And....stop

From Munich we took a long flight to New York City... Arriving to the U.S was a huge culture shock, starting from the second we got off the plane. Hearing English spoken at every turn made my head spin as it almost sounded foreign to be surrounded by the language I am so familiar with. Being able to breeze through customs was also new, and nice for us. The controller was actually a big Italian-American New Yorker, and we chatted for a second about our common background. I thought it was a good sign. Our first stop was a pizza place, for a slice of some of the BEST New York pie out there. In fact, I would even say it was the best pizza I have had since Rome... We made our way over to Sean's brother, Norris's, house to spend the next 2 nights. New York was crazy as always, so many people, chaos, lights, noise. We explored on foot Canal St., China town, little Italy, Times Square, Union Square, Central Park, Soho, 5th Avenue, Broadway, Coney Island (which I don't recommend) and spent some good quality time with Sean's cute little 1 year old niece.

So, after much deliberation we made the decision to return to the U.S.A, "land of opportunity". The last year has been more than anything I could have expected. It has truly been the most amazing experience of my life and I will treasure every moment and hold each one dear to me for the rest of my life. The decision to come back was a hard one, we had a nice little set up in Italy and adored the life we created together there. We soaked up every inch of Italian culture and relished it, loved it, became it. In addition to living the Roman lifestyle, I have been lucky to have traveled 11 European countries in a year, something I had always dreamed about in the past, and am now able to call my reality. I guess there are a number of reasons for deciding to return - family, careers, visa issues, and perhaps "settling down"... now that my restless heart has been somewhat tamed. We count our blessings everyday, and are grateful for having had the courage to follow our dreams, and grateful for the incredible journey the last year has been. We will carry the Euro lifestyle we have adopted with us forever and we will return to the U.S better people than we were before in more ways than I can describe... As far as what the future holds, we aren't sure. There are a million paths at our feet right now, and we are just enjoying being "home" for now. What we do know is that we have only just cracked the surface of what this great big world holds, and there is a lot more out there for us to explore.

So, places we visited in the last year...here is the complete list, although we will never forget no matter what:

Italy: Roma (all of Lazio), Vatican, Firenze, Napoli, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast (Sorrento, Amalfi, Positano, Salerno), Sicily (Taormina, Catania, Giardini Naxos), Milan (Venice, Cinque Terre,)

Spain: San Sebastian, Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Cordoba, Malaga, Cadiz, Torremolinos, Pamplona, Zarautz

France: Paris, Biarritz, Hossegor, Anglet, Capbreton, Bayone, Nice, Cannes,

Monaco: Montecarlo

England: London

Belgium: Brussles

Holland: Amsterdam

Czech Republic: Prague, Cesky Kromlov

Austria: Vienna, Salzburg

Germany: Munich

Munich

Sean and I have been in the habit of arriving to a city on the day a huge, famous event just happens to be taking place - we arrived in Monaco the first day of the Tour de France, Pamplona for the running of the bulls, and lastly we arrived in Munich on the first day of Oktoberfest, without having planned this out at all. I didn't really know much about Oktoberfest, other than it is a huge celebration full of beer drinking and brawt eating....and we were right (although there may be more significance that I missed)! In the morning, we were immediately surprised by the number of people wearing traditional German outfits - like lederhosen with the short shorts and suspenders for the boys and colorful dresses, with aprons for the girls. The drinking began around 8am (maybe sooner), so the crowds were already rowdy and ready for the festivities. We walked to the important sites - your typical big plazas, cobble stone streets, cathedrals, castles, farmers markets selling lots of cheeses, meats and fruits and veggies. At noon, little German statues high up in the clock tower in the main square started dancing to pretty tinkling music like a huge cookoo clock. We delightedly watched with the crowds of tourists and cheering locals. This set a celebratory tone to the day. We walked to an enormous, beautiful, green park and on our way got the idea to rent some bikes. Bike riding was a fantastic way to get around the city and get away from the crowds and see this amazing park, with miles of green grass, little rivers, a giant, duck-filled lake and scattered trees. Among the lovely scenery, we came across something totally new to both of us, river surfing. As we rode over a little bridge, down below was a group of typical-looking surfers in wet suits. They were actually riding a standing wave that flowed with the river. They would jump into the wave with their board and surf to the right bank, then the left bank of the river in the little space they had. I would not have believed this existed if I didn't see it with my own two eyes. When they fell, or were finished riding the wave, they would get thrown downstream with the current of the river. Only one surfer could surf at a time, so the rest were lined up on the sides waiting for their turn. It was very interesting, and I would have liked to see Sean give it a try if we had a board. In the park, we also came across a famous area where loads of Germans were gathered, listening to music, drinking merrily and eating heartily. We stopped to re-fuel with a brawt and the best country potatoes known to man (for me) and a soft, warm, sweet dumpling-type dish with powdered sugar and apple sauce (for both of us). We rode back into the city, and were amazed at how fast we could get around on bikes, rather than walking, although it was a little tough when we got to the more crowded spots. People were celebrating everywhere. The city was full of people from all over, who came to take part in this German tradition. We rode to where Oktoberfest was taking place. It was a mess...crowds of people were everywhere, drunk as can be, very loud and out of control. We walked around the huge, carnival-like area with rides and food stands, where we saw the sale of raw-fish sandwiches, with the skin on and everything! Enormous tents were set up as the designated drinking areas. People looked like they were past the point of being "drunk and merry", and were at the point of sitting in random places with their eyes glazed, faces red and holding their heavy drunk heads in their hands, puking and smashing glasses up against walls. It was a little unpleasant and I didn't really see the point. I guess we should have gotten there sooner, it was just so crazy, it was hard to enjoy. The best part was getting some traditional little gingerbread, heart-shaped cookies to wear around our necks. The nice, old man selling them who didn't speak a word of English, tried to communicate the meaning of the frosting writing on each of the cookies. I bought three, he was so sweet and kind (and the cookies looked delicious, although I wasn't sure if we were allowed to eat them). As evening came, we returned our bikes to the rental place and walked to a lively bier garten (beer garden). After mingling with the locals for a while, we took the underground to another part of town that was a little out of the city center but had a row of hip, little restaurants and cool local artwork displayed on the sidewalk. We ended the night here, and ate Mexican food of all things for dinner. I had overdone it on the brawts between Austria to Germany, we took a risk on some quesadillas and it was surprisingly really good! Munich was a very cool, interesting city and I am glad we got to experience the first day of Oktoberfest, although we appreciated the less wild parts of the city most!

The hillllls are alive with the sound of muuuuuusic!

The train ride to Salzburg was incredible. We felt like we were moving right though the set of "The Sounds of Music", and then I realized, I think we were going through the set of "The Sound of Music"! What a dream - soft, smooth bright green, grass completely covering every inch of hill after hill. All we saw for miles was a huge blanket of green. The space was wide open with only cute little colorful homes scattered miles apart, or random farm animals that made the scene even more picturesque. Sean was a little embarrassed, but I couldn’t help but belt out, "The hilllls are alive with the sound of muuuuusic!" We had a nice ride.

The city itself was just as magical as the journey on the train. It was quaint and cute and everything you would imagine when you think of Austria. It turned out that the city was actually where "The Sound of Music" was filmed. We walked the entire town looking for someplace to eat, only to come across cafes selling drinks and deserts. We decided to go to the local supermarket and pick up some fresh kiwi, strawberries and pineapple, fresh salads and bread and bree. In the supermarket, however, I had yet again another tramatic experience...I was stung by a BEE! In the supermarket! This is unheard of, really. This is the second time in less than 6 months and I am beginning to feel the bees are out to get me. It got me on the arm, and this little old lady who saw everything tried to get me to spit on it to make the pain go away. I did as she said (or motioned cause she didn’t speak English) but the pain didn’t go away. It was still very kind of her to help. It only swelled a little, but I couldn’t let that ruin my good day...stupid bee. We sat on a grassy area near the river which gave a beautiful view of the big cathedral in the middle of town, and a castle sitting up above on a grassy hill, and ate our lunch. It felt so storybook and charming and everything surrounding the city was so green and vibrant. We walked around the small town, browsing in shops and the outdoor markets with hand made nik nacs, taking photos of Mozart’s childhood house and skipping (yes skipping...Sean wasn’t participating as I would have liked, but he got a skip in just to show he cared) across the bridge where the characters from "The Sound of Music" danced across while singing. Everything was perfect - the glittery river, the adorable town and green surroundings, and I really did feel like the hills were alive! We left as the sun set, on a train to Munich.

Austria

We woke up early, walked around the center of Prague a bit more, shopping for souveniers and snacks for the train ride. We hopped (well not really hopped but more like crawled or dragged ourselves) on to the train going from Prague to Vienna around noon with fresh fruit, dark chocolate and a girly book for me and Spanish newspaper for Sean, and passed the time relaxing and seeing more of the Czech countryside. All in all from our long journey to Cesky Krumlov and the train ride to Vienna, we have seen quite a bit of this tiny country. We arrived to Vienna in the evening, immediately shedding our layers of clothes because the temperatures were much warmer. We schlepped our way to the city center, found a hotel and dropped off our things. I make this sound like an easy task, but again the weight of my backpack has been getting to me. I would draw less attention to myself if I had a monkey on my back, rather than a backpack that is almost the same size as me. I look tired and sweaty and achy from walking about 5 feet, let alone a couple miles to our hotel, up and down stairs and hills, etc. God forbid I drop something, like my map, where I have to kneel down to pick it up, and yes this has happened and yes I fall right over onto my butt and Sean has to help me up. It is quite a scene. So, we walked into the city, much lighter after having dropped off our things, and had dinner standing near the underground station at a walk up stand, where Sean had pizza (surprise!) and I had a brawtwurst to fit in with the locals, and we shared some super sweet, honey tasting baklava. We walked the city center - very big with lots of designer, and not so designer shops, a huge, beautiful opera house, cathedral, and millions of bright lights, cafes and restaurants.


The next morning, I woke up surprisingly early and we were out the door by 10am. By noon we had seen about every monument in the city. We stopped for an apple struddle at an outdoor international market vendor. We went to the most famous cafe in the city to try out what is known as the best coffee in the world for ourselves. The inside was very chic and pretty and rich feeling. We ordered a 'cafe melange', which sounded like the closest thing to a cappuccino. It was pretty good, but honestly, nothing and I mean nothing beats the cafe in Italy (oh how I miss it!). The coffee house experience in Vienna is famous and is known for being a popular place where great artists, scholars and writers spent their time in the 18th and 19th centuries. I couldn’t help but wonder if this is where the whole coffee house idea originated in the first place - if this is the reason Starbucks and such places are so popular today. I personally love this about Vienna. Where the cafe isn’t quite as good as Rome, it is nice to have the experience of sitting and relaxing and enjoying your time there, rather than standing at the bar and rushing out.


Vienna is very cool, it is similar to other big cities in Europe as far as monuments go, but is special for so many other reasons. For one, Mozart (as well as many other great composers) lived here during his most famous years. I even got to walk through what was once his house (for free because I went in the wrong way...totally an accident) where he entertained and wrote his most famous works, like the Marriage of Figaro.


For lunch we shared a huge soft pretzel with salt. It was delicious.
In the afternoon, we went to one of the many muesems in the city called Belvedere, where we saw my favorite artwork of all time, Gustav Klimt’s "The Kiss". I have had a print hanging in my room for as long as I can remember, and here it was, the original, right in front of me. It was so big and colorful and more beautiful than ever. The best part about the whole experience was that the muesum was virtually empty. We were able to stroll through at our own pace, and spend time looking at every painting, enjoying the serene atmosphere and being surrounded by beautiful art. I loved reading what each piece was about, learning about the story the artist wanted to tell. It was a very nice, relaxing way to spend our afternoon, especially after a morning full of walking and sightseeing.


In the evening, we wanted to see an opera, another of Vienna’s claims to fame, however weren’t really dressed for going into a glitzy opera house and were running late on time for buying tickets. We were rushing to the opera house to see what our options would be, and were pleasantly surprised to find an enormous, big screen tv outside showing the play, live, going on inside. We sat with a bunch of others on the ground watching the opera on the screen as if we had bought tickets and were in the theater. It was one of Mozart ‘s operas and was very pretty aside from the fact that it was all in German and we couldn’t understand a word. After resting our feet and listening to the opera we walked around some more and went to a pub, which turned into a techno night club. The atmosphere was very casual with lots of soccer fans, rowdy and excited over a win their team had earlier that night. We had a drink and decided to call it a night.

I really loved Vienna. It was a big city with a very big art and classical music presence. You can really feel that art and music are a huge part of the history and culture here and I appreciated learning and seeing all this. Even walking down the street we would hear street performers playing classical music on the violen or cello and people of all ages walked around carrying their beloved instruments in a case all over the place. I loved that Mozart was such a huge, important figure here and everywhere you looked something was dedicated to him. It reminded me of my brother Frankie and his love for classical music, and how I grew up seeing his many symphany or opera performances. I loved picturing the clothes they wore back in the late 19th century and the houses and how things were in those days. I loved the coffee shops and sophisticated yet casual atmosphere. We had a really nice time. Next, we are stopping in Salzburg, Austria - the birthplace of Mozart, before going to Munich.

Czech Republic

We woke up on our first morning feeling extra groggy. The exhaustion of traveling 4 countries in 4 days, late nights and walking about 40 miles a day had caught up to us and our bodies were feeling the effects - throbbing feet and heavy eyes. We could hardly believe one day we were in Holland and the next in the Czech Republic. That is one of the amazing things about Europe - so many completely different countries and cultures all so close together. The prospect of missing the free breakfast at our hotel got us out of bed quickly. We were the last people in the breakfast room along with the staff anxiously waiting for us to leave. That didn’t stop us from enjoying the buffet to replenish our strength for the day. After slowly getting ready, we headed out into the drizzly, cold, grey day. Prague is an incredibly beautiful city, despite the chilly weather. We yet again walked and walked and literally saw everything this city has to offer - starting with a farmer’s market in the middle of a busy side street in the center of town. The market had everything from fruits and veggies, to little wooden hand-carved toys which we had fun winding up or bouncing and playing with for a while. I loved the simplicity and authenticity of each little hand crafted toy. We continued on to a huge plaza which was unfortunately packed with tourists, and the worst kind at that...big, huge tour groups one after another packed in front of the grand mediaval structures. After working our way between the crowds to take in the lovely sites, we walked to the famous bridge that lead to a huge castle sitting high above the city, allowing for incredible views and scenery. The buildings are all very mediaval looking, and some a little gothic looking, which is different than anything we have seen in Europe yet. After sight-seeing for a while more, I was determined to have an authentic Czech dinner, although I wasn’t sure what that entailed yet. We went into a restaurant that we couldn’t pronounce the name to and figured that was a good place to start. It turns out goulash and these dumplings (also couldn’t pronounce the actual name) is a very popular Czech dish, so that is what I ordered and Sean ordered the fried cheese, another local favorite. You really can’t go wrong with fried cheese, but my dish was...interesting. Goulash is basically a soup which is more like gravy over really fatty meat, and the "dumplings" reminded me of just regular old white bread. Lets just say, I think I offended the waiter by not eating my whole plate. After dinner we walked around the city center again. We strolled along the neat, clean cobble stone roads with colorful, story-book homes and little shops selling a variety of adorable eastern europe marrionets or little Russian dolls. The city is a perfect combination of the old mixed in with the new. Although Prague is beautiful and interesting, and Czech is by far the most foreign language we have heard or seen yet, there are far too many tourists here to really get a feel for the culture. It’s a shame that spending 2 days in a place you can only begin to scratch the surface of what the people and history are all about. After a full day of walking and sightseeing with few breaks, we ended the night by relaxing on a bench dowtown watching the locals having weiners and beers on the streets shouting at one another, although we have no idea if they were really mad or really happy or just asking, "how are you?" to an old friend.


In an effort to get away from all the touristy business here in Prague, we decided to spend another day in the Czech Republic but go to a smaller city out in the countryside for a day trip. We went to a place called Cesky Krumlov. This place has been described as a "hidden gem", which Sean quoted to me several times. We were also under the impression it was an hour train ride out of Prague and we could easily go for the day and come back in the evening to spend another night. This was so not how it happened. First of all no one spoke English at the train station. So we blindly bought tickets with no idea of time tables to or from or how long the journey would be. We struggled to figure out which train to take, missing one in the process. Finally, we got onto a rickety old train that moved like molasses and stopped every mile or so. Then, because there was something wrong with the train track, we had to get out, take a bus for a few miles, then get back on another train, then at the final stop, we had to get out and get on another train! We had no idea what was going on this whole time either, a really nice (or bossy, I couldn’t tell) lady just shouted directions in Czech, and we just kind of followed her sign language. All together, it took us about 4 hours to get there, and after looking at a map, we realized we were half way to Vienna. If we had known we would have just packed our bags and gone all the way. We were so relieved when we finally arrived, that we started to relax and get excited to see this "gem". It really was a gem too, but really not hidden at all unfortunately. Upon arriving we ran into about 40 more big tour groups. We just laughed about it. In reality we are all just tourists looking for something interesting, or different, I just don’t think big huge groups should be allowed. It taints the cultural experience for everyone else. Cesky Krumlov had a very old, country feel - a tiny city tucked in the middle of all this beautiful lush greenery, with more cobble stone roads, an enchanting stream running down the middle with rough looking fishermen along the bank. There was a castle sitting high above it all, and a pretty church in the middle of a little plaza. It almost didn’t even look real. In fact, some of it wasn’t real, as a lot of the buildings had the tiles or bricks painted on. Sometimes I couldn’t tell if the windows were illusions too. We could literally walk the whole city in a half hour, but we took our time enjoying the views and sites and the small-town feel. We had a nice dinner, where I tried some more Czech food, but this time I played it safe with a vegetable salad and potato pancakes. It was really good too! Sean got a pizza, which was not surprising. The 4 hour train ride back wasn’t as bad since we knew what to expect (except the 40 minute delay at one station). We were exhausted from spending most of the day traveling and are now ready to head to our next destination! There may have been a change in plans...

Amsterdam

Stepping off the train in Amsterdam was like stepping into a whole different world. The station itself was big and grand like a beautiful monument. A little canal with other adorable Dutch buildings surrounded it, and the thick of the chaos instantly surrounded us. Amsterdam makes Las Vegas look like Disneyland. The streets, our hostel and basically any other public place we entered smelled similar to the dorms in Humboldt. The smell of marijuana and sin filled the air. We dropped our things off in our overpriced hostel situated down a shadey allyway just a few feet from the insanity of a main street. We walked down streets filled with pubs and "coffee shops", which don’t really sell coffee, and tons of sex shops. I kind of felt like I stumbled upon one big bachelor party - boys of all ages walked in packs, with tired red eyes, all looking like they were up to no good. In addition to all the legal drugs readily available, illegal drug dealers selling hard core drugs approached us anytime we stopped, which was a little disturbing. We just ignored that part and kept walking. We walked through the red light district which was everything it had been described to me as before. A pretty canal ran right down the middle leaving just sidewalks for the people to walk on and gawk and tease the women selling themselves in the windows like manequins. The whole street literally glows red. Surprisingly in Amsterdam, everyone spoke English, which was strange being back in an English-speaking country again. One thing I loved was that there are these little munchie shops (that’s what I named them), obviously catering to people who just came out of the coffee shops. They had every immaginable snack available - waffles, brownies, cakes, cookies, donuts and treats all homemade, french fries, pizza, sandwiches...you name it, they had it. It was pretty funny to see all the stoners shamelessly going in and out of these places for munchies. And they were literally everywhere. I ended our first night with a Stella as big as my head and a brownie (without any herbal enhancment, just lots of chocolate) from one of the munchie shops. By 3am, I was ready to end the craziness and we decided to call it a night, although I think that was early on Amsterdam standards.

The next morning we woke up to a shower with no hot water that continued to have no hot water during our entire 2 day stay. My initial impression of this hostel was turning out to be right, pretty dodgy. In fact I am not sure it was even a real hostel, as it had no name on the outside and we had to meet some guy on a corner to take us there. At least we didn’t see any cockroaches this time. We went to the Van Gogh muesum which was awesome. Many of the colorful paintings I have always seen copied in books were now in front of me, so close I could see every brush stroke that Van Gogh himself painted. The rest of the day we spent walking around taking in the colorful gingerbread-like homes along the many canals, the millions of cute little shops and restaurants, pretty sites and mellow atmosphere. We were really in awe by everything about Amsterdam. The liberal spirit here was truly unique and something you really have to experience to believe that it even exists. We kept finding ourselves saying "Does this really exist?!" It's almost like it's not real. We had a full day and another fun late night out. We hardly noticed the shady hostel room by the time we got back, we crashed out the second we walked through the door.

We woke up early to go for another walk around the city and take some photos. It was nice to be up in the cold morning, although not surprisingly it was still very happening out. Not sure if anyone went to bed, or if they all got up early like us. I have to say, I really liked Amsterdam and we had a lot of fun, but I couldn't imagine staying for more than 2 nights either. It's a beautiful city that is also a big adult playground full of temptation and naughty things. We got our stuff together and headed out for a very long day of travel - bus, flight, bus, metro, tram, walk and finally we arrived to our hotel in Prague.

First impressions of Prague have been very good. The metro took us right to the center of it all, which is beautiful - almost reminding us of Rome, much cleaner though, with chic shops along the cobble stone streets and a huge monument sat right in front of us. Every time we look lost (which has been a lot already) somone walks up to us and says "can I help?" I am amazed by how nice everyone is, it’s very refreshing and helpful. The currency here is different! We aren’t using euros anymore, which is so bizarre. I had to ask someone for help because I had 1500 koruna and had no idea what that meant. Turns out it’s about $88....not as rich as I thought I was. We relaxed for a bit, had a nice Italian pizza dinner in a restaurant full of Italians. And I am now about to take advantage of my first shower with hot water in the last few days.

Belgium

After spending 9 wonderful hours in Paris, we caught a 10pm train to Brussels. The train was only about an hour long journey. We always tend to feel ambtious upon arriving to a new city - the whole ride there we anticipated hitting the town raging - going to pubs and eating waffles (this was our idea of Brussles before arriving) to our heart’s content all night long. However, when we actually got to our hotel, after wandering around the dodgy area near the station (never judge a city by the area surrrounding the station - it is always scary and gross), the exhaustion hit us like the train we rode in on. I showered, which was my first mistake as it had the opposite affect of waking me up, and before the lights were out, I was out like a light.
The next morning we awoke feeling slightly more rejuvinated, had a nice breakfast at our hotel and set out to explore Brussels. And literally, wow! I haden’t heard much of Brussles before - but I loved it. It’s a small city but so lovely and charming. Millions of Belgium chocoloate shops, pubs and restaurants with mussles and french fries as the main dish, lined the narrow, cobble stone streets, and the main plaza, gran plaz, sat in the middle of the tiny city, big and pretty with bright gold trim around all the magnificant structures. Next to it, a busy farmers market was held in another plaza. We saw the Manekin Pis - a small statue of a boy peeing. I was more interested in the chocolate shops around it which served little chocolate samples. Sean and I continued to walk into different shops in hopes of getting a little taste of the rich chocolate, usually we were successful too. The waffles in Belgium are significantly the best in the world. We ordered one with strawberries and whipped cream while walking around and then another one came complimentary with our lunch, this time with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Seriously though, I am not sure what they put in these things but the sweetness, the soft, warm, buttery taste fills your mouth with pleaure and delight from the first bite to the last... it really was an experience. We treated ourselves with lunch at a nice restaurant in one of the livelier parts of town, Sean had the mussles and frites (french fries) which is another of the many things Brussles is famous for. I admired him for ordering this sort of thing, as seafood (particularly mussles) has never appealed to me. Instead, I ordered something more ordinary, like chicken flavored to perfection and topped it off with a beer framboise (rhaspberry), which was delicious with its sweet, fruity beer taste. After lunch we decided it was time to go to Amsterdam. We slowly strolled back to our hotel to pick up our things and then a short walk to the train station, which was actually a huge effort as my backpack weighs me down enormously (it’s only 30 lbs, confirmed at the airport in Amsterdam, but it still hurts!). At one point I put it on Sean’s skateboard and dragged it to the station, which seemed to slow us down more, but I was in a lot less pain.We hopped on the next train out there and 3 hours later (we took the slow train) we arrived at dusk.

San Sebastian to the perfect sunset

Because of our fabulous procrastination skills we were up well into the early morning packing up all of our belongings (and parting with quite a bit too) into our heavy, oversized backpacks, getting ready for our journey. On less than 3 hours of sleep the several alarms that we set rudely awoke us at 5am to catch our 6am train out of San Sebastian. We crept out of the place we considered home for the last 2 months and into the cool dark morning we set out for Paris. The train ride was nice and relaxing and scenic, passing the vinyards of Bordeaux, where bright purple grapes hung from vines neatly scattered across the land, and other little French cities that reminded me of something from a movie. We arrived in Paris in the early afternoon and immediately threw all of our luggage into these amazing huge lockers at the station and headed out. I have to say, nothing beats Paris in the middle of the changing of the seasons from summer to fall. The cool crisp air mixed perfectly with the bright warm sun. Golden, brown and orange fall leaves covered the million tree tops throughout the city and lightly fluttered one by one to the ground. In the months to come, the ground will be covered. We walked and walked from the lively, exotic Latin quarter where we grabbed a baguette sandwich, to the grand beautiful Notre Dame, passed the Louvre where we remembered seeing the Mona Lisa from our first trip, to the famous, busy Champs Elysees with designer shops to the Arch de Triumph and finally to the Eiffel tower where the sun set, casting a pink, orange glow behind the enormously beautiful tower. I enjoyed a Nutella crep and couldn’t help thinking it doesn’t get any better than that - a warm soft crep oozing with creemy rich gooey Nutella, during a marvelous sunset at the Eiffel tower...unforgetable.

Adios Summer!

Summer is unofficially over here in Europe. It is perfectly common for Europeans to take the whole month of August off completely to travel and vacation with family and friends. We even came across businesses, small shops or hotels looking completely deserted with signs posted on the door saying "closed for August." I think Europeans have it right with this one. Who wants to work when the days are long, the sun is shining and the ocean is constantly begging to be jumped into? However, once the first of September came it's back to work, back to school and back to responsibilities. The tourists are few and far between, the beaches are somewhat deserted now, the shops are back in business on regular schedules, the days are getting shorter and the rain has been gracing us with its presence. The last 2 days have been gloriously sunny though, with an almost-fall feel. We are enjoying our last week in San Sebastian with long walks throughout the city day and night, runs along the coast, Sean surfing, and me beach lounging with a good (or really cheesy) book.


And...we have a big adventure planned! We leave here next week and head to Paris. I adored Paris the first time in the midst of the coldest winter of my life and am looking forward to being back with slightly nicer weather. From Paris we go to Brussels for a night for some waffles, then Amsterdam for a few days to witness what is known as the most liberal city in Europe, then we fly to Prague for a few days, Berlin for a few days and Munich for a few days. I am really excited to see some completely different cities and some new countries.

La Zurriola Surf

I can't take credit for these photos. Sean's brother, Jacob, has a super fast, super fancy camera, that I decided I have to have someday, and he was able to get some great shots of Sean surfing while visiting last week. I have to say, sitting and watching the surfers in the water is very fun and entertaining. Sean had a great time out there too, and felt good to know that his fans, Ethan, Jacob, Alyssa and Andrea were all watching.

Hossegor part deux

We got home yesterday night from our second visit to Hossegor, France. Early Wednesday morning, and by early I mean 10am, we sleepily caught a train to our friendly neighboring country so Sean could catch some of the tastiest waves in Europe and I could do what I am best at, lay in the sun and wish I was French. The day was gorgeous, hot and sunny, and nothing but bright blue skies painted above our heads. When we arrived to Hossegor, I decided to do some shopping, which I wasn't able to do the first time around. After realizing I am only attracted to items 300 euro and over, I gave up and we headed to the beach - my only purchases being a beach umbrella and a hat to protect me from the blaring sun. I am not sure if I am getting old or what, but there was once a time when I sat in the sun for hours upon end without a worry in the world. Now, I am like an old lady, covered up, shaded from the sun and lubed up with sunscreen - quite a contrast to the half-naked French lounging around me in the sun. The day was fantastic, we spent the whole day on the beach, only breaking about 12 times for me to eat the fresh, delicious food that I love so much, just the usual - chocolate pastries, baguettes, cheeses, sandwiches, ice cream, etc...eh hem. As the sun set, we sat at an outdoor restaurant on the beach, where I indulged in a glass of some red wine. I've gotten in the habit of trying to speak French based on what I read on the menu - usually butchering the words completely, however I loved that the waiter just kindly smiled and corrected me, pleased at my effort. We decided to start looking for a place to sleep for the night.

Since we don't have such keen planning skills these days, we didn't book a hotel, and the last bus to the station had long gone. Of course, all 5 hotels in Hossogor were "complet", so we sat in the midst of the surprisingly very happening night life trying to think of plan B. As we sat there, 2 very inebriated French guys sat a little too close to me, trying desperately to have a conversation in French/English/Spanish/Italian with us. They were actually very hilarious, and we sat there for about an hour, listening to their interesting views of California where the girls are "easy" for French guys and political views of how much they love Obama. At one point one guy decided to name all of the U.S. presidents he knew and the other listed all the punk rock bands from California that he loved. They were even nice enough to offer us sips of beer from their tall cans, which we graciously declined. So, plan B for the night turned out to be going to the neighboring town of Cabreton. There are absolutely no night buses in this area, so we walked for about 10 miles in total, finally stopping at a hotel that was also complet. However, as I was about to ask if we could sleep in the lobby, the amazingly helpful concierge said he had one room reserved that the people hadn't checked in for yet. He made some phone calls, all of which I didn't understand, and miraculously the room became available to us, even at a decent rate. Gosh, I love the French.

The next morning, we explored Cabreton for a while, which is also a cute, very tiny little beach town with not much to it. We grabbed a cafe, which I have to say is one thing the French know nothing about. Italy is truly the only place to get a decent espresso or cafe, pretty much in the world. The cafe is exceptionally bad in France. However, the friendly lady serving us was just adorable. She spoke perfect English and actually guessed that we were from San Diego...we were shocked until she giggled and pointed out that Sean had a USD t-shirt on. She even taught me how to say five in French, which I quickly forgot. She was so happy and cheerful and welcoming, I almost wanted to just hang out with her. The people really make a difference when you travel.
We walked back to Hossegor, and Sean was on a mission to catch some tasty waves (my new favorite expression for some reason). To do that he insisted on walking well over a mile down the beach from the main town (the actual distance debatable depending on which one of us you ask) to the world famous surf spot, La Graviere, which was "barreling hard and heavy". We spent the whole day on the beach again, the only down side being that the waves were too big for me to go in the water! I am a wimp though, and remained safely under the shade of my umbrella and made faces at the cute little French baby that I had cracking up all afternoon. Her parents didn't seem to mind either. Then we walked the well-over-a-mile back to town to have some lunch and ice cream in the hot, hot sun, and then up to town to catch the last bus back to the station to take us home to San Sebastian. Good trip.

E arrivato il tempo...

As I listen to music now that we once woke up to every day in Rome, and look through pictures of everyday moments turned into the happiest of times in each of the passing seasons, I can't help but feel a bit nostalgic - for Rome, for teaching, for just waking up everyday to new extraordinary experiences. I remember back to the days leading up to our departure from the comforts of the U.S. I was emotional, scared and a little nervous for what my uncertain future would hold. I remember that feeling well, because it is how I feel now. We made the decision a long time ago, that we would only live in Europe for a year - get the most out of it, travel to as many places we could, experience as many cultures possible and soak in the Italian lifestyle to the full capacity. A year has come and gone, and we are faced with the uncertainty of returning back to the U.S., which feels like this big, scary, unfamiliar place now. I imagine returning being like meeting with old school friends for the first time in ages - you know you once were close but aren't sure you have much in common anymore. We've procrastinated buying plane tickets home, trying to weigh the pros and cons of staying or leaving, trying to imagine life in one place or another. We have been dodging making this life-altering decision, but like a rain cloud hovering in the sky threatening to ruin a sunny day, the inevitable is fast approaching. Like going back to school after the best summer of your life, like abruptly ending a romantic whirlwind relationship, like reaching a crossroad and both directions seem right and wrong at the same time....for now we will enjoy every moment here and buy our plane tickets home when that moment arrives.

Hossegor

It's no secret that I adore France. I am not sure I can describe why completely, but when we cross that little border, I feel so good, so happy and so at peace. It's like the French are so cool, calm and chic, even nice. When they speak it's like music to my ears, such a simply sweet sound. Everything seems natural, from the food to the merchandise sold in the little shops - like everything is crafted with care to be pretty and pleasing to every sense. The atmosphere of the smaller cities - clean and friendly and charming in every way. It's like the little colorful villages smile on visitors, and invite you to enjoy the cool, relaxing lifestyle.

We went to Hossogor, a little French beach village, famous for having the best surf in all of Europe. The small town consisted of literally 2 short main intersecting streets, lined with all the famous surf shops plus smaller beach boutiques, bakeries, and sandwicherias and 1 street that lead to the beach. The hot sun showered the beach, packed full of French sunbathers and surfers. Ice cream shops selling special soft serve ice cream that claims to be Italian, sweet-smelling waffles and traditional French creps with chocolate, lined the mile-long boardwalk. We arrived to Hossogor by 2 different trains and a bus that remained stuck behind an oil truck moving slower that it would have been to walk, the whole winding way there. After picking up egg sandwiches on the best bread known to man, we sat in the sun for hours. Sean had to coax me into the water like a small child because I was afraid of the waves. Of course once I got the courage to go in, after standing on the shore for about an hour, I got pummeled by a wave and ended up covered from head to toe in wet sand. That was it for me, and I remained on the safe, hot sand, while Sean body surfed until it was time to catch our bus back. I couldn't resist a fresh cool vanilla, chocolate ice cream, while waiting for the bus on the wrong side of the road. Luckily we got to the correct bus stop in time for the last bus of the day to take us to the station, after some friendly French people used sign language to tell us where to go. We had a fantastic day and Hossogor is just another reason for me to love France.

Surfing the Basque region

Sean has been surfing lots lately, and I have been practicing my photography skills. We love the surf culture here. There are always waves, and always a lot of people in the water - good, bad, old, young, boys, girls, long boards, short boards. After almost a year of living in Rome, it is nice to be surrounded by something from our roots, enjoying the beach and water.

When in Spain...

One of my favorite things about Spain is that the locals all buy a fresh, warm baguette everyday. The bread is some of the best I've had and we buy it everyday too, just to pick on, or make bocadillos (sandwiches). It's always fresh and delicious and at all times of the day you see people walking down the street with their daily baguette. Here's a picture of me last week, picking up some bread to make sandwiches for our trip. Yum!

Semana Grande

This week in San Sebastian is the annual "semana grande", which is basically a week long party with tons of people, parades and bands crowding the streets, free concerts and fireworks. We were gone traveling for most of the festivities, but luckily were here for the last 2 days and nights. Friday evening, we went to a free concert on the beach to watch a very famous Spanish group called, "La Oreja de Van Gogh ". I had never heard of them before, but Sean knew every song, and so did the millions of people on the beach watching. It was very pretty music, and so nice to lay in the cool sand, looking up at the stars glowing in the black night, listening to the lovely songs.

After sleeping in until noon yesterday, we threw together our suits, beach towels, smashball paddles and umbrella and headed out into the perfect 27 degree day (80 farenheit) and walked toward the beach. On our way there, we were stopped by several people, who must have noticed we were beach-ready, telling us that La Concha beach was closed because of bomb threats. There is a radical group here in "the Basque country", called ETA, who want the Basque region to become completely separate from Spain and have been known to act violently in different parts of Spain. Apparently, with all the chaos and festivities this week, supporters of this terrorist group have made their way to the small peaceful town of San Sebastian, to demonstrate and protest. The government has enforced a zero tolerance policy with this group, and any sort of propaganda posted around the city is taken down and any protests or demonstrations are immediately shut down by the police. The police are in full force and on high alert, especially with the mass amount of people in the city for the holiday. We walked over to our usual beach, Zurriola, and all seemed normal, besides the weird propaganda, and more police than normal. We spent hours in the sun, or shade of my umbrella, and swam in the wonderfully warm, but refreshing sea. It felt so nice, after all the traveling, to just relax on the sand, float in the water and soak up the beautiful day, and our beautiful surroundings. On our way home, we ran into complete chaos. We stopped to listen to a mariachi band playing on the sidewalk while the people watching danced, other odd street performers entertained the kids, parades filled the streets, millions of people were everywhere, all having a great time. We walked alongside a parade the whole way to our flat, and these crazy-looking giant-people characters ran around hitting people with big, plastic balloons. The children ran away screaming and laughing while these funny-looking giants chased after them. They hit anyone in their path with their balloons, even the old ladies watching. Everyone was laughing so much, including Sean and me, when we had to run out of the way to not get hit. The rest of the parade consisted of a bunch of rowdy, excited soccer fans dressed up in soccer gear, ready to go watch a match. Everyone was having a great time, when all of the sudden, we realized we were no longer walking with the parade of soccer fans, and children running around, and were walking alongside ETA supporters, who were chanting in their Euskera language and holding up posters of their terrorist prisoners who are currently being held. The vibe changed, and the others walking down the street with us grew concerned. The police arrived within minutes to shut them down, complete with their shields for extra protection. Sean and I turned down a side street, as I was nervous and just wanted to get home. We picked up our pace walking when we heard gun shots go off and everyone began running, covering their heads and screaming. We started running too with everyone else. I dropped my beach umbrella, Sean ran back to get it and I lost him for a second in the crowd. Finally we both ran up to our front door, opened it with shaking hands, got inside, closed the door and watched hundreds of people run by. I had never been so scared in all my life, and have never been so shaken. It felt like we were in the middle of something you would see on the news. The scary part too, was that we didn't know what was going on, and anything could have happened. It was very sad that a fun, happy event turned into something scary within a matter of seconds. We calmed down inside for a while, then headed back out. Everything was back to normal and millions of people were out having a good time. We watched the fireworks, walked downtown in the mix of all the partying and enjoyed some cold sangria. I am sure everyone in the city is resting and recovering from the week of craziness today.

Madrid...Sevilla...Andalucia

Sean and I joke that we should be on the show Amazing Race, the show where couples compete against other couples racing around the world, getting clues, going through obstacles to get to some unknown destination. We say this because whenever we travel we are rushing to catch buses or trains, reading maps and trying to find particular points of interest, trying to unlock the mysteries of each city, finding random places to sleep when we arrive, and never knowing where we are going next until the moment we are in it.

We just got back from traveling to 6 incredible Spanish cities in a matter of 5 days, which felt like an amazing race in itself. We left Sunday evening by train, which passed smooth, green landscape and fields and fields of beautiful, enormous sunflowers and arrived to our first stop, Madrid. It was such a shocking contrast to San Sebastian, so big and full of a diverse mix of people and grand sights, almost like Rome. We found a super cheap pension (which is just a room in a big flat, converted to be a low-budget but nice hotel) in the center of the city with a friendly owner, who joked with us about the people from San Sebastian always having their noses in the air. We had to agree as the south of Spain immediately had a much friendlier feel to it than the north. We have gotten in this weird habit of eating Turkish falafel kabobs in almost every new city we go to, so that is what we did after checking in. Then we went for a long, late night walk exploring the lively city, full of loud music and tons of people partying. The next morning, we indulged in churros y chocolate, which was a first for me. You dip these super greasy churros in hot chocolate so dense it's almost like warm pudding. Yum. We walked to all the sights in the hot summer sun. The locals were so nice, in fact, when we stopped to consult the map at one point in the day, a nice old lady pointed us in the direction of a sight we would be interested in, but didn't even know about, and while sitting on a park bench a nice old man sat with us to chat.

We caught a late bus to Sevilla. I have to say, bus travel is a nice way to go. It takes longer than the trains, but is much cheaper and you have the same luxuries - reclining chairs, air conditioning, movies, nice scenery. The only problem is that I feel sick if I try to read, so Sean plus our new cell phone that plays the radio and video games kept me entertained when a movie wasn't on. We arrived in Sevilla around 1am. Sevilla is a special place, not only because it is where the tomb of Christofer Columbus lives, but it is also where Sean lived 10 years ago! It was his first time back in the city since, but he knew exactly how to get to the city center, which was nice. We found another super cheap pension right away and crashed. The next day was hot and full of more sightseeing and a little shopping around. I adored the Spanish feel of the city, with colorful ceramic tiles and Flamenco dancing tributes everywhere. The main attraction was Plaza de Espana, which was an enormous, beautiful plaza, colorfully decorated with tiles for every city in Spain. It also had a more modern feel mixed in with the old - I even went to Starbucks for the first time in forever!

We left Sevilla late night, and decided to catch the bus to Cadiz. Cadiz is a coastal city, and therefore full of much more tourism. We walked around literally the entire city at about 2am, walking into every pension or hotel asking for a room, all of which were completo. We had 2 options, either stay in a nice 4 star hotel, which of course had availability, or try to make a bed on the beach. A true backpacker would have tried roughing it, but instead I opted for the 4-star, mostly out of tiredness and wanting to just be done walking. It hurt to spend the money, but the bubble bath, cool clean sheets and air conditioning made it worth it. I realized that I really don't understand the star rating on hotels. We have stayed in a million 1-star hotels that are surprisingly nice and clean, always with friendly, accommodating owners and even some with air conditioning, and then stayed in a 4 star hotel, that was just kind of average (just really expensive). Either way, it was probably the safer alternative to sleeping outdoors. The next morning, while surrounded by about a million annoying British tourists, we had our cafe, which I ordered con hielo (with ice) because of the excruciating summer heat. I guess the month of August is the wrong time to travel in Europe if you want a true cultural experience because really, you end up spending your time around a lot of other tourists. We went to the beach and jumped in the surprisingly cool Mediterranean. The sun dried us within seconds. I really liked Cadiz a lot - a small beach city with lots of narrow streets, joined by big plazas, little shops, Spanish restaurants, and 1 big cathedral, which was the main attraction. Just like Rome, a lot of the appeal in Spain is the magnificent architecture. After seeing the whole small city in the day, we took off for Malaga.

The bus ride to Malaga took us along the southern most coast of Spain. We were so close to Africa we could almost touch it. Pretty amazing to think of where we were on the map. Never in my wildest dreams would I have foreseen this life and I count my blessings everyday. Because of our difficulty in finding a hotel in Cadiz, we decided to plan ahead and book a hostel online for Malaga. This was a mistake. The room was absolutely empty of furniture - literally the only thing in it was a bed, that had 1 sheet on it. I was accompanied in the communal bathroom by a lovely cockroach at one point too. We tried to stay out as late as possible to avoid being in this room. The city was lively all through the night, which was fun to walk around and see. I slept all of 1 hour maybe through the entire night, due to loud noises outside - trash collectors or drunk bums on the street, the heat was brutal, and around 6am loud construction began. The bright street light shining directly through the window didn't help matters through the night either. Needless to say, I woke up feeling drained, eyes puffy and barely open and head foggy, but we charged on. After sightseeing a bit in Malaga - which was a pretty big city with lots of shops and restaurants and big cathedral at the center of it all, we took off on a short bus ride to a little pueblo called Torremolinos. This small but busy city was up on a cliff, where a steep, winding road lined with street vendors lead to the tropical beach. Sean went for a dip in the water, while I struggled to stay awake and cool in the shade. Torremolinos reminded me of Mexico in some ways. It had a very old town feel to it, but also catered to the tourists. After a nice lunch, and a lot of walking around, we were off to Cordoba.

Cordoba was HOT. It was nowhere near the coast and the heat was so strong it was suffocating. there was no question that we were in the desert here. The temperature was about 35 celsius at 11pm (95 fahrenheit) when we arrived, and during the day got up to 43 degrees (110 degrees farenheit!). We found a fabulously air conditioned, super cheap hotel right in the main plaza and showered and slept immediately as our exhaustion was overwhelming. We got up bright and early, almost refreshed and ready to go. I think Cordoba, despite the heat, was my favorite. There was no tourism, so we could really feel the quaint Spanish lifestyle. The main attraction here was the grand mosque, which was in the center of the small city, with cobble stone streets and old buildings and homes. We ate the most amazing, authentic lunch of paella and gazpacho and I can honestly say for the first time, I loved the food here. The restaurant was so colorful and lovely with plants all over the colorful ceramic tiles. We really felt like we were in Spain here, and that was the best part. It felt very real and we could really be apart of the beautiful Spanish lifestyle.
Our bus back to San Sebastian didn't part until 11pm, so we were able to spend the whole day walking, or sitting in the shade people watching in the plazas. At one point, I joined all the little local kids in running through the water fountains to cool off.

The bus ride back lasted 13 hours. It was completely full and our seats were in the very back, so they didn't recline. We loved bus travel until this ride. Our seats weren't even together at first and when we asked to switch with these girls so we could sit together, they said no, which we thought was strange and kind of rude. Finally, after about 2 hours one girl changed her mind, mainly because I think she wanted my reclining seat. So, we sat together cramped in the back and tried to sleep as much as possible. We arrived to a much cooler San Sebastian at noon the next day, very very tired, but very satisfied from a fun adventure through Spain.

Just another day in paradise...

Life is good in San Sebastian.

Zarautz

We went to a little pueblo on the beach called Zarautz yesterday. After the quick train ride, we soaked up some more sun, played smashball, walked the little streets and plazas, and spent more time than we would have liked in a Kebab fast-food place, that was anything but fast. Nice little town, and a nice little Saturday.

Pintxos

Pronounced "pinchos". Spaniards love this tradition for all meals. You just stand at the bar, grab what you want and eat it. Anything you take is about 3 euro each, so it can be expensive. Almost every place you go here serves up their food like this - the bars are the most popular. I still prefer ordering my food, getting it hot, and eating it sitting down. But when we walk through "Parte Vieja" the hundreds of bars that line the narrow streets are always packed with hundreds of people enjoying pintxos and drinks. One of the liveliest parts of San Sebastian is Parte Vieja. It sits right in between the 2 main beaches, La Concha and Zurriola and it's the only place where you can go at any time and something will be open.