Vienna, Two New Friends and a Free Eye Exam

On Tuesday morning I got up early (by my standards) and headed to the bus station to head to Vienna, Austria. Sadly, the bus was an hour late, but no harm not foul. I enjoyed a calm 3 hour ride to Vienna. Now, the odd thing is the drive looks almost exactly like driving through Kansas. It was just agriculture all the way with some occasional large hills. The only real difference was wind farms EVERYWHERE. I mean as far as the eye can see in all directions. Now, if you drive down I-70 these days, you will some some wind turbines going, but not like this. And honestly, I like it. People complain they are an eyesore, but there is something really cool about seeing them all over the place. It is just flat country, not really a site worthy of a trip to see anyway, this is at least adds some practicality and excitement to the view.

I finally get in around 1pm to Vienna. Now, I know roughly I am on one side of the city and need to get to the other for my hostel. This is always the fun part of visiting a new city, figuring out how it works. I go to the metro right away, figure out the rough plan for the system and then decide what metros I need to hop on and off of and where to get to my desired location. After about 20-minutes a good guessing I arrive at my hostel.

This time around I have gone with the cheap option, a 10-person room. Turns out alright. You just have to be prepared to be woken up by noise a little at night and in the morning, but worth the savings. People in hostels are pretty courteous of other travelers when people are sleeping.

This hostel, unlike my others, is pretty awesome. Good sized, had great reviews, has a kitchen, laundry room and full bar. I drop my stuff off, scope out the place and head into the city to wander.

I went into the central downtown area and walked around for awhile seeing the main sites. The beautiful St. Stephens Cathedral, the Parliament building designed after the temple of Athena, some awesome looking museums and some amazing parks. This is my first solo travel and I end up feeling a little lonely. Things are less exciting by your self, but still really cool.

As evening rolls in I go down to the bar for "happy hour" which is a pretty good deal. 2 Euros for a liter of good beer. I don't like beer back in the states, but I do like beer in Europe so far. Go figure. Feeling kind of lonely, I realize I just need to start striking up conversations with out guests and accept I will strike out some and win other times.

I sit next to two ladies (look around my age) who are speaking English with a native tone and strike up a conversation. We start chit chatting about where we have been, seen, etc. One, Alison, is from Ohio but lives in NYC and the other, Audrey, is from Emerton, Canada. I find out that they are both optometrists and met in school and stay in touch. They just went to Octoberfest, then onto Vienna, Buchurist and then Budapest and home.

Somewhere in our conversation I end up asking eye questions. Now, I have never seen an eye doctor in my life. My vision is great and never had a need, so I start firing away and they have a blast with it. They are lucky people who enjoy their work. I turn into research for them, as I explain about having migraines with visual auras and how it affects my sight, etc. I let them know they can now right this trip off as a business expense with my exam.

After a while more of chatting about our backgrounds they eventually ask me my plans for the next day (don't have any) and invite me to join them in renting bikes and riding around the city seeing the typical tourist sights. Happy to not go solo, I try to cooly accept, but I probably sounded like a kid being asked if he wants to open Christmas presents early. Not to mention, from the hour or so of chatting I can tell both Alison and Audrey are about as cool as they come. Both have great senses of humor, intelligent and just excited about life. I think its a friendship that will last.

We eventually ditch the bar for food. The liquid diet of beer is starting to catch up to all of us. We go across the street to a typical Austrian restaurant and decide to try some Austrian delicacies. I order the Weiner Snitchel (I spelled that wrong for sure). We also decide to try a European thing, beer mixed with coke. Thinking it is going to be nasty, I am quite surprised. It tasted pretty good. The first sip was weird, but each one got better. It tasted somewhere in-between beer and flat coke, which sounds bad, but really isn't.

After our joyous dinner, we get some austrian pastries up the street and call it a night. The plan is to meet up with my new friends - well, my new doctors, as I keep referring to them as - at 10am the next day for some biking. I walk away thinking I have met some really cool people and will enjoy sight seeing tomorrow. I have a small twinge of fear that maybe they are being polite and I will show up at 10am tomorrow to disappointed, but I highly doubt it as I got a good vibe from both of my two new doctors.

Matt and I Find a Water Park

So Sunday is a pretty calm. I spend a lot of it applying for jobs, relaxing and planning my up coming trips. I decide to go to a Catholic church service with Edit and Matt. Let me tell you, it is hard to understand what is going on when the service is in Hungarian, but it was still pretty cool. After this Matt and Edit have pre-marriage "prep" with their priest, so I decide to wander the city some. After awhile I get bored and head home. A quite Sunday, but a nice one. I enjoy being in a foreign city and not feel the pressure to see or do things. It is calm, just like living at home, but you are somewhere completely different.

Monday is a lot more of the same. I go downtown to buy my bus ticket to Vienna, but past that don't do much until Matt gets home and that is when the fun starts.

So Matt and I wanted to go to a hot spring, but couldn't find a good one nearby, but what we did find - and by we I mean Edit was searching for us because she is awesome - is a kind of hot spring place at a Ramada Inn near us. It also has a water slide or too. Sounds good and only costs like $10 for a hours.

Matt and I head there by bus, which is an adventure because we are not 100% sure where we are going. After trying to communicate with a non-english speaking bus driver we get about 1/2 there. This bus driver was just the friendliest guy. He knew we were on the wrong bus and even though we couldn't understand each other did a great job conveying which bus we need. Shortly after on the next bus we pass him and he sees us and waves. Meeting people like that makes my day.

After a little journey we finally get to the hotel with water park. We get inside to find it is a full on indoor water park. We are talking 6 full water slides, a wave pool, a flush (water slide that then flushes you down in the middle), a diving pool, some smaller water slides, a few hot tubs and some larger pools for chilling that go in and outside (heated).

This place is awesome. Matt and I go from mid-20-year-olds to 10-year-olds in a heart beat. We can't decide what to do first. We are literally running from one slide to the other. Most of the big water slides involve tubes you sit in to go down. Matt and I find a double tube and like kids start riding them all together. At one point Matt turns around and I become Luke Skywalker and he becomes Porky as we take down the Deathstar.

A personal favorite moment, more for Matt than me, was when I was going down the big non-tube slide. I was making fake excited screaming noises knowing Matt could hear me and then it got real fast. The slide (its pitch dark in there fyi) just drops out of nowhere, I am going about 3 times faster and feel like I am straight up falling. My screams of sarcasm turn to legitimate screams of excitement and terror. This is very apparent to Matt, who is at the bottom waiting. When I get out I have a blank stare on my face at what just happened and Matt is rolling around laughing. He explains that could hear the change from a joke to absolute surprise in my screams. Maybe it was a moment you just had to be there for, but it gave us a good laugh and my quite a surprise.

At around 10pm we decide we should pack it up and figure out how to get home. But we know one thing for sure, we will be back and it probably won't be long until we come back.

Another Day in Budapest

After an exciting Friday night out with my new Hungarian friends, my Saturday was a little more relaxed, but no less fun.

Finally since it is the weekend Matt and I can hang out during the day and see the city. We decide to go on a bike ride around the city, seeing some new sights and hopefully go on a tour of the parliament building.

One of the best things about Budapest is that Pest is completely flat and I mean completely. Biking around the city is as easy as possible. Not to mention that they have bike paths or lanes running almost everywhere. Often it can be faster to bike than to drive or use public transportation.

We bike from the apartment (in the North) down along the river side to (blank) island. Now this island is Budapest's equivalent to New York's Central Park. It divides the Danube, is about 2 kilometers long and 1/2 kilometer wide or so. The parks inside of it are just beautiful. they have places for sports, picnics, they have gorgeous gardens, a petting zoo and some restaurants. We bike the length of the park just taking it in.

After our ride through the island, we stop on the Buda side at a cafe for a quick lunch. Again, I just order something that sounds okay. Turns out to be a really good beef wrap. Not sure what the sauce they used in it was, but I really liked it.

We bike back across the river with the intent of going on a parliament tour only to get there and find out they are sold out. We discover that they usually sell out for tours around 8:30am every morning and you cannot buy tickets in advance, they have to be same day. This, I think is stupid, but at the same time it makes me only want to the tour more!

After our disappointment starts to subside we continue to bike through the city. I stop at a lovely bring to plank (cannot pass up the opportunity). We then get into one of the nicest parts of the city. We are in a small park across from the US Embassy, the Hungarian National Bank and some other important buildings. We stop in the park, have some drinks and just relax. Matt and I spend a good amount of time talking about business ideas. We are both have a desire to start and run a small business, with the hopes that it gets bigger than just small. We have a lot of okay ideas, but both of us currently lack a great one.

After a good amount of rest we start our slow journey back to the apartment, with a leisurely pace and a mildly longer, but more beautiful path. We cut back across the park, the river and are finally home. We enjoy a quite evening with a few beers, some of my new favorite hungarian wine and our friends at the apartment. All and all, quite a good day.

I will say that I love being able to ride a bike through a city. In KC it just isn't feasible. Too many hills. It is a great work out, but it isn't practical as a mode of transportation. In Budapest and many European cities it is not only feasible, but one of the most logical forms of transportation.

Budapest Chapter Three

After plenty of adventure across this new city, the next few days are a little calmer. I take this free time to start applying for jobs. I really want to stay in Europe for at least a year, if not more. I want to gain some international work experience, travel more and find a kind, yet beautiful European princess that always dreamed of marrying an American.

On Thursday I decide to navigate the city by my self for the first time. I go get a cell phone (pay-as-you-go) and then wander the city a bit. The city is large and a little more confusing than others because it is completely flat on that Pest site. Hard to tell where you are. Luckily, the trams, buses and metro make it extremely easy to navigate.

I have to meet Matt outside his work at 5pm across the river. While I am on my way there I realize that I never wrote down the address and I have no clue how addresses work here anyway. I know the general area, but I also don't know the name of his company. Great job, Tom, 0/2. I just decide to wing it, head the direction I think is correct and sure enough I find some buildings that look like the match of what I saw when I looked at his work building in a Google Map overview for 5 seconds. Sure enough 5pm roles around and out walks Matt. Boom, nailed it.

The reason I am meeting Matt, is that we are getting an apartment together here in Budapest for the next three months. This will be somewhere for me to store my stuff and recharge between trips. Our new apartment is just across the street and we need to go meet the landlord to do paperwork. Now, I don't have to do any paper work, I am just staying there unofficially, but I wanted to go anyway. Our apartment is right across from Matt's work, on the Buda side (the more expensive side) and about 1/2 block from the river and guess the cost of our rent. If you guessed $225/month you are correct. I love Budapest. Rent is cheap! This is for a nice place in a nice building too, we didn't go for the cheap.

On Friday I spend the day cranking out some job applications and planning/booking my next two trips. 3 days in Vienna (27-29) and Sweden on Oct. 1st. That night Bobbi has invited Matt and I to go to a pub downtown where one of his friends is having a going away party. The friend is studying in Germany for the next 6 months or so. This was a great time. There was about 20 people there, all around my age +/- 2 years and the best part is, almost all of them are working on their masters in history. (Now if you go to college in Hungary you almost always get your masters, its closer to an undergraduate degree in the states because so many people have bachelor degrees in Hungary. A fault of free education).

I get into a great conversation with two of Bobbi's friends about the difference of perspective in learning American history. They also explain how the political system works in Hungary, what is going on with the current parties, etc. This is just right up my alley. Both of these guys also like to focus on WW2 history, so the conversations are just endless.

Finally, one of them asks me if I would be willing to present my senior history thesis to a group of them. I was confused at first because I haven't mentioned that in this conversation. They go onto to explain that Bobbi talked to them about what I wrote my thesis on (why Japan lost the naval war in the Pacific during WW2 even though they were the bigger power). Kind of thrown back, I ask more about the group I would be presenting to, the format, etc. So they have a formal organization at their University of history students that get together and bring in speakers to present different topics of history. They expect the presentation will be to about 30-40 master students.

While I accept the offer to present I am thinking (where is my thesis...what computer did I save it on.....what were my main points.....crap). Luckily after jogging my brain for a minute it all started coming back. So yes, I came to Budapest and somehow ended up being asked to present my senior thesis to 30-40 history students. Awesome, just awesome. I love this adventure. But I need to refresh myself on my research and put it into a power point presentation.

After reaching a comfortable point drinking beers I decide it is time to catch one of the last trains back to my area and call it a night. I have research to do!

Budapest Part Two!

Let me tell you, a real bed in a private room does wonders for regaining your energy. For day 3 in Budapest, Bobbi is ready to really show me the sites.

We start off visiting Heroes Square. This is a square decided to the heroes of Hungarian history. The place is pretty awesome. Very beautiful and hearing the history behind each statue makes it 10x better. I am very lucky to have a personal tour guide who just happens to be working on his masters in history. One interesting fact, the square was built during a time while the Hasburgs still ruled, so the statues on the far right were of the king and queen during that time. After their fall, they were torn down and replaced with two statues of famous rebel leaders who fought against the Hasburgs.

After this we took the metro downtown. Now the metro we took was a little different. It was the first one ever built in Europe; making it the oldest metro in Europe. The funny story behind it is that when they built it, they weren't thinking this whole metro thing would be big. It was just an experiment. So the built it right at the end of Heroes Square and then under one of the most trafficked roads in Budapest, now known as Embassy Row, since most foreign Embassy's are on this street. They tore up the road, built the tunnel and then just built the road right back over it. Part of the lack of planning was, how do you ever get the train out if you need to repair or replace it? Well, that eventually happened. They couldn't exactly tear up this now historic street, so they had to do it the hard way. The dissembled the entire train piece by piece and carried it out by hand. Then they rebuilt a new one back below.

After getting to the city square we visit Bobbi's University. It is a very beautiful part of the city. It is in one of the older, more historical areas. Its great to see old homes/villas just converted into useful buildings, like schools. The courtyard for his school was given a glass ceiling and turned into a library and let me say, I wish it was my library in college. We also grab lunch at the University (tasty and cheap!).

We leave his school and wander around eventually finding our way across the city back to the Palace. I wanted to get some great pictures of the city during the day. It is such an incredible view. I honestly think it is the best part of the city. We wander over to St. Mathews Cathedral next. This place is just amazing. On the hillside above the river and city, it seems closer to a fairy tale castle than a church. I swear they got the idea for Hogwarts from some of the structures around this castle.

After getting my fill of photos, we decide to pack it in, both tired from 4 or 5 hours of walking around a good sized, but beautiful city. The rest of the night is fairly calm. Home cooked meal and I get a chance to get to know Rozi, the other roommate more.

Now Rozi is from Debrecen, the second largest city in Hungary with a population of 200,000. (Budapest has 2 million and Hungary only has 10 million total).

Now Rozi is a fascinating person. In my last post I mention she is fluent in 5 languages, Hungarian, English, Spanish, French and Italian. Oh, and she is learning German. I struggle with English alone.... I ask how she keeps up with it and she explains that she speaks any when she can, reads books in the different languages, reads foreign newspapers and for her work she provides IT customer support in Italian and French (I think those are the two..I mean she speaks 5, don't hold it against me if I am wrong on which two). She also comes from a family of 12 (2 parents, 10 kids). 5 sons and 5 daughters. Already Rozi has made most of my life accomplishments look like the drawings a 5-year-old demands to be put on the fridge. Top it all off, her brothers are big gamers (video gamers for the fans out there). So not only did she know the incredibly nerdy games I referenced that my brothers and I spent arguably too much time playing, she admitted to playing them her self with her brothers. This pretty much solidified that Rozi is my new Hungarian BFF.

Now the next few days are a little calmer, but that is another post.

The Best Place I Have Eaten So Far

After a good long day of sight seeing Budapest with my personal tour guide, Bobbi, we meet up with Matt for dinner. Since I am the guest the choice is mine, but we are in Budapest, I have no clue where to go. My request, somewhere unique to the area. Matt and Bobbi both agree MARIKA NÉNI.

I ask what this place is and this is how it was described by Matt, "So after the fall of Communism in 1989 Marika (70+ year old woman) wanted to open up a hamburger stand, like in America, but the problem is, she doesn't know how to cook hamburgers...at all, so pretty much she just puts anything on there, pork chops, beef, chicken, any sauces or vegetables. In fact, she doesn't have a real menu, you just go in there and ask for whatever you want on a bun and she will do it. Her menu is just a collection of things people have ordered. Oh, yeah and everything is on a bun about the size of a square foot...not kidding."

So I ask what the price is. Matt's response, "Marika will just tell you to pay what you think it was worth, but it averages around $5-7."

So I get a huge burger with whatever I want on it for around $6, yes, I want that.

We get there and sure enough this 70-year-old-woman is cooking behind a counter. I order a burger with beef, chicken, sausage, lettuce, eggs, ketchup and I think that is it. Marika chastises me in Hungarian for my lack of vegetables on there and spends some time trying to convince me, in Hungarian, to add more.

Matt was going to order a similar burger but she told him, "You want the Peace Burger, it is on special, I make that for you instead." Matt knows better than to argue with her and accepts this unknown burger.

We get our huge burgers and they exceed my expectations. Huge and though a giant mess of random foods just thrown in with hardly any order. And it was great! It was a daunting process trying to eat it, but worth it.

I decided that I want to open a hamburger stand back in Lawrence when I get home. I don't know how to cook, so it is perfect. People just come in and say things they want on it and boom, I add it. If they don't know what they want, I can just make it up!

Needless to say, if you come to Budapest, this is a must visit restaurant.

My Adventure in Budapest So Far

So, my avid readers (Mom and Martie for sure - Mrs. Jantsch gets credit too for comments) might be thinking "where is an update on Hungary," so here it finally is!

I got into Hungary around 8pm on Monday. I walked off the plane expecting to see my good friend Matt Shaw, who was picking me up and so no one. I thought to my self "oh crap, Matt forgot....he completely forgot...I am now in a foreign city, with no cell phone, no internet, at night, no knowledge of the city, no phone number for my friends or address where they live....crap." Matt is a great guy, but this is just one of those things I could see him sitting at home and going "hum...its Monday night....Monday night.....OH CRAP." Luckily for me I was wrong, Matt just had his own adventure getting to the airport (apparently they built a mall on top of the last bus station leaving him confused on how to get to the airport).

Matt and I ride the bus and then metro back to his fiances (Edit - pronounced ee-dit)place where I will be crashing (he is living in their living room until his apartment is ready). I get there, expecting a couch to sleep on and instead Edit's brother (a roommate) has gone to stay with his other brother and given me his room. This is way to generous, but they refused to let me decline for the couch. I have planning to do on how to repay them. I also get to meet one of Edit's close friends and other roommate, Rozi. She speaks English very well, but is kind of a slacker because she is only fluent in 5 languages (English, Hungarian, French, Italian and Spanish). I mean, anyone can do that right?

We chat, have dinner and call it an early night. Matt and Edit had work the next day. Edit's brother is a history student as a University in Budapest and will be giving me the tour of the city the next day.

I wake up around 10am and meet Edit's brother, Bobbi, only to realize we met in Kansas when he visited Edit there. We both had completely forgotten until we met again. This made the intro much easier as him and I had talked a lot about our passion for military history (his study) when we first met.

We start by taking the metro into the central station and just decided to walk around the city and get a feel for it. Budapest is an interesting city. The building designs are very, very similar to Paris. Additionally, battle after battle have been fought in the city (Turkish Invasion, Revolt against the Habsburgs, WW2, revolt against Russia, etc), leaving a random mix at times of architectural styles showing the era that building was rebuilt in. Additionally, you can still see the damage done to plenty of buildings by gun fire, artillery or tanks rolling through the streets over the past 100 years. You may see a 300 year old building and attached to it is a 60 year old one, because the previous building was bombed and destroyed in WW2.

While wondering, we stumble across and incredible cathedral, St. Steven's Church. St. Steven was the founder of Hungary and father to the first king. This place is just gorgeous, even though I have seen about a dozen churches in the last week. You can even see St. Steven's right hand, persevered in a box inside. They have a strict no high-fiving policy as I found out with a few awkward stares...okay not really, but I thought about it.

We moved on from the church to walk down the Danube river which divides the city. There used to be two cities Buda and Pest, now one Budapest. Buda is traditionally the more wealthy part, home to the old palace (from days of kings). It is also on a hill, making it safer than the Danube floods every so often. Pest is completely flat, letting it get fully flooded more than a few times in the last few hundred years. Bobbi is a great tour guide, as he speaks English very well and knows so much about the history of the city and country. He is explaining the history from start to present, while also talking about the culture. And I am loving it. One of my favorite quotes is "In American you mark your turning points by great victories, but in Hungary we mark them by great disasters." Hungary has not been so lucky...in about any war.

After our stroll we meet up with Matt getting off work and decide to go eat at a local favorite, MARIKA NÉNI (pretty much means Aunt Marika's). I will have an entirely separate post on this. I loved the place. One of the craziest, best places I have ever eaten. Edit joins us there and we decide to cross the Danube post work and go to the Palace for an amazing view of the city at night. Budapest is so crazy because half of it is so high up on a hill and the other completely flat, but it was amazing. I had to go back the next day to take daytime photos.

We finally roll home and I somehow convince everyone we should watch one of my all time favorite movies, Sphere. I don't know how it came up or why we started watching it but we did. After a quick torrent (no repercussions for downloading copyrighted material in Hungary) we enjoyed a great film. I will explain the copyright policy in another post.

Finally, worn out, we decide to hit the hay and call it a night. Tomorrow I see more sights!

A Few Things I Really Like About Europe

Alright, so The States have their strengths, but so does Europe. Here are a few things I really, really like about Europe so far.

1) Water pressure - they got it! In America, we have become so concerned with wasting water that most shower heads barely give you a light sprinkle. In Europe, the water pressure is full blast. Not only when taking a shower do I feel clean, but it almost works as a massage on the back and neck as well. Every shower I have used (even the crappy ones in hostels) have had great pressure. Their toilets create small whirlpools and even the sinks blast out the water like Old Faithful.

2) Tax is already included in prices. It is mandatory that when listing the price of something, you list the added tax as well. Man do I love this. I know exactly what I am going to pay when I buy it, no calculating or thinking "cheap" and then adding tax to increase the price. If it says X I pay X. I like this so much I keep thinking that when I get back to the States eventually I want to champion this cause (though some already are).

3) Public transportation. Sure Italians go on strike bi-monthly, but Europe (so far) has gotten public transit down. I don't need a car or taxi anywhere (excluding going to the wrong airport). I can get completely across Budapest in 30-40 minutes (a city of 2.1 million) faster on the metro than in a car. There are also buses and trams running as well. Italy was great about using public transit to get around too. We need this in the US - not only would save us on gas prices, but reduce traffic too. Not to mention reduce drinking and driving. Much easier to catch a bus/subway home if it is faster, cheaper and safer than driving.

4) The architecture and history. I know this is something that is just unfair for America. Europe is a lot older and has that history. But none the less, I just love it. Walking down a random street and noting that some random building is actually famous or historically important from 400 years ago. The styles are just incredible as well. The castles, palaces, cathedrals, churches and just every days buildings are awe inspiring when you walk down a street. An example, I was in a Mcdonald's today at the Budapest Train station. The designer of the train station was Eiffel, of Eiffel's Tower, one of the most famous architects of all time.Mcdonald's bought a wing of the place, revamp it and now I can eat in a Mcdonald's that was originally designed by Eiffel.

5) How cell phones work. I decided I needed a phone for emergencies and for applying for jobs. So I went and got a pay-as-you-go phone. The cost per minute is pretty high and I was disheartened by it all and then I learned something that blew my American mind. You only pay for out-bound calls and texts. If someone calls or texts me, it doesn't count against my minutes. Also, if I call and the don't answer, it doesn't count any my minutes. So when I need to talk to my friends, I call them, they don't answer and immediately call me back. Boom, on the phone and not using minutes. Great cost saver and it just makes sense. I should pay for people calling me or texting me. Downside to phones in Europe is each country is treated as a foreign nation, even in the EU with phones. So if I leave Hungary I will be charged out the ying-yang for roaming.

Booked My Next Trip

So one of the things I love about being here is trying to figure out where I want to go, but not overly planning it. I want adventure and freedom. I don't know where a chance meeting might take me and I want to be free to go there. But I do have to plan a little still, so here is my schedule so far.

I arrived in Italy on Sept. 12 in Rome. I visited Florence, San Gimignano, Siena and Bologna. I left on the 19th.

From Sept. 19th to around the 25/26 I will be in Budapest, Hungary. I will go to Vienna for 3 days next week and return to Budapest for a few more days.

On Oct. 1st I fly to Stockholm, Sweden. I know I will visit Sweden, Denmark, Northern Germany, Netherlands and Belgium. I have a return flight to Budapest from Brussels booked for Oct 18th. So I have 18 days to go wherever and get down to Brussels.

I am not sure what my next trip after that will be. I still need to visit England/Scottland, France and Southern Germany. I will also do some Winter trips to warmer places (Greece, Turkey and possibly Egypt).

Some Things I learned in Italy

The first leg of my journey lived up to my dreams. It was amazing seeing the ancient city of Rome, the beautiful city of Florence and all of the great countryside in between. Here are a few of my thoughts on Italy so far. (I will be going back in the next few months).

1) You can learn another language living there. I never really understood what people meant about thinking in that language. You can't translate, you have to think it. I could never get that down in language classes. With only a 8 days in Italy I was saying basic phrases, like thank you, you're welcome, excuse me, do you speak English, I don't speak Italian. I said them in Italian without thanking. Even the first few days in Hungary, I keep using the Italian phrases when speaking to my English speaking friends.

2) Italian's are not rude. I kept getting lead to believe that Italians will be very rude Americans, but I didn't experience this at all. People were very helpful and friendly.

3) Italian's don't speak/know English as well as I had assumed. A decent amount of people spoke a little English and the only ones who really knew it worked with tourists daily. It is surprising because as soon as I got to Hungary just about every person spoke it with such great clarity.

4) The wine really is that good. Being in the Chianti valley was like being in wine heaven. You can get 1 Euro bottles that taste better than any $20+ I ever tried in the States.

My 121 Euro Mistake - A Bad Travel Day

Today I left Florence for Bologna with Ann. She is visiting a friend there, while I am flying out of there to Budapest, Hungary (Finally going to get rid of my bags).

The day started off rough, we knew there were 15 Euro regional trains running to Bologna, but couldn't find them at the station, so we had to book the 25 Euro Express (wasted 10 euros).

Once we get there we look for Ann's friend and end up waiting over an hour at the station for him. Turns out his train was late and he e-mailed us, but we didn't have Internet access to get it. Oh well.

He went to school in Bologna (he is Italian) and took us around the city. It is a pretty cool town, mostly (and literally) centered around the University there. The University makes up the center of town and Bologna is built in a circle around that center with main streets running out from the center to a circle street around the city (like spokes on a wheel).

We ate lunch at the University cafeteria, which is cheaper as we posed being students and I won't lie, it was pretty good. It was fun being surrounded by people around my age again. After lunch we walked around the city and found a huge stone tower. It is one of the largest medieval towers in all of Italy, so of course I had to climb it (inside, with stairs - don't worry). Ann and her friend ran and errand while I soloed this beast.

The climb was not the best for someone with a mild fear of heights (I don't have a fear of heights really, I have a fear of falling from heights). The stair case inside was wooden and a few hundred years old, worn down and it showed were it was patched, never replaced. Also, some of the stair cases leaned. It was not a reassuring climb, but when is adventure comforting and easy, right?

After reaching the top it was an amazing view. You could see the entire city for miles and miles. You could view the mountains to the South and the plains to the North. It was easily the tallest structure in the city. I headed down (worse than going up) and met back up with my friends. It was time to return to the train station.

I got to the train station, retrieved my bags and found a bus to the airport of Bologna as directed by my Italian friend. After a 25 minute ride and 6 Euros I got there. But I had a weird feeling. I look inside for my flight and don't see it, in fact I don't see anything for my airline. After the start of a mild panic attack I find an info desk with possibly the best English speaking Italian I have met so far. There is were it starts to suck.

Talking to the girl at the info desk I find that I have been sent to the wrong airport. The airport I need Bologna/Forli is 60 minutes away....by car. Luckily I got there early, so I have about 3 hours till my flight.

I find a cab and ask how much....120 euros.....That is twice as much as my flight+checked bags+taxes......that is almost 200 dollars...FOR A CAB RIDE! I am pissed, but I don't have any other options. If I don't, I will probably miss my flight and the next one is in 2 days. I hop in the cab and enjoy my extremely expensive 60 minute drive.

I get to the airport in quite a foul mood. I realize this is my fault, I should have done more research and made sure, but I am mildly upset that everyone I asked about it didn't seem fit to ask which one. I mean, how do I know there are TWO Bologna airports. This city is only 300,000 people!

I get to the airport, wait in line to check my bags and find out that the poorly translated instructions on the airline website have left me without my printed out boarding pass. apparently, print boarding pass must mean, print receipt and not pass in Hungarian (Or it just means I am a freaking idiot who skims too much). That is going to be another 60 Euro charge for checking in at the airport (that is how discount airlines work). Luckily, the kind lady at the counter takes pity on the travel worn idiot of an American and lets it slide this time (I think...hope I am not getting charged for that later). Bless her heart, because I think I would have curled up into a ball right there while I looked at my rapidly draining bank account otherwise.

Now I am writing this from the airport as my plane rolls in, so it could be worst. I guess I should just be happy and thankful that this is my first travel mishap it isn't too bad, just a little loss of money on my stupidity. Now off to Hungary!

Sunday Evening Follow-Up

Sunday evening turned into a pretty good, calm evening in Florence. It finally started getting cool at night (thank goodness), but was still raining off and on (bummer). Shortly after my last post Ann and I ran into two Canadians who have been backpacking Europe for 3 months on the cheap. They were fantastic to talk to as they offered me tons of advice of where to go, where to stay, experiences traveling, staying in hostels, meeting new people etc.

They also made me feel better as they said in 3 months they have not had a single issue with safety. They leave their stuff out in hostels all the time and nothing has ever been touched. I don't plan on attempting that same level of trust, but it is good to know they stayed at the cheapest places they could find and were safe. Given, it was a pair of them and solo traveling runs a few higher risks.

These adventurers just made me more excited for my journey. They talked about all the great things they have seen, the great experiences they have had (even sleeping on park benches when they couldn't find a room) and the people they have met and then visited and stayed with later on the trip. The best part is, they are not returning to Canada, they are moving to Australia and just taking a really long time to get there.

After we left our new friends, Ann needed to go pick up some fresh cloths. She had been keeping her bag at her friend Madeline's villa (Madeline is studying abroad in Florence as well and her school - Benedictine - gets a villa for all their students. Pretty much just a dorm, but in Florence, on a hill that overlooks the entire city...the rough life really).

We hop on a bus for the 20 minute ride there. Madeline isn't in, but a random assortment of other people Ann has met are there. We talked to them for about 30 minutes only to realize that one of my acquaintances, whom I played soccer with this summer, was staying there as well. I wanted to freak him out by just appearing, but he was out for the night already. I will make a fun return visit if for no other reason than just to baffle him. I then talked to guy who went to St. Thomas Aquinas high school and though younger than me, we knew a lot of the same people. The best part is, the guys there let me know anytime I am in Florence, I can crash there for free (awesome).

Ann and I left the awesome villa and headed back into the center of town. We decided to get a nicer meal tonight, as it was our last together on this journey. We settle on a nice little restaurant and get seated outside next to 3 older gentlemen. After realizing they are English speakers, I made a few jokes in their direction and get a conversation going. They are from Las Vegas, recently retired and doing a tour of Italy and Germany since they didn't in their youth. They reinforced that I am doing the right thing but not waiting until I was older for this adventure. They are getting ready to leave and offer to buy as a bottle of wine (a topic of conversation), but we had already ordered one and sadly had to decline. Though, we did get a Chianti (my favorite) and we are in the Chianti wine valley and let me say, it was some of the best, smoothest wine I have ever consumed.

The night was pretty uneventful after that. I had a delicious calzone (a house special). Ann and I returned to our room to pack up and for me to get ready to leave Italy. Tomorrow Hungary!

Stupid Italian Strikes

I understand the value of a strike. You are not being treated fairly and it is the only way to make your company move. But it doesn't work that way in Italy, it is the dumbest thing I have yet to encounter in this European world.

There was a strike for the railroads planned for Sunday. Planned! For one day! They didn't even have demands, they just wanted a freaking day off. Now, the train companies don't mess around with some parts. The express trains running between the major cities (Rome to Florence to Venice, etc) worked just as planned, it was just all the regional trains that get cancelled or delayed by 4+ hours. Oh, and the ticket staff strikes too so you cant get refunds until the next day.

This is just ridiculous. You already get 4x the amount of vacation and time off that Americans do and yet you abuse one of the most extreme labor tactics to take an extra day paid? This just blows my capitalism filled mind.

So Ann and I didn't make it to Pisa since we couldn't get a train and no buses were running there (Sunday). We instead wandered Florence some more, got lunch, figured out our train for tomorrow to Bologna, and toured the Duomo and its bell tower (which is awesome).

We were both pretty tired today and it started to rain (kept it cool) so we decided to make for an easy day of relaxation. Walked around the town, went into some shops and just had us a good ol' time.

I walked a women I saw begging the other day selling her wares. This is another thing that I don't get and I know bothers a lot of Italians. There is a huge illegal immigrant population from India, but many of them are beggars. I can understand coming here to work crappy jobs (which a lot do), but almost every single beggar (possibly all) I have seen in any city has been Indian. The US has illegal immigration issues, no doubt, but I at least don't seem them out there begging for money once they get there.

Tonight Ann and I need to go to her friends to get her bags, we might go out and have decided to go to a nice dinner. Something more than 7 Euros. While in Italy, I should at least treat myself once. I will update you all (all meaning my mom, possibly my only reader, but I love her, she is the best in the world) on the rest of my evening later.

Ciao!

Siena, a hot bus ride and a night in Florence

I left off by returning to my private apartment in San Gimignano, since no other guests were staying there. I got up that morning at 10am, the first night I got real sleep. Went to bed around 1am and got up at 10am and it felt great!

With some extra time to kill before Laura and her Mom pick me up at 11am, I decide to get some more Gelato (SO good!), bought a battery charger for my camera (the only thing I have forgotten so far), picked out my first post card and finally walked into one of the many, many knife and sword shops that lined this medieval town. No Mom, I didn't buy a sword, but I wanted to. Just think, backpacking Europe with a sword at my side. That is how I really want to backpack, but inconvenient laws put a mild damper on that plan. Instead I settle for a sweet knife...a butterfly knife! Now I am ready for knife fights, muggings and boredom.

Laura and her Mom get me at 11am and we head to Siena, about 30 minutes away by car. It is a nice, scenic drive (like all drives in Italy so far). We get into town and enjoy a long hike to the first tourism site. Siena is about 10x the size of San Gimignano and on a bigger hill. After a solid 20 minute trek we get to a beautiful Duomo (cathedral). We visit its art museum, tour the inside and go down into the baptism area. The whole place is layered with amazing frescos, statues and tiling. It still blows my mind every time how amazing these places can be.

After this we decide to go to the main Piazza and see the center of town. I need to figure out when and where I will be catching my bus back to Florence. After figuring that out we get some lunch in the city center, explore and few shops and by then we realize it is 3pm and my bus leaves at 4:10pm. We have a 20 minute walk back to the car to get my backpack, we stop at a beautiful hillside and just enjoy some shade and an amazing few. Saw my first non-pigeon Italian wildlife in the form of a small lizard or gecko.

I saw farewell to my friends, toss on my backpack, grab my map and start to navigate across almost the entire city to my bus stop, with 20 minutes to go. After some tricky navigation, large hills I approach my destination with about 7 minutes until departure. I try to buy my ticket at the auto-machine, but it will not accept my money. I run to the nearest station teller, who is busy chatting with another worker, completely ignoring me. The conversation is clearly non-work related. After about 2 minutes of me standing there, she glares at me and takes my money (it took her a total of 15 seconds to take it and get me my ticket). I sprint to my bus hop on and within 10 seconds of boarding it is driving away. Barely made it and buses in Italy don't stop and open up if you are close, they straight ignore you.

The bus was packed, 3 people standing, no AC, I am drenched in sweat from my run through the city and no open windows....only 1h 15 minutes till I get off. Only 20 minutes in everyone is drenched in sweat, uncomfortable and ready to get off. It was not my worst travel, but far from my best.

I get to the bus station (next to the train station) at 5:25 and look for Ann who was meeting me at 5pm. I cant find her at our agreed upon meeting spot. To run around the station trying to find Internet, finally find a Western Union who sells access for 1 euro/15 minutes. I have an e-mail from Ann saying her train gets in at 6:05pm, I read this at 6pm. I manage to find her a few minutes later.

We walk back to our old hotel to get my bags, realizing we are switching hostels (bummer), but will be closer to the center of the city (awesome). Luckily there is a cab just dropping someone off in front of our hotel and I snag him for a ride to our new one (we have no clue where it will be). I get my bags, hop in the cap and 10 minutes and 11 Euros later we are there (worth the cost with how heavy my suitcase is - it would have been an hour walk in the heat).

We get to our hostel only to be met by disappointment after disappointment. We find out ours is not at this location, but a side location they have (5 minute walk). This other location is 3 rooms, 3 terribly hot rooms, with no AC, no fans and only a small window opening to a 3x6 courtyard full of mold with zero air flow. Oh, cant keep the window open either because of all the mosquitos coming in. I killed 6 within 5 minutes. There is no wifi here either, we have to walk back to our hostel office to use it. Also, they are in the middle of renovating this place, so paint isn't finished, there are holes in the walls and the grouting is only half done in our bathroom. Needless to say, they wont get a good review from me.

After a brief dinner, in which a group of extremely drunk Italian youths were arguing which resulted in one smashing a glass on the ground that send glass everywhere, including at me and Ann, we went back to the hotel and each enjoyed a long shower (the joy of two bathrooms at our place...one plus i guess). We decided to go enjoy the night life since we are in the center of town. We buy a bottle of wine and walk around drinking the bottle while trying to get enough liquid courage to approach random groups of Italians and try making new friends.

After we finish the bottle, we go to a bar next to our hostel. Eventually I introduce myself of a table sitting next to us, but sadly they are Spanish and of the 3 people there, one speaks very little English and the others none. Ann talks to them in a mix of Italian and Spanish and I converse with the one who speaks a little English. It was nice conversation, but only lasted about 15 minutes. At this point it is time to return to our crappy room and get some crappy sleep.

Tomorrow we will attempt (but fail) to go to Pisa.

San Gimignano and my first experience with a European ER

So my Mom can stop freaking out, it wasn't me involved in the ER and it wasn't anything serious. A friend just needed to see a doctor and that was the only way, but I will get to that later. We call that a "gotcha" headline in the business.

So Ann had taken off to do some hiking and I decided to meet up with a friend (Laura) and her Mom who were traveling about an hour south of me by bus in San Gimignano. I got up about 6:30am to figure out this fandangeled thing they call a bus system. All I knew was that I needed to go to the ticket station, about a 10 minute walk from my hotel, and figure out how and when I will get to San G.

Lucky for me this was easy. It was a two bus trip. First bus takes me to Poggibonsi (45 mins), I get off at the stop and the next bus comes 10 minutes later to take me to San G. (20 mins). Only cost 7 Euros too. Not to shabby and simple enough. I took the direct or express buses direct city to city, to avoid endless stops.

I got to San G at about 9:30am and wasn't meeting with with Laura until 11am. I decided to explore the city a little. Not San G is an old medieval town/fortress on the top of a hill and let me say, it is awesome looking. So far the coolest town I had visited in Italy. Every alley way is lined with unique shops, the view of the hillsides are amazing and the old towers are badass looking. This already was a great decision. Then, in the main square, I find a gelato shop that just happened to be the Gelato world champion from 2006-2009. Let me say, they lived up to their name. I ended up having it three times that day.

After checking into my hotel, which turned out to be an apartment to my self, I waited for Laura and her Mom. They got there a little after 11am and we started to see the sites. Laura wasn't feeling top notch, apparently her stomach had been bothering her for the last 6 or 7 days. Ignoring that, we visited the church with beautiful frescos, climbed the highest tower to get an amazing view (pictures to come) and walked through a museum of medieval art. I will say, medieval art is really not my style. Laura's mom was generous enough to pay the entrance fees despite my protest, but at the end of the day I wont complain about saving a few Euros. She is a really nice person.

We got lunch and then visited a torture museum (not my style) and then Laura really wasn't feeling well. We went back to their hotel and Laura rested for a bit while I talked to her mom (she is a geneticist and it was great learning more about a new subject. Laura still wasn't feeling well and after talking to her and her mom for a bit I was 95% sure she had developed acid reflux. Her mom, being a mom about to leave her caught in a foreign country for 6 months was insistent and visiting an ER (the only way to see a doctor at this point). I can't say I blame her.

We decide to go to the ER and I accompany them at her mom's request (I didn't mind, beat sitting in my room or wandering a city alone). Long story short, after 4.5 hours of trying to communicate, long waits and an annoyed nurse, they agreed it was acid reflux and she got a prescription. American ER's are no more or less efficient than an Italian one, but here is the difference. Not a single person spoke English. They finally found one person who worked in a completely different part of the hospital. In an American hospital you can find someone who speaks just about any language with enough effort, especially major ones.... You can go to any restaurant and find a english speaking server, but not a single nurse or doctor....wow.

We finally leave, they drop me off at the gates to San G (I was staying in town, they were just outside). I got some more gelato and went to listen to a live bind playing in the town square (pop music mixed with punk). Laura and her mom invited me to join them the next day to visit Siena. I was happy to accept, see a new town, which is similar to San G, but much larger. And it would be nice to hang out with my friend while she is feeling better.

It was a good day full of adventure. I like not know what each day brings. I like learning new things and seeing new places. This trip is exactly what I was looking for.

From Rome to Florence

After 3 beautiful (hot) days in Rome it was time to move to our next destination, Florence. I tried to get a good nights sleep as we needed to be up by 9am, but alas the hot room, with the bright lights we can cover up outside our open window that we cant close because of the heat followed by the workmen's power tools at 6am prevented that. But none the less, it was our final night at the hostel (thank goodness).

We decided to take a train from Rome to Florence. Now, it was difficult to contain my childish excitement at this prospect. If you knew me as a child, you would know I loved trains. My Dad and I would go down to the train show by Kemper Hall each year and I was allowed to get one new train piece for my model set (HO track for any train fans). Riding the trains are also some of my favorite memories from my European trips as a child. Needless to say walking into the train station was like a kid walking into a candy shop.

Now to quell my excitement was the fact that we didn't know what the hell we were doing. After some playing around with a computer terminal and asking a few questions we got the kist of what we needed and booked two 2nd class tickets on the next train (30 min) for only 45 Euros.

The train ride itself was pretty calm. Smooth and fast (only 1h 35m). We almost missed our stop because we fell asleep though (which would have been mildly funny at the same time). This was my first chance to really see the Italian country side and let me says, beautiful. It lives up to its expectations and we were not even in the really good parts yet.

After getting to Florence we had to figure out how to lug our combined 6 bags to our Hostel that we are not sure where is. We settled on a cab that we could just hand an address too. Lucky for us it was only a 10 Euro cab ride.

This time around we stayed in a hotel (cheaper than hostels for 2). After taking our bags up to the second floor (3rd floor by American standards - in Europe the ground floor is 0). We find a nice room with a fan. No air conditioning, but finally a fan. Praise Zeus....I mean Jupiter. We unload our bags and decide to explore the city.

After walking around we stop by a couple of the major attractions in the center of town and decide to get something to eat. To celebrate our success we decide on treating ourselves to something special. McDonalds! Check out that Euro menu! (I got yelled at for taking that photo). You might be judging me, but we were tired and wanted something cheap and familiar, plus I needed beef for a change. A burger was 1 euro, a small, tiny drink was 2.20 Euro....only in Europe.

After eating our delicious meal (it was) we wondered the city center some more and got some sub-par gelato. We decide to return to our hotel as Ann is meeting up with some friends who are also studying abroad and I am going to relax for the evening.

Ann leaves and I wonder the city close by my place and get a sandwich. Around 11pm Ann comes back with 4 people and tells me they decided to go to Cinque Terra the next morning to go hiking and she needs to get her things. She will be staying with her friends tonight. They invite me along, but sadly I have to decline as I am meeting a friend in San Gimingano the next day myself. This is what I love about traveling in Europe. You can just decide to one day go to another city and adventure with friends. Plus, I got the room to my self for the night and finally a little sleep.

Now, many people have hyped Florence as better than Rome, which I had trouble believing, but now I see the appeal. Though I will say they are too different to compare, but Florence is much more relaxed. It is so beautiful situated in the hills with a river running in the middle. The mix of modern and ancient buildings only adds the allure. I can't pick a favorite, but can say I like the relaxed, closer to normal feel of Florence better. Plus I didn't feel like I was going to die just being near a street.

What I learned in Rome

It is a great feeling finally seeing something you have dreamed about for so long. Rome was, simply put, amazing. It was incredible to see the fountains, ruins, and city in general. I did take away a few specific things.

1) Rome is the city of the scooter. They are everywhere, without fail. Coming from America this was one of the craziest sights the city offered, but I loved it. Being a former scooter driver I have always longed for a city where they are both accepted and prevalent. (Everywhere seems very scooter friendly in Italy so far)

2) Despite number 1, Rome has the most insane driving I have ever seen. There are no traffic laws. Cars drive both ways on narrow streets, scooters weave through traffic and being a pedestrian is the most dangerous career path you can choose in the city. Someone told me the safest thing you can do is to try and cross the street with a Nun. The reason being, if traffic is going to stop for a pedestrian, Nuns have the best chance of halting it. If traffic doesn't stop for even a Nun, at least you have an escort to heaven.

3) There are much less of the ancient Roman ruins than I thought there would be. I cannot say I was disappointed, but with how much we talk about ancient Rome, you would expect there to be ruins everywhere. Sadly, most of the ancient ruins were torn down to be used for later construction or destroyed in the massive earthquake 1000+ years ago.

4) The bus system runs on a honor system. I paid to get on a bus, but yet so many didn't. Drivers don't check your tickets or care. You can just get on and off as you go without fail. This was the same in Florence. I could have just as easily walked onto the bus without buying a ticket. I think I am going to start testing this at some point to cut costs (sorry Mom). If caught I will try to play the stupid foreigner (only half wrong).

5) Water is cheap, everything else is expensive. A cheap meal is 10 Euros ($13). A bottle of water on average is 1 Euro, which is cheaper than in America, but a can of Coke is 2-2.50 Euros. In a restaurant a can of Coke is 4 Euro's, no refills. This is what makes Europeans so healthy. Cheap bottled water, expensive pop.

6) Italian women are beautiful. (Again, sorry Mom). I feel in love every city block. Not that American women are no beautiful, but I just kept getting stunned girl after girl. I don't want to leave! I have more countries to see though, but I think this is the measurement tool I will use to decide what country to work in.

7) Young Italian men all seem gay or metrosexual. Where in America we are so obsessed with manliness and masculinity, in Europe the men are not at all. Often it appeared the men put more time into their appearance than the women they were with. The styles of cloths they wear would flag you as gay or (possibly hipster) in the States almost immediately. Additionally, just their mannerisms tended to be more feminine. They also have great hair. I just couldn't keep up.

8) Italians are way nicer than I was led to expect. So far people have been very helpful, even though it is apparent I am a Foreigner with no knowledge of their language. The rude people you run into seem no more or less rude than plenty of Americans I have met who hate dealing with people who don't speak English.

Day 3 - Last full day in Rome

After another late start (went to bed around 6am this time around). Ann and I decided to hit up the Vatican museum. After much debate (and harassment) we decided to do one of the guided tours. Right away I can say this is worth it. The info in the Vatican is poorly labeled and there are over 50 different rooms, some of which are filled with nothing important. Some of the most important pieces in the entire museum has no labels what so ever.

Our guide was from http://www.edenwalks.com. I cannot remember his name, but he was amazing. Simply amazing. He has been giving tours for 10 years in Rome, knew so many mainstream and off the wall facts about the Vatican and its paintings. He did a great job at giving the different myths, theories and rumors surronding different aspects of the Vatican, added his opinion on which is most accurate and then backed up his reasoning. It was a fantastic tour. He somehow managed to get this ADD kid (me) to keep his attention on art for 2.5 hours.

After we finished the tour, entered St. Peters Basilica (wow, huge), I decided why not trying planking infront of some Swiss Guards. If you don't know what planking is, read this (Planking). The conversation was great. I approached him and just said

Tom - "Sir, do you know what planking is?"
Guard - "Yes" (while laughing)
Tom - "Can I plank in front of you, right here, on this rail?"
Guard (laughing) "You might hurt your self"
Tom - "Worth the risk"
Guard - (thinking)
Tom - "What if I am really quick about it?"
Guard - "Okay, be quick" (still laughing).

Boom, planked!

Later that day we visited the villa borghese (a park). It is very beautiful, but nothing as exciting as ancient ruins and the Vatican. Finally, we capped out night off with a trip to Trastevere and it lived up to its expectation. A beautiful part of Rome near the River lined with bars, cafes and restaurants and filled to the brim with people, mostly in their twenties. We went to a Jamican themed bar (by accident) and made a few new Italian friends. We talked about life, differences between our countries (a common conversation) and I was asked how I like Italian women so far. Sorry Mom and Dad, but I keep falling in love with a new Italian beauty every 10 minutes or so. I don't know if I can come home until I bring one with me. Hopefully the rest of Europe keeps up at this pace.

After a few drinks, I decide to retire early at the ripe hour of 2am. When we get back to the hostel there are three British youths (our age) hanging out. One works there, one is a friend of worker and the other is staying there. We start talking about how to identify people based on what country they are from. Then we start to talk about Tornadoes (of course) and thunderstorms. None of them have ever experience a real storm before. Finally, I mention my families hometown of Lavenham, England, in which one of the people knew a lot about. It is a small town, but had a famous family, the Springs (my Mom's family), who were extremely wealthy, one of the wealthiest (if not number 1) during that time period. (1400-1600). They built a beautiful church that is covered in the Spring family crest and has Thomas Spring's remains in a bronze display.

Finally, I called it a night around 3am only to enjoy our hot room, with a non-working bathroom and loud noises coming from outside. I did enjoy my 4 hours of sleep though.

Bonus picture - We met a one legged pigeon.

Night of day 2- Our failed attempt to go to Trestevere and our success at finding new friends

Our attempt to go to the student area failed pretty quick, but for good reasons. On our way out we started talking to two Polish people staying in our hostel. We got in a long conversation about the differences in culture, history, education, politics etc. It was a great and enlightening conversation. The exact stereotypical conversation everyone expects from meeting random people from another country in a hostel.

Eventually their Brazilian friend (also from our hostel) shows up with a bottle of Champagne. We decide to go down to the river (buying a 2nd bottle) and enjoy some champagne under the full moon on the Tiber River with a great view of the St. Peters, Castel S. Angelo and Rome in general. We continued to talk about culture and experiences, throwing in Brazil now to the mix. We helped explain a few different odd english rules to our Polish friends, while they explained why it is a terrible idea to try and learn Polish (too difficult).

After a bit, we ran out of drink and decided to meet up with a new friend, this time a French girl named Marie (also staying at our hostel). We grab three bottles of wine, which finding an open store at 2am...oh yes, it is 2am by now, is not easy. After a mile or two walk we find a store. We again head to the river (just great place for a drink) and continue to share our life experiences. I, to no surprise, spent a good amount of time explaining American politics, the difference between Dems and Rep. and even the split within Republicans. Only one person cared, again, no surprise.

We finally decided to return home at 5am to exchange Facebook info and realize the Sun will be rising soon. Finally went to sleep around 6am...... Gotta get better at this sleep thing. But hey, sleep is a small price to pay for living your dreams.

Day 2 or Rome + Awake Tom

Day 2 got off to a pretty interesting start. My body hasn't been overly kind about switching time zones, so I laid in bed from 2am to around 5am before falling asleep. Sleep was a little rough since our place is pretty hot and the environment is very loud (open windows for an attempt at air). This all led to me sleeping till noon. Luckily, I don't think I missed too much. I will say, not being sleep deprived, the city is even cooler. This might be because I don't have the desire to curl up into a little ball and sleep on every bench. (I am unemployed, why not homeless too, right?)

After getting up I took my first stab at the Metro system (easy enough). Stopped at the Termini (train station), got tickets to Florence for Thursday and then walked to the Colosseum getting lunch on the way.

So here is my first thing about being in a non-english speaking country. I have no clue what I am ordering until it gets in front of me. Luckily, this is kind of fun. About every time I order I end up confused and with something that is not what I am thinking. Being the cautious, picky, same-fooding eating person that I am, I think this is good for me as it forces me (intentionally or not) out of my comfort zone and gets me to try new things.

Back to the day. After getting a quick lunch, we head to the Colosseum, decide to do a tour (entrance only 12.5 Euroes, w/tour is 25). The first part of the tour is a waste. Our guide gives some basic info about the place, a few random facts and then says some historically incorrect information in general (not Colosseum specific)* and then goes onto glorify what great lives gladiators had and how the movies misportray them. Sure, we make them seem like every fight is to the death and it sucks, but he says they live a life a luxury, filled with good eats, plenty of sex and good ol' fightin. But he leaves out that they are slaves forced to fight, live in cages and the sex is when they are bought and traded by their owners (usually to older, wealthier widows).

Then he cuts us loose to walk around. Now the place is awesome. It really is amazing to walk around inside and if you ever go to the Colosseum it is worth paying to go in. We decide to go to the second part of the tour (new guide) that will show us the rubble of the Emperor's Palace. This made the tour fee worth it. Our guide Alex was great. Very funny, highly educating and gave some great info about how a lot of our modern customs come from Roman times (hand in marriage, short end of the stick, trick up your sleeve, etc). Sadly, there is only 30% of the original Colosseum left, 6% of the palace and 2% of the Roman Forum in front of it. St. Peter's Basilica was built out of the forum and palace ruins though.

After a brief ride on the Metro again we visited the Trevi fountain. I always wondered why this was just a big attraction and now I can see. It is awesome. Huge with beautiful sculptures and rock with crystal clear water flowing over it. Side note - all water in Roman fountains is drinkable and supplied by ONE aquaduct that was built 1900+ years ago and still works perfectly. It is 23 kilometers long, running under the city and was originally used to transport olive oil directly to the city. That is right, it is really an oilduct.

I have tried to learn some basic Italian while walking around. Now, I can't understand a word, but at least I can get some points across. Like asking if they speak English, saying thank you and ordering food (this will help). I can already see that learning a language in the country is about 100x easier than in a classroom.

After a quick pizza and gelato, we headed back to our hostel to relax before going out. Now onto Trastevere, the heavy student area where there is supposed to be plenty of pubs and a great night life. Lets see how that goes. Ciao!

*He said in Rome the average life was about 35 years and went onto to say most people died at age 35. This is incorrect. So average life expectancy was 35, this means the average of all lives put together. So every baby that dies counts as a zero, every solider who is 20, a 20 and every old person of 80, 80. The reason the number was so low was infant mortality. The greater the chance babies don't survive, the lower the life expediency (more zeros). If you lived past 30 or so, you probably would live to 80+. Elderly were much healthier and if you survived birth, sicknesses gotten in youth and war, you were expected to live a long time. Too many babies died, followed by youth dying at war or of sickness. Look any any modern country and compares its life expectancy and infant mortality rate. The same is still truth. Direct correlation.

And the Adventure Begins

After constantly getting heckled and questioned for choosing September 11th as my departure date from the States to Rome I am glad to announce that I arrived safely and with no hiccups! I have discovered that International flights seem smoother than domestic and regardless of the hour I cannot sleep on a plane.

We, (Ann, my travel buddy for the first 8 days is with me), arrived in Rome at about 8:50am local time. Both of us were tired and spent the next 45 minutes waiting in line to get our passports stamped, but despite my family's belief that they wouldn't let me in, they did. Take that Europe, now you are stuck with me for 3 months.

We checked into our hostel around 11:15am to happily find it is 3 blocks dead North of St. Peter's Plaza. Awesome location. There are about 10 other people around our age staying here and both people running it are in the same range. The con is no air conditioning....or fans. I expected this, you have to give up some of the American amenities to live on the cheap, but this room is sweaty warm at almost 1am. Either way this place should work out great and it was a good deal.

We started walking around Rome, in a sleep deprived state, only to discover one absolute truth. The stereotype of Italian's riding scooters could not be more accurate. Everywhere, EVERYWHERE. It is great. They just weave through traffic and though we would deem that unsafe in the US, I didn't see one near-accident and it sped up traffic immensely. Given, everyone is driving tiny cars, making it easier to maneuver and avoid. Rome, the City of the Scooter. Ironic that Italy is more "socialist" than the states, but has no real traffic laws (at least enforced) and the US, the "free" country has an uncountable amount of traffic laws that are sometimes the only thing enforced.

We managed to walk around St. Peter's Plaza a little (every ten feet someone offers you a tour), went to the Pantheon, wondered around the city, got pizza at a street cafe (delicious) and pasta later that night and topped it off with Gelato. One difficult thing is learning what is normal and not. I found in the first days that extra things unrequested get added to my meal (bottle of water, bread, etc) and then they charge for them. They never give you a chance to say no. You have to be blunt about not wanting or paying for it. I am learning though, but will imagine I have lost a few extra Euros today as a noob tourist.

I still can't believe I am in Rome. The phrase of the day way, "Ann....we are in Rome....Italy....in Europe....wtf" I stopped that said this almost everyone hour. It just feels so surreal, like nothing has changed. I am just wandering through a different looking city, but I am in one of the oldest major cities of the Western World. It is amazing and awe inspiring. I am just sitting there on the street having a drink. Part of it freaks me out and makes me want to run home and the other excites me and wants me to visit more and more new cities.

Tomorrow brings the promise of a non-sleep deprived view of the city, more sites and more adventure! Oh, and I will punch the next person who asks me if I want a tour of the Vatican.