the last week hasn't quite been working out in my favor. munich was good for the most part up until the end. got my dirndl (it's blue in case you were wondering), got some good bavarian food with my host Bekir, and got to sleep semi early the first night. saturday was opening day of oktoberfest and we got there super early to get inside schottenhamel tent, the opening tent. it rained while we waited and it was cold, and i had no umbrella or jacket. after 2 hours of waiting in line we were told that was a reservation only line, so we ended up in the tent next door's bier garten instead, which was still awesome because by that time it had warmed up, gotten sunny, and we met some awesome germans. after a few maß there we went to löwenbrau for the rest of the day. had a lot of fun, the tents are huge and insane, and the party really gets going in the afternoons/evenings. sunday i opted to stay away from the huge weekend crowd at wiesn and went to the free walking tour instead, which was actually super informative and fun. met some cool canadians and met them up at höfbrauhaus later. monday i went solo to the oktoberfest and this time is was even colder and rainy. found a big group of aggies and hung with them at hippodrom, and we had the coolest waitress. my camera stopped working at hippodrom so i didn't bother getting it out the rest of the day or even checking on it because i had worked on fixing it for about an hour. tuesday morning when i wake up and start packing to head out, i realize it's not anywhere. that's right, it was stolen out of my purse at oktoberfest at some point. we didn't stay at hippodrom and i ended up losing them in the next tent so who knows when it walked away. needless to say i was incredibly pissed and upset. spent the day riding the train to berlin, got in around 4, and went shopping for a new one. got one that was decent but not as awesome as my old one. spent the night at the hostel hanging out with some more cool canadians who i wish i could have hung out with more, but alas they went to munich this morning. same day my purse strap breaks, so adios purse. didn't have time to get a new one so yesterday i just used my makeup bag to carry the essentials. did the sandeman walking tour (about 3.5 hours of walking) around berlin and got to see most of the sights. met a fun guy from san francisco and we hung out after the tour and drank berliner weisse, this really sweet beer either in red or green that doesn't taste like a beer at all. met up with him at the hostel bar later and us, the canadians, and a bunch of guys that work at the hostel went out to some club that i forget the name of. had a great time until i realized camera number 2 had gone missing. so that blows. we searched all over the club for like an hour. while people were dancing. it was not a fruitful search. so we went home and i was crying because seriously who has this bad of luck?? it could be worse, i could lose my passport or something else valuable. like my sd cards. but thankfully this time i only lost a day of pictures and on the first one i lost half a day because i had just put in a new card. i guess you just run into a stream of bad luck sometimes.
today i haven't left the hostel because honestly sometimes you just need a break. i'll leave to go talk to the club later and check to see if my camera magically turned up, but i doubt it. tomorrow i leave for prague, then vienna which should be fun because i'll get to hang out with my new friend johanna!!
two weeks left and then home sweet home.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
vicenza, verona, zürich
ok so rimini is where we left off... let's see, free pasta was delicous. and free, the best part. didn't go out in rimini but i did hang out with people in the hostel playing pool and speaking spanish, which is always fun because it's challenging and i learn. come to find out they actually worked there so they were fine just hanging out all night. super nice and fun people, and somehow i got lucky and was running the pool table haha! next morning was free breakfast (europeans live on bread, i swear) and then after a lazy morning i headed out to the trains. took the long free way to vicenza and when i got there david picked me up at the station. met tank and alice, and tank was kindly letting me stay at his apartment for a few nights. dropped the bag off and then headed out for some steak. i love americans, they will always find the good hidden spots that remind you of home. the first place was closed so we went to another place and had this delicous guiness soaked steak with fresh parmeggiano. so good! the rest of the night was pretty chill, we went to the city to see it at night. david took me to this really high point that had a great view of the city sparkling. it was beautiful and just reminded me of how lucky i am to be able to do this trip and see so many things.
full day 1 was a lazy day. i had wanted to go to venice but i was just so tired that i couldn't make it. i slept in past noon and then got up to see the city. tried to catch a bus to city centre (or città centro) and still got lost. after walking around for two hours, getting stuck in a park full of roosters, and ending up right back at the first spot, i finally figured it out. it was a monday so almost everything was closed sadly, but it was nice not having so many people around. found this delicous gelati place and ate my limone while i looked at some wonderful buildings. then i left to go to base and hung out with theo for a bit. us and some other people we met at the arena, the bar on base, played pool and went bowling. fun night, and good to be around so many americans for once. it's a nice break from the traveling.
full day 2 i got up and went to verona. i met vanessa, a girl from germany, on the bus to the city centre and we decided to hang out for the day. found this little fair going on just inside of a building close to our bus stop and turns out it was full of free food. score. hello, lunch! so that was fun getting to eat lots of local meats, cheeses, and homemade pastries. walked by the arena, a sort of mini colosseum, and then went to the casa di giulietta, or in english, house of juliet from romeo and juliet. didn't go inside the building but did go to the garden with the statue. and yes, i touched juliet's boob so i will find love. don't believe me? look up what you're supposed to do there, i promise it's what you do! we spent the rest of the day just walking around town and taking little side streets just to see the beauty. hung out with tank, theo for a bit, and david the rest of the night and had a great time. love those guys.
sad to say i misjudged my time and thought i would be able to hit up venice in the morning before heading out of italy. i was wrong, and didn't have time. so i boarded the next train to get to zurich. no one warned me how breathtaking the ride would be. the ride from italy to zurich takes you through the swiss alps, which has by far been the best train ride so far. so many majestic mountains, so much green everywhere, wildlife running around, random waterfalls rolling down the mountains. it was incredible. i wanted to sleep but this was too good to ignore. found my host dariush at the train station, dropped off my stuff, and then went to a CS get together. pretty chill night, we were going to explore the city but i was too tired to do anything else! yesterday was my one day in zurich and it was incredible. i never want to leave switzerland it's so gorgeous. basically i walked down the river, went to the google zurich office (a-ma-zing), paradeplatz, bought some sprüngli chocolate, walked down bahnhofstrasse, and then back to the apt. all in all a great day. at night we rode to a CS friend's house and had a little get together there with some food and a little going away/birthday party. the best part though was the drive. we drove, by motorcycle, along the lake so i could see the crystal water reflecting the city lights for many kilometers. the city is as nice at night as it is during the day! after getting back me and dariush just chatted for a while, and he has been such a great host. i wish i was staying longer so we could hang out more because he has been so good and welcoming. but it is time for me to get back to germany, to start the preparations for die oktoberfest!!!
which means i have to pack. this could take a while lol...
full day 1 was a lazy day. i had wanted to go to venice but i was just so tired that i couldn't make it. i slept in past noon and then got up to see the city. tried to catch a bus to city centre (or città centro) and still got lost. after walking around for two hours, getting stuck in a park full of roosters, and ending up right back at the first spot, i finally figured it out. it was a monday so almost everything was closed sadly, but it was nice not having so many people around. found this delicous gelati place and ate my limone while i looked at some wonderful buildings. then i left to go to base and hung out with theo for a bit. us and some other people we met at the arena, the bar on base, played pool and went bowling. fun night, and good to be around so many americans for once. it's a nice break from the traveling.
full day 2 i got up and went to verona. i met vanessa, a girl from germany, on the bus to the city centre and we decided to hang out for the day. found this little fair going on just inside of a building close to our bus stop and turns out it was full of free food. score. hello, lunch! so that was fun getting to eat lots of local meats, cheeses, and homemade pastries. walked by the arena, a sort of mini colosseum, and then went to the casa di giulietta, or in english, house of juliet from romeo and juliet. didn't go inside the building but did go to the garden with the statue. and yes, i touched juliet's boob so i will find love. don't believe me? look up what you're supposed to do there, i promise it's what you do! we spent the rest of the day just walking around town and taking little side streets just to see the beauty. hung out with tank, theo for a bit, and david the rest of the night and had a great time. love those guys.
sad to say i misjudged my time and thought i would be able to hit up venice in the morning before heading out of italy. i was wrong, and didn't have time. so i boarded the next train to get to zurich. no one warned me how breathtaking the ride would be. the ride from italy to zurich takes you through the swiss alps, which has by far been the best train ride so far. so many majestic mountains, so much green everywhere, wildlife running around, random waterfalls rolling down the mountains. it was incredible. i wanted to sleep but this was too good to ignore. found my host dariush at the train station, dropped off my stuff, and then went to a CS get together. pretty chill night, we were going to explore the city but i was too tired to do anything else! yesterday was my one day in zurich and it was incredible. i never want to leave switzerland it's so gorgeous. basically i walked down the river, went to the google zurich office (a-ma-zing), paradeplatz, bought some sprüngli chocolate, walked down bahnhofstrasse, and then back to the apt. all in all a great day. at night we rode to a CS friend's house and had a little get together there with some food and a little going away/birthday party. the best part though was the drive. we drove, by motorcycle, along the lake so i could see the crystal water reflecting the city lights for many kilometers. the city is as nice at night as it is during the day! after getting back me and dariush just chatted for a while, and he has been such a great host. i wish i was staying longer so we could hang out more because he has been so good and welcoming. but it is time for me to get back to germany, to start the preparations for die oktoberfest!!!
which means i have to pack. this could take a while lol...
Saturday, September 10, 2011
roma
a whole post dedicated to roma! we'll recap the first part of it though just for funsies.
first night - took forever to get to the campground hostel. literally, forever, had to get the metro all the way to the end of line a and then wait 45 minutes for a bus to take me 25 minutes down the road. meanwhile i found some people going to the same hostel but they didn't speak much english so that didn't do me any good. finally got there and had a tent to myself so i passed out and woke up early the next day. didn't know there was breakfast so i just starved and left for the journey back into town. started at piazza di spagna, better known as the spanish steps, because my map told me it was the city center. i guess in a way it could be, but that didn't mean anything was really there other than the steps. so i went towards the fontana di trevi. found it and it was super packed. i guess it's always like this but it didn't detract from how beautiful it was. the water was flowing perfectly, so many statues so realistically sculpted, it was wonderful and pure. i threw some coins in for good luck. kept walking and found the pantheon just to the west. it's slightly hidden but once you find it it's pretty clear where you are. it's actually not super huge, just really nice and with lots of meaning. there are crosses in there now but it used to be a pagan temple to worship the different roman gods. i think it has the largest oculus (hole in the top of the dome) in the world. saw some other stuff that day like piazza di venezzia, which is huge, and the capitol building. around that time my camera died, which was also around the time i accidentally found the roman forum. which meant it was about time to go find chris since he had just gotten in. found him at the spanish steps and then found some martini commercial event thing. it was pretty cool even though we had no idea what was going on for the longest time, we just kept watching all these models and dancers and people in fancy clothes. we got to hang out for a bit and then i headed back to my hostel a world away. got there and my tent was wide open with a party outside. my roommate had zero interest in socializing....only with me. everyone else right outside the door was apparently cool but i didn't even get the courtesy of getting his name after asking, just an ignoring. whatevs. then throughout the night he kept throwing things around, another guy came in, basically got no sleep. the next morning i checked out even tho i had booked 3 nights and they only made me pay for one night because i had such a bad experience. score.
took the metro to chris's hostel which was right next to a stop on line b of the metro, super convenient. got two nights booked there, and then we headed out to the colosseum. the colosseum is as it states, colossal. it's massive, and just completely unreal to stand next to or stand in. you can't believe you're actually there. it's magnificent and beastly at the same time, beautiful, and would have been an amazing place to watch a football game. i know, that's so american, but i can't help it. it's a nice stadium. a really really nice arena. then we headed over to the roman forum and palatino and walked around the park there. it's pretty sweet to think about the ruins and try to imagine what it would have looked like when it was in full swing. all the massive pillars, all the words inscribed into the stones, the huge grounds, the pathways, the architecture. would be cool to just experience it for a few minutes how it used to be. also saw the fontana di trevi at night, which was pretty nice.
day 3 of exploring roma we dedicated to the vatican city, or città del vaticani. you really need like a month to explore the vatican, there is sooooo much history and beauty there. it's absolutely insane. we took a guided tour and learned a ton from our hilarious tour guide, who was sometimes hard to spot because she was so short and got lost in the crowd easily. first was entering the city walls, then straight into the museo vaticani. you walk through all these different corridors and see endless amounts of art - paintings, frescos, tapestries, sculptures, everything. history from hundreds and thousands of years. it's incredible and almost unbelievable, as many things in rome are. walked through the sistine chapel, which is more of a rectangular shape - i had always thought it was round. you can't take pictures and the guards in there aren't messing around with the no pictures no talking rules. but it was intense. all the paintings and images you've seen in books you see on the ceiling and walls, the real ones that michelangelo did himself over the course of 4 years. and then you get to see it in person. so cool. but then there are two exits - one that is more exclusive and sometimes only nuns can go through, and another that the general public goes through. the first time we took the public one because it was all that was open. we got to a hallway with cabinets and i tried to peak inside. bad idea, or so i thought, because a guard started yelling at me. i explained i was just curious as to what it was. if you have seen angels and demons you might remember the super locked up library in the basement - well these cabinets are what originally held all those books. so i asked the guard if there was anything else cool he could tell us about or show us that most people don't see. he led us to a blocked off corridor and opened the blockade for us so we could see it and take pics. yep, we got to see something no one else has. or at least in a long time. then we asked about a painting chris had specifically wanted to see, so he put us on a secret elevator back up to way prior in the tour. turns out we took one turn that led us away from the particular corridor with the painting so we finally found it, and then got to see the sistine chapel again. aaaand then took the special exit, which leads to this awesome almost spooky staircase and entrance into st peter's basilica. the massive amount of art in here and the size of the chapel is too big and beautiful and amazing i can't even attempt to explain it. any attempt would belittle it and wouldn't do it close to justice, so you will just have to experience it yourself. the square is also pretty impressive in it's size and beauty. the pope actually happened to be there at the time but we didn't see him.
then last night i went out with some awesome people from the hostel to a "disco tech" because one of our friends was the dj for the night. turns out he's really good at what he does and we had a blast dancing all night. barely got any sleep but it was worth it to have one night out and then see all the monuments at night on the taxi ride. had to say bye to chris this morning, very sad because he has been a totally great travel buddy, but i know we'll hang out again. even if i have to harass him on skype (i know you're reading this and you know it's true lol). plans took a slight turn so now i am in rimini on the beach for the night and tomorrow morning. not doing much but chilling, but that's really all i wanted to do. just took a swim in the adriatic sea and now gonna get ready for some free pasta in the hostel. free is always nice as a backpacker.
one week til oktoberfest opening day!!!
first night - took forever to get to the campground hostel. literally, forever, had to get the metro all the way to the end of line a and then wait 45 minutes for a bus to take me 25 minutes down the road. meanwhile i found some people going to the same hostel but they didn't speak much english so that didn't do me any good. finally got there and had a tent to myself so i passed out and woke up early the next day. didn't know there was breakfast so i just starved and left for the journey back into town. started at piazza di spagna, better known as the spanish steps, because my map told me it was the city center. i guess in a way it could be, but that didn't mean anything was really there other than the steps. so i went towards the fontana di trevi. found it and it was super packed. i guess it's always like this but it didn't detract from how beautiful it was. the water was flowing perfectly, so many statues so realistically sculpted, it was wonderful and pure. i threw some coins in for good luck. kept walking and found the pantheon just to the west. it's slightly hidden but once you find it it's pretty clear where you are. it's actually not super huge, just really nice and with lots of meaning. there are crosses in there now but it used to be a pagan temple to worship the different roman gods. i think it has the largest oculus (hole in the top of the dome) in the world. saw some other stuff that day like piazza di venezzia, which is huge, and the capitol building. around that time my camera died, which was also around the time i accidentally found the roman forum. which meant it was about time to go find chris since he had just gotten in. found him at the spanish steps and then found some martini commercial event thing. it was pretty cool even though we had no idea what was going on for the longest time, we just kept watching all these models and dancers and people in fancy clothes. we got to hang out for a bit and then i headed back to my hostel a world away. got there and my tent was wide open with a party outside. my roommate had zero interest in socializing....only with me. everyone else right outside the door was apparently cool but i didn't even get the courtesy of getting his name after asking, just an ignoring. whatevs. then throughout the night he kept throwing things around, another guy came in, basically got no sleep. the next morning i checked out even tho i had booked 3 nights and they only made me pay for one night because i had such a bad experience. score.
took the metro to chris's hostel which was right next to a stop on line b of the metro, super convenient. got two nights booked there, and then we headed out to the colosseum. the colosseum is as it states, colossal. it's massive, and just completely unreal to stand next to or stand in. you can't believe you're actually there. it's magnificent and beastly at the same time, beautiful, and would have been an amazing place to watch a football game. i know, that's so american, but i can't help it. it's a nice stadium. a really really nice arena. then we headed over to the roman forum and palatino and walked around the park there. it's pretty sweet to think about the ruins and try to imagine what it would have looked like when it was in full swing. all the massive pillars, all the words inscribed into the stones, the huge grounds, the pathways, the architecture. would be cool to just experience it for a few minutes how it used to be. also saw the fontana di trevi at night, which was pretty nice.
day 3 of exploring roma we dedicated to the vatican city, or città del vaticani. you really need like a month to explore the vatican, there is sooooo much history and beauty there. it's absolutely insane. we took a guided tour and learned a ton from our hilarious tour guide, who was sometimes hard to spot because she was so short and got lost in the crowd easily. first was entering the city walls, then straight into the museo vaticani. you walk through all these different corridors and see endless amounts of art - paintings, frescos, tapestries, sculptures, everything. history from hundreds and thousands of years. it's incredible and almost unbelievable, as many things in rome are. walked through the sistine chapel, which is more of a rectangular shape - i had always thought it was round. you can't take pictures and the guards in there aren't messing around with the no pictures no talking rules. but it was intense. all the paintings and images you've seen in books you see on the ceiling and walls, the real ones that michelangelo did himself over the course of 4 years. and then you get to see it in person. so cool. but then there are two exits - one that is more exclusive and sometimes only nuns can go through, and another that the general public goes through. the first time we took the public one because it was all that was open. we got to a hallway with cabinets and i tried to peak inside. bad idea, or so i thought, because a guard started yelling at me. i explained i was just curious as to what it was. if you have seen angels and demons you might remember the super locked up library in the basement - well these cabinets are what originally held all those books. so i asked the guard if there was anything else cool he could tell us about or show us that most people don't see. he led us to a blocked off corridor and opened the blockade for us so we could see it and take pics. yep, we got to see something no one else has. or at least in a long time. then we asked about a painting chris had specifically wanted to see, so he put us on a secret elevator back up to way prior in the tour. turns out we took one turn that led us away from the particular corridor with the painting so we finally found it, and then got to see the sistine chapel again. aaaand then took the special exit, which leads to this awesome almost spooky staircase and entrance into st peter's basilica. the massive amount of art in here and the size of the chapel is too big and beautiful and amazing i can't even attempt to explain it. any attempt would belittle it and wouldn't do it close to justice, so you will just have to experience it yourself. the square is also pretty impressive in it's size and beauty. the pope actually happened to be there at the time but we didn't see him.
then last night i went out with some awesome people from the hostel to a "disco tech" because one of our friends was the dj for the night. turns out he's really good at what he does and we had a blast dancing all night. barely got any sleep but it was worth it to have one night out and then see all the monuments at night on the taxi ride. had to say bye to chris this morning, very sad because he has been a totally great travel buddy, but i know we'll hang out again. even if i have to harass him on skype (i know you're reading this and you know it's true lol). plans took a slight turn so now i am in rimini on the beach for the night and tomorrow morning. not doing much but chilling, but that's really all i wanted to do. just took a swim in the adriatic sea and now gonna get ready for some free pasta in the hostel. free is always nice as a backpacker.
one week til oktoberfest opening day!!!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
nice, florence, pisa, rome
oh how much i appreciate having internet all the time back home. this is the first real computer i have been able to access, and it is behind the desk of some really awful italian guy. soooo much to catch up on so it will be long but i will try to skip the little details....
nice
after dinner with some canadians and chris we all went out to town and had a grand time. drinks were sooo expensive but we found two pretty cool places, one with people dancing on the tables to a live band. i did not get on a table, sorry to disappoint. the second day i couldn't find chris so i had to leave without him and headed to monaco. found 4 other people going so i tagged along with two super nice german girls, a guy from california, and another aggie!!! monaco was so pretty, we went up to the palace, walked along the harbor and gawked at the yachts, and went to the monte carlo casino where i won 15 euro in roulette!! that night we all just hung out at the hostel and had yet another fun night. it was a cozy hostel so everyone kinda knew everyone. then to florence...
florence
got off the train after way too long of riding. started walking (in the dark at this point) down a street with lots of hotels til i found a hostel. checked in, passed out. day one in florence i just walked around, saw a ton of churches, the duomo (got to skip the line because of the boot, oh yeah!), the leather markets, and a few other things. that night i went on a pub crawl with some awesome people from the hostel, mainly my roomies david and theo, both army rangers. day two i was really sick from lack of air and too much heat i guess, so i laid around all day. day three i met up with chris and two aussies from my new room, jamie and james, and we went sightseeing some more. mainly up to michelangelo garden which had an awesome view.
pisa
after leaving florence i stopped in pisa to see the tower. it's a lot smaller than you think, but it sure does lean. too much money to climb it so i didn't but it would have been nice. that day there was a public service strike so the luggage place was closed and i had to carry my pack all around town. but two nice canadians helped me carry it that i hung out with in pisa. trying to get back to firenze smn station was tough though, also because of the strike. trains didn't come for a long time, and then we stopped on the tracks for a long time. finally made it to rome last night and got my own tent at this awful campground hostel. which leads us to today...
rome
also known as roma in italy. today i got up and just walked around all over. i have seen piazza di spagna, fontana di trevi at day and at night, the pantheon, piazza navona, piazza venezia, parlamento, and glanced at the roman forum. that is about when my camera died. around 3 i met up with chris because he came earlier than expected and we got to hang out, get gelati, see the fountain at night, get lost again trying to find the metro, etc. tomorrow we are going to actually go to the roman forum and the colosseum, then the next day is the vatican. in a few days i will give more details on rome, but for now i desperately want a shower and to make sure my stuff is still in my tent. ciao!!
nice
after dinner with some canadians and chris we all went out to town and had a grand time. drinks were sooo expensive but we found two pretty cool places, one with people dancing on the tables to a live band. i did not get on a table, sorry to disappoint. the second day i couldn't find chris so i had to leave without him and headed to monaco. found 4 other people going so i tagged along with two super nice german girls, a guy from california, and another aggie!!! monaco was so pretty, we went up to the palace, walked along the harbor and gawked at the yachts, and went to the monte carlo casino where i won 15 euro in roulette!! that night we all just hung out at the hostel and had yet another fun night. it was a cozy hostel so everyone kinda knew everyone. then to florence...
florence
got off the train after way too long of riding. started walking (in the dark at this point) down a street with lots of hotels til i found a hostel. checked in, passed out. day one in florence i just walked around, saw a ton of churches, the duomo (got to skip the line because of the boot, oh yeah!), the leather markets, and a few other things. that night i went on a pub crawl with some awesome people from the hostel, mainly my roomies david and theo, both army rangers. day two i was really sick from lack of air and too much heat i guess, so i laid around all day. day three i met up with chris and two aussies from my new room, jamie and james, and we went sightseeing some more. mainly up to michelangelo garden which had an awesome view.
pisa
after leaving florence i stopped in pisa to see the tower. it's a lot smaller than you think, but it sure does lean. too much money to climb it so i didn't but it would have been nice. that day there was a public service strike so the luggage place was closed and i had to carry my pack all around town. but two nice canadians helped me carry it that i hung out with in pisa. trying to get back to firenze smn station was tough though, also because of the strike. trains didn't come for a long time, and then we stopped on the tracks for a long time. finally made it to rome last night and got my own tent at this awful campground hostel. which leads us to today...
rome
also known as roma in italy. today i got up and just walked around all over. i have seen piazza di spagna, fontana di trevi at day and at night, the pantheon, piazza navona, piazza venezia, parlamento, and glanced at the roman forum. that is about when my camera died. around 3 i met up with chris because he came earlier than expected and we got to hang out, get gelati, see the fountain at night, get lost again trying to find the metro, etc. tomorrow we are going to actually go to the roman forum and the colosseum, then the next day is the vatican. in a few days i will give more details on rome, but for now i desperately want a shower and to make sure my stuff is still in my tent. ciao!!
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