All's well that ends well.

***2 weeks post arrival home from Europeland***


Sooo....

I'm sitting here rockin' out to a little AC/DC, and though fried from a solid 7 day work week (on top of hours upon hours of Chemistry class/lab/homework/study), I made the decision to finally do what I've been putting off doing: bring closure to my trip. Yay!..
So in brief (since this is an important factor in my whole adventure) I want you all to know that I did in fact make it home alive. Yesiree folks, alive and in one piece nonetheless! (oh, and so did Jason for those who are interested.. though Im more important :) Juuuust kidding!.. sorta)
Almost 16 hours of flight time and a good 6 hour layover in Amsterdam, Jason and I played the role of being patient, and "twiddled" our thumbs almost the entire way, waiting for the tires of our Boeing 747 to touch solid ground in the good ol' US of A. (Believe it or not, but about 3/4 of the people on the plane -which seats about 400- actually applauded when we landed! Yeah... the US is just that awsome. Either that, or the plane ride was just that bad!..? haha! There were handsome air hosts, so I didn't mind... :)
Aaaaaanyway, so to avoid hours of forcing ya'll to read my novels, here's the summary:

Istanbul (not Constantanople!), Turkey:
Let's see....
Beautiful and bizarre! .. Or Grand Bazaar perhaps?
I was sick during most of our first day there, so rest and wellness was my priority. However, the following day, Jason and I explored. Beautiful mosques were definitely a site to behold (esp the monstrously AMAZING Blue Mosque!) The view of the ocean and cityscape weren't bad either :)
This country was pretty clean for being in Eastern Europe and quite in tact (no scaffolding all over the place like in a lot of the other countries), and the important buildings like the castle, mosques, temples, etc were stunning to say the least. So we made sure to see a bit of "thems places", checked out the Grand Bazarre (total mad house full of way too many sales people trying to sell you one of about 5 things: pants/tees, fur coats, perfume/cologne, silks or misc. knick knacks) and moved on.
We made it through that alive, met all kinds of interesting people, did the "tourist" thing, and by the late afternoon on dya 2, we went to catch our plane to Athens, Greece.

Athens, Greece:
COOLNESS! I heart Greece and AM going back.
We spent 2 full days in Athens and just soaked in the culture without pushing ourselves to hit up other cities/islands (on my "to do" in the future).
Day 1 was spent seeing the masterpieces of architecture: The Acropolis (home to the Parthenon, Propolaya, Theater of Dyonisos..), the Temple of Zeus, other "old buildings" (or pieces of) and all the stray dogs that came with em! (eventually I started naming them... some were cute :)
By 7pm we called it a day, relaxed at our nice air conditioned hotel room (located in the middle of ghetto town!) and drifted off to sleep by 11.
Day 2: sheer bliss!.. or burn? ha! We spent about 8 hours of the next (and our final) day on the beaches of Athens, just being lazy, soaking up the sun, taking in the clean beaches full of.. well, all sorts of people, clear warm waters, cool breeze, sand volleyball, and my new stray pet dog Bruno. It was wonderful!
(Following that day was 9 hours spent in the airport waiting for our 5am flight out!.. and for those who have tried to keep sanity for 9 hours in an airport.. well, you know. A story in and of itself. )

So basically, that's the kwazi-nutshell version. Now for pictures!!!




























































































***I will label photos at a later point*** :)

Eastern Europe

So we landed another "lucky" hostel (after 2 looong days and even longer nights on trains, train station floors or buses), so not only do we finally have a real bed to sleep on, but WiFi. Woot! This means (brief) blogging! --Ive been fighting a cold these past few days so Im not gonna drain myself for the net.. sorry! Id rather tell my stories as a healthy human bean! Yes.. I said bean :) --


Anywho, so as stated previously, Brasov, Romania was pretty darn neato.. I find that the people you meet is what really makes the experience tho.

Some of the neatest guys we met in Brasov (Jason and I with Lucas- Canada- and James -London)

When we left via train for Bulgaria (yeah, we decided to break up our trip a little and "see" one more country before Turkey) we ended up having the "time of our lives".. in a bad way.. but it was so ridiculous that we couldnt help but laugh! You know what I mean..

So our total trip to Bulgaria consisted of 3 stops... Round one was from Bulgaria, Romania to Bucurest, Romania (NOTHING TO SEE IN BUCUREST... it might be Romania's capitol, but its dirty!.. lots of stray dogs (and people), and .. yeah.. the 3 hours spent there are 3 hours of my life I wish I could get back)


Anywho, so from our layover there, we caught an 8pm train from there to Varna, Bulgaria.. yeah.. supposed to be a 2 hour layover stop to transfter trains once passed the Bulgarian border.. but no... nothing is easy on this trip.



When we arrived in the first Bulgarian city (can't remember the name but it starts with a "G".. I think so Ill call it that) we were supposed to have a 2 hour layover before actually taking our final 4hr ride to Varna.. well, luckily we befriended a Bulgarian lady (our translator) as well as a New Zealand couple (Debbie and Damien) and 2 other guys (Peter and Reuben- Hungary and England) who had the same destination as us.


Long story short: Bulgaria decided to cancel the 2am train and make it for 6am.. so our choices: sleep at the station and wait til 6, catch a taxi into Varna (Taxi drives.. in for the BIGGEST rip off ever! Like flies to a carcus, so are taxi drivers to travelers... ANNOYING!), or lastly, pay extra to take a train to a random city, and then catch another train to Varna (which would keep us on schedule).. Of course the train conductor wouldnt give us a price until we told him how much we had (we said 5 euro a piece.. it was a lie, but he was basing his prices off of our wallets) so tho he attempted to swindle us all, we stuck together, and decided to camp at the station. This meant no sleep really.. all night it had been no real sleep. No bueno.





Damien, Debbie, me, Jason, Reuben and Peter... our "Varna Crew"



Finally 6am came as well as the train.. so on we went, and to Varna, Bulgaria we arrived. NOTHING TO SEE HERE EITHER. Im sorry, but a lot of Eastern Europe is not much to write home about.. We found our bus tickets (which would be our 10hr ride through to Istanbul, Turkey) then found the Bulgarian beach. 3 letters: ick. Ca beaches make theirs look like a swamp. Either way tho, we were sorta able to cool off... then we found a little rest in the park in the shade. At this point I was miserably sick.. still sorta am.. but its always worse when you're uncomfortable, sticky, hot, and forced to carry your 25lbs of life on your back for miles.. I made it alive tho.
**Note... my opinions on some of these places are not shared by everyone.. Im just stating what I experiences... and of course my illness impacted my views.. sooooooooo **

We left Bulgaria (and there was no kicking or screaming on my part) and headed for Turkey on a bus.... busses... never again. Cramped. no leg room.. AND we stopped mid way at a station to get our visas.. this alone was at least a 1 1/2 hour stop. **Mind you I had taken my Tylenol pm once on the train (great suggestion Neen!.. I woulndt have gotten half the shut eye on this entire trip without it).. well... 2 pills makes for a heavy dose.. for me at least. So on top of being sick and cold while at this stop, I was dizzy as Ill get out and barely able to stand. I had to put on my "healthy face" bc they were checking for sick people too at the border.. luckily I passed :P)

Aaaaaaaanyway, we got here into Turkey, both of us low on sleep, disoriented, fuzzy-headed and me sick.. eventually we made it to our hostel (Jason has been sooooo on top of things btw.. I would probably be a gonner by now if not for him) and once 12 noon hit for check in, I was on it like white on rice! Showered and in bed.. 4 solid hours later, I was a bit refreshed and we toured Istanbul a bit! Not too bad actually... I give it 10 stars in comparison to Bulgaria!


We are now getting ready to head out with a couple of Australians.. see the night life a little. (Dont worry mom, my health is important to me too.. I wont be out late! Trust me.. I know my limits...)


So thats our nutshell for now.


Again, I dont know if Ill be lucky again to get WiFi at our later stops, but if so, Ill keep a post. If not, like stated before, youll get the live version when I return!


This is me signing out!

Lovelovelove!

Last days

Hello all!

So Im writing this entry because Im pretty sure from here on out I will have little to no internet... if I do, it will be used sparingly.. In the event that I don't, here's the brief:

Brasov, Romania- Another favorite! The almost-2 days spent here have been a wonderful adventure, and I have met so many neat people!
From walking through alsmost every inch of Dracula's castle to exploring ancient ruins to having the "ride of my life" in the craziest Romanian taxi ride EVER (it put roller coasters to shame.. Im glad to be alive :) ) Romania has put itself on my "come back to visit" list. Food is wonderful, people (tho many dont speak English) are friendly, everything is quite inexpensive, and there is so much beauty to explore! (A different kind of beauty than the breathtaking places Ive seen in Switzerland and Czech Republic tho... more of a "its a hard life, our streets are cracking and roofs are sagging, but we keep our pride" kind of beauty.. youd understand if you came here.) Anyway, I feel like Im walking away with a fullfilling experience here... lots of good connections from London, Canada, Ireland and Germany, and plenty of memories to take with me.

It is now almost 9am on Monday (less than a week now!) and Jason and I will be spending the afternoon here, and then beginning our trek south-ish. Verna, Romania, take a boat over to Instanbul, Turkey, possibly hit up a few other cities while there, and then train it over to Greece! Home is on the horizon!

I will continue to blog without internet (so in the event I can connect I will upload what I have) but if not, the rest of our stories, adventures and pictures will have to be shared later! Thank you to everyone who has kept up with our trip! I hope you enjoyed sharing this experience with us :)

I miss home, but am switching into high gear now so I can finish this trip with a bang! Time to disconnect, so I will see you all post August 9th!
Love to you!

ps. High voltage here or on the trains have destroyed a few of my chargers (including my ipod and phone.. booo ) which means that as of yesterday eve, my phone is useless.. so to those who thought of sending me a text during our last week, thank you for the thought, but its no longer necessary. We'll all have our face time upon my return!

Sleeping standing up... and Austria. :)

Last day in Prague (Wednesday) *"Sad panda"*...


During our final hours in Prague, Czech. Republic (post Jaon's nap time and my previous blogging) we ended up being able to connect with the guys from Boston who we met on the train a few days earlier (Adam and Paul) and hung out with them that evening. It was fun, because since they hadn't been to Prague yet, we got to show them around a little! (yes.. we were "pros" of Prague at this point :) ) Anyway, we met up at around 7pm-ish, then headed into town hit up a few restaurants so the guys could get their beer tasteing in (and I got me a hazelnut milkshake!.. tho milkshakes in Europe.. more like cool milk with a flavor.. NOTHING like real milkshakes back home! --ps mom, might I request an In-N-Out stop for a burger and shake when you pick me up???????? :) So stop number 1 was.. eh!, but stop number 2 was actually a great fluke! We just went wandering through a part of town none of us had been, and came across this restaurant entrance with a staircase that went down.. It looked incredibly fancy (and expensive), buuuuut, we took our chances and were more than pleasantly surprised! CHEAP!.. but not a tacky cheap.. Inexpensive would be more fitting. Beer, only about a euro, and wine, about the same! (thats what I got.. German as I am, and beer tasting as Ive done, Im still not a beer connaisseur... not for everyone!) To say the least, the 4 of us just chatted the next hour or so away over beer, wine, and a "magical" shot of something Paul came across (tastes like a Christmas drink!), then roamed the streets of Prague by moonlight til about 1030pm, then parted ways so we could catch our evening train out. Wonderful! Those 2 are guys are great! So you two (if you're still reading any of this) I hope you enjoyed your stay in Prague!.. and keep in touch! :D



Adam, Paul, me and Jason




The guys making their "manly" faces..







Castle at night

Hmm... so yet another TRAIN RIDE...

I loathe night train rides.. esp without reservations (even tho we were told by the lady at the rain station counter we didnt need one).. It pretty much means this: hours of sitting in a crammed room with a bunch of other tavelers from all over. Some incredibly smelly, others noisy, and the rest, normal?? whatever that means. Either way, sleeping on a train translates into NO SLEEPING ON A TRAIN. It was roughly 6 hours of that (I was "lucky" to grab a seat before they were all full, but Jason not so much.. he spent the night in the 2 foot hall like our first train experience.. HOWEVER, he slept more and better than I. That doesnt make sense! He's a tough one I guess..

Anyway, when we arrived in Vienna, Austria, we took another 4 hour train to Klagenfurt, Austria to watch our friend Lauren play in the World VB A1 competition. AWESOME! This event was like one huge beach party where thousands of people from all over the world came to sunbathe, play, swim and support their teams. (I think we were the onoy cheering squad for the US other than the other players.. go us!) Either way, it was tons of fun! (Even getting to see those 300 pound men in ttheir sexy little speedos, and girls of all shapes and sizes in swimsuits that would fit a child!.. hahah! .. everyone was so very comfortable in their skin... it was almost scary!) But back to VB...

Sexy man in a speedo.. woot woot!

Down and ready!! Lauren and Ashley: Team US

The first game we caught (Lauren and her teammate Ashley's 4th game in Austria), they ended up winning (yay them!) After that, J and I got special passes which Lauren reserved, and got to hang with her and all the other athletes for a bit (always a good thing to know the "right" kind of people" so thanks Lauren!!!)





Us with the V champs :) Jason, Lauren, Ashley and me




The sunflower Jason bought me (as well as 2 others for the girls.. how sweet!)



Eventually we went on our way to find a hostel for the e

vening (because they won their match they played the next day at 9am) BUT, because of this international event, all hostels and hotels and campgrounds were full. So you know what this means?!!! Park bench, here we come! Ha... not thisd time...

Luckily we decided to stop by a hotel by the train station (roughly 15 min from the VB tourney) and were in luck! 1 bedroom available! We'll just say I never slept so darn good. It might have only been about 5 hours, but I didnt budge. I think I was as close to dead without actually being.. well.. dead! :)

Up and out the next morning, we made it out to the courts, cheered on our team (vs. Brazil) but faced defeat :( They played an incredible game tho!

By 11 we were on the train again, headed for Vienna to spend the day there and then head out for Braşov, Romania...

Yuck.. another late night train ride.. with reservations..but 13 hours long.. Here's the real "sleeping standing up"..

Soooooooooooooo... we made the reservations like good little travelers, BUT, no sleeping bunks.. just coach class sitting.. We got to our "room"... AAAHHHH! Smelled like *to put it nicely* rot and BO, and it felt like we were walking into a sauna! bleh... 2 old gentlemen (one who stayed with us.. I gurantee he was crazy!) were in our room sleeping.. window up and door closed. Some people don't believe in fresh air (literal translation: cool smoke-filled breeze). Well, we scooted them over so we could take our reserved seats, attempted to make ourselves comfortable, then began our night of battling with "Mr. Crazy" and the window.

Window open (so Jason and I could breath and cool off), window closed (because Crazy would freak out, claiming he'd get ill and a sore neck if it were down). On top of that, there were isles and rooms full of loud, drunk and obnoxious college-age people headed for Romania for a soccer game. AAAAHHHHHH! Me= on the verge of going CRAZY!

***Those who know me know that when Im low on sleep, I dont put up with much.. I eventually pull the "RA" card (Resident Advisor from back when I was an RA for the CSUF dorms) You'll be proud of me tho.. I kept my cool (plus, confronting drunk foreigners.. not the best of ideas.. I do want to live :) ***

Ultimately we made it thru the night (first 4 hours of me standing by the window half asleep, fighting with the opening and closing of the window for mr crazy.. I eventually won tho bc we rigged it to be partially open..) and arrived in Braşov, Romania in one piece. A little grumpy and a lot sleepy, but alive...