going, so i did. i finally made it in to town and it is a lot different than brugges. its next to the north sea so there is a big shipping yard and there are a bunch of boats. it was a cool city i walked down the shopping street, they had a bunch of cool little shops. i actually bought something, a hair wrap thing. they are really big in europe, almost every girl has one in their head, so i said sure why not jump on the band wagon, plus the humidity from the sea was doing nothing for my hair. anyways i went to the beach and dipped my toes in the north sea...and thats all that went in cuz it was sooooo cold. i spent the afternoon there and needless to say i took the train back to brugges. back in brugges i went to the market and just walked around, it was late so most of the stores were closed, so im pretty excited about tomorrow. im just gonna get lost in the town and just walk around. brugges is known for a few things, their lace, their chocolate and their french fries. so needless to say i tried their french fries and im not gonna lie, next to checkers (which are only good because of the seasoning, plus accomanied by a strawberry milkshake umm basically nothing is better. lexie and contest to this as well) anywho fries were good and yes i did have them with mayonaise, but it was like a garlic mayo so it wasnt that bad, and i coughed up with 50 cent euro for ketchup of course. tonight im just gonna hang out meet people in the bar. hope things are well in the ''states'', thats what the europeans call america. i miss everyone.
Kel
Well i find myself in Brugges Belguim, and loving it. i got here yesterday around 7, and immediately fell in love with the town. all the roads are stone paved and every building is touching so the only space in between the buildings are the streets dividing them. i did laundry for the first time, and trying to do laundry when its written in dutch is like rocket science, luckily there were 2 americans doing it as well and they should be how. while doing laundry i met these 2 girls from california, they have been traveling since the beginning of march. they were only in town for the night and headed to amsterdam today. we traded information and im going to meet up with them when i get there on monday. in my room there were 3 sisters, one 18, one 22 and one 25. they have been traveling for 4 months, they only have 2 weeks left. they were telling me about all their travels and what i should look out for. the hostel, named snuffel youth hostel, is a pretty cool place. there is a bar downstairs which has happy hour from 9-10 and they have a band come in every other week, which luckily is tomorrow. the only downfall about this place is you have to go through the bar then the kitchen just to get to the showers. but eh, nothing like walking through a bar in my pj's, not like i havent done that before.
anyways today i rented a bike and was riding around, i saw a sign that said OoStende 22. i thought oh 22 miles isnt that far well almost 2 hrs later i made it. about an hr into the ride i saw another sign that said oostende 15 miles....so needless to say the signs were wrong. when i was tempted to turn around i thought of finding nemo and what dory said, just keeping going just keep going, so i did. i finally made it in to town and it is a lot different than brugges. its next to the north sea so there is a big shipping yard and there are a bunch of boats. it was a cool city i walked down the shopping street, they had a bunch of cool little shops. i actually bought something, a hair wrap thing. they are really big in europe, almost every girl has one in their head, so i said sure why not jump on the band wagon, plus the humidity from the sea was doing nothing for my hair. anyways i went to the beach and dipped my toes in the north sea...and thats all that went in cuz it was sooooo cold. i spent the afternoon there and needless to say i took the train back to brugges. back in brugges i went to the market and just walked around, it was late so most of the stores were closed, so im pretty excited about tomorrow. im just gonna get lost in the town and just walk around. brugges is known for a few things, their lace, their chocolate and their french fries. so needless to say i tried their french fries and im not gonna lie, next to checkers (which are only good because of the seasoning, plus accomanied by a strawberry milkshake umm basically nothing is better. lexie and contest to this as well) anywho fries were good and yes i did have them with mayonaise, but it was like a garlic mayo so it wasnt that bad, and i coughed up with 50 cent euro for ketchup of course. tonight im just gonna hang out meet people in the bar. hope things are well in the ''states'', thats what the europeans call america. i miss everyone.
Kel
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Things i wont forget about london and paris
So the past week and a half has left my memories, both good and bad of London and Paris that i would like to share with you....
London:
1) the wounded soldiers, never ask for a regular beer you must clarify you want a COLD beer.
2) looking left instead of right, and vise versa, even being there 4 days i never got used to it.
3) obviously the sites, favorite was the tower of london at night
4) i met all different kinds of people, from all over. someone from australia, someone from ireland, someone from north korea. the diversity is something that was very unexpected.
5) the pound, ohhh the pound. when you want to get a burger fries and a beer it ends up being 20 pounds, not that bad huh, well when you convert that to us dollars, its like a 40 dollar meal! the good thing in paris is that they have to show their prices in the window or outside, that way you know what ur getting urself into.
Paris:
1) the metro they have is unbelieveable. over 200 stops in the city. i mean almost every other corner there is a metro stop. parisons are lazy!
2) paris at night is much better than paris at day, mainly because there are no people to bother you asking you if you want to buy a flashing neon eiffel tower, or someone coming up to you asking if you speak english, and when you say yes they show you this post card of how their mom abonded them and they are living with 10 people, seriously that is what the first post card i read said, from then on whenever someone asked if i speak english i shake my head no.
3) the taxi drivers here drive mercedes and jettas. i mean i wouldnt mind moving to paris to be a driver is i get to drive one of those, it sure beats the neon :)
4) i now know why they call this the city of love, every where i turn theres a couple making out, or gazing into eachothers eyes...blah blah blah...gross gross gross. if i knew enough french i would say get a room!
5) the mcdonalds here, i walked into one just to see if it was any different, and to my suprise it was! they have the usual big mac, chicken nuggets (which lexie by the way after you told me what they are made of, i have looked at them so differently) and burgers, but what they do have that is different are steak fries and they have this oriental burger. they also serve tarter sauce and mayo with everything instead of ketchup...a true dissapointment to me.
6) crepes seem to be the food of paris. if you ever come here get a natella chocolate crepe, they are to die for. also tried a croque monsiuer.keri recommended i try this. it was very good, its like a grilled chees and ham except the cheese is on the top of the sandwich and the ham is in the middle.
7) one would get lost if they ever ventured off. there are so many roads in paris, i.e. small alley ways. and its not like nice alley ways either! they each have their own name, if you were to take one wrong turn it would take 20 minutes just to get back to where you started.
im sure i will think of more but all in all so far its been a good trip. met many people and discovered and seen a lot of things, cant wait for my next destination. au revoir!
London:
1) the wounded soldiers, never ask for a regular beer you must clarify you want a COLD beer.
2) looking left instead of right, and vise versa, even being there 4 days i never got used to it.
3) obviously the sites, favorite was the tower of london at night
4) i met all different kinds of people, from all over. someone from australia, someone from ireland, someone from north korea. the diversity is something that was very unexpected.
5) the pound, ohhh the pound. when you want to get a burger fries and a beer it ends up being 20 pounds, not that bad huh, well when you convert that to us dollars, its like a 40 dollar meal! the good thing in paris is that they have to show their prices in the window or outside, that way you know what ur getting urself into.
Paris:
1) the metro they have is unbelieveable. over 200 stops in the city. i mean almost every other corner there is a metro stop. parisons are lazy!
2) paris at night is much better than paris at day, mainly because there are no people to bother you asking you if you want to buy a flashing neon eiffel tower, or someone coming up to you asking if you speak english, and when you say yes they show you this post card of how their mom abonded them and they are living with 10 people, seriously that is what the first post card i read said, from then on whenever someone asked if i speak english i shake my head no.
3) the taxi drivers here drive mercedes and jettas. i mean i wouldnt mind moving to paris to be a driver is i get to drive one of those, it sure beats the neon :)
4) i now know why they call this the city of love, every where i turn theres a couple making out, or gazing into eachothers eyes...blah blah blah...gross gross gross. if i knew enough french i would say get a room!
5) the mcdonalds here, i walked into one just to see if it was any different, and to my suprise it was! they have the usual big mac, chicken nuggets (which lexie by the way after you told me what they are made of, i have looked at them so differently) and burgers, but what they do have that is different are steak fries and they have this oriental burger. they also serve tarter sauce and mayo with everything instead of ketchup...a true dissapointment to me.
6) crepes seem to be the food of paris. if you ever come here get a natella chocolate crepe, they are to die for. also tried a croque monsiuer.keri recommended i try this. it was very good, its like a grilled chees and ham except the cheese is on the top of the sandwich and the ham is in the middle.
7) one would get lost if they ever ventured off. there are so many roads in paris, i.e. small alley ways. and its not like nice alley ways either! they each have their own name, if you were to take one wrong turn it would take 20 minutes just to get back to where you started.
im sure i will think of more but all in all so far its been a good trip. met many people and discovered and seen a lot of things, cant wait for my next destination. au revoir!
Last night in Paris
Well my Paris adventure is slowly coming to an end. yesterday i went to the chateau of versilles (a palace for those french impaired) its in a small town of versailles and it is where marie antoniette lived, as well as the other queens and kings of that time. but it was gorgeous, especially the gardens outside. the town is really nice too. i picture that to be more of what i imagined...well wanted....paris to be, instead of the tourist capital of the world! i guess thats what i get for coming over easter weekend. at night i took pictures of the lourve. i moved into another hostel because the other was really shady. this one was nice, but i was sharing it with a guy who came in drunk and snored SO LOUD the whole night i barely got any sleep. i guess that the life of living in hostels. this morning i moved into another hostel, this one is a little more away from the city so its quiet, so hopefully i can get a good nights sleep for once. today i went to sacre coeur in montmarte. its a beautiful white church on top of the hill. this was probably my favorite part of paris. it was so lively with artists. in the town/market next to the church there were artists all over the place. if their paintings werent so much i would have bought one. but this town reminded me of a historical town with white cottages and stone paved roads. tonight i am going to take night pics of notre dame and sacre coeur. i leave to go to bruges belguim tomorrow. im not sure when i will be able to write again, but i will as soon as i can. hope all is well in the states. miss everyone.
Kel
Kel
Monday, April 9, 2007
Sites, Sites and more sites
Bonjour!
Well im on my 3rd day in paris and so far everything has been good. other than the first 4 hrs of being here the weather as been AMAZING! clear skies and sunny, lets just hope it stays like that. lets see on saturday i just walked around the city trying to get a feel for where things are. at night i walked along the seine (river) to the eiffel tower. every hour at night the tower would sparkle with light. just absolutely beautiful. i got some pretty good shots. yesterday i woke up at 830 to get to louvre since it opened at 9, i didnt want to wait in line or be in the museum when there were a lot of tourists, just searching for the mona lisa. but in the louvre there are 3 different pavilions, richelieu, sully and denon. i started in the richelieu this mainly had roman and greek statues. nice but i saw a lot of statues when i went to the british museum, i then walked into pavilion sully, where Venus de milo was. now there was a statue of her in the british museum but she was crouching, this time she was standing and "posing". just beautiful from every angle. obviously this is where the museum began to get crowded so it kidna sucked having to walk through people to get to her. after that i walked down napoleans hall. the artwork on the wall and ceilings are breath-taking. someones neck probably needed a message after that. i then proceeded to the "painting gallery" of the louvre. many interpretations of christs birth, crucification and resurrection, also a lot with the virgin mary. there were 100's of paintings, but my favorite one was the wedding at cana. the size of the painting nearly took up an entire wall. i bought headphones so i had an explanation and interpretation of it. then across the room was the ever so important the mona lisa. important it was, so important there was a huge glass frame around the painting, made it seem very small. i wanted to pass most of the italian and spanish paintings because i knew i would see plenty of them when i got to italy and spain so i went into the french paitnings....mostly of the french revolution. the museum was coming to an end and the last peice i saw was a statue of psyche revived by cupids kiss, very beautiful. i could have stayed all day in the museum but i thought 3 hrs were enough and by that time it was getting crowded. i then walked down the champs elysees to the arc de triomphe. very long walk, but worth it. after that i kinda just puttered around the city taking random pictures of everything. i went back to the hostel and met a girl named emilie. she is from denmark and is in paris for a job interview. she speaks english, danish and french. fluent in all 3, so it was nice having someone to walk with who spoke french. we went for a nights walk and we ended up at the sacre coure in montmarte. this is a very beautiful white church on top of a hill, and at night is gorgeous, i didnt have my camera at the time so i am going back tomorrow night.
today i went notre dame cathedral. there was a funeral going on so i thought it was rude to walk around while people were saying their goodbyes so i stayed in the back of the cathedral till it was over. a catholic funeral is a very prolong but beautiful process. i keep saying the world beautiful, but thats really how you have to describe the sites of this city. anywho after the funeral i walked around the church, and the statues and stainless glass were like nothing i have seen before. there were many people taking pics but i think its wrong to take pictures inside of a church, its a santuary not a souviner. anyways enough of the preaching. i walked around outside into the gardens and along the seine. there were many artists out. i think im going to go back on thursday and buy a picture from them. the rest of the day is not yet planned i think i am going to go find a park and just rest, i have been walking for miles the past 3 days. but tonight i am going up the eiffel tower to get pics. there will be a 3 hr wait but i think its worth it.
i havent had much french food except a "chocolat crepe avec banane". other than that just having fruit and pain (bread), trying to save the money i have. hope everyone had a good easter, thanks again to people who write back, makes me miss home even more. hope all is well.
Kel
p.s. i cant attach photos because i am at an internet cafe and the computers here dont allow that. so ur gonna have to wait till i get home :)
Well im on my 3rd day in paris and so far everything has been good. other than the first 4 hrs of being here the weather as been AMAZING! clear skies and sunny, lets just hope it stays like that. lets see on saturday i just walked around the city trying to get a feel for where things are. at night i walked along the seine (river) to the eiffel tower. every hour at night the tower would sparkle with light. just absolutely beautiful. i got some pretty good shots. yesterday i woke up at 830 to get to louvre since it opened at 9, i didnt want to wait in line or be in the museum when there were a lot of tourists, just searching for the mona lisa. but in the louvre there are 3 different pavilions, richelieu, sully and denon. i started in the richelieu this mainly had roman and greek statues. nice but i saw a lot of statues when i went to the british museum, i then walked into pavilion sully, where Venus de milo was. now there was a statue of her in the british museum but she was crouching, this time she was standing and "posing". just beautiful from every angle. obviously this is where the museum began to get crowded so it kidna sucked having to walk through people to get to her. after that i walked down napoleans hall. the artwork on the wall and ceilings are breath-taking. someones neck probably needed a message after that. i then proceeded to the "painting gallery" of the louvre. many interpretations of christs birth, crucification and resurrection, also a lot with the virgin mary. there were 100's of paintings, but my favorite one was the wedding at cana. the size of the painting nearly took up an entire wall. i bought headphones so i had an explanation and interpretation of it. then across the room was the ever so important the mona lisa. important it was, so important there was a huge glass frame around the painting, made it seem very small. i wanted to pass most of the italian and spanish paintings because i knew i would see plenty of them when i got to italy and spain so i went into the french paitnings....mostly of the french revolution. the museum was coming to an end and the last peice i saw was a statue of psyche revived by cupids kiss, very beautiful. i could have stayed all day in the museum but i thought 3 hrs were enough and by that time it was getting crowded. i then walked down the champs elysees to the arc de triomphe. very long walk, but worth it. after that i kinda just puttered around the city taking random pictures of everything. i went back to the hostel and met a girl named emilie. she is from denmark and is in paris for a job interview. she speaks english, danish and french. fluent in all 3, so it was nice having someone to walk with who spoke french. we went for a nights walk and we ended up at the sacre coure in montmarte. this is a very beautiful white church on top of a hill, and at night is gorgeous, i didnt have my camera at the time so i am going back tomorrow night.
today i went notre dame cathedral. there was a funeral going on so i thought it was rude to walk around while people were saying their goodbyes so i stayed in the back of the cathedral till it was over. a catholic funeral is a very prolong but beautiful process. i keep saying the world beautiful, but thats really how you have to describe the sites of this city. anywho after the funeral i walked around the church, and the statues and stainless glass were like nothing i have seen before. there were many people taking pics but i think its wrong to take pictures inside of a church, its a santuary not a souviner. anyways enough of the preaching. i walked around outside into the gardens and along the seine. there were many artists out. i think im going to go back on thursday and buy a picture from them. the rest of the day is not yet planned i think i am going to go find a park and just rest, i have been walking for miles the past 3 days. but tonight i am going up the eiffel tower to get pics. there will be a 3 hr wait but i think its worth it.
i havent had much french food except a "chocolat crepe avec banane". other than that just having fruit and pain (bread), trying to save the money i have. hope everyone had a good easter, thanks again to people who write back, makes me miss home even more. hope all is well.
Kel
p.s. i cant attach photos because i am at an internet cafe and the computers here dont allow that. so ur gonna have to wait till i get home :)
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Arrived in Paris
Bonjour!
I arrived in Paris this moring at 8 am...so far its been a long day! but let me tell ya'll about the rest of london. on thursday i met john and nancy (scotts uncle and aunt) they are the cutest couple, very kind and welcoming! john and I met in the city and he took me to the Chelsea football club (a big soccer club in london). he has been a season ticket holder for 44 yrs! so i got to see and take pics of the pitch (the field for those football impaired) at the club i had my first fish and chips (a big meal over in london) it was bad. after that we went back to his house where i met his wife nancy. they live greenford london which is about a 40 minute train ride from the city. we ate dinner then chatted for a good 4 hrs, drinking 2 bottles of wine. the next day the 3 of us went into the city and visited buckingham palace, where i saw the changing of the gaurds, a process in itself! it takes 4 gaurds to change one position. anywho, then we walked around trafalger square looking for something to eat. found a nice place in a market, there was live opera music right outside so it was nice having that in the background. the food in london is not much different from that in america. they are big on smoked salmon so i had that for dinner. i said goodbye to nancy and john then hopped on the train and headed to luton, london....where my flight left at 6 am this morning.
i arrived in paris and its such a different world. if i didnt take french in college i think i would have gotten so lost! luckily i knew the important phrases. well i got the tain into the city and found my hostel. its not as nice as my other one. name is friends hostel. its right across the street from a metro stop so thats good for night. ill let u know how i like it, but from the looks of it i wont...but i have 3 nights there so i gotta force myself to. anyway i took a short nap and now i am just walking around the city. i walked into a cafe and ordered a sandwich, that was interesting. its like im talking to a brick wall sometimes (which is understandable but still)..all i wanna say is do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth!! :)
tomorrow i am going to the louvre and walking around the city some more. happy easter to everyone!
Kel
I arrived in Paris this moring at 8 am...so far its been a long day! but let me tell ya'll about the rest of london. on thursday i met john and nancy (scotts uncle and aunt) they are the cutest couple, very kind and welcoming! john and I met in the city and he took me to the Chelsea football club (a big soccer club in london). he has been a season ticket holder for 44 yrs! so i got to see and take pics of the pitch (the field for those football impaired) at the club i had my first fish and chips (a big meal over in london) it was bad. after that we went back to his house where i met his wife nancy. they live greenford london which is about a 40 minute train ride from the city. we ate dinner then chatted for a good 4 hrs, drinking 2 bottles of wine. the next day the 3 of us went into the city and visited buckingham palace, where i saw the changing of the gaurds, a process in itself! it takes 4 gaurds to change one position. anywho, then we walked around trafalger square looking for something to eat. found a nice place in a market, there was live opera music right outside so it was nice having that in the background. the food in london is not much different from that in america. they are big on smoked salmon so i had that for dinner. i said goodbye to nancy and john then hopped on the train and headed to luton, london....where my flight left at 6 am this morning.
i arrived in paris and its such a different world. if i didnt take french in college i think i would have gotten so lost! luckily i knew the important phrases. well i got the tain into the city and found my hostel. its not as nice as my other one. name is friends hostel. its right across the street from a metro stop so thats good for night. ill let u know how i like it, but from the looks of it i wont...but i have 3 nights there so i gotta force myself to. anyway i took a short nap and now i am just walking around the city. i walked into a cafe and ordered a sandwich, that was interesting. its like im talking to a brick wall sometimes (which is understandable but still)..all i wanna say is do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth!! :)
tomorrow i am going to the louvre and walking around the city some more. happy easter to everyone!
Kel
Thursday, April 5, 2007
So much to see such little time
Hello!
Sorry I couldnt get to everyone yesterday (no worries Jenny, you dont need to come fly here and find me...although that would be nice). But apparently I could not get to my blog at my hostel because the computers there think that it is a high public porn site, so i had no access; interesting huh?? anywho, yesterday was amazing. the weather was cloudy in the morning which kinda sucked because i went to st pauls cathedrals walked up 520 steps to get to the top where i could see the entire city and it was cloudy, but still got some good pics :) after that i hopped on the bus to take me around the city so I could see where all the places to go were, the bus was a double layer bus so i could sit on the top and take pics (very touristy huh?) Sat on the bus for a little while then i go off in westminster where i got to see big ben, the london eye, wisminster alley, and the parliment. ALL very beautiful buildings, got plenty of pictures. the weather was clearing up and the sun finally came out! i tried to go inside the parliment but when i asked the gaurd apparently you had to sign up like 2 days in advance, so I guess another time. obviously everything here is expensive. the most bizarre thing, on the tube (which is like the metro in d.c.) a one way ticket is 4 pounds but a ticket all day is 5.10 pounds...does that not seem strange to anyone else??
after walking around for about another hr i headed back to my hostel, which rudy by the way is named Astor Museum Inn. I took a short nap then got up around 8 pm to go take night pictures of the london bridge, big ben and the london eye. let me tell you i think i should be a professional photographer, because night pictures are very hard to take because you need to keep a steady hand in order not to blur the lights and i got some pretty amazing pics. the london bridge and the tower of london at night are breathe taking at night. it took me 4 hrs total to take pictures because i wanted to get the "right" one. so needless to say when i got home at 1 am i was exhausted.
its now 1030 on thursday and i am meeting up with Scott's (the fire biker) uncle, him and his wife live in the subburbs of london. he is meeting me in the city and taking me around town. it will be nice to hear and see the city from a townsmen. I am staying at their house tonight, so Im not sure when I will be able to write again. perhaps tomorrow. I am headed back into town because I would like to see the changing of the gaurds. i have a train out to luton tomorrow evening. Im staying in a hostel about 3 minutes away from the airport, which will be nice since i have a flight into paris at 6 am on saturday. Hope everyone is doing well, thanks to everyone who responds. miss ya'll :)
Kel
Sorry I couldnt get to everyone yesterday (no worries Jenny, you dont need to come fly here and find me...although that would be nice). But apparently I could not get to my blog at my hostel because the computers there think that it is a high public porn site, so i had no access; interesting huh?? anywho, yesterday was amazing. the weather was cloudy in the morning which kinda sucked because i went to st pauls cathedrals walked up 520 steps to get to the top where i could see the entire city and it was cloudy, but still got some good pics :) after that i hopped on the bus to take me around the city so I could see where all the places to go were, the bus was a double layer bus so i could sit on the top and take pics (very touristy huh?) Sat on the bus for a little while then i go off in westminster where i got to see big ben, the london eye, wisminster alley, and the parliment. ALL very beautiful buildings, got plenty of pictures. the weather was clearing up and the sun finally came out! i tried to go inside the parliment but when i asked the gaurd apparently you had to sign up like 2 days in advance, so I guess another time. obviously everything here is expensive. the most bizarre thing, on the tube (which is like the metro in d.c.) a one way ticket is 4 pounds but a ticket all day is 5.10 pounds...does that not seem strange to anyone else??
after walking around for about another hr i headed back to my hostel, which rudy by the way is named Astor Museum Inn. I took a short nap then got up around 8 pm to go take night pictures of the london bridge, big ben and the london eye. let me tell you i think i should be a professional photographer, because night pictures are very hard to take because you need to keep a steady hand in order not to blur the lights and i got some pretty amazing pics. the london bridge and the tower of london at night are breathe taking at night. it took me 4 hrs total to take pictures because i wanted to get the "right" one. so needless to say when i got home at 1 am i was exhausted.
its now 1030 on thursday and i am meeting up with Scott's (the fire biker) uncle, him and his wife live in the subburbs of london. he is meeting me in the city and taking me around town. it will be nice to hear and see the city from a townsmen. I am staying at their house tonight, so Im not sure when I will be able to write again. perhaps tomorrow. I am headed back into town because I would like to see the changing of the gaurds. i have a train out to luton tomorrow evening. Im staying in a hostel about 3 minutes away from the airport, which will be nice since i have a flight into paris at 6 am on saturday. Hope everyone is doing well, thanks to everyone who responds. miss ya'll :)
Kel
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
day of arrival
Hey everyone
So i made it safely into London, walked off the plane and the weather was awful, cloudy and windy...not something you expect for your first day. I took about an hr train ride into central london and walked from there 5 minutes to my hostel (mom no worries, its a nice one) At the reception desk i met a guy named John who was also checking in. Unfortunately we couldnt check in tilll 3 and at that time it was 1 so me and john went to the british museum which was right next door to our hostel. we walked around there for about 2 hrs. all that was there was artifacts from rome, greece, africa, egypt. best parts of the museum were egypt because of the mummies (actually saw cleopatra's mummy) and the rome and greece ancient statues (saw spartans fighting, made me miss 300 :) after the museum we checked in then went walking around trying to find a place to eat. Keri you would be happy to know we found the place with the chicken pot pie, it was called the green man. but unfortunately there was no chicken pot pie there was beef and onion pie...tried it and it was ok....but wow let me tell you. the beer i had tasted like the wounded soldiers left over from a beer pong game, thats how warm it was. i only drank half...think im gonna stick with wine from now on. anywho im exhausted gonna call it a night, and yes it is only 7 pm but i got a lot to do tomorrow. hope all is well. talk to ya'll soon :)
Kel
So i made it safely into London, walked off the plane and the weather was awful, cloudy and windy...not something you expect for your first day. I took about an hr train ride into central london and walked from there 5 minutes to my hostel (mom no worries, its a nice one) At the reception desk i met a guy named John who was also checking in. Unfortunately we couldnt check in tilll 3 and at that time it was 1 so me and john went to the british museum which was right next door to our hostel. we walked around there for about 2 hrs. all that was there was artifacts from rome, greece, africa, egypt. best parts of the museum were egypt because of the mummies (actually saw cleopatra's mummy) and the rome and greece ancient statues (saw spartans fighting, made me miss 300 :) after the museum we checked in then went walking around trying to find a place to eat. Keri you would be happy to know we found the place with the chicken pot pie, it was called the green man. but unfortunately there was no chicken pot pie there was beef and onion pie...tried it and it was ok....but wow let me tell you. the beer i had tasted like the wounded soldiers left over from a beer pong game, thats how warm it was. i only drank half...think im gonna stick with wine from now on. anywho im exhausted gonna call it a night, and yes it is only 7 pm but i got a lot to do tomorrow. hope all is well. talk to ya'll soon :)
Kel
Saturday, March 31, 2007
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