The hills are alive...

With music, not the bad horror movie! So we have quite a bit of catching up to do, we know. But we have not been in a place with great internet, nor had a place to upload pictures. So I will start from several days ago. And Katie, do not worry, your chef will give a full food report soon.

Well Kati went through most of our Prague adventure already, up until our last night there. We went to the Czech Beer Festival with people from our hostel, which was an exciting experience. It cost 130 CZK to get in (15 CZK = $1, you do the math), and then you paid 39 CZK for a token. There were numerous tents set up down a line, all sponsored by different beer companies. 1 beer = 1 token, so we just worked our way down the line. They also had "traditional" Czech food, so we had some goulash (very good). Once it got good and dark (which doesn't happen here til around 10pm), Kati and I went to the Charles Bridge, Prague's most famous landmark, to take pictures without all the daytime tourists. All in all, Prague gets a thumbs up.

Kati already mentioned our debacles of the train (much hilarity), so I will get right into Vienna. This was a city neither of us knew anything about, so we definitely just wandered for a couple hours after we arrived. We stayed at Wombat's, which is a very hip place, apparently. It has its own bar, so is supposed to be social. We found dinner at an out of the way restaurant we read about on our guide map and it was in a little courtyard (I will save food related things for Kati, the foodie). The next day, Tuesday, we had no guided tours, which was actually a relief...they get old after a while. Kati mentioned our day as 10-year-olds, but here is my obligatory suggestion/advice: lunch at Naschmarket...lots of stands to buy fresh food and sit down restaurants that are pretty cheap. So the night that we had seemed so enthusiastic about did not end up as exciting. We went to our hostel's bar, drank a pina colada, and ate a toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Pretty quality I'd say. We get more exhausted than we realize, and by 10pm, we are dead.

Wednesday was supposed to be spent heading to Munich but we opted for a quick day trip to Salzburg, the home of The Sound of Music (hence my post title). We had a nice little lunch special that was 3 courses and only cost €5,50. Then we decided to hike up to Ferstung Hohensalzburg, which is a big fortress (we are cheap and did not take the tram). Well that thing was boring and did not offer good views so we walked 500m west to Richterhöhe, which is a big scenic overlook (there is also some kind of structure there...not really sure what, but I'm sure that's why the spot has a specific name rather than just "lookout"). Anyway, this spot was amazing! Salzburg, as much of Germany and Austria, is on the edge of the Alps, but this was our first view of them! We also went to Stiftskirche Nonnberg, which is a nunnery, yes the very one from whence Maria came before the Von Trapp household. We walked in the chapel and it was deserted and silent, until the nuns started to sing from up in their choir altar. It was pretty cool, because it was one of the first times we seemed to experience something really authentic and out of the blue--we were like flies on the wall. Then we walked to Mirabellgarten, which is a big garden that the children and Maria ran through. So typically, we followed suite and did the same. Well I did, Kati just shook her head in disdane. Salzburg ended up being one of our favorite places, because it was really quiet and really small. It was also a lot more scenic than Vienna which just seemed to be a lot of museums (and we hate those...boring and they cost money).

I just want it to be known that as I am typing this, "My Heart Will Go On" came on in the internet cafe. Classy.

Well this brings us up to date to our day spent in Munich. We got here last night and found our hostel after much confusion from poorly phrased directions. We went to another hostel to meet up with our Prague friends who were here at the same time, and it ended up being our first night out past 2am! Whoo, we are NOT completely lame! It wasn't much of an exciting night out though, no German rave clubs or anything. We went to eat kebab and go to a hostel bar. But we, for some reason, have a private room, so that is a nice change in pace. Today we went on Lenny's Free Bike Tour at the recommendation of one of our friends. It was better than walking, but 40 people is too many for a bike tour; they should have split it up. We saw the important things in Munich, but I can't really relate too many of them to you...the bike kind of prevented me from writing things down as we moved along. However, we did learn that Munich was founded in 1156 and was 65% destroyed in WWII. Lots of seemingly old buildings are actually from the 60s when they were rebuilt. But they did try and rebuild it as much as possible, so it still has an old feel. Also, we learned that in Munich they like beer, which is why it took things a very long time to be built. We went through Englischergarten which is Europe's largest city park, where we saw some river surfers and some nudists (none attractive). Our scenery of the day was hiking up the 305 steps to the top of Peterskirche for €1, which gave us an overview of Munich (very nice). It was vey hot and sunny outside today so we both burned with weird tan lines. Can't wait for Nice and the beach!

We promise not to slack in posting anymore, for both our sakes--1) this must have been terribly long to read it you made it this far, 2) it was terribly long to write and my hands hurt. And also we apologize for any lack of phone calls; no freaking phones will take calling cards (except Joe and Linda, I already tried and you were not home--your fault!). Til later, auf wiedersehen.

Ich bin ein kuh

The heading means 'I am a cow,' and these were the first words of German I (Kati) remember speaking. Fortunately, I learned a few other phrases from my German friends and we have been able to navigate around Vienna. We left Prague early yesterday with a plan. We were taking the train to Hohenau, which is on the border between the Czech Republic and Austria, so that we could use our railpass the rest of the way. See, the Czech Republic doesn't take the pass so we had to find a way around that, and we thought we had. Of course, we get to Hohenau and it is in the middle of nowhere and we get on a train going the wrong way. After some extreme finagling on our part, we manage to get onto the correct train and land in Vienna, only a few hours later than expected. Our hostel is nice, but not as homey as the one in Edinburgh- we miss Steve. Today we walked to the Schonbrun Palace (Vienna's Versailles). It was gorgeous but very hot, so many breaks were necessary. Kari and I did something very characteristic of us, we spent the day as children. We went to Europe's oldest zoo AND the amusement park (very creepy I have to admit). It was a great day but we are rather tired and extremely dirty so it is time to wash up and explore what Vienna is like at night (safely of course, mom and dad). We miss you all!

Czech us out.

Yes, I am going to go with the lame title, because we are now in Prague. We got here yesterday after an exhausting 7:30am flight (on which we sat next to the cutest baby ever, and everyone in our row passed out hard). But we got here and it is warm and sunny for a change! Britain is great and all, but the weather sucks. We are staying a little bit outside the city center at a hostel called Sir Toby's, which is really nice (we have reading lights!) and clean and has a lot of random amenities. We have a tram stop outside that takes about 10 minutes to get into the main part of the city.

Yesterday was our wandering day (in case you haven't noticed, we generally go by this schedule: one day wandering ourselves, one day guided tour) so we wandered up to the Prague castle, which required us to climb a ton of stairs--we can't escape exercise it seems. But it was a good view from the top, and we found a nice park to sit in/pass out hard in the grass. Then we wandered down to Charles Bridge which is probably the most famous site in Prague, but it was the afternoon so tourists were out in full force and it was too crowded. We are going go head back there tonight when it is less crowded and we can get some nice pictures.

Today we went on a walking tour that was pretty exhausting. It covered the Old City part of Prague which is interesting but all looks the same, so it got a little tiring after a while. We went to the Jewish quarter (Kati wants to throw props there) and saw the oldest synagogue in Europe (circa 1270). We also saw where a student protesting the communist regime burned himself alive in 1969 and where a thief who tried to steal jewelry off a statue of the Virgin Mary got his hand caught (part of a legend...the statue came alive), at which point they couldn't ruin the statue so they just cut his hand off (apparently his hand is still there).

Tomorrow we are off to Vienna to even better weather and perhaps some bratwurst (do Austrians eat that?). One week down, three to go.

Also, Kati and I would like to point out that you guys are getting lazy with sending us comments, because now we feel like we are typing to a blank wall. Or creepy internet stalkers who somehow landed on this page (you guys can comment t00). Friends and family, show us some love..please?

My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean....?

So Kari and I are almost done with Edinburgh, tear. Today we took another free tour (!) and it was fact-filled and fun. Our tour guide, Helene, was a lively South African who came to visit last year and stayed indefinitely. We walked down Royal Mile, which is this long road that connects Holywood Palace to Edinburgh Castle. We went to a ton of very historical sites, like St. Giles Cathedral, Merca Cross, Grass Market and Grey Friar's Church, which were all very stoney and old. More importantly, though, we were able to see the school that inspired Hogwarts! It is now called the George and Harriet School, but was once a hospital/school for orphaned boys. We also saw the cafe where JK Rowling wrote the books. Ah, I love me some Harry Potter trivia, and thank you to Kari for bearing with me while I squirmed with glee... Another interesting story was that of the real Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a man named Deacon Brodie. He was basically this rich, respectable Scot who had a double life of partying that put him into serious debt. In order to make up for this he began robbing his friends. One thing led to another and he ended up being hung by the same gallos that he had originally funded. Actually, now that I think of it, most of the stories ended with a death by hanging. Good times! After our tour we climbed to Calton Hill (which is where we are in the picture below with the great view), then we came back and made dinner, well I made dinner and Kari did an excellent job of eating it. Tomorrow morning we are taking a 7:30am flight to Prague so we are spending the night watching movies at our charming hostel. So far, so good!

(Also, it is true that drunken Scots sing "My Bonnie." My parents definitely used to sing this to me, so I was prepared! Thanks Mom and Dad for prepping me for this trip 20 years ago)

Pictures to show off.

I will leave everything exciting about our day to Kati later because she wanted to post something. I just wanted to put up some pictures, because I am having so much fun using my new camera. You're going to see a lot of Kati since she is my most often photographed subject.

Oh and also I wanted to share something funny I forgot to mention from London: Dirty Dancing, Lord of the Rings, and Gone With the Wind are all now musicals on the London stage. Interesting choices...can you imagine?

Well we made it to a new city, Edinburgh, but first let's go through the rest of London. Another side note that may cause disappointment: I forgot to mention that neither Kekik nor Yellow Cafe are still in existence. Sad. Anyways, we went on a free walking tour on Wednesday which covered three different palaces and a bunch of Royal stuff. Did you know: Buckingham Palace was originally just a house for the Duke of Buckingham but was sold to the Royal family in the 1700s for 28,000 pounds? The previous mayor of London gave pigeons birth control in Trafalgar Square to control their population? Captain Nelson (the guy in Trafalgar Square) died abroad and when his body was being shipped back to the UK, it was stored in a barrell of brandy; but the sailors got thirsty and drank it (hence the term "a stiff drink"). I won't bore you with anymore history lessons, but both of us actually wrote things down since it would otherwise be forgotten by now. We got some fish & chips for dinner and went to a pub called The Crown where we were hostily kicked out at 11pm (more like 11:20, hence the angry pub owner).



Today we took a train to Edinburgh, after being ripped off by the London tube (4 pounds for one way? Ridiculous, I am still bitter). We are staying in a nice little hostel in the New City called Bus Station Backpackers; it only has 18 beds and is very homey and cozy. We had lunch at Sainsbury (this is the smart thing to do: go to Tesco or Sainsbury and buy the sandwiches for 1.20 pounds and eat a 4 course meal for under $5). Our experience after lunch tested our strength and will power, because we, the laziest and most unathletic people, went on a hike. Yes. It is true. We hiked up this huge crag (think GUTS) to Arthur's Chair (only we didn't actually make it all the way to the top. We stopped and sat, which then killed our drive). But it was a very nice hike, because the weather is actually nice (shocking). Edinburgh is a very small city and very old. It's exciting because neither of us have been here, so we have things to explore. Tomorrow we will do another free tour (we are cheap) and tonight we are going on a pub crawl. Until sometime...adios.

And we're here!

After a sleepless night of packing Kari and Kati have arrived in London. Our first stop after checking into our hostel, which is rather lovely, was naturally Pizza Hut. The cheese was unlike that of the American kind and the crust melted in our mouths. Ok, maybe that's not entirely truthful but we were overtired, overhungry (?) and feeling cheap=plain medium deep dish. Problem solved.
But of course you don't want to hear about our fast-food dining experience! After 9 glorious hours of sleep, we woke up, ate breakfast and started our adventure. We went to the British Museum, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, Big Ben, walked down the Thames, the Tate (blah), and rounded it up with a tour of where Kari used to live, complete with the Horseshoe, a Snakebite and Rosebury Kabob. *Warning: this next comment may upset many readers: PRINTWORKS NO LONGER SERVES LONG ISLAND PITCHERS. Gaaasssspppp. We were very disappointed. So tired, alone and cold, we dragged ourselves back to the hostel. Well, only the first is true because we are LOVING it here. Tomorrow we are going on a tour of the Royal crap, no big thing, we love history facts. Hope you all are missing us sufficiently because we are certainly thinking of you.

And we're OFF!

Well, we are out in 7 hours. It is currently midnight and we are in the midst of a packing frenzy (my worst nightmare). It seems very surreal that we are leaving, and is slightly unnerving, because it is just going to be us alone in foreign countries! Fortunately, the next week of weather looks good for the places we will be...sun in London is always a plus. Very exciting! I think we have everything taken care of, all security precautions and clothing for a multitude of climates.

This past week was graduation, so for those of you that don't know, it took place at Yankee Stadium on a gorgeous 75 degree sunny day. Michael Strahan and Michael J. Fox were present and Kati has a good picture.

Don't forget to send us comments and questions. We want to hear from the motherland!

One Week and COUNTING!

Phew. I just finished my last exam (of the semester, not of my life. Thanks Kari) and I am starting to get pumped for Europe! Not that I haven't been excited, but it's very hard to acknowledge that you are taking the trip of a lifetime when you are spending days in front of a computer trying to think of synonyms for 'film' and 'program' and 'therefore.' Needless to say, Kari and I are both very much done and are moving into the next phase, the Europa phase. I still need everything for the trip, ie. backpack, ATM card, plug adapter, clothes, etc, etc, but this will work itself out over the next seven days. For now, we are concentrating on securing jobs, moving, graduation and all that good stuff.  Attention friends and family: is there anything that we should bring that isn't obvious? Anything that we shouldn't bring? What books should we read? Anywhere that we should go in particular? And more importantly, any place we should eat?

Let us know! 

Kati

Kati and I are hopping the pond, prepping for a four-week Eurotrip '08. Currently, both of us are suffering from school-related stress and have no time to be social creatures, but that will end when I graduate and end school forever (sorry, Kati). Anyway, keep track of our journeys here. We will try to be diligent bloggers and hopefully Kati will mention something other than the bad pop culture that is "infiltrating her mind." Shoot us some love, comments, questions, suggestions, sarcasm, memories of America, whatever you fancy to keep our trip interesting.

Love fest begins in 16 (+ some) days.

Also, if the domestic is more your cup of tea, read about Colin's biking journey across America.