I am back in London and so happy. Levi and I split for a few days so that we could do our own thing. I just needed some me time and space. I am staying in Kensington, which is a really nice part of London. This is where a lot of celebritys stay. The hotel I am at is super nice and the beds are comfy which is exactly what I needed after staying in hostels for the last three weeks. Last night I went out by myself to a club. It was like a reggae/jazz/brazilian type music club. I had so much fun and learned to Samba. Tonight I will probably go to a piano bar that was recommended to me by the guy who cut my hair. Yep...I chopped my hair. I couldn't take it anymore....I cut about 3 inches off and got it layered. I feel like a whole new person and not like such a bag lady. I also treated myself to a massage yesterday which was nice. The next couple of days are just going to be relaxing and time to just debreif. I am really enjoying myself and all the people I am continually meeting. People are so nice in Europe. I love London!
Well I will write more later, but will be coming home in a few days.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Amsterdam
I hated Amsterdam. It was not my kind of city. The people were cool and there is a very diverse population there. It is also known for its red light district and open marijuana coffee shops. I didn't visit either one which it part of the next story. Upon arrival of our hostel, I knew I couldn't stay there. I was so grossed out...it smelled horrible, was really small and dirty and there was a kitchen where basically everyone smoked pot. I can't stand the smell and knew I wasn't staying there. Why did we reserve it...well lets just say that marketing can do wonders sometimes. They basically false advertised.
There was a bed and breakfast down the street, so I decided to cut my costs and stay there for the night. This 80 year old man owned it and he happened to have availability that night. Lucky me. It was a very old house, but the room was clean and I knew I could sleep. It was his birthday that day, so they were throwing a party for him..he was turning 82. When I asked how many people were coming, they said about 50...holy crap...I hope I know that many people when I am 82 and can stay up that late. He is a fashion designer and makes hats of all kind. He even makes them for the royal family there, so he was pretty well known in the city. I met some cool people at his party, but called it a night at 9:30 so I could get some rest. I awoke about 8:00 to the doorbell ringing. I didn't understand why noone was answering, so I went downstairs to answer it. The house was super smoky. I was like "Man, these people smoked a lot of cigarettes last night." I know I am super naive, but I was still slightly asleep. Anyway, long story short, their house was on fire and this lady was yelling at me in Dutch...all I understood was Fire. So I woke up the owners who were still pretty drunk I think and ran down the hall to gather my stuff. I know you are supposed to just get out of the house when it is on fire...but I couldn't leave all my stuff in there...I would have been screwed for the next week. I grabbed all my stuff which luckily most of it was already packed. As I was coming down the stairs the house was filled with smoke. These houses are very little and the staircases are super narrow...so imagine me coming down with my big ol backpack and 20 firefighters coming up the stairs. I kept yelling there are 2 more people in the house upstairs. This is another story in itself but needless to say I was alittle shook up for the rest of the day. Happy Thanksgiving Trudy...what a wake to wake up. It was a great reminder of how thankful I am for my life and the people in it and also how fast our material possesions can be gone. So that is why I think it is stupid when people put all their pride in to materialistic things. I think they either forgot to put out the fire in the fireplace fully or the chimmney hadn't been cleaned in over 100 years and it started there. Not sure, but I was lucky to get out when I did. So let this be a reminder to all of you to clean your chimmneys regularly.
There was a bed and breakfast down the street, so I decided to cut my costs and stay there for the night. This 80 year old man owned it and he happened to have availability that night. Lucky me. It was a very old house, but the room was clean and I knew I could sleep. It was his birthday that day, so they were throwing a party for him..he was turning 82. When I asked how many people were coming, they said about 50...holy crap...I hope I know that many people when I am 82 and can stay up that late. He is a fashion designer and makes hats of all kind. He even makes them for the royal family there, so he was pretty well known in the city. I met some cool people at his party, but called it a night at 9:30 so I could get some rest. I awoke about 8:00 to the doorbell ringing. I didn't understand why noone was answering, so I went downstairs to answer it. The house was super smoky. I was like "Man, these people smoked a lot of cigarettes last night." I know I am super naive, but I was still slightly asleep. Anyway, long story short, their house was on fire and this lady was yelling at me in Dutch...all I understood was Fire. So I woke up the owners who were still pretty drunk I think and ran down the hall to gather my stuff. I know you are supposed to just get out of the house when it is on fire...but I couldn't leave all my stuff in there...I would have been screwed for the next week. I grabbed all my stuff which luckily most of it was already packed. As I was coming down the stairs the house was filled with smoke. These houses are very little and the staircases are super narrow...so imagine me coming down with my big ol backpack and 20 firefighters coming up the stairs. I kept yelling there are 2 more people in the house upstairs. This is another story in itself but needless to say I was alittle shook up for the rest of the day. Happy Thanksgiving Trudy...what a wake to wake up. It was a great reminder of how thankful I am for my life and the people in it and also how fast our material possesions can be gone. So that is why I think it is stupid when people put all their pride in to materialistic things. I think they either forgot to put out the fire in the fireplace fully or the chimmney hadn't been cleaned in over 100 years and it started there. Not sure, but I was lucky to get out when I did. So let this be a reminder to all of you to clean your chimmneys regularly.
Germany
We also stayed with my friend Kristin and her brother Jonas in Germany for a few days. This was also alot of fun and I got to experience the German culture in person. We went to Frankfurt one day and just walked around. We went to this botancial garden thing that was kinda ugly in the winter, but I could see how it would be beautiful the rest of the year. It was like a huge park in the middle of the city. I also discovered Apple Wine. I LOVE this stuff and have attempted to ship some home. I hope it makes it there. This is a story in itself...which I will probably create its own blog. We got to ride on the Autobaun....going 120km in the rain and snow. This was about 75-80 mph....don't worry Mom...it was safe. We would have gone faster but the weather created speed limits on the autobaun.
The next day we went to Koln pronouced "Cologne". This was a very cool city. We saw an old church and Kristin and I climbed over 500 stairs again to the top for a view of the city. They also have Christmas markets which is a cultural thing in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. They had just opened two days prior so her and I spent all day walking through them. I ate real German food and drinks all day long. It was so good. There are all these little shops that are set up by locals selling stuff they make. For example, one guy was making jewelry out of old silverware. It was very cool. Another guy made leather purses, wallets, etc. Others made this different things out of wood that were very detailed. There were so many cool things here made authentically. I wanted to purchase some but they were so delicate I was scared it wouldn't get home. I had Klu wine which is a hot wine drink. It is very sweet and didn't really like it until someone told me to put Ameretto in it. Ah...much better. We had so much fun in Koln and stayed up super late even though we had a train to catch at 8 in the morning.
I wasn't a huge fan of the beer here. I don't like beer but thought I would try it. I did however like this mixture of beer/sprite that I had in Switzerland. It was very good.
The next day we went to Koln pronouced "Cologne". This was a very cool city. We saw an old church and Kristin and I climbed over 500 stairs again to the top for a view of the city. They also have Christmas markets which is a cultural thing in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. They had just opened two days prior so her and I spent all day walking through them. I ate real German food and drinks all day long. It was so good. There are all these little shops that are set up by locals selling stuff they make. For example, one guy was making jewelry out of old silverware. It was very cool. Another guy made leather purses, wallets, etc. Others made this different things out of wood that were very detailed. There were so many cool things here made authentically. I wanted to purchase some but they were so delicate I was scared it wouldn't get home. I had Klu wine which is a hot wine drink. It is very sweet and didn't really like it until someone told me to put Ameretto in it. Ah...much better. We had so much fun in Koln and stayed up super late even though we had a train to catch at 8 in the morning.
I wasn't a huge fan of the beer here. I don't like beer but thought I would try it. I did however like this mixture of beer/sprite that I had in Switzerland. It was very good.
Switzerland
Switzerland was by far my favorite country. Of course I am a little biased because I grew up in Colorado and it reminded me of "home" in so many ways. It is absolutely the most pristine country. It is extremely clean and everything has its spot. The culture of the Swiss people is that of kindness, calmness and great hospitality. I stayed with my friend Barbara and so happy I did. We had so much fun and we realized that we are similiar in so many ways. We went to Jungfrau Mountain-Top of Europe. This was so pretty, my words or pictures couldn't describe it. We went to the top of the mountain about 11,366 feet. It provided great views of several other peaks and towns in Switzerland. Now this doesn't sound very high for those of you who know Colorado mountains but keep in mind that we started out at a lower evaluation compared to Colorado where you are already one mile up. It was freezing up there. It was -7.5 degrees Celsius which I have no idea what that is in Farhenheit but probably way below 32 degrees. It was so windy at the top of the mountain. Glad I wore like 5 layers of clothes that day! The train system in Switzerland is so cool. The engineering behind the tracks and tunnels through these mountains is unbelievable. On our way to the top of this mountain we were only held on by the littlest track. Amazing we stayed on.... There was a restaurant at the top of this mountain that we ate at which provided 360 degree views of the peaks....so fantastic! The next day Barbara drove us south of Bern to Montreaux. This town is right on Lake Geneva which is probably equivalent to the size of our Great Lakes. The French Alps were right across from Montreaux....unbelivable views. These people are so lucky! It was very rainy and cloudy that day, but God made it possible for me to see the Alps for awhile before the clouds blocked their view. She also told me the town Evian is right at the base of there where they make the bottled water. Who needs to drink bottled water over here when the tap water was the best water I have ever tasted in my life! I couldn't drink enough of it. Guess that is why they bottle it and ship it to the rest of the world. She then drove us over this pass where it began to snow. I would have been nervous, but she is a true mountain girl....not even the snow bothered her. I couldn't get enough of the views. We stopped in this little village that I can't remember the name of but it was exactly what I would pictured a little village to look like. So cute. We went to the bar that the creator of Aliens designed. It was very weird inside....almost felt like I was sitting inside the skeltal system of a human specifically the spine. Then she took us on a tour of La Greyere cheese factory. This cheese is very famous. She bought some fondue cheese and later that night made fondue for us. It was so good. We then went and participated in local events...and were the only fans of a local basketball teams championship game. Her friend Matthew had friends playing in the game so we decided to be the cheerleaders. It was in this little gym of a school that had no bleachers or seats...just one bench that 6 of us piled on. The next night she took me to a Swiss hockey game that is the equivalent of our NHL. Except these games are way more fun. They are so intense, like college football in America. The "true and crazy" fans stand on the ends of the arena. The rest have the choice to sit in the middle of the arena. It is like one big pit and so crowded. I had so much fun. this hockey game could be another story in itself. I met so many cool people in Switzerland and miss them.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
What day is it?
What day is it? It seems like the last week has been one big blur. Maybe it is all the fun I have had or just the fact that I have been traveling for a few weeks now or maybe the fact that I am a little home sick. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed again and not live out of a bag.
I know tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so happy Thanksgiving everyone. I have a ton to say about Switzerland and Germany. Had a great time in both places with my friends and met new friends. We are in Amsterdam and I can already tell you, not a big fan of this town. I honestly just don't feel like blogging right now, but wanted to let all my friends and family know how much I love them and how thankful I am to have great people in my life.
I will blog more in a few days when I have some time to just sit and write.
I know tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so happy Thanksgiving everyone. I have a ton to say about Switzerland and Germany. Had a great time in both places with my friends and met new friends. We are in Amsterdam and I can already tell you, not a big fan of this town. I honestly just don't feel like blogging right now, but wanted to let all my friends and family know how much I love them and how thankful I am to have great people in my life.
I will blog more in a few days when I have some time to just sit and write.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Nov. 12-18- Cinque Terra, Florence, Rome
We are still alive. Sorry I havent had much Internet access to blog. We have had to pay for it everywhere we have gone the last few days. Also apologize for any mistakes in here.....these keyboards are so different. The letters and characters are all in different spots so it takes longer to type.
Cinque Terra
This was the most beautiful place I have ever seen....okay...well maybe in my top ten places. We stayed in Vernazza in an apartment. It had the best views overlooking this tiny town, ocean views from our window and balcony. We even could see all the vineyards on the mountains. The first day we got there is was rainy and late in the afternoon so they closed all the paths to each town. The only way to get to each town is to take the train or hike. The next day we did a hike from Vernazza to Corniglia. This was amazing. It went right along the cliffs that dropped off to the ocean, through vineyards on the mountains and beautiful views of both towns and each town after. Hard to explain, but the pics turned out really good. This hike took us 2 hours and was much harder than Levi and I anticipated but well worth it. Each town probably doesn,t have more than 100 people in it. Very cute towns.
Florence, Italy
We got in late to Florence and was greeted by the happiest man in Italy upon entering our hostel. Max was so excited and so happy. He loves his hostel and his life. He recommended a restaurant that turned out to be excellent. I had fettucine alfredo with walnut sauce. It was amaying. Levi had a mix of different meats and said it was good. The next day we went to Duomo Cathedral. This church was absolutely beautiful inside. We walked up 365 very very small steps to the top of the dome. It provided very beautiful views of Florence. We then went to see the statue of David, but they wanted 14 dollars to get in and you couldnt even take pics, so we opted to pay 2 dollars and buy the postcards. The architechure is so detailed in Italy in all their buildings. The colors and detail of this cathedral were unbelievable.
Rome, Italy
We stayed in Rome for four days. We went to the Vatican, the colosseum, spanish steps, trevi fountain, circus maximus, Roman Forum, angel bridge...all over the city. This town is so old. I knew that it was the start of the Roman Empire, but until you get there and see all the old stuff...it really hits you. I could spent days talking about Rome. We ate lots of good food, gelato and walked and walked. The metro system was quite the experience. Line A is nice, Line B is totally ghetto. Rome is also a dirty town, but people are so nice and very proud of their culture. I was able to do lots of shopping in this town...I am not a shopper, but after here...I think I might have slightly rounded the corner. I could shop everyday in this town. We also met David from Denmark. He spent the last day and half with us. We had so much fun with him and his energy level is outstanding. He absolutely loves his life. He was very spiritual but not in a pushy way. Him and I have a lot of the same views and Levi and him had some very interesting conversations. We gave him our emails and hope that he stays in touch with us. Gotta run.
Cinque Terra
This was the most beautiful place I have ever seen....okay...well maybe in my top ten places. We stayed in Vernazza in an apartment. It had the best views overlooking this tiny town, ocean views from our window and balcony. We even could see all the vineyards on the mountains. The first day we got there is was rainy and late in the afternoon so they closed all the paths to each town. The only way to get to each town is to take the train or hike. The next day we did a hike from Vernazza to Corniglia. This was amazing. It went right along the cliffs that dropped off to the ocean, through vineyards on the mountains and beautiful views of both towns and each town after. Hard to explain, but the pics turned out really good. This hike took us 2 hours and was much harder than Levi and I anticipated but well worth it. Each town probably doesn,t have more than 100 people in it. Very cute towns.
Florence, Italy
We got in late to Florence and was greeted by the happiest man in Italy upon entering our hostel. Max was so excited and so happy. He loves his hostel and his life. He recommended a restaurant that turned out to be excellent. I had fettucine alfredo with walnut sauce. It was amaying. Levi had a mix of different meats and said it was good. The next day we went to Duomo Cathedral. This church was absolutely beautiful inside. We walked up 365 very very small steps to the top of the dome. It provided very beautiful views of Florence. We then went to see the statue of David, but they wanted 14 dollars to get in and you couldnt even take pics, so we opted to pay 2 dollars and buy the postcards. The architechure is so detailed in Italy in all their buildings. The colors and detail of this cathedral were unbelievable.
Rome, Italy
We stayed in Rome for four days. We went to the Vatican, the colosseum, spanish steps, trevi fountain, circus maximus, Roman Forum, angel bridge...all over the city. This town is so old. I knew that it was the start of the Roman Empire, but until you get there and see all the old stuff...it really hits you. I could spent days talking about Rome. We ate lots of good food, gelato and walked and walked. The metro system was quite the experience. Line A is nice, Line B is totally ghetto. Rome is also a dirty town, but people are so nice and very proud of their culture. I was able to do lots of shopping in this town...I am not a shopper, but after here...I think I might have slightly rounded the corner. I could shop everyday in this town. We also met David from Denmark. He spent the last day and half with us. We had so much fun with him and his energy level is outstanding. He absolutely loves his life. He was very spiritual but not in a pushy way. Him and I have a lot of the same views and Levi and him had some very interesting conversations. We gave him our emails and hope that he stays in touch with us. Gotta run.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Wed. Nov 12th- Travel Day to Cinque Terra
Levi and I will be traveling to Cinque Terra tomorrow. We will probably stay for 1 1/2 days. I am not sure how much email access I will have as it is pretty secluded.
Nice, France- Nov. 10 and 11
First of all Happy Birthday Mom and Happy Veterans Day to my Dad and all the other veterans out there. Thanks for serving our country and helping to keep our freedom. Being over in Europe, I realize how many conveniences we have and how greedy, ungrateful and materialistic we can be. Sometimes we forget how important family and friends are as well as conversation and just sitting and "being in the now". This is something else Europe is teaching me to just sit, be still and enjoy!
We are in Nice, France (pronouced "Neice"). It is beautiful here and the weather is wonderful. Yesterday, we walked around without a jacket on for most of the day. The Méditerranéen Sea is so pretty. We sat on the beach and had lunch, of course I had to call my parents and they said it was snowing. I felt kinda bad for rubbing it in that we were sitting on a beach. I found this amazing hostel to stay in at Nice. It is called Villa St. Expury. It used to be an old monestary for monks. It is up on this mountain that overlooks Nice and you can see the Sea. They are so nice here and the customer service is great. They serve breakfast every morning. At night, they have professional chefs that come in and cook a speciality meal or you can choose to order pizza. It is so good and very cheap. They also have a bar here with 1 euro beers. So it makes it great. At night a lot of people hang out here and it is very easy to meet people from all over the world which is cool. We haven't really had that experience until now. After you have dinner, you have to go wash your own dishes. It almost feels like summer camp in a way, but I like it. It is a nice change. Last night I met some girls who were traveling alone. One was basically doing the same route as us so we might meet up in a couple of town. It seems like almost everyone in this hostel speaks English which makes it very easy to communicate. This hostel also does your laundry for you for 5 Euro. We thought that was awesome. You can go sightsee instead of doing laundry. Although, I am a little weird about other people doing my laundry...I went along with it. Hopefully none of my clothes shrunk. I will find out in a few days! LOL!
Yesterday, we hiked up to this Chateau (basically a castle from Mid-Evil times). It had this waterfall at the very top. I was counting all the stairs we had to climb. Levi and I figured we climbed about 1500 stairs/steps just in this adventure. This place was very cool. I felt like I was in the mountains or a park and forgot I was in the middle of a city. We also climbed up to our hostel twice yesterday, so add another mile or so to that. This kind of low impact exercise has been good for me. I think when I get back, I will be ready to start running and lifting weights again slowly.
We were supposed to leave Nice today, but the Italian trains went on strike yesterday, so we decided to stay in Nice one more day. Tomorrow we leave for Cinque Terra. I can't wait to tell you all about that. If you want a sneak peak on what that is...read this website... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinque_Terre
Today we went to a restaurant in Nice that was by far my best experience while in France. We were the only people in the restaurant besides a table of four people who we later found out were close friends with the owner of the restaurant. There was a little French boy who was so cute and kept "flirting" with me. We ended up talking to his dad, who is a doctor here in Nice. They were so cute together. The dad was playing all these games with him and trying to get him to dance to the music playing. Then the little boy gave his father a kiss on each cheek. It was so adorable. I ended up taking a picture of him and his father which I will email to the owner of the restaurant. He was the one who served us and we got the best customer service. The restaurant owner knows 6 languages...man am I jealous. He was very friendly and talkative. I could go on and on about this experience, but it will take too long in an email. Long story short, he ended up giving me this painting thing, which he called something like Calligraphy but it isn't Calligraphy. The one he gave me means basically, "Where God is, there is always good and bad things can't happen. There can't be good in hell." It was very special and I totally beleive that wherever God is good things happen and things happen for a reason. When the little boy was leaving with his family, he came over and gave Levi and I a kiss on the cheek. So freaking cute.....It was a very cool experience and totally made my day!
We are in Nice, France (pronouced "Neice"). It is beautiful here and the weather is wonderful. Yesterday, we walked around without a jacket on for most of the day. The Méditerranéen Sea is so pretty. We sat on the beach and had lunch, of course I had to call my parents and they said it was snowing. I felt kinda bad for rubbing it in that we were sitting on a beach. I found this amazing hostel to stay in at Nice. It is called Villa St. Expury. It used to be an old monestary for monks. It is up on this mountain that overlooks Nice and you can see the Sea. They are so nice here and the customer service is great. They serve breakfast every morning. At night, they have professional chefs that come in and cook a speciality meal or you can choose to order pizza. It is so good and very cheap. They also have a bar here with 1 euro beers. So it makes it great. At night a lot of people hang out here and it is very easy to meet people from all over the world which is cool. We haven't really had that experience until now. After you have dinner, you have to go wash your own dishes. It almost feels like summer camp in a way, but I like it. It is a nice change. Last night I met some girls who were traveling alone. One was basically doing the same route as us so we might meet up in a couple of town. It seems like almost everyone in this hostel speaks English which makes it very easy to communicate. This hostel also does your laundry for you for 5 Euro. We thought that was awesome. You can go sightsee instead of doing laundry. Although, I am a little weird about other people doing my laundry...I went along with it. Hopefully none of my clothes shrunk. I will find out in a few days! LOL!
Yesterday, we hiked up to this Chateau (basically a castle from Mid-Evil times). It had this waterfall at the very top. I was counting all the stairs we had to climb. Levi and I figured we climbed about 1500 stairs/steps just in this adventure. This place was very cool. I felt like I was in the mountains or a park and forgot I was in the middle of a city. We also climbed up to our hostel twice yesterday, so add another mile or so to that. This kind of low impact exercise has been good for me. I think when I get back, I will be ready to start running and lifting weights again slowly.
We were supposed to leave Nice today, but the Italian trains went on strike yesterday, so we decided to stay in Nice one more day. Tomorrow we leave for Cinque Terra. I can't wait to tell you all about that. If you want a sneak peak on what that is...read this website... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinque_Terre
Today we went to a restaurant in Nice that was by far my best experience while in France. We were the only people in the restaurant besides a table of four people who we later found out were close friends with the owner of the restaurant. There was a little French boy who was so cute and kept "flirting" with me. We ended up talking to his dad, who is a doctor here in Nice. They were so cute together. The dad was playing all these games with him and trying to get him to dance to the music playing. Then the little boy gave his father a kiss on each cheek. It was so adorable. I ended up taking a picture of him and his father which I will email to the owner of the restaurant. He was the one who served us and we got the best customer service. The restaurant owner knows 6 languages...man am I jealous. He was very friendly and talkative. I could go on and on about this experience, but it will take too long in an email. Long story short, he ended up giving me this painting thing, which he called something like Calligraphy but it isn't Calligraphy. The one he gave me means basically, "Where God is, there is always good and bad things can't happen. There can't be good in hell." It was very special and I totally beleive that wherever God is good things happen and things happen for a reason. When the little boy was leaving with his family, he came over and gave Levi and I a kiss on the cheek. So freaking cute.....It was a very cool experience and totally made my day!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Barcolena Nov 7 and 8
The two days we spent here were fantastic. Due to crappy internet in Paris I wasn't able to research hostels as much as we wanted so I we had were names and web addresses. Upon arriving we didn't know where to go but had a general vincinity. So we went there and started walking in search of these hostels. We found a cyber cafe and got some addresses. Of course when we got there they were full and had no availability. We were refered to a hidden gem...Hostel Olivia. This was another test of my anxiety and taught me a new lesson: Learn from your mistakes. Planning is efficient but spontenity can uncover hidden gems. This place was great and defintely a hidden gem. I felt like we were living in someones home or apartment. Claudestro, the owner of the hostel was so sweet. She was probably in her 70s and was there 24h....7days a week. We had an interesting view of some buildings outside our window. One was an open hole in the wall and the other was the doorway to someones house. At one point 3 little Spanish children were running up and down the galleyway and their dog would chase them. I tried to get one of them to pose for a picture but I could only get them in action. I was able to take a picture of a kid helping his mom collect all the laundry from our hostel. He was very photogetic.
Barcolena was beautiful all the way around...articheture, people, weather.... It was also very clean and people were so friendly and willing to chat. Of course, it helps when you know the language. Levi saved me there and was able to communicate with everyone. He even got complimented twice in one day on his Spanish speaking by two of the locals. His communication with the locals brought about several interesting stories...one being that when a taxi driver learned we were from America, he automatically related it to Western Movies...Clint Eastwood and John Wayne. We saw Temple of Sangia Familia which is a church that has been under construction for over 200 years. After seeing it, I can see why...the detail is so intricate and colorful. Hopefully pictures will do it justice. It is supposed to be completed by 2012.
The second day here we just wandered around. Levi got an idea to stop at every bar we saw and have a drink and tapa. I said ok, but only if we could mix it in with some shopping. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun. We stumbled upon a church. It was amazing inside. Little did we know that a wedding was also about to happen. We were able to catch the bride getting out of the car, but didn't stay for the wedding. The next bar we stopped in had the ten commandments for being lazy or relaxation. Levi is going to properly translate it, but he did his best during our time there. I think it was fate as some were directed totally to me at this time in my life such as:
1. Don't do today, what you can put off till tomorrow.
2. When work assults you or the desires of work assult you, sit down and wait for them to pass.
3. Do as little as possible, let everyone else do it.
The funniest thing so far on this trip was our last night in Barcelona. As we were wandering the streets, some wasted lads from England approached us and literally and very seriously asked us, "Do you know where we are and where we are supposed to be?" Of course they had no name or address when we were asked that. How the heck are we supposed to know where you need to be? LOL! They finally found their hotel card and I gladly took it as if I knew the city like the back of my hand. Somehow Levi and this lady got on the subject of Connecticut. She asked him..."How far is Connecticut from here and how do we get there?"...all as if she wanted to go right then. LOL! Oh, so funny. I eventually got them instructions to where they needed to go and was proud of myself for being able to understand a enough of Spanish to tell them. Levi has been slowly trying to teach me key words.
Barcolena was beautiful all the way around...articheture, people, weather.... It was also very clean and people were so friendly and willing to chat. Of course, it helps when you know the language. Levi saved me there and was able to communicate with everyone. He even got complimented twice in one day on his Spanish speaking by two of the locals. His communication with the locals brought about several interesting stories...one being that when a taxi driver learned we were from America, he automatically related it to Western Movies...Clint Eastwood and John Wayne. We saw Temple of Sangia Familia which is a church that has been under construction for over 200 years. After seeing it, I can see why...the detail is so intricate and colorful. Hopefully pictures will do it justice. It is supposed to be completed by 2012.
The second day here we just wandered around. Levi got an idea to stop at every bar we saw and have a drink and tapa. I said ok, but only if we could mix it in with some shopping. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun. We stumbled upon a church. It was amazing inside. Little did we know that a wedding was also about to happen. We were able to catch the bride getting out of the car, but didn't stay for the wedding. The next bar we stopped in had the ten commandments for being lazy or relaxation. Levi is going to properly translate it, but he did his best during our time there. I think it was fate as some were directed totally to me at this time in my life such as:
1. Don't do today, what you can put off till tomorrow.
2. When work assults you or the desires of work assult you, sit down and wait for them to pass.
3. Do as little as possible, let everyone else do it.
The funniest thing so far on this trip was our last night in Barcelona. As we were wandering the streets, some wasted lads from England approached us and literally and very seriously asked us, "Do you know where we are and where we are supposed to be?" Of course they had no name or address when we were asked that. How the heck are we supposed to know where you need to be? LOL! They finally found their hotel card and I gladly took it as if I knew the city like the back of my hand. Somehow Levi and this lady got on the subject of Connecticut. She asked him..."How far is Connecticut from here and how do we get there?"...all as if she wanted to go right then. LOL! Oh, so funny. I eventually got them instructions to where they needed to go and was proud of myself for being able to understand a enough of Spanish to tell them. Levi has been slowly trying to teach me key words.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Paris & Spain- Nov. 5-8
Immediately after stepping off the train in Paris, both Levi and I knew that we wern´t going to be impressed. The city is very dirty and we didn´t have a good experience with the people. Many we encountered were rude and refused to speak English, even though we knew they knew it. It was interesting to see how much they were into the elections. That is all that was on the TVs, news. When we came into the hostel, the first words from the lady was, "Obama is your new President!" She was so excited...we were both like yeah we already knew that. Anyway, while in Paris, we went to the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. The Louvre is beautiful inside and out. If you are familiar with art, this is the place to go. There are over 30,000 exhibits in here. Levi and I basically went to the Mona Lisa and a few other cool looking peices of art. It was very crowded. Although they say no cameras with flashes, it wasn´t enforced. We got pics of the originial Mona Lisa. I thought the Eiffel Tower was cool. It lights up every hour on the hour. We also met up with my co-worker Jeff and his wife Jenn for dinner. That was very nice to speak English after being so frustrated with not understanding any French. We shared stories about what we had been up to. They were taking all these walks around neighborhoods in Paris and were loving it. Some of their pics were really cool.
We boarded a train for Spain and were very happy to be leaving Paris. We were headed for Biarritz, France where my friend is from. Due to a train strike, we were lucky to get on the train so decided to take it as far as it would to San Sebastian, Spain so we could take a night train to Barcelona. San Sebastian was so cute. I loved it. We were able to walk around for a few hours prior to boarding the train. We both would love to go back. Immediately after getting off in Spain, we both knew we LOVE SPAIN!
Barcelona will be discussed in the next blog!
We boarded a train for Spain and were very happy to be leaving Paris. We were headed for Biarritz, France where my friend is from. Due to a train strike, we were lucky to get on the train so decided to take it as far as it would to San Sebastian, Spain so we could take a night train to Barcelona. San Sebastian was so cute. I loved it. We were able to walk around for a few hours prior to boarding the train. We both would love to go back. Immediately after getting off in Spain, we both knew we LOVE SPAIN!
Barcelona will be discussed in the next blog!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
2nd Day of London
Well we didn't make it to Stonehedge today. Apparantely, you have to buy tickets the day before, so we will do that when we come back into London. Today, we just continued to explore London sites. We went to the Victoria and Albert Museum which was very exciting for me because I am related to Queen Victoria. Levi and I had lots of fun in there. There are some very interesting and funny things. You will laugh when you see pictures. Of course I had to play with all the interactive stuff and play dress up with a few things. We also saw Harrods which is a huge department store. Not your normal department store...there are tons and tons of stores in there...high end stuff like Versace, Gucci, etc. I was so overwhelmed but all of you know how much of a shopper I am not. I know some of you would have been in heaven.
Last night we went to Tiger/Tiger, a club down the street. We had so much fun. Because of knowing people in the hostel, we got in VIP section. Also happened to make friends with a guy who knew people at the club. Long story short, I met "Mini Me" or Vern from Austin Powers. He was so nice. I got pics with him. Very, very cool.
I am super tired...but you all be happy to know I am getting tons of exercise! Besides walking miles and miles each day, I am on the natural stair stepper. There are seven floors in this hostel and we are on the 7th floor. There are 18 stairs inbetween each floor. So you do the math...going up and down these stairs multiple times a day is definately making me sore.
Heading off to Paris tommorrow on the bright and early train...5:30 am. Gotta go get some sleep!
Last night we went to Tiger/Tiger, a club down the street. We had so much fun. Because of knowing people in the hostel, we got in VIP section. Also happened to make friends with a guy who knew people at the club. Long story short, I met "Mini Me" or Vern from Austin Powers. He was so nice. I got pics with him. Very, very cool.
I am super tired...but you all be happy to know I am getting tons of exercise! Besides walking miles and miles each day, I am on the natural stair stepper. There are seven floors in this hostel and we are on the 7th floor. There are 18 stairs inbetween each floor. So you do the math...going up and down these stairs multiple times a day is definately making me sore.
Heading off to Paris tommorrow on the bright and early train...5:30 am. Gotta go get some sleep!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Europe trip
This has been something I have wanted to do for over 8 years. I can't believe it is finally here. Not only will this be completing one of my dreams, it is also a chance for me to do some soul searchign and self discovery at a new level. I am very excited for the next thirty days. I feel very blessed to be able to experience this. I am keeping a journal which will have more details of each days experience but thought the blog would be a good spot to do high level.
I will try to blog as much as possible. Sorry for any mistakes...these keyboards are weird. As for pictures, you will have to just wait until i get back. For those of you who don't know, Levi is my freind from college.
LONDON
So we made it here okay. London is cool. It reminds me of a mini NYC. The flight was good. Levi and I were impressed with the meals, the inflight entertainment (once we could figure it out) and the fact they gave us real silverware to eat off. For some reason, I got really sick this morning right after getting off the flight. I didn't feel better until a couple hours later. We walked all over this morning, but Levi wasn't able to sleep on the plane last night so he was dragging by one. We came back to the hostel and checked in and took a power nap. He wanted to sleep longer, but I made him get up so we could go see more stuff. I LOVE TRAVELING! I figured we walked about 8 miles today. The only train we took was from the airport to the hostel. There are so many cool things to see here and the fashion is amazing. If I was rich, I would definately come shopping here...for now I am saving the shopping for Italy. I love all the accents I hear everywhere. I could sit and listen to them all day....good thing i have 29 more days to enjoy it! This afternoon after the nap, we went to Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and a few other places. We ate at this really cool hole in the wall local place. The food was authentic, cheap and excellent. I had this sausage and potato thing....so delicious! Levi told me not to blog about this but the funniest thing was he wanted a to-go box and they didn't know what that was or have one, so they brought him this little trick or treat bag to wrap his food up in. i was laughing so hard. i think we might go to this club/lounge tonight (Tiger/Tiger). the hostel is having an event special there. we are both really tired, so who knows if we will be able to stay up that late. I may go just because it was a lounge recommended to me that I go check out. We also went to the store i call the "fuck" store because it was spelled FCUK. We thought it was funny and took pictures. It was a really nice clothing store. Tomorrow we are going about 1hr out of London to see Stonehedge/avebury and Bath. we will stay at this hostel again tomorrow night and then head to Paris first thing on Wed. Still some more things to see in London that we may hit tomorrow afternoon or night or when we come back in on our last leg. So far..off to a good start and i am so glad i am doing this! i love it!
I will try to blog as much as possible. Sorry for any mistakes...these keyboards are weird. As for pictures, you will have to just wait until i get back. For those of you who don't know, Levi is my freind from college.
LONDON
So we made it here okay. London is cool. It reminds me of a mini NYC. The flight was good. Levi and I were impressed with the meals, the inflight entertainment (once we could figure it out) and the fact they gave us real silverware to eat off. For some reason, I got really sick this morning right after getting off the flight. I didn't feel better until a couple hours later. We walked all over this morning, but Levi wasn't able to sleep on the plane last night so he was dragging by one. We came back to the hostel and checked in and took a power nap. He wanted to sleep longer, but I made him get up so we could go see more stuff. I LOVE TRAVELING! I figured we walked about 8 miles today. The only train we took was from the airport to the hostel. There are so many cool things to see here and the fashion is amazing. If I was rich, I would definately come shopping here...for now I am saving the shopping for Italy. I love all the accents I hear everywhere. I could sit and listen to them all day....good thing i have 29 more days to enjoy it! This afternoon after the nap, we went to Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and a few other places. We ate at this really cool hole in the wall local place. The food was authentic, cheap and excellent. I had this sausage and potato thing....so delicious! Levi told me not to blog about this but the funniest thing was he wanted a to-go box and they didn't know what that was or have one, so they brought him this little trick or treat bag to wrap his food up in. i was laughing so hard. i think we might go to this club/lounge tonight (Tiger/Tiger). the hostel is having an event special there. we are both really tired, so who knows if we will be able to stay up that late. I may go just because it was a lounge recommended to me that I go check out. We also went to the store i call the "fuck" store because it was spelled FCUK. We thought it was funny and took pictures. It was a really nice clothing store. Tomorrow we are going about 1hr out of London to see Stonehedge/avebury and Bath. we will stay at this hostel again tomorrow night and then head to Paris first thing on Wed. Still some more things to see in London that we may hit tomorrow afternoon or night or when we come back in on our last leg. So far..off to a good start and i am so glad i am doing this! i love it!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
My little thoughts about inspiration......
What inspires or motivates people...most would say challenges within situations, money, family, friends. What truly inspires or prompts people to do certain actions? Do our inspirations create or mold our purpose in life? In evaluating my life, I would have to say yes. What inspires me...people who make me think about how to better my life, how to solve problems in new efficient and innovative ways...people who are carefree and always laughing...people who put others first or who face their odds and challenges head on...people who don't take no for answer or see the glass as always half full...people who work hard to see what they want without jeopardizing their integrity. Children also inspire me because of their innonence. Laughter, heartache, and joy inspire me. It is through the challenges where God is chipping away at the stone to uncover the diamond. Failure inspires me because it creates an atmosphere of humbleness followed by strength.
So, how do all these inspirations influence or create my purpose in life? My ultimate purpose in life is to inspire people by creating excitement, curiosity, determination and appreciation. I also want to inspire people through learning. It is possible that the inspiration of one individual could spark another and then their inspiration sparks anothers until an entire audience is influenced and begins creating positive change? Be the leader you want to see in the world right? I have been thinking about this a lot lately in trying to understand my next steps. I know there is so much more that I am capable of but I also still feel like I have lessons to be learned and lessons to teach. I am wanting a change in my life and have realized that the change has to start with me. Our emotions are the only ones we can change. The first step is to cut out all the negativity in my life including the kind I create myself, foster an environment that excites others and makes them want to have the same thing.
Have you ever watched children? They are fearless..they go after what they want and don't stop till they get it. It doesn't matter if they are in the middle of the crowded store, at home or climbing something...they scream loud and go forth bound to grab what they have their eyes set on. Failure is not an option. They get hurt or told no, screw up and yet they keep going. It is amazing how as adults we left everything stay with us where all our innonence is almost gone. What has happened to our faith and foregiveness? I was watching this show on Oprah about kids who beat the odds or are well above them. Individually, I think I am going to beat the odds, have more faith and go forth!
So, how do all these inspirations influence or create my purpose in life? My ultimate purpose in life is to inspire people by creating excitement, curiosity, determination and appreciation. I also want to inspire people through learning. It is possible that the inspiration of one individual could spark another and then their inspiration sparks anothers until an entire audience is influenced and begins creating positive change? Be the leader you want to see in the world right? I have been thinking about this a lot lately in trying to understand my next steps. I know there is so much more that I am capable of but I also still feel like I have lessons to be learned and lessons to teach. I am wanting a change in my life and have realized that the change has to start with me. Our emotions are the only ones we can change. The first step is to cut out all the negativity in my life including the kind I create myself, foster an environment that excites others and makes them want to have the same thing.
Have you ever watched children? They are fearless..they go after what they want and don't stop till they get it. It doesn't matter if they are in the middle of the crowded store, at home or climbing something...they scream loud and go forth bound to grab what they have their eyes set on. Failure is not an option. They get hurt or told no, screw up and yet they keep going. It is amazing how as adults we left everything stay with us where all our innonence is almost gone. What has happened to our faith and foregiveness? I was watching this show on Oprah about kids who beat the odds or are well above them. Individually, I think I am going to beat the odds, have more faith and go forth!
My first blog!
I am constantly thinking, moving, and talking.....with that being said I thought it might be fun to document some of these thoughts and share them with the world....thus the creation of Trudy's World. This blog will serve as my personal webpage (until I can create a real one) where I can share activities in my life or thoughts in my head with all my friends and family. I think learning is an interactive activity, so I would love to hear your thoughts on any of my posts.