Two Posts in One: Travel Adventures!

Again, I can't remember when I last wrote, so I'll give you a quick summary. I spent seven days and nights in Congleton, England, outside Manchester with my aunt, uncle, and cousin. It was pretty awesome and relaxing. We visited the Lake district over the weekend, which was gorgeous. I biked with my aunt, did yoga, helped cook some, went out for curry and a movie, talked to my cousin about wedding things, read a lot, slept, stretched, and overall improved my mental and physical health, which was great. Not to mention, I love my aunt, uncle, and cousin and it was amazing having so long to spend with them, seeing as they live so far.
I left Wednesday night from Manchester airport and tried very hard not to cry as I left them. I could however look forward to seeing Anna that night and Sarah the next day though, so that pulled me through, just barely. I met two really good British people on the plane, brother and sister, and we exchanged e-mails at the end. Sometimes, you meet really awesome people while traveling, and make good friends. I hope I see them again. I arrived at the airport in Barcelona past midnight, and didn't arrive in the city from the bus ride until about 1:30am. Anna picked me up and we sleepily wandered our way to the beach, where we had decided (perhaps unwisely) to pass the night, since I had no place to stay.
It started out well enough; there were people enough for it not to be too sketchy, and we found a nice patch of sand and cuddled up under my sleeping bag with my backpack as a pillow. I unfortunately had to pee and in the two minutes I was gone, Anna managed to find a really creepy scary dude crouching right behind her, doing nothing. I came back and vehemently encouraged him to "piss off" until he got the hint and left. We settled down and watched the stars and talked, and probably around 4 fell asleep, briefly. Only to awake to someone standing over trying to open my bag. Thank you Anna for being a light sleeper. We scared them off and decided sleeping, even briefly, was a bad idea on the beach, at least if you have anything on you worth stealing.
After watching the sunrise, which was rather pretty, we walked through the city back to Anna's place where we dropped off my bag. We killed some time in a cafe, and Anna returned to her place while I waited to go to the airport to pick up Sarah. I slept on a park bench for an hour or so, on and off, trying to catch up on the night before, before catching a train to the airport to get Sarah. Adventure number 2!
Well, since I didn't have Sarah's flight information, the only thing I was going on was that it arrived at 1:05 pm. I arrived right around then and on the arrivals board there was only one flight listed at that time. From Latvia. Huh. After a couple of hours of waiting, some panicking, several calls to Anna, which led to calls to Max and Erica for specific flight information, I found Sarah. Apparently her flight was just weird, and she'd spent the last hour searching all over for her luggage, which got carried to a different terminal from the one she landed in. Anyway, I was relieved to see her, and super excited as well.
We proceeded to find our hostel, and arrived there around 5pm. We took naps after settling in and around 6:30 or so went out to meet Anna. We had a happy reunion and spent the evening walking around Barcelona. We went to the magic fountain, but realized that it didn't start until 9, so we walked some more and found a place for some food and to sit for a while. We walked a little more and eventually split up, Anna to go meet her friends for one last night and goodbye, and Sarah and I to get showered and rested. We returned to the hostel exhausted, and I was about in tears from exhaustion and homesickness. They usually go together. A hot shower later I was a new person, and fell asleep almost immediately for at least 9 hours.
That was Thursday. Friday, Sarah and I met Anna in the morning by our hostel and we all walked together to Park Guell. It was up some hills and very warm, but we got good views of the city, and the park is pretty cool. From the park we walked down by the Sagrada Familia, which is pretty impressive. We didn't go inside, but rather walked around then took the metro to the Plaza Espanya (I think). We walked Las Ramblas and visited the market to get some fruit types and bread for lunch. We carried our kilo of strawberries and then some through the gothic quarter, which was very pretty. We window shopped and really shopped; Sarah found a great dress for swing dancing, which Anna and I convinced her to buy. We were pretty thrilled.
We sat down by the cathedral to eat and walked some more. We made our way down to the beach since we were all pretty tired of walking by this point, except for Anna, who has no limit when it comes to walking. We sat on the beach for an hour or two and built a sand castle, which we dubbed The Little Shiny Black Rock Piece of Hell Castle, also known as Castle Turtle, to the locals. We walked some more, now slightly rested, and chatted about home and gossip and travel things and people and whatever else came to mind. We commented on Barcelona's modern fish, impractical lifeguard towers, and face. We made our way back to Las Ramblas and stopped to share to gofres. Gofres are like belgian waffles served with nutella or chocolate cream or gelato or whipped cream or all of the above. We took the metro together and Anna showed Sarah and I where the magic fountain was to be found, then she returned home for a last dinner with her host family. Anna and I watched the magic fountain and talked, then listened to the magic fountain, and were duly impressed. The massive fountain overlooks the city of Barcelona and sits on the Palace's doorstep, and can perform nearly as many acrobatics as the Cirque du Soleil. We returned to the hostel a little before 11 pm, showered, packed up, and went to sleep.
Saturday was our travel day, which is to say, we had to wake up before 7 to pack up and catch the metro to the train station to the airport, all with our heavy and unruly bags. The airport was amazingly easy, although I managed to lose Sarah's second bottle of sunscreen going through security... We napped on the flight, which was fairly quick, and reached Milan in a state of great excitement. We were in Italy! And everyone was speaking Italian! Go figure!
We took a bus from the airport which dropped us off at the train station where we lugged our bags around for quite some time before finding the ticket station and enquiring about how to use our Eurorail pass and get to Florence in two days time. It's surprisingly easy, and we needed to pay nothing, so we proceeded to find the metro (with some difficulty) and then walk the five blocks or so to our hotel. In the hot sun and with our heavy bags, it seemed much farther. We collapsed inside, sweaty and cranky, at around 3 pm, having eaten nothing all day. I realized we would have a terrible afternoon and accomplish nothing without some quick food and energy, so we walked down the street and found a pizza place, and ordered three pizzas between us. We wanted enough for dinner too.
We felt slightly better after eating, and returned to our hotel to catch a quick nap (in Anna's case), a quick read (in Sarah's case), and write a quick letter (in my case). By 5 we felt good enough to leave the hotel, so we took the metro, this time burdened by nothing but cameras, into the city center. We were greeted upon our exit from the Metro by the amazing Duermo; the cathedral of Milan. It is fantastically large, imposing, gothic, white, marble, ornate, and in great condition. We took lots of pretty pictures. We got some gelato and walked around for a bit, admiring the well dressed men and ladies, the classy shops, the electric trams, and the fairly grungy and eclectic feel of the city. We explored for a while, sat for a while, explored a little more, then realized we were exhausted and returned to our hotel.
It was only 7:30 or a little later, but we couldn't walk anymore or really focus on anything, and Anna, who hadn't gotten more than 4 hours of sleep in the past four nights, was just about ready to collapse. We planned tomorrow, a good full day in Milan, with some museum trips, castle-seeing, and market browsing. Now we're watching Walker Texas Ranger in Italian, which really requires no translation. Well, I say watching, but Anna is sleeping and Sarah is story-thinking. I have yet to find inspiration for any stories so instead I decided to update my blog, though who knows when I'll manage to post it. For now, Ciao!

It has been over a week since I've written, but it feels longer. We have passed through Milan, Florence, Venice, and are currently in Rothenthurn, Austria. In a castle. A real castle. It has it's own chapel and everything. But we'll get to that later...
We spent a fairly busy couple of days in Milan, mostly walking and window shopping and eating gelato. We also visited a castle, which was pretty neat, although my favorite part was hanging around a fountain outside and watching a little french girl (probably about 2 years old) waddle around in the water in her diaper with her dad following. Adorable. Milan was alright as far as cities go; it was busy and loud and people were very fashionable.
Next stop, Florence. We took the train, which we decided we liked very much, and was a sight better means or transportation than the airplane. We struggled slightly finding our hostel, but it was a pretty nice place despite its lack of internet access (guys, Europe hates the internet), except for when the other guests accidentally didn't give the key back and we were locked out. It was ok though because there was a ladder in the courtyard and all we had to do was climb it through the bathroom window to get in. Except that we were also locked in, and climbing down proved slightly more arduous.
Florence was great. I really loved it; there was lots of art, and lots of tourists, and great outdoor markets where you could find just about anything, especially anything made out of leather. We spent two of our days there just walking and wandering and also checking out Dante's house, the river, and the markets. Our last full day we took a day trip to Cortona, a small Tuscan town, which was pretty cool. Except for the wind, which didn't cooperate with the dress very well, but my Marilyn Monroe moment was saved only for Sarah and Anna. The town was up a hill, so we got great views of the Tuscan countryside, saw a pretty nice Basilica, checked out more shops, ate some pastries, watched a bride and groom take pictures, and then took the train back to Florence, only to pack up and head out the next day, on our way to Venice.
Venice was an interesting city. There was, as expected, lots of water. I loved it for several reasons, primarily that it lacked the two things I hate most about cities--construction and cars. We decided Venice is in some ways not unlike a corpse, as morbid as that sounds. It's a dead city, compared to what it once was, alive only for the tourists that crawl around like insects. On the other hand, it has a regal and charming feel to it in the old buildings still standing majestically over the water, the dilapidated roofs and worn stone bridges. At night, the tourists disappear, the lights shimmer magically over the water, and little cafes spill their warm glow onto the streets; you could almost be witnessing the city hundreds of years ago. Obviously, I liked it best at night.
We spent our five nights in Venice camping on the mainland about a half hour bus ride away in a nice cozy place. The campsite was great, despite the slightly cramped conditions, mosquitoes, and chilly mornings. We spent the first two days exploring the islands around Venice, Murano, famous for its glass, and Burano, famous for its lace and colorful houses. We also checked out San Michele, the cemetery island, which was by far the prettiest, calmest, and quietest. It had lots of pretty flowers and old graves with character (I especially liked all of those with cracked or askew gravestones, or those with figures half fallen).
We spent a lot of time shopping, but not buying, and eating more gelato than I care to dwell on. The buses (boats) were awesome, although the rocking did tend to make me want to nap. The basilica of San Marco and its piazzale, the centerpiece of Venice, were pretty alright, and the palace next door pretty excellent, especially if one could imagine renting it out for a swing dancing venue. Most of the cathedrals we found would be excellent swing dancing venues; they have great floors, and big open spaces. We took our time in Venice, spending a couple of days catching up just at the camp site, reading and cooking and eating and talking and writing. We had fairly excellent weather, much cooler than Florence and Milan, and one excellently cloudy day that yielded amazing skies and water with great character. Sarah agreed.
We left Venice in a bus destined for Villach, Austria. The ride might have been my favorite thing so far, passing through mountains and more mountains and valleys and rivers and waterfalls of northern Italy and southern Austria. The views were fantastic, and I was captivated for the entire four hours. We arrived in Villach and had an hour to kill before our train ride to Rothenthurn, so I was interviewed on TV about the bus service, and then finally conceded to paying money for a public restroom (yes, you have to PAY for them here. Go figure). The train dropped us off, backpacks and bags in tow, in a tiny town that can not even boast of having its own grocery store. Luckily, the castle that was our destination was in view, halfway up the mountain in front of us, so we set off doggedly. At least it wasn't raining.
After some slight confusion (I concede, Anna was right on the directions this time, but only because she wasn't 99% sure) and a great deal of walking uphill with very heavy packs, we made it. It was just like the pictures. There was a white castle, with a pond in front, and pretty trees, and a tower pointing up just a little. We walked up the dirt drive, not knowing exactly what to expect, when the most stereotypical Austrian man comes out and greets us. He must be about six foot three, and wore a button up shirt, leather shorts with buttons in the front, knee socks, and brown leather loafers. "Gutentag!" Luckily, he also speaks some English, and he knew who we were, as I knew him (through my mom and my aunt at least). After lamenting our lack of a car, and informing us that he would gladly have picked us up at the station (whoops), Georg, as he is called, gave us a great tour of the castle, enlightening us to a small part of its 1000 year history.
We spent that first evening we arrived cuddled up in a giant bed watching MTV, the only American channel, then exploring. We scaled the hill facing the castle to get better views of the valley, took lots of pictures, and Anna rolled down. We whispered as we walked through the halls and up and down the stone staircase of the lower floor, because for some reason being in a castle promotes quiet voices. Maria, Georg's wife, was kind enough to provide us with pasta and tomato sauce and the kitchen downstairs (they have two) for our pleasure and use. We made great use of it and feasted for the first time in a while on real plates using proper cutlery. It was ten before we knew it and we headed upstairs to our magnificent wood-decorated room to read before sleep.
Today, our only full day at the castle, we slept in and breakfasted in the large dining room. Two other people were there, also guests, who after overhearing our conversation about train times with Georg, offered to drive us into Spittal, 8 km away, so we could do some grocery shopping for today and tomorrow. We gladly accepted, and after sending quick messages home on Georg's one and only computer, we grabbed our bags and were off.
Our new Austrian friends were exceedingly polite and adorable, on a weeks vacation not far from home in order to hike and explore. They were a young and cute couple, and we were really glad for the ride to town, since 8 km is slightly more than we could really stomach walking just then. We got to Spittal and walked around some, having escaped the rain at the castle, and found a grocery store within minutes. We got more food than we will probably eat, and scanned the shops, then caught the train back to Rothenthurn and walked back up the hill again to the castle, easier this time not burdened with our bags.
We arrived and made ourselves a picnic lunch on the porch of peanut butter sandwiches and fruit. Man, I've missed peanut butter. Who would've known? We hung out while the rain persisted (we had gotten slightly damp on our walk up the hill), but it soon cleared up and by 2 pm Anna and I were ready for a hike. Sarah decided to stay behind and relax in the castle, which is by no means boring in its own sake, and Anna and I set out on bikes we borrowed from Georg.
After several minutes we were very glad we were on bikes because the road was steep and long, and even riding it took us forty five minutes to reach the lake, Milstatter See. The lake, surrounded by mountains, is gorgeous. There is no other word for it, although amazing, spectacular, and fantastic also come to mind. We arrived on the shore and immediately noticed some paddle boats, so after some inquiries (guess what guys? Everyone speaks English here! What the hell?) we found the owners of said paddle boats and communicated our desire to rent one.
Five minutes later we were on our way out to the middle of the lake, paddling happily and laughing in delight at the deep blue water, the snow-capped mountains, the castle across from us, the brightly colored houses, and the windsurfers sharing our turf. Out in the middle of the lake we needed little urging to strip down and jump in, though I won't lie we came out very quickly from the chilly water and huddled, drifting, until the cool breeze dried us enough to get dressed and warm up. It was totally worth it, even riding home with wet underwear later.
We hung around the lake for a little while waiting for a paddle boat friends to come back since we still owed them five euro. Paddle boat man accepted my knots and mooring skills, yelling "Perfecto!" to us as we walked our bikes away. I was very proud of those bowlines, I won't lie. We walked our bikes up the first steep stretch back up the mountain before mounting up and setting off back for the castle. The ride back was better than the way there, since the hills were less steep, and we were mostly in the shade. We got back by 5:30 pm or so and caught up with Sarah.
We cooked a second delicious meal downstairs and then retired to our room early, where we have all retreated to our cozy corners to read, or in my case, write. Oh, but only after Anna and I had a great sliding-across-the-wood-floor-in-socks contest which led to a fairly amusing video and thankfully no concussions or broken bones. Time to get some of my own reading in... Until next time, Aufwieterzeiz, however you spell that.