20 août 2009

I totally forgot to write about our train ride from Venice to Florence! So cool.. It was the section of the train where four seats surround a table in the center and face each other. Leah and I were sitting in side-by-side tables so there were 8 of us total - a young couple from Naples, a 20-something man from Pakistan, a girl our age from Canada, a parent-age couple from Bilbao (where Leah will be studying), Leah, and me. It was the coolest thing - all 8 of us talking. English was the common language. We talked about everything - school, what we were studying, who has better pizza (Venice or Naples?), American football and European football.. so many things. It was so comforting to hear the couple from Bilbao describe to Leah what Bilbao was like and how much she is going to like it. It was just a cool hour and a half - I don't know where else I could experience that.

Today was jammed pack with first's and I loved every minute. We spent the morning in Verona, Italy - such a pretty place. We ate breakfast on the square, in front of a Roman arena. It is opera season in Verona right now, so an opera is put on almost every night. We were disappointed to not be spending another night and seeing a show ourselves. We caught the 1 pm train to Venice and were there by 2. We left our luggage with the luggage-storage men in the Venice train station and then headed out into a city I had very low expectations for. I was completely surprised by how much I enjoyed Venice - it's hot, that's for sure, but it's absolutely beautiful! I loved it! We rode a water taxi to a large square on the opposite side of the island from the train station and then began winding our way through the narrow streets. Besides all the people walking around and the gondola men, striped shirts and all, singing, the city was so quiet. I realized it was because there are absolutely no cars - it's crazy how quiet it can be without cars. We had our first real Italian gelato of the adventure and were very pleased - Leah went with caramel and melone, I went with melone and cookies. We walked around markets all day - snapping photos left and right. With our 2.50 euro map, Leah navigated our way through the tiny roads back to the train station, where we caught a train to Florence. We're in Florence now and very happy with the hostel we're staying in. It's just a few blocks away from the Duomo. Can't wait to get out into the city tomorrow!

19 août 2009

This day can officially be dubbed a travel day - 13 hours of train rides. We had a 7 hour train ride from Prague to Munich, a 5 min. switching-of-trains in Munich, and then a 6 hour ride to Verona, Italy. The differences in the two trains were incredible - the German-Italian train is much more comfortable than the Czech train. We met a nice guy from London who chatted to us most of one leg and then we read, slept, listened to music, and did sudokus and crosswords the rest of the time. Leah and I might just be crossword pros when we return home :) I finished The Shack and loved it. I can't stop thinking about it. Leah is starting it now and I'm so ready for her to finish so we can talk about it. Grandmomma, I'm excited to talk to you about it! We got into Verona and cabbed it to the hotel - the nicest place we've stayed so far!

18 août 2009

Prague is incredible! The Czech Inn Hostel where we are staying is awesome - I highly recommend it. Prague is the first Eastern European city I have ever seen so I had no idea what to expect. I was a little unsettled for the first time since I jumped the pond when we first got to Prague. The taxi situation is a little sketch, but it ended up working out fine - just got a little ripped off on prices but it was a safe ride so that's alright. I think Leah and I broke our record of the longest time standing up - we walked all over the place with no breaks. The markets were really cool - I grabbed some souvenirs, along with the other thousands of tourists. The city was super crowded with tourists. I saw a lot of fanny packs to say the least. Charles Bridge, the Castle, National Museum were all really neat to see. We ate dinner on the roof top terrace of the U Prince Hotel on the Old Town square - unbelievable! We had a great meal with an amazing show of the sun setting over the Vltava River and Old Town of Prague.

17 août 2009

James got on a train for the airport about 8:15 this morning - Leah and I would have been happy if he could have just kept traveling with us. We checked out of the hotel and brought our luggage to some good friends living in Munich. They are so nice to let us store our luggage in Munich for the next few weeks - we're free to jump on and off trains as we each only have one bag now to worry about. We headed to the Swiss consulate to discuss my student visa - I couldn't have asked for better news. I was issued my visa and don't have to worry about it anymore! We got on a late afternoon train to Prague, where we're going to spend the next few days.

16 août 2009

Dachau concentration camp

15 août 2009

We went to Salzburg for the day today! Getting there was more difficult than it should have been - one part of the track was being worked on so we had to ride a bus for part of the way. I loved seeing Salzburg again - it's such a great day trip. Leah and I rode to the top of Mount Untersburg on a cable car with an amazing view of the Austrian Alps from the top. James chose an art museum and a cold beer over the cable car. We walked all over the place - my favorite was the walk, or hike, from the Salzburg modern art museum to the Salzburg fortress. The view was so great - looking out over the valley and the city below - by far my favorite spot last summer. We sat for a while at the beergarden of the fortress and then made our way back to the train station.