Mykonos, Kusidasi, & Patmos (Day 8 & 9)

Our first stop on the Greek Island Cruise was the Island of Mykonos. It took us 5 hours to get there so Phoebe and I had time to explore the boat - the shop, spa, restaurant, buffet (where we had lunch and it was so windy on the deck our food almost blew away - my butter packet actually did and is now floating in the mediterranean somewhere), the club, and the pool... which was little bigger than a toddler pool.


When the boat finally anchored at Mykonos, it was amazing!!! Mykonos is my favorite island of all!!! So beautiful



Every street we turned down looked like it belonged on a postcard!






One of the things Mykonos is known for aside from being breathtakingly beautiful is large pink Pelicans that are seriously the size of a Golden Retriever

Phoebe and I picked out our house and will be buying it soon... I think... you can all come visit :)
It was hard for us to head back to the boat... we loved this place SO MUCH!

But Phoebe and I had plans for the evening on the boat to enjoy the musical show "New York to Paris"... it was absolutely awful!!! the dancing, the singing, the song selection.... AWFUL!! But I laughed really hard, more at them than with them... but a good time all around!
Downside of the day... pretty sea sick after taking a shower... not a good sign.

Our next stop the following day was Kusadasi Turkey!! Phoebe and I bought a tour of Ancient Ephesus, one of the two tours we purchased. So excited to see Ephesus and walk in Paul's footsteps!!
Our call to be on deck was at 5am though - NOT OKAY!!
But Ephesus was SO WORTH IT!!


This was carved in the marble on the ground... it is the secret symbol of Christianity - the Ikthus. It is hard to describe without pointing, but within this symbol is all the letters of the Ikthus - IXΘYΣ

We also hit up the ancient public toilets... we didn't actually use them of course, but we discussed how many political decisions in Ephesus took place as the men sat around and went poo together... how sweet huh

More of Ephesus




The theater in Ephesus where Paul preached in Acts 19... known for it's incredible acoustics... it was a trip to imagine Paul standing in the center of that stage preaching the gospel... amazing!!


Playing in the stands...


Other famous people who came to Ephesus happen to be none other than Anthony and Cleopatra who traveled here on their honeymoon... this is Phoebe and I reenacting what they must have looked like walking the streets of the city... you can decide who is who... cause we actually never decided

Goodbye Ephesus

After Ephesus our tour continued in the city of Kusadasi where we learned how Persian rugs are made... with silk!! These rugs were phenomenally beautiful! The manager of the factory laid out rug after rug and even encouraged us to take off our shoes and test them out to see which one felt the best to us

They even gave us traditional turkish apple tea to sip while we tested

Then Phoebe and I took picture like we were Aladdin on a magic carpet... cause we're nerds


Did you know a Turkish woman use to be require to complete 5 rugs before she was married as gifts for her mother in law as well as a test for the woman to learn patience with Turkish men... a rug can take up to 3 years to make because they are ALL hand made! No machines!

We wandered through the market for a little while before we had to head back to the boat. Next stop - Patmos!!
The Island of Patmos is most famously known as the Island where John the Apostle was exiled and where he was inspired by God to write the book of Revelations! There is the monastery dedicated to him and you can also go into the cave and see his writing desk and the crack in the stone created by the voice of God. The crazy thing is that I didn't know ANY of this about the island until that morning before we disembarked and got a guide to the island! The Monastery and Grotto are quite a hike up hill, so Phoebe and I split a cab with 2 other girls from our boat... both names Katie.

Entrance to the Sacred Grotto

no pictures were allowed in the Grotto, so here is a photo from the net

It was pretty amazing to be in there and know it was within those walls that John saw the end of days... amazing!
After the Grotto it was on to St John's Monastery. It is still an active monastery and most of the work done by the monks is to keep the frescos in good shape - no lie


In this church for over 9 centuries a service would be held EVERY DAY without fail from 3pm until 6am! That is devotion!

So that was pretty much all there was to see of Patmos... so we hopped back on the boat and took some time to sun bathe before dinner. We decided to try dinner in the restaurant - all 4 courses!! Appetizer, entre, dessert, and cheese platter to finish... my favorite?? the fruit and cheese platter!! I am also in love with Greek Salad!

We were even serenaded by the servers... La Bamba... nice!

A conga line began and although Phoebe and I were too wedged in the corner of our table to take part, we danced in our seats and twirled our napkins in the air in true Greek fashion... and no plates were broken - disappointing.

From Naples to Athens and Athens to Greek Cruise (Day 7 & 8)

Our journey from Naples to Greece was QUITE A TRIP!!!

We began our adventure at the Naples airport, which we got to with time to spare and a little nervous about catching our connection in Milan WITH our bags (since we had to check them again). I had this horrible fear that we would not get our bags and would have to get on our cruise ship without ANYTHING!
When we checked in the belt behind the check in counter was broken so we were told to just put our bags in the corner on the room... suspect, but other people were doing it, so I trusted God with my life and my bag.
I do have to share with you that Phoebe and myself have this thing that we do one EVERY escalator we are on... if you have ever seen the movie Dumb and Dumber you will remember the part where Jim Carry pretends to be running while sitting in the car with the scenery whizzing by outside his window... he looks over at his friend and yells, "I'm running at an incredible rate of speed, Harry!" So Phoebe and I do that to each other on escalators... it's lame, I know and you sort of have to be there... and be either Phoebe or myself to think it's funny... but we also have pictures


We get to our gate and I'm ready to board my plane... unfortunately a couple hours go by and it is 10 minutes till our plane is supposed to TAKE OFF and NO ONE had arrived at the gate to begin the boarding process!!! Nervous face

Finally someone comes to the waiting area and notifies us that our plane hasn't even left Milan to get to our airport. WHAT!!!???? So our plane is basically delayed 3 hours!!! Phoebe and I realize there isn't a chance in Hades we will get our connecting flight, so we run to check in to see if they can book us on another flight from Milan to Naples!! They politely tell us they can do nothing for us in Naples and we'll have to wait till we land in Milan to see if there is any other flight to Athens that day. WHAT!!!??? We needed to be in Athens THAT DAY in order to get on our cruise at 8am and they are telling us there may not be a flight till the next day from Milan to Athens... heart attack!
Phoebe and I can do nothing, so we go back and wait for our plane.
When we get to Milan Phoebe and I become Olympic runners and have to run around to 3 different desks and wait in 2 different lines before someone is FINALLY able to tell us what we need to do. A wonderfully, kind, overworked man gets us on a flight to Athens by 7:30pm which will arrive in Athens at 11pm Athens time... fine with us. BUT one of us has to go down and reclaim our luggage and check it back in while the other one of us has to wait for our tickets to be approved... DIVIDE AND CONQUER! Phoebe and I are amazing!!!
(side note: while I am waiting in one of the lines a lady who looked fine one minute suddenly goes into a fit of hysterics about how her pills are in Athens and if she can't get to them by tonight she'll pretty much die... but once they get her a new ticket, she is right as rain again - ugh! Then another gal who was behind us begins to inch in front of us as the line moves forwards... she also proceeds to groan randomly in a rather dramatic way to let us all know she is in a hurry... she then asks the lady in front of us if she can cut in first cause she needs to get on a plane... YEAH LADY WE ALL DO!!! and she was supposed to be behind us anyway, so I step forward and in my most intimidating voice say, "excuse me, we were ahead of you, so if you could please move back." "oh sorry, yes you were in front" she replies. DANG RIGHT I WAS! Tensions were very high.)
So Phoebe and I finally got past security and were safely at the gate to our new flight... a better airline too... sweet vindication!! And who should greet us at our gate?? but lego Hagrid
a sign from God that all was well from here on out...
We were on our way to Athens... the country I had been SO EXCITED about since Phoebe and I began this trip!!! On our flight we were served a great Greek airline meal by a flight attendant who Phoebe swore was gorgeous enough to be a Greek God himself.

(sorry no pictures of the greek god... I thought that would be weird)
When we arrived in Athens, we grabbed a cab to our hotel which was right by the port and walking distance from where we would board our ship. It was quite a long and expensive drive from the airport... but worth it since it was almost midnight. The Cab driver was nice enough except for the smoking and the condom conspicuously seen in his cup holder... I'm sorry is that often needed in the cab?? Scary Larry!

Phoebe and I awoke the next morning SO EXCITED about the cruise!!! We raced down to Port PIraeus ready to start the best time ever!!! After the stress of the day before, I was so thankful that we even had made it... seriously Phoebe and I were prepared for the worse and were discussing what we would do if we didn't make the boat... we decided we would have gone to Rome for 4 days instead... it would have been cool, but not AS COOL as a Greek Island Cruise
Sweet relief!!

playing with our life jackets in our cabin... which was the cheapest room on the ship - the VERY bottom of the boat with no window and 1 full size bed... Phoebe and I were gonna get really close!

"I never thought I'd be on a boat... it's a big blue watery road" - T-Pain

At the safety drill in the dining hall... Phoebe and I weren't paying attention




After we set sail we immediately went for a nice layout on the deck to catch some Vitamin D


This is shaping up to be the best part of Europe EVER!!

Naples & Pompeii (Day 5 & 6)

So as I said in the previous post, Phoebe and I traveled around Europe this time mostly by plane... but between Florence and Naples Italy, it was most wise to take a train for the 3 hour trip. It was my last time on a train in Europe... so sad... so weird with the couple across from Phoebe and I making out... gross.

Naples was a destination on this trip solely because it was the closest hostel we could find to Pompeii... we really didn't know what to expect in Naples. Luckily a girl in our hostel in Florence warned us a little about how it was dirty and would be wise to not carry around purses in order to avoid being mugged... scary. I was not looking forward to Naples already...
So luckily I was prepared for the seediness though... and seedy it was!!!

This is the view from our hostel... apparently when the market is set up in the earlier part of the day, the people who work the booths don't bother cleaning up after themselves and leave it to the street cleaner to do at night... so the only time the street is free of little is when everyone is asleep!
It is also incredibly dangerous to cross the street cause it would seem that no one abides by streetlights or anything, so its kind of like frogger coupled with just running for your life!
As soon as Phoebe and I got to our hostel we got a full run down of street safety from the hostel manager... a nice man who was very clear about us NOT taking our purses out in public and instead hiding money in different pockets, socks or shoes... he also gave us a great suggestion for dinner at a pizza place... can I tell you I could NOT get my fill of pizza... italian is my favorite... I was in heaven! The restaurant was called "Da Michele" and they serve coke in glass bottles!
As soon as we were done with dinner we strolled around the streets checking out stores and street vendors... Phoebe and I linked arms the entire time out of fear. I bought a shirt, but was surprised to notice while I was looking around a lady stood about 3 feet away from me watching my every move... when I asked if I could try on the shirt in the fitting room, that I was standing next to, she curtly said, "no." fair enough... She was making me angry because she was rudely invading my personal space!! but I bought the shirt anyways... mostly out of spite... and when Phoebe and I walked out of the store she did as well... HAHAHA... did she work there or not???
After more shopping we hurried back to our hostel and decided to stay inside for the remainder of the night...

Luckily me had a TV in our room and Rumor Has It with Jennifer Aniston was on... in Italian... I had never seen it before, but I still understood what was happening and I still didn't like the movie.
Phoebe and I also met the only other English speaker in the entire Hostel, a guy named Geoff from Florida... he was really nice and offered to go with us to Pompeii the next day so we felt safe walking through Naples... YAY travel companion.

Phoebe and I were in a room for 6 people all by ourselves, but at 1am a girl came in and took one of the other beds... she seemed nice enough and warned us that she would be getting up at 4am so she could head to the airport... fine with us. Except that when he alarm went off at 4am she proceeded to sit on the end of her bed while her alarm JUST KEPT RINGING!!! COME ON!!! It took everything in me not to launch myself across the room and take her down. Instead I sat up and stared her down until she turned in off.
When Phoebe and I got up... at a normal time... we met up with Geoff and headed to the tram that took us to Pompeii!
YAY POMPEII!!

So for those of you who don't know what Pompeii is, I'll explain. In the year 75 AD Pompeii was hit by a very devastating earthquake which left a lot of the city in need of rebuilding... but Pompeii recovered and I'm sure though, "what could happen that is worse than an earth quake?" Good question Pompeii... well 4 years later in 79AD Mount Vesuvius exploded covering the entire city in Volcanic ash that destroyed the entire city and killed every last inhabitant. When serious excavation began in the last century archeologists discovered that the bodies entombed in the volcanic ash had decomposed, but had left perfect pockets in the shape of people... they began to fill every pocket they came across with plaster and what they got were perfect statues of the people in Pompeii in whatever pose they were in the instant they died... facial expressions and everything... even the teeth and skeletons are perfectly in tact. The city too was amazingly preserved in the ash and so what we were able to visit was astounding - frescos, mosaics, even bread in the bakery ovens were preserved astoundingly... enjoy some pics

Phoebe, Geoff, and myself did not wish to spend money on an audio guide, so instead I was in charge of the map and notified Geoff where we were and he in turn read allowed from the pocket guide... it was great and handy and affordable.


taking a bath in what appeared to me to be a bathtub






Garden of the Fugitives - these casts were made from the people found at the edge of the city... it appears they were running away from the cloud of ash following them... you can even see the body of a child shielding his/her face from the blast

If you enlarge this next picture you can see Mount Vesuvius in the clouds in the distance

the Pompeii Arena, Phoebe and I engaged in a duel

A vineyard in Pompeii

I decided to eat one of the unripe grapes


the bakery where they found bread still in the over baking

one of the better preserved casts... haunting


Pompeii was absolutely HUGE!! Which I just didn't expect... it was also SO HOT and left little shade... I seriously felt like I was covered in volcanic ash it was so hot... oh wait...
One of the few building was had a completed roof was the brothel... on the walls in the brothel were frescos that worked kind of as a menu... if you get my drift...
One we finished our 4 hour jaunt through Pompeii we hit up the local vendors for some fresh squeezed Orange Juice and Lemonade and sandwiches... SUCH a delicious lunch... the best I'd had in a while!
Then we headed back to Naples. We had most of the day left so we decided to go visit one of Naples' castles - Castle Nuovo

The castle was horribly lame and boring but the view was fantastic

The staircase up to the view looked like it led us to heaven... a very spiritual moment

The inside of the Castle was also air conditioned... so Phoebe and I took advantage of the cold air vents


Also inside there was a room with glass floors which exposed skeletons in the foundations

The other thing the castle had going for it was a gelato shop across the street which serves Ricotta and Pear Gelato - the most delicious Gelato EVER!!!!!

Overall Naples was... interesting... Pompeii was Spectacular!! Naples was just okay - like a cross between the seedy parts of LA and Tiajuana... so I wouldn't go back.

Florence (Day 3 & 4)

Because our destinations were so far apart it was not plausible for us to take trains like the last trip, so we flew everywhere pretty much. Luckily the best deals for travel were in the middle of the day, so we had leisurely mornings on our travel days... this day began with waking up at 8:45am... blissful!!
We arrived at the airport early and at checkin they told us we could carry-on our bags! YAY! The conversation actually went like this...
Check in Man: Do you have any luggage to check in?
Phoebe & I: well we have these carry on bags, do they need to be checked?
Check in Man: Yes, they are too big
Phoebe & I: well we have carried them on to other flights like British Airways
Check in Man: Fair enough, they're fine.
He was rather apathetic about the whole thing really, but we loved him for it.
Our plane ended up being slightly delayed, but we weren't too worried. When we finally did get on the plane Phoebe and I distracted ourselves from the turbulence and the smelly man next to us with watching Star Trek on my iPod (yes I know it's still in theaters). We love that movie SO MUCH!
Upon arriving at the airport we had a moment of panic when I realized my passport had fallen out of my purse on the plane, but it was quickly retrieved and we set off with little stress after that. The kind old Italian guard who found it and gave it to me was such a flirt... he leaned in for me to give him a kiss on the cheek when he gave it to me, but I pretended not to notice and walked on with a thank you... just a preview of the Italian men to come. Also at the airport Phoebe and I got our passports stamped... they weren't going to, but we asked for one and they at first looked at us like we were a little nuts, but then conceded.
YAY, we're in Florence - on Italian soil! Italy was my second country after the United Kingdom that I wanted to go to.





We walked to our hostel, which was a converted Monastery, put our stuff down and then set off for Il Duomo. We were behind schedule with our flight delay by a couple hours, so we missed the Cathedral, but the Bell Tower was still open for us to climb up and see the view! (seen in the right of the below picture)


The stairs were SO STEEP and there were SO MANY!!! It was quite a climb

But the view was fantastic from ever level

When we got to the top it was definitely a reward to see the BEAUTIFUL dome and all of Florence!


We were famished after our strenuous climb so we rewarded ourselves with authentic Italian pizza for dinner and waffles with chocolate sauce for dessert!! YUM!!!

We did some shopping in the markets that were still open (everything is SO EXPENSIVE!) as we made our way to Piazza Signorio which once was the sight where The David was held... but now there is only a fake David, as the real David is in the Academia

We also went to the Piazza Piti where we saw these... strange

This is on the Ponte Vecchio, which is a bridge that has countless jewelry store on it as well as street performers...

We also stumbled upon Dante's house (as in Dante's Inferno author).
We made it back to our hostel before dark (cause the neighborhood was scary to be out after dark in. We met our roommates, one of them was a girl from Sydney, Australia. Phoebe was getting tired of all the Americans in our rooms. Phoebe and I also were getting tired of explaining how we knew each other. It became like a script for us when we introduced ourselves - "I'm from American, I'm from Australia. No we didn't meet traveling, we've been studying together in London for the last 6 months... in a little town 40 minutes outside of London... I study History, I study Drama... " End scene.

Our second day in Florence started with a bit of a let down. I had planned our day to a "T" and was already needing to add things in from us being behind schedule the day before, but upon arriving at Santa Croche church and being the first in line I was notified I was not allowed in the church because of my shorts... AH! I had remembered the whole no shoulders showing thing, but didn't pay attention to legs being shown. You see how legalism is thwarting my plans... ugh! So we had to walk the 20 minutes back to the hostel to change because I wasn't chancing being denied into any other churches...
We decided after changing to head straight to Il Duomo and return to Santa Croche if we found we had time. We only wanted a peek inside Il Duomo, but didn't feel the need to climb up to dome since we had already seen a view of Florence the day before...
Sad to say though, the inside of Il Duomo... nothing to write home about...

We couldn't even get directly below the dome to see the painting on the inside... so this was the best I could see

So that was much faster than we planned... we took some pics outside Il Duomo... and I was even able to grab a piece of the building for a friend from a refurbishment sight on the south side.

After Il Duomo we went to the Bargello which is a museum
These are some lion statues...

The Bargello is famous for holding the statue "David with a Hat"... okay so that is not the real name, but it does have a hat. It is in fact Donatello's David and was the first nude statue in the Italian Renaissance... the first nude statue since Greek Antiquity in fact... he kind of looks girlie huh? He's standing on Goliath's head... and look at that hat! What a hat!!

Donatello was Michaelangelo's mentor and we'll see later how the student far surpassed the talents of his master... but I'm getting ahead of myself.
The Bargello was not all that and quite frankly charged way too much to get in, so we left pretty quickly... but we did pass by a set of barnyard animal statues on our way out... yeah... cool.

So with our discovery that both the Bargello and Il Duomo were not worth spending too much time in, we found we had MORE than enough time to go back to Santa Croche before our date with the Uffizi
Santa Croche


Santa Croche is the burial place of Michaelangelo and Dante!! We wandered around until we found their tombs and along the way we found a plaque in memory of Leonardo Da Vinci... not buried there mind you, but remembered in the church

Here's Michaelangelo's grave

And Dante's grave

As you can see in the above photo I have my shoulders respectfully covered. But as Phoebe and I wandered around the church we discovered that MOST of it was under construction... even the high alter was hidden behind scaffolding... we were not happy. So to show our appreciation to Saint Crotch (not what Santa Croche really means, but fair enough) we took these pictures


Santa Croche did redeem itself with have a leather school attached to it where Phoebe and I bought AWESOME leather wallets and change purses! Then as we left we came upon this gorgeous courtyard

We had ample time to spare as we walked to the Uffizi, so we looked through the markets along the way. One young gentleman working there tried to talk me into buy something and when I declined and walked away he called after me, "you dropped something..." when I turned around to look he continued, "you dropped my heart." Oh I wanted to run up to him and give him a hug he was so precious and completely made my day... it was the cheesiest thing I had ever heard in my life, I literally almost gagged... but I love him for it.
We made it to the Uffizi for our alloted time. It is wise to buy a ticket online with an appointed time on it because there is a 2 hour wait to get in otherwise. We got to jump the queue and just walk right it. No photos allowed inside... but here is the famous painting I saw...

The Uffizi was surprisingly small, but had some beautiful stuff in it.
We got done with the Uffizi just in time for lunch, which we had by Il Duomo and then set off for most city exploring before our date at the Academia.
Then the Academia!!! Here he is!!!

Okay so we weren't supposed to take pictures, but no one was stopping anyone, so we just kept going

He seriously is amazing... a perfect sculpture! Michaelangelo sculpted him knowing that he would be set up high, so he looks perfectly proportional only from that angle... if he is viewed straight on he wouldn't look right. There is a plaque by The David which reads something like - there is no need to see any other statue, because this one if pure perfection - and I agree.
The Academia doesn't offer much else besides The David, but it was the first art School ever and is still a working art school... so there's that for coolness.
To finish our time in Florence on a good note we had delicious biscotti and tiramisu gelato


Now here's the awful truth about Florence -
- No one is particularly kind to you... they often treat you like you're stupid
- you are ALWAYS in someone's way... even if you are no where near them they will go out of their way to run into you and blame you for it
- Italians are rude
- Florence is not that pretty aside from the pretty building which I took pictures of
- I was kind of disappointed

Madrid (Day 1 & 2)

So we are off... Europe called us once more like a siren to her shores, and who are Phoebe and I to deny the call of Siren Europe...
This was the leg of Europe I had been looking to the most... Spain, Italy, Greece, and Turkey!! Mostly my excitement lie in the warm weather... after months of weather in the 30 - 60 degree range, I was anxious to feel the heat of the sun in 80 degree weather. But I also was looking forward to the art, culture, and beauty of the mediterranean countries.

Our first stop was in Madrid Spain -
Our journey began very early in the morning yet again. All my big bags had been taken to a friends house for safe keeping, so my 5am wake up was followed by throwing the last of my junk away to leave my room empty... It was sad locking up my room for the last time leaving it with no trace of my life there for the last 6 months.
Phoebe and I then boarded a train to Gatwick airport
upon airport arrival we discovered we had to check our bags... ugh!! They call them carry on bags for a reason and yet... no.
With our unexpected delay at checkin, Phoebe and I just barely made it to the gate before they closed it off.
EasyJet has no been affectionately referred to as SleasyJet, because it is not an easy way to travel at all... it was inexpensive and we definitely got what we paid for. Phoebe is not a fan or flying and the bumpiness wasn't helping... but my rendition of My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music did. We also passed the time by watching the first half of Twilight on my iPod (this is about as much as Phoebe and I can handle of the movie before we start yelling at the movie because of how lame it is and how bad an actress Kristen Stewart is... but yes, we keep watching it over and over again).
As we started flying over Spain, we were served lunch... I decided to order a chorizo in order to get me into the Spanish mood... it was actually pretty good for plane food!
We made it!!

We hopped on the classy and clean metro to our hostel and immediately noticed that people were starring at us... strange... but it soon dawned on us that it was because we finally no longer fit in and were too pale for the sun filled city of Madrid.
We made it to La Puerta del Sol ("door of the sun" a public square) which is where we found our hostel!

After dumping our stuff in our room.... which had its own clean bathroom (YAY!) we headed out to explore...
Plaza Mayor... look at the paintings on the beautiful... so colorful and pretty

Phoebe was keen to have some authentic Spanish cuisine and so we found a cafe and ordered Churros con Chocolat - these are not your disneyland churros, which I am not a fan of anyways... but these were delicious!! And the chocolate was dark and warm and too much to finish off with just churro dipping, so Phoebe and I drank it - YUM!!! Spanish chocolate is amazing!



Half way through our dining experience though the skies opened and it started POURING rain!! Phoebe and I waited out the rain and then continued our exploring in the chilly wet air... luckily it wasn't miserably cold and this was forecast to be our coldest day by 15 degrees.
We saw the famous Madrid Opera House

Shopped in the clothing stores... we still don't know what this mannequin was pointing to... but immediately after taking this picture we got yelled at

These are what all the street signs in Madrid look like - they are mounted on the sides of buildings - I love the little things about each city

For dinner Phoebe and I popped into Cafe & Te for a meal of Paella... seriously my new favorite food!!!! SO GOOD! It consists of rice, peas, sweet pepper (misspelled on the menu as "peepers"), mussels, shrimp, calamari, and the most amazing spices!! Phoebe and i shared one because it is so big and filling

We also ordered delicious smoothies because we had been craving good smoothies since January and had thus far been disappointed... these were DELICIOUS!
Our day finished after that... we went back to the hostel - finished Twilight through fits of laughter and yelling at Bella for being clumsy to the point of having a mental handicap.

I awoke the next morning to my first feeling of not knowing where I was. As soon as we were fully awake and ready to go Phoebe and I set off to visit the Palacio Real (Royal Palace). To our dismay it opened at 11am instead of 9... so we were incredibly early. No matter - we strolled around the streets nearby and took pictures


Madrid was fast becoming a favorite city of mine... it is so pretty and the people are friendly. I realized that my 4 years of Spanish did not prove useless and I was able to understand a lot of stuff... which was good, cause Phoebe didn't know any spanish. The sad thing was I can't speak as well as I can understand, so while people would speak to me in Spanish, I responded in English... even though I understood... but they were still nice and helpful.
This is the Cathedral across from the Palace

We finally got into the Palace Courtyard... it was SO pretty. In our opinion it rivals Versailles for beauty... Phoebe said she like it better cause it was less touristy... undoubtedly the Spanish know what's classy

We bought audio guides (but had to wait forever for someone to help us... and my battery died half way through the tour anyways...) We also were not allowed to take pictures inside the palace, but I cause these discretely... The funny thing is that in a couple parts of the palace I was simply touching my camera and NOT taking a picture and that is when I got yelled at. Sorry Spain
I love ceilings

The front entry

This picture is blurry, but the throne room was beyond breathtaking...

view of Madrid from the Palace courtyard

Some things about the palace:
- It is FILLED with clocks... all shapes and sizes
- It pays tribute to Queen Mary Tudor who was also Queen of Spain through marriage... but never stepped foot on Spanish soil. So the Tudors are EVERYWHERE!
- when Phoebe and I were walking out there was a closed door out to another courtyard and I wanted to look through the window to see it... as I walked towards the door a lady guard started yelling at me to stop, I turned and asked if I could look out the window to which she simply replied "no" and continued to give me the evil eye... it was so odd and made Phoebe and I laugh
After the Palace Phoebe and I returned to Cafe & Te (mostly because there is one on every street) for sandwiches for lunch. In Spain they bring the bill to your table with your food... AWESOME! I have grown to hate asking for the bill all the time because they don't bring it to you in Europe and England unless you ask.
Phoebe and my next stop was the Museo del Prado to check out some Spanish art
some more pics of Madrid along the way


Museo del Prado

They didn't allow pictures inside either, and I am having trouble uploading the pics from the internet, but here are some links
The Sleeping Beauty
The Parisol
Saturn... this one scared Phoebe and I immensely... but then that old man became so endeared to us
There was also tons of Rubens, Goya, El Graco, Bosch, and Botticeli... Such pretty things.
Phoebe and I enjoyed making background stories or captions to each pictures... I'm sure our laughter was disruptive
After finding our way to every room in the Prado (the map was incredibly confusing) we left and headed to Praque del Buen Retiro... a park.
It was so pretty and the weather was warm, so I was so excited to stroll around for a while

(the below picture is partially corrupt)

The weather was so lovely that Phoebe and I decided to get some popcicles... I was so excited for my pirulo popcicle and as I went to put my mouth on it I discovered it was SO FROZEN that my lips immediately froze to it! Well in my shock I immediately ripped it away and with it went a chunk of my lip... SADNESS!

This is the statue which is the symbol of Madrid

Now that sight seeing for the most part was done Phoebe and I set about shopping for souvenirs!!! Madrid is SO affordable... another point to Spain!
For dinner Phoebe and I thought that you can't get enough of a good thing, so we returned to Cafe & Te for more Paella - YUM! This time we coupled our meal with an order of Mojitos... SO STRONG! We caught pictures of each other's faces after every sip we tooks... priceless


We thought about seeing a Flamanco dancing show, but then rethought that when we saw how much to would cost, so instead we got Gelato (nutella and strawberry) and shopped around some more


Madrid was awesome and I would definitely love to go back... but Spain in general was just so great!! I REALLY would love to go down to southern Spain and check out all the Moorish architecture and everything... highly reccommended city and country!

Goodbye Founders...

Before Phoebe and I could embark upon our adventure Part II around Europe, we first had to bid farewell to our home for the last 6 months...

Now Founder Hall and I have had a love-hate relationship, but as I spent the last evening roaming the halls, walking through the quad, and strolling through the near by garden area, I realized that no matter how frustrated I became by it's short-comings, I still loved every minute inside that place.
I started my evening with my last meal in the dining hall. Phoebe had gone to her Improv group that evening, so I ate alone, but I didn't mind. They serendipitously had my favorite English meal on the menu - Roast Lamb with mint sauce!! Sadly the vegetable was peas - yuck. But I splurged on a full meal with chocolate cake for desert and everything!
After I finished eating my camera and I set about capturing the good and the bad on my castle dwellings...
The stairs I walked up almost everyday to get to my floor (the 3rd floor)... they have an elevator too, but only one.

My hall way... kind of looks like The Shining... doesn't it?

My door... #350

the toilet where you have to pull a chain above your head to flush the toilet... how old school

the tubs... they had over 20 tubs on the floor... but only 2 showers for almost 80 girls to share...

... and the shower. Having almost 80 girls take showers in a day, you can see the hair build up... it you enlarge the picture, prepare to gag... I did- every time I took a shower.

This was the quad I looked out on to from my window every day. I will miss waking up and pulling back the curtains to let the sun in and to take in the gorgeous view... I actually lived here... I still can't believe it.


Walking down to the garden/pond area by Founders... there are stairs everywhere and I walked up and down then several times a day every day... I'm in shape :)

This leads us to my favorite place at Royal Holloway... you may remember it from Phoebe's and my photo shoot...


On to the rest of campus... the history building where I spent much of my class time

Cool Dr. Suess-eque flowers by the Windsor Conference Building

The College Shop... where you can find sandwiches, gossip magazines with all the latest British Celeb gossip, grocery essentials, RoHo souvenirs, school supplies, and ben & jerry's ice cream :)

Where I would get my mail

... and some bunnies


Founder's you were a Castle - both the bad and wonderful aspects of a Castle. You hold so many memories - Phoebe and I falling on my mattress in the middle of the hallway, me screaming at the girls in my hall at 3:30am to be quiet, you surprising me with ice cold hair filled showers, the summer ball, yummy dining hall dinner, disgusting dining hall dinners, sitting in the sunshine filled quad while studying, waking up to snow, waking up to snow with Bronchitis, Feng Shui girl who lived above me who I swear to this day must have been rearranging her furniture EVERY NIGHT, people stealing my food out of the fridge, yoga in the middle on my room, Phoebe living just 5 doors away, watching movies in my or Phoebe's room weekly, slow internet, waking up to thick thick fog outside my window, the clock tower chiming every hour on the hour, disgusting litter in the bathroom, the beautiful chapel, watching boys play soccer from the window, getting asked out by the "young electrician", hearing Lady Gaga play from at least 3 girls rooms at any given moment, cuddling with my radiator in the dead of winter, Phoebe and I screaming with laughter while sitting and talking in our rooms, skyping my parents, skyping my parents with bronchitis, singing to Emolyn on my computer, facebook chatting, thanking God for every moment I got to say I lived in a Castle in England... just 40 minutes outside of London.

Book ends...

I remember 6 months ago sitting in Sky Harbor airport awaiting this adventure… I was so nervous and full of anxiousness for the unknown that would await me in England… 6 months later I am sitting here looking back on what can only be described as the journey of a lifetime. I have lives 200 people’s lives in this last 6 months. I cannot begin to wrap my head around why the God of the Universe would deem to love me SO MUCH and bless me beyond my wildest imagination!! What a gift, what a fabulous, amazing, breathtaking, extraordinary gift. What a loving, beautiful, perfect, majestic, and perfect God I serve, who would love me so perfectly. I am humbled, honored, and elated to have been given an opportunity to experience His love for me SO fully!!
So what do I do now as I begin my journey home? I am not saying I am finishing an adventure, but I want to see my return home as the beginning of a NEW adventure – embarking upon a new chapter in my life. I have no idea what God has in store for me upon my return. In fact I feel very much like I have reached the climax of a story and find only blank pages from here till the end… but I am more than happy to rest in the fact that Gods plan is ALWAYS more fulfilling than my own… ALWAYS perfect and beyond expectation. But one thing I can say for the remainder of my life – I have seen too much to settle for anything less than the abundant life God has for me… I have seen how He goes beyond my ambitions and dreams and blesses me with SO MUCH MORE, so how could I do anything less than surrender all ambition, hopes, plans, and dreams into His capable and loving hands.

I said goodbye to Phoebe… this is in fact NOT goodbye, because I’ll see her on skype at the end of the week, but I realize I have spent almost EVERYDAY with her since my second day here!! Aside from the 2 weeks when my parents were here and I went to Germany, Phoebe and I have seen each other EVERYDAY! What can I say about this girl… she has become my very BEST FRIEND!!! She is spectacular!!! When I return home and try to convey to you all the amazing fun time I have had over here, no one will really be able to understand except for God and her! She has been such an amazing blessing to my life – not just London, but my whole life!!! I thank God so often for bringing her along and, again, answering my prayers for a friend with someone I could never have dreamed up! She and I keep reminding each other that this time at home is only a pit stop to please the family with our presence and build up our bank accounts for our next adventure!! Which I think is going to be southern Spain, or we may do Greece again cause we LOVED it SO MUCH!

**Phoebe – I know I told you this already, but England would have been nothing without you! You have changed my life and I think the world of you!!!! I miss you and can’t wait to see you on skype by the end of the week!!!

Alright – I have to go… I’ll be on Phoenix soil in 18 hours!!

(Posts about Europe #2 will be up soon… Greece was my favorite place EVER!!!)

Before I leave tomorrow...

So my big bags are safely in Ashford with a kind woman from Carla's church named joyce who I will be staying with when I return to england for one night. My computer is safely at Phoebe's friend Tamsin's house - I will retrieve it from Phoebe when she meets me at the airport before I depart to Phoenix... and so now I am sitting in the computer lab printing off all mine and Phoebe's confirmations for hotels and flights around Europe... it is my last night here! My last night at Royal Holloway!! I am planning on a dinner at founders of Lamb with mint Sauce (very english) then I'll probably take a stroll around the grounds and say a proper farewell.

While I am away in Europe these next 2 weeks be sure to check out my facebook page, those who are friends with me and I'll be letting you know where I am at...
But for those of you who do not have facebook, here is the rough itinerary for the next 13 days!!!

Miranda and Phoebe’s Europe Trip – Part 2!


8th June
Flight from London to Madrid:
LEAVE - 9:40am
Attractions:
Museo del Prado
Plaza del Sol


9th JuneAttractions:
Palacio Real
El Rastro
Pl. Mayor
Parque del Retiro
Plaza de Toros de las Ventas


10th June
Flight from Madrid to Florence
Attractions:
Il Duomo
Bell Tower
Ponte Vecchio


11th June
Attractions:
Palazzo Vecchio
Piazza della Signoria
Santa Croce
Galleria Delgi Uffizi
Galleria Dell’ Academia


12th June
Train from Florence to Pompei
Train from Florence to Naples
Train from Naples to Pompeii
Attractions:
Pompeii

13th June
Attractions:
Palazzo Reale
Spaccanapoli
Castel Nuovo
Duomo


14th June
Flight from Naples – Milan – Athens

15th – 19th June
Attractions:
GREEK CRUISE!

19th June
Return from Cruise
Attractions:
Acropolis
Parthenon
Tower of the Winds
Ancient Agora
Keramikos
Temple of Olympian Zeus

20th June
Attractions:
Finish up from yesterday and shop

21st June
Flight from Athens to London
ARRIVE - 2:50pm


That’s all folks! Thanks for playing!

The Summer Ball!!

Phoebe and mine's reason for scheduling our European Adventures a week apart was in order to be able to go to the RoHo Summer Ball!!! It is the event of the year apparently and we were not going to miss it! Phoebe even bought a dress in Paris for the occasion while I brought my $11 dress from Forever21 all the way over from the State for this very occasion!!

The entire day was spent preparing for the ball... hair, make up, manicure, pedicure, etc... all in the comfort of my dorm room while outside in the Quad tents were being put up and sound checks were being had! I even did Phoebe's hair and make up... she looked stunning!! We modeled her look after Gwyneth Paltrows in Sliding Doors... I think it works

Here's me... pretty standard to most formal occasions I go to...

And both of us actually at the Ball!

There was a Ferris Wheel that spins around, bumper cars, a BBQ tent, 3 bar tents, live music from English bands I had never heard of, but mine and Phoebe's favorite spot was the dance tent! We got our dance on like mad women!




We also enjoyed some cocktails with friends!

Me and Charley

My DEAR friend Carla and I (her and I DO NOT have enough pictures together!! But she is coming to AZ hopefully next March for a visit!!)


It was really fun, but not enough fun to stay up till 6am!! Phoebe and I kept saying that we felt like we were at a High School prom with alcohol openly served... people were making out in the corner... there just wasn't that classy "English Ball" feel to it... they shouldn't call it a ball... they should call it a carnival! All the boys looks lovely in their tuxes though.
Another unfortunate component was the rain... and the cold... and the cold, wet rain!!
Phoebe and I made it till 3am and then we were spent... My room however faces out onto the North Quad where half the ball was being held, so even back in my room it sounded like I was still in the middle of the dance floor! Phoebe and I decided to drag my mattress into her room on the other side of the building where it was quieter... in the process we were so giggly that we dropped it several times... at one point I leaned forward too much when I dropped it and proceeded to do a somersault right on top of it... this resulted with Phoebe and myself sprawled on the floor with tears and laughter completely unable to contain ourselves... this is when a random girl walked by and Phoebe and I roared with laughter again thinking about what she must think of 2 girls crying with laughter on the floor in the middle of the hallway with a mattress... priceless moment!

Finishing up England...

I am trying desperately to finish up some blogging before I embark upon my final Europe Journey and then back home to Phoenix!

Here is some of the events of the last week since my return home from Europe Part I
Phoebe and I went into London on Tuesday to see a Performance of Romeo & Juliet at the Shakespeare Globe theater!! Along the way I got my hair highlighted on the whim... a salon in Egham was advertising a discounted highlights job in the window as we walked by... they were able to get me in RIGHT THEN!!
Phoebe and I took tons of random pictures on the train
My Shakespeare pose

Some good shots of Phoebe


The Millennium Bridge by The Globe

Phoebe and I went to the gift shop before the show to get our souvenirs... we decided to get pins to show our loyalty to either the Capulets or the Montagues... I chose Capulets. Phoebe and I cheered when our team went on stage

The Globe



The next day Phoebe and I went to Hampton Court because Phoebe had never been. I was SO excited about it being sunny when I woke up because I had yet to go to Hampton Court when it wasn't cloudy and almost rainy... UNFORTUNATELY when we finally got off the train it was overcast!! God does NOT want me to see this place in the sun!
Phoebe and I took a tour of some of the rooms with a guided tour and as part of that we got these cool robes to wear around for the day... while most people quickly returned them after the tour ended, Phoebe and I continued to wear them the rest of the time. We liked to whip them around as we left each room and pretend like they were long dresses that we had to hold up while we walked up the stairs




Sadly this was the best part of Hampton Court this day... after seeing Versailles in France, nothing can compare.
We did however FINALLY get our Cream Tea we had been searching for all over England. It seemed that every time we wanted some a shop would be closed... but Hampton Court did us proud in this respect

And back to playing with our robes





On thursday we went into London for Phoebe's haircut, some souvenir shopping, and a goodbye to London!
While Phoebe got her hair cut I got to head over to St Paul's Cathedral one last time and sit under the Dome and have some good quality quiet time! I sat and cried for 20 minutes in that beautiful church swaying from "I don't want to leave" to "I can't believe I got to come here in the first place." It was really a sweet time for me to just pour all of my nerves and fears and excitements on to God... Afterwards I felt this incredible peace about all of it that has stayed with me even till now... I will so dearly miss this place, but it has been an incredibly full experience and I still cannot believe God saw fit to give me this time and take me on this journey... it has far surpassed anything my wildest dreams could have conjured up. I am a truly blessed and loved child of my Sweet and Glorious Savior!!!

Munich (Day 15-16)

Our Europe Adventure Part 1 is coming to an end... we are at our final destination! It seems so much faster when you are blogging it later, but I remember distinctly that it was about this time that Phoebe and I were ready to pack it in and head back to London.
I was however excited to visit Munich again... not just because I had SO much more that I wanted to see, but also because since I had been here before there wasn't the fear of the unknown. The main part of the town was pretty familiar and that made me happy.

But before we get to Munich we must journey out of Salzburg. Breakfast consisted of a chocolate pretzel (so very Austrian) and easy train ride to Munich... Munich is not even 2 hours away from Salzburg, so this would be a quick jaunt across the German border.
After we checked into our hostel (6 bed female dorm) we headed to the Marienplatz for food... lunch was at KFC where we watched music videos in German on the KFC TV

This is not Almdudler, but it was still delicious and German
Then Phoebe and I splurged on Hagen Daz ice cream... I felt sick after eating it cause it was SO RICH!!

We had time before the Glochenspiel went off at 5pm, so we hopped back to the hostel, laid around, met our roommates (american girls who hadn't slept in 4 days and were therefore half asleep), and then headed back out for the Gloch. show

This is the #2 most OVERRATED tourist attraction (after the Prague clock) voted not by me, but by people who write tourist books... it was cool to see cause I had heard so much about it, but it was lame. It consists of a wedding feast where people dance around the bride and groom and there is a joust between France and Bavaria... Bavaria wins! Then there are the coopers who spin around beneath the wedding scene... they are famous for being the first to come out into the streets after the plague and they did a little dance. The King then liked the dance so much that he decreed the dance must be performed every 7 years for the rest of eternity!! Ah, to be King.
After the Glochenspiel had done its thing Phoebe and I finished out the night with the Hofbrauhaus!!! This is the most famous beer hall in the ENTIRE WORLD!!! Note: it is also the sight of the formation of the Nazi party... but we won't get into that just yet!
Phoebe and I sat down not really knowing how this whole thing worked, but a waitress told us to sit and that someone would come around for our order. We were soon approached by one of the GRUMPIEST old ladies I have ever met. She seemed incredibly annoyed at the fact that we were foreigners. Why would one choose to work at the MOST touristy place in Munich if one hated foreigners?? Phoebe determined that it was because she was wearing a wench outfit and was in her 70's... after thinking about that, I would be annoyed too.
We eventually got our order out with the little German we knew and her yelling at us in annoyance... and here is what we got!!

Now don't get excited... I didn't finish it... I barely got half way... I'm sorry, I just don't like beer, even though this was REALLY GOOD BEER!

We also got pretzels to go with our beer... I finished that off no sweat and even finished Phoebe's too
Phoebe on the other hand drank me under the table!! She was determined to finish her stein (1 liter) just out of sheer principle... success!

Being a beer house, the Hofbrauhaus is definitely a place to make friends... drunk friends... Phoebe and I made nice with a group of older gentlemen who were sitting near us. They were from the States and we bonded over tourist stories and the fact that our waitress hated them too. Munich tourist unite!
We also got caught up briefly in a truth or dare game with a group of college students also sitting near us... they had to take a picture with random people around the hall and we were selected!

Phoebe and I finished out the night strolling slowly back to our hostel down the main shopping streets... disappointing to us was that they were all closed due to it being sunday... we also discovered at this point that all the shopping we were gonna do the next day would be thwarted due to a Catholic Holiday!!!!! BUMMER!
We got some free internet back at the hostel and we watched some German MTV in the common room... then bed.

The next day - our last day of Europe Part I!
We had learned of a free walking tour of Munich the night before and were VERY keen to go - This was THE BEST walking tour I had EVER been on... the guy Matt was from San Francisco and was a history scholar! He knew EVERYTHING there was to know about Munich and he was interesting too! Seriously my history professors haven't been as good as he was! Phoebe and I wanted to just hang out with him all day if we could. Oh and Phoebe and I met a girl who worked for the tour company who happened to be a student at RoHo on her year abroad... haha! Small world!
Our tour began with the Glochenspiel again... and then on to the Frauenkirche

This church was almost completely destroyed in World War II... the towers survived, but almost the entire remainder of the buidling has been reconstructed along with almost 90% of Munich. Prior to WWII photographers took to the streets to photograph buildings in preparation for the anticipated attacks on the city. After the war finished all the historical buildings were rebuilt to look just as they did before, but they are still less than 70 years old.
The Frauenkirche is also known for having the devils footprint in the entry way. The story goes that the architect of the church tricked the devil over a matter of windows within the cathedral... the devil was so peeved that he stomped his foot and this remains

In truth it is only the architects signature on his work.
This church is ALSO famous for being the home church of the current pope!!

On our tour I discovered that there were 3 other Arizonians in our group! didn't know any of them, but it was cool.
On the tour we got a little history lesson and quick run down over WWI and WWII and learned about the economic problems of Germany leading up to the election of the 3rd Reich and Hitler's rule. Apparently at one point $1 (USD) was worth 54 TRILLION German Marks... people were burning money instead of buy wood cause it was cheaper!
Other tour info
- Hugo Boss designed the uniform of the Nazi storm troopers
- we discussed the famous 1972 Munich Olympics when the group of Israeli citizens were killed
- Hitler's life story - how he was an artist who was denied to art school because of his inability to draw people - funny how he became known for the annihilation of millions of people!
-We heard about the resistance in Munich against the Nazi party
- the many memorials around the city
- how at one point Hitler almost died before he even wrote Mein Kampf in Prison... he was shot at in the Beer Hall Puts in Munich, but his bodyguard took the 11 bullets on his behalf.
- The White Rose resistance at a University in Munich and how the people involved were eventually sent to a Concentration camp
It really was an incredible tour that last 3 hours... great spots around the city too!! We saw SO MUCH
The Residenz Palace

Lion statues out in front of the Residenz Palace... if you rub 3 our of the 4 statues you with have the wealth of Bavaria in either love of money... if you run 4, you're just greedy

the famous Munich Opera House

The view from the top of St peter's church tower



Munich is SUCH a gorgeous city and I still would love to go back and roam around some more! It was a wonderful place to end our first European Adventure!!

Well that's it folks... Europe #1 is complete!!!

Salzburg (Day 13 - 14)

It seems that the main drama of our trip ALWAYS has to do with the train travel. We got to Prague station to catch the train through Munich to Salzburg and while on the platform our train got delayed like 3 times... I finally went up to one of the attendants to ask and see if we would be able to make our connection. Through the language barrier I pointed to my ticket and itinerary and he nodded and said, "this platform" - "will I make the connection?" - "hahahaha... no." As simple as that... why thank you kind sir. When we got onto the train finally Phoebe and I sat down in a little private room on the train. When the ticket man came by to check our passes we began speaking in Czech and pointing to what I thought was the direction of the luggage rack, so I thought he was saying something about our luggage... turns out that was not it, but we were still confused... so he just began speaking louder in Czech. haha, Just because we don't speak Czech does not mean we're deaf. Turns out he needed us to move train cars... luckily we did because later on that part of the train was no longer attached to our train... haha.
We were pretty bored on the train ride so I decided to try my hand at reading an article about the forth coming Terminator movie in Czech... I only was able to catch the proper names of the actors and the movie.

Finally when we got to the connection station we found there was a train leaving within 2 hours, so we weren't THAT late.
The hostel was great and we were alone in our 4 bed female dorm for the first night!

The second day in Salzburg was AWESOME!!!! It began as every day in Salzburg should, with the ORIGINAL Sound of Music Tour!!!!!!! My little girl fantasies came true on this trip!!!! This tour was ENTIRELY geared towards the filming sights of the movie! People pilgramage from all around the world to take this particular tour. One girl apparently watched the movie EVERY DAY TWICE A DAY and when she came on the tour, according to our tour guide she sobbed through the whole thing because it was a dream come true. Weird!!
Phoebe and I were picked up from our hostel in a grand tour bus which was completely full of huge Sound of Music fans... my people!

There was a big mural on the side of the bus of Maria and the Von Trapp children singing... but Phoebe and I thought Maria looked like she was sneezing... hense the picture below.

Our tour guides name was Peter and he was hilarious! I will tell you the entire tour was JUST like the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland... the tour guide just made dry humor cheesy jokes and everyone laughed accordingly... Phoebe and I got to use our annoying laughs on the bus. Phoebe had made her's up the night before and let me tell you I fall over laughing every time she does it. Peter also yodled... so that was AWESOME!
Our first stop on the tour was the Leopold Crown Palace which was the Palace used in the film for the Von Trapp's backyard

That is the very lake that Maria and the Children fell out of the boat into.
Unfortunately the house used as the front of the Von Trapp home was unable to be visited, but we did drive by and see the gate as well as the trees that the children hung out of in their play clothes.
the next place we got out at was my particular favorite... anyone recognize this??

They no longer allow people to go inside the gazebo because an 81 year old lady broke her hip trying to leap from one bench to the other just like Liesle.
After the gazebo it was on to a photo op in front of Nonnberg Abbey where Maria was a nun.

At this point in the tour we headed out to the Austrian countryside to see some lakes and the Alps. These were the places that were used to film the opening scenery sequences. The mountain on which Maria sang on was covered in clouds, but we did drive by and see it through the windows of the bus

Along the way Phoebe and I partook in the bus bar services. We didn't purchase alcohol, but instead we sampled the taste of an Austrian soda called Almdudler!! It is a combination of ginger ale and apple juice they say - seriously delicious!!!! Phoebe and I miss Almdudler dearly!

It was also through the countryside that the bus played the soundtrack to the Sound of Music and of course everyone on the bus sang along!!! It was magical!!
The destination of our country journey was Mondsee, which holds the Church in which they filmed the Wedding Scene of Maria and Captain Von Trapp!!!


There was an actual wedding going on inside the church, but they still allowed tourists to enter and take pictures inside (I would NOT like that if I was the bride!)
When we exited the church a VERY LOUD siren went off almost causing permanent hearing loss for Phoebe and myself... but NO ONE else seemed phased... still don't know what they was about... I was fully ready to see bomber pilots swarm over the alp mountain tops.
The town was rather charming!! So storybook picturesque

The pink building in the middle is where we had the most delicious "crisp apple strudel"

We also shopped around the gift shops filled with souvenirs such as Austrian lace, eidelweiss EVERYTHING, and all the sound of music post cards you could handle. I found an awesome pin for Phoebe to buy that said "Austria: no kangaroos". HAHAHA!
As we headed back to the bus the church bells sounded and I swear I was in the movie as the camera pans above the wedding church!! They sounded the same as in the movie!
The tour ended eventually - much to our dismay. It had been so lovely!
Other facts we learned on the tour:
- The real Maria Von Trapp died of medical conditions related to her eating too much cheese... she died how she lived - eating cheese apparently.
- Sound of Music was not a favorite among the Austrian people mainly because it wasn't released in the German language until only 10 years ago... so the whole phenomenon is lost on them
- the eidelweiss flower only grows on the sides of the highest mountains and is a token of love... so young men would climb up the highest mountains to retrieve this flower for their ladies and some in the process gave their life to the arduous task
- There is an Abraham Lincoln statue in Austria of his riding a horse and reading... what a talented man!

After the bus tour ended Phoebe and I continued our S.O.M. tour with a visit to the Mirabelle gardens where most of "Do Re Mi" was filmed.
This is my Maria-singing-the-last-note-of-Do Re Mi- pose

The fountain they dance around

After we were all Sound of Music-ed out we moved on to what Salzburg is also known for - Mozart!! It was in this city that he lived and died.
His birthplace

The museum inside his birthplace was seriously the WEIRDEST museum I have ever been in... not only was it not too impressive, but the last 3 rooms made NO SENSE AT ALL!! One of the rooms had everything upside down - the pictures, furniture, etc... another room was all back with random doors that lead no where and dresses in front of lights... So strange!
But I did however get to see Mozarts' wig and violin... so that's cool.
I also wanted to go down to the residenz fountain where Julie Andrews splashes the water on her way to the Von Trapp Family Villa... I don't know why, but that scene is so iconic for me of the movie... the fountain was however under construction, but I snuck this picture through the barriers

By this time is was raining pretty hard and we were hungry, so we had lunch as Zum Mohren, which served Italian, Indian, and Austrian food.
Phoebe and I finished out our day with some HUGE pretzel shaped donuts on the steps of the Salzburg Dome Church

and some more sights in the rain
Oversized chess board

View of the Fortress above the city


Note: when I come back to Salzburg I need to take the time to visit the largest ice cave in the world just outside the city... Phoebe and I were bummed that we didn't have enough time and money... or energy for hiking to it.

Prague (Day 11-12)

This day we were off to Prague - or Praha - or as I call it Prahague!!
When Phoebe and I awoke we were like bears coming out of hybernation... we kept making these groany sounds and yawns and general tired noises... neither of us wanted to jump out of bed, so we laid there for a little while until we HAD to start the day!
I was very excited for Prague, on my list of places I was excited about on this trip Prague was second after Paris!

On the train Phoebe and I finished Sound of Music... and therefore you can imagine the singing we did for the remainder of the trip... we had the WHOLE soundtrack in our heads!
We got to Prague, exchanged some money (neither of us knew how much to get out because we had no idea what the exchange rate was! But once we had money we hopped on the metro to our hostel! Note: the ticket windows are almost completely black, so you can't see the person on the otherside... I couldn't even tell if someone was at the window until I just started talking and they started talking back. Speaking of talking... neither Phoebe nor myself took the time to learn any Czech phrases and we felt terrible... but we just walked up to people and said "English?" and more times than not, people spoke English... which was nice.
In prague we were alone in the room again (this again was not what we had reserved, so it was an AWESOME surprise!)
We quickly dropped our stuff and then headed out for some sights. We kept pretty much to the East side of the river for the day.
Our first stop was the Astronomical Clock in the middle of the Old Town Square... it was voted the #1 Overrated tourist attraction in Europe!! YAY! We saw it go off and it is seriously the lamest show ever... so whenever we would walk by the clock from then on out we would watch the people's faces as they watched the clock strike the top of the hour... it was hilarious to see the excitement and then almost the immediate confusion and disappointment... classic.

The clock itself is actually pretty often despite it's lame top of the hour show... It is not just a regular clock, but it also keeps the time, date, babylonian time, it keeps track of the solstice, position of the sun and moon, and the zodiac!! Very cool! It was designed by a man named Mikuláš of Kadaň and was the most amazing clock of its time... but the story goes that Kadaň was designing another one to rival this clock for another city... Prague couldn't deal with that so some city councel members entered Kadaň's house one night in black cloaks and gouged out the clock maker's eyes. Kadaň didn't know who did this to him for a while, but regardless he unable to finish the clock he was working on. When he DID discovered who was behind his attack, he descretely returned to the Prague clock and broke it! HA! No one could figure out how to fix it for 100 years until a man named Jan Šindel fixed the clock! So it works now.
Other components of the clock include windows were the 12 apostles walk by at the top of the hour and it also displays the 4 perils on either side of the clock face... the 4 perils are Turks (haha), death, Greed (which at one time had a beard and actually stood for Jews... but was changed after WWII, and Vanity

Here is other shots of the Old Town Square in Prague - seriously BEAUTIFUL!!



After seeing the clock we got some Gelato to go from this stand near the Town Square... the guy who served us was SUCH a JERK! I think he automatically thought we were idiot tourists and therefore mocked us the entire time he was getting our cones - in english though! He also short changed Phoebe and when she brought it up to him (kindly I might add) he reacted like we had accused him of murder. Jeepers man! He gained a rather unkind nickname from us and every time we passed by his stand we would curse his name and mumble insults at him under our breath.
We then moved on to the Old Jewish Cemetery... this place was WAY over priced for what it was and I wasn't expecting to have to pay ANYTHING to go into a cemetery, but we did. The Jewish Cemetery is famous because in Prague for a long time there was prevelant Jewish persecution and the Jews were only allowed to be buried in this cemetery pretty much, so there are TONS of graves SMASHED together and the ground holds almost 12 layers of graves... WOW!

Those were our 2 bigs sights for the day, so the rest of the afternoon was spent shopping and picture taking




We also scoped out souvenir ideas in the gift shops. Prague is known for their glass products and you have no idea the fear of knocking something over and it shattering on the floor accidentally... or the temptation to spin around in the shop and break everything... it's a toss up.
That evening Phoebe and I took a ghost tour around the city to hear all the creepy stories of the paranormal in Prague... not to my surprise it was rather lame of the creepy front, but it was informative on the historical front.
It also turned out that Phoebe and I were the ONLY ones on the ghost tour with our guide Nahome. He was happy to take the two of us anyhow and it was fun asking any questions we wanted and making jokes with him about all the sights. He was a very nice man.



Our second day of Prague began with a visit to The Church of the Severed Arm... actually it is called St Jacob's church, but it has a severed arm in it and I feel the name of the church should reflect as much. The story goes (as we heard on the ghost tour) that a thief broke into the church to steal the gold off the statue of the Virgin Mary... while in the process of chiseling away the statue grabbed his arm and wouldn't let go! Well the man, in his horror screamed like a little girl waking up the bishop... he too could not get the thief's arm free so the only thing to do was to cut it off... they called for the executioner's ax and as soon as the thief's arm was separated from his body, the statue released its grasp. The arm hangs in the church as a warning to those who dare steal from the church. No pictures were allowed inside, but the church was gorgeous!!! here's an internet pic

We had breakfast at Starbucks... bagels and carmel hot chocolate!! Phoebe and I thought it would be HILARIOUS to give the barista different names... I seriously just made up a random name... as did Phoebe, so as far as the Prague Starbucks is concerned we are Ableth and Wendlah



The lady who took our names and orders asked us if we were from Canada... haha. Through stifled laughter we replied that our mothers just hated us.
After a delightfully entertaining breakfast Ableth and Wendlah headed to Prague Castle!! It is high above the city so you get this amazing view!

We arrived at the Castle during the changing of the guards so there were lots of people there...

We then got out tickets and realized the cost for the audio guide was actually more expensive than the admission ticket so we didn't get it... however, the castle has NO signs about what ANYTHING is and therefore Phoebe and I were left to make stuff up about the castle.
Prague money

After getting into the Castle we got in line to see St Vitus Cathedral.

While in line we were surrounded by a group of high school age children and their chaperones on what appeared to be a field trip. While I was standing there minding my own business and chatting with Phoebe all of a sudden one of the chaperones, a older man who appeared to be in his 50s, started prying the map of the Cathedral out of my hands... um excuse me?? He took it, looked at it and then handed it back like it was nothing... not a WORD to me at all! Well that sent the girls around us into hysterical laughter at our expense - xenophobes! Phoebe and I started talking amongst ourselves... about them... and the girls would occasionally turn around, look at us and start giggling... alright, time for the trump card... "Wow Phoebe, how are you doing recovering from that swine flu you had??" one of the girls promptly turned to look at us with great concern on her face... "oh Miranda, I still have it... but I just hate wearing that face mask all the time, so I figured I'd go without today." I know it was lame... but Phoebe and I were entertained.
Once inside the Cathedral we marveled at the stained-glass windows by the artist Mucha (a favorite of Phoebe's)

Another wonderful discovery about St Vitus Cathedral is that it is the burial place of St Wenceslaus I... as in "Good King Wenceslaus" who so famously looked out on the feast of Stephens... I kept humming the Pranczar & Vyxxx'n rendition of the classic Christmas Carol (AKA Shawn & Kevin's version). Since we had no audio guide there was no way of finding the grave... so I took a picture of this one and just said that it was his grave (after some google research it is in fact NOT his grave)

Phoebe and I were so confused about finding his grave that we just started whispering "wenceslaus" over and over again in front of every tomb in hopes people would get on the band wagon and either believe us and think we'd found his grave or kindly point us in the right direction... instead people just stared at us. Wenceslaus therefore became a new code word for when people were staring at us... which of course happened A LOT!
After the Cathedral, we were in pursuit of seeing the crown jewels... this would not come to pass as there were still no signs and the map did not guide us... instead we walked into a gift shop where there was a large picture of the jewels... "Well there they are Phoebe." We stood in front of the picture marveling at their loveliness and then laughed at ourselves for being so lame.
We did however get to the torture chamber in Dalibor Tower.

There is a legend of a famous fiddler here who would was imprisoned at the castle... the myth goes that people would visit from far an wide to hear him play... the real story is that the man was stretched on the above machine until he "played like a fiddle" and confessed all he'd done and those who helped him. HAHA!
To finish off the castle we took pictures with the guards... it was just like Buckingham Palace where they couldn't move


Phoebe and I spent the rest of the day shopping for souvenirs! They have SUCH beautiful stuff there... it was hard to decide what I wanted!!
I had to get a picture of the shelf with the Absinth bottles... I didn't buy any, but they are everywhere and it made me think of Moulin Rouge

It started to rain and we ducked into a mall that was in another more modern part of town... it actually felt like we were in London though - they had all the London clothing stores and a Marks & Spencers grocery store with our favorite chocolate biscuits!! We also found a mongolian BBQ place where we had a chicken with noodles dinner.

We finished off the day early again cause there was little else to do... but it again is nice to have gotten another easy day... saves us from violently crashing when getting back to London.
Other sights of Prague to finish off...
this was above one of the streets... a life size statue of a man hanging from a pole... odd

awesome sewer covers


Farewell Prague! You were the most beautiful city we visited in my opinion!!

Berlin (Day 8-10)

And it is now that I return to Germany for the second time while I have been abroad. This time we head to the north of the country and hang out in Berlin!!!

The journey from Amsterdam to Berlin was AWESOME! Totally smooth sailing... it only took us a week to get into a groove and from here on out traveling was just fine... I have learned that everything that can go wrong WILL go wrong on vacations. But the train was lovely - more message listening, Phoebe and I watched Sliding Doors on my iPod, and there was a screaming crying baby sitting right behind us... NOT COOL!
When we got to Berlin however I got us lost walking 3 miles in the wrong direction... we even wandered off my Berlin map, so it took us a bit to get back on track... my favorite part of our walking tour was the hospital and the toothless German derelict (there seems to be one in every nation who is attracted to us). We found our way back to the train station where we decided instead of walking we would just take the U-bahn (Berlin's metro)... we got off at Potsdamer Platz and upon exiting the station ran straight into this...



The Berlin Wall!!! It was super awesome! But what should pop into my head whenever I think of the Berlin wall?? David Hasselhoff, I remember seeing footage of him singing as the Berlin Wall came down... the Germans apparently LOVE David Hasselhoff - he's beefy.
We headed to the hostel and put our stuff down... we were supposed to be in a 4 bed female dorm, but instead they put us in a private room!!! YAY!!! They noticed the mix up and instead of changing it, or charging us more, the front desk guy just said he was gonna pretend not to notice - SWEET! They also had a whole lot of rules about the keys and curfew for the hostel... Phoebe told me once we got to our room that she was SO close to saying something like - "wow you guys are real nazis about this place..." but she stopped herself before she said it - SO NOT THE PLACE for that joke.
We went back to Potsdamer for dinner and then back to the hostel for internet and bed... the internet cost 3 euro for an hour... and it seriously took almost an hour for the google homepage to load!!! Phoebe and I were so pissed that we wasted 3 euro on NOTHING!! I left the computer and as I walked away I decided to yell out to the entire lobby - "no one use the computers, the computers have gone bad... thanks for a whole lot of NOTHING!!!!" Phoebe couldn't contain her laughter... it was an awesome epic moment.

The next day we woke up to a delicious breakfast... salami, brie cheese, cereal, bread with honey, hard boiled eggs, etc... yum!!
Then off to the Pergamon Museum... it was an INCREDIBLE SMALL museum compared to what I was use to, but it had some huge architectural historical alters and monuments inside... WAY COOL!
The Pergamon Alter from Athens

Ishtar's Gate

These things

this

that

The coolest part about the museum is they had this exhibition going on about the gods and goddesses of Greek Mythology... it was awesome seeing the statues and reading about the gods and goddesses... I LOVE greek mythology

The Pergamon took us not even 2 hours to see everything... The audio guide was the thing that took so long... THEY DRONED ON about everything... I ended up skipping a lot out of boredom. Another funny thing was that there were so little other people there... the guards looked genuinely surprised every time I'd walk into a room... like they hadn't seen people in the museum in YEARS!! They also looked suspicious of me and would watch me like a hawk... like I was gonna really cat-like grab a statue and make a break for it.

After the museum we headed over to the Berliner Dome (Berlin Cathedral)




The Berliner Dome also had one of the creepiest crypts I've even been in... this is where tons of the royal family is buried... as well as their small infant children... I saw so many tiny caskets... made me weirded out and sad.

While in the cathedral we got to catch a little bit of live organ music on their gorgeous organ... the only thing I caught from what they were saying was Johan Sebastian Bach... so I assume that is what was played. We also got to climb up the dome... on the way down the stairs there was no one around, so Phoebe and I sang some selections from the score of the Phantom of the Opera... very fitting.
After the Berliner Dome was on to Checkpoint Charlie... with some ice cream - it was so warm in Berlin - 87 degrees!! (by the way all those of you in Phoenix... I have decided that I will die when I return home, because 87 is now hot for me)

Checkpoint Charlie was the place where you had to go through in order to get to East Berlin through the wall... it is an American post in the middle of Berlin!

This sign was awesome

Right next to this sign was a man who poked Phoebe as we walked by and said "peace"... when I walked by I he stamped me on the arm... it said "checkpoint charlie" and had a bear on it (Berlin means bear)

Phoebe ended up going back and getting one too... then this nice man took the shot... he didn't speak a lot of english and he got super professional photographer on us making sure the lighting was right and that he had good photographic composition... I just wanted my camera back eventually

After Checkpoint Charlie we strolled down Unter Den Linden street which means, "under the limes" and it apparently lined with lime tree, although I saw none. We got a burger at a stand... the stand also served beer because beer is served everywhere in Europe... even Disneyland Paris sold beer!!
Then we got down to Brandenburg Tor... This is the most recognizable sight in Berlin and imagine the Berlin wall would have blocked this shot just 19 years ago. We also got our passports stamped with a novelty stamp from CheckPoint Charlie... awesome!

I took my picture with an american flag that was on display there...

Right around the corner is the Reichstag which is the place where Germany's Parliment meet, you could go inside, but the queue was too long... but it has a a gorgeous day so we sat in the grass and soaked in the vitamin D

We were completely finished with our tourist excursions in Central Berlin and it was only 3pm!! What were we gonna do?? We decided to just walk around... it was actually incredibly awesome to have a little relaxing stroll!!

We walked down to Potsdamer Platz... we along our way we realized that they commemorated the path of the Berlin Wall by having these bricks running along the sidewalk and even through the street... way cool!

We also discovered at Potsdamer Platz they have a cinema that shows English films... no subtitles or anything (they must know they have a lot of English tourists with nothing to do in Berlin after 3pm)! We saw Sunshine Cleaning! It was good, I liked it, Phoebe did not. It was cool though because half way through the movie it hit me that I was seeing a movie in Berlin! a very cool moment to remember where I was!!
We had a bit of drama before the film because the ATM wouldn't let me withdrawal money from my account... visit was freaking out about some questionable expenses on my card... yeah, they were all made by me! I was very thankful that they cared, but more upset that they didn't let me take money out!! and I had to pay international phone charges to call and approve the transactions!!

Our last day in Berlin started with a change in location... we had to stay in 2 different hostels because none had 3 days free, so our 3rd night would be in the Charlottenburg part of Berlin. It was SO warm this day that I wore shorts and a tank top!!!
On our way to the new hostel we took a brief detour to see this church, which Phoebe found in the guidebook the day before... it still has the scars of WWII for all to see.

The church is called the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche. The disappointing part was that as a memorial to the destroyed church, they build that tower of a church right in front of the old one... and it covers up the best view!!!
It was however cool to see a spot of historical architecture in the middle of a city which was so destroyed by WWII bombings, that little remains of history... a majority of the city is only 50 years old... how sad.

We got to our hostel and took a brief rest before we walked over to the Schloss Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Palace)
We snacked on chocolate spread right out of the packet

It was about this time that another highlight of Europe occurred... A THUNDERSTORM!!! Now some of you may have instantly thought I was being sarcastic, but I wasn't... I LOVE THUNDERSTORMS!! I hadn't heard thunder since last summer I think, so it was a joyous sound. It was also fine because it was still 85 degrees while it was raining and so a stroll through the rain was still awesome! We walked down to Schloss Charlottenburg with Phoebe's umbrella and prepared to sample the Versailles of Berlin... we also enjoyed a traditional German Bratwurst lunch on our way!

Schloss Charlottenburg was built for Sophie Charlotte, the wife of Elector Fredrich III's wife and the first Queen of Prussia. The Gardens were designed by the same landscape designer as Versailles... Phoebe and I weren't expecting much so we were amazed at how beautiful it was!!
The amazing part of it was that it had been almost completely destroyed by bombs in WWII and so a lot of it was reconstructed to look JUST like it did before.
Sophie Charlotte was known for her extensive porcelain collection... since we couldn't take pictures inside the palace, this is from the internet... this is an entire room designed to display her collection... there are over 2700 pieces!

There is also a chapel in the Palace where we enjoyed some impromptu organ music.
Sophie Charlotte was considered a great beauty and had much praise for her "eyebrows which appear to be drawn on by a compass"... a strange compliment indeed.
After we were done with the inside of the Palace it was on to the gardens... still in the rain

When we had completed our tour of the castle we discovered these cell type deals out in front of the palace along the gate... they are meant for the guards I'm sure, but I told Phoebe that is where she could live... we then laughed at how they reminded us of our rooms back in Founders Hall at RoHo... they are apart of a beautiful castle, but still incredibly crappy rooms. haha


We finished off our day with a quick spin around a museum of Picasso art (which I really just don't like) and we decided that Salvidor Dali and Pablo Picasso were following us around Europe - I am not kidding EVERY CITY we went to had a museum or exhibition of Dali and/or Picasso art!! The guards were still suspicious of our presence in the museum, and it didn't help that Phoebe and I found ourselves tired and sitting on one of the benches in front of some painting for a little while - we got on the subject of serial killers for some reason, which I'm sure added to the guards uneasiness.
Dinner was at an italian place with a GREAT DEAL of delicious and cheap lasagna and tiramissu!!
Then we were hold up in the train station of the walk back to our hostel because the rain became a torrential downpour!
The remainder of the evening was spent in our hostel enjoying the AMAZING SHOWER, thunder outside our windows, free internet (that I was kicked off of by some pushy American girl who spoke to me like I didn't understand English - crazy American tourists!!!), and 1/2 of The Sound of Music on my iPod!! Can you believe Phoebe had NEVER seen that movie! I downloaded it because I was hellbent of going on the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, so Phoebe needed to understand the movie... she really loved it, which made me tremendously happy!

We again had our own private room, so it was a very lovely night sleep!
Goodbye Berlin!!

Amsterdam (Day 6-7)

Alright... so our journey to Amsterdam was not the easiest one, but of course France had to send us off with a good kick in the pants. We got back into Paris to catch the train to Brussels (for lunch) and then on to Amsterdam, and since the Paris trains have no ticket checker for the most part, our ride was free :) We were entertained the whole way by a lovely homeless man across from us who gave us a spirited running commentary of the ride... I couldn't understand what he was saying, but he would laugh to himself and swing his arms around.
We also discovered a little shop in one of the stations were I bought a shirt and pair of jeans for really cheap!!! I didn't get to try them on, but was excited to have them!!
We got the station and got our Eurail passes activated and then ran to our train... come to find out we couldn't get on the train because we needed a reservation (how kind of the person at the booth to not notify us of this)... change of plans, we had to skip Brussels (we later would window shop the city as we passed through - it's beautiful I hope to go there someday). We paided an ungodly reservation fee (the most expensive of our trip turns out) and then we were FINALLY off to Amsterdam. We took the opportunity to schedule our future trips to make sure we could make the trains... later in future cities we would discover Paris has no idea what its talking about. I did get to speak to the ticket lady in Paris rather firmly and I am impressed with myself that I got the job done... the lady wasn't very helpful and had to keep getting up to ask her manager questions, etc.
Finally on the train I got to relax for several blissful hours! I got to even catch up on ODF messages! Good job Bill, Henry, Stewart, Travis, and John... AWESOME STUFF!!!
I also realized on the train that it was May 22nd and therefore one month till I returned home.

We arrived in Amsterdam!!! YAY!!! We immediately wandered the streets towards our hostel to put our stuff down. We were still riding the frustrations of the train station and trying to relax a little bit from our journey and I decided to try on my pants... they fit well enough (not perfect), but when I went to sit down the zipper snagged and broke!!! AH! It was a very sad moment, not for the jeans, but in the realization of how tired, frustrated, and disappointed I was at this trip being less than smooth - the pictures don't convey the sad moments, but there were plenty... so the jeans breaking was the last straw that made me really really sad!!! What did we do to cheer me up??? We had pancakes for dinner!! Phoebe and I are learning that we are grown ups and therefore if we want to have sweets for dinner, we are entitled!
The Pancake place was so precious,

but apparently didn't have drinkable tap water... we got water... IN A CAN!!! Amsterdam is truly magical!

I got pancakes with bananas and sugar on them

We wandered the city a little bit more after dinner... some sights of Amsterdam





We then got back to our hostel. We had an unexpected blessing in Amsterdam, although we were booked for a 4 bedroom mixed gender dorm (which was the only thing left available) we arrived and discovered they'd given us a 6 bedroom FEMALE dorm! Thanks God!! The other girls were in bed early, which was nice for us, so we stayed quiet and got ready for bed. Unfortunately it was after 10pm and STILL LIGHT OUT! I finally did however get to sleep, and it was lovely.

Our next day there, I was determined to look for the blessings of the day rather than the frustrations... it was easier, but not without it's moments. It was however a BEAUTIFUL day weather wise!!!

Our first place of destination was the Anne Frank House! It is in Amsterdam that she hid from the Nazis... I was really excited to see it!! Unfortunately the actual building on the outside doesn't look how it use to, but the inside is still the same... unfortunate for you, I took no pictures because I was not allowed.
We queued for almost 2 hours to get in... if you plan on going, get your tickets online prior to arrival... it will save on the queuing. Phoebe and I however are excellent queuers and Bejeweled was there to keep us company!
The inside was awesome to see... I remember reading the book in elementary school or Jr. High, but only vaguely... as I crawled through the passage way hidden behind the bookshelf, it came flooding back... POWERFUL STUFF to see.
We watched some video of people being interviewed, like one of Anne's best friends who was also in the concentation camp with her. She said that Anne died just 3 weeks shy of liberation and that Anne thought she was the only one in her family left. Turns out her father survived and the thought that if she would have known that, she may have lived made me sad. Her diary however gave a face to the Holocaust and WWII and is a powerful account of life in that time.
After we finished the house, or next stop was the Van Gogh museum!! In museum square we found this sign!

The Van Gogh museum was definitely something to be excited about, but when I was researching it before we arrived I realized we wouldn't be seeing my favorite Van Gogh - Starry Night... that one is in New York. Well low and behold, to my infinite delight the museum was having an exhibition where Starry Night was on loan from New York and so I got to see it!!!! I tried to capture it discretely on my camera... sorry for the blurriness

It was a highlight of Amsterdam for me!!
After the museum we realized that anything else of note would require us to queue for god knows how long, and non of it was worth the queue, so we went shopping! I found a pair of jeans!!!
And we came upon there human statues in town square

We went by the Bloemenmarkt which sells every variance of tulips you can imagine! Laura, I thought of you!
We then found these in one of the gift shops! HAHA!!


We also went to the train station because we were wondering if there was a way to get our passport stamped. They don't stamp your passport with train travel around Europe... sadly we would have had to go to the embassy to do it... and we didn't want to do that... so I have no stamps in my passport from all the places I went to on this trip!!
After a dinner a McDonalds (okay don't judge me... I'm poor and American fast food is the cheapest thing to eat in any city!) we decided to brave a guided walking tour of the red light district. I was super nervous about what it would be like, but after seeing older couples and normal people taking the tour with us, I felt more at ease. Our tour guide was names John and he was from Ireland. When Phoebe and I saw him we both had this thought that we'd seen him somewhere before... we came up to us and was wondering the same thing... turns out we had NEVER seen him before and it was just a weird thing... odd.
So the Red Light tour - started out awesome... and then went not so awesome. Everything we saw was fine... but John decided to make the tour his personal anecdote time and believe me, I DID NOT want to know that stuff about him AT ALL!!! Phoebe and I clung to each other's arm the WHOLE time and after the 2 hours, we were anxious to leave... The stuff we saw was AWESOME, but John was odd and an oversharer.
Some cool Red Light District info
- Chet Baker, famed jazz musician, died here... he was addicted to heroine and fell out of his window onto the sidewalk... to his death.

- this was a church and then became the world's first stock exchange... the skeleton above the door was cool and in latin the sign reads "There is hope on the other side" or something to that effect

- this is the oldest street in Amsterdam and is named (the english translation) Vegetable Street... but is now home to anything having to do with homosexuality... and is affectionately called "fruit street" by the people of the Red Light District

We also of course saw the prostitutes in their windows with the red lights above trying to find "clients" and we had the occasional boat of drunked frat boys sail by on the canal and of course there was the distinct smell of weed in the air... it is Amsterdam after all. But somethings surprised me about the Red Light District... for one, it is an actual neighborhood in Amsterdam so there are families who live there... there is a kindergarten RIGHT NEXT TO 3 windows of prostitutes... when a news crew went to the school and asked the kids what they thought the ladies in the windows were doing one little boy responded - "selling kisses" - that about broke my heart. But, the BIG thing that surprised me was the fact that the Red Light District will not exist in 2 years. The shops are slowly being bought out by boutiques and fashion shops... Amsterdam is trying to adopt a more reputable tourist demographic. I will say that I didn't even know Amsterdam had the Anne Frank House or the Van Gogh museum or any of the other museums until I researched coming here... all anyone knows about is the Red Light District and legal prostitution... so I think Amsterdam is making a good move trying to clean themselves up. HOWEVER it worries me that now all the other stuff will now move underground and become MUCH LESS SAFE. Conflicted... I am glad I went on the tour though... the history and stories of the place were fascinating... like the one about the sailor who paid off his bar tab with a monkey - which is where the saying "in the monkey" came from to refer to being high in debt. I will be able to tell my kids that I went to Amsterdam when there was still a Red Light District.

After the tour we went back to the hostel and Phoebe and I were met with more nudity in the dorm room from the other girls than we had seen in the Red Light District... we laughed about that.

But that finishes up Amsterdam for you. Looking back, Phoebe and I realized we should have traded a day in Berlin for another day in Amsterdam... we liked roaming around the city and we didn't get to go outside the city to any of the windmills and fields of tulips... but next time I guess.

Some things about Amsterdam -
- seems like there are a lot of bachelor parties and frat boys wandering the city - surprise surprise!
- lots of sex shops and sex museums
- the smell of pot is almost everywhere, Phoebe and I had a joke that all our food, even the McDonald's food is laced with weed.
- Everyone here speaks English... just normally... no phrase book necessary!

next is Berlin!!