hummm.......

These were on the inside of a bus in Zurich, Switzerland.... So is that DO or DONT? because there is no slash through the pictures.....


So Don't play your guitar, or put your feet up on the seats, fine.


And DEFFINITELY DO NOT BRING YOUR OWN HAND SAW ON THE BUS AND SAW AT THE SEATS!!

I think that last word under the picture is something about "consequences"- so they mean business on this issue people. Real problem here in Zurich, Real problem!

Pictures...

Just some pictures, since I have let myself get a bit out dated....



Some Ligurian Sea (part of Mediterranean) water.



The Cinque Terre- Crazy Beautiful!










The bottom picture is the little town where I stayed for two nights- Manorola, IT.

When In Rome....!

It is fun to actually use the saying in the place it is meant for! It has become my whole philosophy of attitude in Rome. I eat what I want and as much of it as I want! Pretty much all I did yesterday was shop! I will have gelati twice a day if I see fit... When in Rome!

It is warm here. Like tank top, skirt, flip-flop warm! So much more fun to travel in the warmth without the killer heat of Summer (lets be honest, I live in Seattle, not an "overwhelmingly hot" fan). Rome is awesome. I had some pretty bad dreams last night and think it was because I was told that the Vatican is closed on Mondays. It is closed on Sundays for obvious purposes but some guys told me that it is closed on Mon. too and I leave Tuesday. They said I would just have to go on Tues. Morning with them because you don't come to Rome and not see the Vatican! And they are right. Then as I was falling asleep I remembered that I have a 10:15 train reservation that morning. I thought I would have to lie to you all and just say I forgot my camera! And don't put it past me, I would have! But the man at the front desk assured me that it was open today, so off I go to find out.....

If I have no pictures of it when I return then "I forgot my camera" but hopefully thats not the case. Also I am not taking pics with me in it because as a little gift from my Florence Hostel, I have 11 (THATS ELEVEN) mosquito bites on my FACE alone. The last night I even wore bug spray and got about 3 new ones still! I didn't even think 11 would fit on my face, but they do! Gross. It is probably because on the 2nd night, thinking I was being smart, slept fully covered in longsleeves that I pulled over my hands, a hood, long pants and a socks.....
Well I guess if you only leave them your FACE to chew on then it will just be concentrated there! lesson learned. Off I go, scratching my way to the Vatican. Visit with the Pope...

When in Rome!

Holy Bat out of Hell!

Today in Italy it is "All Saints Day" therefore a holiday. Some things are closed but luckily and unknowingly my friend Andrea and I planned to go to San Gimignano (near Sienna, out in the country side of Tuscany). Lovely day, we climb the tallest tower and take our scenic pictures. We wind up and down, in and out of little cobblestone alleyways and shops. We stuff our faces with salami, pizza, chocolate, gelati (yumm)(there was an orange in there somewhere Mom! I can see you cringing now)- and are perfectly timed to catch our bus home. Good Day!- But wait we are on a holiday so that bus doesn't actually come, and the next one isnt for another 2.5 hours!

What have I learned in Europe? When in doubt hitch-hike.... We know that if we can get to Poggibonsi by 4:25 we can then catch a bus to Florence instead of waiting in San Gimignano until 5:45.

Finally out of "tourist everywhere" zone, we are on a narrow country road where the psycho Italian drivers fly past you on thin curves at speeds you don't mess around with! There are no "shoulders" here. We have walked about 1.5 Km and this car comes Screaming past us! I think maybe only one of us even had the thumb out because we were both just trying not to get hit. We looked at eachother wide eyed and said "holy S#i@!", and just started walking again. As we faced back forward we see that this bat out of hell is going to be our ride:). SHE comes to a screaching halt about 100meters forward, slams it into reverse and starts backing up towards us at about the same speed which she just past, while cars are approaching from behind... :)This is about to = Paige Sandwich!

When hitch-hiking you aren't choosy.., so we hop in, say "Poggibonsi", she nods, says "solo italien" (she only speaks Italian) and then cranks up the stereo full blast and off we go! My head is plastered to the head-rest. I am not kidding you, my heart was in my throat a few times. She would hover about 2feet (realistically) behind the car infront and when there was maybe a chance she could pass, she would whip it out, fly forward and screach jerkingly back in between the next car. There were a few times when she (we) were on the middle deviding line between both lanes of trafic,not in a lane with cars on both sides.... I couldn't even look at Andrea because I knew I would bust out laughing and that was not going to get us where we needed to go! Needless to say we got there in PLENTY of time and when we got out of the car we looked at eachother and just busted out in histerical laughter. Mostly out of fear- nervous laughs- but we knew we were now okay. She seemed like such and unlikely sole to pick us up, and we decided she wasn't in a hurry, that is just how she drives. She took us directly to the bus station which couldn't have been in her original plan of route, didn't say a word when we said "gratsi" and "caio". Just a slight smile and off she flew! Sweet, thank you. We still had 20 minutes to spare!

Hitch-Hiking in Czech.....

Ever since I started planning this trip and reading about the Czech Rep. I wanted to go hike/climb through these amazing rock formation mountaind near the border of Poland great, sounds simple right? Yes actually. Went to bed early, had everything organized set my alarm for 7:30. Out the door by 8:00. Caught a tram, boarded the subway, transfered subways, found my bus.... through much sign language and a nice girl who spoke english on the bus and finally got up to help, I was on my way. I knew that the bus was taking me to Trutnov (sounds simple to say, guess again!). From Trutnov I know nothing other than what these mountains are called. I look at all the signs and go to the appropriate number station. On the bus.... for an hour......maybe close to two. All the while it is going in and out of thick, fast, huge snow flakes and then clear skies and sunny(not warm, but sunny). I get off at the right stop, great. The head to the trail is right there- buy my ticket off I go. Smooth sailing. I hurry a little more than I wanted just to make sure that I got back to Trutnov to catch my bus back to Praha in time. I knew there was a bus at 4:00, 4:55, and 5:45. So I hike. It was beautiful and pretty clear the whole time with one 10 min snow storm which was very pretty actually. So there I am waiting at the tiny bus stop to take me back to Trutnov..... Perfect! here it comes, such great luck today, maybe things are turning around for me!

Bus driver informs me through our broken sign language (I am in SUPER REMOTE Czech/almost Poland, NO ONE speaks english!)that neither this nor does any bus go from Adrspach/Teplice to Trutnov and to go back and talk to the information people. I do, no english. She basically tells me by holding up her thumb that I should hitch-hike..... So I do. I just start walking. I am in super mountainous back country, with me and my compas- not great. Still off and on snow storms, nothing sticking just yet but all the same- fridgid! I was prepared clothing wise and thank God! but I still felt like I had frost byte....

About 10-15 cars pass and I feel like one of those dirty people we all see on the road hitch-hiking that you would never pick up. I get it. And then it happends, just like the movies. A car pulls over about 1/2 block in front of me and I wonder "are they picking me up, or just droping someone off?" so I jog a little and the woman opens her door. "blah blah blah- something in Czech" "Do you speak English?" I already know the answer is no. I manage to spit out Trutnov and she motions to the back seat.

I am now sitting in a Leopard print seat covered (all the seats!) car, listening to Faith Hill, followed by Elton John, and then Madonna's "like a Virgin", With an elderly Czech couple. We sit in silence for the 20-30 minute drive through windy mountain roads. They pull over and she motions to Trutnov, and says 6km. I had the man 100 crowns (roughly 5 bucks) and he becomes a little hostile and shoves it back at me, so I it take back...... not wanting to be taken back into the mnts and left. for Czech Bears! I missed the first two busses through getting lost again and then finally caught the third! thank God! Two more transfers, two subways and a tram later I was back at my hostel. Oh I dreamed of this moment hours ago and was very unsure if it would ever come!

The Day I Realized I was an "American"

All along I have thought I fit in pretty well until I open my mouth. I have darker hair- make-up creates darker skin:), until one day while riding the tram in town I realized just how American I am. There are tons of tourists everywhere but from all over the world and very few actually American. I was watching the sidewalk as we passed a stop and it was, "European, European, Asian, Austrailian, South American, European European, AMERICAN, European, European." She stuck out like a sore thumb! Not for any bad reasons, we just have a different bone structure/ look, than anyone European. The fact that my camel back water bottle, red Marmmot Jacket, Green Northface fleece and Mostly white Asics Tennis Shoes didn't give me the clues early are beyond me, but I really though I fit in. I don't!

Berlin!

I absolutely love Berlin! I strongly believe that everybody should visit. The people are friendly enough, it is an enormous sprawling city packed with SO much history! This place is really unbelievable, and quite remarkable what these people have experienced (especially say an 85 year old). A lot of it is such recent history and it is all just mind blowing. Really interesting story to how the wall finally came down. It was an accident- I had never before heard the story.

A man at a press conference was asked a question not on the "pre-approved questions" list, and he didnt know how to answer it. It was about the wall and when will it come down? He remembered a memo he had recieved just before going on stage and was too busy to read it so shoved it in his back pocket. That right there ended up changing the history of the country. He pulled out this memo that he had never previously laid eyes on. It was basically the "minutes" from a parlaimentary meeting that he was undable to attend that day. It explained that the government was to announce some "new freedoms" they were going to allow the public- travel etc- but not really allow it in the end, they just wanted to end the protesting. Well he didnt get that far and just started reading it. "The wall will come down." Well all of the reporters wanted to know when. "When mister, if you are saying there are plans to bring it down then you should know when!" they demanded. He scanned the page for a date- any date- at this point he knows he has made a huge mistake but he has already said too much and the whole world is watching. A date, any date! Ahh, there is one in the upper right hand corner! You guessed it, that was todays date, which happened to be November 9th 1989. He said "well it seems that this will take effect immediately, yes immediately". This re-played on news around the world, every half hour "immediately, immediately, immediately". So of course thousands of Berliners showed up at the gates that night unbenounced to the guards. Two little old women had the right documents to get through, so for the first time in 28 years the gates were opened. Well you cant make 5000 people just stand there so they just booked it through the gates, and almost as fast as it went up, it came down.
Amazing! To think that if he hadnt made this mistake, it could still standing and I would not be here. Crazy, Crazy place this is!