Yesterday, Emily and I spent the day walkng around Prague, getting to know the city. Since I´ve spent a lot nore time there than Em, I left it to her to choose what to do. We took one of the free walking tours, solidified our train plans, walked to the castel, and then crashed at our hostel. We spent some time chatting with our hostel roommates, Matt and Sam, who were from Australia and SUCH nice guys. They are younger than Em and I and Matt is doing his gap year in the UK. They were teaching me all about the band Kings of Leon after they discovered that I am incredibly old and inept for my age and had absolutely no idea who they were. They claimed they are the best band out there - I think they are pretty good.
This morning Emily and I had to get up and take the 7:14am train to Salzburg. We ended up getting on one of teh cars that doesn´t go the whole way. The conductor told us we had to go to the next car up, so for about an hour, we ened up squished in the middle seats of separate compartments. Fortunately, we ended up being able to sit together, so it all worked out in the end.
We arrived in Salzburg at around 2pm and started walking around the city to get our bearings. We popped into an Irish pub that Emily was fond of, and ended up getting a drink and meeting a couple of legitimate Irish kids. We had a good time talking to them and hanging out for a while until they had to catch the bus back to the nearby town they were staying at.
Now we are just hanging at the hostel, feeling tired but ready for a full day of Austria delights! haha!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Prague part deux
So I am at my hostel in Prague and anxiously awaiting the arrival of my friend Emily this evening. The hostel itself is in a pretty obscure (yet central) location. When I was here a couple weeks ago, we decided to try to find it and actually found it quite quickly. I have a pretty good visual memory, so I wasnt worried too much about finding it again. WELL, before I put my backpack on to make the trek over there this morning, I decided I had better just check out where it was, in case it wasnt so obvious. Oh man, I literally spent an hour trying desperately to find it. I eventually ended up going back to my hotel and looking up on the internet how to get there. Luckily, when I went out with my backpack on and directions in had, I found it easily...it was RIGHT THERE. What a dope!
It is a very hostelly hostel, Id say. There are some guys from Australia in our room who look like theyve been thoroughly enjoying Czech beer for the days theyve been here. They were pleasant enough, but I will be happy to have my traveling companion with me so I can have someone to do things with! So that is that. I will update later, until then, adieu.
It is a very hostelly hostel, Id say. There are some guys from Australia in our room who look like theyve been thoroughly enjoying Czech beer for the days theyve been here. They were pleasant enough, but I will be happy to have my traveling companion with me so I can have someone to do things with! So that is that. I will update later, until then, adieu.
Krakow Updates
So I wasnt able to write on my blog in Krakow, which is why I havent responded to any of your lovley comments! Sorry about that. I guess I will try to sum up how Krakow was.
I had heard that Krakow was the new Prague, so since I had just been to the Old Prague, I was looking forward to see if it was actually true. I cant say that I agree with the thought. Krakow seems like a nice place to live and is generally pleasant, but I didnt think that it had the same charm or the same variety of things to do as Prague. I wouldnt say that I was disappointed, but I also dont feel the need to come back ASAP.
Our first day, we looked around a bit and realized that there wasnt a lot of action going on in the main square (it was raining) so we decided to head for the famous salt mines just outside the city that are a UNESCO world heritage site. They are cool in a Disney sort of way and completely unlike the silver mine we had visited earlier in the trip. They had huge caverns carved out and there were entire chapels and restaurants down there. They used to have areas for cocktail events and things like that. You can actually get married in the main chapel! I thought it was enjoyable and our tour guide was pretty cool. The tour is long though, so afterwards we ate at the salt mine restaurant. I would like to say it was good, but mom and I both accidentally ordered tripe soup...funny how much tripe looks like chicken (but doesnt taste like it!)
The next day we decided to take the long trip to Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp. Suffice it to say, it is a sad, depressing place to visit. We had considered not going, but in the end felt that it was the most notorious of all the camps and we wanted to have a look at what was there. One of the unique things about the camp was the tour groups of Israeli students, most of whom draped the Israeli flag over their shoulders. One of the smaller groups began playing music from a handheld cd player (Id say boombox, but it wasnt really). I have to say it didnt feel apropriate to me and I made me feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Beyond that, our tour guide (for another long tour, 3 hrs) was excellent and full of information about the camps. Amongst the most touching and shocking things for me was one of the exhibits which filled a room with soley human hair. The Nazis had shaved the womens heads and kept all the hair in order to make it into things like blankets. Beyond being disgusting, it was beyond sad to think of each woman and her hair. I imagine myself and how my hair is a part of my identity and so much a part of who I am in a strange way and I think of all the women who were dehumanized in this way. An entire room filled with hair, and this is only a small portion of what had survived the SS attempts to cover their tracks at the end.
Of course there are no words to describe such a place.
Our final day in Krakow involved a quick look around the old Jewish quarter of the city. We popped into a couple of the Synagogues, but didnt spend too much time since weve seen plenty of Synagogues in Prague. We walked around a bit and also visited Wawels Castel, which was mostly closed, but from everything I read, not really worth much of a visit anyway. One thing that was fun was the fire breathing Dragon sculpture, which is based off a legend about the city in which some guy defeats a dragon to protect the city. The scuplture actually had fire coming out of its mouth which was pretty cool.
Yesterday was a full travel day from Krakow back to Prague and we met a couple with a baby who were interesting. We chatted them up for a good portion of the trip, which helped to pass the time.
Oh and in case you are wondering, the keyboard here is different so I cant find the apostrophe key or the quotation marks anywhere. So until I either figure it out or get to another computer, youll just have to live in an apostrophe free world (well, at least on my blog...which is really all you need to be reading anyways...)
I had heard that Krakow was the new Prague, so since I had just been to the Old Prague, I was looking forward to see if it was actually true. I cant say that I agree with the thought. Krakow seems like a nice place to live and is generally pleasant, but I didnt think that it had the same charm or the same variety of things to do as Prague. I wouldnt say that I was disappointed, but I also dont feel the need to come back ASAP.
Our first day, we looked around a bit and realized that there wasnt a lot of action going on in the main square (it was raining) so we decided to head for the famous salt mines just outside the city that are a UNESCO world heritage site. They are cool in a Disney sort of way and completely unlike the silver mine we had visited earlier in the trip. They had huge caverns carved out and there were entire chapels and restaurants down there. They used to have areas for cocktail events and things like that. You can actually get married in the main chapel! I thought it was enjoyable and our tour guide was pretty cool. The tour is long though, so afterwards we ate at the salt mine restaurant. I would like to say it was good, but mom and I both accidentally ordered tripe soup...funny how much tripe looks like chicken (but doesnt taste like it!)
The next day we decided to take the long trip to Auschwitz Birkenau concentration camp. Suffice it to say, it is a sad, depressing place to visit. We had considered not going, but in the end felt that it was the most notorious of all the camps and we wanted to have a look at what was there. One of the unique things about the camp was the tour groups of Israeli students, most of whom draped the Israeli flag over their shoulders. One of the smaller groups began playing music from a handheld cd player (Id say boombox, but it wasnt really). I have to say it didnt feel apropriate to me and I made me feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Beyond that, our tour guide (for another long tour, 3 hrs) was excellent and full of information about the camps. Amongst the most touching and shocking things for me was one of the exhibits which filled a room with soley human hair. The Nazis had shaved the womens heads and kept all the hair in order to make it into things like blankets. Beyond being disgusting, it was beyond sad to think of each woman and her hair. I imagine myself and how my hair is a part of my identity and so much a part of who I am in a strange way and I think of all the women who were dehumanized in this way. An entire room filled with hair, and this is only a small portion of what had survived the SS attempts to cover their tracks at the end.
Of course there are no words to describe such a place.
Our final day in Krakow involved a quick look around the old Jewish quarter of the city. We popped into a couple of the Synagogues, but didnt spend too much time since weve seen plenty of Synagogues in Prague. We walked around a bit and also visited Wawels Castel, which was mostly closed, but from everything I read, not really worth much of a visit anyway. One thing that was fun was the fire breathing Dragon sculpture, which is based off a legend about the city in which some guy defeats a dragon to protect the city. The scuplture actually had fire coming out of its mouth which was pretty cool.
Yesterday was a full travel day from Krakow back to Prague and we met a couple with a baby who were interesting. We chatted them up for a good portion of the trip, which helped to pass the time.
Oh and in case you are wondering, the keyboard here is different so I cant find the apostrophe key or the quotation marks anywhere. So until I either figure it out or get to another computer, youll just have to live in an apostrophe free world (well, at least on my blog...which is really all you need to be reading anyways...)
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Splish Splash I Was Taking a Bath
I've always been a bit hesitant with the idea of a going to a bath. I don't mean actually bathing, I tend to do that on occasion with no problem. I mean bath as in ROMAN BATH. The thought always conjures up the thought of lots of steam, old naked people, and too much body hair...ick! So when I read in the Rick Steves' book that going to the baths in Budapest was THE thing to do, I was ready to pass...I'm just not a fan of public nudity (especcially in the bright shiny light of day). But Rick assured me that I could keep my bathing suit on, so with a bit of hesitation we went off to the Budapest Baths.
I think a better descriptor of a bath is really just a public pool. I was able to keep my bathing suit on the whole time and basically go from pool to pool and lounge in the water. There are baths ranging form very cold (I skipped those) to very hot. I must say that I enjoyed it quite a bit. Even though I ended up with a bit of an unfortunately looking burn as well as a cut on my foot, I don't regret having done it. One of the best parts was the whirlpools that have jets that shoot you around the pool in a big circle. Everyone, young and old loved to be zipped around a giant pool, myself included.
I think a better descriptor of a bath is really just a public pool. I was able to keep my bathing suit on the whole time and basically go from pool to pool and lounge in the water. There are baths ranging form very cold (I skipped those) to very hot. I must say that I enjoyed it quite a bit. Even though I ended up with a bit of an unfortunately looking burn as well as a cut on my foot, I don't regret having done it. One of the best parts was the whirlpools that have jets that shoot you around the pool in a big circle. Everyone, young and old loved to be zipped around a giant pool, myself included.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Budapest, mon amour.
The only interaction that I had ever had with any Hungarian culture was my high school chemistry teacher, Mrs. Hart, who was ancient, blind and had been a real beauty whne she was young. She was refined and active and a generally nice person. Even so, that wasn't much to leave me with much of a preconceived notion about what Budapest would be like. I had in my mind a sort of industrial city with a not a lot of heart... I was going to Budapest to learn more than to enjoy.
Boy was I wrong. Budapest, it seems, is on the brink of a Renaissance, and behind the layer of grime is a city worthy of being a great European capital. In a way Budapest is everything that Vienna was not. It is beautiful and charming, a place that feels good to be in. There are parks and boulevards and a lot of reconstruction. Before being hit hard by WWII and Soviet rule, Budapest was a city worthy of visiting in the giant Austro-Hungarian Empire. Now, as a new member of the EU (but not yet on the Euro) Budapest is being rebuilt and refurbished to bring back the luster that was once present. While there is still a lot of work to do, I think that if kept on the right track, Budapest might just be the new place to be.
Boy was I wrong. Budapest, it seems, is on the brink of a Renaissance, and behind the layer of grime is a city worthy of being a great European capital. In a way Budapest is everything that Vienna was not. It is beautiful and charming, a place that feels good to be in. There are parks and boulevards and a lot of reconstruction. Before being hit hard by WWII and Soviet rule, Budapest was a city worthy of visiting in the giant Austro-Hungarian Empire. Now, as a new member of the EU (but not yet on the Euro) Budapest is being rebuilt and refurbished to bring back the luster that was once present. While there is still a lot of work to do, I think that if kept on the right track, Budapest might just be the new place to be.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Shortie
I wish I had more time to give really good detailed accounts of what we've been up to, but for the most part the internet is limited, so I've been doing my best to get a quick picture of the events.
Today was a complete turnaround from yesterday, and was ice cold and raining! I mean DOWNPOUR! Imagine the worst day in winter at home and that's what is was here today. Eeeck!
SO a quick recap:
Went to Schönburg summer palace which was somewhat repetitive, but learned a bit more baout Maria Terasa, a very important Empress of the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Went to St. Stephens Cathedral which was pretts stardard but nice. Overall enjoyable.
Hopefully more time later, and hopefully the weather will turn around for the better!!
Today was a complete turnaround from yesterday, and was ice cold and raining! I mean DOWNPOUR! Imagine the worst day in winter at home and that's what is was here today. Eeeck!
SO a quick recap:
Went to Schönburg summer palace which was somewhat repetitive, but learned a bit more baout Maria Terasa, a very important Empress of the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Went to St. Stephens Cathedral which was pretts stardard but nice. Overall enjoyable.
Hopefully more time later, and hopefully the weather will turn around for the better!!
Vienna Palace, Opera and Ice Cream
Yesterday in Vienna was easily th hottest day by far. It started out early at around 3 am, when the fire alarm in the next building went off. I would sy that it woke me up, but that would suggest that I was actually asleep. My bed could possible be make out of rocks, but th jury is still out, so I was already awake trying desperately to find a non-rock part of the bed when the alarm went off. For about an hour, the alarm kep us up as we checked to see that it wasn't actually our building, and as we stuck our heads out of the window looking to see if a) the fire department was going to come or b) people were going to start running out of the building. I'm pretty sure the fire department came, although I don't think that anything was actually on fire. It kind of reminded me of when the fire alarm would go on in the dorms at college, except less of a social event and therefore less fun. Finally, dad whipped out the earplugs and we managed to get back to sleep for the rest of the night.
That morning whilest at breakfast, we met two women who were from Connecticut, Brenda and Robin that were staying at our pension. They had been there for a Convention and were staying in the pension for about a week after to check out Vienna. We chatted them up, they made fun of my ET internship and generally a good time was had by all.
We ended up heading for the Hofsburg palace where the Hapsburgs, the rulers of the Austro-Hungargian Empire had lived. We took the tour that included the silver/porcelain dinnerwear collection (which by the way is ridiulously huge) and then the tour of Apartments that included a section devoted to Elisabeth AKA 'Sisi' the Empress of the Empire and a very famous and generally loved figure in Austrian history. Her story was pretty fascinating. Sort of a Princess Diana type story of a young beautiful, but tortured woman. She was pretty obsessed with her beauty and was about 5'8" and 100 pounds. Very thin.
We also got to see the rooms of the palace and learn about some of the other rulers. All in all I thought it was a cool place with a lot of ornate details in each room.
After this we got to see the opera, which reminded me a lot of most theatres that I have visited, but was still exciting to go to because it is probably one of, if not the most famous opera houses in the world. We aren't able to see a show, since they are in their off season.
For dinner we decided to eat at the same restuarant as the night before, a nice place a bit off the beaten track, with an unusually nice waitstaff.
We also got a chance to have ice cream at the famous Zanoni & Zanoni ice cream shop where we had DELICIOUS and BIG ice cream creations. YUUM!!
That morning whilest at breakfast, we met two women who were from Connecticut, Brenda and Robin that were staying at our pension. They had been there for a Convention and were staying in the pension for about a week after to check out Vienna. We chatted them up, they made fun of my ET internship and generally a good time was had by all.
We ended up heading for the Hofsburg palace where the Hapsburgs, the rulers of the Austro-Hungargian Empire had lived. We took the tour that included the silver/porcelain dinnerwear collection (which by the way is ridiulously huge) and then the tour of Apartments that included a section devoted to Elisabeth AKA 'Sisi' the Empress of the Empire and a very famous and generally loved figure in Austrian history. Her story was pretty fascinating. Sort of a Princess Diana type story of a young beautiful, but tortured woman. She was pretty obsessed with her beauty and was about 5'8" and 100 pounds. Very thin.
We also got to see the rooms of the palace and learn about some of the other rulers. All in all I thought it was a cool place with a lot of ornate details in each room.
After this we got to see the opera, which reminded me a lot of most theatres that I have visited, but was still exciting to go to because it is probably one of, if not the most famous opera houses in the world. We aren't able to see a show, since they are in their off season.
For dinner we decided to eat at the same restuarant as the night before, a nice place a bit off the beaten track, with an unusually nice waitstaff.
We also got a chance to have ice cream at the famous Zanoni & Zanoni ice cream shop where we had DELICIOUS and BIG ice cream creations. YUUM!!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Updates on Prague, Cesky Krumlov
Hey everyone! I'm sorry it has been so long since I've updated! As I've said before, the internet was very limited at our Prague hotel and was nonexistent at our next destination of Cesky Krumlov. After we went to Kutna Hora, we spent our last day in Prague looking at the Synagogues of the Jewish quarter there. Prague once had one of the largest Jewish populations in the whole of Europe prior to World War II, there were 118,000 Jews in Czechoslovakia, now there are only 10,000. This is mainly in part because of the extermination by the Nazis, but also due to the presence of the Soviet Union and their antí religious doctrine.
The synogogues are very interesting in Prague because they were actually preserved during the War by Hilter because he wanted to create museums out of them to showcase an 'extinct race' ie., the Jewish people. Isn't racism and bigotry strange?
Probably one of the most powerful things we saw while there was one of the synagogues which had handwritten the names of all the people in Prague and other parts of the country that had been murdered by the Nazis. It had the last name, the first names and the date they were born and died. It literally covered all the walls floor to ceiling. It was moving and shocking, an overwhelming experience when you imagine that each name represented an entire world, an entire set of hopes, dreams, ambitions, and talent. What a terrible waste.
We then set off to the town of Cesky Krumlov (Cesky is pronounce 'ch') which dad discovered in his research that the tour company we used for India went to. It is a small town in the Czech Republic, known for its castle and charming town, but mainly for the rafting and surrounding protected lands. It is a fairly untouched area that is still being discovered by tourists and we had a blast. With our one full day there, we managed to fit in everything we wanted to do: tour the brewery, visit the castle, and raft the rapids.
The brewery was particularly cool because it received funds from UNESCO in order to use ancient brewing techniques. We learned all about how the Master Brewer had to tastes the beer at all its different stages, how they grew the yeast, and the entire process. We also go to taste the special wheat beer right from one of the HUGE barrels. Apparently, since the yeast is active, it cannot be bottled and can only be tasted on site.
The castle was your typical castle, and I won't go into any details.
The rafting was definitely fun as well. We met a couple of Australians while at breakfast and decided to share the raft with the husband, Neil. Apparently Wendy had a bad back, and the idea of riding around a raft in cold water wasn't her idea of fun... Anyway, we got into the raft and went down the rapids, which was very WET! During the first rapid, dad almost went flying, but all in all, we managed to stay in the boat, but came out soaked. Only mom managed to not get wet, so of course, about 10 minutes before we were going to be done (and safely past the rapids) it started to RAIN! Sorry mom! We all ended up walking through a down pour and looking like 'old wet dogs' HAHA!
Now we are in Vienna and whave walked around a bit. Not much to say on that yet.
PS. No way to post pics...sorry!
The synogogues are very interesting in Prague because they were actually preserved during the War by Hilter because he wanted to create museums out of them to showcase an 'extinct race' ie., the Jewish people. Isn't racism and bigotry strange?
Probably one of the most powerful things we saw while there was one of the synagogues which had handwritten the names of all the people in Prague and other parts of the country that had been murdered by the Nazis. It had the last name, the first names and the date they were born and died. It literally covered all the walls floor to ceiling. It was moving and shocking, an overwhelming experience when you imagine that each name represented an entire world, an entire set of hopes, dreams, ambitions, and talent. What a terrible waste.
We then set off to the town of Cesky Krumlov (Cesky is pronounce 'ch') which dad discovered in his research that the tour company we used for India went to. It is a small town in the Czech Republic, known for its castle and charming town, but mainly for the rafting and surrounding protected lands. It is a fairly untouched area that is still being discovered by tourists and we had a blast. With our one full day there, we managed to fit in everything we wanted to do: tour the brewery, visit the castle, and raft the rapids.
The brewery was particularly cool because it received funds from UNESCO in order to use ancient brewing techniques. We learned all about how the Master Brewer had to tastes the beer at all its different stages, how they grew the yeast, and the entire process. We also go to taste the special wheat beer right from one of the HUGE barrels. Apparently, since the yeast is active, it cannot be bottled and can only be tasted on site.
The castle was your typical castle, and I won't go into any details.
The rafting was definitely fun as well. We met a couple of Australians while at breakfast and decided to share the raft with the husband, Neil. Apparently Wendy had a bad back, and the idea of riding around a raft in cold water wasn't her idea of fun... Anyway, we got into the raft and went down the rapids, which was very WET! During the first rapid, dad almost went flying, but all in all, we managed to stay in the boat, but came out soaked. Only mom managed to not get wet, so of course, about 10 minutes before we were going to be done (and safely past the rapids) it started to RAIN! Sorry mom! We all ended up walking through a down pour and looking like 'old wet dogs' HAHA!
Now we are in Vienna and whave walked around a bit. Not much to say on that yet.
PS. No way to post pics...sorry!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Kutna Hora
Hi guys!! So, today we took a day trip out of Prague to kutna hora a small town about an hour train ride away. It was recommended by Rick Steves and was a good trip. We started early today and were out the door by 8:30. It was going to be our first encoutyer ewith the metro so we wanted to make sure there was plenty of time for us to get to the train station and get our tickets. The metro proved to be easy and the only real difficulties come from the language barrier. Czech looks nothing like english or any other Western European language becuase it is Slavic in origin and is littered with all sortd of accents. An interesting note about the metro is that it was built by the Soviets as a metro, but also as a bomb shelter in case of Capitalist bombing! Who knew ?
The main station is a classic 1970s Soviet Bloc style building which means it's basically lots of cement, very dark and very foreboding looking. We got our tickets and after a normal amount of confusion about where to go, we set off. About an hour later, we hopped off in the town and headed for the Silver mine which is the reason this town existed.
(Ok, apparently there is a line to get on the ONE computer for the hotel...oops! I'll make it really short!)
We endedup touring the mine, which was cramped and kind of scary, having a delicious lunch nearby and then heading to the skull church. It is a church that is decorated in human bone and is creepy/sacreligious/kinda cool all at the same time.
Now we're home and resitng after LOTS of walking and LOTS of fun.
Friday, July 10, 2009
In Prague!
Alright, so our hotel has free internet, but only one computer which means that there is almost always someone taking it up. I guess technically this is day three in Prague, which is kind of hard to believe...I feel like we've been here longer.
After a long long LONG trip over here, I finally made it at around 2:30pm. I was probably the most tired I have ever been on a trip, mainly because it took three flights to get there. I went from SFO to JFK to London to Prague - Phew! my flight out of JFK sat on the tarmac for 3 hours! It didn't help that I was sitting next to the world's strangest woman ever. She had two HUGE bags with her, one of which was fillled with all sorts fo bag of chips and food. I think she might have been from Jamaica or somewhere similar because it sounded like she was speaking another language, but every once in a while there was English there too. Who knows...
Yesterday we took a walking tour of the city where we saw all the major sights and took a boat ride on the river. Our tour guide was bizarre. He refused to tell us his name, or any other details that might have given us an indication of his actual life. WEIRD! The river boat cruise guide on the othe hand was named Steve, and generally knowledgeable and funny. Good times.
So there's a quick update for you. Off to the Castle and the ghost walking tour today. Until next time!
After a long long LONG trip over here, I finally made it at around 2:30pm. I was probably the most tired I have ever been on a trip, mainly because it took three flights to get there. I went from SFO to JFK to London to Prague - Phew! my flight out of JFK sat on the tarmac for 3 hours! It didn't help that I was sitting next to the world's strangest woman ever. She had two HUGE bags with her, one of which was fillled with all sorts fo bag of chips and food. I think she might have been from Jamaica or somewhere similar because it sounded like she was speaking another language, but every once in a while there was English there too. Who knows...
Yesterday we took a walking tour of the city where we saw all the major sights and took a boat ride on the river. Our tour guide was bizarre. He refused to tell us his name, or any other details that might have given us an indication of his actual life. WEIRD! The river boat cruise guide on the othe hand was named Steve, and generally knowledgeable and funny. Good times.
So there's a quick update for you. Off to the Castle and the ghost walking tour today. Until next time!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Why I Like America
So, in the spirit of the Fourth of July AKA American Independence Day, I am going to list a few reasons why it is awesome to be American/live in America.
The First Amendment, ie. Freedom of Speech
Salads the size of your head
New York City
Canadian Irish Jewish German English American, but mainly just American
Stand Up Comedians
The library
"In America, it doesn't matter where you come from, but where you are going"
brownies
Feminism
Hollywood movies
community college
democratic elections
Freedom of Religion, including freedom from religion
ranch dressing
lots of peanut butter
The Stars and Stripes
The Napa Valley
That's just a quick list off the top of my head...Happy Fourth of July Everybody!
The First Amendment, ie. Freedom of Speech
Salads the size of your head
New York City
Canadian Irish Jewish German English American, but mainly just American
Stand Up Comedians
The library
"In America, it doesn't matter where you come from, but where you are going"
brownies
Feminism
Hollywood movies
community college
democratic elections
Freedom of Religion, including freedom from religion
ranch dressing
lots of peanut butter
The Stars and Stripes
The Napa Valley
That's just a quick list off the top of my head...Happy Fourth of July Everybody!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Only a few days!
So it's only four days until we leave for the big trip. I'm trying to get everything together, but boy is it hard to pack for 2 months in one backpack. I've always found packing for Europe to be harder than say, India or Southeast Asia because I'm more worried about looking 'cool.' I want to be comfortable, but also a bit stylish.
In India, I basically wore the same shirt/pants/tennis shoes combination for 3 weeks, which was so boring by the end I thought I would die. But I never once cared that I looked like a vagabond and/or stupid wearing my white tennis shoes. I was just glad to have my feet protected from the ubiquitous cow poo. Since my run-ins with cow poop will probably be significantly less than in India, I went ahead an bought a pair of sketchers than are pretty cute. If you know me at least a little, you've probably heard me whine about my high maintenance feet. Buying shoes is a pain, so I was glad to find some that seem like they are going to work *crosses fingers*
Another must have item for Europe is a scarf. I find that here in the States, you either wear a scarf as an occasional fashion statement or because it's so damn cold you think you might die without it. I guess it counts as a fashion statement in Europe, but it's so prevalent that I'd call it more of a staple - people just always wear a scarf. I'm probably going to bring two, a black one that I bought the last time I was in Europe, and a maroon one I bought in India (pure wool and silk - only $4! haha! yeah right...)
So yeah, 1 bag, 2 months...we'll see how it goes.
In India, I basically wore the same shirt/pants/tennis shoes combination for 3 weeks, which was so boring by the end I thought I would die. But I never once cared that I looked like a vagabond and/or stupid wearing my white tennis shoes. I was just glad to have my feet protected from the ubiquitous cow poo. Since my run-ins with cow poop will probably be significantly less than in India, I went ahead an bought a pair of sketchers than are pretty cute. If you know me at least a little, you've probably heard me whine about my high maintenance feet. Buying shoes is a pain, so I was glad to find some that seem like they are going to work *crosses fingers*
Another must have item for Europe is a scarf. I find that here in the States, you either wear a scarf as an occasional fashion statement or because it's so damn cold you think you might die without it. I guess it counts as a fashion statement in Europe, but it's so prevalent that I'd call it more of a staple - people just always wear a scarf. I'm probably going to bring two, a black one that I bought the last time I was in Europe, and a maroon one I bought in India (pure wool and silk - only $4! haha! yeah right...)
So yeah, 1 bag, 2 months...we'll see how it goes.
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