More Germany.

We took an overnight train from Venice to Munich and we got ahold of Irene. She said she would be home to welcome us at 5 PM so we saw some of Munich'S HUGE churches and this one giant clock tower called Rathaus. Itäs one of those clocks where people come out and dance every hour. Then we went back to Austria. Salyburg, to be specific. That's the place where the Sound of Music is filmed. Hopefully you'll recognize some of the places from the pics I took. Like the parts of Austria that I've been to, it's too flowery for my taste. However, Salzburg is surrounded by the Alps and they look amazing. Even the trip to and from Salzburg is breathtaking, but its damn near impossible to get a good picture from a train. Now we#re at Irene's with her husband. Their son, Felix, is adorable. He's like a 3 foot butler. Pics coming soon.

Oh, and some things happened that have pretty much constituted the most trying time of my life...but you prolly won't hear about it unless you're in mentor. Bye.

Venezia

Hoy, Tess cooked so much food! Tofu soup, salad w/ olive oil dressing, beef and brocolli, pork roast, and rollbräten, a sausage. I don't think I can walk. I caught some type of bugt while I was in Frankfurt and I've felt it fore the past four dazy. Thank God I get over things sooner than most people. I was pretty miserable the whole time. From Freankfurt we went to Heidelberg, which is supposed to be a romantic old German town. It's also pretty famous for its chocoloate. However, it was raining the whole time.

Then we took an overnight train to Vienna, Austria. It was pretty there. Pretty as in flowers and gardens and more flowers. Austria is a nice place but it isn'T exactly my cup of tea...and yet again it was raining.

Now we're in Venice, Italy. AWESOME! It's a maze here and the locals can't really give directions because they admit it truly is a confusing place to navigate. The rain followed us here, too, but we saw what we wanted before it came.

Recap!

Ok. So the past week has been screwy, like this German keyboard. The Z and Y are switched and thats just the least of the problems.

So, from Greece we took a ferry overnight to Bari, Italy. Then we were going to take a 7 hr. train ride to Rome, but mom didn't want to pay 45€ for it. Instead she jumped on some random train without wondering if that costed too. It did. We paid 24€. Then mom changed her mind and decided on going to Milan. Then she changed her mind again and decided she wanted to go to Zurich, Switzerland. She was confusing the hell out of the conductors so I talked to them using the little Latin I knew to understand them.

When we got to Italy, a country wide strike had just started. It would last for 24 hours. That meant we couldn't go anywhere in or out of the country. It was not a good day for me at all. Then we found a train that was secretly going to Paris. We took it and paid 75€ but by that time my mom didn't care.

When we got to Paris my mom did her usual running off without knowing where she was going and we kept on getting lost. I finally lost my cool and yelled at here. She gave me the "Fine. You do it and let's see how YOU do..." talk. We saw the Arc de Triomphe, Tour Eiffel, Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Sienne River, and I even found us a bank so we could exchange our money. We onlz had 5€ left. We only had 6 hours to spend in France before we had to move on to Germany.I'd say I did pretty well. France was suprisingly nice. I didn't have that good of luck the last two times I was there. This time around it was excellent. I guess it was just because my mom doesn't rub off too well with some people.

From there we took an overnight trip to Berlin. I only ran out for 15 mins to take some pictures then I stayed inside the station (Hauptbahnhoff) so we didn't have to pay 25€ for luggage storage if we were only going to stay there for a few hours.

Now I'm in Frankfurt. We'll be here for the next few days. There are even more pictures that I took that arenät on Facebook, but they're on my mom's camera so you'll just have to wait until I go home. There are also some beautiful sights that I didn't take a picture of at all so you'll just have to come to Europe with me the next time I go. Pbtphtpht.

Since I skipped so much, ask me about these when I get home: Shabir, Grigori, Dewayne and Rachelle, Ben, Flamboyancy in Berlin, sandcastles, Heinz and Tess, Benjamin and Paulie, food, and Knossos.

Knossos

So, before we left Crete yesterday I went to Knossos Palace just 3 km out of Iraklio. Very nice place, and because I'm 18 I got in free again. I am liking this. Old enough to be on my own but young enough to not pay. Woot. I will upload those as soon as possible. I won't talk about Knossos too much because teh pictures tell the story.

Besides that, just another overnight ferry so there isn't much to talk about. About to go to Patras to make my way down to Italy. Ciao!

Last night in Crete

So I thought today was a flop because of the day's events in the past entry, but without them happening I wouldn't be having such a wonderful time at the moment.

There was a brownout in the section of Hania I was staying at so I went to the harbor to upload my photos at an internet cafe I heard about from the two guys that gave us a ride down from the mountains.

Because the internet was kinda slow, it took me 90 minutes to upload my photos, but I got to talk to Amanda and now it's night time.

The result is a whole new world here on the harbor. The magic has returned to this town by the sea, where I thought it was just a lucky fluke. Right now I'm enjoying a frappe al fresco looking out to the sea lit up by the lighthouse and the restaurants that line the docks. Time to Enjoy, so see you later.

Kinda looked like Arizona...

Second day in Crete. Today wasn't that great of a day. I was fiddling around with my pictures and I accidentally wiped the card clean. The only pictures of importance were the Hania ones, though. I went up to the mountains nearby to see a monastery and a cave. The sun was beating down on us with 90+ degree weather, the place looked barren like a desert, and the monastery was closed. Our taxi driver left so we were stranded. I decided to use that time to go to the cave. It was creepy, even for me. We finally caught a ride with two other tourists, thank God, and learned about this internet kiosk on the dock. Took pictures of Hania again, but they're nowhere near as beautiful as the originals. Depressing, I know. That's about all for today. I'm planning on taking a break tomorrow and staying at the hotel. That's it. Love you all.

Day on the Docks

So... originally I didn't want to go to Greece, but now I love it. Arrived in Crete today and took a bus from Iraklio to Hania in the west. Spent a day at the marketplace on the harbor. Beautiful. When I come back to Europe, ancient Corinth and Hania,Crete are on my list of places to go. This is such a beautiful place but I am so damn tired. I was too sleepy to take ictures in some places, so sucks to be you. Pbfthpthpt.

However, I got some more pics waiting to be uploaded (in the process) What I do upload is only a fracion of what I've aken, so more to come when I arrive back in the states.

I feel like I'm about to die. Sunburn all over and my right calf muscle is torn up from ascending up mountains, abrasions on the heels of my feet from my shoes, sore shoulders and soles from lugging...um...luggage. Stuff like that. Luckily, a man named Constantino was walking around looking for guests to stay at his newly owned family hotel. He gave us a ride over there and only charged us 50 Euros a night for a spacious room w/ kitchenette.

My mom and aunt keep on tryin gto pronounce the names of the cities and I swear it's a new word everytime they say it. Pireaus, to them, is pronounced: Poros, Paras, Paris, Iriae, Prius....etc. Ah well. Tomorrow I go to more beaches on Hania. After that we go to Patras to catch a ferry to Italy. Until the next internet kiosk....

The Parthenon and Other Assorted Adventures

Went to the Akroolis where the Parthenon is. Since \i was a student 18 and under, they let me in free of charge. \it was atop another mountain, but it wasn't as high and it was a tourist attraction so it was considerably easier to get to. My right calf muscle is torn up, however from all that steep climbing. Also got to see the Temple of Hephaestos (i think), the Roman Gymnasium, and Theatre of Dionysus to name a few.

I was a little disappointed due to all the construction going on up top. Took away from the experience.

Now I'm on an overnight ferry to Crete. It's a very nice ship, even for the economy class. Ate some veal w\ potatoes and zucchini cooked in olive oil. Um...that's it. Until next time.

Corinth

Woot. Today was a great day.
Went to Corinth and we met a nice man named Erik. He was a German citizen writing something for a tourist guidebook on Greece. Saw Ancient Corinth's ruins and Temple of Apollo, but the best part was climbing the nearby mountain to see the Akrokorinthia, Acropolis of Corinth. Very few people ever get to see it unless they rent a car because it's 3 km up...but I walked =)

Met a study abroad group from Austin Peay in Clarksville. They were kind enough to keep me company and give me a ride in their bus. \kinda forgot to tell mom I climbed the mountain. When I returned the whole town was upset withme...but theywere all smiles again and ghave me a gyro.

Day 1

So I made it to Athens. I only have 10 mins. to blog and check email so forgive any run-on sentences. The metro rail is confusing as hell. The colors on the trains don't correspond with the maps and charts, but I've figured that bitch out.

We're right outside of Athens in a place called \omonia. The street signs aren't out in the open and life there is like a game of extreme Frogger. We had so many suitcases with us that I already have blisters and my hands started to bleed. Mom thinks I'm a damn workhorse. \you can tell who the locals are because they walk into oncoming traffic going 50 mph without looking either way.

Went to the Akropolis today. Beautiful place. Couldn't show you everything, but \i have some nice pics waiting to be uploaded.

Next stop, Pireaus.

Devil Eyes