Currywurst!

Today I had authentic German food :D A friend from Germany made it for me. I kept giving my opinions on how to cook, but I ended up giving him bad advice and the onions got burned. Anyhow, here is the recipe!

Bratwurst
Tomato Paste
Crushed tomatoes
Onions (diced)
Garlic
Ketchup
Mustard
Curry Powder
Salt
Pepper
Cooking oil
Sambal

First you cook the bratwurst, then you throw in onions and garlic. You put everything else in a pot, and then put the bratwurst in that; then you heat the whole thing until it is hot. ^_^

Tommorow I will cook too!

Moving into New York!

View from my window!

My new dorm is really awesome :D

It's a multicultural house with a lot of planned events; I have an awesome view of the river and the city, and I am quite close to my school. For the price (subsidized housing) this is amazing.

Today I went on an event to Little India; the food was a bit different, turns out it is more of a pakistani restaurant. I met a lot of other people, all who said wonderful things about the international house. I also met someone who happened to have an extra refrigerator (the person before him left it), so he sold it to me for 20 dollars! It is small, black, and works very well (I have not put anything in it yet, so I suppose I'll confirm that tommorow).

I also went to the bar, and it turns out they are hiring! But when I told people I was in the law school everyone told me not to get the job. They said that they see the law students for the first 5 weeks of school and then they just disappear because the have to study! :( So...I guess I'll feel it out before getting a job.

Before Going Home...

I had one last day in Amsterdam before heading to the US. My friend Anetey is a Dutch native, so he showed me around the town. I told him I wanted to go to the red light district, a place I thought was famous for clubs and bars...actually it is famous for sex shops and prostitutes. Anetey was saying that Dutch locals actually never go there. It is kind of a scary place. The prostitutes are all behind windows, and Anetey said not to take any pictures because they will get pissed and break your camera! I do think the prostitutes look really aggressive, but I suppose you have to be if i you work there. It is surprising how many of them there were. Anetey was like, "what, did you think there was only one of two prostitutes for all of Holland???" and I guess I really did imagine there´s only be a few. Anyhow we left the red light district pretty quickly.

The next day we walked through town and visited a coffee shop! aparently ALL the coffee shops sell soft drugs. I asked Anetey if we could find a coffee shop that sells coffee and he was like, "you mean a cafe?" Anyhow, I decided to try this thing called space cake. Soooo AWFUL!

Well, it did not taste bad, but the effects came late so by the time I started feeling differently I had already eaten too much. I really felt like I was being hurtled though space, hence the name I guess. I never get motion sickness, but EVERYTHING was spinning, I felt like I was floating one second then falling the next and I ended up feeling nauseaus. We saw Ice Age 3 in 3-D. I am not sure if it was good or not, but I found it super entertaining since I´d eaten that special cake. It took about 20 hours for the effects to finally wear off.

Brugge

I took a shower at Frankfurt station and the facilities were really clean! Unfortunately there was no hot water.

Brugge is amazingly beautiful, just as beautiful as Prague although the architecture is completely different. While both a mideival centers, Prague has more stunning cathedrals while Brugge has chaming old buildings. Supposedly Brugge had been abandoned when the trade routes around that area fell apart, leaving the city ¨suspended in time¨ until it was later rediscovered. I did visit a church in Brugge, the Basilica of the Holy Blood. At this church they have some of Christ´s blood on something (cloth perhaps) and it is kept in a vial. I do not know if this really is Christ´s blood, but many people go to touch the relic. It is a bit frightening to me to see so many people in awe over dried blood on a napkin...evin if it is the blood of someone very famous. I don´t know, I do feel like it is a bit macabre!

Anyhow Belgium is famous for two wonderful things: chocolate and waffles! The pralines were invented by the grandson of Neuhaus, so of course I visited that store. I went to Choco Story, a museum dedicated to choclate. Unfortunatley I left my beloved ampleman umbrella (that I bought in Berlin) there! At the museum I watched them make pralines and (of course) I bought more chocolate. These british girls told me that there are so many Indian restuarants in England that if you were to throw a rock over London it would probably hit an Indian restaurant. Now if you threw a rock over Brugge, it would probably hit a chocolaterie; there is one on every street!

Belgium pralines are AMAZING though. I have had ¨Belgiam Pralines¨outside of Belgium--but it is NOT the same! It is soooo good in Belgium! Since this is the last country I visit before returning to Amsterdam I was more liberal with shopping. I bought these very pretty macarons and Neuhaus but they were just okay.

I had a Belgian waffle with whipped cream and it was also perfect! Soft but a bit crunchy on the outside, it was really good. Another thing that is made very well in Belgium are fries! I had flemish stew for lunch (just okay) but it came with an amazing side of fries.

These is also a religious community in Brugge that is only for women--it is made up mostly of widows. This is a very pretty park with so many swans. It is also very peaceful; I took a walk here before heading to the station to take my train to Amsterdam.

Verona

Okay, I wrote all this in my journal and was going to type it up later. It is quite a delay.

Verona really is a beautiful city. It is the town in which Shakespeare´s Romeo and Juliet takes place. We went to visit Juliet´s ¨house¨--actually it is a property of the noble house that Juliet supposedly belongs to. There is a balcony from which Juliet (in the story) talks to Romeo, and a statue of Juliet in the Garden. Supposedly rubbing the statue´s right breast will either bring good luck or a new lover, so that breast is worn smooth from so many people rubbing it.

I think Verona is like a smaller combination of Florence and Rome. It has an arena that looks like a small Colosseum--the locals seem very proud of it! Yesterday night after dinner we were approached by these two Italian guys who also recommended that we see the arena. We convinced them that Hanna was Jolin Tsai, HAHAHAHA. I let them listen to Jolin Tsai on my ipon and they were like, ¨WOW, you sing well!!¨ I was Jolin Tsai´s song writer.

After Juliet´s house we walked up to the castle and took pictures of the city. Lots of pretty architecture; I will probably find American cities very bland after this.

After Verona Hanna and I went our separate ways! She went to Venice since her flight leaves from there and I went to Milan so that I could take the night train to Frankfurt. People told me that Milan is just okay, and the only think to see is the Duomo. So, when I got to Milan I put my backpack in a locker and took the metro to the Duomo. It is indeed a very pretty square! I took a bunch of timed photos and got gelato.

Now I am on the night train to frankfurt. Unfortunately there is a very smelly woman in my cabin, it is really awful. It is hot and stuffy so she took off all her clothes and slept naked. Then the conductor came and yelled at her for being inappropriate and made her put her clothing back on.

An Awful Day!

What a TERRIBLE day! We had planned to leave our luggage at the campsite but they would not let us. So, being the clever little planners we are, we decided to go use the lockers at La Spezia and then explore the rest of Cinque Terre. Unfortunately we got on the wrong train--and ended up in Sestri Levante. Seriously, of EVERY country I have been to Italy had the WORST set up for transportation. The sign on the platform will say one thing...but the train at the platform is actually going to another destination. Anyhow, from Sestri Levante we could go directly to Milan, so we figured to do that. But then we got on the wrong train AGAIN! Actually, I think what happened was that we were suppoed to switch trains at Genoa, but it does not say so on our ticket and the conductor said nothing!!! The ticket checker was the one who told us that there are no direct trains to Milan. OH! And yesterday we got FINED. We bought a ticket but forgot to validate it. The ticket checker was an angry older woman who was already in a bad mood because we had been putting our feet up on the seat across from us. We had to pay 50 euros, and when we tried to reason with her she screamed "YOU PAY NOW!!!"

Anyhow, we had to get off at the next station, which was a pretty town in the middle of no where...Since it was Sunday nothing was open except for this little bakery, so we got gelato, cannolis, fruit tarts and cream puffs. We nearly missed out train to Milan, and I had to jam myself between the doors so Hanna could make it on too. That train was so crowded and there were no seats! People were standing in the aisle, so Hanna and I ended up sitting the hot stuffy area between cars. We were joined by 4 guys from Canada who were very nice to talk to. During the ride I was grateful that 1.) The bathroom was not in our compartments and 2.) The guys were from North America and therefore use deodorant!! They told us that often people purposely give them wrong directions because they dislike foreigners. I do not think that has happened to us, but then again we are girls so perhaps people are nicer.

When we finally arrived in Verona it was 9 pm. Our hostel said to get on bus 73, so we waited at the bus station. We waited 20 minutes before we asked someone and found out that bus 73 does not run on weekends!! A nice person pointed out an alternate route for us. When we got to our hostel the door was locked. We rang the bell but no one answered. Finally a nice waiter saw us and lent us his phone so we could call the owner. The owner was very rude and told us that checkout closes at 5 pm on Sunday!! When making the reservation I specified that we would arrive late at night, like 11 pm. I was so mad because we had no place to stay and we were so tired!! The waiter took us to the restaurant and the owner of the restaurant called a hotel that he knew. They had space but they were so expensive, 130 euro a night! We were so tired though that we just took it :(

For dinner we got a bottle of wine because we were so upset, and we also ate a ton. Really an unlucky day!!!

Cinque Terre

On the fourth of July I wanted to be in a place with a lot of Americans so we could celebrate together, but the only place with openings was a campsite on the outskirts of Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre, a group of 5 villages, is a national park and a UNESCO Heritage Site; supposedly it is the most beautiful coast in all of Italy. Camping here is not like camping in America--at least not this campsite. They provide tents and there are beds and blankets already set up inside. It is cute but it is really hot during the day and there are many insects.

Hanna and I really wanted to go to a beach, so we went directly to Monteresso, the first of the 5 towns; we were planning to do a walk through all 5 the next day. The beach is very pretty, with a nice mountainous backdrop and numerous colorful houses. There are also enormous flowering trees and bushes that just spill over people's walls and gates. Unfortunately the beath is very rocky. The plus side is that we do not end up getting sand everywhere, but it is painful to walk on. I realize how much I miss being in the water so I went for a swim. The water was cold at first but I acclimated very quickly. There was a group of Americans standing the water while drinking beer. I avoided them because I suspected that they were drinking and peeing...speaking of which, we ran into some guys who also went to the Palio. They said that they spent the entire time drinking; I told them that I had been too afraid to drink because there were no bathrooms. they told me they had brought an empty bottle with them and they just peed into that. EWWWW

For dinenr we had salmon pasta and stuffed mussels, but it was not very fresh. That night at our campsite we had a really loud conversation about parting...and realized that the entire campsite can hear us talking. The conversation actually began because the person in the test next to us farted really loudly and we burst out laughing. I suppose if we could hear them fart they could probably hear us laugh...too bad that did not occur to us then.

Last Day in Florence!

Today was our last day in Florence, so Hanna and I decided to go to a museum. The most famous one is Uffizi, which has a lot of Renaissance artwork. While I remember loving the Louvre, I was not that impressed with Uffizi. I suppose I am not that interested in artwork with Christian themes. Uffizi has a lot of virgin Madonna paintings. I really like paintings and sculptures associated with Greek Mythology; Uffizi had some. One of my favorite paintings, the Birth of Venus, is on their brochure...but I did not see it in the gallery. I did see that in the Louvre though, so I am not sure what is up with that.

That night our hostel was hosting a party, so Hanna and I went. It is kind of nice to go to the bar in our hostel because everyone speaks English there. After being abroad for a while it is actually comforting to be in a room full of English speakers...I remember in Ecuador I did not like to hang out with English speaking groups, but that is probably because I was very comfortable with Spanis.

Anyhow, we ended up foing to this place called Fish Pub with good American music. The DJ was from Cameroon and he played Britney Spears for us. We met some people from Albania who suggested another club called Twice, but we did not like it. It was full of really gross smelly old men, so Hanna and I just went to McDonalds. I paid 8 euro for chicken nuggets and fries!!! A complete rip off, but nothing else was open.

Siena

Today was really quite awesome. We went to Siena to see the Palio, apparently the biggest event in Italy--at least the biggest event in Florence. It is a very brutal horse race in which the riders ride without saddles and the only rule is that you cannot pull the reins of another person's horse--however you are free to knock another person off their horse, etc. There are about 40,000 people in the plaza during this time and everyone is very crazy about their team! Siena is divided into Contradas, I suppose districts is the best term, and each district is very competitive. Each district has its own mascot and colors. For the tour we had to wear these bright orange shirts with blue writing on them, so I figured I should support the Unicorns, since their colors are orange, white and blue.

We entered the plaza very early, so it was not super crowded yet. However, upon entering the plaza there are no bathrooms so I was very paranoid and did not drink any water. I did get a gelato though. At about 5:00 they shut all entrances, and you are unable to leave the plaza until the end of that race...which can be very late, depending on what time they start. At 5 the parade begins!

People dress in mideival clothing; each contrada has a rider leading the horse, two flag bearers who do tricks, a drummer, a groom and another person carrying a more elaborate flag. Once the parade started these boys refused to let us go near the fence because they have some special paper allowing them to reserve the area. But then our guide, who is Italian, was like, "there is no such thing!!" So Hanna and I--well, more so I--pushed our way through. At first I think the boys were really not happy with us, but I think they got used to it and one of them was very nice and started talking to me in English and explained a lot about the Palio.

So apparently they spend the entire year preparing for this! And they were cheering for the Wolf Team, and they came at 9 am to reserve this fence area. Apparently as soon as the race ends they have to "jump onto the race track and escort the horse back to the stable". So I asked why they need to escort the horse, and my new friend answered that they had to "protect their horse from the enemy". So suddenly this Palio became a lot more complicated! Apparently each Contrada has a rival, and the rival of the Wolf Contrada is the Porcupine Contrada. So I was like, "do you boo at the Porcupines when they pass?" And they were like,"of course not, we are GENTLEMEN". Hahahaha, I think people are very funny. Anyhow, the Dragon Contrada was favored to win, and unfortunately the Wolf Contrada had the worst horse, according to my new friend. However, they were not hoping for to Wolf Contrada to win (since they did not think that was possible), they just wanted to beat the Porcupine Contrada. After the race people get into fist fights, and they said that they would very likely be punching some Porcupine people later.

Anyhow, the reason they need to escort their horse is because members of the rival contrada will try to attack and hurt the horse!! So apparently a lot of people will go and surround the horse to protect it.

Now the interesting thing is that the race starts whenever one horse...I forget what the term was, perhaps the contrador? Anyhow the other horses line up, and the race starts whenever the contrador starts running. It could take a minute, an hour, or even the entire day! Today it really took a lot time, and there were 3 false starts. Apparently if the horses start running and the start was not fair they fire a gun to signify that they must redo the start. I learned a lot of Italian curse words because this was the first time that there were so many false starts! People were getting very impatient. The contrador, by the way, was the Dragon Contrada.

Also, each time 10 horse run, 7 by right depending on how well they did in the last race, and the other 3 by lottery. This time however, only 9 ran because the Owl Contrada's horse got injured during the preliminaries. The Owl people looked very very sad during the parade.

Apparently the Wolf Contrada has not won the Palio since 1989! Being from Boston I can definitely sympathize so I was rooting for them. ALSO, it turned out my Unicorns were not even racing!!! SIGH, I should I bought a flag for a team that was actually in the race. Oh well. The Wolf team is orange and black, so I suppose that is kind of similar.

Once the race started, my new friend suggested sitting on the fence, which I did so I had a very nice view of the entire arena! Apparently that fence is one of the best spots. I have videos of 2 of the false starts, and of the final race. It is common for horses to fall down, and they line the corners of the track with mattresses to protect people since it is common for them to tip over while turning. If the rider falls off the horse it is actually okay because the horse could still win--if it crosses the finish line first, that contrada wins!

For the race the riders run 3 laps. In the end, the Turtle contrada won! I almost fell off the fence because so many people were jumping over it, some fights broke out and people really did attack horses!!! The winner gets carried out of the stadium and is given a banner and a baby bottle because winning the Palio is like a new birth. People were so happy that they were crying! Men were sobbing hysterically because they won. New friend was like, "you must think Italians are crazy", and I was like, "well, I am from Boston, where we celebrate victory by destroying our own city..." Although there are a lot of Italians in Boston, a connection??

We followed the celebration--only the winning team celebrates, everyone else goes back and mourns. People were parading and singing (only the winners of course). I was really hungry so we ate some cold pasta and then went back to our hostel. Overall a very interesting experience. Tomorrow...not sure what we are doing yet so we will see!

Pisa

As usual we got up quite late and headed out for a day trip to Pisa. This morning I had a nutella croissant which was very good, but I am beginning to think I should lay off the sweets...all the sugar and salt is making me retain a lot of water.

There is nothing in the town of Pisa aside from that square with the tower in it. Soooo, we took the hour and a half train ride, took a bunch of ridiculous photos with the tower (i.e. of us holding the tower up, blowing it over, etc.), then hopped on the train to come back home.

Later we decided to do our laundry, and apparently the washing machines here are set an much higher temperatures. We put the setting on color, but the water for that is 50 degrees celcius! So...a lot of our clothing got ruined. My BU sweatshirt completely lost its color and now all of my white things are blue...Hanna's stuff got really messed up as well. Oh well, I suppose it happens. I am thankful that I did not put my favorite polo or my dress in though!

That is it for today...not terribly exciting! Hopefully I will find a place where I can post more pictures!

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...