Welcome to Praha!

Sorry those last titles were uncreative and all the same, I guess I've been running out of energy typing.

So here's the lowdown, on the first day of classes our teacher took us to this castle which related to the legends we were reading about in our Czech Literature books it was awesome!  And there was a great view and I became friends with Aileen who is in our group.  After we ditched the class near the end to explore we got a beautiful picture near the water and met some Americans, i forgot where they were from, but they gave us some tips and we had to find our way back.  We got a little lost but I asked a bunch of people and we ended up back on campus in the perfect ammount of time...

My music class was really fun as well, although the teacher is a typical out there music teacher who is super easily distracted.

So our washer is totally broken in our apartment, my one complaing about the place.  I put my close into this washing machine that has the wierdest symbols on it,  tried to get them out and it wouldn't give it to me.  I ran every cycle but they were trapepd in there for three days.  When i finally got them out the water exploded out of the washing machine all over the ground and smeleld like raw sewage which made my clothes smell just lovely.  So i went into the shower for two hours and hand cleaned them.  I hung them up and they smell all right hopefully not too many people will be scared away from me by my putrid smell.  I guess I don't really care though.

Last night we played a drinking game with screwdrivers ( I freakin love screwdrivers so I had some before we played) worst games ever!  We had the pyramid of death or something rediculous and a few other games.  Had a lot, lot to drink.  ANyway after the game we went clubbing to this place ( i was pretty intoxicated I won't lie) it seemed pretty close but after walking back it was pretty far away.  It was dead at first but I went down and started dancing and me and Brittany eventually got the place livened up.  It got insane as more people came and eventually it was a bouncing club.  A few girls were trying to grind up on me it was pretty funny and I was dancing like crazy.  Me and Brittany were going nuts dancing/freaking a bit (it was apart of our insane dance moves ok? no judging).  Eventually we went up on stage because everyone up there was lame and just not really dancing and we took that place down.  It was freaking insane!!!

Anyway, today I woke up prefectly fine which was great and we played some basketball for a few hours with some otehr guys we met from Utah who were really cool.  So all in all it's been great this is just a cliff notes version not enough time to elaborate and there's a lot more to come!  We have an excursion/wine tasting tomorrow in Menik Castle!  Let's go!

Who's afraid of the big bad train conductors part III

Ok, ok I know I've been slacking but let me finish this up, then I'll give you the lowdown on Prague...

So anyway after we went to Maranello the next day and saw the Fherari factory... it was sort of a let down because it was tiny in comparison to what we thought it was be, but they still had some pretty sweet cars (unfortunately not Daniel's favorite car, only metal wirings of the model... those a-holes).  Oh actually back up a bit and let me tell you how we almost got arrested.

So, On the train ride between Pisa and Milan, or something I don't really know, we got on this train we thought was right.  OF course it ended up being wrong.  So the train conductor comes up and asks for our tickets, and said they were no good, we said yes they were, so on and so forth.  He charges us more money and we say we don't have it (we do).  He asks for credit card we say we don't have it (we do).  It wasn't just the money but the principle of the whole matter that really bugged us since the trains are so vague and hard to figure out and the train conductors want to be assholes about it.  SO eventually he says if we don't pay he's turning us over to the police.  I give him the middle finger and tell him to do it (probably shouldn't have done that in retrospect, but sometimes people just push you too far and this was it).  He gets on the phone for like one second and says a few things then hangs up (we think it was fake).  HE asks again and demands are passports.  We say no (we think he's going to take them away).  He gets on the phone again and talks for another few seconds this random guy in clothing comes up to us.  Apparently they have secret police everywhere, so he shows us his badge and we finally give over our passports for the stupid train conductor to write down.  We get them back and he goes up the isle and checks everyone else before telling us something about having the police pick us up at the next stop or something.

So finally we get to Bologna and get off and just start walking away and absolutely nothing happens.  I guess if you just stick it to the Italian authority figures they back down (probably not the best advice to follow).  Anyway that was kind of a crazy encounter, that was not fun at all, lesson learned: never ever take the trains in Italy, save yourself the humiliation and annoyance.

After all that though we made it to Milan and the guy in the hostel was slightly mad at me at first cuz i had booked the night before but we told him how we had to sleep in the Pisa train station because we got stranded and he wasn't too mad.  We met an English girl who was kinda weird to me anyway, although she was very independent, but we talked to her for a while before finally getting to bed sort of early, our train in the morning was at 7 and we hadn't slept in a bed for a few days.

Then we were in Venice the next day for a few hours, the best city in Italy by far.  We met some girls who had stayed in our hostel the night before from Australia, talked to them for a bit then headed off around the city.  It's a little too touristy but i would definitely go back especially for a honeymoon (though I won't probably have one lol) or a nice vacation.  After venice we went up to Switzerland and after crossing the border we danced and made fun of Italy for the next 6 hours because the Swiss trains were nice and beautiful, luxrious, and caused us no trouble.  We love Switzerland!  Also their milk and cheese is to die for.

Finally the next day after sleeping in a train station again we made it close to the Matterhorn but not up it because it cost so much money.  We actually fell asleep and missed our train station get off and eventually ended up circling the entire of Switzerland, but it was fun and the scenery was breathtaking.  In the end I'd love to spend more time in Switzerland when I get the chance.  Eventually we made it to Austria and walked around Salzburg at night after finding out there were no trains to make it into PRague because their railway system is so messed up.  Salzburg was great and we took pictures in front of a bunch of Mozart stuff we think were about the composers.  We made it to the border of the Czech Republic and had to spend the night in a really warm train station which was nice.  As Daniel said we were getting pretty good at being homeless.  Finally the next day we made it at last to Prague after having to take the worst train transfer to another train, have the entire train board a bus, then ride another train into the city since the railroad lines are so terrible.

So here I am in Prague.  Emily, Daniel's friend, was already in town so we met up with her and were able to walk up the tallest hill next to prague which got us a gorgeous view of the city, truly breathtaking!!  We had some Czech beer before we parted ways and now here I am in the city...

Who's afraid of the big bad train conductors part II

Sorry didn't know ifmy iternet would give out I didn't want I lose all I wrote.

Ok so the next day we took a long train into Rome and saw saint peters, truly amazing! We couldn't see Sistine chapel because it was closed and it was raining :(. We had so much fun just walkig around Rome though we ended up running into the pantheon which was awesome. Anyway later that night we got back and went to bed( sorry I got that first day in Rome confused with the second day just switch them around for full affect!)

Anyway the next day in Rome we saw the Sistine chapel, most beautiful worthwhile thing I all of Rome. Wow as daniel put it thepaintings wrre like 3d so much better than the pictures. I lost Daniel though ad ended up seeing the colosseum by myself, not really worth going inside in case you ever go just take a picture from the outside, also saw arch of Constantine. Anway Daniel finally got back and we wanted to go disco but it was closed so we just hung out with the Germans, we taught them English phrases and they taught us german phrases.

Anyway the next day we left for Pisa where we were lost for a while, the city wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. But when we left on a train for Florence another asshole conductor kicked us off because we had the wrong pass or something? Anyway wemet this really nice Italian who used to work for Steve jobs he gave us 20 euro and said he would hve taken us in but his relatives were coming in, apparently he had a bomb house! So we went back to Pisa and slept with the many homeless people, didn't sleep too bad (we are getting good at being homeless ;)

So we got on the 4 15 train and got to Florence early, Michelangelo lookout was grey but we hated florence probably mostly because they made us wait for 2 hours in the rain to see the statue of David and then said the wait was an hour more, we just left. The town wasn't really that great sorry for you who like it but I wouldn't go back again. Finally we got to Milan and got to stay in a bed/ take a shower yay! Our hostel owner wa interesting...

We were talking with this English girl who became our friend about the three things we wanted our children to have. The guy came in to talk about it which was ok until he whipped out a USB drive and started giving a seminar on AIDA which stood for action, inertia, something, and action. Re powerpoint didn't work, thank god. Anyway I'm tired of writing and almost out power now.

We just gave high fives to this huge party of people who were celebrating their 18th birthday, we told them to go get drunk since they can drink in Austria now lol. Kinds debating partying with them.. More to follow soon...

Whose afraid of the big bad train conductors

Ok battery life is low and it's more important that I conserve this for important emails but let me give you what I can.

We took a night train from Paris to Rome because it was the last train for days, ok we kinds just got on without reservations but whatever. This douachebag conductor who had tons of empty rooms kept on saying no room finally we found a conductor who would take us, he interestingly had a pink luggage bag we assumed was left and he stole since he pocketed the money we paid to stay in a sleeper, and we will never ever ride a sleeper again! This huge black lady with a kchild of course had all her belongings brought with her on re train (she seriously had at least five bags and took up all the room. Anyway her child cried all night while she talked on the phone and would randomly yell at the child I the middle of the night. Not to mention it was at least 90 degrees in the room, as we say pofusely sweating we found out later that the black lady had put her bag on re air conditioner blocking all the cool air, I slammed open the window because no one was doing anything and everyone was awake and sweating their glands out. Anway in the morning me and Daniel heard the lday yelling/ hitting her child then woke up later and found the child like not moving with it's face in the bed, mother gone. We were like oh god I hope it isn't dead. (we may have joked about eating it because we hadn't eaten in 24 hours, give us a break.) anyway the mother finally came back and we had to find a csh machine in Rome to pay the corrupt train conductor. He was holding our passports hostage which I'm pretty sure is illegal. Oh well I'm going to give trenitalia an earful when I get to Prague.

Anyway finally in Rome we stayed in an awesome hostel outside the city for $7 a night. So boss! We met this weird French guy and fat American and later while eating magnum bars a bunch of german girls who we asked where they were from ad they stood around us awkwardly until we asked quetions. Some of their English was really good. We were set to meet them the next night or a disco party at the hostel. Later we met two weird American girls who were linda spoiled and talked to them til 4 in the morning, they gave us the rest of thee internet time since they were leaving so it was worthwhile :) ok running out of battery many adventures coming soon...

So let me catch you up a bit. We hit Edinburgh then drove down the coast all in like on day! After hiring stratford on Avon which was beautiful and seeing shakespeares tomb we spent thenight next to stonhenge. Unforunately it was too hard to sneak in so we hadveo fork over the pounds for something we could see from outside. After we were in bath,tue coswalts, tried I get into the top gear track but got kicked out, saw arundel castle, Windsor castle, ad ended up I oxford. Unfortunately everything was closed and we walked around until we found theaevtwo girls smoking and asked for directions to cs lewis ad jrr tolkein pub. They were 17 and not very helpful but preceded to follow us there where we found it and had a few beers after the girls led us the wrong way like 10 times. They lived in oxford but were so clueless. After that we went with them to some other bar where we talked and try eventually ditched us and we drove semi-drunk to the nearest rest stop where we spent the night, London was nuts getting ban into and eurocar found a microscopic scratch on the hb cap and charged us or it...assholes. That night we saw wicked, Daniel for the first time.

He was totally blown away and said now musicals at ruined forever for him because they just can't compare. The elphaba was really amazing so the performance was awesome and interesting to hear in British accents.

Later we went to Dover on a bus and caught the ferry to Paris where we were piled up y andres friends. They showed us the opera house, moulin rouge, eifel tower, capital building, arc de triumph, in their car ten bought us a 100euro dinner!! They were so so kind. We stayed the night with them and then they dropped us off at Versailles which was amazing then we too the subway in and saw the louvre which is really cool but a bit disorganized. In four hours we pounded through 80 percent of it and saw all the big main attractions. Anyway sorry there's just so much to say and not enough time but then we went to Italy which is where we are now. I'll catch you up more soon.

Posh living

Well it's been a long few days as I'm writing this on my iPod. Well we slept with a bunch of homeless people at kings cross station after getting kicked out of a hostel we were sleeping on the floor in. We got moved several times before getting woken up by a security guard. By the way, if you think American authority figures suck, any British person with authority has a stick shoved up their ass. Honestly they are the most terribly obnoxious, pompous assholes I have ever met. Anyway we made it I cambrige after being lost and going the opposite direction. We heard the Cambridge trinity choir randomly which was amazing! We detoured to York which was ok, the castle was tiny though. Next we went to fountains abbey. They tried to charge us 18 pounds to get in! So we walked up a service road and snuck in for free, just a big middle finger( or here a inverted peace sign) to the authority figures.

Anyway sorry this is so fast but its hard to write on a tiny iPod. After we saw the halderon wall an old roman wall built in England. Tons of fun. So now we are in Glasgow, I had a beer with ian and Daniel and I didn't get carded it was awesom!Driving here is insane espeially on the wrog side of the road, Daniel had been doing all the driving because he clutch on our car is so hard I stalled it for like 10 minutes on a hill like 10 times.

They have wierd rules here too like you can't pass someone on theleft, only on the right and have average speed check cameras which some are fake ad peoplewarn you by flaying their lights, the camera averages your speed when entering and leaving the spots and sends you a ticket. Anyway more to tell when I have a bigger computer

wtf...mate

So it has been one heck of a week.  The hostel was nuts because there was this one guy who snored up a storm and it was crazy talking to the foreign people because some of them were really strange.  I had a really fun week, i've pretty much seen everything in London.  I feel just like a local.

I finally made a friend, Kylie, she is really cool and from Oregon and we just were like going crazy because in the hostel some people were wierd.  Like the one guy was talking about all the girls he banged, the people under my friend kylies bed were having sex while we were all in the room, and finally there was the guy who talked to himself and i always thought he was talking to me.  We walked around everywhere in the city though and I got to show Kylie around.  Surprisingly we had awesome deep conversations as well about politics, God, and everything it was quite an experience knowing someone for 24 hours and being able to be so open, it was great, and extremely nice having someone smart to talk to and not just slutty girls hanging around like in the hostel.  But anyway her boyfriend seems pretty cool and they've been dating about 6 years which is awesome and it was really funny being able to see a girl's perspective from the long-time relationship and be able to impart to her the guys perspective.  I hope I was helpful, and that their relationship lasts.

Anyway Daniel finally got to King's college dorms at like 2:15 last night.  He missed his first train then got to Calais and apparently the port was huge.  He got lost and missed his ferry.  After getting to England like 5 hours late he missed his bus and walked around in Dover trying to find some transportation to London.  After meeting with some shady people with knives he finally got to the train station made it to victoria station and frantically called me with his phone that may not have worked and he wasn't supposed to use in europe.  He got a taxi back to the college and we somsehow got him there after spending way too much money.  So we went to bed at 4 and finally woke up and here we are getting ready to go out at 11:30 in the morning.

I love you all.  Pray God will protect us because me and Daniel are nuts :)  But we'll have a great time, God bless you all I miss you and pray for you guys every day.  I'll write again soon I hope.