Almost time to come home...

Well... its been awhile, I believe the last time I wrote was in Corfu. Santorini was next (after a stopover in crappy athens, no one should ever go there) and it was unreal! We stayed at a really cute little place by the beach and there was great shopping on the beach. One day we went on a day tour to the Volcano, the mudbaths ( which made my skin so soft!) and Thirissia a small island that just got electricity 25 years ago! And finally to Oia were we took the donkeys up the stairs which was one of the top ten most terrifying things of my life- we were chased up the stairs by men with whips and the stairs had a one foot railing stopping us from falling over a cliff- definitely something i never need to do again. Then we went back to Athens, and flew to Berlin where we stayed at another awesome place, we basically had an apartment to ourselves (with a free hookah!) We did a free walking tour, saw hitlers bunker, went into the Reichstag, and we went to some manmade beach. From there we went to Prague, one of my favourite places so far. It was so beautiful! We saw Lennon's Wall (a wall dedicated to Lennon and Lennonisn) and did a walking tour. There was also great shopping there as well. We did a pub crawl, but only made it to the 3rd bar haha. Then me and Dianna went on a journey in attempt to find a national park. Well, four hours later of wandering through hay fields with no civilization in sight, and waiting at busstops for hours, to crossing a highway and even making a sign in attempt of hitchhiking, we finallz stumbled upon a shack that doubled as a train station. So although we never made it to our final destination, we got to see a lot of rural Czech Republic. Now, we are in Salzburg and it is FREEZING! today me alison and dianna went on a sound of music bike tour which was really really fun, and were going to wander around for the rest of the day, and then tomorrow i will be visiting the worlds biggest ice cave!

Thats all fro now.. Miss zou all

YAMASSS!

So.. I am officially in love with greece.. it was even worth teh 22 hour ferry ride in the pouring rain that we only had deck space for.. SO WORTH IT! We first went to Corfu, where we stayed at the infamous Pink Palace. It really is pink.. and HUGE! It was so much fun, just like summer camp. Ourfirst night was toga night, and after a HUGE 3 course dinner (included) we all dressed up in Pink togas and danced the night away.. later we got to see some traditional greek dancing and there was an ouzo circle, where everyone got a free shot and a plate smashed over their head! it was pretty fun. The next day we went on a booze cruise, probably on the worst day.. the water was soo rough! I got seasick, but after barfing over the edge I felt better. We went to a bat cave which was cool, and got to go cliff jumping! That hurt, but it was still fun. The next day we went ATVing... which as im sure you have all heard by now was eventful. We broke the record of crashes in one day..but I am thankful we are all still in one piece, and despite the accidents it was very fun. The next day we took it easy, and me Alison and Sam went kayaking to a nearby seastack and went snorkeling.. there wasnt much sealife but the water is SO clear it was beautiful. That night we left on the Pink bus to Athens which wasnt too fun but really our only option. Then we spent the day in athens.. which I didnt enjoy. It was hot and dirty and smelly and not really that exciting. Unforutantely we werent able to make it to Ios because if we had gone, we wouldnt have been able to leave! So we skipped it an decided to spent more time in SAntorini instead.. which Im glad we did.

Anyways, thats all for now. See you all in less than a month!

Italy round 3.. last and final.

We are now in Venice, my favourite Italian city so far. It is SO beautiful. Our first night we just wandered around the suburb our hotel is in, and got some gelato (as we do every day) and some pizza (as we do everyday). The next day we spent getting lost around venice, touring the canals and visiting all the glass shops. We even got to see some of the shopkeepers at work which was cool. Later, we went on a Gondola ride through the canals which was very cute. We spent the evening again in our hotel, loving every minute of the bath tub and the tv (even though its mostly in italian..) Tomorrow we head off to GREECE! On a 24 hour ferry.. which I am excited about, but the other girls are a little more skeptical. We go to Corfu, then Athens to connect to Ios then Santorini and then back to athens for our flight to Germany. I am very excited and we have been saving our energy for the crazy nightlife in Greece! We are staying at the infamous Pink palace which should be a riot. ù

Love you and miss you all.

Italia round 2

We are now in Rome, and celebrated our first night with a pub crawl that started with unlimited drinks and free pizza.. doesnt get much better. Unfortunately that was the highlight of the pub crawl, but atleast we got a free t-shirt out of it. Luckily it is a bit cooler here than in Florence, although we still take daily siestas (just woke up from a 2 hour one actually). Its been nice for me so far here as ive been catching up on lost sleep and battling a cold while the others are seeing sights that i have already seen. Tonight we are going to go watch the sunset from the Spanish Steps and check out Trevi fountain, and tomorrow while the girls go to Versailles I will sleep in again haha. Then on monday we are going to go to Pompeii for the day! Im really excited for that. Anyways, nothing else to update really.. off to Venice next to complete our italian journey and then off to Greece!!!!

Italia

We are now in Florence. Nice was alright, a pretty city but theres not a whole lot to do there. Im glad we only spent 2 days there. Then we headed to the cinque Terre, and upon our arrival had to climb what seemed like a million stairs to our room... but it was worth it. We had a private room in a small villa overlooking the beautiful hills of the Italian Riviera. The next day we tackled the 5 hour hike between all five villages, starting where we were staying in Riomaggiore. We went Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and finally Monterosso where we got to relieve our tired bodies in the ocean. The hike was beautiful though, totally worth the pain my glutes are feeling today. Along the way we also stopped at a small hut for fresh made lemonade with lemons the man grew himself on the land we were hiking around.. it was the best thing I have ever drank in my life.. I think i drank 5 litres of water as well haha. So far I think the cinque terre has been my favourite place, but theres not a whole lot to do besides the hikes and going to the beach.

Today, we took the train to Florence which was excruciatingly hot. But finally we arrived to see a full on cat fight in the train stations... two girls pulling each others hair, slapping each other and finally kicking the other down the stairs... welcome to florence? tomorrow we are going to the Duomo and to check out some of the markets, and then we will see the infamous David, all the while trying to escape the 35 degree heat in midday by taking siestas, as we have becme accustomed too.

Thats all for now. Miss you all.

Sun and sand

Well, it is our last night in barcelona, and i wish we could stay longer! This city is unreal! Our first day we went to the beach and just sort of wandered around, we are staying at an awesome hostel right off the main drag, las ramblas. There are tons of street performers and also lots of outdoor patios. Our second night we went out with our hostel to a club... but didnt leave til 2am! We got home around 5am (which is pretty early by catalonian standards, the club closed at 9am) and slept for a couple hours, then went for a walk up to a fort on a hill, and then to la sagrada familia, which was the BIGGEST RIPOFF EVER! we paid 9 euros to walk around a construction site for 10 minutes... but gaudis architecture is pretty amazing. Then after a siesta we went out again with some aussies and americans from our hostel to another club at 2am and stayed out til 5 yet again. Gotta love barcelona! We wore the same outfits both nights because our clothes smelled so badly like smoke we didnt want to ruin two outfits. Today, we went to the beach again after having a tapas and paella meal, and then after another siesta went and saw some more of gaudis architecture. Tomorrow we are off to Nice where we will see mac and help her ring in her 19th birthday! We will be on the train all day, adn stop again in Montpellier (we stopped there on the way here for 5 hours, its a very cute little city). As much as I love this city im not sure i could handle the lifestyle much longer, and i thik my throat needs a break from teh smoky bars!

PURPLE RAIN

Well.. the eurotrip has officially begun. we all met in amsterdam which was definitely a good start to our trip. We mostly just walked around, enjoying the beautiful city and had a really good time. We had an interesting encounter at the Pink Elephant, which hosts a live sex show. It was certainly a once in a lifetime experience, one that I never need to repeat. But anyways, we are now in Paris, and it is FREEZING! We missed our train here, we literally watched it pull away from the platform.. so we got to spend a few hours in Brussels and eventually made our way to our destination. Our first night we decided to go to the Eiffel Tower, because it wasnt very nice out and we figured there wouldnt be very many people there. Boy were we wrong. 2 hours later we were at the very top and overlooking the city at night. It was beautiful. Today, Me Alison and Dianna went to a cemetary which holds Jim Morrisons grave (which wasnt very impressive, but still interesting to see). The cemetary itself was very breathtaking, and there was a great holocaust memorial there as well. Then we went to the train station to book our beds for the overnight train to Barcelona. However, we found out there was no more beds. And no more seats. So instead we leave paris at 6am and go to Montpellier (which is in the south of france) and then spend 5 hours in Montpellier before heading to Barcelona. Should be interesting....

Tomorrow all the girls are going to Versailles, and since Ive already been Im going to just hang out since I feel a bit of a cold coming on. Im going to try and sleep it off, then spend all day writing and sending postcards. If you want one, send me your address.

We are all alive and well and healthy and having an awesome time so far- We can't wait for the sunny beaches of Barcelona though! The weather in Paris has been a bit offputting, but oh well. Miss you all.