I was on Facebook, this is a social networking site like MySpace that used to be for college students only and has expanded beyond. It is a really cool site, but.....I digress...
I was there and I saw a very old friend of mine back from undergraduate school at the University of Washington that put a post up on their facebook page that said "I just saw Michelangelo's David in Florence and it was the most amazing thing I have and will ever see in my life"
and I got a little chill because that was the exact thought process that went through my head when I turned the corner in the Academia Museum in Florence Italy and saw the David....it is beyond belief!
Going through Germany, Amsterdam and Dublin we ran into other students traveling around and many of them were stopping in Florence and they always ask the same question "Okay, we are only there for a small time period, what do we need to see??" and Pat BJ and I are unanimous in saying "If you see one thing in Florence, it HAS to be the David"
it was cool to see my old friend write that about seeing it...made me happy :)
Wednesday, June 25
Different Countries: Booze
Italy: Wine, beer choices are limited, mixed drink prices vary but tend to be not too bad. Wine is super cheep at the markets.
Germany: Beer..........we did not try anything else, with two nights there and it being the 850th anniversary of Munich there was no need to try anything but Beer in Liter stines :)
Amsterdam: I would say POT, but that is not booze. Ummm, they have some Dutch beers that were good, but nothing really exceptional! All throughout Europe Carlsberg is a huge beer, not something you would usually see in the states, but was HUGE in Europe! But yeah, did not seem like there was any special booze in Amsterdam...WAIT!!!! Duh, Heineken and Amstel! Obviously :) Both from there, BUT, it did not jump to my head because, while they were dominant and from the area, they were surely not marked down to a crazy low price.....ugh
Dublin: GUINESS...and/or any other beer! But, promise us....DO NOT order a mixed drink in most places in Dublin Ireland! For instance...lets take a normal drink order...umm, OKAY! A Vodka with Cranberry Juice! Well, in Dublin you will get charged about 5.50 Euro for the MEASURED shot of Vodka in a glass with ice handed to you. Then in another glass you will be charged about 5.50 euro for the glass of cranberry juice! So you are in basically 11 euro for a vodka cranberry! Not a double or a stiff pour, a measured vodka cranberry...oh...and if you have not been reading my previous posts, that is 11 EURO!!!!! Which is nearly 20 US Dollars :) Thanks George Bush !!!!
London: It seems the deal here is English Beers as well! But it seems they are not as nasty with the hard alcohol as Dublin seems to be. But then again it is all in Pounds which is exactly 1 to 2 with the USD right now, so it is painful no matter what! LOL ...oh wow, a pint of English beer for 4 Pounds, good deal...oh wait, what the hell....that is 8 US dollars! ugh :( I will say, about London, they seem to have a ton of Cider! Which is weird and nice. A Strongbow, extra cold, cider is really good and refreshing and it seems every place we've walked by has it.
okay, that was my super quick booze tour around Europe :)
Ciao!
Germany: Beer..........we did not try anything else, with two nights there and it being the 850th anniversary of Munich there was no need to try anything but Beer in Liter stines :)
Amsterdam: I would say POT, but that is not booze. Ummm, they have some Dutch beers that were good, but nothing really exceptional! All throughout Europe Carlsberg is a huge beer, not something you would usually see in the states, but was HUGE in Europe! But yeah, did not seem like there was any special booze in Amsterdam...WAIT!!!! Duh, Heineken and Amstel! Obviously :) Both from there, BUT, it did not jump to my head because, while they were dominant and from the area, they were surely not marked down to a crazy low price.....ugh
Dublin: GUINESS...and/or any other beer! But, promise us....DO NOT order a mixed drink in most places in Dublin Ireland! For instance...lets take a normal drink order...umm, OKAY! A Vodka with Cranberry Juice! Well, in Dublin you will get charged about 5.50 Euro for the MEASURED shot of Vodka in a glass with ice handed to you. Then in another glass you will be charged about 5.50 euro for the glass of cranberry juice! So you are in basically 11 euro for a vodka cranberry! Not a double or a stiff pour, a measured vodka cranberry...oh...and if you have not been reading my previous posts, that is 11 EURO!!!!! Which is nearly 20 US Dollars :) Thanks George Bush !!!!
London: It seems the deal here is English Beers as well! But it seems they are not as nasty with the hard alcohol as Dublin seems to be. But then again it is all in Pounds which is exactly 1 to 2 with the USD right now, so it is painful no matter what! LOL ...oh wow, a pint of English beer for 4 Pounds, good deal...oh wait, what the hell....that is 8 US dollars! ugh :( I will say, about London, they seem to have a ton of Cider! Which is weird and nice. A Strongbow, extra cold, cider is really good and refreshing and it seems every place we've walked by has it.
okay, that was my super quick booze tour around Europe :)
Ciao!
London Post!
We got in, after a hairy landing in Heathrow, lol, we made it safely.
After a 60 Pound taxi ride from Heathrow to our Hotel (by the way, the pound is even WORSE than the Euro, so 60 is 120 USD...F THAT). So we got in, we got all settled and went and found one of those open air bus tours that takes you around to all the major sites in London! We saw the London Bridge, the London Tower, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament Building, Fleet Street, St Paul's Cathedral, London Dungeon, Westminster Bridge, Abbey Road, BBC Headquarters, etc etc etcetc, I will post tons of pics once we get home in the next day or so.
We came back, Pat and BJ went to sleepy time like babies :) I stayed up for awhile because I, for some reason, never sleep. I hate it. ugh.
I watched UK's Big Brother (my Mom and Sis love the US version) and it was amazingly crazy! They show nudity here and the language is not edited for TV. lol makes it much more fun to watch!
Today we slept in a little bit and we went and saw the "Musical Sensation" WICKED in London's West End! The show was AWESOME. My mom and I saw the show in Seattle and this one was a little better because the cast was awesome and second row, with an unobstructed view is really hard to beat! Pat and BJ loved the show. Pat kept saying "I kept getting chills, I couldn't help it"
It was cool to hear...the show is pretty awesome because it is so BIG. People on wires flying around, the whole set moving and fire..etc etc. Unlike the touring show we saw in Seattle, this one is set in this theater for a long time, so the whole theater is all decked out in Wicked stuff and the stage is all set, without having to worry about breaking down and moving.
It was great!
Afterwards Pat got his Fish and Chips, BJ had his yesterday and was not happy....Pat liked his today I think. We came home, grabbed a little bit of booze and just chilled in the room, watching the German/Turkey match in our room!!! Germany won ... an amazing match! So it is Germany in the finals against the winner between Russia and Spain tomorrow! I am pumped, I hope I can get the matches in the states.
We then threw on some music television here. It is amazing you guys, here in Europe, they actually play MUSIC VIDEOS!!!! It is not like the US MTV where it is all reality tv. it is nice!
We head home Thursday, we leave London at like 6ish...land at about 8pm.. so technically it is an almost 10 hour flight, but we take off at 6:20PM on Thursday and land at 7:55PM on Thursday! So basically lose no time :)
I will post more about the whole trip and please keep reading the blog because I will be adding pics all week and weekend!!!
*btw, I love London and am so excited to come back with more time and ESPECIALLY, more money* :)
Pat says HI
BJ says HI
I say..HI
ciao
Monday, June 23
Jameson Tour
We just finished the Jameson tour, it was really fun! Better than the Guinness one. It was cheaper and it was a guided tour. So we all felt like we learned so much more than from the Guinness one. We learned the history of the company, how the whiskey is made, how it is different from other whiskeys scotches and bourbon. Plus we got a whiskey drink at the end...and, during the beginning she asked for six volunteers for a whiskey tasting lesson, three guys three girls. Well, all the guys raised their hand and for no rhyme or reason I was one of the three random ones chosen.
So after the tour when everyone got a whiskey cocktail, I got one too but then sat down with the other five and we got to taste test three Irish whiskeys, one american (jack daniels) and a scotch. My favorite of the five was the Irish Whiskey called Paddys. It was great.
I got a special 'Whiskey Tasting Diploma' ... with my name on it ... don't be jealous :)
If you are in or near dublin, I do highly recommend this tour. It is informative and really inexpensive, one of the most inexpensive things we have done since being here!
So after the tour when everyone got a whiskey cocktail, I got one too but then sat down with the other five and we got to taste test three Irish whiskeys, one american (jack daniels) and a scotch. My favorite of the five was the Irish Whiskey called Paddys. It was great.
I got a special 'Whiskey Tasting Diploma' ... with my name on it ... don't be jealous :)
If you are in or near dublin, I do highly recommend this tour. It is informative and really inexpensive, one of the most inexpensive things we have done since being here!
Dublin :)
Well, Pat and BJ are sleeping away...so I decided to slip out and update this thing.
My favorite story so far from this part of our trip was the first night we were here. We have a four bed hostel, so we lucked out because the fourth bed was taken by a dude our age from Northern Ireland whose name was Chris and was down here to party for the weekend.
So all four of us went out the first night here (friday) and we went from bar to bar along Temple Bar street and had a beer in each and checked the vibe of each bar, it was cool. We ended up at The Temple Bar, a huge really fun bar right in the middle of the Temple Bar area. All ages from 19 to mid 80s. It was funny though because they were playing the funniest American music. From 1960s pop/rock to the Grease soundtrack to 80s pop. And all the local Irish folk knew every word better than we did!
So we met some people there had fun....it was getting late, I split off from the group and wandered for a little bit and eventually went to bed. BJ was behind me about 30mins to an hour. It was pretty late (or early the next morning) when Chris (our hostel roommate) and Pat were sitting at a late night fast food place soaking up their booze with a kebab wrap when this Irish dude goes "f**king Americans, they are all soft, they cant drink like us Irish guys" .... well, that did not sit well with Pat.
So he challenged the dude, keep in mind it is like 3AM. Chris, Pat, this dude (Matt) and Matt's friend from Australia all head back to Matt's place via taxi for a drink-off. LOL! They drink beers all night, tough-talking Irish Matt was the first one to 'fall asleep', the next one??? our roomie Chris from Northern Ireland. Pat and the Australian tie!
To top it off, Chris apparently got 'sick' on Matt's porch as they stumbled out of there at 6AM! lol
I just remember being woken up at 6:30 when they came into the hostel and looked at my watch and saw the time and was like 'uh oh, this is going to be a great story!'
so yeah...US kicked Ireland's ass :)
Thanks Pat!!!!
Yesterday we did the Guinness tour! It was pretty cool, learned a lot about how it is made, the history of the place, etc. The Gravity Bar at the top is awesome! You end the tour with a pint of Guinness in this bar that is the highest point in Dublin and is completely surrounded 360 degrees by windows. So you get an awesome view of the city, if you aren't bothered by heights it is a great time :)
We then went and watched the HIGHLY anticipated Italy v. Spain futbol match! WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! Keep in mind, we are in Ireland...they did not even qualify for the tournament and the place was so packed. We asked a local where to go, they told us this place called the Woolshed, a sports bar. We went there almost 2 hours before the match. We got the last available table, ordered food, ate it...and ended up staying in that booth for almost 6 hours! When game time started the two story bar was so packed you could not even walk to the bathroom. Think....dance/night clubs, Saturday night, peak time...smack dab in the middle of the dance floor. You have to 'slither' your way through ... basically we were stuck in our booth! It was an almost even mix of Italy and Spain supporters, things shifted pro Spain after the half.
We were on the second floor and the Spain fans were SOOOO nuts and jumping up and down so hard that Pat BJ and I were all just a little scared if the place was structurally sound enough for it...the floor was DEFINITELY bowing in the middle and we all slid towards the wall expecting it to just collapse! People hanging off the banisters, I was sitting on the table and standing on the booth!
We started pro-Italy because we stayed there so long. But we were neutral! The match was 0-0, went into overtime, 0-0 after overtime...then went into the oh so exciting and oh so anti climatic penalty shoot off.....Spain won. We became Spain fans :) 'VIVA ESPANA!' :)
I have video of the place during the shoot off, holy God it was INSANE!!!! People stripping their clothes off falling to their knees screaming and sweating, crying, etc..... this was not even the Championship or anything, it was just to move forward in the tournament, lol!
But ... apparently this is the first time Spain had made it this far in Euro Cup, so that is why there was so much craziness.
Not sure what is on board for today. I think we are going to do the Jameson Whiskey tour! Then....not sure, early(ish) flight tomorrow to London. So we may keep things calm tonight, pack up and get ready to bounce.
Can't believe this is all almost over! I want to say that it has flown by, because it has, but then I say that and then think about things like the Vatican or our first Italian dinner...and it seems like ages ago!
:)
I will add more later, ciao!
My favorite story so far from this part of our trip was the first night we were here. We have a four bed hostel, so we lucked out because the fourth bed was taken by a dude our age from Northern Ireland whose name was Chris and was down here to party for the weekend.
So all four of us went out the first night here (friday) and we went from bar to bar along Temple Bar street and had a beer in each and checked the vibe of each bar, it was cool. We ended up at The Temple Bar, a huge really fun bar right in the middle of the Temple Bar area. All ages from 19 to mid 80s. It was funny though because they were playing the funniest American music. From 1960s pop/rock to the Grease soundtrack to 80s pop. And all the local Irish folk knew every word better than we did!
So we met some people there had fun....it was getting late, I split off from the group and wandered for a little bit and eventually went to bed. BJ was behind me about 30mins to an hour. It was pretty late (or early the next morning) when Chris (our hostel roommate) and Pat were sitting at a late night fast food place soaking up their booze with a kebab wrap when this Irish dude goes "f**king Americans, they are all soft, they cant drink like us Irish guys" .... well, that did not sit well with Pat.
So he challenged the dude, keep in mind it is like 3AM. Chris, Pat, this dude (Matt) and Matt's friend from Australia all head back to Matt's place via taxi for a drink-off. LOL! They drink beers all night, tough-talking Irish Matt was the first one to 'fall asleep', the next one??? our roomie Chris from Northern Ireland. Pat and the Australian tie!
To top it off, Chris apparently got 'sick' on Matt's porch as they stumbled out of there at 6AM! lol
I just remember being woken up at 6:30 when they came into the hostel and looked at my watch and saw the time and was like 'uh oh, this is going to be a great story!'
so yeah...US kicked Ireland's ass :)
Thanks Pat!!!!
Yesterday we did the Guinness tour! It was pretty cool, learned a lot about how it is made, the history of the place, etc. The Gravity Bar at the top is awesome! You end the tour with a pint of Guinness in this bar that is the highest point in Dublin and is completely surrounded 360 degrees by windows. So you get an awesome view of the city, if you aren't bothered by heights it is a great time :)
We then went and watched the HIGHLY anticipated Italy v. Spain futbol match! WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! Keep in mind, we are in Ireland...they did not even qualify for the tournament and the place was so packed. We asked a local where to go, they told us this place called the Woolshed, a sports bar. We went there almost 2 hours before the match. We got the last available table, ordered food, ate it...and ended up staying in that booth for almost 6 hours! When game time started the two story bar was so packed you could not even walk to the bathroom. Think....dance/night clubs, Saturday night, peak time...smack dab in the middle of the dance floor. You have to 'slither' your way through ... basically we were stuck in our booth! It was an almost even mix of Italy and Spain supporters, things shifted pro Spain after the half.
We were on the second floor and the Spain fans were SOOOO nuts and jumping up and down so hard that Pat BJ and I were all just a little scared if the place was structurally sound enough for it...the floor was DEFINITELY bowing in the middle and we all slid towards the wall expecting it to just collapse! People hanging off the banisters, I was sitting on the table and standing on the booth!
We started pro-Italy because we stayed there so long. But we were neutral! The match was 0-0, went into overtime, 0-0 after overtime...then went into the oh so exciting and oh so anti climatic penalty shoot off.....Spain won. We became Spain fans :) 'VIVA ESPANA!' :)
I have video of the place during the shoot off, holy God it was INSANE!!!! People stripping their clothes off falling to their knees screaming and sweating, crying, etc..... this was not even the Championship or anything, it was just to move forward in the tournament, lol!
But ... apparently this is the first time Spain had made it this far in Euro Cup, so that is why there was so much craziness.
Not sure what is on board for today. I think we are going to do the Jameson Whiskey tour! Then....not sure, early(ish) flight tomorrow to London. So we may keep things calm tonight, pack up and get ready to bounce.
Can't believe this is all almost over! I want to say that it has flown by, because it has, but then I say that and then think about things like the Vatican or our first Italian dinner...and it seems like ages ago!
:)
I will add more later, ciao!
Sunday, June 22
Ireland!
We are in Dublin and absolutely loving it. It is funny, we found this internet cafe and we all checked our bank statements at the same time, was sort of a sad day for the Euro-Trio! LOL
Dublin is so pretty and clean, people here are so happy and incredibly nice. I would recommend this place to anyone ... the trip has been so great because every city we have been to has such a distinct personality to it. Amsterdam is all about drugs and sex. Italy has so much culture, art and wine. Munich was all about beer and Bavarian culture. Ireland is all about beer and just being friendly and having a pint with your mates!
Temple Bar is where we are staying at here in Dublin, it is party town for sure. People are always drinking and you can hear people 24/7 cheering and singing songs in the streets. It is nuts. It's like Bourbon Street every night (and day).
Not sure what we are going to do today, as I said we all checked our bank accounts so we will likely just be hanging out in the hostel and walking around! LOL The exchange rate sucks, we probably could not have picked a worse time, financially, to come here. It is weird to think that at one point the dollar was worth more than the currency out here and when you withdrew 100 Euros it would show as like 70 USD as opposed to 100 Euro now equaling about 170 USD! LOL
oh well, we come home Thursday. Pat will be back in Spokane as will BJ. I will be on the West side of the state working at a law firm. Pat and BJ have about five days to recover and then they are off to a Bachelor party in Vegas! Their poor livers :)
Okay, will write more later...ciao!
Dublin is so pretty and clean, people here are so happy and incredibly nice. I would recommend this place to anyone ... the trip has been so great because every city we have been to has such a distinct personality to it. Amsterdam is all about drugs and sex. Italy has so much culture, art and wine. Munich was all about beer and Bavarian culture. Ireland is all about beer and just being friendly and having a pint with your mates!
Temple Bar is where we are staying at here in Dublin, it is party town for sure. People are always drinking and you can hear people 24/7 cheering and singing songs in the streets. It is nuts. It's like Bourbon Street every night (and day).
Not sure what we are going to do today, as I said we all checked our bank accounts so we will likely just be hanging out in the hostel and walking around! LOL The exchange rate sucks, we probably could not have picked a worse time, financially, to come here. It is weird to think that at one point the dollar was worth more than the currency out here and when you withdrew 100 Euros it would show as like 70 USD as opposed to 100 Euro now equaling about 170 USD! LOL
oh well, we come home Thursday. Pat will be back in Spokane as will BJ. I will be on the West side of the state working at a law firm. Pat and BJ have about five days to recover and then they are off to a Bachelor party in Vegas! Their poor livers :)
Okay, will write more later...ciao!
Friday, June 20
Amster-Damn!
So, in a few hours we will be saying goodbye to Amsterdam :(
This town is crazy!
Going to Dublin, from what we have heard from friends and classmates who went there, this is party time Europe at its finest. Especially where we are staying....Temple Bar, the center of Dublin's party scene.
great! LOL
Wish us a safe flight and will write to you from Ireland!
:)
This town is crazy!
Going to Dublin, from what we have heard from friends and classmates who went there, this is party time Europe at its finest. Especially where we are staying....Temple Bar, the center of Dublin's party scene.
great! LOL
Wish us a safe flight and will write to you from Ireland!
:)
Thursday, June 19
Talked....
So I just got off the phone with my Mom, surprised her with a call from Amsterdam!
She asked the question that everyone is bound to ask "So, how is Amsterdam!?" and to try and explain it is very weird...no, not just because it is to my mom :) She has heard it all....
It is just strange to go four stores to the left of our hostel on a main road and have a selection of Magic Mushrooms to choose from, with an expert to give advice and tips.
Then go about 200 yards across the street to the Red Light district and have basically naked women tapping on their doors and windows to get you to come pay them for sex.
Then go back to your hostel and the whole lobby is full of pot smoke and stoners.
And they are weird about their Hard Alcohol here, it is super expensive and not very easy to find! They love their Heineken and Amstel beer, other than that you can either whip out the credit card and try to pay for a mixed drink or take some sort of herbal supplement. LOL
It is a strange and amazing place that you really need to visit!
Very diverse people...very diverse fashion....
write more later..going to watch soccer
She asked the question that everyone is bound to ask "So, how is Amsterdam!?" and to try and explain it is very weird...no, not just because it is to my mom :) She has heard it all....
It is just strange to go four stores to the left of our hostel on a main road and have a selection of Magic Mushrooms to choose from, with an expert to give advice and tips.
Then go about 200 yards across the street to the Red Light district and have basically naked women tapping on their doors and windows to get you to come pay them for sex.
Then go back to your hostel and the whole lobby is full of pot smoke and stoners.
And they are weird about their Hard Alcohol here, it is super expensive and not very easy to find! They love their Heineken and Amstel beer, other than that you can either whip out the credit card and try to pay for a mixed drink or take some sort of herbal supplement. LOL
It is a strange and amazing place that you really need to visit!
Very diverse people...very diverse fashion....
write more later..going to watch soccer
Our last night..and...
you guessed it! New Roommates :)
two girls and a dude from Georgia...seem nice, he was pissed because he wanted to stop into a coffee shop and get a little smokey before even checking in, lol! So they are partiers...
two girls and a dude from Georgia...seem nice, he was pissed because he wanted to stop into a coffee shop and get a little smokey before even checking in, lol! So they are partiers...
McDonalds.
So..just a word on McDonalds and Europe.
They are fricking EVERYWHERE! Almost worse than in the U.S.
It was crazy riding through the smaller towns outside of Munich Germany and seeing those golden arches every few miles!
We have eaten there a couple times and for good reason. First off, in the Florence train station it is the only food place, so we have grabbed a bite there before getting on the train. The other time was in Munich train station because I was hurting from the night before and needed food, but was a tad uneasy on the stomach so I wanted something that was familiar...not some German mystery meat on a pretzel with mustard...while normally amazing, it was a little much on a hangover stomach!
Major differences from the ones out here to the ones in the states.
Here they have curly fries! in Italy they were "Patates Vertigo" :)
Here they serve egg mcmuffins 24 hours a day
They have different sandwiches like the greek burger or the McKrocket (still not sure what is on that one)
For Breakfast they had bacon toast and their egg mcmuffins are with sausage not canadian bacon
Finally they have weird sides, like chicken wings or sausage links or shrimp.....
okay, just a little comparison with something that most people know about!
They are fricking EVERYWHERE! Almost worse than in the U.S.
It was crazy riding through the smaller towns outside of Munich Germany and seeing those golden arches every few miles!
We have eaten there a couple times and for good reason. First off, in the Florence train station it is the only food place, so we have grabbed a bite there before getting on the train. The other time was in Munich train station because I was hurting from the night before and needed food, but was a tad uneasy on the stomach so I wanted something that was familiar...not some German mystery meat on a pretzel with mustard...while normally amazing, it was a little much on a hangover stomach!
Major differences from the ones out here to the ones in the states.
Here they have curly fries! in Italy they were "Patates Vertigo" :)
Here they serve egg mcmuffins 24 hours a day
They have different sandwiches like the greek burger or the McKrocket (still not sure what is on that one)
For Breakfast they had bacon toast and their egg mcmuffins are with sausage not canadian bacon
Finally they have weird sides, like chicken wings or sausage links or shrimp.....
okay, just a little comparison with something that most people know about!
Thursday Morning in Amsterdam
It is Thursday morning. The sick-bug has hit.
BJ two days ago, Pat yesterday and I think it is catching me this morning ... but I will do whatever I can to make sure it doesn't stick! It is just a stuffy, coughy, drippy, gross...thing.
----I just realized I don't like the word 'drippy'
So it is almost 11AM, we are all just laying around the hostel right now. The Italian who joined us in our six bed room yesterday has been out on his bed since before 11pm last night. He hasn't really moved much, I have seen him roll once this morning so I know he is not dead....plus there is no stink yet....but I find it amazing with five guys rummaging around the room, talking, etc....he is just out. Those crazy Italians!
So last night was fun. We will leave that at that.
Not sure our plan for today. There are some things we still need to see, the Anne Frank House is one of them. We saw it from the outside yesterday, but have not been inside. We are still up in the air on that one, just because of how lousy we feel.
Give us a reason to come back :)
The Red Light District is crazy! More so than I had thought before coming here. Vegas has NOTHING on Amsterdam. We have been offered almost any drug you can think of, we've been offered almost any sex act you can think of....it is nuts.
Pat and I had the free hostel breakfast this morning and I have decided stoners are annoying! Well, I mean 'potheads' ... not the occasional smoker, but "pot heads"..they just move so slow! LOL This hostel is about 85% potheads and that can make things like trying to get breakfast really annoying, they are like Zombies, lol
So one more night here, then off to Dublin tomorrow late afternoon.
Keep in touch, comment!!
BJ two days ago, Pat yesterday and I think it is catching me this morning ... but I will do whatever I can to make sure it doesn't stick! It is just a stuffy, coughy, drippy, gross...thing.
----I just realized I don't like the word 'drippy'
So it is almost 11AM, we are all just laying around the hostel right now. The Italian who joined us in our six bed room yesterday has been out on his bed since before 11pm last night. He hasn't really moved much, I have seen him roll once this morning so I know he is not dead....plus there is no stink yet....but I find it amazing with five guys rummaging around the room, talking, etc....he is just out. Those crazy Italians!
So last night was fun. We will leave that at that.
Not sure our plan for today. There are some things we still need to see, the Anne Frank House is one of them. We saw it from the outside yesterday, but have not been inside. We are still up in the air on that one, just because of how lousy we feel.
Give us a reason to come back :)
The Red Light District is crazy! More so than I had thought before coming here. Vegas has NOTHING on Amsterdam. We have been offered almost any drug you can think of, we've been offered almost any sex act you can think of....it is nuts.
Pat and I had the free hostel breakfast this morning and I have decided stoners are annoying! Well, I mean 'potheads' ... not the occasional smoker, but "pot heads"..they just move so slow! LOL This hostel is about 85% potheads and that can make things like trying to get breakfast really annoying, they are like Zombies, lol
So one more night here, then off to Dublin tomorrow late afternoon.
Keep in touch, comment!!
Wednesday, June 18
So just............
So just plug this in before the last post :) not much has changed since my last post, it is 7:30PM here and we are in our six person hostel, with three new guys...the two french guys and a new italian. lol, We all just did a shot of absinthe and are hanging out listening to music, in a pre-funk situation, before we hit the red light district tonight :) everyone, keep their phones on just in case we need someone to bail us out of somewhere! LOL
anyways, this is what I typed over the weekend.........
----------------
sorry for not posting for such a long time, the internet was slightly lacking in Munich and we were only here for 1 ½ days so we wanted to take in as much as we could
Let me just make it clear that Munich is awesome!!! We are all so happy we chose to come here and were so surprised at how cool it was. We thought it was going to be a little break before the fun times in Amsterdam and Dublin, but we were wrong … we sort of wish we could be here longer and for sure want to come here for Oktoberfest.
We lucked out with the timing, because this weekend was the 850th Anniversary of the city of Munich! So it was totally party time EVERYWHERE and the Germans make the US look like babies when it comes to partying.
We left Florence on Saturday morning, went to the train station, got our tickets and got on our super long train ride, 8 ½ hours…it was not as bad as I thought it would be…why? Well the ride was gorgeous, Italy was pretty but it was more once we got out of Italy and the train rode through Austria and the mountains, it was amazing. The other reason was, Euro Cup is going on right now…a huge Soccer tournament in Europe and they are playing in Austria. We had a train FULL of soccer fanatics. Pat ended up partying in the train’s hallway with a group of guys from Spain drinking and singing “viva Espana” !! We were not aware of this until he came around the corner with that look on his face that says … ‘I just had some drinky time’! It was great, the train emptied out in Austria and Pat, BJ and I had a cabin to ourselves, so to get into the Germany mindset we took our Jaegermeister out and had some for the rest of the train ride!We pull into Munich train station, by far the coolest train station we have seen, got ourselves a bratwurst and a pretzel. We got a cab and just pointed to the hostels address we had and he took us there. Got checked in and we had a four bed room and the fourth guy was in here when we got here, a mid forty year old man named Tod! Poor Tod…. :)
We got changed and walked to the nearest Beer Garden, got some food….Pork Knuckle, Potatoes Brats etc.. and a liter of beer. We watched one of the soccer games that was on
There was a table of German guys near us and they were pretty sloppy drunk and one came over and we were talking…he knew enough English…..and he was teaching us some German and stuff. It was great. I was saying that I had about four liters of beer, thinking that was impressive, and he told me that I was in Germany and it is typical for the guys to drink 7 liters of beer and go driving and if a cop pulls you over he looks at you and goes ‘oh, you only had 7 liters of beer, you are okay to go’
lol
he was nuts, and it was funny because his buddy who was there was a cop and was like “nonono! that is wrong”
We then went to sleep …. in the hostel
On Sunday we walked around the huge festival in the downtown area, it was so fun! People all dressed up in their Bavarian outfits…parades, competitions, etc. at 11:30 went to the Mike’s Bike Tour. It was so much fun. We saw some great sights in Germany, went to a beer garden, drove through their huge park (apparently like 3 times bigger than central park), saw a local nudist that the tour guides have nicknamed “tri-pod” we saw why.
Afterwards we went to the famous Hofbrauhaus with these people we met on the bike tour! It was so cool, it holds 5,000 people! Multiple levels, great beer, everyone chanting and singing…it was great. After a few too many beers we stumbled out into the festivities in the streets … had some more beers, listened to some live music, I was drinking with this like 75 year old German woman! Pat proceeded to dance with our new friend…I will upload those pictures later, it was hilarious!
Then we made it back to the hostel, Tod was gone :( Replaced with some new guy we didn’t talk to….Pat ‘’’’fell asleep’’’’ in the lobby, I was out on the bed, BJ finally got Pat back to his bed. We all woke up this morning feeling Germany :)
we are heading to Amsterdam here shortly, just have to check out and take another 9 hour train ride! :(
okay, peace!!! pics will upload later…
In Amsterdam now! The ride was pretty nice actually, the first leg of the strip to Cologne Germany had us in a huge train that was very clean and nice with basically no one else in our car. So we got to lounge out and talk .. etc.
We got into Amsterdam, walked out of the train terminal and were all jaw dropped, the place is great! It looks like vegas meets Europe….you look down the main street and you see flashing lights, huge marquees, Casino signs..etc. Really a cool vibe.
We walked into our hostel lobby and there is this huge section in the corner with big pillows all over and coffee tables with people all just laying around high out of their mind and smoking pot. It was hilarious, the lobby has a cool bar in it with the soccer game playing and a disco ball :)
We just got into our room, we are sharing with three other people, not sure who they are yet, but from the looks of things it is two guys and a girl. One of them has like pajama bottoms on their bed laying out and they are seahawks pajamas, so that is interesting, also that they have pajamas and lay them out, that is interesting too…we will see!
Okay, we are all changed and off to explore! Take all my posts while we are in Amsterdam with a grain of salt :)
anyways, this is what I typed over the weekend.........
----------------
sorry for not posting for such a long time, the internet was slightly lacking in Munich and we were only here for 1 ½ days so we wanted to take in as much as we could
Let me just make it clear that Munich is awesome!!! We are all so happy we chose to come here and were so surprised at how cool it was. We thought it was going to be a little break before the fun times in Amsterdam and Dublin, but we were wrong … we sort of wish we could be here longer and for sure want to come here for Oktoberfest.
We lucked out with the timing, because this weekend was the 850th Anniversary of the city of Munich! So it was totally party time EVERYWHERE and the Germans make the US look like babies when it comes to partying.
We left Florence on Saturday morning, went to the train station, got our tickets and got on our super long train ride, 8 ½ hours…it was not as bad as I thought it would be…why? Well the ride was gorgeous, Italy was pretty but it was more once we got out of Italy and the train rode through Austria and the mountains, it was amazing. The other reason was, Euro Cup is going on right now…a huge Soccer tournament in Europe and they are playing in Austria. We had a train FULL of soccer fanatics. Pat ended up partying in the train’s hallway with a group of guys from Spain drinking and singing “viva Espana” !! We were not aware of this until he came around the corner with that look on his face that says … ‘I just had some drinky time’! It was great, the train emptied out in Austria and Pat, BJ and I had a cabin to ourselves, so to get into the Germany mindset we took our Jaegermeister out and had some for the rest of the train ride!We pull into Munich train station, by far the coolest train station we have seen, got ourselves a bratwurst and a pretzel. We got a cab and just pointed to the hostels address we had and he took us there. Got checked in and we had a four bed room and the fourth guy was in here when we got here, a mid forty year old man named Tod! Poor Tod…. :)
We got changed and walked to the nearest Beer Garden, got some food….Pork Knuckle, Potatoes Brats etc.. and a liter of beer. We watched one of the soccer games that was on
There was a table of German guys near us and they were pretty sloppy drunk and one came over and we were talking…he knew enough English…..and he was teaching us some German and stuff. It was great. I was saying that I had about four liters of beer, thinking that was impressive, and he told me that I was in Germany and it is typical for the guys to drink 7 liters of beer and go driving and if a cop pulls you over he looks at you and goes ‘oh, you only had 7 liters of beer, you are okay to go’
lol
he was nuts, and it was funny because his buddy who was there was a cop and was like “nonono! that is wrong”
We then went to sleep …. in the hostel
On Sunday we walked around the huge festival in the downtown area, it was so fun! People all dressed up in their Bavarian outfits…parades, competitions, etc. at 11:30 went to the Mike’s Bike Tour. It was so much fun. We saw some great sights in Germany, went to a beer garden, drove through their huge park (apparently like 3 times bigger than central park), saw a local nudist that the tour guides have nicknamed “tri-pod” we saw why.
Afterwards we went to the famous Hofbrauhaus with these people we met on the bike tour! It was so cool, it holds 5,000 people! Multiple levels, great beer, everyone chanting and singing…it was great. After a few too many beers we stumbled out into the festivities in the streets … had some more beers, listened to some live music, I was drinking with this like 75 year old German woman! Pat proceeded to dance with our new friend…I will upload those pictures later, it was hilarious!
Then we made it back to the hostel, Tod was gone :( Replaced with some new guy we didn’t talk to….Pat ‘’’’fell asleep’’’’ in the lobby, I was out on the bed, BJ finally got Pat back to his bed. We all woke up this morning feeling Germany :)
we are heading to Amsterdam here shortly, just have to check out and take another 9 hour train ride! :(
okay, peace!!! pics will upload later…
In Amsterdam now! The ride was pretty nice actually, the first leg of the strip to Cologne Germany had us in a huge train that was very clean and nice with basically no one else in our car. So we got to lounge out and talk .. etc.
We got into Amsterdam, walked out of the train terminal and were all jaw dropped, the place is great! It looks like vegas meets Europe….you look down the main street and you see flashing lights, huge marquees, Casino signs..etc. Really a cool vibe.
We walked into our hostel lobby and there is this huge section in the corner with big pillows all over and coffee tables with people all just laying around high out of their mind and smoking pot. It was hilarious, the lobby has a cool bar in it with the soccer game playing and a disco ball :)
We just got into our room, we are sharing with three other people, not sure who they are yet, but from the looks of things it is two guys and a girl. One of them has like pajama bottoms on their bed laying out and they are seahawks pajamas, so that is interesting, also that they have pajamas and lay them out, that is interesting too…we will see!
Okay, we are all changed and off to explore! Take all my posts while we are in Amsterdam with a grain of salt :)
Sorry!
Sorry for the long delay in posting! I typed up a long post in a WORD document on Pats computer, but for some reason his laptop will not connect to the free wi-fi here in the amsterdam hostel. But I will post that, it was really long and I dont want to retype it, so when he can connect you can hear the intricate details of Munich, but here is an outline.
MUNICH:
Train ride was nuts, we didn't know it stopped in Austria at the town the EuroCup is being held, so it was like a frat party on the bus with chanting, face paint, and lots of beer.
We loved Munich way more than expected! It was the 850 year anniversary the weekend we were there, so it was this MASSIVE festival with concerts, parade, huge crowds, beer EVERYWHERE.
We did Mikes Bike tour, great times...
AMSTERDAM:
We got in, hostel is nuts, way more pot than I expected! For instance, we walk into the hostel and the whole lobby is one big pot den with pillows and stoned backpackers everywhere.
---------------
so that is where my last post ended. I will write now from yesterday on.
Yesterday we went to this place called Barneys for breakfast, it is famous and was pretty cool. We didn't order any drugs, but it was weird to be given two menus, one for breakfast the other for different types of marijuana and bakery style treats. lol
Afterwards we wandered around ... up and down the canals, worked our way back to the city center and Pat got a Holland soccer jersey, I got a tshirt as did BJ, Pat and I got facepaint and scarfs, I got orange hair spray and pat got an orange wig....BJ wore his tshirt.... we got all ready and ventured to a bar in the RedLight district to watch the undefeated Holland team play Romania! It was nuts..everyone was in orange and going crazy. It was a tad bit subdued for the reason that they had already clinched their spot in the next round of the tournament, so it was like a game 15 in american football, when the team already has their playoff spot. Everyone that they played were the second string. But they WON and we got to listen to EVERY BAR from redlight district back to our place play Queens "We are the Champions" lol, it was funny.
Everyone thought Pat and I were Dutch because we were totally dressed up from head to toe (I will post the pics from Bjs computer as soon as I can)...... the locals would run up and high five us and start yelling about how great the Holland team is in Dutch at us...and we would have to explain that we were US students but became Holland fans during our trip. They actually thought that was even better!
There was an impromptu midnight parade after the win and you could hear the honking and cheering deep into the night.
We have a six bed room, so three of the beds are strangers. The first night it was three girls, all from the Seattle area, which was weird. They left yesterday morning, last night we had two french guys (one snored like crazy) and a girl from Canada. They are all leaving, so we have no clue who are new roommates will be tonight.
They are doing their monthly head to toe cleaning of the whole hostel, so we all have to check our bags in the kitchen for the day and empty our rooms completely. Sort of annoying.
Okay, well, we are off to the Anne Frank House and then the Heineken Brewery tour!
We miss you.....
Sorry for the delay in posting, as I said, the internet sucks :)
.............we are being good!
MUNICH:
Train ride was nuts, we didn't know it stopped in Austria at the town the EuroCup is being held, so it was like a frat party on the bus with chanting, face paint, and lots of beer.
We loved Munich way more than expected! It was the 850 year anniversary the weekend we were there, so it was this MASSIVE festival with concerts, parade, huge crowds, beer EVERYWHERE.
We did Mikes Bike tour, great times...
AMSTERDAM:
We got in, hostel is nuts, way more pot than I expected! For instance, we walk into the hostel and the whole lobby is one big pot den with pillows and stoned backpackers everywhere.
---------------
so that is where my last post ended. I will write now from yesterday on.
Yesterday we went to this place called Barneys for breakfast, it is famous and was pretty cool. We didn't order any drugs, but it was weird to be given two menus, one for breakfast the other for different types of marijuana and bakery style treats. lol
Afterwards we wandered around ... up and down the canals, worked our way back to the city center and Pat got a Holland soccer jersey, I got a tshirt as did BJ, Pat and I got facepaint and scarfs, I got orange hair spray and pat got an orange wig....BJ wore his tshirt.... we got all ready and ventured to a bar in the RedLight district to watch the undefeated Holland team play Romania! It was nuts..everyone was in orange and going crazy. It was a tad bit subdued for the reason that they had already clinched their spot in the next round of the tournament, so it was like a game 15 in american football, when the team already has their playoff spot. Everyone that they played were the second string. But they WON and we got to listen to EVERY BAR from redlight district back to our place play Queens "We are the Champions" lol, it was funny.
Everyone thought Pat and I were Dutch because we were totally dressed up from head to toe (I will post the pics from Bjs computer as soon as I can)...... the locals would run up and high five us and start yelling about how great the Holland team is in Dutch at us...and we would have to explain that we were US students but became Holland fans during our trip. They actually thought that was even better!
There was an impromptu midnight parade after the win and you could hear the honking and cheering deep into the night.
We have a six bed room, so three of the beds are strangers. The first night it was three girls, all from the Seattle area, which was weird. They left yesterday morning, last night we had two french guys (one snored like crazy) and a girl from Canada. They are all leaving, so we have no clue who are new roommates will be tonight.
They are doing their monthly head to toe cleaning of the whole hostel, so we all have to check our bags in the kitchen for the day and empty our rooms completely. Sort of annoying.
Okay, well, we are off to the Anne Frank House and then the Heineken Brewery tour!
We miss you.....
Sorry for the delay in posting, as I said, the internet sucks :)
.............we are being good!
Tuesday, June 17
Alive
We've made it to Amsterdam. All alive and essentially well. Huge post coming sometime in the future. The internet here is not what you'd call reliable.
GO HOLLAND!!! EuroCup 2008
GO HOLLAND!!! EuroCup 2008
Friday, June 13
We are off!
Okay, well tomorrow morning we head to Munich Germany.
School is done - getting last minute gifts for family today, getting my EURO hair cut!! Very excited and sort of scared.
okay, will post when we get to GERMANY. Wish us luck on the 8 1\2 hour train ride, lame.
CIAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
School is done - getting last minute gifts for family today, getting my EURO hair cut!! Very excited and sort of scared.
okay, will post when we get to GERMANY. Wish us luck on the 8 1\2 hour train ride, lame.
CIAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, June 12
Another Casualty!
Well, my power cord for my laptop was the latest casualty of this trip! Some interesting Italian wiring and weird surges where sockets sometimes worked then didnt then sometimes did, then POP fry...bye bye.
But, life goes on....a replacement is easily attainable and good price when I get back to states and the timing, while it sucked because I have to finish writing my paper at these weird Italian-keyboarded computers at school, I was planning on shipping the laptop back tomorrow anyway with about half my stuff. Had no use for the laptop in Germany, Amsterdam, Ireland or London and it would just be something to get stolen!
This thing will be updated via hostel/hotel computer labs and internet cafes.
oh well, we still have our health *knocking on wood*
ciao!!!
But, life goes on....a replacement is easily attainable and good price when I get back to states and the timing, while it sucked because I have to finish writing my paper at these weird Italian-keyboarded computers at school, I was planning on shipping the laptop back tomorrow anyway with about half my stuff. Had no use for the laptop in Germany, Amsterdam, Ireland or London and it would just be something to get stolen!
This thing will be updated via hostel/hotel computer labs and internet cafes.
oh well, we still have our health *knocking on wood*
ciao!!!
Wednesday, June 11
Rain in Capri
Remember when I told you, in my long Capri email, that when we first got on to the island there was a monsoon going on and we had to slip into a tented bar area and grab a drink until it passed. Well, here is a video I took as we waited for it to pass, to get a sense of our beautiful welcome to Capri :)
Pictures from Dino's Ristorante Night
Pictures from the dinner at Dino's Ristorante that the school sponsored, earlier I put the story of that night. Was great! Obligatory food shot for my mom....penne with ragu sauce and a spinach gnocchi with a spinach pesto sauce :)
Ummmm, yeah, enjoy.
Ummmm, yeah, enjoy.
Hump Day.
Well it is 4:30AM in the Seattle area right now and it is just the afternoon here in Florence Italy. We just finished up classes, as of today all three of us are done with our presentations. Pat went today, BJ yesterday and myself on Monday.
BJ and I have a final tomorrow we all have a paper due Friday and Pat has a final Friday, then we are off to Germany Saturday morning on an 8 1/2 hour train ride .. ugh. The girls leave Friday night, it is so weird to think that this is all winding down. Granted we have the second leg of our trip coming up, but we only have two full days left in Italy! There is so much more I wanted to see in Florence alone ... this is sad :(
Pitti Palace, Boboli Gardens, Serial Killer Museum, inside the church of Santa Croce, etc :(
oh well, a reason to visit again!
Pat is at school right now working on his paper, BJ went with some other GU students to go check out some churches, I just got back to the apartment and am going to work on my paper and study for tomorrow's test.
I also need to find the place that will ship one of my bags back to Issaquah and also find a place that will cut my hair that speaks English! Euro Faux-Hawk (David Beckham style) here I come :)
okay, ciao for now..
BJ and I have a final tomorrow we all have a paper due Friday and Pat has a final Friday, then we are off to Germany Saturday morning on an 8 1/2 hour train ride .. ugh. The girls leave Friday night, it is so weird to think that this is all winding down. Granted we have the second leg of our trip coming up, but we only have two full days left in Italy! There is so much more I wanted to see in Florence alone ... this is sad :(
Pitti Palace, Boboli Gardens, Serial Killer Museum, inside the church of Santa Croce, etc :(
oh well, a reason to visit again!
Pat is at school right now working on his paper, BJ went with some other GU students to go check out some churches, I just got back to the apartment and am going to work on my paper and study for tomorrow's test.
I also need to find the place that will ship one of my bags back to Issaquah and also find a place that will cut my hair that speaks English! Euro Faux-Hawk (David Beckham style) here I come :)
okay, ciao for now..
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