2 weeks already?? Rome to Nice...

Wow, I cannot believe it is the eve of the last day of our trip. What a crazy and fun 2 weeks this has been. I am currently in Nice, France. I enjoyed my last 24 hours, and did some laying out and relaxing. No museums, monuments, tours, and for the most part no maps. The weather finally worked out, and I have enjoyed the weekend.

So.. we were in Rome on Wednesday. What a busy day that was. First thing we had to find a hostel, which we did. It wasn't the greatest, but it was cheap and we could drop our bags off until check in. We then headed to the Vatican, with a quick stop the US Emabssy so that I could check in with my DEA friend there. She was nice enough to fax my Turkish police report to my Dad, so that a copy would be in the US. To the Vatican we went, first to the museum and Sistine Chapel, and then off to St. Peters Basilica. The Sistine Chapel was amazing, breathing and awesome all in one. Too bad people didn't understand how to be quiet so that you could really enjoy it. And they smelled too! I took one picture with my disposable, hopefully it will turn out okay. When we arrived at St. Peters, the line was pretty crazy since it was 4pm. So we opted to head back the next morning before heading to Florence, in order to really enjoy it. We started walking towards the Pantheon and Coleseum. Both were amazing, the Pantheon was partially closed because they were getting ready for a mass, and the Coliseum was crowded and expensive to see, so we just walked around. We headed back to the hostel via Metro to regroup, shower and get ready for some dinner.

The next morning we headed out to St. Peters at 7am. What a great time to go. Not only was there no line, but there were several masses going on. We both attended different one's, and they were both in Latin. How cool to receive the Eucharist in St. Peters Basilica in Rome. We really enjoyed it, took our time milling around. Afterwards we headed back to the train stationa and got our tickets to Florence. It was only a 2 hour train ride.

I had booked a hostel for Florence the night before, so we had a place to head to. We dropped our bags and got some lunch, then headed back to check in and shower. By this time, 13 days into our trip, sight seeing was old. So we just headed out in the general direction of big things, and started shopping! I bought a skirt, and Italian shoes. So much fun! We found a catedral, big square, and the Duomo while shopping. It started to thunderstorm so we headed back to the hostel. After resting for a bit we headed out to dinner, at a place we had found earlier. What a meal! We both had a great time.

Friday was interesting- we were suppposed to just stop in Pisa for an hour and see the tower and head up to Nice with no problems. Well we were in Pisa longer than expected because we couldn't find the leaning tower! When we finally did we also coudn't find a taxi back to the train station. So we had to reroute, going to Genova for a few, then the border of Italy/France, and finally getting to Nice at 6:30. Not bad! our hostel was a bit hard to get to at first, but we found it. What a cool place, with lots of fun people. We met a girl from England in our room, and just had dinner at the hostel- veal with a cream sauce and rice (so good!!) and then drank some wine and headed to bed.

Our day in Nice today was lazy. We enjoyed seafood and the beach! what more can I say! now it is all over and we head back to Madrid slowly but surely tomorrow. 3 trains and 24 hours until we get there.

More reflection when I get back to Madrid... lets hope we get there in one piece!

Pizza, Pasta and Italy!

Well, lets see the last time I wrote on here I was in Hungary. We are now in our second stop in Italy. Let me backtrack. We went to Vienna bright and early on Monday morning, and that day was packed with things. We dropped our bags at the train station and headed for the worlds biggest ferris wheel! It was in the amusement park and the ferris wheel is called the Prater, it is now 240 years old. We had a blast playing around in the park, and riding other rides. After that we metroed back into the city and did some sightseeing. There was a huge cathedral there, St.Stephans. Since it was Easter Monday a lot of things were closed, so we basically walked around for hours, looking at all of the museums and other cool buildings. The Hapsburg Palace was cool. We made it to Mozarts Grave, and I took a picture for my brother with my disposable camera! We headed back to the train station around 8 to catch our overnight train to Venice. This train was 10 times better than the other, we had comfy beds with sheets and what not. Needless to say we both slept soundly for 10 hours.

We arrived in Venice later than expected, around 10am. We got hooked up with a hotel, which was sweet be cause we had our own room and bathroom! you have no idea what a joy that was for a night!! It was the same price as both of us paying for a bed in a hostel. So that worked out well. So we headed out to explore Venice. We took a boat ride to San Marco, the big square and Cathedral. We then wound ourway through the streets, shopping and putzing. We ate lunch at a place where there were 3 choices for lunch, very authentic and very good! We had dinner on the street later, after seeing pizza and calzones in the windows all day. We had some wine and watched the AC Milan vs Barca game as well. Barca won. It was late so we headed to bed since our train to Rome was at 6:30 this morning. Rome is cool, I will write more about that tomorrow from Florence.

Besos!

Happily Ever after Easter...

Well, the day did not start out as planned, but I must say got better as it went on. We took the overnight train to Budapest, a last minute add in, and I was robbed this morning in my car while I was sleeping. They took my camera, mp3 player, and phone. I was very upset, and still am annoyed, but life goes on. Another man in our car got his passport and money stolen. Not the case for me, but as you all know I am a picture fanatic, and I had a new camera but now I have no pictures from my trip except for what Joy took before hers broke. I shall alway have my memories. We walked around after getting to the the hostel from the train slash police station. This city is beautiful, we went all the way up the citadel and had a view for hundreds of miles. Priceless. Now its off to bed and to Vienna bright and early. Happy Easter everyone'!!!

Berlin came and went...

And now I am in Prague. Berlin was amazing, and of course another city in which I wish that I had more time to visit. We arrived there on Wednesday afternoon, with no place to stay. We ended up finding a hostel that was right across the street from the train station called the Zoo which was in the West side, and it turned out to be very nice and pretty cheap. So after that was all taken care of we went exploring, and found out about a free tour of the city that happens every day. We decided to do that on Thursday morning. We had some dinner and I read about a cool jazz club that had local bands on Wednesdays, and it was super close to our hostel so we went to check that out. What a fun night!! We saw a great band a met a few nice people as well. Up and early on Thursday for the tour, which turned out to be awesome!! It was free, and the guides work for tips. It started at the Bradenberg Gate (old division of East and West) and went all over. Checkpoint Charlie was really cool, as well as the holocaust memorial. Very moving! I learned more in that 3 hour tour than I did in most of my history classes! There is definitely something to be said about seeing what you are learning about. It started to rain and it was cold so we took a break after the tour and showered and what not. We headed to the Jewish museum afterwards, and then to meet up with the group that sponsored the tour- they had a free pub crawl as well! The museum was cool, lots to learn. We had a fabulous german dinner and then headed out for the bars! What a great night! We got in late and got up early to head to the train station for Prague. Happy Good Fridaz. More to come...

Amsterdam and such

Well it is now Wednesdsaz evening and I have been on the "road" for 4 days and we are in our 4th country as well. We arrived in Berlin around 2pm today. So... I fell in love with Amsterdam despite the freezing weather! It is a large city but has a small town feel to it if that makes any sense. There is a lot of history and a ton of things to do there. We began with the Anne Frank house, which is where she and her family hid during the war. It was very neat to walk through it and read some of the passages from her book and learn about how her life was before it ended. Her father was a hero as well. After that we headed for Dam Square for some lunch, and found a little restaurant that my cousin Norman recommended because he knew the chef. Well the chef was not there for lunch but we had an excellent meal anyways. I learned that dutch sausage is raw- not what I expected! After that we headed to the Van Gogh Museum, but changed our minds when we saw the price and the line. Instead we headed to the Heinekin Brewery! Smart choice- it was very interactive, interesting and of course who can complain with 3 beers included in the price! I was slightly buzzed after leaving there. We then headed back to the hostel/hotel to change and freshen up. The hotel was pretty cool, we shared a room with 3 others, a couple from Paris and a girl from Mexico. We then stopped in a coffee shop for a bit, had some beer then headed to find some dinner. After having some chips at a Mexican restaurant we headed back to the place where we ate lunch to say hello to the chef. The menu sounded so good we had our dinner there as well. That was the best vegetable lasagna I can say that I have ever had. The food at this place was amazing- thanks Norm! After dinner we had to take a tour thru the Red Light District... very interesting. It is one of those things that you just have to see for yourself! Good times, we headed back afterwards since we had to catch an early train to Berlin. We got up around 6 and caught a train at 7:15 to Berlin, not a bad ride. So we have been here a few hours and seen some things. We are taking a walking tour tomorrow morning and then doing as much as we can before things close at 6. Friday morning we head to Prague!

More from the Czech Republic!!

Belgium and it's 2,004 beers!

Well after nearly 20 hours and 3 trains later, we have arrived in Brussels, Belgium! The trip went smoothly, with a little running in between trains of course. We got a ticket from Paris to Brussels but the one we wanted was full so we got the earlier train, which meant going from one side of the city to another train station in less than 55 minutes, including using the metro. Not an easy task but we made it, running nearly the whole way! We arrived in Brussels at 5, and were showered and on the street hunting for dinner at 6pm. Since we both had only eaten cereal bars all day, we were famished and ate at the first place we saw- which took about 20 minutes to find since we forgot it was Sunday! It was only after we had full bellies that we found the good places to eat. Oh well, there is always tomorrow. We have all day here and head out to Amsterdam at 5pm. The hostel here is great, my first time and I have no complaints. It was less than 20 bucks for a night and the place is great. We have 2 other American girls in our room. Alrighty, I'll catch up with you guys in Amsterdam. Besos!

Let the Adventures Begin!

Well, the time has come for the best part of this European adventure! Tonight, Joy and I depart for 15 days on the Eurorail and will attempt to see as much as we can while still enjoying each city. Not an easy task! We leave Madrid tonight at 10:45 and take an overnight train to Paris, and then we head on a high speed train to Brussels, Belgium we where officialy begin. From there we plan on going to Amsterdamn, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Munich, Venice, Rome, Florence and Nice. There is no set schedule and no rules! We can get on and off trains as we please, and I think that is the plan! I will try and update this with a few lines from each city, so stay tuned!

p.s. We went to Greece last week and it was awesome! Athens is a fabulous city with so much history it's impossible to see it all in one trip.