Bom dia!

I love Portugal.

I am now in South Portugal, or Algarve. I arrived in the capital city, Faro, this afternoon, but I have been killing time because the hostel check-in starts at 5pm(ridiculous!). I could have gone to the beach, but I think I will let my sunburned skin rest a day before I do that. And because it is Easter, everything is closed, so sightseeing isnt really an option today.

Lisbon was wonderful; I liked it much much better than Madrid. It has a very small town feel but it is big enough that there is plenty to do. It has one of the prettiest castles I have seen in Europe (and that is a lot of castles), and the water is that beautiful turquoise aqua color. There is a beautiful little district called Alfama that you would never mind being lost in, with hidden stairways connecting the streets that are picture-perfect frames of the flowers hanging off the balconies and the ocean. The food was delicious- cod(bacahlau) in every way you can imagine, shellfish, shrimp, and lots of sweets. And, most importantly, I found the people to be very friendly, which makes a huge difference on your impression of a city. Just this morning, I ended up at the wrong bus stop and when I asked a bus driver about it, he took me to the next stop for free. Nevermind that the Portuguese guy working at the hostel left me breakfast for the morning, since I would be leaving before breakfast officially started. I definitely got that "I could live here" feeling about Lisbon.

Traveling alone isnt so bad. In fact, its kind of nice. Sure, the eating alone isnt always fun, but Ive learned to carry reading material with me and I forget about it. I never thought I would chat up a random person at dinner, but I did one night and made a dinner partner for the rest of my stay. She was a French engineer on a break from work in Lisbon, and as we were the only two solo people in the tiny Portuguese restaurant, we started talking and ended up making some plans for the next few days. We met again for dinner the next night, which was nice, because apparently arroz com mariscos is much too big for one person.

In our discussions we made an interesting observation- girls seem to travel solo more often than men. Funny because you would think the opposite to be true, but sure enough when I looked around at my hostel that night, all but one of the solo travelers were female. Tiffany also told me of a 2-week walking adventure tour she did in Bali (can you guess what I am looking into next?) where ALL the solo travelers were girls. Just thought some of you might also find that surprising. =)

Vale

I wish I could do a tour of dancing around the world.

Last night my parents and I saw a Flamenco show. It was absolutely amazing. I took some pictures but I was so stunned and impressed by the performance that I took a lot less than I usually would. It was a great way to end our last night in Madrid.

Which means, I suppose, that I should bring you up to speed. My parents and I spent the last 6 days together. I met them in Paris, then we traveled to Madrid. It was a short time together but it was really really great to see and spend time with them. We saw all the highlights in each city, which I won´t detail since I´m sure you know what those are (well, except maybe Madrid, cause we didn´t even know what there was to see and were pleasantly surprised. But anyway, you´ll see pictures when I post them at the end of the month).

Comparing those two cities, I was surprised to find that I like Paris better. I´ve heard so many differing opinions on Paris that I was almost sure I wouldn´t like it. People seemed to fall into two camps- those that fell in love with the city of love and those that despise it. I didnt spend enough time there to say I fell in love, but I could see that possibility. Madrid is nice of course, but I just didn´t get the "I could live here" feeling that I always do when I really like a city. I could live in Paris.

Now, on to the misadventures. First, I was temporarily out of contact with the world for a while. Why you ask? A.) The hotel in Paris had no internet and the one in Madrid was really expensive and B.) Not only did I run out of credits on my phone the first day out on my trip, but it turned off on the plane ride from Paris to Madrid, and I didn´t know my PIN code. So I tried 3 times and it locked me out. I have now purchased a new Spanish SIM card, which will be trashed upon my return to Vienna. So, problem solved for now.

Second, a bird pooped on me. Which in some cultures is good luck right?! (please!) Anyway, it ruined a good nap in el Parque de Buen Retiro in Madrid. I was sad. And a little grossed out.

Anyway, since my railpass, a few minor details have changed in my schedule. Here´s the new info:

April 9-12: Lisbon
April 12-15: Faro/Lagos
April 16-20: Barcelona
April 20-24: Nice
April 24-26: Milan
April 26: Return to Vienna

Not much as changed, but the fact that I´m coming back to Vienna a couple days earlier.

Tonight I leave for Lisbon on a hotel train, which should be an interesting experience. Until next time, ciao!

Cruising Through Switzerland

My luck, like me, has decided to take a vacation.

My tewrip started like any other ordinary trip- I was running late to get to the station, ran to get my ticket validated, and caught the train about a minute before it left. So, you know, hectic. BUT I made the train, so my luck must be changing right (you know, new month and all that...)?

Of course not.

Shortly after the train conductor came by and I, in my uncomfortably sweaty from running with an extremely large backpack glory, handed him my nifty Eurail pass, I realized something was horribly wrong. I bought. the wrong. pass. Oh yes. Since January I had been thinking I had a 15-day in 2 month pass, which meant I could travel any 15 days in the span of 2 months, which would've covered my whole trip and then some. Turns out, I purchased a 15-day CONSECUTIVE pass, which meant my travel now ends April 15. When I am in Southern Portugal. On the other side of Europe. I won't explain all the implications of that, but it generally sucks.

Since then, my trip has been OK (knocks on wood). I made three friends my first day out- this man from Kosovo who was going to Switzerland for an interview. Apparently Kosov..ians(?) love Americans (you know, war and all), so he not only offered me food his wife prepared (2 sandwiches, an apple, some chocolate and some Fanta! I only took the Fanta since I saw him open it.), but he invited me to anywhere he and his family live to visit (he has 7 brothers and sisters). My second friend was this older Swiss lady in Zurich who I asked directions from. She ended up walking me right up to my hostel, and we spoke in German the whole way. I was proud of myself. Lastly, a French girl in my room in my hostel. We had dinner together, which was nice since I got to skip the whole eating alone thing.

This morning I woke up before the sun did and took my scenic route train from Lucerne to Interlaken to Montroux. The ride was, well, scenic. And beautiful. =) I arrived in Geneva, bought my seat to Paris tomorrow, and took a walk around. Although I didn't see much, I really like Geneva. It's centered around Lake Geneva, and anyone who knows me knows I only need a body of water to fall in love with a city.

Tomorrow: the City of Love!! Bonsoir!

Off to see the wizard

So, it's definitely been a long while since I've written here. Nothing too exciting has happened, it's mostly just been settling in to a new life in Vienna. I've done some weekend trips- Bratislava, Prague, Slovenia- but I start my big trip tomorrow! This is the one I had been planning pretty much since the moment I was accepted to Vienna!

I suppose I am a little nervous about it. While I will be meeting my parents and some friends along the way, I will be spending about half of it alone. Funny that my last post was about how I enjoy my own company, which I do, I'm just not sure how good a conversationalist I am with myself. There will probably some long, lonely train rides, but I think I will be fine once I get to each place. I guess I'm also nervous because it's the longest length of time of straight traveling for me. A learning experience all around.

Anyway, the reason I'm starting up again with this is that it's an efficient way to let everyone know my whereabouts. It makes more sense to write about my arrival, stay and feelings about a place all at once instead of in several individual emails. So, that's what I'm going to do. I figured I will have to do something with all the time that would normally be spent making decisions with other people and fighting/arguing about those decisions. =)

So, ready to follow my adventures? Here's where I"ll be:

April 1-3: Switzerland- 1 night in Zurich, 1 night in Geneva
April 3-6: Paris with the parents (Happy anniversary!!)
April 6-8: Madrid with the parents
April 9-12: Lisbon
April 12-14: Algarve- Faro and Lagos
April 15-16: Sevilla
April 16-20: Barcelona
April 21-24: Nice/Riviera
April 24-27: Northern Italy, maybe Cinque Terra or Milan
April 27: Vienna

So, it's going to be a whirlwind tour of Western Europe. I am not talking my laptop with me, so, and here's the bad news, I will not be posting any pictures until I get back. Then, you should expect a barrage of pictures in your mailboxes that I expect you to look at and comment on. You know, I might just be desperate for interaction at that point (Ok, Ok, I'm not going to a deserted island, I know). =D

So, bon voyage!

Wie bitte?

Here's how I spent my Valentine's day:

Slept in until about 10 in the morning. Took my time getting ready and ate breakfast.

Left my dorm at around noon. Got on U-bahn and went down to Ringstrasse, which is a street that circles around the Inner district. The OK program did a walking tour of the city, which I missed since I am not in the program. So I thought I would just do it myself. Ringstrasse has most of the important buildings in Vienna, i.e. Parliament, Rathaus (City hall), and Museums Quarter. All the buildings were big and beautiful, and there was ice skating in front of the Rathaus. I thought I would feel lonely walking around by myself on Valentine's day, but instead I learned an important thing- I enjoy my own company. I was alone but not lonely, even when I saw couples ice skating hand-in-hand. All this week, I was constantly asked why I didn't join the OK program. At the time of registration, it was because I knew I had a whole semester to do all those things myself. But as people continued to ask, I began to get worried- did I really want to do all that by myself? My stroll taught me that I don't mind it. In fact, I had fun.

I ended my walk with a visit to the Natural History Museum. For some reason, it's a must-do for me. If I'm gonna do museums and the city has a natural history museum, that's the one I almost always choose. None can quite live up to the standard that New York's Natural History museum sets, but this one was OK. Because it was Valentine's Day, I sent myself a "be mine" card in the form of a Melange coffee and Apple Strudel. It was delicious.

By then though, my feet were in dire need of rest, so I hopped the metro back to my dorm. Instead of going in though, I took the bus that gets me from the metro station to the dorm and stayed on past my stop, just to see where it went. It was useful, as I found several bigger and better supermarkets on the line. Again, because it was Valentine's day, I bought a bottle of wine and some Milka chocolate. =)

I ended my day with pizza, sharing the kitchen with some Pakistani guys who were making a traditional meal. They let me try it and I told them how we really don't all ride horses in Texas. My roommate and neighbors then finally got home, bearing gifts in the form of more wine and more chocolate. An hour later, other exchange students had joined us and we stayed up late just chatting, drinking wine, and eating chocolate.

All in all, a lovely day.

Aufwiedersehen Türkei!

A lot has happened since I last updated.

First, I left Izmir. I spent my last week mostly hanging out with my family and seeing friends. The Thursday before I left, my family had a farewell dinner for me, with all the neighbors. It was really wonderful but sad at the same time. The tears started when the serenader in our banquet room sang a Turkish song that meant "Don't forget me" and my mom told me not to forget them. Of course I wouldn't. Even some of Tugce's friends that I had met were emotional and sad that I was leaving, including guys. Turkish people are so expressive, so it made it that much sweeter and difficult to say goodbye. In any case, I promised everyone I would see them again, so I will work hard to keep that promise. I am thinking of going back for a week in summer to enjoy the beaches and see everyone.

Secondly, I spent an exhausting but fun day in Istanbul. My family took me to the airport at 6:00am(!), where we met Julia and her family. After some more sad goodbyes, we boarded our plane and arrived in Istanbul at around 8:30. It was a whirlwind tour but way worth it. We saw the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, walked in the Underground Cistern and saw the Medusa Heads, haggled with shopowners in the Grand Bazaar (we even sat down and had some tea with one of them), tried lots of Turkish Delight at the Spice Market, strolled along the Golden Horn and saw the Bosphorous Bridge from afar, and became hypnotized by the Whirling Dervishes show. Our hostel was amazing, every single person we met was nice and interesting, and the weather was perfect. I was dead tired by the end of the day but had an amazing time.

Finally, I arrived in Vienna. There were some problems with my check-in so I haven't yet settled into my flat/dorm. I'm currently staying with my Austrian buddy and her boyfriend. They have both been to Texas (the boyfriend studied at UTSA), so they didn't ask me about cowboys. ;) They're really sweet, but I feel bad that they had to take me in like this. Tomorrow though is when the German course starts, so I'll be leaving early to take an assessment test and then pick up my key. The weather today was really cold and rainy so although we ran around a bit, we didn't really do any sightseeing. But I have time. =) Also, I ordered my lunch in German. The waitress and my buddy complimented me because they say not very many people like to even try speaking the language while they're here. The Viennese transportation system already has me swooning, since the one in Turkey was so complicated, and it's nice to have a working knowledge of the language.

Çok Güzel

Fun fact: Cell phones in Turkey are really, really expensive. The cheapest you'll find is at least 300 lira.

I had a fabulous weekend. Here's what I did:
- Went to a dance club to celebrate the end of final exams with AIESECers. It was a lot of fun, and I was happy to find that I like Turkish music.
- Arrived in Pamukkale to one of the prettiest hotels I've seen.
- Swam in a thermal pool and used the mineral-enriched mud as a beautifier. =)
- Took a Turkish bath.
- Saw a bellydancing show! It was just one girl and it wasn't as authentic as I would've liked, but still, it was pretty cool.
- While the parents enjoyed their high school reunion, us kids hung out in our hotel room, drinking Efes and talking all night. The best part, though, was when around 1 am, my host mom and Julia's host mom came to our room, pulled some Efes they smuggled into the hotel (the hotel's alcohol was really expensive) out of their purses, and hung out with us. They're awesome. =)
- Walked around a huge ancient city, Hierapolis.
- Saw Pamukkale and the white travertines, which also held thermal water. It was really beautiful. And it was my host family's first time seeing it too, so that was fun. Tugce and I climbed around in them, enjoying the warm water.
- Went to a Turkish village. Everything I ate after breakfast on Sunday was grown and made by my host father's uncle. It was absolutely delicious. Later, I also got to taste freshly milked milk, warm and with sugar. It was also really good.

Ok, that was supposed to be my condensed version, but oh well. =) Sadly, I leave at the end of this week. =( But I got the week off from the schools, so I'll get to just hang out and have fun.