PREGO!

Italia, a drastically different culture from our previous stops. The people-their personalities, interactions, appearances. The food-pizza, pasta, wine, unsatisfying sticks of bread, pizza... and pizza. The lifestyles-slower, relaxed, a stronger sense of family value. The towns-tiled roofs, villas of colorful shades of yellow and mauve, winding unparallel streets and paths, olive trees, fig trees, grape vines, rosemary and lavendar bushes everywhere. But what stands out the most to me is the Italian men (mostly security guards and police)-their sarcasm and flirtatious teasing. For instance, when my pocket knife didn't make it throught the metal detector to see Michelangelo's David in Florence, the security accused me of being a terrorist just before they told me I would have to be patted down. I totally took them seriously. Or in Rome, when Brandy asked if she could bypass the metal detectors to protect Lil Baby the security officer asked "Why?! Because you are cute??" Or when I tried to reclaim my knife the second time it was confiscated at a museum the security guard told me he didn't have it. As I began to worry about my knife's location he pulled the knife from a drawer and handed it over while he and his buddy chuckled in their satisfaction of fooling me. These were just a few I can recall off the top of my head. I'm sure I'll remember some funnier ones later. So with all these repetitive instances of being teased by young security officials we were surprised when the security so rudely denied Brandy entrance in to the Vatican because of her spaghetti straps. So, like the solution in a Mentos commercial, I quickly pulled off my pants and Brandy used them as her shawl(Don't worry Mom, I was wearing a long tunic/top). Prego!

So to sum up Italy, we saw some unique cities.

Venice: Just like you'd imagine. A city composed of tiny little islands connected by stinky canals while men in striped T's guided tourists on gondolas. It's become so much a tourist's city that I question the city's character. Though Brandy and I enjoyed getting lost in the streets awaty from the hustle and butstle of the city.


Then there is Florence. We were told of its charm, and I do agree that the town holds something especially unique. But I don't think in the two days we were there we could grasp that. I must say the David was fascinating. It's huge. And its detail and proportions are worth gazing at for hours. Michelangelo is the man.

Rome has so much to see. We stayed three nights which barely allowed us to scratch the surface of the ancient city. Day one was devoted to the Vatican where we saw the Sistine Chapel. Day two, the Colosseum. We saw some other stuff in between. But what I will remember the most is the hostel we stayed in. We reserved a place at the Mona Lisa hostel, but when we arrived they told us our room would not be suitable for a pregnant woman since they had just sprayed pesticides. So these two young girls carried Brandy's bag all the way to their sister hostel, Ivanhoe. We walked into what appeared to be Little Havana. In the common area Latin Music blared and people of Latin and Mid-eastern descent were dancing and lounging around freely, like the massivity of Rome was not enough to occupy their stay. Around 9 p.m. every night the hostel workers offer free drinks, usually a fruity punch made with champagne, wine or vodka, to compliment free hors dourves, which bascially we called free dinner. Then almost every person would eat, drink, listen to loud music, dance and even LIMBO until midnight (they gave me a free beer after I won the limbo contest). At midnight everyone had to go out or go to bed. So of course, being the modest party persons we are, we would always go to bed. Roman night life was in our own hostel. No need to go out! Not to mention the free breakfast in the morning and the free internet. Not too shabby. And it was probably the most diverse group of hostelers one could find. At one of our evening fellowships there were travelers representing Turkey, Sri Lanka, Spain, Peru, Mexico, Canada, Australia, China, Germany, Sweden, and the U.S. all in one small space. Go Ivanhoe!

We saved the best Italian experience for last. Cinque Terre! Five beautiful, quaint towns lying along the Mediterranean coast, all connected by mountainous hiking trails which hugged the shoreline. We stayed at a villa/hostel in Riomaggiore. Our hostel was at the highest point of the town overlooking the coast. Brandy and I also did the hike from Riomaggiore to the 4th town, Vernazza. The last trail to the last city, Monterossa, was a little too difficult for a lady almost 7 months pregnant. So we stopped and took a train back. But I tell you, this place is amazing. And we both hope to return to finish the trail and share experiences with our loved ones. Our top recommendation so far. **** (four stars)

Home Away From Home

Foremost, allow me to apologize on behalf of each blog entry previously and hereafter. Because of ridiculously overpriced internet cafes for travelers I have only budgeted for 15 minutes to write this blog. 15 minutes, 2£, $3.56... RIP OFF. Which means creativity and content will suffer.

So anyhow... This blog is in reference to CROATIA.

Many of you have never heard of it. It's a very well kept cup of beans that is about to spill over... especiall next year when U.S. airlines will offer direct flights. Each year more and more people flock to the exotic beaches of the Dalmatia Coast. As Brandy and I journeyed from country to country meeting travelers, many urged us to commit a few travel days to the ancient Roman beach resort. We heard of the coast's capital, Split, so we purchased an extension train ticket because our $700 multi country Eurail pass doesn't cover Croatia. But the $50 extra bucks was more than worth it.

We showed up in Split with no reservation, but to our good fortune, flocks of locals bombard travelers as soon as they step off trains, boats and planes to offer "accomodation!" One Croatian woman even said to us in broken English "Hello, my name is Room, would like me?" After accepting the offer of an old man to follow him along with 2 Australian gals and 2 Asian gals to see his place, we waited in his home for two hours while he disappeared to round up more travelers and then finally returned to tell us "I have no rooms." This all worked out to our benefit because when we left a sweet young college lad named Baldo invited us to come stay in his tidy apartment for less money and in a prime location: the Diocletian Palace, the center of the town in the very palace where the 13th century Roman Emperor used to spend days bathing in the summer sun when not persecuting Christians.

After one day in Split we jumped on a bus to find the hostel we reserved ahead of time. The hostel, Villa Sanja, was situated in a "nearby" town called Lokva Rogoznica, which actually was an hour drive through winding mountains. Baldo informed us that in Lokva Rogoznica we would not have fun, but we'd relax. And that is just what we did. Our $19 a night hostel was steps from the pebble beaches and the mountains were our backdrop. We even had a private room with a balcony overlooking the Adriatic Sea. Pure brilliance. We couldn't have asked for a better place.
The local seafood, impeccably fresh. The people, incredibly friendly. And the weather, perfect. We even had a few adventures. One morning we woke up to a commotion near the beach. A man had driven his Mercedes off the side of the road, riding the side rail 25 feet before taking a 75 foot dive down the side of the cliff and landed on the shoreline. He walked away untouched. A miracle. Another night we had a lovely dinner at a restuarant about one mile down the windy mountain road. When we asked our waitress what time the last bus came, she informed us that we missed it and she commanded us, "My brother will take you home." No questions asked, her brother Marco, who was also a waiter, hopped in his car and picked us up in front of the restaurant to take us back to the hostel. But first he picked up two dozen freshly baked donuts at the local bakery, which of course he offered us. And of course, we accepted one.

Just a few details of the fully relaxed 5 day stay in beautiful Croatia. In two years they will join the EU, so plan your trip to Croatia before then.

OFF to ITALIA!!!

CIAO :)

Prague and Budapest

Things worked out wonderfully for Brandy and I in Prague. Upon our midnight arrival we were picked up by an interesting cab driver who the hostel ordered for us. The whole way he was driving about 100 km/hr in a 60. Winding through buildings and excited to introduce us to Prague. Our first hostel Arpacay was okay. A decent location, but smelly roommates. The next morning we were delighted to hear that Scott, my friend from Nashville who recently moved to Prague, was willing to host us for a few nights. We spent the next three days walking around the busy city, admiring the beautiful castles, cathedrals, and cobblestones alleys. One day in particular we traveled an hour outside of Prague to Kutna Hora. To anyone visiting Prague I definitely recommend visiting this quaint town... it's full of history. Specifically, there's a church in Kutna Hora called Kostnice. The abbot of Sedlec, the district where Kutna Hora is, once visited Israel, "the Holy Land," and returned with a handful of sand to scatter over the church's cemetery. Wealthy people from all over desired to be buried there. During the 13th century plague there were too many bodies and not enough graves. When the bodies piled up a creative (I say sick and twisted) monk made some flower vases out of a some skulls and bones. Well I guess the church thought it was a brilliant way to make use of the bodies, so the entire interior of the church is COVERED with creative arrangements of skulls and bones. The visit to the church was definitely the highlight of our visit to the Czech Republic.


And then came Hungary... not too much to say. Old, kind of dirty, full of hippie kids for the Sziget Music Festival. We saw a beautiful church. And we had a crazy old french lady as a roommate who wore the same outfit for about 60 hours. Don't think she bathed at all... just in smoke. Very nice lady though. Hungary had nice people in general. We weren't sad to leave. Because we were headed to the BEACH: CROATIA.

the Swamp

Destination four: Berlin.

My expectations: A huge, old, dirty city containing some history and some cool architecture.

The Reality: An immaculate, historical, beautiful city containing the heartbeat of modern Germany with a feast of young people, museums, art and architecture.

My Summary: I love Berlin. Of the four cities I have experienced in Germany thus far, Berlin makes the top two. On the brink of leaving Sweden we learned that Brandy's cell phone was still at our host Helena's house! With no time to turn around to get it we entrusted Helena to send it via Swedish Express mail to our hostel in Berlin. We originally reserved our hostel for Monday and Tuesday night. We hoped to receive the package Wednesday at noon and hop on a train to Prague. So we waited... and waited... until Friday afternoon. The mailman came by that Friday... with NO package. We were going CRAZY at this point because the tracking number indicated that the package had already left Sweden and arrived in Germany on Wednesday. We had no clue what to do. Wait some more? Leave and hope the package would eventually return to Sweden and just have Helena send it to Florida? At the point of that LONG Friday afternoon when Brandy and I just about beat our heads against the wall and said "SCREW IT!" in came David, the hostel owner, with a small package. We knew at that point that the package was ours and that it had been at the hostel all along. In fact, it was sitting in one of the hostel's five letter boxes since Wednesday. We stayed all of those extra nights for (what we thought was) NOTHING! We didn't have time to emotionally react to all of the non-sense... we had a train to catch! So within an hour or so we booked a hostel for that night in Prague hopped on the next train.

Ironicies: (is that a word?) The word "berlin" means "swamp"... funny cause we were STUCK in Berlin for 2 extra days. Also, right when we got into Prague Brandy was browsing through the buttons on her new camera and somehow every last memory we captured in Berlin was erased! We do have ONE picture that was taken on our free tour in Berlin. You'll see Brandy and I squatting on the bottom left.
P.S. We seriously had the BEST tour of our lives. Our guide was Charly, an extremely animated and charismatic NYU history student hyped up on either speed or sugar-free Red Bull.