Prague and Vienna

Yep, gotta group these two together. I am WAY behind, hence multiple posts in one day. I'm trying to catch up!

So, Prague was SUPER neat. The train ride there wasn't too bad and our hostel was absolutely amazing! It was newly renovated and the rooms were ginormous! Yes, gin-or-mous. It has most definitely been my favorite hostel thus far. And the town of Prague wasn't bad either! We got a pretty early start the next morning, and just started wondering around town. We first came across the atomic clock, a clock that has been telling time since the 1400s. In the same plaza, we got to see an amazing church. Seriously, the Europeans know how to construct and decorate a church. I feel like I've seen so many great works of art, just by stepping inside of random churches. Okay, they're not random, they're actually very well known tourists hot spots, but still cool, all the same.

We then continued to walk awhile to find this castle building off in the distance. We walked across the St. Charles bridge, stopped and bought a charm, then stopped in for coffee, and then finally made it to the castle. It turned out to be a cathedral, filled with much more intricate artwork and stained glass. Beautiful!

That night, we took off for Vienna on our first overnight train. It wasn't ideal, to say the least. We were stuck in a compartment, in normal seats, between people we didn't know. Yah, we didn't get a whole lot of sleep. So when we arrived at the Vienna station at 6:30 in the morning, we were pretty much like bumps on a log. We actually sat in the train station for the longest time and tried to catch a little shut eye. Around 11, we finally mustered up enough energy to grab some lunch and find our way to the historical downtown.

We found some pretty neat buildings and then happened to stumble across a museum. Since we had nothing else to do, and a lot of time to kill (we were catching yet another overnight train to Venice that night at 8:30pm), we decided to go in and check it out. It was pretty cool. We seriously considered sneaking into the dressing rooms at one point and falling asleep in a stall on the bench.. yep, we were that tired. But the huge collection of preserved animals kept us entertained for long enough. This museum also had the largest collection meteorites. And yes, we found meteorites from Indiana!! Woo-hoo! Go Indiana!

Around 4ish, we headed back towards the station, and found a quick place to get coffee.. we needed it. Then it was back to the benches to wait out the remainder of our time before we boarded our second and last overnight train. Finally, we were allowed to board and...

Well, I'll save that story for next time!

Berlin!

I know it, I know it. I’m behind. Bear with me. It’s just been a whirlwind of a week so far, with two overnight trains in a row and just not much time to sit down and connect with the social world, let alone write blogs.

But here we go.. Berlin! Beautiful city! Wow, I just realized I am wayyyy behind. Okay, anyhow. Yes, big, mostly clean, and friendly! Lace and I arrived around 5 or so and had help right off the bat in trying to buy a metro ticket. Little did we know, Germany believes in the honor system (dang, we could have taken advantage of that), but no, we were good tourists and bought our tickets. Then, once we arrived at the closest station to our hostel, we had yet another kind German help us find our way.

So we checked into our hostel and just vegged for the night. At least, I think we did. Ha, all the nights are starting to run together. But yes, I’m almost positive that’s what we did, then we hit the city early the next morning, since we had all day to explore! We ended up seeing the Brandenburg gate, the Reichstag (Germany’s version of the Capitol Building), Checkpoint Charlie (my favorite), Hitler’s Bunker, and the Holocaust Memorial. That last one was unreal. Kinda put a bit of a damper on our day. But by the time we got pretzels and shared them with the birds, we were in a much better mood.

The next morning, we took advantage of the hostel’s ridiculously-priced breakfast and stuffed our faces, then packed a lunch of cheese sandwiches and tea and headed out for the train station. We caught our train and were on our way to Prague before we knew it!

Well, I’m going to stop there and start a new blog for Prague. Hopefully, it’ll be a little more detailed. Until next time!

Luxembourg City and Brussels

Okay, well these two are going into one blog, because, to be honest, there wasn’t much to either of them. Actually, going into this trip, I expected very little of Luxembourg, and a lot more of Brussels. Turns out, I enjoyed Luxembourg much more than I enjoyed Brussels, but I think that had to do with many contributing factors. Let me explain.

We didn’t arrive in Luxembourg until 10 past midnight. From the train station, our taxi driver took us the scenic route (sly, greedy rascal), but really, we got a feel for the town. Within our 10 minute ride, we went up and down several hills, across a couple of neat bridges, spanning across the rivers below them, and around several, hairpin curves. However, it wasn’t until morning that we really discovered what a gem Luxembourg really was. So, instead of leaving at our pre-planned time of 11 o’clock in the morning, we decided to delay our departure until 1:30pm, so we had some time to check out the town. Our hostel was situated in quite a nice area, just a short walk away from the main center. We quickly found out that Luxembourg City was definitely a ‘posh’ city. Everything was very immaculate and fancy schmancy. But the thing I liked best was the valley the town square overlooked. It was absolutely picturesque, with a little river running through it and the green grass and the neighborhood houses of all different colors and then the remnants of medieval buildings up on the hill. Ahhh, it was cool!

Unfortunately though, we did have a train to catch, so we hauled our luggage up the giant hill to the bus stop and carried on towards the station and then departed for Brussels. Here’s where the town didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I don’t know if it was because we were in a ‘strange’ part of town or if it was the fact that we just didn’t have a whole lot of time or a map to plan out where we wanted to see, but I didn’t necessarily care for Brussels. Our hotel was nice though. Yes, I said, ‘hotel.’ It was actually one of the cheapest accommodations around, even though now I realize that the price was probably because of where it was located. Although hotels like the Sheraton and the Hilton were just a few blocks down, there weren’t a lot of main attractions nearby.

Since we were tired anyhow, we took advantage of our dull location and decided to go for a quick walk. On our walk, we found a delicious Italian shop, got pizza, a bag of potato chips, chocolate covered waffles (kinda like doughnuts), and a fruity beverage and headed back to the hotel to devour our ridiculously unhealthy meal and watch Sandlot. And by watch Sandlot, I mean, I made it insofar as I could while eating, and then passed out around 8 o’clock.

Don’t worry, I still slept in until 9. Yup, got 13 hours of much needed sleep. Because we slept in though, we had to skip our day-trip to Amsterdam in order to make it to our Berlin hostel on time. Even though we had to miss Amsterdam, we both agreed that the extra sleep was quite worth it!

Well, sorry, but that’s all for now! Until next time!

Ciao, Paris!

Well, I’m happy to say that Lace’s and my last day in Paris was a success! We were awake at a decent hour, hopped the metro to the train station, had a little snag while trying to make reservations for our next train to Luxembourg (we had to catch a 7:30pm train instead of the 2:30 that we initially wanted), and saw some pretty neat sights, including Notre Dame and the Sacre d’Coeur.

Notre Dame was ridiculous! There was so much intricate detail. The stained glass windows alone were amazing! We took a tour inside it, but to be honest, I liked the outside better. There was a small garden one side that Lacey and I sat in and just enjoyed the view for a while. The cathedral actually is situated on an island of sorts, and so the river runs on both sides of it. From our little garden bench, we could watch the boats go by as well as the ducks, which, of course, made Lacey very happy. Ha ha ha.

From there, we had a little look-see around the nearby streets. Crossing over the bridge to get to the mainland was like something out of a French book or movie. Actually, it kind of reminded me of Madeline, I think, when they cross the bridge and there are artists painting or selling their paintings.. I’m pretty sure that’s Madeline, at least. So yes, it was pretty neat to see that, and then we made our way through the winding streets, trying to find a place to grab a bite to eat. It wasn’t too long before we came across a delicious looking Gyro stand and so we got some food and then found yet another park to sit in and enjoy our food. I’ll tell you one thing, the French sure do have a lot of cute, little parks.

After lunch, we headed back to the hostel via metro. Once there, we had a quick Facebook break and then headed to the Sacre d’Coeur, which, unbeknownst to us, was just a block behind our hostel. There, we found a comfy, little spot on the hill and settled in and just people/pigeon watched, enjoying the sunshine and our last few hours of peace before we had to rush off to the train station for our 5-hour train ride to Luxembourg.

All in all, it was a great day! Couldn’t complain one bit! So until next time!

Pare-ee, wauh huah huah (said in a French accent, of course)

Well hello there!

Just got back from a WONDERFUL day in the beautiful city of Paris! Don't have a whole lot of time, seeing as Lacey and I have got to get to bed sometime tonight, but thought I'd fill yah in on a few things we saw/did today!

Let's see, after getting in around 10:30 last night, we were exhausted and decided only to look down the street closest to us, try some french desserts (a crepe for Lacey and a honey/doughnut thing for me), and then we went to bed. So this morning, we woke up, got ready, had some breakfast, and set out for town on foot. We walked and walked and walked and finally came to our first landmark in Paris, the Arch D'Triumph! From there, we walked to the Cite de l'Architecture, which is a HUGE building. If you align yourself in the middle of it, you can see the Eiffel Tower! So naturally, we hiked down to see it next, but not before we stopped and had lunch in the park!

But after lunch, we headed down to the base of the Eiffel Tower. We sprung for some tickets, and went up to the second story, took some very touristy pictures, bought a sweet Eiffel Tower charm, and then climbed back down. Since we still had loads of time, we decided to then walk towards the Musee de l'Armee (the Army museum) and take pictures there as well.

From there, we headed to the Louvre. My goodness! Was it beautiful!! We started at the beginning of the gardens, so we had a nice, long walk through the gardens to get to the actual museum. Once we were there, we took a bunch more tourist-y pictures and then headed in. We waited until later, like 6 o'clock, because they knocked 2.50 Euro off the regular admission price. However, we soon found out that those under 26 got in for free! Boy, were we excited!! So we got to see the Mona Lisa, some of Di Vinci's work, and other really neat things. Unfortunately, by this time, our feet were killing us and we were more than ready to head out by closing time, which was 9pm.

We had already decided beforehand that we were DEFINITELY walking back to the Eiffel Tower to have a Parisian dinner of cheese, bread, and wine, (and olives and cookies, of course). And by this time, it was dark, so we just sat on a bench, enjoyed our food, and watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle and shine with all it's majestic-ness. It was definitely worth the aching feet and interesting metro ride back to the hostel.

So, all in all, I'd say we had a pretty productive day! We really saw a lot and are definitely tired. So I'm gonna go and get some sleep. We've got quite the early morning again tomorrow... we're up to see Notre Dame (not the one in South Bend) and then to Sacre d'Couer and then to catch our train to Luxembourg! Hopefully we'll get some sleep there!

Welp, until next time!!

The End of the Beginning

Well, the first leg of my journey is about to come to an end. However sad that may sound, it's really not. I'm actually looking quite forward to seeing a certain Miss Lacey Berkshire tomorrow in the St. Pancras train station. Yep, I will be checking out of my hostel by 7 hopefully, catch the metro to the airport, and then catch my plane at 10:55! Once I land in Bristol, I've got a bus to catch to the train station and then my train leaves at 2 for London. And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the strike has been rescheduled. If not, that may have me scrunched for time. But I think all was well last time I checked.

Anyhow, so yesterday, I went to the aquarium. Man, was it neat! Well worth the 23 E I paid to get in, however, I didn't even end up having to pay that much! Actually, let me start from the beginning of my awesome money-saving day! Let's see, it starts out in the market. I went to get some fresh food that I could prepare for dinner that night. Well, I got 3 potatoes, 1/2 pound of mushrooms, and a chunk of salmon for under 3.5o E. That's like, less than $5. Simply amazing. Then, never having caught a bus in my life on my own, I jumped on the correct bus (thank goodness) towards the aquarium and had no idea on when or where I was supposed to pay, so I just waited until we made it to my stop. Once there, I tried to offer the bus driver my 1.25 E, but he rambled off something in Spanish and just kinda shooed me off the bus, so I didn't have to pay the bus fare! And thennnn, I got to the aquarium and found out that students get a 3 E discount off general admission! Really can't beat that! So I was feeling pretty good still when I spent 3.10 E on a gigantic thing of popcorn that I knew I couldn't finish. Definitely didn't realize it was that much though, or I for sure wouldn't have bought it in the first place, but even adding that in there, I still came out in the green!

So yes, the aquarium was simply stunning to say the least. I ended up walking back to avoid any more embarrassing bus scenes and once I got back, I made my very odd, but still delicious dinner of mashed potatoes, grilled mushrooms, and salmon. The salmon was delightful even though I had never really prepared it myself before.. and certainly not just a CHUNK of it. It still had the skin on it and everything. . . but that just fell off when it was finished cooking.. Yep. I could sure get used to visiting the market everyday!

Thennnn today, I was set on getting some sun finally and woke up early to head to the beach! I had heard that the bus that went out that way was very rare and kinda hard to catch if you were a tourist. Great. However, after walking all over town and asking the Valencia tourist company, I finally managed to find the bus stop where I was supposed to wait.

Or so I thought. The tourist centre lady told me that the busses ran every hour, and actually, while I was walking to the bus stop, I SAW the bus I was supposed to take. Too bad I was still at least a 10 minute walk from the station. But I did make it to the station, waited for a good hour, and then finally gave up. This bus was not going to come and I was NOT going to waste my day sitting in the shade of the bus station when I could just as easily walk a block to the park and lay out a little.

So that's what I did. I did a little reading and then laid down and took a nap. It was only about 45 minutes or so though, and I woke up because I got really cold. Good thing too, because as I woke up and looked around, I saw dark, ominous clouds starting to roll in. I'm an Indiana girl, I KNOW that means rain. So I packed up and started the 25 minute walk back to my hostel. As the clouds got nearer, I decided to stop in at the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner. When I left the store, it was pouring! It even thundered once or twice! But I made my way back through the rain, stopping to try some horchata (yet another traditional Spanish drink) on the way.

So, the day didn't go exactly according to plan, but at least I didn't make it all the way out to the beach just to sit and be cold and then get rained on. Knowing my luck, I wouldn't have been able to catch a bus back either. So really, it's probably all for the best. And since I got back so early, I re-packed all of my stuff and got it all organized for tomorrow's early departure and then went out for a little (okay, a lot of) gelato and a walk. And now it's 20 til 2 in the morning, and I'm guessing I should probably get some sleep if I don't want to be a zombie in Paris. Soooo, until next time!

First Few Days in Espana

Hola!

Ay yi yi! The past few days have been a blur! Let's see, where did I leave off? Oh yes, paella!

Oh. my. gosh. It was delicious! After wandering for about a half hour, I found the building in which the lessons were taking place. Then, I proceeded to wait in the wrong kitchen for about 15 minutes until finally, the instructor came down and found me and told me it was on the roof! Ahhh, what a beautiful night it was! We got to partake in learning how to make the delicious, traditional rice dish (I got to cook the artichokes), and then after about 2 hours, we finally got to see if it was any good. And boy, was it! We had made so much that everyone got an entire plate full! And then, the instructor brought out the Sangria (a red wine, flavored with pieces of fruit and sugar.. pretty much deliciousness). It was a great night, filled with great comida (food) and amigos (friends).

Then, the next morning, since I hadn't slept but an hour and a half in 36 hours prior to going to sleep, I slept in until almost noon. I know, what a waste! But, I still managed to do and see and awful lot! I started off by checking out the local street vendors, which seemed to stretch on forever. Then, after un cafe y una pasteria (a coffee and pastry), I decided to take a walk towards the Jardin del Turia, a park that lay in between two main roads and stretched for, at least, 3 miles. Before too long, I found myself at the Centre de Ciencias, which is one of Valencia's newest claims to fame. This area is known for the modern buildings which house a center for music, the sciences, and an aquarium. Since I planned on visiting the aquarium the next day, I settled for just walking past it. Woops, that was a mistake. That was when I kinda made a gigantic loop way out of my way. By the time I made it back to somewhere I could find on the map, I was tired and so I decided to catch the metro back into town.

However, as I was walking to the metro, I couldn't help but notice how close the beach was! So of course, I walked the extra mile or so to the beach. It was pretty neat. Went and stuck my feet in the Mediterranean Sea and got some pictures. The beach itself wasn't amazing, but I'm going to a blue-flag beach today, so I'll be able to enjoy it a little more. And, it's supposed to be nice and sunny and warm! Can't wait!

But I finally made it back to my hostel and then realized that I had nothing to eat. Not wanting to spend loads of money on food, I located a supermarket on the map and set off to try to find it. Got completely lost and ended up adding more mileage to my day, but finally came across it and got a few key items such as canned ravioli, tuna, and a bottle of wine. Yep, I didn't say they were great choices, but I turned it into a pretty tasty dinner. Or perhaps, I was just so famished that it tasted delicious.

Well, Monday wasn't too exciting. I just woke up and spent the entire day looking for a charm for my charm bracelet. If I've gotten any good at Spanish it's, "Tienes una.." and then I point to my charm because I still have no idea what it is in Spanish.. and then, "typico de Espana?" They seem to understand well enough, but unfortunately, no one has them! So I'm going to have to spend a little time today looking for just a charm. Not too much though, because the beach is DEFINITELY calling my name!

Actually, since it is already 9:30 here, I think that's where I'm going to leave off. This blog is already super long and I've still got to get to the market (to buy some stuff for dinner tonight) and find a charm before I catch the half hour long bus ride that will take me to the beach! So, check back, I'll most likely have another one up about going to the aquarium and the beach by later on tonight! Well, until next time!