dobry den, ahoy, jo napot kivanok!

Czech Republic:

sadly i was only in Prague for 1 night. I headed over from Austria to the east early in the morning as i had 3 trains to catch. i didnt take a close look at my ticket when i bought it and realized on the train that all my connections where within 5 minutes of each other, and ofcourse my train was late and i was so worried that i would be stuck somewhere on the border of austria and germany but i had good karma and managed to catch all the trains... barely. its good to yell something out when the conductor is about to blow the whistle as you are prying open the door to the almost moving train, ooops. so i get to prague and outside the train station its smelly and not so pretty and the people dirty and worn and homeless looking, but hey thats any train station right? i manage to find my hostel which turned out to be pretty cool, they have a free full breakfast and a rad lounge are with a bar and live music at night. i set my bag down and headed out to roam the city. unmistakably beautiful and imposing architecture. i saw alot of good stuff in prague but didnt know what exactly i was seeing because i was just there for 1 day. i did see a synagague which i didnt want to pay to go inside of and lots and lots of tourists, which were very annoying. prague was cheap, so cheap and the food pretty good and close to what im used to at my babushkas house. that night a hung out with some cool cats at the hostel and heard a really great argentinian band, tried some absinthe, and no i did not see little fairies, barely even gave me a buzz and headed off to the great land of slovakia in the morning.

slovaaaakia:

with pauline was ofcourse amazing. never thought i would be headed for slovakia but paulines family had a warm welcome for me in their wonderful home a few hours away from Bratislava. my trip to slovakia consisted of very creepy-going-to-break trains, lots of really good food, lots of sun, and ofcourse drinking. we spent most of the time with pauline's aunt, suzanna, and little brother just hanging out, eating lots of food that pauline's aunt kept feeeding me and trying her grandfather's cooking, delish! we went to a lake, a pool with sulfuric acid water, smelly but good for you, tanned by the pond, ate more food, walked to the waterfall by the house and had lots of watermelon in the 42 degree weather. i got to meet some more of pauline's family and we went out one night, never to be forgotten.... lets just say that its easy to get free drinks from random people at the bar. we started the night with about 15 of us at a restaurant eating tatarak, this raw meat and garlic mixture that u put on toasted bread, it was very tastey but raw! had about 6 beers, its impossible not to, somehow they just keep appearing in front of me when i didnt even order it! more than half of us didnt speak any english so it was a bit difficult at first but somehow i managed to use my russian to communicate. we spent the entire night at a bar drinking until about 4am then headed over for burgers. pauline you will laugh but i am still so impressed with the cheeseburgers! we walked into this joint and the people working there looked like they were about to jump on us, just staring and hating us. we were so loud and obnoxious and when nick put his feet on the chair they were about to kick us out. one of the guys we were with was hillarious and he ordered 6 cheesburgers for us (sex cheesburgers please)and astonishingly it was an actual cheeeeese burger, like... with cheese, this piece of deepfried cheese, no meat... nada on the meet. we went to another place a different night which had this super communist theme with pictures of Lenin and KGB posters everywhere and the USSR flag, i just was not sure if it was a joke or not and i didn`t mind to ask anyone. i still cant believe how generous paulines family was to me, i loved being in a real house with a traditional slovakian family and they treated me like i was one of their own, Patia even gave me a suitcase to take with me, as i am still stripped of all my things and all of Paulines family and friends were so so friendly and soooo so kind. so many memories, thank you guys for such a great time, and please come visit me in CA!!

Budapest:

was incredible and i only wish i stayed longer, much longer. i think this was really, this time my most most favorite destination so far. amazingly beautiful, undescribable and sorry that i can only squeeze in a few pictures on my camera as the battery is dead, and the charger is ofcourse in my yet missing luggage, but never mind that... Budapest for me was so relaxing although staying up till 6am might not seem to be, the Turkish baths definately made the trip worthwhile, i could have stayed in that open air heated pool all day if i didnt need to go do some sightseeing. Budapest is warm and freindly and although you will have a hell of a time understanding the language or even a menu for that matter (i cheated and went to subway) it is a wonderful place and im definately coming back soon!!


wish i can write more about my journey through the post communist eastern european countries but i will save that for when i see all your faces. counting down the days....

the hills are alive

but i am completely dead! its been a long long journey and somehow i ended up here in salzburg, austria home of mozart and the film "the sound of music" let me begin by describing why i am so dead. i thought i was doing well, not whining, not complaining, taking the punches but i think i am all spent and the weather definately has alot to do with i. i managed to conquor 4 countries extensively and i have nothing... literally! my flight from barcelona to vienna somehow managed to lose my luggage, and lucky me that on sunday everything is closed in austria so it was me and my sweaty jeans (pauline´s sweaty jeans) and my cousin anya who i met up with in vienna. if it wasnt for anya i dont know what i would have done!! i have recharged on clothes and toiletries and i am traveling light, very light! and the best part is that the airlines dont know where my stuff is!!! but nevertheless i am in a good mood. vienna was beeeeautiful, the architecture is very rich, very white and magnificent and royal. everywhere u look u see another huge building with amazing balconies and columns. its the kind of place with lots and lots of museums and theatres and educated people. we even got to see a bycicle marathon. the food in vienna is alot of kebab and pizza shops and u will be lucky to find an authentic austrian restaurant. the apple struddle though is on every corner accompanied by ice cream which melts right away because of the damn heat. but i said goodbye to anya who is in london at the moment and am taking in this charming city. this is by far my most favorite destination, despite the heat. the food is amazing (wanna try some weiner schnizle) the city beautiful and alps and the lakes breathtaking. the best part is of course the sound of music theme, it is practically everywhere you turn and today i gave in and actually took the official sound of music tour. it was insane and our tour guide made my belly hurt with his ridiculous jokes. i´got to see alot of city and the magnificent alps and lakes and churches, breathtaking really and of course all the sound of music spots like the gazebo and the Von Trap family house and the steps where they danced and the mountain that was alive, etc. it is 36 degrees outside, maybe more and im planning to live in my 2 outfits from H&M for the next few days until i meet Pauline in Slovakia. i love Austria, i never thought to come here but it is one of the most beautiful countries i have visited. im not sure what the plan is for tomorrow but i think i am headed up to Prague, to try the absinthe, and then some. hope u all in CA have august 3rd marked on your callendars.

ALHAMBRA!

its kind of hard to update as every day something new and exciting happens and i just cant seem to keep my mind in one place. im still in spain and just got in to Madrid from Granada. GFranada was lovely, although my first impression of it was polluted by a petty theft incident from which i got away(some dudes tried to steal stuff from my purse on the bus) i still very much likes Granada, its small and the people all seem to know each other. people eating tapas on the streets and the town is completely dead at siesta (3-6pm) at night there are big beautiful lights covering the entire city. the most impressive attraction and why i came to Granada was ofcourse the all famouse Alhambra. this is a massive Muslim castle situated at the top of a hill. it is incredible and the history behind it goes something like this: Muslims built it, settled... Christians came took over. but the Alhambra is impressive. beautiful carvings and paintings and tile. Granada has the best bars, you order a drink and you get a massive order of tapas free with your drink, every drink.... no frekain way, right? and its delicious! well after a 5 hour bus ride i ended up here in MAdrid, so far i frolicked but hvant really seen all of it. tonight im meeting up with noel, rafa's friend who does not speak any english but we had a good time in dublin so madrid should be a piece of cake!