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...
No comments:
Post a Comment