You Guys, Being Married Is The Best

There’s nothing I use Microsoft Word 2010* – or this old but trusty Asus computer for – except for travel documentation. As a result, you can imagine my thrill when I popped this bad boy open .

Except, as you hopefully know, there are a couple key differences with this go-around. Mainly: I’M MARRIED!!!!! Huzzah!!!! Is there anything better? I submit that there is not.

This means that I expect quite a few other things to be different in this travel. Hostels probably won’t be making an appearance, because we’d rater opt for private married people time. There will be far less of the questions: “What do I want to do? Where do I want to go?” because I’m no longer just and “I”. I’m a “we”. Which, so far, is far more enjoyable.

It’s crazy to think I’m no longer an “I” during my travels. I’ve gone to 27(?) countries as an “I”. If people didn’t want to do what I wanted to do – who cared? I went and did it anyways. It was my money, my time, my choices, my independence, my travels. I remember even being distinctly protective of wanting to stay independent. When I was in Costa Rica, for example, a few days after the University for Peace program had ended, I was taking a bus to who knows where, and I saw one of my former classmates for the program in the back of the bus. He saw me, and started walking to the front of the bus. Not wanting to share my adventures with him, essentially as soon as he got to the front, I said, “Oh shoot, this is my stop – bye!”  and jumped off the bus. I had no idea where I was, but I was confident I’d have fun figuring it out new independently. Kinda crazy, right?

Fiercely independent. It’s a disease.

But I think it’s a disease that fades. I don’t know if it’s with time or exposure or something else, but I remember so distinctly at the end of my big (again, independent) Europe trip, feeling a sense of closure on the long-independent-trips chapter of my life. While I still think independent travel is a blast and everyone should do it at least once, theirs is a certain sadness and loneliness to it. You don’t have anyone to retell your stories with, you don’t have anyone to sleep on during long plane flights, you don’t come home with inside jokes or shared memories, and you constantly have to put up with the question, “You’re traveling alone? Aren’t you scared?”

Which is not to say that I won’t travel again by myself, but I seriously doubt that I’ll travel for by myself for multiple months. Why should I, now that I’ve met my favorite person and literally vowed to always be his adventure buddy.   

Which brings me to this AMAZING man I’m traveling with, and this wonderful adventure that we’re on. We got married on Saturday (1/23/2016), and had the most perfect wedding we could have asked for (large shout out to my mom and dad who made it happen!!!!). I wore a beautiful, fluffy dress and Ken wore a tux with Captain America cuff links, and we made vows, exchanged rings, and had a hell of a party. People continually told us that there was so much love and attention woven into the day – which almost made me want to cry. What I really wanted for the day is to marry Ken, have Christ represented, and have our guests feel loved and cared for. I think (hope) we accomplished those.

But I could go on and on about the wedding, so I should probably cut myself off early.

Cut to: us driving away in our crudely expertly painted get-away car.

Ken drove us off to an undisclosed location, which ended up being Seven Gables in Monterey. Holy moly – this place is beautiful. We got there late, so they had left the key for us. Angie and Jesse had already dropped off our suitcases, so they were all ready for us (thanks!!). Ken carried me over the threshold into a room with a giant bed (just one! ‘cause we’re married! and it’s awesome), old victorian-y furniture, and HUGE windows overlooking the Monterey bay.  

We took our time at Seven Gables (Sat night – Mon afternoon) for some much needed relaxation. We woke up and had breakfast, went for a walk along the bay, came back to couples massages in our room (they come to you!!!!) and then went down to the lobby for wine + cheese. I could get used to this honeymoon thing. From there, we went out to dinner at a fancy European-smorgasbord restaurant, where Ken ordered spaghetti and I ordered lamb, and we ended up trading dishes than taking most of both of them to go. Turns out, we had eaten a lot of the cheese and weren’t super hungry.

Then, that night, Ken revealed one of his wedding gifts to us: Pandemic Legacy!!!! Here’s something you should know about me and Ken: we both enjoy cooperative games and if you had asked either of us what our favorite time together had been up until this weekend, we probably both would have said my birthday weekend at the cabin. During that weekend, we relaxed and ate pizza and played Pandemic the whole weekend. So you can imagine my excitement when I heard about Pandemic Legacy. It sounded AWESOME! But Ken – for whatever reason – didn’t seem enthused. And I couldn’t figure out why. We’d have friends that talked about it, and he’d act like it didn’t sound like the coolest thing, and then changed the subject. We’d be in a game shop, and they’d be talking up Pandemic Legacy, and he’d say something like, “Ya, that sounds cool, I guess. . .” then ask a question about a different game. Meanwhile, I would have bought it in a heartbeat months ago if I had any inkling that Ken would play it with me, but his lack of enthusiasm just left me shouting internally, “What is wrong with you??!! How do you not realize that this sounds awesome!!!!”.

Little did I know that sometime around July, my sneaky husband had decided to get Pandemic Legacy for our honeymoon, and as a result, subtly discouraged me from getting it myself. Please note that this is crazy for two reasons. Primarily, 1) We weren’t engaged in July, and 2) This feat would be like using only subtlety to discourage a fat kid from eating cake for six months – and having it work. Well done, Kenny. The game is the coolest.

Okay, so climbing back from that rabbit trail. . .

Seven Gables was a weekend of much needed relaxation. On our way out, we did the 17-Mile drive in Monterey. Holy moly, that’s beautiful!!!!!!! Wow. Crazy. Like, really, really beautiful. I would highly recommend it if you have an interest in any of these things: pretty nature, pretty houses, pretty drives, pretty beaches, anything else pretty. Really, really beautiful. And such a great way to wrap up our Monterey chapter, that ended way to soon.

From there, we went back to our house (our house!!!!!) to drop off some stuff like my wedding dress and reorganize our suitcases a little bit.

(Mom: that reminds me, can you pick up the wedding dress and the box under it when you’re dropping off my car? Both are in the hall. Wedding dress goes to a well reviewed dry cleaner, box goes to Danyelle).

We also ordered pizza, a

---BREAK: I was writing the above on the plane to Sydney, until my computer ran out of batteries. This blog has been resumed on 1/28/16 at 8:54am from bed in Sydney ---

So, we ordered our pizza, at which time the pizza delivery guy told us that the address we had given him didn’t exist. So that was, obviously, a bit confusing. Turns out, our address is 883 not 833. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused you! Luckily, I think the only thing that will be impacted by this is it will take a little bit longer for us to get our marriage license, giving that it’s being mailed to a non-existent address.

Regardless, moving right along, pizza was followed by an Uber ride up to SFO, where we commenced “Operation Get Free Stuff on Our Honeymoon”. Which was marked, namely, by our “Just Married” t-shirts.

While we didn’t get as much free stuff as we may have hoped (first class, please?), we did benefit from this operation. Apparently, our seats weren’t together on the plane, and, after seeing our shirts, the person checking us in made some changes and got us seats together. Woohoo! Then, in security we were split into two different lines, and the woman overseeing everything looked at Ken, looked at me, and said, “Did you just marry him?” “Ya,” I said. “Do you want to be with him?” she asked. “Yes, please!” I said. And she let me cut across all the security lines to meet back up with Ken. Then someone bought us bourbon at the bar, so I’d say it’s been an overall success! I would recommend this operation to any newlyweds.

The flight was fairly painless. Ken watched a lot of movies, and I slept a lot. The food was great and plentiful. American airlines, take some notes.

Upon arriving in Sydney, we taxied to our AirBnB  - a sweet little studio loft in the Kings Cross area. We dumped our stuff, took some much needed showers, and headed out to seize the day (and lunch!).

Our day seizing consisted of primarily going to the zoo, which was awesome. It was really well laid out, so we were able to make and execute a pretty good plan of attack. Favorite animals include: sun bear, red panda, wallabies, koalas, and a cool red tailed bird. Least favorite animals: spiders. Disappointingly allusive animals: platypuses.

Ken + me taking the ferry to the zoo

Ken comparing himself to bears

After the zoo, we set off to find what became our white whale of the day: The Lord Nelson Brewery + Pub. We hadn’t yet purchased our Lonely Planet book for Sydney, and it turns out that the maps that we had were entirely unhelpful, but we somehow got it in our head that this is where we wanted to go for dinner and beer, and after 45 minutes of searching, we couldn’t be dissuaded from our quest.

We finally found it nowhere near where we expected it to be, and it was totally worth it.

I probably ate the equivalent of 10 potatoes, between the wedges and the mashed potatoes. Okay, probably not 10. But definitely 4. And a meat pie. Hey, have you ever had potato wedges with cream cheese and sweet and sour sauce? Me neither, but trust me. It’s delicious. Holy crap, it’s delicious. We also had great beer. I had a pint of Lord’s Blood, and Ken had a tasting flight.

A quest well worth it, if I do say so myself!

Then we tried to get back with public transportation, which ended up being harder than we expected and we eventually just caught a cab.

And now we’re up and about to go on a quest for some breke (breakfast) this morning.

Life is awesome.

I LOVED getting married, but BEING married is way better.

Cheers!

---1/29/16 at 10:45am---

It took longer than expected for “post blog” to make it to the top of the priority list, so I wanted to quickly catch you up to where we are now so we don’t fall too far behind.

Yesterday, we set off to seek the allusive “bills” restaurant for breakfast. If you know anything about me (actually, if you know weird breakfast facts about me), you know that my Bills is my favorite breakfast in the States. So I got excited when I read somewhere that Sydney has a good bills (not the same chain) of their own.

And. Oh. My. Gosh.

My breakfast at Bill's

It was AMAZING! Ken says: “best dining experience I’ve had in a long time. Food was delicious, but you still felt healthy after words. Also, they treated us really well.” We left with smiles,  happy tummies, and a cook book. Can’t wait to cook from it!

Then we went on our own Sydney scavenger hunt, choosing a task, walking around the city ‘till we accomplished it, then choosing the next one. It let us walk what seemed like the whole city, accomplishing tasks like getting me a new bathing suit, getting ken shorts, etc. Super fun!

Then, back to the house to dress up for THE OPERA at the Sydney Opera House. We saw Barber of Seville, and it was awesome and wonderful.  Ken says: “I was really impressed that they did it in the traditional style that there were no microphones or amplifiers for the singers. And it’s a beautiful building. And the performers were top notch. Really good!”

Classing it up at the opera

Now, we’re at an awesome breakfast café. Ken had The Big Breakfast, and I had a fig + deliciousness sandwich.

Then we’re off to our cruise!!!!!!

Bon Voyage!!!!

P.S. Mom, can you let the Noffsingers know this blog exists and help them subscribe if they're interested. 

P.P.S. A nice person at the cafe we're at is letting me use his phone as a hot spot, so I don't want to upload pics right now and destroy his data. I will do it later. :-) 

*I write my drafts in Microsoft Word 2010, then upload to my blog once I hit free wifi. 

Sex

This blog isn't about sex. Sorry. I was just kind of curious if a post titled "sex" would have an abnormally high amount of views.

Instead, it's a hodgepodge collection of thoughts, pictures, lists, etc. that I am putting together now for two reasons:

1) To give me something to do during my 25 hour journey home (that's from door to door).
2) Because I would hate it if some of this stuff got forgotten.

I will try and organize it categorically.

Pictures with Captions

Sometimes this happens. Don't fight it. Just accept it.

Heart Stop Light, Barcelona

Harry Potter Bar/Train Station, Barcelona

If you walk on the tracks, you will be smited. (Smitted? sp?)

Big warning signs you can't understand. A bit unnerving.

Is she doing what I think she's doing?

Amsterdam.

What I would look like if I was an old time Amsterdam knight guy.

This is me.

World's fluffiest bunny.

If anyone buys me this, I will love you forever.

Cool "behind the scenes" stilt shot.

I'm guessing all of you just understood a word in German.

Teatro Dimintri Kids, Tuscany Italy

Too true, Mex. Too true.

The only squatty potty in Europe(??)

Like a boss.

Me, Nadja, & Philipp

Artsy napkin flower + beer picture, Prague.

A Letter To Pedestrians

Dear Pedestrians,

I think Europe has done a fairly good job of curing cyclists of the split personality syndrome many of them have in the States ("I'm a car! No, I'm a pedestrian. Car again!"). However, by creating the specialized bike paths that cures the cyclists of this syndrome, a new syndrome has been created: pedestrian confusion. I would like to kindly ask you not to walk, or worse, stand in the bike lanes. Now, pedestrians, I know it can be a bit confusing to sort out what is a bike path and what is a sidewalk, so I'll try to help you out a little bit in pointing out some of the things you can look for.

1) Bike paths may be a different color. Bright red, for example, is a popular choice.
2) There may be signs of bikes basically all over.
3) Bikes may be painted on the bike path.
4) There may be bikers biking on the bike path.
5) It might be a different texture. For example, it might be paved while the side walk is uneven cobble stone.
6) It may be on a completely different level from the sidewalk. You would actually have to step down off the sidewalk onto the bike path.

I know that it can be difficult, but hopefully with these little hints, you will be able to detect the subtle signs that quietly scream, "Bike Path!"

Love,
Lila

(Now I'm in the plane - we're flying over Greenland right now. It's skyrocketing to the top of my "places I want to go" list. It looks like National Geographic. PLUS I could wear a MusucBag all the time!)

Introduction
Hi, I'm Lila. No, I don't think my name is Arabic/Spanish/German, but it's cool you have a similar name. Ya, I'm traveling alone. No, I'm not scared. Yes, I'm from America. No, I don't own a gun. Yes, I know people that do. Yes, we drink from red cups. Yes, I've played beer pong. No, I'm not in a sorority. Yes, we really have kegs and big parties. Yes, I've been to football games. I'm from California. No, I don't live next to a famous person. No, I don't surf. No, I don't smoke pot. Yes, we have beaches. No, it's not always sunny. I went to Berkeley. Ya, that Berkeley.

How To Not Be A Horrible, Obnoxious Tourist
1) DO NOT under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES write on old, important things. This includes, but is not limited to, the Roman Colosseum, Concentration Camp remnants, or important buildings. Nobody cares that you were there, or that you love someone forever. Please save it for bathroom walls.
2) Keep control of you children. This may mean altering your schedule if you can't. Do not bring loud, whiny kids to Auschwitz. Do not let your kids pee in the middle of paved, public squares.
3) Respect "no photographs" signs. In some cases, it's extremely disrespectful. In others, the signs are there in order to preserve the art for future generations. Please be respectful. If you for some reason feel like you're an exception to the rule and don't need to be respectful, snap a quick picture without flash and put your camera away. And feel guilty.
4) Don't touch things you're not supposed to touch. If for some reason, you feel like you really, really, really have to touch it, even if it's only because there's a "don't touch it" sign, trust me - I understand you. If it'll bother you all day, at least have the courtesy to just poke it quickly to alleviate the "I need to touch it" anxiety. Don't slowly run your gross, sticky hand along whatever it is you're not supposed to be touching in the first place. Not cool.
5) Be respectful of the other people in your hostel dorm. Make your bed when you first get in so you're not doing it in the middle of the night, pack your bags the night before you leave so you're not doing it in the wee hours of the morning to catch you 6am train. Basic stuff. Actually, all that night action doesn't really bother me, because I'm an awesome sleeper, but it apparently bothers other people. So please be aware.
6) Be mindful of what you're wearing. Don't wear booty shorts to places of worship or religious significance. It's inappropriate and disrespectful.
7) Don't always be trying to beat everyone. If someone says that they were on a 6 hour train ride, don't say, "Ya, well I was on an 8 hour train ride." If someone says they're traveling for a week, don't say, "Ya, well I'm traveling for 3 weeks." Nobody cares.
8) That's all I can think of for now, but I think the very basic rule applies: Be respectful. 

(A movie is on in the plane, and Professor McGonnagall is in it!)

(Just so you know, I'm now in the Seattle airport, and I'm writing this instead of watching Batman on Amazon. That's how much I love you guys!)

(Also, you should know that the Professor McGonnagall movie also had Slum Dog Millionaire kid and was set in India, and then India jumped my travel list. I want to go back to India. If they had said, "Hey, do you want us to turn the plane around and go to India?" I would have said, "Ya!!!!")

My Shoe
As I mentioned, I'm in the Seattle airport. And when I picked up my baggage to go through the baggage-customs-whatever-we're-America thing, I noticed one of my cute boots had fallen out of my bag. When I inspected how it fell out, I realized it fell out because it was very poorly strapped in. Go figure. Anyways, I stood there at the thing where the baggage spins around, kind of hoping for a boot to be tossed out on the conveyor. I knew it was unlikely, considering it could have easily fallen out in Austria and not even made it on the plane in Germany, but they were my cute Amsterdam boots, and I couldn't give up on them. So I was just standing there with one boot, looking for another one. It was very sad. Then an announcement came on that someone had lost a nikon battery. Nikon batteries are not the same as boots, but during the announcement I saw the guy making the announcement, so I figured he would be a good person to talk to to see if there was any hope in finding my boot or if I should just give up. So I walked over and said, "I didn't lose my battery, but I have another question. My boot!" The last exclamation was because there was my boot, sitting on a chair next to him. Just in case someone came looking for it. Huzzah! I would have been bummed to have lost those. They're cute boots.

Pictures With Short Stories and/or Thoughts

This is one of my FAVORITE pictures of the trip. It's David, in case you couldn't tell. When we were in Arrezo (I think), David and I were trying to take a picture together. The kind where you sit next to each other and someone holds the camera out in front of you and you take it. But what we didn't know was that the camera was super zoomed in, so this is what we got. Oh my gosh, I'm seriously cracking up here in the airport. I don't know if you find it as hilarious as I do, but I really, really do. Ya, I think this may be one of my favorite pics of the trip.

Isn't this picture cool! I feel so artsy with it. I took this picture at a flea market in Brussels, Belgium. But I can't take all the credit for it, because I got the idea from a guy I saw taking this picture before me. It looked really cool, so I went and awkwardly stood near it waiting for him to leave so I could take my picture. But then he asked me if I could look in the glass so he could take a picture of it. Turns out he's a local artist, and he had an idea to do a painting of a girl looking in the mirror with the clouds behind her, but he didn't have a picture to work from. So I was like, "Sure" and I looked in the mirror and he took a picture, and now there's probably a famous painting of me somewhere. jk. Not famous. But still kind of cool. Then I took this pictures, and I really like it. The end.

Cinque Terre

I've thought a lot during this trip about how some people feel the need to leave their mark. Notes saying they were there or locks or pieces of fabric attached to fences. I know the locks on bridges are part of an Italian tradition made popular by a movie of locking it to a bridge with a loved one and then throwing the key into the river, symbolizing the permanence of your love. Very cute. Romantic. Whatever. By what about the old pieces of string or ripped shopping bag carefully tied to fences? Not quite so romantic, huh? I think we all have a desire to be remembered, to be thought of, to feel like we left our mark. I've done the same thing. But I can't help but wonder if this is satisfying enough for them. Later on their death bed, I don't think that they'll be thinking, "Oh, it's okay. I locked that thing years back." So why is it that we do it? I don't have the answer. If you do - or even thoughts - please let me know. I would love to hear them. I feel like this is a purely human thing. Maybe some animal expert will correct me. But I feel like this want to be remembered and to leave our mark is something that makes us unique. I think it's also something that I want to keep in mind more than just when I'm traveling. Not only to leave my mark and be remembered, but to be remembered for something good. Live by the boy scout mantra of leaving something better than you found it. (Is that boy scouts?) I guess that more like building a legacy. Making something that lives on after you, whether it's a big business or a simple way of treating someone. Or tying a ribbon to a fence. We want to live on after we've finished living. Is that right? I suppose nobody wants to be forgotten. . .

This is a monument to a new personal hero of mine: Johann Georg Elser. He was an average guy who tried to assassinate Hitler. For nights leading up to a speech he knew Hitler was going to give in a local bar, he hid overnight in the bar and worked carving out the podium at which Hitler would speak. He then installed a bomb in the newly hollowed podium. Unfortunately, Hitler gave an uncharacteristically short speech that night and left the podium before the timed bomb went off. Elser was captured. When Elser was questioned about why he tried to kill Hitler, he said, "I just wanted to end the war." Despite the failure of his efforts, I find it pretty awesome that an average carpenter used his skills and abilities to the best of his ability to work towards what he saw as a simple goal. Ending the war. Pretty cool.

Japanese legend says that anyone who folds and strings together a thousand paper cranes will be granted a wish. In this case, I think I can guess what they wished for. This was a picture taken at Auschwitz. The cranes were placed on a memorial calling for peace. I don't know why, but the bright colors against the dark grayness of everything else there. . . it felt hopeful. I wanted to share.

This poster says, "Every child deserves a chance," or something to that effect. I snapped a picture of it as one of the many examples of stuff that would never fly in Berkeley. I find it amusing. Here: white woman saves cute black baby! Other things were stuff like Chinese food restaurants called "Mr. Ching Chong" with a picture of a Chinese caricature pulling the edges of his eyes. It's just different.











War Thoughts Addendum and Possible Addendum Retraction
Before I wrote about war like a football game, and how people should suit up and go watch because it's their country playing down there. But then a good friend pointed out to me that the world works better if not everyone is working on the same thing, which I honestly really agree with. Anyone who has taken a PACS or GPP class knows I agree with that, because people get all freaked out about, "There are so many problems in the world, and I don't know how to fix them all!!!!" and I say something along the lines of, "Do what you're passionate about, and if we all fight for what we're passionate about, everything will get fought for." Which I still kind of believe. So then it turns into more of a "Support your team, but pick your sport" kind of thing. If you don't care a lot about football, go to a basketball game. Or rugby. Or gold. Or whatever. There are a lot of causes that I know are important, but they're not causes that I get personally riled up about. Global warming, for example. (I know, I'm a horrible person). Yes, I know it's important. Yes, I know it effects lots of people, (thus the adjective "global"), but it's not where I end up spending my time or energy. Although I do feel guilty if I don't recycle, so I hope that counts for something. Animal rights is another one. Yep, animals are great. Love pandas. But as long as there are girls being sold into prostitution, you won't see me devoting my life to sea turtles. Not a priority for me. Not my sport, so to speak. So then I think, "Okay, everyone go to their own sporting game..." But then I go somewhere like Auschwitz, and I think, "People have to care about this." It doesn't sit well with me to sit on the sidelines. (But are you really on the sidelines if you're at a different sporting event?). I think about countries like Switzerland who went neutral. But is there really a neutral? What about the Edmund Burke quote, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing," and the many others like it? But then again, could that quote be applied to anything? To global warming? Or animal rights? Or food security? Am I just applying it to my sporting event because it's the one I care about the most? Am I biased just because I think I'm right? (Duh, that's the definition of being biased). It's all very confusing to me. But there are my thoughts. Also, I'm definitely not saying that people that care about the environment don't care about WWII, because that would be a completely ridiculous and dumb thing to say. I'm fast forwarding to conflicts like what's going on in the DRC, which has developed into the bloodiest war since WWII. I guess it's good I think it's so important, and it's good other people think their stuff is so important, because then everything will get covered, right???

Why Do This?
I think this is a good note to end on, especially since I'm getting on my (last!!!!!!) plane momentarily. At my last hostel, someone asked me why do a trip like this. I didn't have a chance to answer him because I said I'd think about it and fell asleep (narcoleptic, remember?). But now I think I have an answer. It's threefold.

1) To get a better perspective on things back home - it gives you a chance to step back from relationships, plans, people, to-do lists, etc. and see if what you're doing and what you're planning to do really feels right. You get to make up answers to questions until you find one that fits (not questions like, "What's your name?" although you could. More like questions like, "What do you want to do?"). You get a chance to think about things without having to act on them right away.
2) To get a better perspective on things in the world - you can see if things are as you heard/thought they were. Ask people in the countries, "Hey, what do you think about _____?" Try new food. Talk to people. See ruins for yourself. Experience the world for yourself. Ask Aussies if they really throw shrimp on the barbie (they don't), see if all the eat in Poland is beets (it is - just kidding), see if everyone really hates America (they don't), etc. Traveling changes things.
3) It's a hell of a lot of fun.

Nothing

Nothing. That's what I want to be doing right now. And, conveniently enough, that's what I am doing right now, with the exception of moving my fingers a little bit.

I went on a bike ride all day today. Please don't do the time conversion of what time it is now, because then you'll discover that it's only 15:40 here, so there's no way I could have actually been gone all day. But if felt like all day. Lots of biking. Fun day.

16 going on 17 gazebo.

And yesterday I went on the Sound of Music tour, which was fabulous. Can't wait to go home and watch the movie again. I love that movie. Good day. Good day.

Oh, just so you know my level of dedication - and because it's worth documenting - going on the SOM tour required waking up early, taking a three hour train ride across the country going on the 4 hour tour then taking another three hour train ride home. Because I'm an awesome traveler, those train tickets where are usually 50 euro each were FREE with my last day of my eurorail pass. Perfect planning. (By "planning" I mostly mean "luck".) But it was a really fun tour. I met some great people on the train ride over and we had lunch, and then I met a cool girl on the tour and now we're friends.

So now you're caught up. I'll write a bit more, and then I think I'll call it quits.

Austria
I really like Austria. More than I think I expected to. It's surprisingly high on my "Places to come back to eventually" list. But I'm going to wait to come back until three things happen:
1) I can come back with someone - not necessarily a significant other someone, but a friend I can go on rides with at the amusement park with, go to shows with, eat cake with, ride in a horse and buggy with, do hedge mazes with, wander around at night with, etc. This city would be  more exciting with someone.
2) I have money - there are lots of fancy fun things here. The Opera, horse shows, pricey coffee, fancy cake, etc. It would be a fun place to have money.
3) It's not July or August - everything (Opera, horse shows, etc.) is closed in July & August.

But I'll definitely be back.

Being Tired
I'm really tired. Of talking and of listening. I think going home is kind of like Christmas. When it's February, you're like, "Ya, I know it's a date somewhere off in the distance, but I'm not too eager yet." Even a week away or a couple days away, you know it's there, and you're looking forward to it, but you're still doing other stuff. But then on Christmas Eve, you're like, "JUST GET HERE!" It's Christmas Eve for me right now, and I'm ready to be back.

I'm tired of pointless conversations and single serving friends (to quote the unnamed main guy in Fight Club - did you ever notice he doesn't have a name? I want to watch that movie again. Anyone want to watch with me?). Tired of having to think about where I'm getting every meal. Tired of conversion rates. Tired of negative cash flows. Tired of people saying "See ya later" when the mean "See ya never." Tired of packing.

And apparently really complainy. Gosh, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened there. I'll stop.

Okay, I think I'm going to go pack for tomorrow. One last time packing, one less thing to worry about.

I'll see you all soon. Love you lots.

Fairy Tales

I'm currently being held hostage by my charging camera. I figured I should make good use of this time and write a little blog.

I'm convinced that Vienna is where fairy tales happen. It's just beautiful here. And pleasant. And lovely. And calm. And peaceful. Oh my gosh, I love it. How could you not? It's where all things lovely flourished - waltzing, big dresses, music, sparkly hair things, coffee, chocolate cake. The list goes on.

I wonder if any fair tales did take place here. I know Belle (Beauty & the Beast) is French, Ariel (Little Mermaid) clearly isn't from here, neither is Jasmine (Aladdin). Pocahontas is American (yeah!), Mulan is from China. Sorry, I don't mean to be listing all the disney princesses. . .Hmm. . . I'll look it up. If any princess was here, I would put my money on Cinderella. Nope, looked it up. Cinderella is supposedly from somewhere on the French/German border. But the source wasn't super reliable. And there are carriages and shoes and castles here. . . I'm going to do so more digging. (Not that you care, but I suddenly do).

Shoot, it was French. I so badly wanted it to be Austrian.

But do you know IS from Austria? The Sound of Music! And guess who is going on the Sound of Music tour tomorrow??? Me!!!! (I'm sure you'll hear more about that later).

But anyways, Vienna. Could it be more lovely? No. The answer is no.

I got here Saturday night and got Chinese food to go, ate it in the hostel and met some cool people including Julia, who will come up later, then I went to sleep. Exciting, I know.

That morning, I woke up and had breakfast. Not everyone knows this, but hostel breakfasts are an important moment when you're traveling alone. Especially in a hostel like this, which is really large. Why are hostel breakfasts important? Great question, let me tell you. Hostel breakfasts are important because they are when you can easily meet someone that you may be spending the rest of you day and/or stay with. You have to choose your breakfast table wisely. Look for someone who just started their meal (you don't want to be abandoned right away), preferably alone or in a group of two (not a couple, though), avoid big groups. Look for nice people. Yesterday I lucked out and sat with a cool guy named Jojo from Germany. Turned out we had the same plan for the day (go to the really big palace thing), so we planned to meet later that afternoon.

After breaky (that's what Aussies call it), I spent the morning exploring with Julia. Fun!

Then I met up with Jojo & his new friend Lim at the palace. And oh. my. gosh. If you're ever in Paris and considering going to Versailles, I implore you to take the exorbitant amount of money that you would spend there, buy a plane, fly to Vienna, and Schonbrunn. I cannot say enough good things about it. It's beautiful. The palace is beautiful. The gardens are beautiful. There's stuff to do. Oh my gosh. Hedge mazes and math games and gardens and hiking (ish) and palace exploring and strudel making shows and tastings and pole climbing and ducks and beauty and ball rooms and giant cheap pretzels and all things lovely. Can you tell I liked it? I could have spent all day there. Really! It was that good. And reasonably priced! I didn't feel like the nickle & dimed me (euro & euroed?). I actually found myself going, "Wow! All this for less than 20 euros?" Oh my gosh, I loved it. And as if that wasn't enough - there was a rainbow! Sometimes, things are perfect.

Then we came home, and I downloaded Lim's pictures. Here are two of them:

Lim's palace pic

Jojo, me, Lim

Then we went out to dinner, and I knocked all the Austrian food I wanted out in one night. Weinersnitchel? Check! Pancake thing that starts with a "K"? Check! It was awesome being there with Jojo because he speaks German (duh, he's from Germany). So he was able to translate everything for us and make recommendations. Hurray! It was like having a local who also like touristy things. Perfect.

me & Soey

Then today I started with running into a friend from Cal!!!!!!!! Randomly. I walked downstairs and saw a girl wearing a Cal sweatshirt, and I was like, "Do you go to Cal?" She looked confused, but the guy next to her started to say, "no, it's mine." But he only said, "No, it's - oh my gosh!" And I kinda screamed (sorry hostelmates). And we made a big scene of "What are you doing here????" "I'm traveling through, what are you doing here???" It was SO FUN seeing him. Especially so randomly. Then we had to split, because he was hitchiking to Budapest and wanted to get an early start, and I was headed towards the walking tour.

So we parted and I went on the walking tour and learned some history, which is always cool. Then a group of us went to a really, really old coffee house, which was super fun. Love coffee! And it's a whole culture thing here. Then I hung out with Julia as she did souvenir shopping (I feel like I should warn you all now that I'm not bringing home gifts. I'm sorry! Can we all pretend the post cards were gifts?? Saving an expensive country for the last stop was a bad move on my part). Then I hung out with her for a bit more before she left for the airport, then I came on here and wrote this blog. Look at that, you're all caught up!

In case you forgot what I look like, here's a picture Lim took.

Hopefully that lasts you 'till Thursday when I get home. 

But until then, here's my game plan: emails, Chinese food, night wandering, sleep, wake up early, Salzburg (on the other side of the country), SOUND OF MUSIC, train across the country again, sleep, wake up, rent bike, explore gardens & river, sleep, CA. 

Love you all.

Approaching Third

You: Approaching third? Third what?
Me: Third base.
You: Third base?
Me: Ya, you know. Like in baseball.
You: You don't play baseball.
Me: Ya, I know, but it's the last stop before home.
You: Lila, I don't understand, are you making sports references?
Me: Ya, I'm sporty now.

Jk. Still not sporty. But I am on the train to Vienna, which is my last stop before California (with the exception of some day trips. Can you say, "Sound of Music set"???). So that's quite exciting. Hurray for California.

But equally exciting is what I've been doing! I apologize for not writing more consistently (I don't know who I'm apologizing too. . . I can't picture people coming on here and being super upset that I don't have another rambling update, but I guess apologizing is the American thing to do - unless we're talking politics. But we're not talking politics, so I'm sorry!). Anyways, here's what I've been up to. I'm not in much of a rush, due to my long train ride, so this may turn out rather long. On the other hand, I have a lot to write about, so it may not be very detailed.  Or maybe it'll be long and detailed. . . we'll see.

KRAKOW
Krakow was splendid. It felt a bit touristy, but that's probably just because it was. But I ended up staying in the world's best hostel. Seriously, I would go back to Krakow just to stay at the Mosquito again. Huzzah for good hostels! Speaking of the hostel, on Sunday while washing my hands in the ladies room there, someone approached the sink next to me and I about  choked. I managed to sputter out, "Oh my gosh, Semester at Sea?" and she replied, "The best place to be!" (That's our secret code to show we were both on SAS. You're in on it now. Please don't abuse that power.)

Haley, me, & her bros.

It was Haley Pricket! We had been on the same SAS ship 3 years ago. I don't think we ever even spoke on the boat (sorry, ship), but it wasn't large boat (woops, ship), so we still kinda knew each other. Instant best friends! Turns out she was there with here fambam on a "let's go on a family vacation before all the kids go their separate ways and get jobs" vacation. So I got to meet the whole family, and they invited me out to dinner with them that night. It was so much fun to be at a family dinner! I felt so honored that they would invite me into their family for a night, much less treat me! We went to this delicious restaurant near the Old Town, and I had some really, really good chicken. Half a roasted chicken. I didn't eat it all - nobody would be able to eat it all. But it was delicious. Then we headed back to the hostel, and the parents went to bed and us kids stayed up playing games with the other hostel-ers.

salt mines

On Monday I went to the Salt Mines near Krakow. They are supposed to be super cool. And they were. It was like mines with salt (duh). I was impressed with the size and detail of them. They were huge with lots of salt statues and salt stuff everywhere. They even had a chapel down there. I licked the walls. Moving on.

Monday night, I packed up my stuff and said sad goodbyes at the Mosquito, and then I headed to the train station to go to Prague.

This ended up being one of my favorite train rides of all time. I had only bought my ticket the day before, so all the sleepers were taken. Instead, I got but in this little cuby (cabin? booth? compartment? compartment!) with 6 seats, three on each side facing each other. This is always awkward, especially for sleeping. Because the person right across from you can see you sleeping, and if you stretch out your legs you hit theirs, and it's all together sup-awks. (Super awkward).

Me, Clem, & Moneau

BUT I ended up with some great people. Hammed & Ellie, two Texans about my parents' age, were there when I got there, and they ended up being super nice. Then Clem & Moneau joined our compartment and I liked them instantly. Why? Clem was carrying a jar with a goldfish in it. I love traveling. I learned that Clem & Moneau are two French guys about my age who are doing a mad dash through Europe of about two weeks, seeing as much as they can in as short a period as possible. George is their fish, who they either won or bought in Prague. Their goal is to get him back home to France alive. Anyways, hanging out with this compartment full of people could not have been more enjoyable. We all talked and goofed around for a couple hours - the boys tried to teach me French (I failed miserably, but I can count to ten now), Hammed, Ellie, and I talked a bit about traveling and the different ways to do it (hostel v. hotel, train v. plane, etc.). I had such a fun time! Eventually we all fell asleep, and it was great because by the time we were ready to sleep, we were all great friends. So we could put our feet on each others' seats or laps, or ask people to scoot over, or close a curtain, or whatever we needed to make it comfortable for everyone. It's always awkward when it's strangers, but we weren't strangers anymore. So everyone slept comfortably! (That's not entirely true - some people just don't have the gift of sleeping on moving vehicles. But I slept quite comfortably!) Cleam & Moneau left in the middle of the night to transfer to their train to Budapest and we all said sad goodbyes. Then I went back to sleep. At some point in the night, I decided that I didn't want to sleep on the seat anymore and I slept on the floor. That was a weird decision. Kind of gross. Wouldn't have done it if I was thinking clearly, but whatever. I was tired and it was available. Slept great and then woke up in Prague!

PRAGUE
Yes, so, moving right along, Tuesday I woke up in Prague and found my way to the hostel. Bit of an adventure - it always is. I took the metro fine, but then I was supposed to take a tram. Either the 4 or the 22. I decided to average it out and take the 10 instead. (Yes, I know average would technically be 13, but stop being such a ninny). So I took the 10 to the end of the line, realized it wasn't where I wanted to be, walked back the original stop, and got on the 22. Got off the 22, walked in the wrong direction, ended up in a neighborhood, asked a police officer where the Czech Inn was (Czech Inn, get it? 'Cause it's in the Czech Republic. Get it?), and he directed me the right way. Finally got there. Rolled in around 9am. Ya, all that before 9am.

So I got checked in, but I wasn't allowed to technically check in at the Czech Inn (ha!) until 3pm. So I stored my stuff, washed my face, and joined the 10am walking tour. If you ever go somewhere, go on the walking tour. They're great. Awesome was to get your bearings in a city! So I was able to see a lot of the important parts of the city and learn some history. Watched the astrological clock, saw the palace up on a hill, took a picture of the mummified hand (gross), and learned some of the myths of Prague. One bit of history that is interesting/sickening is that Prague's Jewish quarters remained untouched during WWII (the buildings, not the people) because Hitler wanted to keep it as a memorial to an extinct people. Doesn't that just make you sick to your stomach?

On a different note,  I ended up grabbing lunch with some cool people from the tour, including the tour guide. We went to this AWESOME vegetarian restaurant. Dad, you would have loved it.

Then I went home and took a nap.

When I woke up, I met the Claires. Claire & Claire, two English girls traveling together that I shared a room with. They were awesome. Hilarious. I really enjoyed the time that I spent with them, and I can't wait to go visit them in England!!!! We ended up going out to dinner just at a little restaurant down the street from our hostel. Then we went back to the hostel and hung out downstairs for a bit. And then I went to sleep for reals.

(We're leaning towards long and detailed, aren't we?).

view from the top

Wednesday was my second day in Prague, and it started lazily. Sleeping in, leisurely breakfast. Eventually we - the Claires, an Australian girl named Kate who lives in Canada, and myself - set out to climb the fake Eiffel Tower. The fake Eiffel Tower, or Faffel (Fake + Eiffel) as we called it is the same size as Paris' Eiffel Tower. . . if you count the giant hill that it's on. So we trammed over to the base of the hill, and then blazed our way through the forest because we didn't want to follow the detours of the footpath, and then we climbed it. Great fun! Awesome view of the city. Then our plan was to cut across and go visit the palace, but we ended up getting super lost and somehow passed the (giant!) palace and were wandering around near a construction site on the other side of the hill. Some construction workers eventually pointed us in the right direction. I think they were entertained. So we finally got to see the palace! I keep calling it a palace, but it may be a castle. It doesn't look like I feel like a castle should (Hogwarts), but it doesn't look like a palace either (Cinderella/Jasmine/Disney Princess), so. . . not too sure. Whatever. Moving on.

found my note!

THEN we went down to Charles Bridge for my personal highlight of the day - trying to recover a note that Brian left for me when he was in Prague. The only problem was that Brian is much stronger than me, and he put the note under quite a heavy bin (trash can. I say "bin" now because I'm cultured). It took a couple of us to get it out: tilting the trash can, seeing if it was there, pulling it out. Thank goodness I was traveling in a pack. But we got it! Victory!

Then we split up because the Claires had their segway tour booked. Kate and I headed over to what is probably tied with the Charles Bridge for my favorite part of Prague - the Lennon Wall. (Side note - it's just beautiful out the window right now. Super green. Plus a river. And trees. And fields. I feel like this is where frolicking happens). I really, really loved the Lennon Wall. It's a wall of graffiti, lots of it peace themed, lots of Beatles quotes. And it was just so. . . cool. I loved how many layers there were and that so many people had contributed. And most of it looked really great. So I took a whole bunch of pictures. Poor Kate, she was so patient with me.

That night, we were thinking of doing this cool boat party thing, but then I realized that i didn't want to spend money, so instead we (Sarah, Kate, & I) went to a karaoke bar! Exponentially better. James & Dawson ended up there too. We did a very bad rendition of Can't Touch This, which I quickly realized wasn't Ice Ice Baby, a song that I do know the words to. There were some crazy Dutch guys that sang West Virgina. . .  it was a very strange, but fun, night.

excercise

Next day - Thursday - another lazy start. Slept in, ate breakfast, and then I was supposed to meet Shanley (Aussie girl) and Kate after their walking tour. I decided to walk there instead of taking the tram, so I went on a very long walk through a lot of the city. It was really fun. Saw quite a bit. Then I met up with the girls and we grabbed lunch - delicious again. Goulash. Cheap & filling & yummy. Then Shanley went and did something, and Kate and I rented a paddle boat! It was awesome. Super fun to see everything from the river. As you can tell from the picture, I paddled really hard. Quite a strenuous day.

Then we went home and got cleaned up, because we had a big night that night. Pub crawl? Nope. Bar hopping? Nope. Sarah, Kate, and I were going to the ballet! It was great! We went and saw The Best of Swan Lake. The lead girl what phenomenal. Oh my gosh. I don't know a lot about ballet, but even I could tell that she was about 6.32 million times better than everyone else on stage. Every time she left, I was just waiting for her to come back. You never heard her land no matter how hard she jumped, you never saw her leg shake no matter how long she was standing on it, you never saw any strain in her face. Everyone else was. . .ehhh. But she was so good!!!

(Something smells like overripe fruit)


Then we did a little walking tour of Prague by night. By which I mean we walked around Prague at night. Sarah hadn't been to the Charles Bridge yet, so we went there and walked across it. You could see the palace, which was lit up and super beautiful. Then we went to the Lennon Wall, which is just on the other side of the bridge, and I was surprised at how much it had changed in just one day. And then we took the tram home.



Which brings us to Friday. Friday was quite an expedition. Shanley (the Aussie, remember?) and Rosie (new girl from London) and I ventured out to the Bone Church. (You: The what?) The Bone Church. It's a church about an hour outside of Prague that ran out of space in the cemetery so they used the bones from the shared graves to decorate the church. (You: Human bones?). Ya, human bones. (You: That's kind of strange, isn't it?). Ya, it was strange.

So it's supposed to take about an hour to get out there, but we got to the train station right after a train had left, so we waited an hour, and then got on the hour train, and then walked fifteen minutes from the train station to the Bone Church. I don't know what to say about the church except that I can't get over how strange it was. . . how desensitized the artist must have become while constructing everything. I have to wonder if he sorted out all the bones into piles, breaking all of these skeletons that used to be real people into their most basic and long lasting components, heaping all the leg bones together and all the skulls together. It was just so strange. Made me queezy. We didn't stay long.

After we felt satisfied with our Bone Church visit, we hurried back to cath the 4pm train, which we realized around 4pm, didn't exist. So we waited an hour for the 5pm train, rode the train for an hour (I slept), and then ate delicious Thai food. I love Thai food. Then we went home.

Girls with our flowers

That night, we were supposed to go out with seemingly the whole hostel to celebrate Sammi (a Belgium guy) because it was his 20th birthday. However, while walking to wherever we were going (it was a long walk), we got a bit sperated because we were walking too slow, and we eventually lost the party. How you lose 30 people just around a corner, I don't really know. But we did it. But it was okay, because I was with my favorite people who were currently staying at the hostel: James & Dawson (American cousins), Rosie (the Bone Church girl from London), and Nikki and Maeve (awesome Irish girls). Plus two other random guys from somewhere. . . who knows. Not my favorite. Whatever. But we ended up going into this little underground bar that turned out to be pretty cool. I like having something to do with my hands, so I was fiddling with the napkins and made a flower. The girls really like it, so when the boys were off drinking and playing foosball, we had arts and crafts time and I taught them all how to make napkin flowers. We ended up making flowers out of the coasters too.

Us girls called it a night early and went home and slept.

The next day is today, Saturday. Woke up, ate breakfast, packed, bought a sandwich, went to the train station with Nikki and Maeve, played cards, almost missed my train, didn't missed my train, got on my train, started writing this, wrote this, now I'm writing this.

And, ya. Now you're caught up. This train brings me to Vienna, where I'll be for the next 5 nights. I'm planning a day trip to Bratislava and another to Saulsburg (SOUND OF MUSIC LAND!!!!). Then on the 16th I board a plane and head back to the good ol' USA to be picked up by one Stuart Austin Sapia.

Man, my future is so bright I should wear shades at night.

Love you all.

Peace.