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.