Home Sweet Hone

Well I made it back home today. !0 hour flight direct from Dublin to San Francisco, then Kyle picked me up and brought me back to Napa. Sacramento is not as hot as I thought it would be, which is nice.

I would write more, but I'm really exhausted and ready for bed. On Ireland time it would be 6am and I haven't slept yet. Just wanted to let everyone know I made it safely.

Good night...

Day 46

I love Ireland. Hands down, this is my favorite country. And Galway my favorite city. Its so beautiful. I spent the day yesterday roaming around the city. I walked around the Claddagh, which is the old fishing village along the coast of Galway Bay. The streets are lined with neat little shops and tons of pubs (just like any city in Ireland.) And there's way less tourists than in Dublin. Today I took a tour bus down through Burren and to the Cliffs of Moher. I got to see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. It was probably the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Standing there on the edge of a cliff that's over 800 meters high, feeling like you're at the edge of the world. What a rush. Its the first time I've done any kind of tour bus thing like that, but it was a great experience. I got to see all the country of Ireland, and some amazing sites that most people would never think of going to. In the morning I'm taking the train back to Dublin for my last couple of days. There's a few things I didn't get to do the first time I was there because I was still adjusting to my travels. And I'd like to take a day trip down to the Wicklow forest if possible. I can't believe I'll be home in 3 days. I'm so excited to sleep in my bed. And start school. And to see all my family. And Kitty.

Day 44

Spain was great. I wish I had more time to spend exploring. Not only is Barcelona a huge city, but there are so many other neat cities to check out. I explored Barcelona a bit. Because it was Sunday most all the shops were closed, but I still had fun. Walking around by the port, it was beautiful. On Monday I took the train to Figueres for the day. That's the town that Salvador Dali grew up in, and he has a huge museum there. It was amazing. To see his original paintings, and all the little textures and detail you don't catch in reprints, it was awesome. Besides the paintings, the museum is filled with crazy statues and things that he had made. What an odd man he was.
I also had an awesome hostel. The best one yet by far. Saturday night when I got in they had free mojitos and salsa dancing. Then Sunday night they had a bbq and a live band. It was nice to be able to socialize with other people without having to go out on the town. It was nice and relaxing. I was also very excited that I got the use my bug spray. I know it doesn't sound that exciting, but it was the only thing that I packed that I hadn't used yet. Turns out I didn't pack anything more than what I needed, so I'm pretty proud of myself for that.
Today I'm flying from Madrid to Dublin. Then in the morning I'll take a train from Dublin to Galway. I'm excited to get a change of scenery, and to explore the countryside of Ireland for a few days before coming home. Its a nice way to finish off my trip.

Day 42

Nice was beautiful. Hands down the most amazing beach I've ever been to. The Mediterranean Sea has beautiful, clear blue, warm waters. I was swimming for so long that I lost track of time and ended up with a horrible sunburn. Later that night I took the train over to Monte Carlo to the casinos. Figured what the hell, I'll give myself 10 euro to gamble with, and ended up playing black jack for about and hour and bringing it up to 100 euro. SO I treated myself to a nice dinner and drinks on the beach. Yesterday I cam to Barcelona, which is also beautiful. I'm amazed at how much each place I go just keeps getting better and better. Of the 13 countries I've been to, I think there was on 1 place I didn't really care for. I met some guys on the train from Nice that were really cool and we're gonna go out tomorrow. I haven't really had the chance to enjoy the nightlife on my trip since I'm trying to be cautious as a female traveling alone, but I would love to get out one more time before this trip comes to an end next week. Tomorrow I'm taking a trip to Figueres for the day to go to the Dali museum, then out with the boys at night.
I have mixed feelings about coming home next week. On one hand, I really miss my bed, and having my life at home. On the other, I feel like there are so many more places I still want to explore. Guess I'll just have to travel more frequently till I get to see it all.

Day 40

What a crazy day yesterday was. There was a fire on my train to Nice so we had to stop at some little station in the middle of nowhere. Then there was this huge riot in the streets cause there were 300 people pissed off that they couldn't get where they wanted to go. Police were everywhere. I watched a guy get tazed, which was pretty awesome (not for him), and people were just being crazy. Finally after waiting 2 hours we were able to catch another train in to Nice. I made it to my hostel, which is a block from the beach, and instantly knew that I need to stay more than just the night here. So I'm staying an extra day so I can go relax on the beach and go for a swim. Maybe walk around the shops for a bit. Just have a nice relaxing day. Then tomorrow I'll head to Barcelona for a few days.
Off to the beach now. Ciao!

Day 38

Rome has been great. Except for the heat. Its been over 100 degrees and I have a crazy heat rash all over from walking around and getting so hot. But I have seen some awesome things, so I guess its all worth it. Yesterday I explored the ancient city. First Palatine Hill, which is just the ruins of the city. Then over to the colluseum. Its crazy to see that stuff, and think about how old it is and how those people used to live. Today I went to Vatican City, and walked through all the museums. The artwork in there is absolutely amazing. I kept getting yelled at for taking pictures. But how could I go to the Sistine Chapel and not take pictures? I wish I could have gone to St Peters Basilica, but the line was insanely long and I just couldn't stand the heat for a few more hours. So I walked around by my hostel and found a farmers market and a bunch of street vendors. I bought some tortellini from an old Italian women who rolled them while I waited, and they were they most delicious thing I've ever tasted.
Tomorrow I leave and head to Milan for a few hours, then catch another train to Nice. I had planned on going straight to Barcelona but all the trains were booked. At least now I'll get a taste of the French Riviera too. Not a bad deal.

Day 35

What a week this has been. It was so nice to spend some time with Jason, and to have some time to myself to relax for a bit. After coming back from Tokyo, it took me a couple days of sleeping till noon before I could actually function. Since Jason lives right outside the base he would come home for lunch every day so that we could hang out. And I got to go to work with him to see what he does. Its pretty cool. And its nice to see that he really enjoys his job.
We didn't do a whole lot this week. Since we could grocery shop on base I got to make all the american food I've been craving, and got to cook some nice dinners for me and Jason. Then a couple nights we went out. One night to a sushi go round, which was pretty much the most amazing sushi I've ever had. Sooo good. ANother night we went to a place called Vikings, its an all you can eat meat buffet. You pick all your meat and grill it at the table. Its a carnivores dream! It was cool to experience the Japanese food and get to go to the places that Jason is always telling me about. I met a few of the guys that he works with and we all went out for drinks. Saturday we went out to Aomori for the day. We went to see the big Budha, which was amazing. And we went to the beach for a bit. Overall I had a great time and it was really hard for me to leave last night.

I can't believe I've already been gone for 5 weeks. Only 2 more weeks and I'll be home. Its gone by so fast. After over 30 hours of flying and sitting in airports, I'm back in Prague for the night. Tomorrow I head to Rome for a couple days, then around Spain. Then next weekend I'll fly back to Ireland and have a week to explore the countryside and beaches there.

Day 31

First off, I know everyone is concerned about the weather in Japan, so I want to let everyone know we are fine and away from anything disastrous. I'm not sure exactly where the typhoon or earthquake were but I believe it was down south. Jason and I are in Misawa which is on the North Eastern tip of Japan.

Misawa has been cool so far. Not so much the town itself, more just being able to spend time with Jason and have time to relax a bit. The town is tiny, and doesn't have much going on. Yesterday I walked around for a couple hours but didn't really come across anything too interesting. When Jason got home from work we went to the beach for a bit, which is nothing like a California beach. The beach is just made up of hundreds of concrete blocks. There's a big fault line here so I guess there's lots of earthquakes. We also went out and had some amazing sushi. We went to a sushi-go-round. I've always wanted to try one of those places. It was pretty much the best sushi ever. Not sure what I'm going to do with myself today. Its almost 10am and I'm still in my jammies, but I guess that's what vacation is all about, right?

Day 29

It was a long day of travel to get to Japan. Left Prague at 10am on Thursday, had a 4 hour layover in Moscow, then made it to Tokyo at 10am Friday. And Jason had to drive 13 hours to get there. Tokyo is amazing. By far the biggest city I've ever been to. So many people, flashing lights everywhere. On Friday we checked into the hotel and found a cool festival going on across the street. We walked around there for a couple hours, then headed back to the hotel to get a good night sleep. Saturday we spent the whole day out walking around a couple really cool areas. Went to some awesome Japanese shops, and just explored the streets. Then we went out to see what the nightlife was all about. We were walking down the street and this guy told us to follow him down a long hallway. He led us into a bar that him and his wife ran. They were so nice. We drank all night and they kept making all kinds of food for us. Then they brought out the karaoke, and we were singing for about 3 hours. Well, it was mostly Jason singing, but we all did a bit. It was crazy fun. We didn't even get back to the hotel till 5am. Sunday we spent the whole day driving back to Misawa. It took about 10 hours, but it wasn't too bad. Seeing the country side of Japan was cool. Its so green, its like a jungle. And its crazy humid here. You're pretty much soaked all the time, but you get used to it.
Today I'm just relaxing at home, waiting for Jason to get home from work. The town he lives in is tiny but I'm looking forward to exploring it with him.

Day 24

Prague has been amazing. Its a beautiful little city, with mazes of neat old streets. The buildings are amazing, and there's so many cool little shops and things to see everywhere. Yesterday I walked around the city all day, getting lost a few times, but had a great time. I met some really nice people at my hostel and went for a walk in the dark to the castle and got some amazing pictures. Today I went out to Kutna Hora for a few hours. Its a town about an hour from Prague that's famous for its old gothic buildings and its Ossuary. I didn't have much time there because of the limited trains, but I made sure to spend plenty of time at the Ossuary, also called the bone church. Its this old church that's covered in sculptures made with human bones. It sounds creepy but it was really cool. Back when the plague hit, so many people died that they didn't have enough places to bury them. So after the bodies decomposed they had mounds and mounds of bones.
Now I'm back at the hostel, getting ready to head to the laundry mat and get all my stuff washed. I head to Japan in the morning and the last thing I want to do is show up all smelly when I go see Jason. I'm soooo excited to go to Tokyo, its gonna be great.

Day 22

Today I learned the advantages of being a grown up. Well, maybe not grown up, but too old to be considered a youth. I was annoyed when i bought my rail pass that I was too old for the youth pass and had to pay a few hundred dollars more for the adult. But its really ended up being a great thing, especially on days like today. The best part of the "adult" pass is that its 1st class. Which is really nice when I'm too cheap to pay for reservations and there's only a few seats open on each train, which tons of people have to fight for. What I've learned is that there's always open seats in first class, way roomier seats, they give you free water and coffee, sometimes snacks or even meals. Not a bad deal at all. And what I found out today, I get to hang out in the first class lounges at the train stations, which are a HUGE step up from the bench seating everyone else gets. Too bad I didn't know all this sooner. My first couple weeks I was stuck in 2nd class.

I've been on trains since 5:30am. 14 hours later, I finally arrive in Prague. I'm excited to spend the next couple days here. I've been reading about it in my travel book today and I found some cool things to check out tomorrow. And since I got my hostel for the equivalent of $11 a night, I'm hoping things will be decently priced. Paris was ridiculously expensive so my budget needs to recoup a bit.

Day 21

3 weeks down...4 more to go

Overall, I have been really unimpressed with Paris. I just don't think the clutter of tourists is really worth what the city has to offer. Maybe I just came into it with the wrong idea. My expectations were too high. Friday was ok, but not really too exciting. SO I thought I'd hit the city again today and see if it could redeem itself. I walked around for quite a while, just checking things out. Bought a few things, my first gift for myself on this trip, and a cute little alarm clock, which I'll need to wake up at 4am tomorrow. I wanted to go to the Louvre, but I honestly don't think I can stand in line for 6 hours for anything. I just don't have the attention span. I did find a cool little carnival and walked around there for a bit. Other than that, didn't do much today. Since I was tired of walking around, I came back to the hostel to wash clothes and get my stuff packed up. I head to Prague at 6am, which I am very excited about. Not only because its Prague, but because that's where I fly to Japan on Thursday. I'm so excited to see Jason, only a couple more days now.

Day 20

I spend today roaming the beaches of Normandy, and I must say, I prefer being there any day to Paris. Not that Paris is bad, I just don't think it has quite as much to offer as the other places I've been. So many tourists, the people are rude, and I guess nothing really draws me in here.
So anyways, Normandy, amazing. I took the train into Bayeux, its about a 2 hour ride. The took a bus out the beaches. First stop was the US Memorial Cemetery. I knew it would be an amazing place to visit, but I didn't know it would affect me as much as it did. Walking down the trails, as soon as I came around a corner and saw the lawns of white crosses, I broke down and started crying. Instantly thought of my brother and Jason and all my other family and friends that have been in the military. Almost 10,000 crosses cover the beautiful lawns that overlook the beaches. It was an amazing sight. After walking around there for a bit, I went down to the beach and wandered for a bit. A lot of the old bunkers are still there to walk through, and other cool things along the beach. My only complaint was that a storm came in this afternoon. I could have handled the rain alone. But once the hail and lightening started up, I figured it was time to head back to Paris.

Day 19

Well I made it to Paris. The sleeping arrangements on the train were a lot more comfortable than I expected. I pretty much slept the entire 12 hour ride, and arrived at 9am this morning ready to explore the city. First I checked out the Eiffel Tower, which is massive. Way bigger than you'd expect. But it wasn't mega impressive and I didn't really feel the urge to go to the top. Then I walked over to the Cathedral de Notre Dame. Which on the map was only 3 blocks, but ended up being an hour and a half walk. This city is crazy big. Had a known that earlier I would have taken the metro. The Cathedral is absolutely beautiful, just like I expected it to be. The architecture is amazing, the gargoyles everywhere and little details. They were in the middle of mass when I showed up, so I stayed for a bit, then lit a candle and said a prayer for all my family and friends. I also walked up the bell towers, what an experience that was. Going up the spiral staircase, hundreds of stairs with grooves in them from being walked on for so many years. You get to go outside at the top and see all the gargoyles close up. I walked up to see the main bell, which is HUGE. Then on the very top you get a panoramic view of all of Paris. After that I found a free concert in a park and sat down for a while, since my legs were shaking after all those stairs. Tomorrow I'm taking the train to Normandy for the day. Then I can check out the D-Day beaches and a bit more history there.
I've been trying to post a few pics here, but it won't let me. I think my camera makes the pictures too big to post. So I'll see what I can do about that.

Day 18

The last week has been so much fun, I forgot to update everyone. I spent last weekend in Stockholm, which is such a great city. I stayed with a friend of a friend and his family. They were great. His mom cooked an amazing dinner the first night, then I spent all day Sunday exploring the city with Daniel. It was neat to be able to have a local teach me all the history of the city rather than some tourist brochure. I got to see all the castles, the changing of the guards, all the neat streets and buildings. Monday I traveled all day, about 16 hours, to get to Berlin. It is an absolutely fascinating city. So much history here. And its crazy to think that its barely been 20 years since its become one nation. My first day here I did a free walking tour around the city. It was great, got to see the Holocaust Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, a part of the wall that's still standing, and tons of other stuff. Yesterday I did a tour of Sachsenhausen, the concentration camp right outside Berlin. What an experience that was. To see the way those people lived and learn all the history. It was a bit draining mentally though, kinda takes its toll on you seeing those things first hand. Then last night I went out with a bunch of people from the hostel. We went to an indie show at the Bang Bang Club. I had so much fun. It was this weird indie/jazz/soul music but it sounded really cool. We danced for a while then headed home around 3 am. So today I'm just taking it slow, recovering a bit. I head out to Paris on the overnight train tonight, so that should be an interesting experience.

Day 12

Today was by far my most productive day yet. I woke up early and was feeling good, and was out in the city by 9am. I walked around for about 6 hours, took a few hundred pictures, and saw some awesome stuff. The castle, the little mermaid, botanical gardens, then walked through all the tourist shops. I had to buy a new watch, Hannah Montana only lasted 4 days :(, but I guess I got my 3 euros worth. It took about 3 hours to find something that wasn't covered in jewels and over $1000, but I found one. I came back to the hostel to make dinner and wash laundry, I'm off to Stockholm, Sweden in the morning till Monday. I think Copenhagen has been my favorite place so far. It was so much fun to explore, its a beautiful city. And I feel completely comfortable here. There's no sketchy areas of town or places I'm afraid to walk around with my camera around my neck being the ultimate tourist. In Stockholm I'm staying with a friend of a friend so it should be nice having my own personal tour guide.

Day 11

Its been a busy couple of days. I was on the trains for about 12 hours yesterday to get to Copenhagen. Its a beautiful place. I really didn't know how we'd get across the sea, I assumed there would be a bridge of some sort, but we loaded the train onto a ferry and took the ferry across the sea. I was on the top deck the whole time and the view was absolutely amazing. Everything is crazy expensive here. And my hostel is a ways from the city center so I have to take the bus everywhere. But I am becoming a master at learning public transportation systems in new countries and foreign languages
Yesterday I booked a flight to Japan. I'm heading to Tokyo Aug 6-16 to see Jason. I figured if I'm already half way around the world, why not go the rest of the way. I've changed my schedule around a lot, which I don't mind. This trip is all about the adventure, not necessarily where I go. So I'm really excited to see where Jason's been living.

Day 9

Now I'm in Koln, Germany, and I'm really enjoying it. Its a nice city, a bit smaller from the places I've been so far, and less touristy. Today I spend a few hours at the Schokoladen Museum, its the museum of chocolate. It was really cool. Its also where they make all the Lindt truffles so it was neat to see them being made. My hostel is also amazing. Its my favorite one so far. There's only 4 beds in the room, we have our own bathroom in the room, and its located in a nice quiet area next to the river and a huge park. Its beautiful. I sat outside taking pictures of the bunnies and reading in the park. I may do the same tonight. Tomorrow I head up to Copenhagen for a couple days.

Oh, and I dropped my phone in a toilet in Amsterdam, so I can no longer call home and have very limited internet access. I did pick up a sweet Hannah Montana watch for keeping track of time, but its just not the same as my iPhone.

Day 7

Amsterdam is far from what I expected. It is very touristy, but it doesn't seem like it has much to offer. My train ride yesterday was nice. Got to see the country side of Belgium which was beautiful. I wondered around Amsterdam a bit yesterday but mostly just relaxed at the hostel, which is an adventure on its own. I'm in a 20 bed coed room, filled with mostly boys. And the bathrooms are also coed. SO its a little odd at times. People don't seem as friendly here as the other places I've been. Its all business. The location is great though. Right in the center of the city on one of the canals. Today I had fun walking around. I was going to take a city tour but decided to walk around on my own instead. I went to the Anne Frank House. Its amazing to see where all those people had to secretly live for so long. Other than that I just roamed the streets for hours. Tonight I'm going out with a few girls from the hostel so that should be fun. Then I head to Koln, Germany in the morning.

Day 5

Today was a much better day. I went in to the city centre with Aja, the only person that was left in the hostel. We had fun and walked around for hours. Got to see a lot of cool things. We joined in a protest for a journalist that assassinated in Russia a couple days ago. That was interesting. Its supposed to be on the news internationally so you may see it. We tried Belgian waffles, beer, and chocolate. All of which were amazing. I took tons of great pictures and the weather was perfect all day. When we got back to the hostel a few new people had checked in so we hung out with them all night. We sat in the dining room drinking and playing rummy for hours. I had a great time. Its almost 3am now and I have to get up and had to Amsterdam in the morning so I'm about to head to bed. I'm excited to see what the next cities have in store.

Day 4

I made it to Brussels today. It was a rough start. Kinda sorta had a nervous breakdown this morning. Not eating, not sleeping, adjusting to being alone in all these new places. But I'm feeling better now. The hostel here is really nice. More like a bed and breakfast. There's only 8 beds, which is a huge change from Dublin's hostel where there were 200. The rooms are all full today with a bunch of guys from the US. They're all heading home tomorrow so I got a lot of good advice about where I should go in the rest of my travels. We went out to dinner, it was my first meal all week that didn't make me sick. So that was nice. I went to the Atomium. It was amazing. I didn't know I'd be able to walk around inside all the spheres. I was huge. Tomorrow I'm gonna take the train down to city centre and explore all that is there. I'm heading to bed early tonight since I was up at 2am today. I'll get a fresh start on tomorrow. Then its off to Amsterdam on Saturday.

Day 3

Well I've been in Dublin for 3 days now, and I must say, it is absolutely amazing. I haven't done too much touristy stuff. Went to St. Patrick's Cathedral and walked around the city for hours. Last night I went out to a pub, which was a little weird since it was my first time ever going out alone. But I ended up having a great time. Met some nice locals and even a handful of people from California. I'm heading to Brussels in the morning. Have to be up at 3am so Im off to bed now. It's been such a great adventure so far. I'm really excited to see what happens next.

Day 1

Well, I made it. The plane ride wasn't bad. I took a sleeping pill right before boarding and slept almost the entire time. Quickest 10 hours ever. They served me dinner AND breakfast, which I wasn't expecting. And both meals were surprisingly delicious for airplane food. Got through customs with no issues, grabbed my bag, and hopped on a bus to the hostel. I have to wait till 11 to check in so I'm at the Internet cafe killing time. Gonna head back and hit the showers, feeling a bit grimy from the flight. Then head out and explore the town a bit. I've never seen so many bars in one place before, but I'm pretty sure this town has a lot more to offer. I'll try to keep everyone updated as much as possible. Ciao for now.

Me and Kyle went to San Francisco today and had a great time. We walked around Golden Gate Park for hours. Looking extremely touristy with our fancy cameras and taking pictures of everything. It was awesome though. I hadn't been to the Academy of Science in years. It was nice to get to spend some quality time with Kyle before I leave for Europe.

Family Fun

So I officially had the most awesome 4th of July ever. It was so great to see all the family. And now that we're all a little older and able to partake in grown up activities, it was a ton of fun. I feel so blessed to have such a great family. Its always an adventure when we get together. From shooting to snipe hunts, the parade to just relaxing at the cabin. It was definitely a memorable few days.

Don't know what I'd do without all this amazing technology. Got to talk to Jason this morning. We put Skype on our cell phones, and now I can call Japan anytime for next to nothing, its even free if we're both somewhere with wifi. The time difference is perfect so I'm waking up about the time that he's going to bed.

Its gonna be a rough few months with him gone, I already miss him like crazy and its only been 2 days, but I couldn't be more proud of what he's doing. It'll all be worth it.

Hottttt

Its amazing how much you can accomplish on the shower floor.

Its been crazy hot, like 112 degrees for the past couple days. The only relief I get is sitting in the shower, so I figure I might as well be productive.

Attempting to learn the basics of 7 languages before I leave isn't as bad as I originally thought. A lot of them are similar so I'm catching on quickly. And I'm not too worried, I'm sure it'll be easy to find English speaking people just about everywhere. I got my Eurail pass the other day, so now I officially have everything I need. Thanks to Jason I have an amazing camera. I have my netbook so I can stay connected. A couple good books and a few necessities. Less than 2 weeks now till I'm outta here. I'm looking forward to visiting with everyone next week before I go.

I'm nervous and excited, but feeling confident that it will be nothing short of an amazing adventure.

Here Goes Nothin...

Finally getting around to the whole blog thing. Figured it would be a nice way to keep everyone updated on my travels, and life in general I suppose.

Its a little crazy to think that in 2 weeks I will be unemployed. And in 3 I'll be heading to Europe for 7 weeks. Time sure has been flying by. But I'm completely prepared (just waiting on my rail pass) and ready to go, and SUPER excited for my new adventures.