Florence!

This morning Hanna and I took a train to Florence. We passed these gorgeous sunflower fields and lots of nice mountains. Upon arriving in Florence I was not really impressed because the area around the terminal is not that nice; also, the first fortress that we saw was kind of ugly and the next church kind of bland. But then we saw the beautiful Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral that is made entirely of marble! It is the 4th largest cathedral in the world and composed of pink, green and white marble. We got a very nice map from our Hostel so we walked around and saw the highlights of the city--the church of Santa Croce, burial place of Michaelangelo, Gallileo, Dante and Machiavelli, and the Ponte Vecchio (main bridge), a nice bridge full of shops. The water is very still and pretty...again another very romantic setting! Other things we saw include the Pitti Palace and the Uffizi Gallery and some other buildings that were less impressive. We got to see the sun set over the Ponte Vecchio, and then we made our way up to Piazza Michaelangelo, a high point where you can see the entire city. Hanna almost died on the way up. I was walking ahead and then I hear a cough and a wheeze behind me. But when we got up it was indeed a very nice view and we waited until the city was lit up before going back down. I got 4 mosquito bites in the process though :(

Of course we got gelato, and we went to a popular gelato place where they have won awards at "slow food" competitions. I suppose San Franciscans would love this. The rose flavored gelato was so good that I plan to go back again tommorow! For dinner we had this pasta dish with sausage and truffle sauce that I plan to try to duplicate when I get back home. What is interesting is in America Italian Sausages are quite popular, but here in Italy I have yet to see "Italian Sausages"! Whenever is says sausage on the menu it is usually like salami...perhaps they have a different name for that? Or perhaps it is not even really Italian!

Our hostel is very clean and we are in a small all girls' room with a TV. Hanna and I have been watching a lot of Michael Jackson, hahahaha. I feel kind of bad for Farrah Fawcett though...she died too but no one seems to know...

Today I found a new love! Actually, two new loves! Panna cotta and Bambolinos! I think they are called bambolinos...it is an Italian donut filled with cream, jam, or chocolate and it should probably be served hot but we got ours cold. It is very good! That is another thing I plan to eat again tomorrow. Good thing we are walking so much everyday, otherwise I would be a the size of a small cow by now. The panna cotta we had is similar to a creme brulee, which is my favorite dessert!

From Florence we plan to take day trips to Sienna and Pisa. July 2nd is the famous horse races of Seina so we already booked the tour for that. Unfortunately we have to wear these very ugly bright orange T shirts so that we do not get separated from the group. Oh well. I am very excited for that.

Last Night in Rome

Today Hanna and I went on a mission to visit gelato places. My book recommended this place called San Crispino, and hers recommended this place called Giolitti. Naturally, we decided to go to both!

We woke up quite late, I think we are both still sleep deprived! We left the hostel at around noon and went to the Spanish steps. The guy who works at the hostel was saying that the steps are really boring, but I found the area very pretty! They are indeed a nice set of steps with a church (I think it is a church) at the back. We were taking a timed photo and this fat guy in a green shirt just stood in front of our camera!! So of course he took up half of our photo and I was very angry and me and Hanna were like, "stupid guy!!!" But apparently he understands English and his girlfriend does too and they got mad at US. If my boyfriend ruined someone's photo I would totally be like, SORRY and offer to take one for them. Stupid tourists :P

We walked up to Villa Medici, a nice...palace I suppose, but there was an entrance fee so we decided to skip it. From there we went to the first Gelato place, San Crispino. They are famous for their honey gelato, which was really good! Hanna only got one flavour, but I was greedy and got three--honey, chocolate rum, and vanilla bourbon. All three were delicious! After this we went to see the famous fountain that everyone throws a coin over their shoulder...I cannot remember the name...Fountain Trevani? Ugh, perhaps I have been traveling too long. It is a very pretty fountain, and supposedly you are supposed to stand with your back facing it and then throw a coin over your shoulder to guarantee your safe return to Rome, and then throw another coin to get a wish. At least, that is what my book says. But at the fountain there is this guy who has a stick with a magnet on it; he fishes out the coins! So I threw mine in super far because I want to make sure my wish does not get taken out, kekekeke.

After this we went to eat at the 2nd gelato place! I got a tiramisu, but it was just okay, so I ended up getting ice cream as well. The watermelon gelato is soooooo good! It tastes JUST like watermelon, not too sweet and very refreshing. Other watermelon sorbets that I have had were too sweet, but this one really tasted like it should be healthy for you...even though it most likely is not. I tried champagne flavored gelato but is was really sour...and a Ricotta cheese flavored gelato that just was not very good.

After this we went and saw the Piazza Republica, which is not that nice. There is something about Italy that makes you slow down though. I think it is a place where you can go and sit in a cafe for hours and not feel bored. Tommorow we will take a train to Florence though, and from Florence we will likely do day trips to Pisa and Sienna.

Rome Day 3!

There are so many things to do in Rome, Hanna and I decided to stay another night.

Today we went to the Vatican because the museum is free on the last Saturday of every month, but unfortunately we arrived too late! They stop admitting people at 12 in the afternoon. Perhaps we will go back tomorrow, but during the rest of the day we walked around Vatican City (very very small...I really do not think it is worth having it as its own country but perhaps for political reasons) and went to Saint Peter's Basillica. The line was insane to get inside...and it was so hot so...we reasoned that we would skip that. Of course I got gelato again, and as usual it was fantastic.

We walked along the river (or canal?) and saw Angelo's Castle, which was just okay, and the Piazza Populo. After that we went back to the hostel to take a nap...and did not wake up until 8 pm!!! However, I suppose that is the right time to head out to Campo de Fiori, a nice area with restaurants and bars that does not really get started until after 9 anyway.

Italy is still quite expensive. I am missing Eastern Europe because it is so cheap!! However I do suppose that there are a lot of tourists in Rome and it is the high season. After this we are going to look for a place with a nice beach :D

Rome Day 2

Today Hanna and I woke up at 11 in the afternoon, the hotel has good shutters so we did not realize that we had slept so long! This girl was talking outside on the phone and we got mad and yelled at her because we thought it must be like, 6 am but it was probably around 10 O_O

We went to ther Colosseum, which is very impressive. There were so many people though, but a nice guy (who actually was trying to convince us tobuy something so perhaps he is not thaaaat nice) told us about another place where we could buy tickets--the line was much much shorter at this place. We toured the Colosseum as well as the Forum and the old Palace. There were 3 couples getting married outside of the Colosseum as well. Looks fun but...I feel like a place that is so crowded is not very romantic. I think Venice is a far more romantic city...or better yet, somewhere outside of Italy that is just less crowded!

Hanna went back home yesterday and scrubbed her leg thoroughly amd said she wanted to burn off her skin. Luckily today no one gave us any trouble. ACTUALLY, this one guy did. We were taking photos, and he started to follow us and said "hello pretty putas". Puta means whore, so I got mad and turned around and was like, "DO NOT CALL US THAT!!!" The guy said something in Italian, but we walked away. I am starting to get sick of people thinking that Asian girls are timid and quiet and easily picked on!!! Yesterday this fat ugly guy was like, "ooooo, you must be sisters!" and I was like, "NO, we just happen to both be Asian". I was in kind of a bad mood last night because we were tired and trying to get home. And he goes, "YOU know NOTHING about EUROPE, you are AMERICAN!" and then I got really mad and I was like, "I am an international relations major, I probably know MORE about EUROPE than YOU DO!!! And clearly you know NOTHING about ASIA!"

I think people are often surprised when we talk back because they expect us to just be scared. I am sick of it! Who do these pathetic losers think they are??

Regardless, the ruins today were stunning and I am very glad that I got to see them. Tommorow we will be going into Vatican City. I would like to try to see the Pope, even though I am not Christian; I want to see him because he is such an important global figure. Perhaps if we arrive early we will.

Now we are going to eat gelato!

Rome

This morning Hanna and I took a train from Venice to Rome. I slept for about 3 hours, so I rather enjoyed the train ride :D I woke up and saw that it was dark and I was like, "holy crap I cannot believe it is night time!!! I slept through the whole day!!" And Hanna was like, "um...we are in a tunnel..." HAHAHAHA Then we got out of the tunnel and we saw so many pretty mountains!

We had gone to a bakery early in the morning so we bought bread and ham for lunch. But Hanna was too train sick to eat the ham...so I ate all of it O_O In Rome we are staying in a hotel because the price difference between hostels and hotels is very minimal. It is nice to finally stay in a place that is really clean! The people in our hotel are also really nice and gave us many recommendations as to where to go. Since we only had half a day we walked to see some of the open monuments like the Pantheon, Venice Plaza and this other plaza...Norvobo Plaza? I cannot remember the name. But we did walk a lot and had a nice dinner. I had tiramisu, my favorite dessert, and it was AMAZING. It was sooooo good. Then we got gelato. Sigh, I will probably get diabetes in Italy too.

One bad thing about Italy...there seem to be a lot of perveted men here...I did not feel safe when I went to the hostel in Venice because I had to cross a park and a group of three men saw me and they stopped walking and waited for me to get close to them. So of course I stopped too. Then a family was going down the alley so I walked with them and managed to be okay. On the train to Rome there was also a really creepy guy who kept peering into our cabin to stare at us. I closed the curtain, but he would still come and try to peek in through the cracks. Worst of all poor Hanna had something awful happen to her. She was on the bus and this really, really gross old balding guy was leaning over her with his jacket covering the front of his body and he touched her with his penis. EWWWWW Then he ran away, zipped up his pants and ran off the bus. It was really gross and I felt really bad for her, but for some reason I could not stop laughing because I was quite tired, and also because I really could not believe anyone would do something like that. But really, what is wrong with people??? I do not think these men should be able to get away with such actions! But he had run off the bus and there was no way to catch him.

So needless to say I do not think Hanna is very happy with Italy right now...she suggested taking a plane to London. Which I am open to doing actually, since London should be quite fun! And it is quite close to Amsterdam. Seriously though, these gross men really have a negative impact on our opinion of an otherwise beautiful country.

Venice Day 2

Venice is really a beautiful city, Hanna and I walked around yesterday during the night. It is so romantic! Both of us were like booooo, why do we not have boyfriends T_T But yes, Venice does put people in the mood for Romance I think. So we single ladies went and ate gelato and took a walk before going back to our hostel.

The man who works at the hostel is nicknamed Uncle George and the reviews say that he is very nice and an interesting character. Honestly, I think he is bipolar...sometimes he will be so kind, other times he will yell at people for putting their backpack on the sofa...he also has a strange rule that no one can use internet after 11 pm...

Anyhow the weather forecast was for rain, but we had a lovely day today! We walked around but it was so hot and crowded. The water is indeed a bit dirty, but under the sun it sparkles and looks like something out of a romance novel. Yes, the city is a bit run down...but I find that charming! So far Italian food has been quite good, but nothing that we cannot get in the states. But then again, we are in a touristy area. There are some lovely churches here, but terrible street signs. It took us a long time to find San Marco Plaza, the main plaza of Venice. Basically it was like a scavenger hunt--at every street there would be a sign saying San Marco, with an arrow as to which direction we should go. After 3 hours of walking we got bored. It was hot, crowded and, to be honest, all the streets look the same! When we saw the first 10 bridges and canals we were like, woooooow, so pretty! After abour 20 more we were like...okay, time to go to Rome.

So tommorow we will be going to Rome!

I have to buy a new toothbrush because I dropped mine and it landed because the toilet. Sigh.

Venice Day 1

Today I arrived in Venice and met Hanna. Ughhhh, it took sooooo long because I got on the wrong trains. I actually have tickets for the express trains, but I accidentally got on the non express trains, so it ended up taking about double the time. I should have just taken the 11 am from Munich, I would have gotten here earlier and with less hassle than going at 7:30 am and figuring out those connections.

Our hostel is not too bad, but it is in a dangerous neighborhood. I will write more about this tomorrow, but right now I a going to sleep because I am very tired!

Beer Challenge

It rained the whole day in Munich, but I still went on the free tour. I do like Munich, but berlin is still better. People told me that Munich is the cultural capital of Germany, of Bavaria. 80% of Munich was destroyed during the war, and when they rebuilt it they wanted to preserve the traditional, old looking buildings. Unlike Berlin, which is very modern, Munich remains more midieval. On the tour we visited this church when has a few very interesting stories. The "twin towers" of the church were one of the few things that were not destroyed during the war precisely because the pilots of the allied forces were instructed not to bomb it. The reason was because they used these towers to determine when they were flying over Munich...so they could bomb the area around it. Supposedly this church was also built very quickly because the devil helped build it. The architect and the devil made a deal that the church would have no windows, and then the devil would help him build it since he wanted the place of worship to be miserable and dark. However, after it is complete the building had glorious windows! And the devil gets angry, but then the architect points out that at the precise location where they made the deal none of the windows can be seen and it is indeed dark. The devil gets so mad that he stomps his foot, leaving a foot print. There is a foot print in the church, but another story is that the architect left his own footprint there as a signature.

The guide took us around Munich and showed us many historically important areas, like the location where the Beer Hall Putsch took place (where Hitler tried to overthrow the government and got put in jail, during which he wrote his famous Mein Kampf). Also, we saw a lot of little monuments. Unlike Berlin, which construct huge monuments to the holocaust to ensure that no one forgets, Munich prefers to keep that dark part of history subtle so that they can move forward. There is also a nice Jewish community in Munich. These little memorials are often unmarked, and you would not notice them unless you sought them out or someone showed them to you. There is one that I really liked that is dedicated to the German citizens who stood up against the Nazis. I do feel that they are often not emphasized in history--the numerous Germans that actually risked their own lives to resist the Nazis, something that is also very brave and should be remembered.

We saw various landmarks like the old and new town hall, Marienplatz, the Opera House and the Glockenspiel. This clock, like the clock in Prague, has a little performance during certain times of the day. The one in Prague was very over rated, it was just a skeleton that rings the bell and a saint comes out. I heard this one is better than Prague, but I did not get to see it. We also saw the Haufbrauhaus, the brewery for the Royal Family (and the place where Hitler made one of his first speeches). Apparently back in the day people would just pee on the floor because they would drink so much and did not want to lose their seat by getting up to go to the bathroom...ewwwww. Now of course there are bathrooms, there is a also a vomitorium where you can throw up if you are sick...

After the tour we went to this place that our guide suggested, but it was quite bad. It was all you can eat stew, and if you break the record of numbre of bowls eaten you get a prize. I looove eating competitions...but the stew was soooo salty and not good, I figured it would do too much harm to my body. So I only had one bowl.

After this there was a Beer Challenge that I failed quite miserably at. I cannot drink that much, but I figured beer is such a big part of the culture in Munich that I MUST participate. In the places we went to the smallest size beer you could get was 1 liter. So of course...I got...really really really drunk. People were very helpful though. Even though I was upset and emotional (I suppose it was one of those days) other Americans were very nice and made sure that I got back to my hostel safely. I was quite embarassed, but oh well I suppose it happens. Anyhow, I woke up at 5:30 am and did not want to go back to sleep because I had a train at 7:30.

I was hanging around in the lobby and then these three German people invited me to go eat at Burger King with them :D :D :D I think they thought I was crazy too, hahahaha. And then they tried to get rid of me!! Actually they did not. Not that they would have been able to anyway. They were very funny.

Munich!

This morning I took the train to Munich. I really love to be on the train, especially on a rainy day because I am warm and I see nice scenery and the rain running down the windows. I realize now I was a bit of a retard when planning the last few cities. I went to Vienna, to Salzburg, back to Vienna to Budapest, back to Vienna, back to Salzburg to Munich. I am not sure why this did not occur to me sooner. It is okay though since the weather was so bad and the scenery in the train is quite nice.

I had begun to feel lonely in Budapest, so I was very happy to arrive and find my Hostel in Munich full of people! I met a really nice girl from Taiwan who studies in New Castle, England. She is also travelling alone. Her boyfriend is German and told her NOT to go to Berlin. I told her that is what Western Germans say and that it is a complete lie and Berlin is AWESOME. But she had already planned out her trip already and booked all of her hostels.

I really am a last minute person! I book my hostels the night before, sometimes the morning of! Hanna will be arriving Wednesday afternoon, so that is when I will be in Venice too. I think I will take the early morning train from Munich to Venice.

At this hostel I also got a free drink upon arrival. It is very lively with a nice bar. It was pouring rain though!! Ugh. So I just staying inside and hung out with my new friend :D Tommorow I plan to take the free tour and then visit the beer gardens! I really want to see the castle too, but it is 2 hours away and I have to be in Venice Wednesday; the weather is also really bad, so perhaps I will do that another time. I might sleep early tonight so I can get up early tommorow. Hopefully the weather will be slightly better...

Budapest Day 2!

Oh my god it smells sooooo bad in this internet cafe. Seriously I do not understand. But whatever.

I had a very nice day today, although I felt quite lonely. My hostel is not quite good for meeting people...there are a few dorky guys who sleep all day. I figured that means they must party all night right? But no...they just...hang around the hostel at night too...it is odd. I did not talk to them because they look like perverts.

Regardless, I slept about 12 hours, which was good because I felt like a zombie yesterday. Today I had a lot more energy so I went on the hop on hop off tour. It has about 10 stops and buses leave every 30 minutes. It actually did not rain as much today, but it was quite cold. On the bus I went to Erzsebet Square, saw the Terror House (I think that is what it is called) and some nice basillicas, went to Heroes Square, Synagogue and the Citadel over looking the whole city. At the citadel I could take pictures from the highest point in Budapest, and also a close up of this statue that is like their statue of liberty. I unfortunately cannot go to the thermal baths, which are very nice, because I have my period now :( However, I went and took pictures. A british guy told me that the thermal baths here are one of the top 5 things to do in the world according to STA travel, but too bad I cannot go. The zoo here is very cute, and I also saw the castle district, parliament and museum of ethnography.

On a side note a really smelly and dirty looking guy just sat next to me. He pulled his computer thing out so that I cannot see his monitor and he gave me a suspicious look. Ewww. Weirdo. He smells so bad that every now and then I have to breath through my shirt otherwise I might pass out. The sacrifices I make to write this blog O_O

Along with the tour there is a free cruise down the Danube River, which I went on. I was freezing the whole time, but I got some lovely photos as the sun was setting across the river. When I got off the boat it was night and the lights in the city were turned on and it was really pretty!

I also got a cup of hot chocolate with my tour and it was delicious. In addition to that, I had the best cappucino I ever had at a place called Coffee Heaven. It was great because it was the perfect amount of sweetness and there was a lot of creamy foam.

Ranking so far: Berlin is number one, followed by Vienna, and then Budapest. Although, if I had wonderful weather here in Budapest it may be tied with Vienna. I really like that the food in Budapest is really cheap. I can eat a good meal for about 3 dollars.

Ewwww, guy next to me is moving around and the wind from his movements moves the grosss smell towards me. UGHHHHHHHHH. Oh thank god, he got up to leave. YES!

Well...I am actually done writing so...

Budapest

Unfortunately the weather here sucks! It is raining and, of course, just yesterday it was beautiful. Sighhhh, should have stuck with my schedule!

Last night I met this group of three American girls from New Hampshire in the train station. Budapest supposedly has very good nightlife so I am glad that I found people to go out with :D Throughout my time traveling in Europe I have become very good at picking up new friends, kekekeke. I have a series of "pick up lines" that I use, usually beginning with something mundane like, "do you know where to buy tickets, etc." and then "are you travelling alone??" and then "let's travel together!" HAHAHAHA I usually target other solo travellers, but I felt ambitious yesterday so I talked to a group, kekekeke.

The people in Budapest are very nice, I actually think this is the friendliest city that i have visited so far. Everyone was kind and willing to help. However, my hostel did not have a sign so I did get lost around that area. Luckily the local stores all knew where my hostel is, apparently they have a lot of travellers asking where the hostel is.

This morning the weather was quite bad, but I figured to go on a tour anyway. I took the free tour, but I actually started to feel sick because it was rainy and cold so I left early and went home to sleep. So needless to say...I did not do too much today. I saw some nice buildings and bridges, but I plan to do more tommorow. I really want to visit the thermal springs, perhaps I will do that tommorow.

Salzburg

I should have gone to Salzburg yesterday :( Apparently yesterday the weather was gorgeous and sunny. Today it was all rain. This is what happens when I do not stick to my schedule! Anyhow, Salzburg is another place that I would like to come back to. I can see that it is beautiful...when the mountains are not obscured by clouds!

I happened to wake up super early this morning so I took the 5:40 am train from Vienna to Salzburg. I slept the entire way and arrived feeling energetic and ready to explore. But alas, the weather was awful. After locking my backpack up in a locker I decided to go to the Sound of Music tour that everyone has been talking about. Lucky me, I booked the last seat--the tour was leaving in 10 minutes so I rushed over to the meeting point. Supposedly 7 others were supposed to be there (it was outside burger king at the main station) so I worried that they had already left. It turned out the 7 others were a group from China and had gotten confused and met at the wrong place. Anyhow, I got on the tour just fine. Of course it was at this moment that I realized that I had left my umbrella in my backpack which I had locked away at the station. At least a lot of time was spent on the bus so I did not get terribly wet.

Salzburg actually means Salt Fortress, and apparently the region is famous for its salt mines, a source of "white gold" that made the area very wealthy. The Sound of Music tour was interesting, but unless you looooove the m oc ie I would recommend taking a different tour. I got to see some nice scenery, but I was less wowed by certain areas relevant to the mocie b ecause 1.) I o nly saw the movie once and 2.) I was not even paying attention that time I did watch it. However, I nev er knew that it was based on a true story...nor was I aware that it actually took place in Salzburg. To be honest the t our actually made me think the movie was even sillier. I mean, that one song about that boy telling the this girl that she is naive and other men will try to take advantage of her so she should follow him to stay safe...so ridiculous.

Now the Chinese t our group was a bit annoying because they were a large group and the would chatter to each other while the tour guide was talking. Also, the nerdy so n took a liking to me and decided to sit in the empty seat next to me instead of with his familz and tried to start a conversation. Why do I always attract weirdos and desperate people? Anyhow he was really odd, like a teletubb y. Whenever the bus stopped he would go "lets go let s go, photo time pho to time!" in English...perhaps that was the only English he knew? Anyhow it was pouring rain and he offered to giv e me his umbrella, but I said no because nothing in life is for free. So I got really wet during some of the walk.

We st opped for lunch by the church that the people in the movie got married in. The tour guide told us about a cafe that has the best streudel, so when we st opped I made a beeline for the cafe. I mean , I did not really care about the church but I do care a grea t deal about good food. In the cafe I got seated and served immediately because all the ot her toursits had flocked to the church. I had a chesse streudal with vanilla sauce, and concluded that I just do not like streudal much. After eating I still had plenty of time so I went to the church--by then everyond else had finished so I had the church to myself :D

On the tour I met a nice Australian girl so I went around the city with her afterwards. We found out that the Mozart Balls, a famous Austrian Candy, originated in this small cafe in Salyburg. So of course I went there and had a Mozart Ball--this is part of Candy history! The original one is better than the commercially made ones. I also had a cute pink cake, but it was too sweet--chocolate and rum flavored. My australian friend got a cream and almond cake that was really good. My cake was prettier but tasted worse--I guess a lesson in how looks can be deceiving.

After this we went to Miravell Gardens, which were very nice. Forgive me...I probably spell many of these names wrong because I am too lazy to get out my guidebook. I will go back later and fix them all! It started pouring again, and I had completely forgotten about Salzburgás old town. The gardens were pretty and also had some Sound of Music scenes, and after seeing it I figured to head back to the station and catch the 3:00 train to Budapest, since it is safer to arrive at 9 pm than 11 pm. I am sad that I missed old town though, because it is a UNESCO heritage site and those tend to be quite nice! But I was also so cold in the rain, and I am glad I got the earlier train. I had to sit next to a stinky person though...

I am not in Budapest at my hostel, and I have to go because I will be meeting these American girls. One of them is going to BU for her masters!

Photos!

Here is a link to two albums of my favorite photos so far!

Amsterdam and Scandinavia:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2416067&id=909768&l=6ca53b162b

Berlin, Prague and Vienna

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2416265&id=909768&l=add19b45b4

I have many more, but these are just the ones that I like best :D I have about 950 photos at the moment, but I posted only about 325.

Vienna...Day 3!

So I lied. I actually decided to stay another day in Vienna because I felt too tired to gt up early and go all the way to Salzburg. At my new hostel I met this nice girl from Quebec so we went to a few Museums.

I forgot to mention in my last post an interesting thing that my Vietnamese friend told me. Apparently the stance of horses in statues has a meaning. If the horse has its two front hooves in the air, the person riding the horse died in battle. If the horse is trotting the rider was assasinated. If the horse is standing still, the rider died of natural causes. I thought this was very intersting, I wonder if it is true in many places? Probably not all over the world, but I guess it applies Austria and some parts of Europe?

Another interesting note about Austria: all of the trams and many othr places have the rainbow flag hanging on them. We thought perhaps it has a different meaning here. We asked a local about it and they said that the Rainbow is indeed to show support, not only for gay rights, but for love and peace. I thought this is very educated of them, considering so many in America, a supposedly free country, are willing to waste so much tax money to ensure a group of people are denied rights.

So far in Austria I have almost gotten hit by a car, a tram, a bike, a motorbike, a kid on a skateboard and a horse. People here drive like maniacs! Although they are all very kind. The kind man in the camera store helped me load all my photos on a USB drive. I actually went in to ask him to burn a CD because I am paranoid about my SD card breaking, but the CD would not burn. Then he gave me a half price discount on the USB drive, I ended up getting a 4G for cheaper than it cost to burn the CD so I was very happy. I am trying to load some of my favorite photos onto facebook.

Anyhow today with new friend we went to eat breakfast and went to the National Library. It was so pretty, it looked like the library in Beauty and the Beast. Apparently all the books ar available for people to read too. We also went to the Papyrus Museum, which has a caopy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead and some old editions of the Oddesey and the Illiad. After that we went to this Museum about a man who tried to make a universal language. I did not find that vry interesting...the language is called Esperanto. The founder hoped it would unite the people of earth (in reference to Babel, when God got mad at people for trying to build a way to the sky and scattered them across the world with many different languages so they could not unite and do something so blasphemous again). We also went to the globe museum which I really liked. It had on display one of the first globes ever made, as well as globes of the celestial sky, globes of the moon and the planets...to me it looked like a scene out of harry potter, all of these colorful globes shining behind their glass cases.

After seeing all of these museums I insisted that we go to my favorite ice cream place, Zanoni Zanoni. I loooove that place. Although today they were in a bad mood because it was really hot and so the place was super crowded.

I also bought a cheap pair of flip flops at H and M, since I accidentally left mine...3 hostels ago.

Tonight I am going to cook dinner with new friend :D And then I will sleep early and go to Salzburg first thing in the morning.

Vienna Day 2

Okay, I was soooo wrong yesterday when I said that Vienna is not that nice. Vienna is beautiful! Yesterday I was tired and I just went to the center. Today I saw a lot more of the city and it is really nice.

This morning I went to eat breakfast and met a really nice Vietnamese guy from Oregon. I was happy since yesterday I was kind of lonely during the day. Although in my room I met a guy from Berlin and a girl from Finland. They are both here to audition for music school! I did not say this but I immediately thought about Hitler trying to get into art school in Vienna, and wondered what would happen if they get rejected O_O I know, it is an awful thought. But seriously if Hitler had just gotten into art school things would have been so much better...Anyhow, the girl from Finland is sooo pretty but in a very weird way! She looks like how I think a fairy would look. It turns out she is half Arami, these people who live in northern Finland who look similar to American Eskimoes. So she has some Asian features, but she is really pale, has really pale blond hair that is kind of frizzy (like how I would imagine a fairy to look), but blue asian eyes and asian shaped face! I heard in one part of Russia blue eyes in a dominant gene, maybe that is why she looks like that? Anyhow, she and the guy from Berlin invited me to go to a Jazz show with them, but unfortunately I will not be there anymore!

Anyhow, I was very happy to meet the Vietnamese guy and we went to the Museum Quarter where there is such nice architecture! The buildings are so pretty! Vietnamese guy and I share a passion for ice cream, and he told me he found the best ice cream in the world and I told him about the place I went to yesterday, I insisted it was the best. So we agreed to go to both. We went to his first since it was near the hostel, and I took one bite and was very happy because my place was definitely BETTER! So we went to my place and he agreed, my place was number one. His place was just a cafe, mind was this huge thing. Today I had an afagato, which is espresso with ice cream, and a sundae. My sundae was sooooo good! It was hazelnut, stracciatella and vanilla ice cream with egg liquor! Americans are SO dumb, why do we not put liquor in our ice cream??? It tastes so good, and there were so many sundaes with different types of liquor like chocolate liquor, rum, etc.

Then we had weiner schnitzel and this really good pasta and a deep fried pig knuckle. The pig knuckle was really good, as was the pasta. Since Austria is famous for apple struedel we had that too. I thought that was just okay.

There are many nice parks in Vienna, and their government buildings are so pretty. I wish buildings in America were not so boring! I thought the government buildings were cathedrals, the Veinnese government building is so ornate. I took many pictures.

Later we passed another ice cream place (there are so many in Vienna, yet everyone is so thin!) and there was a group of cute little Austrian children eating ice cream. I wanted to take a picture of them but did not want to freak people out. But then I saw an old asian couple taking pictures of the kid so I was like, well, I will do it too. HAHAHA, they must think Asians are very weird!

After this I drank a lot of water; I was really thirsty from eating so much salty and sweet food. I went to the bathroom in the museum quarter and you have to pay. And the person collecting money is male. I went in, and was doing my stuff, and then he comes and opens the door of my stall!! Thank goodness I was done and had my pants back on, but I do not know what his problem is! I am not sure where he is from but he is not Austrian...a German woman complained to me that there is tension with immigrants because they rape women and cause crime. I honestly, being the daughter of immigrants, usually defend immigrants, but men like this man and that guy who grabbed me in Austria give all immigrants a bad name!!!! He knew I was in the stall, I know that he did it on purpose! I left quickly because I was a bit scared and wanted to get back to the hostel. On hindsight I should have reported him to the people who work in the museum quarter. I will write them an email about him, hopefully they will at least fire him. What a pervert!!!

Anyhow I moved to my new hostel, which is very close to the station that I need to depart from tommorow, and we ate more Austrian food. I had this turkey schnitzel, which was also pretty good. I am heading to Salzburg first thing in the morning!