YOu know how it is when you dont call a friend for a really long time.. and then although you think of calling them, you dont just because there is so much to update them with and you are afraid they might call you out on your absence? Well... it partially explains why I havent blogged in a while. If you are actually following any of this, my "apologies".
So since I blogged we have been to Krakow where we visited Aschwitz I and II - the largest Nazi concentration camps. In Aschwitz II was where all Jews from all over Europe were sent to be exterminated. It is estimated that over 1 million jews were killed in Ascwitz II / Birkenau. It was a sobering experience. I reacted a lot "better"than I thought I was going to but it was still pretty shocking. It was horrible what a "scientific"approach they took to death. I dont really want to blog about any of this but I do think its something that everyone who can should do. We can never forget our past, even if it happened over 60 years ago.
Then we went to Berlin... beautiful, modern, reborn Berlin. We saw where the wall stood and learned a LOT - well, I did. I didnt know too much about the wall other than the basics from 11th grade History class but now I am much more informed.
We detoured then to Copenhagen in Danmark and that is a whole story of itself!
Pictures will come when it coincides that I have good internet, decent computer and facebook is up (seeing that its down right now). Lots of stories about Berlin, the train travels and Copenhagen... but I gotta get ready. We are going to Anne Frank's house and then off to the Red Light District here in Amsterdam.
Much love,
Pree
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
death rings the bell...
In Prague there is this famous clock.. it is all intricate, beautiful really... but it has a funny story. I guess the guy who had ordered it for the church loved it so much he blinded the clock maker so that he could never reproduce it. Its a beautiful clock... with a dark side to it! I guess its not that surprising.. every hour the "apostles"come out and almost wave hello at you, while a skeletonr ings a bell. Hence my corny title...
The weather was "great"..... it was really hot, but we had no rain which helps sightseeing a lot. We basically strolled around some new places and hung out at some nice spots we saw yesterday. I had reallyyy bad cramps for a big chunck of the day so it was hard to do much more than sight on park benches or lay on the grass. THis one place we went to visit today had really interesting history. It was the National Museum in Praha/Prague. We didnt go into the museum itself, but the museum is on this square that has for many years been a main gathering place for rallies, protests and demonstrations. We saw this memorial cross for these 2 students who put themselves on fire as a form of political protest ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Palach).
Other than that, Prague is gorgeous. Every corner you turn,you see another beautiful street wether it is lined with gorgeous trees, amazing buildings or cute little shops. I put some pictures on facebook but I couldnt put all and no matter what they will never do it justice.
ANywyas... we are headed to Krakow tomorrow and that will be a whole different story...
Pree
The weather was "great"..... it was really hot, but we had no rain which helps sightseeing a lot. We basically strolled around some new places and hung out at some nice spots we saw yesterday. I had reallyyy bad cramps for a big chunck of the day so it was hard to do much more than sight on park benches or lay on the grass. THis one place we went to visit today had really interesting history. It was the National Museum in Praha/Prague. We didnt go into the museum itself, but the museum is on this square that has for many years been a main gathering place for rallies, protests and demonstrations. We saw this memorial cross for these 2 students who put themselves on fire as a form of political protest ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Palach).
Other than that, Prague is gorgeous. Every corner you turn,you see another beautiful street wether it is lined with gorgeous trees, amazing buildings or cute little shops. I put some pictures on facebook but I couldnt put all and no matter what they will never do it justice.
ANywyas... we are headed to Krakow tomorrow and that will be a whole different story...
Pree
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Gutten Tag!
Instead of booking our hostels for Budapest and Praga, instead I decided to use my last 12 minutes and 26 seconds to give you a quick update on how the trip is going.
We arrived here in Wien (Vienna) this morning, the hostel we are staying in is A M A Z I N G! Even though I havent actually seen the room yet... we got there too early before check out so we just hit the town (yes, I havent showered in 2 days...i know, but i dont think i smell that bad yet). We went sightseeing some gorgeous churches including St. Peters tiny but austentious church. http://www.buergertum.com/images/Menzel_bilder/menzel.jpg
Then we visited a few more places and after delicious snitzel chicken in a place called WienerWald (wiener world? or Vienna world? you decide...j/k) we headed off to the Parliament and the city haul. Again... gorgeous. We took a one hour guided tour of the Parliament and it was great. So beautiful, the best part is that the place was built being modeled after the Parthenon and the Acropolis in Athens because democracy started tehre and the parliament is a symbol of democracy now. As I was saying... the cool thing is that as the tour guide made all her references I remembered everything... it was so perfectly fitting. And I thought it was really neat from the architects perspective.
(starting with typos as I speed along... 5mins and 22 seconds....)
Now we are waiting until 6.30pm so that we can go buy tickets for Macbeth the opera here in Vienna. Tickets are going to be 3 Euros if we wait until an hour before the show... so as good budget treavellers we decided to stick around, no shower, little food, and "student attire" to get this great deal at the opera.
I´ll take pictures of Lady Macbeth and the moving forest for you... will post them later.
Auf wirdazen (sp???),
Pree
Instead of booking our hostels for Budapest and Praga, instead I decided to use my last 12 minutes and 26 seconds to give you a quick update on how the trip is going.
We arrived here in Wien (Vienna) this morning, the hostel we are staying in is A M A Z I N G! Even though I havent actually seen the room yet... we got there too early before check out so we just hit the town (yes, I havent showered in 2 days...i know, but i dont think i smell that bad yet). We went sightseeing some gorgeous churches including St. Peters tiny but austentious church. http://www.buergertum.com/images/Menzel_bilder/menzel.jpg
Then we visited a few more places and after delicious snitzel chicken in a place called WienerWald (wiener world? or Vienna world? you decide...j/k) we headed off to the Parliament and the city haul. Again... gorgeous. We took a one hour guided tour of the Parliament and it was great. So beautiful, the best part is that the place was built being modeled after the Parthenon and the Acropolis in Athens because democracy started tehre and the parliament is a symbol of democracy now. As I was saying... the cool thing is that as the tour guide made all her references I remembered everything... it was so perfectly fitting. And I thought it was really neat from the architects perspective.
(starting with typos as I speed along... 5mins and 22 seconds....)
Now we are waiting until 6.30pm so that we can go buy tickets for Macbeth the opera here in Vienna. Tickets are going to be 3 Euros if we wait until an hour before the show... so as good budget treavellers we decided to stick around, no shower, little food, and "student attire" to get this great deal at the opera.
I´ll take pictures of Lady Macbeth and the moving forest for you... will post them later.
Auf wirdazen (sp???),
Pree
Monday, June 11, 2007
One last bacio
Ciao!
So much has happened since I last wrote... but those will be left for stories hopefully around groups of friends and maybe a bottle of wine, some Sciacchetrà (delicious wine from Cinque Terre).
Tomorrow is our last day in Italy - im kinda happy and kinda sad. For 3 days we snuck out of Italy and visited the lovely and beautiful Bavaria region of Germany. Munich was amazing! Clean streets, the nicest people you could EVER imagine, beautiful weather, amazingly good food. While here in Italy... well, its pretty opposite. We are always hungry, people smoke like its their job, im constantly afraid of being pickpocketed and showers suck! But this is just me being tired, dont get me wrong there are great things about Italy... the history that noone can beat, the unique cities with art in every corner and every street, the amazing views. But so is life, and tomorrow we have a train to catch. Nighttrain again... lets hope for no sketchy dudes this time.
The trip has been good, I cant believe it has been a month already. I was slightly home sick a few days ago but now things are better again. I think Roberto and my mom have been more homesick than me, but then again.. I have no home to go to. Kinda exciting for a backpacking traveller but Im sure Ill be ready for a nice bed and good sleep once July 13th rolls around...
Well, I gotta go... my time is up and my wallet skinnier again. Im dreading walking back to Venice's "Best B&B" to have the 2nd worst shower of my life. The worst one was yesterday but this time im trying to be mentally prepared...
Un bacio!
Pree
So much has happened since I last wrote... but those will be left for stories hopefully around groups of friends and maybe a bottle of wine, some Sciacchetrà (delicious wine from Cinque Terre).
Tomorrow is our last day in Italy - im kinda happy and kinda sad. For 3 days we snuck out of Italy and visited the lovely and beautiful Bavaria region of Germany. Munich was amazing! Clean streets, the nicest people you could EVER imagine, beautiful weather, amazingly good food. While here in Italy... well, its pretty opposite. We are always hungry, people smoke like its their job, im constantly afraid of being pickpocketed and showers suck! But this is just me being tired, dont get me wrong there are great things about Italy... the history that noone can beat, the unique cities with art in every corner and every street, the amazing views. But so is life, and tomorrow we have a train to catch. Nighttrain again... lets hope for no sketchy dudes this time.
The trip has been good, I cant believe it has been a month already. I was slightly home sick a few days ago but now things are better again. I think Roberto and my mom have been more homesick than me, but then again.. I have no home to go to. Kinda exciting for a backpacking traveller but Im sure Ill be ready for a nice bed and good sleep once July 13th rolls around...
Well, I gotta go... my time is up and my wallet skinnier again. Im dreading walking back to Venice's "Best B&B" to have the 2nd worst shower of my life. The worst one was yesterday but this time im trying to be mentally prepared...
Un bacio!
Pree
A "paparazzi" picture...
Although I am trying to upload the pictures onto facebook as frequently as possible, I did promise to put one up here. So here it goes...
This is the famous guy from Spider-Man. I forgot his name...
This is the famous guy from Spider-Man. I forgot his name...
Friday, June 1, 2007
When in Rome...
When in Rome.... shower like the greeks, fake being stupid, and cross the street like a maniac.
So the bed and breakfast that we are in is more like some dudes apartment where our "bedroom" is a living room with 2 beds but the place is clean, the bathroom smells nice and the entire area has no real tourists so its pretty good overall. However, the shower is just like in Greece super small! So I take greek showers everyday still.. turn on water, wet myself, turn off water, lather up, turn on water, rinse, turn off water repeat for hair and face. Also the whole b athroom gets wet but hey its fun.
Yesterday I went to the Vatican to see St. Peters Basilica and the Vatican Museum (including the Sistine Chapel). The lines were huge but way worth the trip. The key to get in quick is to just fake being stupid... walk around as if you are lost and when you see the entrance just slip in as if you didnt know you missed teh 2 hour line. The nuns did it, right in front of us! Dont they know that God is watching... seriously, using the nun "outfit" as a way of justifying cutting in line has to be a cardinal sin. Im no judge of anyone but hey, they are going down!!! lol, j/k.
The views were beautiful though, make sure to check out the pictures on facebook.
Last interesting thing... so crossing the street. Here is the "how-to" guide: 1. fight the urge to look both ways, it will just make you scared. 2. Put a firm step onto the road 3. Look at the drivers as they approach with a face that says "do you really want me to dent your car?" 4. Walk on.. they will stop. They have everytime. Just watch out because here in Rome the law says that scooters and bikes dont have to stop for redlights so just watch out and make sure they see you. Wearing bright colors could work but Ive stuck to the ugly stare and its worked for me.
OH!!! One more thing... today we had some breakfast and went to do groceries. We actually found a real grocery store! But the neat thing is that as we were in the check out line my mom pointed out a "famous person" who she didnt know the name. Turns out that by Piazza Dante on a small supermarket we saw our "green goblet". I tried not to make a big scene (though roberto got pissed i didnt scream to point him out) but I did sneak one picture... （damn it！ I left the camera upstairs。 Picture will come sometime in a few days。 Sorry！）
Anyways, I gotta go and see if I can find a place for us to stay in Florence, Cinque Terre and Milano. If you are actually reading this, I hope you are having a good time wherever you are! Im having a blast trying to find my way around this beautiful city =)
Ciao!
Pree
So the bed and breakfast that we are in is more like some dudes apartment where our "bedroom" is a living room with 2 beds but the place is clean, the bathroom smells nice and the entire area has no real tourists so its pretty good overall. However, the shower is just like in Greece super small! So I take greek showers everyday still.. turn on water, wet myself, turn off water, lather up, turn on water, rinse, turn off water repeat for hair and face. Also the whole b athroom gets wet but hey its fun.
Yesterday I went to the Vatican to see St. Peters Basilica and the Vatican Museum (including the Sistine Chapel). The lines were huge but way worth the trip. The key to get in quick is to just fake being stupid... walk around as if you are lost and when you see the entrance just slip in as if you didnt know you missed teh 2 hour line. The nuns did it, right in front of us! Dont they know that God is watching... seriously, using the nun "outfit" as a way of justifying cutting in line has to be a cardinal sin. Im no judge of anyone but hey, they are going down!!! lol, j/k.
The views were beautiful though, make sure to check out the pictures on facebook.
Last interesting thing... so crossing the street. Here is the "how-to" guide: 1. fight the urge to look both ways, it will just make you scared. 2. Put a firm step onto the road 3. Look at the drivers as they approach with a face that says "do you really want me to dent your car?" 4. Walk on.. they will stop. They have everytime. Just watch out because here in Rome the law says that scooters and bikes dont have to stop for redlights so just watch out and make sure they see you. Wearing bright colors could work but Ive stuck to the ugly stare and its worked for me.
OH!!! One more thing... today we had some breakfast and went to do groceries. We actually found a real grocery store! But the neat thing is that as we were in the check out line my mom pointed out a "famous person" who she didnt know the name. Turns out that by Piazza Dante on a small supermarket we saw our "green goblet". I tried not to make a big scene (though roberto got pissed i didnt scream to point him out) but I did sneak one picture... （damn it！ I left the camera upstairs。 Picture will come sometime in a few days。 Sorry！）
Anyways, I gotta go and see if I can find a place for us to stay in Florence, Cinque Terre and Milano. If you are actually reading this, I hope you are having a good time wherever you are! Im having a blast trying to find my way around this beautiful city =)
Ciao!
Pree
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